Maya del Mar's Daykeeper Journal: Alex Miller-Mignone

Is the USA careening toward global conflagration, with George W. Bush, the oil industry's front man, whipping the American war horse on to conflict? It certainly seems so.

A year after Bush's now-infamous "Axis of Evil" line in his first State of the Union speech, relations with two of the three-member axis have deteriorated to the point of crisis. Bombing in Iraq intensifies hourly, and American forces some 150,000 strong are moving toward full mobilization in the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and various European start points, while the North Korean nuclear situation has reached a critical point. Only Iran, the third member of Bush's axis, remains relatively quiet, although rumors of Russian aid in its nuclear programme are disquieting.

The Iraqi stand-off over allowing UN weapons inspections was resolved with the entrance of Hans Blix and his team onto Iraqi soil in December of 2002, backed by a firm UN resolution that the rogue nation, already enduring more than a decade of harsh economic sanctions and military reprisals since the first Gulf War of '91, would have to disarm or face military action by a UN coalition. Iraqi officials submitted a 12,000-page document purporting to prove that chemical, biological and nuclear weapons or weapons development programmes did not exist in the oil-rich desert nation, and Blix's team set out to prove the veracity or falsehood of these statements.

Matters remained relatively quiet until January 2003, when North Korea put its oar in by announcing its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and its development of nuclear power plants, whose spent fuel could be processed into weapons grade nuclear material.

Threatened by Bush's State of the Union rhetoric, isolated by the current administration's shut-down of the Clinton administration's talks, the North Korean government apparently has sought the cover of the American military build-up in the Middle East as a propitious moment for making their move on the chess board of international politics, reasoning, probably correctly, that the USA is incapable of operating two wars at once.

At the same time, in the third week of January, Bush's saber-rattling rhetoric over Iraq heated up considerably, and UN inspectors found the first evidence of Iraqi deception and non-compliance when they uncovered a "forgotten" cache of unarmed chemical warheads.

That these two crises should blossom and burgeon together is not surprising, considering that the astrological basis of the two conflicts is linked, and can be seen in an examination of the charts of George W. Bush, the USA, Iraq and North Korea. These charts emphasize some Deep Space anomalies, which on the international front typically indicate periods or events of global consequence.

In particular, Black Hole Nemesis at 13 Libra, already noted for its involvement in global terrorism (see article from the October 2002 Daykeeper Journal for further details); Black Hole Ereshkigal, already prominent this year with the transit Pluto conjunction (see also November 2002 article); and a Galactic Grand Cross of anomalies at 27-29 degrees of Cardinal Signs are activated by these charts.

Black Holes promote pervasive and sweeping changes in the status quo reality, a black-is-white, up-is-down dimensional shift which leaves nothing unchanged with which it comes in contact, and which drains resources and energy, impels dramatic transformation, and dissolves existing conditions in the twinkling of an eye, to reconstitute reality in wholly altered and unrecognizable patterns. Unpredictable, highly unstable, and indescribably powerful, Black Holes are liminal guardians providing access to parallel universes, alternate dimensions and opposed realities, many of which are unpleasant to say the least; they could be the touchstone to nuclear war or global conflict.

Of the three patterns activated, that constellating on Black Hole Nemesis at 13 Libra is most effective in tying the USA, its current President, and his "Axis of Evil" to one another (see Figure 1, Black Hole Nemesis with Bush, USA, and the "Axis of Evil").

The USA (7.4.1776, 4:50 PM LMT, Philadelphia, PA) sports Saturn at 14 Libra conjunct Nemesis, with its Sun at 13 Cancer in exact square; Bush's (7.6.1946, 7:26 AM EDT, New Haven, CT) Sun is also at 13 Cancer, reinforcing his fated effect, for good or ill, on the nation's future, while his Chiron/Moon conjunction at 15 and 16 Libra stands close beside.

North Korea's (9.1.1948, 12 PM JST, Pyongyang) Mercury/Neptune conjunction at 12 and 11 Libra conjoins, while its Pluto at 15 Leo is in sextile, and is itself conjunct Iraq's (7.14.1958, 5:00 AM BT, Baghdad) 14 Leo Mercury, in turn conjunct a volatile Maser at that same degree and sextile Nemesis. Iran (4.1.1979, 3:00 PM GMT, Tehran), not currently active in this impending conflict, joins the party with an 18 Libra Pluto broadly conjunct Nemesis, and an 11 Aries Sun opposed. [Note: all national birth data courtesy of Nicholas Campion's Book of World Horoscopes.]

The second pattern (see Figure 2, Black Hole Ereshkigal, with Bush Nodal T-Square, USA, Iraq, and North Korea), which might be considered the trigger mechanism for the set of circumstances and which can be pictured as a Galactic T-Square, involves Bush's Nodal Axis, the South Node of which at 20 Sagittarius conjoins Black Hole Ereshkigal at 19 Sagittarius, also opposed Bush's natal Uranus at 19 Gemini conjunct his North Node.

