NewsScope for June 11, 2002

The CIA Expands Its Mission

Last Thursday President Bush proposed the creation of a Cabinet post for homeland security, calling it "the biggest government restructuring plan since 1947." The new agency will absorb dozens of federal intelligence agencies, although the FBI and CIA would remain independent, and in charge of domestic and international intelligence respectively. NewsScope readers were prepared for the radical reformation of the spy services two weeks ago.

The year 1947 is significant since that's when the CIA was created, much to the chagrin of J. Edgar Hoover who wanted the FBI to handle foreign intelligence. The CIA (September 26, 1947; 10:10 am; Washington DC*) has Scorpio Rising with its ruling planet Pluto prominently placed near the Midheaven and conjunct Saturn. From this authoritarian position, the CIA discreetly asserts American power across the global village.

Scorpio is co-ruled by Mars, which is found in the Ninth House of foreign countries. Militant Mars is challenged by a square to the communications planet Mercury, located in the Twelfth House of secrets. This explains the CIA's mission: to gather secret information in foreign countries to further military objectives.

The CIA's inherent need to control and manipulate geopolitical developments often runs counter to humanitarian principles of freedom of expression, and is represented astrologically by the Saturn-Pluto conjunction opposed  to the Moon in egalitarian Aquarius. At the moment, the CIA is under a veil of inscrutability, as transiting Neptune is exactly squaring the Ascendant. We can expect (since the progressed Sun trines Mars) that as other intelligence agencies get swallowed up, the CIA will be greatly empowered over the next few months.

Atomic Age, Part Two

Last week, as tensions between India and Pakistan remained high, the global village's top diplomats urged calm and offered to mediate. The previous NewsScope framed the nuclear threat by looking into the Atomic Age horoscope, and since many readers responded with questions and comments, let's continue.

The primary indicator for the current situation is the progressed Midheaven conjunct Mars.** Progressions are a forecasting tool used by astrologers based on the formula that one day after birth is symbolically equivalent to one year after birth. The progressed Midheaven moves at the rate of one degree per year, and is now less than one degree from being exactly conjunct Mars, the planet governing military action.

Here's an example of how this technique has worked in the past. In 1961 the Atomic Age's progressed Sun was conjunct Pluto, an equally disastrous portent as the current situation. Tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States dramatically escalated on August 13, 1961 when the Berlin Wall went up. The U.S. put nuclear missiles in Turkey and the U.S.S.R. did the same in Cuba. A full blown nuclear war was narrowly averted in October 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Transiting Uranus will be squaring the Atomic Age Mars on October 7 and November 30 of this year, which could act as a celestial triggering device for the underlying tensions. Because the Atomic Age Mars is conjunct Israel's Sun and square the U.S. Moon, either of these countries could also be the location of some nuclear incident.

Jennifer Lopez's Juno Complex

Star watchers reported last week that actress-dancer Jennifer Lopez and her husband of nine months, Cris Judd, are now separated. J-Lo took up with Judd after her high profile romance with rapper P. Diddy Combs. Lopez has been married once before, but that relationship quickly fell apart after only two months, and ended in divorce a year later.

Jennifer Lopez was born with an energetic Sun-Mars conjunction in colorful Leo (July 24, 1970; NYC; time unknown), a robust combination given pizzazz by a favorable sextile to Uranus. Her Moon in fiery Aries underscores her drive to be the best, bestowing plenty of courage and an imposing personal presence. The downside tendency of this Aries-Leo blend is decidedly self-centered in personal relationships.

Venus, the love planet, is not badly placed in J-Lo's horoscope. Traditional astrologers would note that her Venus is trine Saturn, bringing stability and long-term commitment to her love affairs. However, astrologers who use Juno, the marriage asteroid, would see an entirely different picture. Juno is located in Taurus and forms hard aspects to Mars, Uranus and Pluto, guaranteeing that her commitments would be shaken by a variety of trying circumstances.

Transiting Pluto was inconjunct her Juno in 1997 when her first marriage ended. Then on Valentine's Day 2001 she left her troubled rapper friend as transiting Neptune squared her Juno. Currently transiting Chiron is hitting her Juno complex, ending yet another committed relationship. On August 1 Jupiter will enter Leo, promising to further elevate her rising star status. However, the astrologer who uses Juno in the charts wouldn't forecast love.

*The CIA was mandated under the National Security Act of July 26, 1947. The first director, Rear Admiral Roscoe Hellenkoetter, was sworn in at the time given here, and marks the official beginning of the CIA. Source: A Chronology of American Charts by Ronald Howland.

**Since the exact moment of this conjunction is central to making an accurate forecast, here's some technical information on the Atomic Age chart. The exact longitude and latitude of Trinity Site (Ground Zero) is 33n40'31" 106w28'29". The blast occurred at precisely 5:29:45 am; July 16, 1945. The Time Zone is MWT, which gives 14 degrees 46 minutes Cancer Rising, and 29 degrees 54 minutes Pisces at the Midheaven (Aries is intercepted in the Tenth House). The Sun is just below the horizon in the First House. Erroneous charts using different time zones place the Sun above the horizon and in the Twelfth House. This is demonstrably incorrect since first hand accounts clearly state that the blast occurred and then the Sun rose. For example Dr. Phillip Morrison said about the event, "Suddenly, not only was there a bright light but where we were, 10 miles away, there was the heat of the sun on our faces ...Then, only minutes later, the real sun rose and again you felt the same heat to the face from the sunrise. So we saw two sunrises." According to these numbers then, the Progressed Midheaven will be conjunct Mars on January 25, 2003.

Online classes and personal readings are available from Michael WolfStar.