JANUARY 2006  

by Maya del Mar

As I sit here listening to the Judge Alito hearings, I feel that the most important issues are skipped or barely touched on. I listen to the Senators letting us know how well versed they are in certain fine points of law. I listen to the Judge being a master of evasion and denial. I have a sinking feeling that if—when—Judge Alito is appointed to the Supreme Court, our dysfunctional government will be locked in for many years to come.

This same day, January 10, is the fourth anniversary of the first load of prisoners brought to Guantanamo. We still don’t know the names of many of them. We still don’t know how many there are. What we do know is that they are being tortured, and that the government won’t let Human Rights organizations speak with prisoners. There have been many suicides, and currently a large group—nobody knows how many—are on a hunger strike, striking for better conditions of incarceration. Those strikers are also being tortured through their forced feeding with large tubes down their nasal passages.

At the same time this government is engaged in spying on its citizens, detaining and torturing people, not charged with any crime, for years, and has established that it’s OK for it to enter our homes at any time, confiscate what they wish, take us away, and deny us communication or counsel.

Juno has been prominent in all of the autumn charts, much of the time hanging right over Washington DC as a major transit occurred. For the last decade I have noticed that Juno in mundane charts always means the suffering and/or abuse of large groups of people. I often mention this Juno condition in my mundane chart descriptions, and that it definitely relates to the torture issue which is becoming more and more unpeeled.

Juno entered Gemini in mid-August, and has been spreading the news since then. At New Moon in Virgo, Juno squared both Uranus and the New Moon itself, waking us up to the situation. When powerful Pluto turned direct in September, Juno was sitting over Washington, squaring both Sun and Uranus.

When Sun entered Scorpio in October, Juno was exactly opposing Pluto. At New Moon in Scorpio on November 1, Juno was powerfully stationary, and still opposing Pluto. Juno conjoined the U.S. Mars at that time. Juno began to retrograde then, filled with that heavy Pluto-Mars energy, and Congress discussed the torture problem.

Republican Senator John McCain, who had been tortured by the Vietnamese, wrote a law “outlawing” torture by the U.S. military. It was passed by the U.S. Senate, although Dick Cheney begged them not to. However, it has enough loopholes that anyone can squeeze out of prosecution. Pres. Bush signed it, but along with it he wrote a “signing statement,” saying that the executive could supersede it whenever they deemed it necessary. During this time, Bush has had transiting Saturn on his own Pluto. Saturn has simply added its authority to Bush’s Plutonian lawlessness.

Later, Bush explained his signing statement with three principles:

1. I will do whatever is necessary to protect the American people.

2. The courts are a constitutionally limited arm of government.

3. We have a unitary presidency, which essentially means that there is no system of checks and balances, and that the President can decide things on his own.

Much of what I heard at the hearings today affirmed those revolutionary ideas, which are contrary to our government of law based on the historic Magna Carta.

The Magna Carta was a major constitutional charter forced on King John by the Barons in June 1215. The Barons were unhappy with John’s heavy taxations to finance wars, and also with their exclusion from government. It paved the way for a constitutional monarchy as well as for the constitutional government which we have in the U.S. Many rights, such as habeas corpus and jury trials, grew out of it. The charter recognized that Kings may be bound by laws enforceable by their subjects.

During all of January Juno is quincunx Jupiter. Jupiter refers to important people in large organizations, specifically to judges, generals, and rulers. Jupiter and Juno were the royal couple. Jupiter was quite the Romeo, and Juno was often angry with him. She felt mistreated and abused, and in fact Jupiter once hung her upside down from a tree. Jupiter was King of the Gods, and Juno often felt like a powerless victim. (Current example: Pres. Clinton has Jupiter (with Juno) in the first house of himself. Hillary has Juno in the seventh house of marriage.)

Juno-Jupiter means partnership. Here it relates to the prison commanders and their prisoners. It also relates to the top brass and all of the people, soldiers and civilian, who suffer and die under their commands. Jupiter-Juno also relates to the ruler and his/her subjects. Quincunx is a difficult relationship.

Juno turns direct with this month’s Cancer Full Moon on January 14. This moon conjoins the U.S. Mercury, the people’s perceptions. Juno also is associated with the weather, and we may see her anger expressed through inclement weather. Juno is still in Gemini, transiting the U.S. Descendant, which is the place where the nation meets others. The nation’s weather as it meets with others may not be pleasant.

This is the tip of the Juno iceberg. Another whole Juno subject is Juno in the U.S. natal chart, sitting in the 10th house with Saturn, the Administration, and looming over the nation.

Juno really wants civilized, egalitarian, harmonious relationships. We can make a special effort this year to move in that direction.