NewsScope for February 12, 2002

Sherron Watkins, Whistleblower

Last week New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd described a gender schism in the Enron debacle: the men were electronic cowboys who cared most about inflating their assets, while the women were unearthing and deciphering the scam's complexity. One of the central female figures in the Enron escapade is Sherron Watkins who wrote the legendary memo to Kenneth Lay last August.

Watkins was born with a powerful Sun-Pluto conjunction in the workers' sign of Virgo (August 28, 1959; Tomball, TX; 10:30 am*). Adept at minutia, this Virgo worked for the Andersen accounting firm before joining Enron in 1993. Her Sun is also trine staid Saturn, which is comfortably placed in corporate Capricorn. This combination supported her ambitious climb to become an Enron Vice President, but just outside the exclusive boys' club of top executives.

Her Moon-Saturn opposition was aligned with last year's Summer Solstice Solar Eclipse, guaranteeing that her life's meticulously planned path was about to change dramatically. With a mentally sharp Mercury-Uranus conjunction, Watkins spotted major irregularities, and sent a warning to Kenneth Lay a few days after Jeffrey Skilling resigned as CEO.

Watkins' Chiron is tensely configured with precise, dynamic aspects to Jupiter and Mars. Here the astrologer can see an alternative label for Chiron, moving from "Wounded Healer" to "Whistleblower." Last week, as transiting Uranus was conjunct her Chiron, the House Energy and Commerce Committee revealed the contents of her August 22 letter, which said in part, "I am incredibly nervous that we will implode in a wave of accounting scandals."

The Awakening of the Goddess

At the insistence of First Lady Laura Bush and other American politicos, Afghanistan's new government must include at least a few women. From the outsiders' point of view, the Taliban were cruelly oppressive toward women as they enforced a divisive lifestyle that led to a horribly dysfunctional culture. The remedy seemed obvious, get women involved at the highest levels.

In the U.S. horoscope transiting Uranus is rapidly approaching a conjunction with the Moon, located in egalitarian Aquarius. This aspect becomes exact on February 24, but due to retrograde cycles, will also be conjunct the Moon on September 27 and December 10 of this year. In political astrology the Moon generally symbolizes the nation's people and their security needs, but can also represent the nation's women. (Editor's note: WolfStar uses a Scorpio Rising chart for the United States.)

As transiting Uranus approaches the U.S. Moon, we can expect a rise in nationalism since this Moon is found in the Fourth House of roots and the home. We can expect a great deal of emotional nervousness about security issues, as the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City so aptly reminds us. We may also expect that the people will demand that something be done to fix the dysfunctional corporate culture.

Last week transiting Venus and Ceres joined with Uranus in Aquarius to produce some gripping congressional hearings. On February 12 and 13 the transiting Sun, Moon and Uranus will be conjunct, and very near the U.S. Moon. These should be two days of spectacular surprises, not the least of which is Kenneth Lay's scheduled appearance before the Commerce Committee.

U2's Bono, Financial Expert

In an odd mix of radical chic and conservative politicians, rock star-activist Bono was the surprise hit last week at the annual World Economic Forum. After sharing the stage with Bill Gates to discuss AIDS prevention and debating U.S. Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill about debt relief for the world's poorest nations, Bono joined his rock group U2 as the main attraction for the Super Bowl's halftime show.

Bono was born with his Sun in mellow Taurus (May 10, 1960; Dublin, Ireland; time unknown) and closely trine to conservative Saturn in Capricorn. This combination instills patience, ambition and seriousness, qualities that have helped Bono study the problems of third world countries to the point where he is now widely regarded as a world-class expert.

Bono's Sun also squares Uranus, giving him a restless, defiant streak that makes the status quo unbearable and a personality that demands immediate and fundamental change. Taurus is naturally interested in financial matters, and with his Mercury and Venus in Taurus opposed to sensitive, empathetic Neptune, debt relief has become his personal crusade.

During the Super Bowl and World Economic Forum transiting Pluto was exactly trine Bono's Uranus, allowing a creative and far-reaching outlet for his revolutionary ideas, "not wildly and rebelliously, but with a clear plan in mind and a comprehensive view of the whole."** Bono warned that there could be "plenty more Afghanistans" if poverty is not tackled now. He will visit Africa in March with Paul O'Neill, one of the strangest partnerships imaginable, but potentially one of the most transformative.

*Many thanks to data sleuth and NewsScope orrespondent Justin Smith for tracking down Watkins' birth data which was relayed to him from Sherron's husband Rick.

**from Robert Hand's classic book Planets in Transit