J U N E   2 0 0 2   F E A T U R E   A R T I C L E

by Maya del Mar

On June 14, as strategist Pallas Athena turns retrograde, the Bush Administration plans to commence building a "test bed" for national missile defense at Ft. Greely, near Fairbanks, Alaska. This occurs between two eclipses, which together emphasize Pluto, Saturn, the Moon’s Nodes, and Mars and Vesta, who exactly conjoin the natal Sun of Donald Rumsfeld, as they conjoin one another in the heavens, on June 24.

Let alone that missiles couldn’t be tested at Ft. Greely because it’s inland, and debris would scatter over Alaska, there are no reasons that stand up under logical scrutiny for building this complex.

There are, in fact, no logical reasons for missile defense, and many reasons against it. Missiles are perhaps the last choice for would-be terrorists. And, in fact, building this threat only increases the odds of terrorist activity against the U.S., and reduces our security enormously—just as the U.S. lead in the proliferation of nuclear weapons has decreased world security.

In April 2000 a Countermeasures study group from the Union of Concerned Scientists and the MIT Security Studies Program concluded:

"Even the full National Missile Defense (NMD) system would not be effective against an attacker using countermeasures, and an attacker could deploy such countermeasures before even the first phase of the NMD system was operational. Consequently, it makes no sense to begin deployment."

The Administration has seized upon the September 11 crisis to promote this system—Star Wars—that even the military has been resisting for years.

Why? Because it is the dream of the U.S. government to dominate space—and the world—through weapons. Nuclear weapons. Thoughtful people agree that this is mad. But the "U.S. Space Vision for 2020" is now being set in motion in Alaska.

(At this point, please turn to the June 2001 Archives to read about the Star Wars vision.)

Who is in charge of the military? Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, who has been almost single-handedly promoting the Star Wars vision for at least 30 years, long before President Reagan gave his Star Wars speech in November 1982, at the Pluto-Saturn conjunction whose cycle is now in progress. Pallas Athena, strategist of defense, was on the U.S. midheaven then.

Donald Rumsfeld was born on July 9, 1932, in Chicago. He, like GW and like the United States, also has Sun in Cancer. Inventor Nicola Tesla, romance writer Barbara Cartland, and O.J. Simpson were also born on July 9. People born on this day can dream big dreams, and make them happen.

Rumsfeld’s Sun conjoins Pluto, the power urge. This gives him an obsession for control. Power is an ego thing for him. Cancer is a defensive sign—the crab needs a shell—and so total control of defense is Rumsfeld’s obsession.

Vesta shows where we center ourselves, and find security. Rumsfeld’s Vesta is at 19 Taurus, associated with money, land, and investments. Vesta will protect the homeland. The U.S. Vesta is also at 19 Taurus. Thus Rumsfeld is very much in tune with perceived security threats and needs in the U.S.

Both his Sun and Vesta connect with his Pallas Athena in Sagittarius. It is Pallas who has the savvy to create a defense system, and Vesta and Sun cooperate eagerly with her. Sagittarius is Jupiter’s sign, the Sky God. And thus the vision for defense is wide and high.

Sagittarius is also the sign of the U.S. Ascendant, so that the U.S., also a big player, identifies with Rumsfeld’s ideas of defense.

There is even more identification between the U.S. and Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld’s Virgo Moon conjoins the U.S. Neptune. This gives a very close mystical, psychic connection between the two. Emotions, ideals, and vision are all tied together.

Further, Rumsfeld has Mars in Gemini, as does the U.S. And even more, his Mars is squared by Neptune in Virgo, as is the U.S. Mars. (Virgo is the sign of "the services"—the military.)

Mars is the warrior. Connected with Neptune, Mars can be very psychic and intuitive, and draw in energy from other planes so that "magic" happens. But with the square, there is always the danger of illusion, delusion, and sabotage. Action can be motivated by high ideals, but it can also be motivated by madness.

The transformative Pluto-Saturn opposition, about which we’ve written so much, has been transiting Rumsfeld’s Pallas-Mars opposition. The exact opposition, on May 25, involved his Pallas, giving it power and grounding. Pluto will continue to add power to his Pallas through 2003.

Certainly, loosing such an arms race on a world already saturated with poison seems mad. And yet, the U.S. and Rumsfeld are like a lock and key, and it will take a strong fight for sanity and the preservation of life to stop this reckless adventure. (And Sagittarius can be the reckless adventurer.)

"If the U.S. is allowed to move the arms race into space, there will be no return," says Bruce Gagnon, of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. The Global Network can be reached at 352-337-9274. E-mail them at globalnet@mindspring.com, and check their website at http://www.space4peace.org.

See this month's article on the peace movement in Sri Lanka for another way to use visionary initiative.