Vedic Predictive Astrology

(Note for subscribers:  This article was composed by freelance writer, Sadie Thorndike.  An evocative commentary on my forecasting, it is: submitted to the media, distributed to subscribers and offered to the public on my website. )

Dear Doug,
     It¹s the dark time of the year again, and I'm stocking up on white foods, including pina coladas and Excedrin.  You know I usually write to you when,  A) I'm almost broke and want to know when the next good chunk of business and money might come along,  B) I'm wondering if my marriage will live through another gold-digging bimbo eruption from the hub¹s relentlessly retail ex-wife, or  C) I'm renewing my passport and reading books about Costa Rica because I fear the Nazis live and rise again. This time, it's option C.
     Incredibly, you wrote in early September of 2001,  "Mars, the destructive planet of war, is now in fiery Sagittarius, (ed. - sign of, among other things, religion), and from which it aspects Pisces and Jupiter itself.... There may be some religious fanaticism aggravating the situation - the Mideast?  I see 9/10 - 9/14 as being really bizarre."
     Many of your other predictions have come to pass since that horrible day.  Now, over 2 years later, we have seen a formerly at-peace, fiscally-fit and freedom-rich country reduced to an Orwellian wet dream, complete with a colossal federal deficit that used to be a surplus, this utterly insane preemptive paranoia -- and, Doug, a man who waves to Stevie Wonder has the launch codes.
     Swami, (may I call you Swami?), please tell me that the Vedic skies portend an end to this madness.

Dear Sadie,
     I have good news and bad news.  Bad news first.  Remember when we were young, and the big event during cruel New England winters was the newest James Bond movie?  We giggled and twitched in our seats at the mayhem and weren¹t all that conscious of living under the shadow of the "bomb."  Well, the years have sped by, and with them, youthful achievements and transgressions alike, but there was always a bomb ticking somewhere.
     The newest incendiary incarnation, the Bush Bomb, really worries me, for I see in the planets two  possible outcomes:  Either Bush's skewed religion-inspired preemptive war policy brings Islamic retri- butions that stimulate more US invasions, and an escalating and unending cycle of violence that envelopes the world in a third global war; or, Bush  will be disgraced and replaced by a democratic and truly secular leadership, seeking peace.
     I'm a big picture kind of guy these days -- maybe it's the work I do now.  The ancient seers in India developed Vedic astrology over 4000 years ago, long before Western astrology was pursued, and it is an astounding predictive tool.  These Vedic astrology predictions peel away the layers of illusion and delusion to reveal truths about leaders and peoples.  In perceiving the future, Vedic astrology is part of the ancient Hindu philosophy of karma and rebirth.  I've witnessed and learned a lot about the continuously turning wheel of karma that propels humanity forward, whether we like it or not, and in ways we may or may not enjoy.
     No, I don't mind the swami endearment, though I should point out I'm not a Hindu Swami.  In fact, to maintain objectivity, I am not connected to any theological or secular group.
     On July 22,  2002, I published an annual forecast on my web site for August 2002 through July 2003.  I stated that the planets were generally in congenial positions, but fretted, "There is one period this winter, however, that will threaten and perhaps even overwhelm hard-won gains in wealth, peace and stability."   
I saw January 27, 2003 to be the most sensitive day but was concerned that the period from January 7 to February 23, "...can bring a violent calamity or even the beginning of the invasion of  Iraq."  I also spoke of Bush's fate, stating, "...This is not the prediction of death that Western astrologers offer, but rather suggests downfall, or at least irreparable damage to his reputation.  Bush is the wild card here, injuring the recovery and stability through the fall but also possibly negating a war with Iraq in January/February."
     I was only 5 days early on the "violent calamity" -- the  February 1 space shuttle explosion -- and in Afghanistan, January 27 saw the beginning of the largest combat operation there in a year.  I predicted the Iraq war in July, before my peers, and even before the administration began beating the war drums publicly in late August -- their "new product," as they put it.  I was early, however, on the invasion date,  although history clearly shows it was international resistance that delayed Bush until April.  I also identified Bush as harming the economy,  and predicted his eventual downfall.  I erred in believing Bush could negate the Iraq war, hoping in futility that renewed UN arms inspections there would solve the problem.  An astrologer can hope.
     Increasingly concerned about the President and his vitriolic cohorts, Cheney and Rumsfeld, I did a major forecast on October 24, 2002, entitled, The Bush Presidency - Profile & Prediction.  (The complete text is on my website, www.vedicpredictiveastrology.com)   In  this, I corrected my previous optimistic error.  I'll recite some of the "Summary Statements" and add a few illustrative excerpts and comments.

