The Celestial Wheel

A daily log of Vedic  insights  


August 2 -- 15, 2004

 

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



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August 15
    
This NOAA photo of Hurricane Charley was taken at about 3:45 PM on August 13, just after the eye of the storm passed over Cayo Costa Island, a nature preserve.  Top right in the photo, clouds obscure the famous vacation barrier islands of Sanibel, Captiva Island and Upper Captiva.  On the bottom left is Boca Grande pass, renowned for Tarpon fishing, especially for guests staying at the blue-blood Boca Grand Hotel on Gasparilla Island.  (George Bush Sr. stayed there after losing to Bill Clinton in 1992.)  News reports on what must be the most extensive damage from this, the hurricane's first landfall, come in slowly, which speaks to the isolated islands' vulnerable bridges and the tremendous damage delaying access.  For Myers and trailer-strewn Punta Gorda are outside the picture, far across Charlotte Harbor -- top left.  

     While this geography information may be of only casual interest to most, there's a Vedic Astrology lesson here.  

     Hurricanes are well known for being unpredictable, but Charley was remarkable for its fast speed over twenty miles per hour (three times what is typical) and its astonishing quick turn to the east.  I'm not acquainted with weather forecasting Vedic techniques, but violent Mars must play a role here.  With mental Mercury confusingly retrograde and backing close to Mars, Hurricane Charley moved like a pinball in the antique game machine at Gasparilla Island's singular restaurant, The Pink Elephant.  Similarly, world events and individual experiences are impelled by Mercury/Mars over-stimulated and angry yet muddled thinking.  Back in the seventies, The Pink Elephant featured stuffed Tarpon on the walls, native seafood and lusciously tangy key lime drinks.  Residents and visitors are likely taking solace and nourishment today at The Pink Elephant, giving the rational suggestion to take it easy during this irrational time. 

 

August 14
    
Hurricane Charley and other severe world events signal that the the challenging period from August 16 to September 5 has already begun.  Oil is now over $46 per barrel, for example.  That my arthritic knee (Mars) swelled painfully last evening is a personal signal of intensifying karmic conflict. 

     I stated in the August 10 Celestial wheel that, Mercury will have retrograded back to conjoin Mars August 16 through 18.  At that time, the Sun will have also transited into Leo, and the fast moving Moon will also be in Leo.  Expect some fireworks in government during this period, as all the government indicators  -- Leo and the Sun  -- will be activated.  On August 11, I spoke to the second part of this planetary intensity, You can see that Saturn is at the edge of this constellation.  It is now at twenty-seven degrees, and will leave Gemini September 5.  Saturn withholds its worst restrictions for the very end of its  2 1/2 year transit through each sign.  So, expect economic, military and political setbacks during this interval.

     This chart for August 16, 2004 shows the planetary dispositions bringing these trials.  The Sun, Mars, Mercury (retrograde), Jupiter and the Moon will all be in Leo, the sign of government.  Except for the fast moving Moon, these planets continue in Leo until Jupiter transits out on August 27.

     Shown in red type are aspects to Leo by malefics Rahu and Saturn.  With malefics Mars and the Sun also in Leo, all four of the destructive planets combine to challenge government, incite violence and harm the economy.

     Although Jupiter transiting 

out of Leo July 27 into Virgo will move the planet of fortune and wisdom away from this concentrated malefic barrage, Jupiter will be too weak at the edge of the sign to be of any compensatory help.  Also, from August 27 to September 5, restrictive Saturn will be finishing its transit out of Gemini, continuing to impose its iron will in the most karmically destructive way.  I also discussed this situation in the July 26 Forecast, #54 The Political Conventions.  

     These next few weeks until September 5 promise to bring-to-a-boil challenges (in all areas of endeavor and throughout the globe) that have been simmering in the karmic pot.  Because President Bush and his cronies are largely responsibility for creating this miasma, they must bear its consequences in public rejection.  By September 5, the karmic carpenters will have will have finished nailing down the lid on the neoconservative's sarcophagus. 

