by Maya del Mar
DEC. 18, 2000. Sausalito, CA. LAST QUARTER MOON IN VIRGO. We sum up our whirlwind Sagittarian season, and release what we no longer need.
Election
In the strange U.S. election, we have released Al Gore, and realize that George Bush will be inaugurated the next President. This day of the Electoral College meeting makes it official.
The residue is a great deal of bitterness, sense of injustice, and realization that no government body, not even the Supreme Court, is above ruthless partisan politics. People are united in a common desire to reform the electoral system.
Mr. Bush has begun appointing his cabinet members. So far they are all experienced people with military and/or big oil connections. His National Security advisor, Condeleezza Rice, even has an oil tanker named after her.
Mr. Bush’s support of corporate greed is also now obvious, even going so far against common sense as to support a huge tax cut which will benefit primarily the wealthy. It is another step in the grand march of the transfer of public resources to the wealthy, which began with taking lands from the Indians. King Leopold, in the Congo (see book review), was an example of this process.
Powerful Pluto is moving along through expansive Sagittarius, perhaps overreaching as optimistic Jupiter travels with it.
Economy
Yet, as a very pro-business President is elected, many slowdowns and turndowns are announced in the economy. And this at Christmas season besides. A paradox.
Thanks to deregulation, the price of energy in California is shooting up like a skyrocket, and there are power brownouts—this in the winter when the state’s energy consumption is low. The Federal Energy Commission is offering solutions, but so far those solutions are not helping the consumer.
Global warming is finally becoming big on the general radar screen.
The USDA has released their new organic food standards, vastly improved from two years ago, due to massive public pressure. Virgo Moon has its say here.
Transpluto squaring Saturn in Taurus is now pushing for renewal in how we deal with energy, resources, and money.
International
In Israel Prime Minister Ehud Barak has been maneuvering to try to get a better mandate. Thanks to that maneuvering, Mr. Netanyahu has given up hope of becoming Prime Minister at this time. The election is set for Feb. 6, on the Leo Full Moon.
China is having its very first local elections today.
In honor of this Virgo last quarter, in Johannesburg 122 nations signed a treaty that will ban POP’s—"persistent organic pollutants." PCB’s, dioxins, and pesticides are examples. Greenpeace calls this acccord "the beginning of the end of toxic pollution." It will be signed in Stockholm in May. Will Mr. Bush sign it? Will the head-in-the-sand U.S. Senate ratify it? Stay alert on this issue, and let your President and Senators know how you feel when the time comes.
Politics never stops, and Sagittarius is a sign of politics.
Personal
I’m just writing away, which is exactly what I want to do. Sagittarius is also a sign of spreading the news. I’m still working on balancing it with health and family.
DEC. 13, 2000. Sausalito, CA. We’re in the orb of Full Moon in Gemini, where we illuminate with information our Sagittarian beliefs. Chiron, the Wounded Healer, is the star now.
Perhaps the major belief of the United States is a belief in the nation’s democracy. The U.S. calls itself the "oldest democracy," although in fact the democracy of Iceland, for one, is about 800 years older.
We also believe that the right to vote is fundamental in democracy, and that each person’s vote is important. Although again, the Constitution gave only white male landowners this right.
The information which we’ve been getting all month is lifting the veil on democracy in the United States. We are seeing what an archaic and inequitable system our entire electoral process is.
Another myth of the nation is that the Supreme Court is the final arbiter, above politics. The 5-4 judgment that came in from the Court last night to reverse the Florida Court decision to allow a recount is straight politics.
The 5 majority has over the years been an activist majority, moving the nation towards the dominance of states’ rights.
Now that they don’t like what the State Supreme Court of Florida is doing, they deny those rights—using confusing and labored reasoning.
The five-justice majority includes: Justice Thomas, whose wife is currently submitting resumes for a job in the prospective Bush Administration, and Justice Scalia, whose two sons work in Bush-supporting firms, one of them in the firm which argued Bush’s case before the Court.
Chief Justice Rehnquist is a known anti-minority activist. For instance, in Phoenix in 1962 he organized a Republican project called Operation Eagle Eye, where a "flying squad" of Republicans challenged minority voters at ten polling places in South Phoenix. Rehnquist himself was actually pushed out of polling places for his threatening behavior.
And finally, Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice Sandra O’Connor plan to retire within the next two years. They are both Republicans, and do not want a Democratic President to appoint their successors.
Pluto is now transiting the U.S. Sagittarian Ascendant. Pluto exposes secrets, hypocrisy, and false illusions. It also exposes the buried treasure. It sweeps away the outmoded, so that something more genuine can be born. First of all, it lets us know, in no uncertain terms, what isn’t working.
