The Celestial Wheel

Vedic Commentary


April 1 -- 30 , 2005

 

Doug Riemer
 Certified Vedic Astrologer
 Sedona, Arizona
 email
 VedicPredictiveAstrology.com

 



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April 28

      I frequently reference the Washington Post, not because I approve of its conservative tilt but because this orientation makes its reporting generally cautious and thereby hopefully reliable.  Today's front page confirms several predictions. 

     1)  The Economy Grows at Slowest Pace In Three Years reports first quarter results.  Saturn's earlier retrograde and Jupiter's ongoing retrograde in a weak house afflicted by Ketu are primary planetary influences.

     2)  GOP Cave-in reports on the House Republicans reversed recent ethics rules changes to allow Tom Delay to be investigated.  This is another signal G.W. Bush suffers from an excess of Kama (desire) over Kendra (power).

     3)  Tom Delay Is Likely to Be Found Culpable reflects his Sun (career) being exactly eclipsed in the April 8 Solar Eclipse.

     4)  Filibuster Vote Will Be Hard To Predict confirms the April 5 Celestial Wheel statement, ...expect several more weeks of jostling to little positive effect.  This can serve in a positive way in further hobbling the destructive U.S. neocon/evangelical agenda.  There's always hope.

     5)  Iraq's New Government Approved , to be fair, appears to run counter to the prediction that Iraq's democracy attempt fails, that Iraq is G.W. Bush's Great Misadventure.  Yet, this approval of cabinet members could very well bring a backlash from those who find their interests were compromised.

     Also in today's Washington Post, David Broder writes a compelling editorial, Paying a Price for Overreaching, stating, Having armed himself with an ambitious set of goals in order to energize his government, Bush has become the victim of overreach -- the one problem he and his advisers did not anticipate.  I predicted this about Bush, even using the term overreaching repeatedly, notably in the January 31 Celestial Wheel.  This type of thing happens often enough that I believe one or more Subscribers (whom I know only the name and e-mail address) are government spooks. 

     Over the past year, I've made significant improvements to better serve you Subscribers and consultation clients.  Highlights are: a new H.P. computer, a complete redesign of my website and forecasting, updated Vedic Astrology and Astrocartography software, password protecting Forecasts, inception of the Celestial Wheel and high speed internet access.  Today, I receive a new cell camera-phone, to enable capturing images relating to planetary karmas.  These enhancements reflect my almost completing Sadi Sati, the 7 1/2 year period when Saturn crosses the houses around the Moon -- transforming the life.  Saturn's technical quality, together with the Moon being my career planet, these improvements are naturally computer oriented.  (Now, if I could just get rid of the Spam.)   As Saturn is also duty and responsibility, the most practical of planets, it has brought these improved business tools, which will elevate career over time.  Saturn is also obviously encouraging my internet-based forecasting work  These are the only gains I've experienced, but I'm not discouraged because, while Saturn is slow, the achievements it brings are substantial and enduring.

     When an eclipse hits a planet (Like Tom Delay's Sun) its blocking effect is unavoidable and doesn't require confirming planetary influences to impact.  This results in a fixed karma  -- one that can't be avoided.  Here are some examples.  Sunday morning's Lunar Eclipse was almost exactly on my first house Ketu, bringing weird problems that could not be specifically anticipated.  This week, I made the mistake of asking a conspiracy theorist for the new proof he claims confirms his belief.  One should never do that, for the paranoid delusion for them is so compelling that they naturally go ballistic if asked for proof.  My tape recorder broke when doing an in-person consultation with a client bedeviled by a powerfully destructive Mars.  (Mars is machines.)  So, I had to hustle to buy a new tape recorder and then had to redo the reading.  This consultation was further disturbed by the client being tight-lipped when I redid the reading.  A credit card machine leasing company came out of nowhere to pursue me for a cancelled lease from 2000, and similarly a local bank suddenly decided I owed them several hundred dollars from an account closed in 1998!   I'm not alone, however.  A client in New Mexico, whose Mercury was eclipsed, reports in this week's testing, Today's group was nervous and distracted, exhibiting faulty thinking and making simple mistakes. You were correct in that I would be out of sorts the past few days. Good thing I have been practicing equanimity.  Another client, whose wealth-signifying Moon was eclipsed reports her credit card number was stolen.  Fortunately, I had advised her in advance of a financial loss, and hopefully this helped her to be alert and quickly cancel the card. 