     Individually, we must all be affected, in one way or another.  Even if our charts are otherwise auspicious, escalating gas prices alone must alert us to the pervasiveness of this difficult, albeit temporary, cosmic storm.  While fear and worry may plague many, this is most essentially a time to be self-protective -- moderation and caution in all things.  Although Saturn is not the only enforcer here, its significations for responsibility suggest that its deity, Lord Shiva, will hold us held accountable for impetuous or otherwise risky actions from which, under calmer skies, we could escape unscathed.  But like Floridians rebuilding stronger and better after hurricane Charlie's flood waters recede, after September 5, we too can begin the task restoring our democracy and cooperating in the world to achieve peace and prosperity.

     

August 13
     Yesterday's log entries about hurricane and forest fire damage seem prescient.  Hurricane Charley came ashore today on the vacation barrier islands of Sannibel and Captiva.  I worked at South Seas Plantation on Captiva in 1975 and expect these fragile islands were heavily damaged.  In Shasta Lake, California, an 8,000 acre wildfire destroyed seventy homes.  

     Today is Friday the thirteenth.  Thanks J.C. in Sedona for this account on the origin of the myth.

     Friday the 13th is considered to be bad luck. For on a Friday the 13th, sometime back in the 1300’s, all the constables in France opened sealed instructions from their King – King Phillip the Just (talk about PR!). The King was in cahoots with the Pope. The Orders read seize all members of the Knights of Templar and their possessions (which were considerable – being the wealthiest order in Europe, having invented international banking and the credit card). The condemned Knights were to be turned over to the Holy Inquisition for the standard questioning, torture and burning at the stake.

     A small group of Knights managed to escape, load their ship with a portion of their treasure and land in Scotland, where they were taken in by Robert the Bruce, who at the time was ex-communicated from the Church because he wouldn’t turn Scotland over to England. (The aforementioned Robert the Bruce was in truth NOTHING like the fwop portrayed in Braveheart.) The Templars, according to some traditions, resurfaced in Scotland as the Scottish Rite of the Freemasons, and as such had much to do with the founding of America and the framing of the constitution.)

August 12
  
 
I spent a quarter century on Florida's west coast, all on barrier islands from Fort Myers to Sarasota.  Each year, hurricanes rolled into the Gulf of Mexico.  Sometimes too unexpected tropical storms would awaken us with hundred mile per hour winds and flooding downpours - the typical trappings of destructive behemoths we denied for their destructive fury.  I joked it was God's summer bowling season, and more than once foolishly sailed my catamaran in ten foot seas.  In 1992 Hurricane Andrew changed everything when it blasted Miami, and hopefully Florida is better prepared now with two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.

     Yet, when after seven years in Arizona's desert I visited Sarasota's islands last February, I saw only more beachfront building and front page stories touting escalating real estate prices.  The Longboat Key home I sold in 1987 for $180,000 had a for sale sign out front with a price of $769,000!  Of course, only federally subsidized flood insurance protected the property, and that was either delusion or plain stupidity.  Greenbacks are no replacement for realistic land planning.  Insurance payouts not prevent drowning.

     The saying, No tree grows to the sky came to mind when the Realtor, disingenuous Midwest retirees in tow, let me walk through the home.  Amazingly, nothing much had changed in the house, except of course, for the requirement to be a millionaire with big tax refunds.

    I left Longboat Key in 1997, a successful escape from the inevitable monster hurricane.  But in Sedona, I soon realized I had only switched from watery hurricane threat to the peril of fires in forests tinder-dry from long term drought.  Like in Florida, overbuilding and shortsighted federal policies threaten property and lives here; and like Hurricane Andrew, the West has had its share of warnings in raging forest fires.  The common thread for both areas is personal greed, of course, and a failure of personal responsibility.

