Uranus went into Pisces on March 10. I was in Mexico then, visiting with my daughter Crystal and her family (as I was on September 11, 2001). The weather was warm in March, and on the sunny afternoon of the 10th we went walking in the beautiful, tree-filled village in which she lives, Coyoacan. (Frida Kahlo’s home is there, and I visited it with Crystal many years ago.) We wheeled her captivating son, Christopher, around in his stroller, and when he went to sleep we sat down in the park, in the shade of tall ash trees and with the fresh waters of the goddess in front of us in the form of a flowing fountain. We had a great talk, and wished that kind of peace, love, and beauty for everyone in the world. We felt very far from armed invasion.

As all of us on earth deserve to feel.

Although I had much better international and U.S. and information in Mexico than I get in the U.S., and although I discuss world affairs with Crystal’s family, so that the invasion was not far from our minds, nevertheless I was shocked to come home to a nation where the vibe was of almost unbearable tension.

I think it’s partly because, even though many support the U.S. invasion of Iraq, people know in their hearts that it is wrong, that they’ve been cowed into supporting an outlaw government. We feel inside that doom will come to the Middle East, to the U.S., and to the world, and that somehow, even though we feel helpless, we are participating in this action, and that we have responsibility for it. And that we can’t stop it, even those of us who want to put a brake on the killing machine.

Pushed by Pisces’ planets, we see now the climax of the Pluto-Saturn opposition in stark relief.

The weekend after I came home, March 15-16, Blair of England, Bush of the U.S., and Aznar of Spain, along with the Portuguese president, met on an Azore island, away from the protesting crowds which would mob any of them at home. On March 17, the Security Council refused to back the U.S.-UK Coalition of the Killing (which, as one wag said, would then become the Coalition of the Drilling and the Coalition of the Billing). That same day, Bush declared "war" on Iraq, with 48-hour notice. Less than two days later, the U.S. began its bombing of Baghdad.

During those days, from March 10-15, Sun in Pisces squared Pluto, and then squared Saturn. On March 16-18, Mercury in Pisces squared Pluto and Saturn. During this entire time, Pallas Athena, also in Pisces, squared Pluto and Saturn.

Pallas Athena is the strategist. She was the governor, sustainer, and protecter of ancient Athens. I often call her "General" Pallas because of her organizing and protecting abilities. I have been writing that Pallas in Pisces does not like confrontation. In Pisces, compassion is her major power tool. I wondered how she would react to this War Administration’s drive to show off its WMD’s, as they call them—weapons of mass destruction. Not well, obviously.

I’ve been writing about the momentous Pluto-Saturn opposition for almost two years, sometimes extensively. As I said in the Daily Success Guide for Monday, March 10, "This is the climax of the Pluto-Saturn opposition." That combination indicates structural transformation through struggle with opposing entities.

We have become sharply aware now of dualities, especially of what the press now calls "the two major world powers—the United States and the people of the world." Sagittarius and Gemini are both dual signs. So is their current challenger, Pisces.

On March 20, in the midst of bombs bursting, Sun entered the warrior sign of Aries to initiate the Spring Season. The bombing increased, and at the same time the Peace Movement really moved into action.

A week later, on March 27, after meeting with Tony Blair, GW emerged to say, "We are working together to make the world more peaceful." This odd-sounding phrase comes from "Newspeak," a special language straight from George Orwell’s novel 1984, where politicians purposely say the opposite of the truth.

I urge you to reread the March Daily Success Guide, beginning with Juno stationing on March 8, for a daily blow-by-blow planetary guide to these days. March 8 was also one of March’s special days of mobilization—International Women’s Day. I’m sure that Juno, the one-time Great Goddess, was out there mobilizing her women that day—and that her efforts will bear fruit in the future, perhaps when Juno turns direct at the end of June, which is her personal month.

The Quarter and Full Moons brought clear messages of the month’s energies.

On Monday, March 10, we had First Quarter Moon. I wrote, "Gemini now provides a path for the communication of our dreams and images. The hard-working Pluto-Saturn provides the means to manifest them. Moon now conjoins Saturn, which gives it persistence and drive, and Moon opposes powerhouse Pluto, agent of deep change. That combination is tough and tenacious, and can also be cruel and violent. Sun squares both Pluto and Saturn, as well as Moon. In other words, the powerful Pluto-Saturn combo is harnessed now to both Sun and Moon, who represent the dynamic core of life on earth."