     Send on any interesting eclipse experiences you've had, or witnessed.

     Clouds obscured the Lunar Eclipse here in Sedona, but for the next one, I'll have my camera phone.  Here's a beautiful multiple exposure image from NASA of the eclipsed Moon taken in British Columbia.

    

 

 

Copyright 1999-2005
Doug Riemer

 

(The research and composition for the Celestial Wheel is underwritten by paid subscribers. 

If you find the information is of value, please honor this work by subscribing.  

See the Forecasts page of VedicPredictiveAstrology.com.)

 

April 26

     The April 19 Celestial Wheel predicted,

     The upcoming April 24 lunar eclipse may bring some further economic turmoil, for the eclipse effects are fired up by Mars transiting into Aquarius then and also harmfully aspecting Jupiter.  This was discussed in the April 14 Celestial Wheel.  Because noticeable eclipse effects build and begin a week or so before the eclipse event and continue for a few more days following, expect more worried media coverage on the economy and world events in general.

     Yesterday's newspapers were quiet, but today's publications are chocked full of negative reports and editorial: Iraq failing to organize its government, privatizing Social Security, the judicial nominee filibuster, John Bolton's nomination to ambassador of the U.N., the Tom Delay scandal, Bush's failure to get Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to lower gas prices...

     Take a look at the lead article in today's Washington Post, Filibuster Rule Change Opposed, reporting on a new Washington Post-ABC News poll showing the public is increasingly rejecting Bush's neocon/evangelical agenda.

     These results reflect the difficult Mercury retrograde (March 20 to April 12), Venus combust the Sun and the blocking effect of eclipses (Sun April 8 and Moon April 24).  These planetary dispositions brought some of the problems and aggravated others.  As eclipses are also revealing (When an eclipse darkens the sky, the stars are revealed), clarity and perception of truth are emerging.  The media, for example, now sees that the Iraq insurgency is not retreating but rather has reorganized into fewer but larger and organized attacks bringing greater destruction and disruption, not less.

     As stated in the April 5 Celestial Wheel, ...expect several more weeks of jostling to little positive effect.  This can serve in a positive way in further hobbling the destructive U.S. neocon/evangelical agenda.  There's always hope.  As more and more people understand Bush's agenda is destructive and unsustainable, the possibility emerges that America may be able to minimize (although not completely dodge) an economic setback precipitated by an event on or around July 7.  See the April 2, 2005 In-depth Forecast, A Not So Far Horizon.

 

 

Copyright 1999-2005
Doug Riemer

 

(The research and composition for the Celestial Wheel is underwritten by paid subscribers. 

If you find the information is of value, please honor this work by subscribing.  

See the Forecasts page of VedicPredictiveAstrology.com.)

 

April 21

     The concept of the Second Gilded Age was articulated in the December 2, 2004 In-Depth Forecast, #58a and #58b The United States Through Its Planetary Cycles.  The astrological reasoning is the U.S. chart's rapacious and paranoid Moon during its first ten year cycle brought the 1880s Gilded Age.  The Moon cycle's repeating from 1999 to 2008 thereby brings a second Gilded Age.

     Perhaps because the U.S. cycles Forecast was very long, or the presidential election's aftermath discouraged interest, this Gilded Age concept didn't appear to either be relevant, nor catch on.  However, as the months passed, Gilded Age comparisons have surfaced in past and current writings. Here is a  chronological sampling, courtesy of Subscribers C.S. from Florida and S. J. from California.

October 15, 2000  Central Unitarian Church, New Gilded Age  

February 8, 2002  Common Dreams News Center, The New Gilded Age

October 20, 2002  The Unofficial Paul Krugman Webage, For Richer

March 1, 2004  Glocom Platform essay, President George Bush and the Gilded Age

April 17, 2005  N.Y. Times Magazine article, Unregulated Offensive

April 15, 2005  OpEd Letter, The Gilded Age Is Back In Vogue

     Further, when I searched on Google for New Gilded Age, an incredible 629,000 results came up!  I don't agree with all the articles.  My historical research identified the first Gilded Age as the decade of the 1880s, which Mark Twain intended when he coined the term at that time.  Some writers extend the first Gilded Age, continuing even up to the 1930s New Deal.  Others see Gilded Age private and governmental abuses arising soon after the Civil War's ending in 1965.

