NewsScope for December 4, 2000

Solar Power Energizes the World

The influence of the current Sun-Pluto combination shows how various nations are dealing with the issues of absolute political power.This Sun-Pluto conjunction  is exact Monday morning, and in the United States, carries special significance since it aligns with the U.S. Sun.

The astrological line-up for this event features the Sun's annual conjunction with Pluto. Pluto's symbolism includes the use of absolute or ultimate authority. He is our inner dictator at his worst, but a decisive force for evolution and constructive change at his best. During the days surrounding the Sun's conjunction with Pluto, transformative events take place.

In Chile, former dictator Augusto Pinochet was charged with crimes against the nation's people. Then, Saddam Hussein suddenly withheld Iraq's oil supplies. In Mexico, for the first time in that nation's history, a president from the opposition party took the oath of office. His poignant comment describes how power and democracy can co-exist: "I am the guardian of power, not its owner."

In the U.S., a crush of demonstrators and reporters crowded around the Supreme Court building last Friday as lawyers presented their cases before the nine justices. The historical event was shrouded in doubt of whether a decision by the highest court in the land would have any impact at all in the presidential contest.

In a more lyrical sense, the Sun-Pluto conjunction takes place just as the dramatic spreading of the world's largest solar panel wings brings electricity to the international space station with solar power.

The Power of Thirteen

A vote recount in the state of Washington confirmed last week that dot-com millionaire Maria Cantwell has won the U.S. Senate seat, defeating the Republican incumbent Slade Gorton. Her victory means that for the first time in 120 years the Senate is split exactly 50-50 between the nation's two political parties. Perhaps more significantly, the Senate now has thirteen women senators, the largest number in history.

The astrological picture seems to indicate a sea change in American politics. In the Scorpio rising U.S. horoscope the natal Moon, representing the nation's women, is now being powerfully activated by the progressed Sun. (The progressed Sun moves according to the esoteric formula that one day after birth is equivalent to one year.) This year, the progressed Sun for the first time is forming a conjunction with the U.S. Moon, bringing women (Moon) into the limelight through leadership roles (Sun).

The struggle between the two presidential candidates may have the ultimate effect of weakening the power of the presidency, at least for the coming term. Power moves from the executive office to the legislature, and to the Senate where Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer and eleven other intelligent, activist women politicians are favored to advance by this unique astrological indicator.

Thirteen is associated with the Moon since there are thirteen lunar cycles in a year (not twelve), and the Moon is naturally associated with women through their monthly cycle. Thirteen women senators shows how the lunar vibration is permeating American politics now. Thirteen is implicated in the nation's destiny, as echoed by the thirteen original states. Astrologically, thirteen shows up in the position of the U.S. natal Sun at 13 degrees Cancer and 13 minutes.

John Lennon, It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

On the twentieth anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon, fans will gather in a slice of Central Park West known as Strawberry Fields for a candlelight vigil and to sing John's songs. Yoko Ono and Sean will put candles on their apartment's windowsill overlooking Strawberry Fields, as they do every year, to tell the people "We're with you," says Yoko.

John Lennon was born with his Sun in the partnership sign of Libra (October 9, 1940, 6:30 pm, in Liverpool, England), a position emphasized by being placed near the Descendant. His Moon in the team sign of Aquarius becomes brotherly by the favorable trine to Mars, the ruler of his chart. While Lennon enjoyed organizing and leading the Beatles for many years, the hard edge in his life, as portrayed by his Moon opposite Pluto, ultimately led to the group disbanding.

Lennon had a strong political agenda. The Moon in cause-oriented Aquarius is the traditional indicator for this social conscience, and with the opposition  to Pluto, Lennon took pride in being a revolutionary. Another indicator pointing to this tendency is his Sun's conjunction with Pallas, the political asteroid. The ultimate clout of this asteroid can be seen in Lennon's death.

Lennon was shot just before 11:00 pm on December 8, 1980. At that time, no planets by transit or progression had entered into his natal Moon-Pluto axis. Transiting Pallas, on the other hand, was exactly, to-the-minute opposite Lennon's Sun. As one commentator recently described, "For the generation that grew up with the Beatles, it was the rock 'n' roll equivalent of 1963's JFK assassination."