 by Maya del Mar Friday October 11. Saturn turned retrograde early this morning. During the retrograde orb, late last night, Congress voted to give GW permission to strike Iraq. As someone said, it’s like giving a child a loaded gun. Venus turned retrograde yesterday morning in the middle degrees of Scorpio, perhaps the most powerful place in the zodiac. So now we have both Saturn and Venus headed for journeys into the depths of the past. Venus will travel inwards and backwards for 40 days, Saturn for more than four months. Retrograde times are good for preparing, and many are preparing for war. But others will step up their preparations for peace and for a better world. Saturn retrograde in Gemini stimulates the U.S. Mars. Saturn turned retrograde at the last degree of Gemini, at the end of its pass over the U.S. Mars. It was exactly conjunct Mars during the last week of June, and the first week of July, which means it was there during the birthdays of GW and the U.S., when their yearlong solar cycles began. That was when the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa took place—and U.S. corporations hijacked the sustainable development agenda. That was also when the ILWU (International Longshoremen Workers’ Union) contract expired. Both events relate to corporate world domination. This is what U.S. Mars is now fighting for. Saturn is now filled with that aggressive U.S. Mars energy, and must use it before it’s through Gemini. Saturn will turn direct over the U.S. Mars on February 22, a powerful position, and then move ahead, through with its current job in Gemini. Now Saturn is establishing the authority of the U.S. military (Mars). Gemini is an air sign, and the greatest U.S. military strength lies in the air. We can see that the purpose of the U.S. military is protecting U.S. corporations. In June, Saturn moves into Cancer, the U.S. Sun sign, and begins a new two-and-a-half-year phase of establishing authority, or backbone, in all Cancerian matters. In Cancer, Saturn can establish the authority of the U.S. itself. It’s telling that both GW and Sec. Of War Rumsfeld were born with their suns in Cancer. They are preparing us for that time. Gemini and Cancer are two of the major U.S.signs. History is always made when Saturn passes through those two signs, a five-year period which recurs every 29-30 years. Venus retrograde in Scorpio explores the roots of power. Venus is about desire—what we want. Venus in Scorpio wants power. So now, on this extraordinarily powerful Venus station, Bush gets what he wants. Now he can move unchecked to wield that power. Bush himself was born with the planet of power, Pluto, on his Leo Ascendant, that most personal place in the chart. Celestial Venus in Scorpio squared Bush’s Pluto on September 22-23, shooting compulsive desire to his urge to wield personal power. Those were the days when the German election supported Prime Minister Schroeder, based on his opposition to Bush’s war in Iraq, and Al Gore spoke out against Bush’s policies. Bush’s urge to power is fueled by challenge. For instance, he refused to congratulate Mr. Schroeder on his victory. Now it will travel over that spot again—twice more. As it travels retrograde, Venus will back up over that contact with George’s power on October 25-28. This is the time of year when the veil is thinnest, and spirits are abroad. What ancient spirits will be stirred up now? Venus turns direct on November 20-21, and then charges ahead for its final square with George’s Pluto on December 15. By then Venus will be a brilliant Morning Star, considered by the ancients as the Goddess of War. Are we seeing the total dominion of power in the guise of Might Makes Right, or are we seeing the beginning of the demise of that one-dimensional view? Probably both, for in any completion, the seeds of its destruction as well as of a new birth are always being planted—as at the Dark of the Moon period. Libra New Moon conjoins Black Hole Nemesis. Dark of the Moon. Indeed. The Libra New Moon which ushered in this period occurred on October 6 at 14 Libra. Peak dark of the moon hours on the Pacific Coast began after midnight on the sixth. During those hours I was racked by a complete—and uncomfortable—digestive catharsis, a plutonic purging. It felt like a direct reaction to this Libra Moon Cycle just beginning, and like a precursor of what it will bring us. At 3 a.m., one hour before exactness of the New Moon, I was lying in bed with this awareness of world catharsis. Suddenly I was overcome by a very strong vision. I saw the Earth in space, with the vibrations of this New Moon placing a black layer around it. The black layer was above and around the atmosphere, and about its thickness. It wrapped Earth in a black cocoon. Maybe the black layer represented Galactic Central sealing Earth off as we go through this dark period. This symbolism ties into retrograde Venus in Scorpio. To the Babylonians, the bright planet Venus was their Great Goddess, Inanna, who periodically descended to the depths of hell, divesting herself of ego attachments as she went. Inanna’s ancient home was in the land we now call Iraq. Inanna’s story of her descent into the chamber of horrors is the story of Venus retrograde. When Venus is retrograde, we face her dark side, the shadow, of Venus. In Scorpio this journey is extreme, and goes right to the core of darkness. We begin now this underground journey on a sendoff from New Moon conjoined Black Hole Nemesis, also a Babylonian goddess, and U.S. Saturn, which represents the U.S. Administration, These are the two principal players. Their theme is that U.S. authority will be called on its misuse of all the power which it has been given—perhaps brought to its knees. Each New Moon begins many cycles. A major one lasts three years. Special dates to watch as this cycle comes to fruition are:
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