     This is a moot point, for there will always be varied interpretations of historical trends.  The sheer volume of New Gilded Age articles, and a recent resurgence in these, is the important trend  -- awareness is growing that America has returned to a period when privilege for an elite overwhelms democratic principles for the masses.  As Martha Stewart would say, It's a good thing.

     I periodically update the Forecasting Samples page on my website and have excerpted the  Moon 1999 -- 2008 section from the U.S. cycles Forecast to further publicize this important concept.

     It is no surprise that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has put on hold approving John Bolton's appointment as ambassador to the U.N.  I saw this coming but admit to being overly cautious in predicting this delay and likely failure to be approved.  Here's why.  First, as discussed in the February 21, 2005 In-Depth Forecast, #61 Kama & Kendra  -- Desire & Power, ...Bush does not now possess the Kendra (power) needed to impose his vision of expanding democracy upon the world, nor to force his domestic neoconservative self-proclaimed voter mandate.  So, this audacious nomination would naturally be resisted. Second, Bolton was born on November 20, 1948, and although the birth time is not known, on that day Venus was very weak for being either in its debilitated sign of Virgo or on the edge of the border between Virgo and Libra.  In either case, Ketu in transit harms Bolton's Venus, and thereby his career, just as I had predicted Prince Charles' (11/14/1948) Venusian wedding problems.  Ketu is particularly difficult in transit now for being stationary at about 29 degrees since early March, which continues until about May 10.  It's focused glare on one area increases Ketu's worldly harms.  Expect, then, that Bolton will continue to experience Senate approval problems for the next several weeks.  Also, since Bolton is running his seven year Ketu cycle, he may be rejected.  This is because Ketu is the past, and it's Bolton's past misdeeds that Ketu brings into the present to discredit him.

     In the March 18 Celestial Wheel, I wrote about Tom Delay, stating, I reference the February 6 In-depth Forecast, #60  The First Baby-boomers, in which House Majority Leader, Tom Delay (4/8/1947), was included as having the Rahu/Saturn Yoga.  Delay's birth time is unknown, but looking at chart with just the signs, it appears he truly is in the midst of a battle to save himself, and the next few weeks may result in his stepping down.  These First Baby-boomers have often powerful and long-lasting careers, but they are also plagued by misfortunes.  More specific for Delay, his warrior mentality (nicknameThe Hammer) is caused by Mars and the Sun conjunct in Pisces.  This is also the sign location for the recent Mercury retrograde and combust Venus that caused so many problems from March 20 to April 15.  Delay foolishly hammered-through the Shiavo end-of-life bill in the House exactly when Mercury turned retrograde on March 20.  He's suffered ongoing consequences of criticism and public rejection since for using his warrior energy in a foolish-Mercury way.  Even Delay's Rahu/Saturn Yoga toughness can't rescue him.  Also, that the April 8 Solar Eclipse was exactly on his Pisces Sun indicates professional downfall in government.

     Given that Bush's power is compromised and that he is overconfident, his nomination John Bolton to the U.N. and support Tom Delay are ineffectual.  He can't protect them.  Considering too that Bolton and Delay have problems in their own charts, both tend to fail now.  This, of course, would be a tremendous setback for the neocon/evangelical movement.  Growing awareness that this is indeed the United States' Second Gilded Age motivates and empowers the citizenry to further turn away from these men as they are symbolic of those material and religious excesses.

 

 

Copyright 1999-2005
Doug Riemer

 

(The research and composition for the Celestial Wheel is underwritten by paid subscribers. 

If you find the information is of value, please honor this work by subscribing.  

See the Forecasts page of VedicPredictiveAstrology.com.)

