NewsScope for February 5, 2002

George Bush Enters the Twilight Zone

President Bush's State of the Union speech last week received bipartisan kudos domestically, but a few diplomatic alarms went off internationally over his "Axis of Evil" statement concerning Iraq, Iran and North Korea. George Bush's horoscope (July 6, 1946; 7:26 am; New Haven, CT) reflects his current headstrong, militaristic attitude since Mars, the natural indicator for war and the military, is now powerfully activated.*

An astrological cross-current that helps shape the nature of Bush's agenda is the transit of nebulous Neptune that has just entered his Seventh House of open enemies, partners and allies. Neptune will be opposing his First House Mercury-Pluto conjunction from this position.

Bush's Mercury-Pluto combination is especially intrigued by espionage and intelligence. While many political astrologers have commented on this conjunction, few (if any) have mentioned that Mercury and Pluto oppose the asteroid Ceres in his Seventh House of partners. Ceres is associated with the parent-child relationship, and is known for its caring, nurturing principles. Vice President Cheney is clearly represented in Bush's horoscope by the asteroid Ceres.

Bush's Ceres happens to be exactly, to-the-minute conjunct Cheney's Aquarius Sun. Aside from being his political partner, Cheney can be seen then as George W's caretaker, his political manager, and a representative of his father's worldview, recalling that George Bush the elder once headed the CIA. Over the coming year transiting Neptune simultaneously hits Bush's Ceres and Cheney's Sun, and this development fosters their mutual interest in the twilight world of the intelligence community.

Homeland Insecurity

Last week the Bush Administration described a terrorist underworld hiding in the centers of large cities, and is proposing a $48 billion increase in Pentagon spending to combat the threat. Dramatically raising military spending at the expense of all other federal programs fits the new era the U.S. is now beginning, as reflected in the national horoscope's progressed Midheaven entering combative Aries (see NewsScope January 22, 2002). (Editor's note: WolfStar uses a Scorpio Rising chart for the United States.)

Many critics wonder if Bush's priorities serve a more nefarious agenda. Perhaps casting the world in simplistic moral standards of Good and Evil is a Machiavellian plot to grab power and make military pork. Probably the most difficult hurdle political astrologers must overcome is personal feelings for one party, a particular politician or a cause. Political bias filters all interpretations and forecasts, and distorts any technical mastery to see events objectively.

Bush may indeed be using the terrorist crisis to his political advantage, but before astrologers cite planetary evidence that Bush is removing the nation's Bill of Rights, have a look at transiting Uranus, now in late Aquarius. In the U.S. Scorpio Rising horoscope, the Moon is found in late Aquarius in the Fourth House of domestic security.

As transiting Uranus advances to conjoin the U.S. Moon, the likelihood of a sudden terrorist attack within the U.S. borders escalates. The Moon, symbolizing the people and their security needs, becomes anxious and high-strung under this Uranian influence. Over the next month we are likely to see some startling incidents that increase national insecurity, especially around February 24 when this aspect becomes exact.

Free Winona

"Free Winona" T-shirts are selling as fast as Los Angeles gift shop owner Billy Tsangares can print them. The tongue-in-cheek political campaign began December 12, the day actress Winona Ryder was arrested for shoplifting from a posh Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue store. Although Ryder was released on $20,000 bail, the Free Winona T-shirts have become an international craze.

Winona Ryder was born with her Sun in intense Scorpio and her Moon in sensitive Pisces (October 29, 1971; 11:00 am; Winona, MN), the same combination shared by Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. Unlike the First Ladies, Ryder was raised in a commune and had LSD guru Timothy Leary as her godfather, a radical parental background reflected by Uranus in her Tenth House.

Ryder's Moon in the emotionally divided sign of Pisces is further split by competing squares. The Moon squares the spiritual, seeking, and sometimes mind-expanding Jupiter-Neptune conjunction on the one hand, and controlled, mentally rigid Saturn in Gemini on the other. These divergent tendencies are reflected in her movie roles which range from depressed, angst-ridden Goths to proper, composed Edith Wharton debutantes.

The T-shirt promoter said the popularity of the Free Winona craze is an escape from the heavy terrorism messages. "This gives people an expression that is radical and at the same time meaningless," he explained. Ryder's progressed Midheaven is now exactly conjunct her Sun, reflecting her notoriety. Watch on March 1 when transiting Jupiter turns direct and forms a favorable trine to her Sun, perhaps freeing her by giving her a sense of meaningful existence, but most certainly, attracting widespread attention.

*According to the technique of secondary progressions. Bush's progressed Mars is squaring his Sun, and becomes exact on March 15, 2002. See NewsScope November 27, 2001 for more details.