     While no one wishes for a monumental natural disaster to punish the hubris Floridians and Arizonans share, this Maya must be revealed for its illusion, or better yet, the delusion, it represents.  Perhaps another big Florida hurricane or massive Arizona forest fire will be necessary to jolt us from our materialistic dreaming.  Perhaps too, another major terrorist attack, collapse of Iraq and/or oil shortfall will shock us into piercing the Maya of our national hubris.  

     Yet, we have a choice.  We do have free will.  We can take these cues of East and West natural disasters and act to reverse course; similarly, we can heed the signals of failed national policies to perceive and act with sensible humility.  The next few months are hazardous for rolling the dice on overdue hurricanes, forest fires and the consequences of our national policies.  It's time to step away from the craps table and act as spiritual citizens, for there is no longer any cloudiness in the crystal ball of reality revealing our mistakes in delegating to government our personal responsibilities.

 

August 11
     Tonight begins the annual Perseid meteor shower.  This evening, look up after sunset.  At that time, the earth will be entering the meteor-causing comet remnants at a ninety degree angle.  This makes the meteors skim the atmosphere.  These earthgrazers are often visible for up to three or four seconds.  On Thursday evening, the earth will plow through the main Comet Swift-Tuttle debris area dead on.  So the meteors will be directly overhead.  Before dawn is the best time.   (Note:  These observation tips are only good for North America.) 

     Unlike last year, the Moon is dim for this year's Perseid meteor shower, and this darkened sky will reveal many more meteors.  Also note on the map below that the Moon, Venus and Saturn will be conjunct in Gemini.  You can see that Saturn is at the edge of this constellation.  It is now at twenty-seven degrees, and will leave Gemini September 5.  Saturn withholds its worst restrictions for the very end of its  2 1/2 year transit through each sign.  So, expect economic, military and political setbacks during this interval.

 

see caption

 

August 10
    
Today Mercury begins is confusing semi-annual retrograde, which continues until September 3.  Because Mercury is conjunct both Jupiter and Mars in Leo, mental activity is both enhanced by Jupiter's wisdom and philosophy and driven hard by Mars' ambition and ruthlessness.  (Mars also sensitizes Mercury's nervous system.)  Ultimately, this results in a lot of scheming and jockeying for advantage, and care should be used in evaluating what you hear in the media and in business arrangements, as well as communications in general.  

     Here's an example, from today's Washington Post editorial page about college tuition costs entitled Tuition Sticker Shock.  The lead-in is classic Mercury retrograde, LISTENING TO presidential campaign rhetoric, it sometimes seems as if the candidates are offering not merely alternate policies but alternate descriptions of reality.  Rarely is this truer than when Sen. John F. Kerry and President Bush talk about the costs of college tuition.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/articles/A52967-2004Aug9.html   While both George Bush and John Kerry suffer afflictions to Mercury in their charts, on balance, Bush is and will have a much tougher time in being clear and convincing.  Bush will also make further blunders and gaffs, such as his latest proposal to privatize social security; if Kerry is paying attention, he'll make the counter argument that when the people put moneys intended for social security into private savings accounts, this will rob the system of the moneys needed for social security payments to the swelling ranks of elderly Americans.  The Mideast and related terrorism will be similarly fraught with misguided and ill conceived strategies

     Mercury will have retrograded back to conjoin Mars August 16 through 18.  At that time, the Sun will have also transited into Leo, and the fast moving Moon will also be in Leo.  Expect some fireworks in government during this period, as all the government indicators  -- Leo and the Sun  -- will be activated.

     There are some simple Ayurvedic techniques you can use to help turn Mercury's inward focus retrograde outward and alleviate Mars' selfishness.  

     Mercury’s color is green.  Spending time in a lush tropical environment, keeping plants in the home and even sitting under a green light is supportive.  Mercury likes light neutral shades, especially greens and blues, although earth tones are good as well.