The USA ties to this with its Mars at 21 Gemini conjunct Bush's North Node/Uranus and opposed Ereshkigal, and its Neptune at 22 Virgo square the Bush Nodal Axis and Ereshkigal. North Korea's Sun at 19 Virgo exactly squares the Black Hole, and its 20 Sagittarius Jupiter conjoins it and Bush's South Node as well, while Iraq's retrograde Saturn at 20 Sagittarius also conjoins these points, and its Moon/Venus conjunction at 17 and 20 Gemini conjoins Bush's North Node and opposes Ereshkigal.

This pattern keyed on Ereshkigal sees the goddess, originally of Mesopotamian extraction, playing on her home turf, as it were, in the upcoming conflict with Iraq.

Please note the exact conjunction of both North Korea's Jupiter and Iraq's Saturn with Bush's South Node, the point of karmic undoing, but also a point where we bring much experience from former lives, and where we feel comfortable exercising our will and power.

Note also the diametrically opposed energies of the two planets involved, benefic Jupiter and malefic Saturn, and by attaching their owners to these energies we can easily imagine which of these nations the Bush administration gives the carrot, and which one it gives the stick. The same week in which we saw Bush issue the statement that "Time is running out on Saddam Hussein. He needs to disarm. I'm sick and tired of games and deception, and that's my view of timetables," vis-a-vis the suspected nascent Iraqi nuclear programme, saw him also comment on North Korea, which is known to possess at least two nuclear devices and which had just stated they were beginning to develop more, that his administration would not be blackmailed, but would consider increasing aid to the impoverished Communist state if they abandoned their nuclear programme.

The third pattern (see Figure 3, Galactic Grand Cross with Bush, USA, Iraq and North Korea), which is where most of the punch is and involves only the USA and Iraq, can be seen as a Galactic Grand Cross of points in late degrees of Cardinal Signs: Bush's MC/IC axis at 24 Aries and Libra straddling the Galactic Polarity of Black Holes Hades and Kore/Persephone at 24 and 27 Aries, and Black Hole Pele at 28 Libra; and a second, squared Galactic Polarity of Black Hole Kali at 28 Cancer, which Bush's Saturn conjoins from 26, opposed the Pulsars at 27 and 29 Capricorn, activated by the USA retrograde Pluto at 27 Capricorn.

The USA retrograde Mercury also conjoins this axis from 24 Cancer, while Iraq's Mars/South Node conjunction at 25 and 27 Aries conjoins Bush's MC and Black Holes Hades and Kore/Persephone, and its Jupiter/North Node conjunction of 22 and 27 Libra conjoins Bush's IC and Black Hole Pele.

Iraq's Sun at 21 Cancer, though normally too far out of orb with Black Hole Kali at 28 Cancer to be considered active in this pattern, is pulled inexorably into it by its conjunction with the USA's Mercury at 24 Cancer and Bush's Saturn at 26. Again, as with North Korea's Jupiter and Iraq's Saturn both conjunct Bush's South Node, impelling positive treatment for the one and negative treatment for the other, we see the elevation of warmonger Mars at Bush's MC and the denigration of benefic, diplomatic Jupiter at his IC.

These patterns are intricate and illuminating in and of themselves, but for the timing of events we must look to the transit sky. The week of January 12 proved significant, and revealed many developments in both North Korea and Iraq, commensurate with a high level of planetary activity highlighting the Galactic patterns described above.

Pluto in late minutes of 18 Sagittarius was rapidly approaching the first of its exact conjunctions with Black Hole Ereshkigal at 19 Sagittarius, igniting the Galactic T-Square whose opposition axis mirrors Bush's Nodes, while squaring North Korea's Sun and conjoining its Jupiter. (Note: as of January 23 and continuing through May 25, including a retrograde station on March 22, Pluto will be exactly conjunct the Black Hole.)

Additionally, transit Mars from 26 Scorpio through 1 Sagittarius was activating the USA Moon at 26 Aquarius by square, North Korea's Saturn at 29 Leo also by square, and passing directly over North Korea's 27 Scorpio Ascendant! Transit Uranus at 26 was exactly highlighting the USA Moon and closely squared North Korea's Ascendant, while transit Jupiter retrograded back over North Korea's natal Pluto at 15 Leo, conjoined the volatile Maser at 14 Leo.

The week began with a declaration by the North Koreans on Sunday 12 January that they had never had a nuclear weapons programme, repudiating the USA's contention from October that they had admitted to one, which had touched off the latest stalemate. On the 14th China offered to host talks between the USA and North Korea, and Bush indicated he might revive an aid package disseminating food and energy assistance to the impoverished and isolated Communist state if they abandoned their plans to reopen their nuclear facilities, denying that such an offer constituted a bribe to the North Koreans, nor acceding to nuclear blackmail from them.

On the 15th, North Korea indignantly rejected the USA's offer of assistance with conditions attached, and on the 18th the reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il made a rare public appearance at an air force base, indicating that his country was prepared to exercise "all options" in its defense. North Korea's posturing elicited repeated assurances from the Bush administration that they had no intention of engaging in military operations against them, but also that week South Korea's incoming President alleged that the USA had contemplated just such intervention the previous month as the situation deteriorated, an allegation that the White House hotly denied. On the 19th, Russia offered the North Koreans its own version of an aid package in return for abandoning their nuclear programmes.

