The phenomenon of Cindy Sheehan, the bereaved California Gold Star mother who has placed herself on George W. Bush’s Crawford, Texas doorstep, is an unmistakably American one. One lone citizen, calling to account the most powerful man in the world, is an image of American equality and egalitarianism of which the Founding Fathers would no doubt have approved, but which has tragically become less and less of the reality. Cindy Sheehan has become the conscience, not just of the President or the Administration, but of the people of America and the Congress which represents them, challenging each to confront his or her own culpability in the Iraq debacle.

Although Sheehan's protest against the war has grown almost daily since the loss of her son Casey on April 4, 2004, it was not until she left for Texas on August 6 to dog Dubya on his 5-week vacation that she became a national figure. That vigil was so impromptu, Sheehan and a few friends showed up without even a flashlight. “The first night, we just sat in lawn chairs and watched the stars,” she said. But in three weeks the movement has grown to encompass an entire settlement, Camp Casey, with tents, a chapel, and “Arlington West,” a representation of more than 500 crosses commemorating some of the soldiers who have fallen in Iraq. Candlelight commemorations and alternate Camp Caseys have sprung up in a dozen cities across the nation, echoing her protest.

Sheehan’s request is simple: she wants the Commander in Chief to talk to her, to explain what the “noble cause” was for which Casey Sheehan died. She has already had some face time with Mr. Bush, in the summer of 2004, when she reported a rather cavalier president who refused to look at pictures of her dead son, condescendingly called her “mom” and treated the meeting as a festive occasion. Sheehan, still in deep grief and taken aback by Bush’s demeanor, missed her opportunity to question him closely, and wants a second bite of the apple.

Additionally, circumstances on the ground have changed considerably since then—the Duelfer Report has shown conclusively that Iraq never had any weapons of mass destruction, no operative links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda have surfaced, and the release of the Downing Street memos has confirmed what many have long suspected—that the Administration knew the case for war was weak and cherry-picked or modified the evidence to support its predetermined policy.

In light of these facts, Sheehan wants Dubya to explain and justify his decisions, and is calling for an immediate withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.

And there’s no doubt, astrologically, that she’s the gal to do it.

Sheehan was born 10 July 1957. Her chart connections, and the connections of her son Casey's chart (29 May 1979), with the charts of both George Bush (7 July 1946) and the USA (4 July 1776), are dramatic.

Principal among them, and a necessary element for harnessing the power of our all-too-often somnolent press, is her 25 Cancer Mercury in tight conjunction with the nation’s own Mercury at 24 Cancer. Sheehan speaks for the people, more than 60% of whom now feel the war in Iraq was a mistake which has made us less safe, and only 36% of whom approve of the job Dubya is doing in the Oval Office. Bush’s Saturn lies close by at 26 Cancer, and these three points are all within the embrace of Black Hole Kali at 28 Cancer.

Sheehan’s voice of protest (her Mercury) is helping to erode the false image (Black Hole) of Bush as a “regular guy” and a genial cowboy, so carefully cultivated for the public (USA Mercury), and bringing home to roost his responsibility (Saturn) for the deaths of almost 2000 US servicemen and women and perhaps as many as 100,000 Iraqi civilians. The venue for this unmasking couldn’t be more perfect—Bush’s Crawford ranch, a stage prop purchased preparatory to his run for governor, in imitation of the rough ‘n’ ready image cultivated by Ronald Reagan’s handlers. Like the Great Communicator, our current knock-off is a drugstore cowboy, “all hat and no cattle,” with a solar-powered ranch that is conspicuously absent any horseflesh.

The battle royal is being fought stellium to stellium, with Bush’s Ascendant, Mercury and Pluto at 7, 9 & 10 Leo conjoined Sheehan’s Uranus, Venus and Mars at 6, 11 & 12 Leo, all of them focused on Black Hole Cernunnos at 9 Leo. In true Uranian style, Sheehan has certainly rattled Bush, who has been quoted by staffers as exploding, “I’m not meeting again with that goddamned bitch! She can go to hell as far as I’m concerned!” Early in her vigil, the most powerful man in the world blew by her roadside encampment at high speed on his way to a fundraiser, and later, as he prepared for a ride on his mountain bike, he explained to reporters that he sympathized with her grief but he “has to get on with his own life.”

The pressure became so intense that Bush interrupted his vacation for a publicity trip to Idaho, where he trotted out a pro-war mother whose five sons and husband have all served or are serving in Iraq. Her jingoistic patriotism sounds impressive at first, until one realizes she hasn’t actually lost a loved one to the conflict. Apparently the administration was unable to find a supportive mother among those whose sons have made the ultimate sacrifice.