 

April 19

     Recent stock market softness and economic worry in the press reflects two factors.  (Today's Washington Post editorial The Dollar Danger, is a just one of a surge in concern.)  First, since Mercury regained forward motion, and the Sun and Venus are better disposed, mental clarity has recovered.  The press, government and the public have finished their drama over end-of-life issues and are refocusing upon more mundane and truly impactive financial and political issues.   Second, (restrictive) Saturn's resumption of forward motion March 26 dampens the economy.  Along with this, (wealthy) Jupiter remains weakly retrograde (until June 5) and has been under Ketu's glare since February 22.

     Moreover, economic weakness is expected as I stated in A Not So Far Horizon, It's the most basic astrology to predict the global economy will suffer sometime during Jupiter's year-long transit through Virgo ending September 28, 2005

     Economic softness this spring is thereby to be expected.  Also, while it is unknown when the inevitable economic correction (resulting from unsustainable U.S. fiscal and monetary policies) will occur, a A Not So Far Horizon predicted July 7 to signal an event disrupting the economy and ultimately harming real estate values.

     The upcoming April 24 lunar eclipse may bring some further economic turmoil, for the eclipse effects are fired up by Mars transiting into Aquarius then and also harmfully aspecting Jupiter.  This was discussed in the April 14 Celestial Wheel.  Because noticeable eclipse effects build and begin a week or so before the eclipse event and continue for a few more days following, expect more worried media coverage on the economy and world events in general.  Still, we're under the comparatively calm period that began April 15.  So, again, take advantage of the opportunity to organize and solidify your endeavors.

     The April 24 eclipse is penumbral, which means the Moon will be passing through the less dense outer portion of the earth's shadow, its penumbro.   This means the Moon will not be totally blocked but rather shaded during this astronomical event.  The illustration on the right shows the Moon just beginning to enter this out shadow region.

     It's always a challenge to determine when an eclipse occurs, primarily because of variable reporting on the beginning and the eclipse maximum. 

     In the April 10 Celestial Wheel, I suggested, the eclipse will occur at 4:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time at 10 degrees, 20 minutes Libra.  NASA has finally published specific time information to advise the eclipse will occur at 5 AM in the Eastern U.S. and 3 AM in the West.  (I believe NASA is quoting the eclipse maximum time.)  Information on where the eclipse can be seen remains sketchy, but a NASA map indicates that for the Western Hemisphere, the complete eclipse will be visible in western areas, and in the eastern areas, the eclipse will be partially seen as the Moon sets.  This eclipse will also be visible in Asia, but not in Europe.

     Here's a very cool image of the April 8 Solar Eclipse taken in the Virgin Islands.  Unfortunately, this eclipse was only visible in the Southeast U.S. and points south.

 

     The election of conservative Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope has been an fiercely emotional experience for the Cardinals and has a strong emotional component for the public as well.  This is because Mars has been aspecting the waxing Moon since Sunday.  Look for intense commentary to calm over the next few days.  It may not be until the Lunar Eclipse effects have eased off that a clear understanding of the new Pope's influence will be gained.   Also, consider that the Catholic Church, U.S. evangelicals and Islamic Fundamentalists are the three religious influences coming to clash with materialism in the still emerging process of globalization.  Thereby, the new Pope's traditional views will tend to further fuel controversy between these religious groups trying to hold back the future with traditional theocratic views.

 

 

Copyright 1999-2005
Doug Riemer

 

(The research and composition for the Celestial Wheel is underwritten by paid subscribers. 

If you find the information is of value, please honor this work by subscribing.  

See the Forecasts page of VedicPredictiveAstrology.com.)

 

April 14

     The end of Mercury retrograde on Tuesday, along with Venus and the Sun having transited out of their difficult Pisces positions into Aries (unafflicted), ushers in a more rational and grounded interval.  In the April 10 Celestial Wheel, I had indicated this would begin tomorrow, April 15, but it appears to be already upon us.  I suggest again taking advantage of this opportunity for clear sailing to remedy issues that arose during these past few difficult weeks.  This calm interval ends on the April 24 Lunar Eclipse, which coincides with Mars transiting into Aquarius, from which it harmfully aspects Jupiter.  These influences together suggest some turmoil then, and eclipse affects will continue for several days.