We see now the lack of some fundamental democratic requirements: equal enfranchisement of the citizenry, true political options, and power-sharing. Now that we see some of the false underpinnings of our basic national myths, we can begin the work of changing those conditions to build a much more solid base for democracy.
We do have buried treasure—the desire of many many people to have a voice in their government. And we do have Chiron, the Wounded Healer, working to heal the wounds of centuries.
This moment represents a tremendous opportunity for all of us—citizens—to work on bolstering democracy. We can no longer leave it to the government and the courts. We need to get together and speak up for our democratic rights. Apathy is our worst enemy.
Pluto, in fact, now conjoins Mercury, and awareness of where power lies, and who we are as a nation, is at an all-time high. Let us take advantage of this moment to begin real democratic reform.
I was in Mexico City during the Full Moon, visiting my daughter Crystal Pomeroy, and her husband, Fernando Ruiz. People there are suddenly filled with hope for the future. Pres. Fox has done much to get their confidence, including listening to the Zapatistas, who they—and I—consider to be the voice of indigenous and oppressed peoples throughout the world. At the same time Pres. Fox is a businessman, supported by businessmen, and his big challenge is to find a balance between the prevailing neoliberalism and valuing the dignity, rights, and needs of each individual. Temperamentally he may just be able to pull it off.
Incidentally, Mexico has created an excellent voting system—far more efficient and equitable than that in the U.S.
This Full Moon is historic, especially in terms of political activism, and all that is revealed now has consequences far into the future.
DEC. 5. Sausalito, CA. FIRST QUARTER MOON IN PISCES. First Quarter Moon is where we make breakthroughs on issues set in motion at New Moon. With Sagittarius and Pisces, the issues have worldwide import. With Pluto we express deep, perhaps hidden, power, and we deal with life and death.
Tops among four of the New Moon highlights which show action now are issues around the U.S. election. The presidential race is still undecided. Al Gore has received major setbacks from the Courts, but there are still important cases pending. At the Moon Quarter the powerful Supreme Court of the U.S. made history, not because of its judgment, but because it took on an election case in the first place, and publicized its transcripts in the second place. For the first time the public could hear the nine justices in action. A secret process was revealed.
Members of Congress went back to work. They returned from a three-week recess, during which they’ve had time to meditate on the Nov. Full Moon revelations, and began to talk about how to work in a more bipartisan fashion when the new Congress convenes in January. Political power is the bottom line.
Benjamin Netanyahu returned to Israel with the Quarter Moon. He had been in the U.S. drumming up support for the right wing in Israel. However, his visit was cut short by a huge protest in Berkeley, CA. Prime Minister Barak is planning new elections.
In the meantime, like here, the conflict in Israel-Palestine hardens. People are determined to push for justice—as they see it. Mars is still in Libra, and we’ll all be living for awhile with that powerful Mercury station at the end of Libra on Election Day. The final degrees of a sign mean that one is really pushed to accomplish that work, like facing a deadline.
In Libra that work is justice, and it is now a theme heard round the world. Mr. Netanyahu is a strong Libran. His idea of justice, like that of many Israelis, is shaped by centuries of persecution.
Vicente Fox brought in a huge breath of fresh air through his Inauguration as President of Mexico. He has opened dialog and connections with the Mexican people as well as with the business class which supports him, showing promise of building bridges between the poor and the rich.
Pres. Fox promised to revive indigenous rights in Chiapas, and within hours after his inauguration he made a number of overtures, including removing military roadblocks in Chiapas. For the first time since 1996 the Zapatistas have agreed to talk with the government.
The Zapatistas represent the worldwide indigenous cry for the right to live in peace and dignity on one’s land. Many American farmers have, in fact, the same struggle.
The Zapatista rebellion emerged in January 1994, as Saturn squared Pluto—autonomy vs. power.
Some of kind of resolution, or revelation, occurs when Saturn opposes Pluto. This happens soon—in August, September and October of 2001 and finally, in May 2002.
Watch for a rising tide of rebellion against injustice to show itself all over the world.
Another issue at the forefront at New Moon was the Hague conference on global warming, ultimately sabotaged by global corporations. At First Quarter an international conference on threats to the Arctic met in Johannesburg, South Africa. People hear about the starvation of the sled dogs, as salmon disappears. This, however, is the tip of the iceberg. All life in the Arctic is undergoing enormous degradation, thanks to toxic pesticides and industrial pollutants which do not disappear. In fact, they collect in the cold air, and there is now a haze of pollution in the once pristine arctic. Russia is considered to be one of the major contributors to the deadly contamination.
The Christmas Solar Eclipse moves across the Arctic, and the Summer Solstice Eclipse of June 2001 across Africa. That tells us that this information is extremely significant.
My Breakthrough
The signs I’ve talked about for this moon month—Sagittarius and Aquarius—are universal, concerned with all of society. They are my two major signs, and thus I’m paying attention to the world and concerned about our fate. This Quarter Moon is in Pisces, another universal sign and the sign of my Mercury. Thus my need to communicate my concerns is highlighted now.