We can see again the affect on Bush’s public image, his natal Mercury/Ascendant, which Sheehan’s Mars/Uranus is aggressively challenging, evoking the truer, bleaker image which the Black Hole has been shrouding and only disgorges with resentment. It was a new moon on August 4 at 12 Leo, exactly conjunct this Mars, which prompted Sheehan’s Texas invasion, also known as “the peaceful occupation of Crawford.” She just pulled on her hat and went, compelled by the activation of her aggressive Mars energy; after a year of speeches, emails and letters to the editor, she just had to DO something.

Sheehan also connects closely to the US chart at two other points. First, her 25 Virgo Jupiter stimulates the US Neptune at 22 Virgo, highlighting both the administration’s lies and the truth of the basis for the struggle—oil. Second, her 8 Sagittarius Saturn is an exact match for the US Ascendant, coming down hard on the Administration to be truthful and level with the American people, hardening its public face, and challenging it to accept its responsibility.

Other galactics enhance her mission. Sheehan’s 18 Cancer Sun presents her as the archetypal Mother, and is opposed Black Hole Hel at 19 Capricorn. Not a born activist, Sheehan only transmuted into that role after enduring her own private hell in the loss of her son, and it is common for Sun opposed Black Hole individuals to make their transformations due to an external catalyst brought on by the Other. Chiron at 15 Aquarius conjoins a Pulsar, which evokes information and is media-related. Sheehan has been very successful at transmitting her woundedness to the world community, as well as framing her protest to include Everyman, the American public, not just as her personal quest for answers.
Sheehan’s natal Neptune at 29 Libra exactly conjunct Black Hole Pele makes her a natural “bullshit detector,” as Neptune’s contact with the parallel dimensions and alternate realities associated with the black hole enables her to peel away the layers of deception and evoke an honest accounting of the Administration’s actions.

And what of Casey Sheehan, the unwitting catalyst of the most visible anti-war movement America has yet mustered in this conflict? His chart connections with Bush and the US are as startling as his mother’s.

Born with an exact Sun/Mercury conjunction at 7 Gemini, itself exactly conjoined a Maser, and with Chiron in close proximity at 11 Gemini, Casey is a natural healer. An Eagle Scout and church youth camp counselor, Casey, who may have had aspirations for the priesthood, was promised by his recruiter that he could serve as a chaplain’s assistant in the army. It was yet another lie.

But Masers also bring controversy and an almost disabling power, and in his death, if not in his life, that potential has been fulfilled. This solar stellium conjoins the USA Uranus at 8 Gemini, and has provided a major shock to the Administration, as is evidenced by the right-wing attack machine swinging into full throttle to smear Casey’s mother.

Casey’s Jupiter at 4 Leo also highlights Bush’s Ascendant/Mercury/Pluto stellium, and reinforces his mother’s Uranus/Venus/Mars, lending a high profile to the proceedings. His natal Saturn at 7 Virgo, conjunct Black Hole Tiamat, directly challenges Bush’s natal Mars, conjunct Black Hole Apsu at 9 Virgo, calling him to account (Saturn) not only for his own death, but for the swath of death and destruction (Mars) he has cut over the Iraqi landscape and the American psyche. Casey’s natal Neptune at 19 Sagittarius, conjunct Black Hole Ereshkigal, also conjoins Bush’s natal South Node, dragging him down further by highlighting the deceptions and lies the war was based on, and throwing Bush back onto his native defense mechanisms of bombast and petty counter-attack.

Perhaps most dramatically, Casey’s Pluto at 16 Libra confronts Dubya’s Chiron/Moon/Jupiter stellium at 15, 16 & 18 Libra, and Casey’s death (Pluto) is undercutting Bush’s popularity (Moon), his prestige (Jupiter) and his role as mentor (Chiron) to the nation. That Pluto also conjoins the nation’s Saturn at 14 Libra, representing the Chief Executive. The anti-war movement which Casey’s death has sparked could be an instrumental development in the impeachment and removal from office of George W. Bush.

On the day Casey died, 4 April 2004, transit Mars at 8 Gemini had just hit his natal Sun/Mercury conjunction, and was exactly conjoined the USA Uranus/Descendant, an apt image of the ambush of RPG and small arms fire that killed him. The transit Sun at 14 Aries was exactly opposed the nation’s Saturn, and supported by a trine from transit Neptune at 14 Libra. That day’s event (the transit Sun) would lead to the most powerful anti-war opposition to date for the nation’s Chief Executive (USA Saturn), and may yet call him to account for the lies and deception (Neptune) which have cost us so much blood and treasure.