     I had written in the April 6 Celestial Wheel that, ...this Mercury retrograde not only affects world affairs, but it also has enlivened the conspiracy theorists -- which Sedona breeds like rabbits in the spring.  I wish to clarify any Mercury retrograde misunderstanding about my intention.  Sedona is an incubator of spiritual insights and techniques for enlightenment, and while few of these will survive the tests of time and public acceptance, all hold some truth to underpin validity.  My first Vedic teacher, the famous James Braha, taught me that spiritual insights elicit from Vedic charts in which some worldly strengths are taken away but corresponding spiritual benefits are given.  This sets up a belief in conspiracies -- that a clandestine power group (government or business) seeks to harm, rob or enslave the public (especially them) for their gain.  Because spiritual people typically have a tough time in the world, they use conspiracy theories to blame others for their difficulties in taking care of their worldly needs.  It is natural, then, perhaps inevitable, that spiritual folks gain insights from truths they perceive but then add in the conspiracy element to shift the blame for worldly lack from themselves to someone else.  This results in conspiracy theories, and this term is used simply in a descriptive mode.  No criticism is intended, even as there is a factual dereliction of the karma of personal reasonability for those (not all) conspiracy theorists who use this belief to blame others for their failures.

     Another aspect of spiritually-inspired conspiracy theories is that they relate to the U.S. chart, just as the paranoid evangelicals feel threatened by liberal views including sex topics like homosexuality and globalization -- they hate the U.N., for example, as restricting U.S. national autonomy. 

     As all Americans swim in the U.S.'s ocean of karma, which now brings the second Gilded Age, many individuals and groups throughout society succumb to their deepest doubts and suspicions, resorting to fear-based ideology in defense.  Of course, the fundamentalist evangelicals on the right clash with the spiritual liberals on the left, for each group believes the other's existence undermines their cultural/religious beliefs and thereby their lifestyles.  In the process, factual analysis falls to ideology.  While this karma of fear must continue to actualize during the U.S.'s ten year Moon cycle (1999- 2008), just being aware of the national propensity for paranoid ideology to overrule reality can open the doors of our self-imposed prisons of fear to emerge again into the light of clear insight supported by demonstrable facts.  Consider that the conspiracy recipe for both sides requires fear as its bonding agent.

    

     Here's a current application of the the above thesis.  Yesterday, there was a key vote in the House of Representatives to permanently repeal of the inheritance tax.  At the same time, the Senate is debating U.N. hating John Bolton's ambassador appointment to that organization. 

     The neoconservative/evangelical alliance effectively used the ideological concept that the inheritance tax is a fear-based death tax, preventing small businesses (and especially farms) from passing family enterprises to heirs. They conveniently omit, however, the fact that the inheritance tax levels the playing field for all Americans.  Shouldn't the farm worker and his children also have an opportunity to work hard and one day own a farm and not be excluded by wealthy heirs to farms?  It's also a fact the inheritance tax further prevents an aristocracy of wealth from emerging to dominate the middle class and the poor, which is antithetical to a democratic capitalist system -- providing opportunity for achievement to all.  A final fact is that the country simply cannot afford to lower taxes further for swimming in an ocean of endless deficits.

     John Bolton is the neocon choice for his antipathy toward the U.N., a perfect tool to tear down the organization.   Again, there's an ideological fear-driven belief, this time that the U.N. itself conspires against America by limiting its autonomy to create a world government.  Read David Brooks' editorial in the N. Y. Times defending Bolton, Loudly With A Big Stick.  It's a convincing U.S.A. First exposition. Again, the facts are ignored, notably that the U.N. is the world's sole international organization, the only vehicle which can address regional and global issues, and this work unavoidably requires some loss of national autonomy.  For example, in order to reduce air pollution, all nations must agree to reduce their polluting activities.  If they fail to do so because they fear a world government, then the entire globe suffers, including the U.S.  How many Americans have to suffer from lung disease before we're willing to stand together with the world?   Facts are also ignored in sneering criticisms of the U.N. in badly managing the Iraq oil for food program to the tune of perhaps 10 billion dollars.  The neocons conveniently ignore the fact that the U.S. cannot account for 8.5 billion in Iraq.  Nobody berates the U.S. government for the irresponsibility that caused that loss, which equates to $30 for every American.  I, for one, believe the U.S. government has a much greater duty to account to America for this huge loss than it does to force the U.N. to account for a comparable amount of money, which certainly isn't $30 out of my pocket.   It's always best to clean your own house before claiming your neighbors are slobs.