     Good herbs are Passion Flower, Chamomile, Mint, Sage and especially Basil.  Oils and aromas for Mercury include Mint, Wintergreen, Eucalyptus, Cedar, Thyme and Sage, for these clear and open the mind.  Sandalwood oil is effective in calming the mind.

     Mercury’s energy is increased by spiritual teachings emphasizing reason, discrim- ination, clear expression and objective perception.  Reading, studying, writing and thinking are supportive activities.  Philosophical studies are particularly good, as are courses and seminars.  The person should cultivate awareness of the world and strive to increase communicative powers.  Yet, it is vital to take time out for rest and relaxation, especially when feeling stressed.

 

 

August 9
    
Last evening, I drove to Flagstaff to attend John Kerry's rally.  The Moon was in its exalted sign of Taurus, where his birthchart Moon is placed (exalted), which both energized and elevated Kerry's perceptional mind.  Because Kerry's Mars is in Taurus as well, he has an inherently hard-hitting disposition, and the added glow of an exalted Moon brought an excited warmth to his presentation.  Crowds along his railway trip delayed Kerry's Flagstaff appearance over two hours, which again speaks to the Moon's strength, for this is the planet of the public, carrying and nurturing.  Despite the delay, it was worth the wait, and I was impressed with Kerry's ability to project, his effective grasp of the issues and a wonderfully positive outlook.

     There remains a question as to whether Kerry was born at 7:10 AM or  at 8:03 AM (sunrise) in Denver, as reported by his mother.  (Note:  because the mother is busy giving birth, she is the least reliable birth time source.)  My primary reason for attending the rally was to again verify the more fitting 7:10 AM time as correct.   8:03 would give Kerry planetary cycles of Mercury/Mercury/Mars, and 7:10 gives Mercury/Mercury/Sun.  While Mars and the Sun are similar in some ways, Mars in Kerry's chart overly stimulates and hardens the placid Moon.  On the other hand, the Sun is Kerry's planet of the public, government and power, all of which I felt last evening.  7:10 AM, then, seems to fit.  This is auspicious for Kerry's election prospects, and the specifics for this will be discussed in a later forecast effort.

     Coincidentally, yesterday morning I received the following e-mail from www.metalyifecycles.com  Although I don't know who this is, it stimulated my attending the rally and is additional confirmation that the 7:10 AM time is correct.

 

Senator John F. Kerry's Time of Birth
 
There have recently been suggestions that Senator John F. Kerry's time of birth is not the 7:10 a.m. MWT that has been historically used, rather that it is 8:03 a.m. MWT.
 
A Meta Life Cycles Natal Finder scan has been performed for Senator Kerry with the very clear result that the 8:03 a.m. MWT time is not correct.
 
Kerry's Natal Finder scan* gives 7:14 a.m. MWT, very close to the 7:10 a.m. MWT time.
 
 

 

 

 

August 8
    
Today's New York Times article, Sensing the Eyes of Big Brother, and Pushing back, reports on both liberals and conservatives in Tumwater, Washington joining to condemn the Patriot Act.  The City Counsil resolution forbids city employees from enforcing provisions that violate the Constitution. http://www. nytimes.com/2004/08/08/national/08patriot.html   While there have been numerous reports in recent years about municipal objections to the Patriot Act (Tumwater joins 330 towns and cities on record), the issue is heating up again.  

     The debate on renewing the Act is an obvious catalyst.  However, something else is going on.  People are powerless to do anything about government terrorist threat reports, which are escalated once again.  We are frustrated in our inability to protect ourselves through personal efforts or via local government.  Adding multiple investigations revealing intelligence mistakes (and failures to use intelligence information correctly) turns the frustration into distrust of the federal government.  Basically, there's a perception of being cornered by Bush's fear-based patriotism. 