1)  Bush is fearful, suspicious, violent and  cold-hearted, especially about foreigners, and he uses moralistic quasi-Christian beliefs to justify his actions. ["...Saturn (limitation, restriction, death and general wet blanket-type stuff) is fundamental to Bush's character during its cycle.  Bush fears death,
is suspicious of others and uses violence to protect himself.  He chooses some 7th house partnerships  (advisors from his father's administration) who are of inferior status or morals, who use 8th house violence to protect him."  "Bush directs his suspicions against those he perceives to be "immoral foreigners"..... He is remorseless and relentless in his fear-based Saturnian violence against them.  Bush has likely become selectively paranoid as President."]

2)  Bush's mind is further disturbed by limitation on judgment and ethics, lack of common sense, a changeable nature, deception and  self-deception.  ["A further planetary influence that mis- leads is malefic Mars (aggression, war, violence, and among more things, lies) placed in his 2nd house of speech, compromising truthfulness.  Bush  lies so naturally and convincingly, he exudes sincerity.")  The Mars influence also gives us that macho Texas rap, 'If y'aren¹t with us, you¹re agin us.']

3)  Bush's rise to power and his misuse of that power cause an equivalent fall.  This is the unalterable fate in his life.  [In the presidential election, "The Kala Sarpa Yoga predestines him to pre- vail.  Thus, Bush became President, not because he won the election, but because he was fated to do so."  The same Kala Sarpa yoga that propelled him into the White House assures his commensurate disgrace.]

4)  Since December 2000 and until November 2003, Bush is  both tremendously motivated and empowered through whatever action required, and this brings out his long dormant violence.  [In this  section, I predicted, "Bush must experience incredible resistance internationally and this has already been seen inside and outside of the UN.  Even if Bush is bluffing to force Iraq to disarm, his is a most dangerous game that may result in one of two outcomes: 1) the US backs down rather than invade without international cooperation, thereby splitting allied efforts against intentional terrorism, (2) the US invades alone and inflames seething anger throughout the Mideast at deadly human costs on all sides."]

     The good news is that I also predicted,  "The Iraq invasion will be the downfall of Bush's presidency." And, "Although Bush will strive mightily, especially around mid April, the result  will ultimately be failure,
causing loss of his reputation, and possibly of his  presidency.  However, the inception of Bush's downfall will precede the actual fall by months, possibly years."
     Hope this keeps you away from the rum and the blender for a few more hours, Sadie.

Dear Doug,
     Good news?  That last sentence does not meet with me as good news, Swami.  Are you telling me that we may be facing another 4 years with this lunatic at the helm?  This is a man who, while he himself went AWOL from the Texas National Guard and never served a day in active combat in his privileged life, has sent thousands of innocent Iraqis and hundreds of US soldiers to their deaths and continues to embroil them in a war based on "faulty intelligence" to which even he now admits, in a most horrifyingly nonchalant way.  He stuffed a flight suit with socks and starred in the most flagrant and nauseating display of polit- icized military grandstanding ever to ooze from a US president, proclaiming, "Mission Accomplished."    
I assume now that when he referred to "mission," he meant the multi-billion dollar no-bid contracts for former CEO Cheney¹s Halliburton to "secure" Iraqi oil.
     He then chased the Top Goon stunt with a comment that I would think would bring the families of US casualties of this war to Washington with pitchforks, en masse -  "Bring it on."  When their children, as US soldiers, are engaged in the same street guerrilla warfare that the combat-free Washington flock said would never happen, and are being killed daily, the Commander in Chief says, "Bring it on"?  Am I the only per- son who still has a mild stroke when I think about the implications of this seemingly pervasive war mentality?
     What worries me beyond the obvious is that the entire country (present company excluded) seems to have been whipped into this veins-in-teeth sort of militarism, well past 9/11.  I mean, the usually staunchly Democratic, liberal-thinking state of California elected a groping, Hummer-driving Terminator, for crying out loud!  Swami, help me to understand what's happening to us.

