Weekly NewsScope for December 29, 2003

Within days after discovering the first case of Mad Cow Disease in the United States, the American beef industry lost nearly all of its export business as the top buyers banned U.S. beef to protect against possible infection. From an astrological perspective, the current beef crisis is the natural unfoldment of a Pluto cycle.

The problem is that transiting Pluto is now within one degree of an opposition to the U.S. Mars (found in the eighth house of corporations). This influence fosters panic among consumers and negatively impacts the multibillion dollar beef industry. Beef is connected to the U.S. Mars by way of Chicago. Mars is in the transportation sign of Gemini, and Chicago became great as a key transportation hub (Gemini) and slaughterhouse (Mars) for the nation's beef.

Back in 1906 Upton Sinclair wrote "The Jungle", a novel that dramatized the filthy conditions in Chicago's meat packing houses. At the time transiting Pluto was conjunct the U.S. Mars. American beef consumers reacted in horror and stopped buying beef, nearly killing the entire industry. Sinclair's novel inspired passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, as well as the Meat Inspection Act, both of which Teddy Roosevelt signed into law on June 30, 1906.

A horoscope drawn for the Meat Inspection Act (set for Noon, Washington D.C.) underscores the current mess. Transiting Pluto opposes the MIA Jupiter-Pluto conjunction, indicating deep legislative reforms are on the way. Authoritative Saturn will spend the next five months transiting over the MIA Sun-Neptune conjunction, a process that enforces compliance with the initial intent of the law.

Several days after a relatively minor earthquake hit California, a devastating quake leveled the ancient Iranian city of Bam, killing about 5,000 people instantly, and leaving many thousands more buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings. Astrology may have much to offer to earthquake prediction techniques, although consistently accurate forecasts await accurate national horoscopes and detailed databases.

Earthquakes have a tendency to follow Solar Eclipses, and true to form, the Iranian earthquake took place one month after the November 23 Solar Eclipse. Another important factor is the ongoing, dynamic T-Square between the Sun, Mars, and Saturn. The tension between these planets actually moves the tectonic plates. The horrific Bhuj earthquake in India on January 26, 2001* also occurred one month after a Solar eclipse, and also during a similar T-Square formation.

When stressful planetary alignments connect with a national horoscope, the potential can be located geographically. Iran's horoscope (February 1, 1979; 9:30 am; Tehran) has the Moon in Aries Rising, with Capricorn at the Midheaven. The T-Square between the Sun, Mars and Saturn hit Iran's angles. Also, transiting Neptune (triggered by the Moon's conjunction) was exactly conjunct Iran's Sun, reflecting the mass confusion and chaos.

California's largest earthquakes struck on April 18, 1906 and October 17, 1989. Horoscopes for these two events show outer planet oppositions at 7 to 10 degrees Cancer and Capricorn, which is the exact degree area where Mercury and Saturn opposed each other during last week's California earthquake. In other words, quakes show a tendency to happen when planets occupy historically sensitive degree zones. By combining these techniques, the astrologer has a systematic approach to earthquake prediction.

According to a Harris Interactive poll taken last week, talk show host Oprah Winfrey remains America's favorite TV personality, an honor that she has received for four of the five last years. An estimated 13 million viewers tune her in every day, plus millions more from 132 countries across the global village.

Oprah Winfrey was born with her Sun conjunct Venus in cause-oriented Aquarius (January 29, 1954; 4:30 am; Kosciusko, MO**), a combination that gives her plenty of personal warmth and charisma, plus an interest in personal liberty and equal rights. This Sun-Venus conjunction benefits from a trine to Ceres in Libra, further advancing her social skills with a kind, sympathetic attitude that opens up her celebrity guests.

Oprah's Sun-Venus is placed in the second house of money, and receives a hard square from practical Saturn. Since all three of these planets are tightly connected to the U.S. Ascendant (at 8 degrees Scorpio), Oprah Winfrey becomes a natural facilitator for the nation's interests. She has built a financial empire worth some $500 million on this connection through her ability to engage the public's mind and soul.

With transiting Saturn in Oprah's seventh house of partners, look for changes in her relationship with longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham (March 6, 1951). Also, her progressed Moon is now in Libra and heading toward her Midheaven, indicating renewed emphasis on her personal relationship status. Watch in mid-March for some surprising developments as transiting Uranus squares her Moon.

** An alternative time of 7:50 pm is in wide use, and gives analytical, proper Virgo Rising. The time used here gives friendly and outgoing Sagittarius Rising.

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