Meanwhile, back in Baghdad, it was a week similarly fraught with stressful developments. In addition to the Pluto activation of the T-Square igniting both these spokes on the "Axis of Evil," the Galactic Grand Cross which details the relations between the USA and Iraq was receiving heavy hits. The Sun moving through late degrees of Capricorn aspected each of the four angles of that Cross and all the associated celestials by conjunction, square or opposition, including a conjunction with the USA Pluto at 27 Capricorn.

Transit Saturn retrograde at 23 Gemini was returning to conjoin the USA Mars at 21 Gemini and square the USA Neptune at 22 Virgo, while transit Neptune at 10 Aquarius the same day that Egyptian President Hosne Mubarak met with the Saudi king and agreed that diplomacy must be tried with Iraq, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan stated "I don't think we're there yet, so I don't want to talk about war."

On the 16th, UN weapons inspectors made a stunning discovery: 11 chemical warheads in "excellent condition," not loaded, and claimed to have been "forgotten" after the Gulf War. The warheads have a 12 mile range, and would be predominantly useful in a defensive posture. The transit Sun at 26 Capricorn was exactly opposed Bush's 26 Cancer Saturn and was just coming to conjoin the USA's natal Pluto at 27 Capricorn, squaring Iraq's Nodal Axis at 27 Libra/Aries and Black Hole Kore/Persephone at 27 Aries. A smug White House downplayed the importance of the discovery, and added fuel to the rumor that local Arab states were putting pressure on Hussein to resign and go into exile as a means of extinguishing the crisis.

On the 18th, with the transit Sun at 28 Capricorn and exactly igniting three arms of the Galactic Grand Cross, hundreds of thousands joined anti-war protests worldwide, including 30,000 in Washington, DC.

Events continued apace the following two weeks, as the Sun completed its activation of the Galactic Grand Cross and Pluto moved to 19 Sagittarius on 23 January, exactly highlighting Black Hole Ereshkigal and the Galactic T-Square pattern. The USA beat the war drums more loudly, declaring that all options short of conflict were exhausted, while China, Russia, France and Germany voiced serious opposition to the war, stating that diplomacy and inspections were working and should be given more time. Britain mobilized 25,000 troops and sent them east, while the USA one day opined its willingness to go it alone if need be, without UN sanction or allied cooperation, and the next, through Secretary of State Colin Powell, implied it would find no lack of support. Meanwhile local Arab leaders met in Turkey to discuss possible options for avoiding the impending conflict.

Speaking in Switzerland on the 26th, Secretary of State Colin Powell indicated that there was ample proof both of Iraq's involvement with terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda, and their possession of weapons of mass destruction, although details were unforthcoming, apparently not only to the American public at large, but also to the other powers involved, the UN General Assembly, and the members of the Security Council.

On the 27th, the inspectors' report was turned over to the UN Security Council, with plans to debate its findings on the 29th. Sandwiched between this came Bush's State of the Union address on the 28th, wherein Bush attempted to make the case against Iraq clearer to the American public, without the use of specifics, and alleged that Secretary of State Powell would be presenting the facts before the UN Security Council in due course. Ironically, when Bush first addressed the UN on Iraq, September 12, 2002, transit Mercury was at 13 Libra, conjunct Black Hole Nemesis and activating the "Axis of Evil," and the transit Sun at 19 Virgo was exactly square Black Hole Ereshkigal and square Bush's Nodal Axis.

In his report, Hans Blix, while recommending more time for further inspections, clearly indicated that Iraq had not yet "come to a genuine acceptance—even today—of the disarmament which is required of it," stating that it had failed to account for the whereabouts or prove the destruction of over 6500 chemical warheads, 100 tons of chemical agents, and undisclosed quantities of VX gas and anthrax which it was known to possess at the time of the last Gulf War. Also on the 27th a reluctant Turkish government agreed to the use of their bases by American and UN ground forces.

All this as Black Hole Ereshkigal tightened her grip on transit Pluto and set shockwaves shimmering throughout the etheric web that radiates along Bush's Nodal Axis and holds the destinies of at least three nations in its thrall. Transit Mercury, recently turned direct once more, had returned to 13 Capricorn for the date of the Inspectors' report and the State of the Union speech, from where it squared Black Hole Nemesis, lynchpin of the "Axis of Evil," and was inconjunct transit Jupiter retrograde a 13 Leo, itself conjunct a volatile Maser and sextile Nemesis.

That war is coming seems certain. How long or how devastating that war will be, what it will accomplish, and what the aftermath will look like, is impossible to say. Public support for the war (and Bush himself) has dwindled; an ABC News poll of January 28 shows 64% of the American people want more time for inspections, and although 61% support war eventually, should those inspections prove ineffective, only 44% feel we should act unilaterally, without UN sanction or Allied support.

But as we know, public opinion matters little in this democracy. For good or for ill, 'W' will have his way, and Dubya Dubya III may not be far off.