     In Vedic Astrology, successful interpretation absolutely requires paying attention to all the facts  -- from the chart's disposition to the reality of the client's experience  At one time I had a quote from an Indian astrologer on this topic, and paraphrase it here: Investigate thoroughly, examine fully and conclude carefully.

 

 

 

Copyright 1999-2005
Doug Riemer

 

(The research and composition for the Celestial Wheel is underwritten by paid subscribers. 

If you find the information is of value, please honor this work by subscribing.  

See the Forecasts page of VedicPredictiveAstrology.com.)

 

April 10

     Following the April 8 Solar Eclipse, the Sun and Venus proceed to transit across Rahu.  Venus has completed this crossing, and the Sun will do so as well on April 12, which is also the date Mercury ends its retrograde.  As Rahu is an eclipse point, Solar confidence and Venusian love and grace are compromised.  Relationship can be particularly trying.  Use particular care on April 12, for this is also Mars' day of the week.  While I stated in the April 15 Celestial Wheel, Too, there's a lunar eclipse April 24, and Mercury doesn't get out of its difficult position in Pisces until early May.  So, expect several more weeks of jostling to little positive effect, there will be a period of relative calm for the week beginning Friday, April 15.  Use this to your advantage to complete business issues, perhaps including income tax filing.

     The April 24 Lunar Eclipse will be at 4:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time at 10 degrees, 20 minutes Libra.  If you have any planets within a degree or so of this eclipse point, they will be blocked.  This eclipse will be visible in North America and many other parts of the world. 

     Provocatively, neither NASA nor the McDonald Observatory have yet published reports on this upcoming Lunar Eclipse.  There's always some confusion about when eclipses occur and where they are visible.

     Here's a time-lapse image of an earlier Lunar Eclipse.

     Jupiter in Virgo is opposite the Sun in Pisces now.  It rises at sunset and is visible all night long.  Because from our earthly perspective the Sun shines directly on Jupiter, it's disc is fully illuminated, making it the brightest object in the sky.  With a small telescope, even binoculars, you can easily see Jupiter's as a disc and can also spot its four major moons.

     Also astronomically, the crescent Moon will be passing through the Pleiades star cluster the next two evenings, which should be quite beautiful.

     Paul Volcker, for chairman of the Federal Reserve, has written a cogent article published in today's New York Times titled, An Economy On Thin Ice.  Volcker's article is not the first, but rather one of many written by savvy and alarmed economists that mirror the prediction in A Not So Far Horizon that, there's a planetary configuration this summer that may trigger an economic downturn.  The difference between these economists and my prediction is that I've given a date for its inception -- July 7.  The below excerpt summarizes Volcker's findings,

     So I think we are skating on increasingly thin ice. On the present trajectory, the deficits and imbalances will increase. At some point, the sense of confidence in capital markets that today so benignly supports the flow of funds to the United States and the growing world economy could fade. Then some event, or combination of events, could come along to disturb markets, with damaging volatility in both exchange markets and interest rates. We had a taste of that in the stagflation of the 1970s -- a volatile and depressed dollar, inflationary pressures, a sudden increase in interest rates and a couple of big recessions.

     The clear lesson I draw is that there is a high premium on doing what we can to minimize the risks and to ensure that there is time for orderly adjustment. I'm not suggesting anything unorthodox or arcane. What is required is a willingness to act now -- and next year, and the following year, and to act even when, on the surface, everything seems so placid and favorable.

     What I am talking about really boils down to the oldest lesson of economic policy: a strong sense of monetary and fiscal discipline. This is not a time for ideological intransigence and partisan posturing on the budget at the expense of the deficit rising still higher. Surely we would all be better off if other countries did their part. But their failures must not deflect us from what we can do, in our own self-interest.

 

 

Copyright 1999-2005
Doug Riemer

 

(The research and composition for the Celestial Wheel is underwritten by paid subscribers. 

If you find the information is of value, please honor this work by subscribing.  

See the Forecasts page of VedicPredictiveAstrology.com.)