Dear Sadie,
     You may recall my forecast of August 6, 2003, on the effects of the Mars Perihelion this summer.  Mars, being the planet of action, aggression, sex, war and the military among other things, was the closest to Earth it has been in thousands of years.  This attention to Mars has been educational for astronomers and astrologers alike, but close consideration o the facts reveals some astrological spin.  Neanderthals were the last to observe Mars so close to Earth, this is true.  It's also a bit of hype.  Mars and Earth have been almost this close many times in recent history.  Some examples: Aug. 23, 1924; Aug. 18, 1845; Aug. 13, 1766.  In each case, Mars and Earth were approximately 56 million km apart..
     Vedic astrology differs from the simplistic Western astrology view that Mars must be exceptionally potent because it is uniquely proximate.  Vedic astrology, with its manifold techniques to specifically meas- ure planetary strengths, has, however, conflicting views about planets in astronomical proximity to the Earth.  The strength/proximity issue is evaluated in relation to "retrograde,"  when the earth's faster motion appears to "lap" the outer planets -- Mars, Jupiter and Saturn -- and hence when these planets are closest to the earth and brightest as well.  For example, David Frawley, in Astrology Of The Seers, states that retrograde "is usually a sign of strength," but the text also claims that, "Retrograde has an internalizing effect on a planet's energy."
     Here's the key, then, to understanding the retrograde motion of the planets:  The ancient scriptures do say that retrograde planets are strong, but in ancient India, internal growth (spirituality) took priority over
external worldly achievement.  The scripture' retrograde statements claiming strength therefore must des- cribe spiritual strength, the power to achieve self-realization, which means full knowledge, or truth.  View- ing Mars retrograde in this more subtle way means that Mars' vital nature stimulates a tightly focused and deeply penetrating search for truth during the recent retrograde -- July 30 to September 28, 2003.  It sounds to me, Sadie, as though you have been experiencing a "search for truth" indeed.  You¹re not alone.
     With retrograde Mars inwardly  reflective from July 30 to September 28, 2003, violence was tempor- arily toned down, and the political search for truth accelerated, as disputes focused upon justice -- lying is lying -- whether about war or leaking a CIA agent¹s identity to the press,  and cannot be tolerated.  Still, Mars is Mars, and its ongoing presence in Aquarius keeps the anxious pressure on all of life's venues.
     The energy that brought this fall's tiger attacks is comparable to Mars' energy in the summer of 2001 that precipitated a rash of shark attacks.  Then, immediately following Mars' transit out of watery Scorpio in 2001, it's pent-up energy was unleashed in the 9-11 attack in fiery Sagittarius; and shortly thereafter, our government used Mars' lower manifestations to enslave the populace in chronic fear, cowardice, lethargy and dependence.
     After Mars finished its retrograde motion on September 28, and became again its normal outward aggressive self, the ethics issues against Bush's neo-conservative group and agenda that were clarified during Mars retrograde heated up.  The battle for Bush's resignation will be joined by more people as time goes on.  However, economic despair, Mideast violence and perhaps even a showdown with North Korea will further inflame the political fires.
     No one said karma was fun, Sadie.