     It would be great if I were able to report harmonious planetary dispositions, for we naturally and inevitably weary of frustration and the growing resentment of feeling powerless and cornered against our will.  However, the planets continue to stir up controversy, and fortunately the November 2 election is now less than three months away.  While everyone should do their duty, each of us has own own way, just as the Hindus say that all paths lead to God.  As it is also true that power ultimately resides with the people, and like the folks in Tumwater, I too felt an imperative to do what I could to object.

     Below is my August 2 Letter to the Editor to Sedona's local paper, The Red Rock News. 

Dear Editor,
 
     I received today my six month Post Office Box renewal notice at the West Sedona branch.  Although not included for the past few renewals, the notice requires that I again furnish two forms of identification and sign a form (oath) with my renewal payment.
 
     When I asked at the counter to see the regulation requiring this further government intrusion, I was first told to call the Postmaster.  I was also told that the woman serving me couldn't give me the regulation because this was her first day.  I guess they don't do full formal training, choosing instead to have clerks learn their jobs at customer expense.
 
     Upon asking again to see the regulation, I was asked to step aside and wait.  I declined but within ten seconds was pushed aside by another customer.  I gave up and left the branch.  I then called the main post office, but Laura told me the Postmaster is on vacation for a week, and he didn't delegate his responsibilities to anyone.  When I pressed her, Laura said the Postmaster issued the new regulation on renewals verbally based upon the general regulation of requiring identification for customers renting mail boxes.  When I asked if the Postmaster could just make up whatever regulation he wanted without documentation, Laura told me that Phoenix had approved this policy.  When I asked Laura for a copy of that approval, Laura told me she didn't know where the e-mail was.  When I objected that customer privacy policies cannot just be created without some documentation, Laura told me I should get my mail elsewhere.
 
     It seems the autocracy of the Bush administration has finally leached into our local post office.  I'm complaining that government is to serve the people, not to herd them like cows by cattle-prodding them with fear of terrorist attack and abusing their authority in the name of national security. 

      While I thought afterwards that this effort was a waste of time, I happened to discuss the issue with a Sedona new-ager the next day while waiting in line to deliver a copy of my objection to the post office.  He, of course, immediately agreed with me, showing me another intrusive form the postmaster required he fill out for his little business of publishing poetry.  I was impressed, however, that a grizzled old Arizona cowboy standing next to us joined in, saying,  Yeh, we need to keep those bastards out of our lives.   Hmm.... I thought.  Just this little exchange may very well convince this fellow to switch his vote to the democrats.  Maybe it is true that individuals can make a difference  -- one voter at a time.

PS  The Red Rock News hasn't yet printed my submission, which would stimulate others in our community to reconsider their positions.  However, even if the media ignores me, there's one cowboy whose life I already touched without having to depend upon someone else.

 

August 7
    
In the August 4 Celestial Wheel, I hoped that, Mars and Venus hav(ing) completed their sign change, and the planetary weather will be relatively calm for the next several days.  News reports and personal experiences belie this optimism -- but it is also true that tensions will ratchet-up from the middle of this month through September 5.  Again, from yesterday's log entry,  It is important now to not allow these negatives to pollute ones consciousness and choose instead to look forward to a brighter future.

     Keep in mind that with Mercury's turning retrograde beginning August 10, communications will be clouded.  It is useful, then, to use the next few days to complete projects and not plan to launch new endeavors. 

August 6
    
This animated comic, Minister Of Fear, is really funny,  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article .cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/07/14/fiorefear.DTL  Here's the archive for dozens of these creative animations, http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/fiore/archive/ 

     With public opinion polls showing the candidates in a dead heat, many have a nagging worry Bush will somehow again steal the election.  However, digging into news reports reveals mounting troubles with key issues: 1. his advisors  2. the economy  3. rising oil prices  4. Iraq.   Below are some findings.