My New Moon focus was my web site, as an instrument for sharing and for increasing understanding both for myself and among readers. Balancing that with family and health is my special challenge now.
At this Quarter I am doing more outreach in regard to the site, and receiving wonderful support.
I’m also honoring family, and health. For instance I’m visiting my daughter Crystal Pomeroy (see her beautiful New Moon Meditation) in Mexico City. And I’m working with adjusting my spinal alignment in a healthy manner while I spend much time sitting at the computer.
Nov. 27, 2000. Sausalito, CA. NEW MOON IN SAGITTARIUS. Election! Election! Election! Would you ever guess that Sagittarius is a sign of politics, law, courts, media, and promotion?
The job of Sagittarius is to spread the word, and we are seeing Sag in action—bigtime. The United States has Sagittarius rising, and this is the nation’s new start for the year.
We see the pattern—a divided nation, with divisions hardening.
King of the Gods Jupiter plays a vital role now. Jupiter is retrograde in Gemini, the sign of the Twins. With Jupiter retrograde, we are each focused on our own beliefs and closed to the beliefs of others.
All Sagittarian and Geminian affairs now have a "retrograde" feel. It’s hard to move ahead. We bring up situations from the past. We review old philosophies. We look at old information.
Power is the theme, for Pluto conjoins this New Moon in Sagittarius. Sagittarius and Gemini are both dual signs, so it works out with struggles for "balance of power" or "power balancing".
George Bush and Al Gore both were both born with Pluto transiting their Ascendants. Pluto in the heavens is now transiting the U.S. Ascendant, and they are the perfect pair to be engaged in a plutonic power struggle for ruling this nation.
It is an old dilemma.
Balance of powers was exactly the central problem in the establishment of the United States. The Founding Fathers engaged in countless bitter arguments over how to balance the strength of the Federal Government vs. the strengths of the States. Federal, Legislative, and Judicial branches also represent a balance of powers, another balance now being tested.
Resentment remained on both sides, and states’ rights was in fact a major cause of the Civil War. This disagreement about balance of powers has been a major impetus in the formation of political parties in the United States.
Another old divisive issue coming up now is the heritage of slavery, and again deep bitterness remains in the South. We are seeing now, in the disenfranchisement of people of color, how Civil War wounds are not healed.
The U.S. chart has two active planets in split personality Gemini—rebellious Uranus and assertive Mars. Duality is a national heritage. Perhaps that’s why we for so long have had two political parties.
And perhaps will continue to do so. The two-party system has also been an election issue.
At this New Moon Kathryn Harris certified Florida’s vote, and Gov. Bush announced his Presidency. However, the Supreme Court has yet to hear two challenges, one from each candidate, and the White House is not yet creating space for the President-elect.
No side is really winning.
Old, deep divisions
are showing up now throughout the world
Israelis and Palestinians have hardened their stances. Mr. Barak’s "middle road" is in trouble, and the rumors are that Benjamin Netanyahu or Ariel Sharon, both of whom are considered warhawks, may become Prime Minister of Israel.
Russia, under Pres. Putin, has returned to playing to its strengths, including standing up to the U.S. Palestinian leader Arafat has lost trust in the neutrality of the U.S., and has turned to asking other nations for help in re-establishing a peace initiative. At this New Moon Russia obliged and, in fact, arranged for Mr. Arafat and Mr. Barak to talk together, something they refused to do under U.S. sponsorship.
Also at this New Moon, Russia declared its unilateral breaking of the embargo on arms to Iran—contrary to U.S. leadership, and Russia is invited to attend the next Southeast Asian conference—and the U.S. is not.
But the biggest international news is the failure, at this New Moon in Sag, of the international conference on global warming at the Hague, called to establish tools to implement the (weak) Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse emissions. The United States is given credit for this failure.
Among the old deep splits expressed here is U.S. isolationism—the United States split off from the rest of the world. This seems to be happening.
Isolationism is no longer feasible—in simple survival terms—and those of us who feel connected to people everywhere have a special role to play now.
Reread the Sabian Symbol for 5 Sagittarius, and claim the wisdom and inner sight of the Owl.
Personal
For each of us it is time to re-evaluate our personal beliefs and philosophies. How can we best express them in our lives? Unsolved splits in our lives will also arise now, and we will have a year to work at finding the single truth behind those split drives, and supporting that truth.
This New Moon is in my fifth house, which is where we create our personalities. The fifth house includes children and self-expression of all kinds. I find myself split amongst my responsibilities to my work, my family, and my personal health. I am resolved to learn how to balance these priorities in my life.
go directly to Crystal's Moon Meditation
for the November 25 New Moon
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