I went on to talk about the meaning of the Pluto-Saturn opposition, and accompanying Bush Administration events. Then, I continued…

"Instrumental in catalyzing today’s action is the conjunction of this Quarter Moon (and Saturn) with the U.S. Mars AND with GW Bush’s North Node and his conjoining Uranus. Mars means U.S. aggression. GW’s North Node plus Uranus shows impulsive disruption coming from unconscious sources. It is also a destiny point."

The Sabian Symbol for that Moon at 21 Gemini means EMOTIONAL OUTBURST.

Reread all of the Full Moon for Tuesday March 18, which conjoined the malefic fixed star, Benetnash. This word means "hired mourners" in Arabic, and I have found this degree to be often associated with catastrophes. At the same time, Pallas Athena stars now, and "she realizes that we are all children of God/Goddess, and knows how to work for peace….Now we can solidify the movement for peace."

The Sabian Symbol image for this Full Moon is A BALDHEADED MAN WHO HAS SEIZED POWER.

I noted that both of the Sabian Symbols for the New Moon in Pisces, and the Full Moon in Virgo focused on the use of WILL. I noticed that many times during this period Bush said that what was needed was WILL, and that the U.S. had that will. Leo is especially the sign of will, and Bush’s ascendant, Mercury, Pluto, and Venus are in Leo.

Read Alex Miller-Mignone’s great article in this issue for a blow-by-blow account of that major week in relation to Black Holes.

Uranus beginning its journey through Pisces can be the key to a strong fight for peace, a Peace Revolution.

The other very special, and historical, sky configuration occurring now is Uranus freshly into Pisces squaring the Moon’s Nodes, as they complete their 18-month trip through the Gemini-Sagittarius polarity. This has not happened since the founding of the United States, and will not happen again in this century.

Nodes are destiny points, and this tells us that the happenings of this time, as Uranus enters Pisces for the first time in 84 years, will have consequences far into the future. This square is exact on March 29-30, but it lasts about one month, from March 10 until the Nodes enter Taurus-Scorpio on April 14-15.

This is a very very potent introduction for Uranus’ seven-year trip through Pisces. The zero points of these three mutable signs—Pisces, Gemini, and Sagittarius—provide a tremendous opportunity for spiritual breakthrough during this time. These are dual signs, and mutable, and we are now free to admit mistakes and to make new choices.

It appears that the people of the world may be breaking through to a resolve of working for "war no more," as fantastic as that seems in the light of recorded history.

Do you remember that in February, I said that the Full Moon in mid-February might bring us a turning point in regard to public opinion in support of peace? It did. Millions of war protesters came into the streets all over the world. Many consider that time to be the beginning of a new, deep, and widespread movement for peace. A major feature then was the Full Moon in Aquarius opposed to Transpluto, the energy of resurrection, at a point which is being squared by eclipses this year.

People have been demonstrating in the streets and at public places throughout the world ever since that Aquarian call to revolution.

In March, I wrote that March’s Full Moon could solidify the burgeoning peace movement, despite (or because of) the disastrous indications of that Moon. It did. The peace movement has a life of its own now. It will not go away. We can see that Uranus moving through Pisces is stirring up a people’s impetus for peace such as we have not yet seen.

There is much work to do to make a peaceful world a reality, but people now realize that it will be a struggle, that it will take years, and in fact have begun that work in many ways worldwide. Awareness of the need, the conflict ahead, and the possibilities is stronger in the rest of the world than it is in the United States. We have been blanketed with a veil of Neptunian denial for a number of years, and which thickened with the selection of GW Bush as the recognized leader of the United States. We have to grope our way out of the fog—made heavier by the current TV images—and catch up. It is vital for earth’s survival that we do, but I believe we will.

After all, the American colonies set an example in the 1770’s of a revolution against tyranny. A revolution which we probably couldn’t have won without the help of the French, those independent people who fought their own revolution against monarchy, and who gave us the Statue of Liberty. Now the rest of the world, including the French, is setting an example for us of reaching for a more humane world.

I urge you to read the book, The Fifth Sacred Thing, by Starhawk, reviewed in this issue of Daykeeper. Starhawk also shows us two starkly different choices for society, and she gives us models for living the choice for earth, love, and the welfare of humanity, the choice to recognize and honor the web of life.

I have seen Starhawk’s chart (in The Mountain Astrologer some years ago). And I just realized that she has two mutable grand crosses, both in her chart wheel and in her planets! No wonder that her work is so eminently appropriate for this great mutable crossroads time! We need positive images now. Starhawk provides them.