     1.  On August 2, I wrote about Bush's key advisors abandoning him.  Today's Washington Post editorial, One Reform Worth Rushing, includes the revealing comment that, No government can function well when a fifth of its top positions are empty, as is estimated to be the case in the Bush administration.  See,  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44147-2004Aug5.html 

     2.  Alan Greenspan has euphemistically called the slowdown in economic growth a rough patch, but the July job growth of just 32,000 is just the most recent indicator that economic recovery is slowing, as previously predicted.

     3.  Record high and rising oil prices are already reflected in soft stock markets, although it is too early for gas prices to inflate.  Increased energy costs must harm the economy and will be vividly seen at pump prices well over $2.00 per gallon.

     4.  Yesterday, a New York Times reporter revealed on CNN that many Iraq cities have broken away from the central government.  He concludes this return to tribal rule spells disintegration of Iraq as a nation state..

     Although these setbacks certainly cheer no one, they reflect the inevitable karma of Bush's fated life.  Others will certainly surface in the coming weeks.  Just as the darkest hour is just before the dawn, it is important now to not allow these negatives to pollute ones consciousness and choose instead to look forward to a brighter future.

August 5
    
Correction: 
While Jupiter does transit into Virgo August 28, Ketu will remain in Libra until February 21, 2005.  Please disregard the below comment about Jupiter/Ketu conjoining making oil and gas a focus.  This still may occur, of course, but not with Ketu's intensity.  A Subscriber recently wondered how I can keep all the planets straight  -- and now she can take comfort in knowing I occasionally do mix them up.   

Jupiter and Saturn will be changing signs soon  -- Jupiter on August 28 and Saturn on September 5.  While there will be other planetary influences stimulating further changes, it is useful to note that when Jupiter moves into Virgo, it will share this sign with Ketu.  As Jupiter is wealth and Ketu oil and gas, look for energy to become a focus in the presidential campaign.  Higher prices and terrorist attacks on Mideast oil facilities will bring the the topics of oil and terrorism together.

 

August 4
    
Mars and Venus have completed their sign change, and the planetary weather will be relatively calm for the next several days.

     The use of old terrorist attack information to justify a new attack warning is, of course, disconcerting.  Even in sleepy and remote Sedona, the tension is palpable.  This also raises the question of whether the threat is real or is just a replay of Bush's fear-tactic to rally the public behind him to bolster poll ratings.  There is also the arising issue of Bush's paranoia, and his Vedic chart certainly supports that view.  Yet, as stated in yesterday's Celestial Wheel, As distressing as all this may be, it puts the administration's anti-terrorism efforts under the microscope.  With Mercury running its semi-annual retrograde beginning August 10, confounding communications through September 3, let's hope this new terrorist attack issue is resolved this week.  Otherwise, we'll all be on pins and needles through the Republican convention.  

     While transits are definitive for world events, they do not similarly guide personal Vedic charts.  Transits are catalysts bringing events that are first signified by ones planetary cycles  -- Dashas.  Like weather forecasts for Atlantic hurricanes or Arizona monsoons, the events tend to occur but your location will determine if you get wet.  Yet, everyone is impacted by major weather events, even if indirectly.  I recall an odd statement my father once made that, when he was a little boy and it stormed, he believed it rained all over the world. 

 

August 3
    
Today is the finale of  the five day period when Venus and Mars shifted signs.  While yesterday may have been the peak, today is Mars Tuesday, and late this afternoon, Mars will be aspecting the Moon. This will crank up the emotions one last time.  Tonight's news will be provocative.

     Although the newly captured al Qaeda surveillance information is about three years old and doesn't indicate a current specific threat, the terrorism alert system has moved from yellow to orange and will stay at this elevated level through the election.  How will Cheney be able to campaign from an undisclosed location?  As distressing as all this may be, it puts the administration's anti-terrorism efforts under the microscope.  I can only suggest that we not be pulled again into the fear-based ruse Bush has used since 9-11 to ensnare support.  We're not subjects of a Pavlovian experiment, although I sometimes feel I'm living in a Dr. Strangelove sequel .  Only through challenge comes growth.