Doug, 
     The blender is going.  One last request before I descend into creamy coconut incoherence.
     I feel my country slipping away. I hear about people being arrested for wearing "Give Peace a Chance" t-shirts - and this is in upstate New York, not rural Texas.  I hear about people whose good hearts compel them to attend anti-war protests, only to be shuffled by mounted police to what they now call a "Free Speech Zone."  Zone?  I always thought that particular zone extended from Maine to Hawaii and not from a protester's sign to a policeman¹s club.  The tamper-ability of touch-screen voting machines manufact-  ured by GOP-allied corporations, a Supreme Court that has abandoned its lynchpin nonpart- isanship in favor of personal politics, and a government that has recently encouraged us to spy on each other in the name of "patriotism" -- all of this has me wondering whether the people living in Berlin in the early 1930s saw it coming.  I wonder if they felt relatively helpless to overcome it, as I do in weaker moments.
     Don't get me wrong. If someone in a jumpsuit shows up on my porch with a clipboard, I'll give it to them with both barrels, figuratively speaking, of course.  I'm not a wimp or a quitter.  But I do feel this deepening dread.  Is this totalitarian ghost going to flesh itself out amid fear and censorship, or disappear in an exorcism of true patriotic diligence?  In all seriousness, Doug, my heart is breaking.  I love this country, and the greatness it could represent to the world is within reach if we would just embody what John F. Kennedy repeated to us before they murdered him:  "From those to whom much is given, much is expect- ed."  All of us have been given a great deal, compared to most of the world.
     Will we take the country back from a handful for whom all the money and power in the world is apparently not enough, or will we, through complacency and concern for our own comfort, allow people who are literally mad and who don¹t give a rat's ass what happens to us or the rest of the world continue to herd us, inch by inch, into an America we don't recognize?

Sadie, 
     Your Moon in Cancer is showing, you emotional little gumdrop.  I know you mean what you say, though, and again, you are not alone. Let me see if I can offer hope over what looks now like a dismal landscape.
     First, regarding George Bush¹s inexorable fate based on his natal planets, the tail end of his potent Kala Sarpa yoga and upcoming planetary transits, I will recall the gist of my June 2003, The Summer and Fall in Disgrace Forecast:
     "Four Bush hotspots have been identified, and specific dates accompany corresponding probable events. These predictions ensue from planetary influences impacting globally and upon Bush's Vedic chart. Determinatives are: the multiple planetary influences operating during each hotspot, the momentum acquir- ed by the accumulation of events, and the fact that democracy is self-correcting."
     As explained in Part 1 -- Forecasting Progress Report, "For mile-markers (predicted events), the goal is 70% accuracy, as there always remains mystery in how the karmas actualize.  (Consider here that predicting specific events from a world of uncountable possibilities is not coin-toss odds of 7 out of 10.  Given the odds of predicting a single world event are extraordinarily high; the likelihood of predicting 70% of many events is truly astronomical.)  70% event prediction is also sufficient to define trends, the signposts leading to the destination."
     As the 4 hotspots are discussed, the trend in Bush's public rejection is found in an excerpt from Face-off 2003 Bush/Hussein.  That is, the karmic harvest (natural consequences) of Bush's actions will reveal the truth and thereby allow us to reconnect the reality we're told with the reality we feel.
     "At the inception of this second year of the new millennium, uncertainty hung like an impenetrable fog blanketing a sailing ship.  The view ahead was obscured.  The captain's fair-sailing promises and favorable marine weather reports failed to dispel the crew's cold clamminess.  In this unfamiliar disconnection between personal reality and official statements, the cold penetrated right to worried bones.
     This fog-bound ship analogy to our nation's current dilemma doesn't suggest a prophetic 'Heart Of Darkness' voyage, nor a 'Brave New World' societal view.  Yet, memories of these kinds of worrisome scenarios inevitably echo back from the disconnection between the reality we feel and the reality we're told."

The 4 Hotspots (from Part 2 --The Summer and Fall in Disgrace)

A)  July 16 to August 10.  The economy and stock markets decline.  Bush experiences growing policy opposition at home and abroad as a widening credibility gap opens about Iraq's WMD and his failed tax cut.  Bush uses increasingly forceful rhetoric (demagoguery), and his lying escalates, especially as he often "blurts things out."  Bush experiences angry frustration and falls back on his religious fundamentalist mess- age against "evildoers."  Bush is vulnerable to accidents and assault.