 

April 7

     Today's Washington Post article, The Backlash Paradox, follows the secular/sectarian clash I've been predicting,

     Often a source of advancement throughout history, religion in its many forms has become a primary force of political backlash in the era of globalization. As social and economic change becomes more dramatic, intrusive and unpredictable, people seek out seemingly eternal certainties.

     In the March 14 Celestial Wheel, I had stated, Michael Jackson is guilty and will likely go to jail.  I predicted this in the December 13, 2003 In-depth Forecast, #37 Vedic Vignettes.  He's at greatest risk of a guilty verdict bringing imprisonment during a Mars subcycle from April 4 to June 1.  Apparently this trial will drag on for several more months, ending well after the Mars subcycle is completed.  However, the prediction for his being found guilty is unchanged.

     In the February 26 Celestial Wheel, I predicted Prince Charles' fallen Venus would bring further problems with his wedding.  The British press has recounted many bumps in this road, and Tina Brown in today's Washington Post article, From Caterpillar to Monarch Butterfly, reports, According to the Daily Mirror, when Prince Charles learned that the pope's funeral had been scheduled for the same day as his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles, he wailed, "Why me?"

     Astrology lore maintains the Catholic Church long suppressed astrology in Europe, resulting in Western Astrology being re-invented in the latter part of the nineteenth century.  (Fortunately, this book burning did not extend to India, and Vedic Astrology was unaffected.)  Yet, the Church also maintains occult traditions, most publicly in exorcism rites.  It cannot be a coincidence that the Pope's funeral tomorrow was selected for the solar eclipse.  Why?  As the Sun is the ego and the soul, when it's eclipsed, confidence is blocked and the soul is open to religion.  Selecting the solar eclipse for the funeral date appears to be a rather Machiavellian technique to further bind the members to the Church by imprinting upon them a powerful religious experience.

     I've noticed that this Mercury retrograde not only affects world affairs, but it also has enlivened the conspiracy theorists -- which Sedona breeds like rabbits in the spring.  This is to be expected, and it serves as an alert to how truly fouled up communications are.  My two favorite conspiracies are the death of microbiologists being a plot to use biological weapons to enslave the public and jet aircraft chem trails raining down experimental toxins, again to enslave the public.  Yet, I still don't have any customers for my chem trail hat, which shields the head from this poison from the sky.  It's also true that the authors of the wildly successful Left Behind books (on the evangelical's imminent Apocalypse ) all have life insurance.

     Don't forget you'll be able to see the partially blocked Sun in tomorrow's eclipse.  This was detailed in the March 28 Celestial Wheel.  It's often easy to see the eclipse shadow on a wall, other flat surface.

    

     While viewing a solar eclipse directly can harm the eyes, some may be able to safely see this late afternoon eclipse at sunset, when the blanket of air has dimmed the Sun.

 

 

Copyright 1999-2005
Doug Riemer

 

(The research and composition for the Celestial Wheel is underwritten by paid subscribers. 

If you find the information is of value, please honor this work by subscribing.  

See the Forecasts page of VedicPredictiveAstrology.com.)

 

April 5

     Thank you Subscriber B.R. in Arizona for pointing out the March 28 Celestial Wheel prediction for U.S. terrorism on April 3 was overly pessimistic.  The situation in the U.S. chart was transit Mars crossing birth chart Ketu (a combination for seething anger).  I didn't adequately weigh a protective aspect from transit Jupiter to Mars/Ketu.  I thereby replied to B.R. on March 29 that, I see I should have qualified "terrorism violence" by stating that U.S. interests  -- at home or abroad  -- are at risk.  It seems reasonable to expect a major attack on U.S. troops or facilities in Iraq, for example.  While the world's fixation on death was lurching from Terri Shiavo to the Pope, the media scarcely covered this major attack by terrorists on U.S. forces guarding Abu Ghraib prison.  The Washington Post reports today that forty four American soldiers were wounded in an attack  ...that represented a shift in tactics and that more attacks on U.S. installations would followZarqawi Said to Be Behind Iraq Raid. Assault on Abu Ghraib May Signal New Tactics.  