 

 

August 2
     I am changing web hosting, and during this switchover, could not do a Celestial Wheel log entry yesterday.  It's good to have a day off  -- for us all. 

     Because this is a challenging few days, when everyone will benefit by being alert, I repeat again the caution first made in the July 26 Forecast #54 The Political Conventions.

(Note:  A more sensitive period from July 30 to August 3 (See event #1 below), follows the convention.  During these four days, a righteous and indignant Mars will roar, and a weak Venus will be incapable of encouraging compassion.  There will be heated rejoinders from Republicans and heightened Mideast violence.  Iraqi insur- gents objecting to the U.S. occupation and non-aligned terrorists will increase attacks to further discredit the hated Bush administration.  In this odd way, the rebellion in Iraq and terrorists elsewhere become John Kerry supporters.  The Blue Moon on Saturday July 31 will bring heightened rhetoric from pulpits on Sunday, some exhorting terrorism on Monday and Tuesday.) 

 

     One never knows how the planetary karmas will actualize.  Pulpits were involved, not with religious exhortations, but rather with the five coordinated attacks upon Christian churches in Iraq.  Terrorist attacks, although certainly elevated in the Mideast, are reported to also threaten the U.S.  The reason for concern about U.S. financial institutions is that Mars is coming to strength today and tomorrow (Mars Tuesday) in Leo  (government) where Jupiter (wealth -- banking) is placed.  Further, Mars' violence is aggravated by ongoing aspects to Leo and Jupiter from Saturn and Rahu.  When these three malefic planets influence together, criminal activity is indicated.  Yet, I still do not see a major U.S. terrorist attack until November.

 

     In the July 24 Celestial Wheel, I included this photo (top), which I described as an obviously aged BushLast evening I watched a Bush campaign speech, and the bottom photo reveals the how stress and anger of ongoing setbacks  has further degraded his appearance and presentation.  Bush's insincere charm has metamorphosed into scornful criticism of  John Kerry's hopeful optimism. 

  

     In the April 25 Forecast, #50 Tornado Season For Bush, I stated, ...Venus rules Bush's 11th house of friends, and Venus is featured in the astronomical events.  Venus begins a weakening retrograde beginning May 18, and its June 8 passage across the hot Sun must burn (harm or restrict) his friends, who are also his advisors.  This negative influence continues, as Venus's current transit is into Bush's twelfth house of loss.

 

     Here's the status of top administration officials:  Colin Powell will not continue as Secretary of State.  CIA Director, George Tenet, has already resigned.  Homeland Security Tom Ridge too will step down after the November election.  Condoleeze Rice has lost her clout since the 9-11 Commission hearing on April 6 -- see Forecast #48 A Blue Tuesday & Condoleeza Rice.  Even the slick Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, is coming under attack, ironically by his own commission investigating prisoner abuse.  See the Newsweek article, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5569687/site/ newsweek/  

 

     This leaves only Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General John Ashcroft to shield and guide Bush.  Cheney's doom-and-gloom presentations have made him a liability on the Republican ticket, and Ashcroft's strong-arm tactics against innocent suspects and his stonewalling Congress make this fish-eyed fellow an even more ominous figure than Cheney.  Both will only encourage Bush to use negativity and fear-tactics, which must ultimately be counterproductive. 

 

Bush Backs 2 Recommendations of 9/11 Commission

     Today and tomorrow should be eventful, one way or the other.  Now in his planetary cycles of Saturn/Jupiter/Mercury, Bush will both encounter further setbacks and have great difficulty convincing the public his policies have not harmed the U.S.  Alternative media reports of Bush's emotional instability are already seeping into the main stream media.  Keep in mind too, that the political conventions Forecast predicted government disruption and increasing challenges for Bush in the run-up to and through the Republican Convention.

 

 

 

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