NewsScope for March 26, 2001

Russia: Friend or Foe?

Like the faded dreams of the Soviet empire, Russia's Mir space station completed a controlled descent into oblivion last week, falling harmlessly into the Pacific Ocean. Several other major news stories last week from and about Russia, including three simultaneous bombings and the tit-for-tat expulsion of 50 spies, indicate that something astrological is in the air.

Russia's horoscope is set for the Bolshevik Revolution (November 8, 1917, in Petrograd at 2:12 am BAT), a historic change that still represents the foundation of the Russian government after the fall of the czarist empire. The chief planetary culprit in the latest round of Russia's political trouble is Pluto, which is now squaring the Virgo Ascendant.

Since Russia is a Scorpio nation, Pluto's transits frequently correlate to major developments. Transiting Pluto, the planet associated with death and rebirth, was conjunct the country’s Sun from 1989 to 1991 as the political overlay of the Soviet Union (established by Stalin in 1922) disintegrated. When Pluto entered the Russian Fourth House, a new political system was established under Boris Yeltsin. Now Pluto is squaring the Russian Ascendant, and over the last week was galvanized by fast-moving Mars, which formed a conjunction with Pluto.

The transiting Mars-Pluto square to the Ascendant is a perfect astrological formula for hard-core antagonism against national interests, and the Bush administration and the Chechen rebels were quick to take action. Although both Bush and Putin declared the espionage debacle insignificant to U.S.-Russian relations, political astrologers can watch the momentum shift into the danger zone as first Jupiter, and then Saturn oppose Pluto over the coming months.

Hoof and Mouth Epidemic Hits the U.K.

The televised mass slaughtering of British cattle and billowing fire walls painted the epidemic proportions of hoof and mouth disease raging through England in stark images. American farmers watched and worried as infected animals were discovered in France, the Netherlands and Ireland. On Thursday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair learned of the crisis' true dimension and ordered a doubling of eradication efforts to save Britain's $21 billion farming industry.

In traditional astrology, Saturn is the ruler of farming. More recently, the asteroid Ceres has become known as the ruler of grains and the livestock that is nourished with grains. The symbols for Saturn and Ceres are virtually identical, with Ceres represented by the glyph for the sickle, and Saturn the same but upside down. We can say that Saturn and Ceres co-rule agriculture.

In the U.K. horoscope (December 25, 1066, at 12:00 pm in London), the Sun is conjunct Ceres and trine Saturn, reflecting how traditional rural farming has shaped British society. The same farming combinations can be found in the U.S. (Sun trine Ceres, Sun square Saturn) and Russia (Sun conjunct Ceres, Sun square Saturn). Unfortunately for the U.K., transiting Pluto, the planet associated with epidemics and disasters, is now squaring the U.K. Saturn.

Pluto's hard aspects to the U.K. Saturn have corresponded with major events specifically associated with hoof and mouth disease. The last major outbreak was in 1967 when transiting Pluto was conjunct the U.K. Saturn. Hoof and mouth was first identified in 1897 when Pluto made its previous hard aspect  to the U.K. Saturn. Over the next few months as transiting Saturn and Pluto oppose each other, we can only expect this epidemic to worsen.

David McTaggart, Rainbow Warrior

Last Friday, David McTaggart, one of the founders of Greenpeace International, was killed in a head-on car crash near his olive farm in Umbria, Italy. McTaggart was the driving force behind many of Greenpeace's most successful efforts, including campaigns to save the whales, stop dumping nuclear waste in the ocean and protecting Antarctica from oil and mineral exploitation.

David McTaggart was born a caring Cancer (June 24, 1932 in Vancouver, B.C., time unknown) with the Moon in sensitive, compassionate Pisces. The Sun and Moon in these water signs gives what astrologer Grant Lewi called "a sailboat personality," which in McTaggart's case proved to be far more than an analogy since the environmental crusader spent most of his time harassing polluters from his 36-foot sailboat Vega.

The communications planet Mercury plays a prominent role in McTaggart's chart by virtue of many connections to other significant points. Mercury's conjunction with Pluto gives an intense, persuasive mentality with a penchant for shaping public opinion. Mercury also squares unpredictable, eccentric Uranus, and this combination fomented his early reputation as a beat poet, and later as a radical crusader against corporate polluters.

Mercury opposes Ceres, the asteroid known for its ecological awareness, and this connection establishes a framework, a cause for his powerful, anti-authoritarian genius. Mercury is further amplified by its opposition to Vega, a first-magnitude star that confers charisma and mysticism, and in ancient times was the pole star. Vega was obviously McTaggart's personal pole star, and he died when transiting Ceres was exactly conjunct Vega.