     Thomas Friedman's N.Y. Times article, It's a Flat World, After All, discusses how technological advances in broadband, computers and software have leveled the labor playing field -- flattening the earth.  While visiting India, Friedman quotes a leading information technology CEO, When all of these things suddenly came together around 2000, Nilekani said, they ''created a platform where intellectual work, intellectual capital, could be delivered from anywhere.  This harkens back to my September 30, 2003 In-depth Forecast, #27 A Technological Breakthrough.  I've been impatiently waiting for this major technological breakthrough and missed it because the change is an integration of three advances into a major new capability.  Too, this relates well to the April 2 Forecast, A Not So Far Horizon, in which I discussed again the breaking down of nation states through labor globalization over this double-decade era ending in 2020.  This was first suggested in the May 26, 2004 In-depth Forecast, #52  The Jupiter/Saturn Conjunction -- A New Twenty Year Era.

     Along with this trend, A Not So Far Horizon suggested that ...religion will clash with materialism in an event on July 7.  Consider the troubled neocon/evangelical alliance running the U.S., the Islamic fundamentalist movement's terrorist offensive and the death of the conservative Pope (whose Church has been wracked by Priest pedophilia).  It appears that there is indeed a brewing conflict between religions clinging to fundamentalism (or returning to it) to reassert their power and technology breaking down  borders.  While this is a global process, the Mideast would seem to be religious/materialism battleground -- control of its oil will determine whether theocracy or business controls the world and directs it evolution.

     Please note that in A Not So Far Horizon , I identified this July 7 event date as initiating Mideast transformation during the Rahu/Ketu sign transit through Pisces/Virgo from February 2005 to November 2006.  Also, while July 7 is the crunch day for planetary karmas, a major event could occur on or around that date, for sometimes the planetary karmas signal the decision; the action occurs later.  Further, like the labor transformation we now see in 2005 that was initiated by technological advances in 2000, we may not immediately, or even quickly, see early July 2005 as a turning point. 

    

     Mercury retrograde communications problems have eased off, for Mercury has retrograded over ten degrees past the Sun.  Still, with the upcoming solar eclipse on Friday, clarity will tend to be compromised. The earliest date for making sense out of current events will be April 12, when Mercury regains forward motion.  Public officials and the media will continue to be confused anyway, which blocks any real progress in understanding and dealing with these religious and material issues.  Too, there's a lunar eclipse April 24, and Mercury doesn't get out of its difficult position in Pisces until early May.  So, expect several more weeks of jostling to little positive effect.  This can serve in a positive way in further hobbling the destructive U.S. neocon/evangelical agenda.  There's always hope.

     The July 7 event date was determined in A Not So Far Horizon from the World Transit, U.S. and Iraq charts.  Subscriber S.J in California alerted me to G.W. Bush having several transit planets returning on his birth chart planets on his July 6 birthday, and thereby also on July 7.  When I checked Bush's chart, I found that five planets --  Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Venus -- are all returning in early July.  Below are the world transits and Bush's charts displaying these transit to birth chart relationships.

 

World Transits July 7, 2005

G.W. Bush

     It is most unusual, evening amazing, that Bush would have five planets in return, which doubles their influence.  And, waiting a few days more, until July 12, the transit Moon will return as well -- bringing the total to six.  The only planets not returning will be Mars, Rahu and Ketu, and these indicate a transformational event.  The only conclusion I can draw at this time is that this configuration suggests for Bush a rebirth of some sort. This could take many forms -- illness, bodily harm, downfall, failure or even renewed religious fervor.  Another possibility is his  father being harmed then.  In astrology, repetition of influences (called confluence) strengthens the karma.  So finding this great oddity in Bush's chart, which signifies some sort of transformation for him, gives confluence to the prediction for great change initiated in  early July.  

     Because sometimes in Mercury retrograde, things pop out, I discovered that not all computers have the Papyrus type that I've used as a highlight font since last spring.  For example, the type in the Celestial Wheel graphic is Papyrus embedded in the image, and everything to the right is in Papyrus.  If you don't have Papyrus, your computer likely defaulted to Times New Roman for this type on the right.  Accordingly, I added Tempus as a second type face to enable more computers to properly display my forecasting.  This is also true for my website.  If you don't have Papyrus, I've included it as an attachment which you can safely download.

 

 

 

 

Copyright 1999-2005
Doug Riemer

 

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