B)  August 27 to September 20.  Religious violence escalates, and the Mideast spins increasing out of control.  Bush attempts to rally the country behind him and threatens military action, but the nation is 
weary of constant warfare.  International relationships break.  Bush's lies are uncovered and assailed, and together with his imperial attitude, a backlash of rejection slashes him.  The ticking time bomb of lying about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction is ready to explode.

C)  October 15 to October 30.  Economy is mired in recession.  Federal and States deficits inflate. Escal- ating problems in occupied Afghanistan and Iraq disturb the public and Congress.  Bush's health and safety are compromised, and his power evaporates.  He is discredited in Congress.  Bush's supporters draw away.

D)  November 5 to November 9.  Bush could face censure or impeachment proceedings.  That Cheney may be included in the accusations creates a problem for succession.

     Next, in October's Gandhi, Martin Lurther King & Today's Democracy Dilemma, I wrote, "Vedic Astrology's famous predictive quality includes exacting timing of trends and events.  This section and the next apply this unique characteristic to help the people plan their liberating activism.  It should be noted, however, that these predictions are based upon planetary energies which are not so potent as to yield a fixed karma to the forecasted results.  Further, free will does indeed exist (as initiative karma), which stipulates that the outcome, this hopeful one or the opposite of continued violent and selfish autoc- racy, is the choice of individuals and groups.
     Mars will continue to bring aggression and discord to the world until it transits out of Aquarius on December 6, 2003, by which time, liberty in America can be regained.  Recall that President Bush's disgrace is proceeding on the schedule predicted in June 15, 2003 forecast above."
     (True, as of November 8, 2003, Bush was not yet facing impeachment, but with Bush's popularity polls falling like a bad soufflé and crises building everywhere, his presidency is already mortally wounded -- the corporate press just hasn¹t told us yet.)
     "Gandhi brought the ideas, Vedic Astrology offers the trend and timing to bring ideas of liberty to fruition, to remember our former courage and apply it again, for freedom.
     Aggressive Mars will next enter Pisces on December 7, 2003, from which it will aspect Saturn in Gemini.  In turn, restrictive Saturn will aspect Mars, linking these planets together.  The resulting height- ened frustrations and tensions will continue until the end of this transit on January 24, 2004.  How- ever, as Saturn restricts Mars' energy, this combination's frustrations will be largely withheld, like building pressure inside the volcano.  But after January 24, 2004, philosophical, abstract thinking Jupiter will be released from Mars' glare, giving an opportunity to further pursue liberty, this time with regard to Iraq and the rest of our international relationships."
     Buck up, girl. We¹re not out of the woods yet, but I don¹t see 1936 Berlin in our future.  The thing is, we can¹t just sit back and wait for it to unfold.  We have to assume our responsibilities and work to expand that "Free Speech Zone"  back to its original borders.

Doug Riemer is certified by the American Counsel of Vedic Astrology.  He studied with famed Vedic Astrology author, James Braha, and has been in practice for eight years.  Doug has appeared frequently on The Celestial Map on The Arizona Channel, and has paneled a call-in show on KZSC-FM in Santa Cruz, CA.  His writings have appeared in Four Corners Magazine and the Boston Phoenix.  Doug resides in Sedona, Arizona. 

Sadie Thorndike is a freelance writer living, for now, in the wilds of Neanderthal New Hampshire.  Motto: Live Free or Die Trying.  Help us to save her.

Note for publishers: Predictions in this article are all contained with Doug Riemer's subscriber-only forecasts.  Publishers may verify article statements by sending an e-mail to Doug requesting his Forecast Archives private web address.


Contact Info:

Doug Riemer
P.O. Box 3127, Sedona, AZ 86340
vedic@kachina.net
www.VedicPredictiveAstrology.com
(928) 203-4347