Welcome to the COSMIC UPDATE

My COSMIC UPDATES are a way of looking at items and people in the news from an astrological perspective. And while I try to make the text as understandable as possible I realize that some of the astrological jargon baffles the general reader. 

COSMIC UPDATE: 10^th December  2001

Included in this week’s Cosmic Update: 

• Afghanistan - A new era?

I know a bad workman always blames his tools – and I’m not doing this exactly – but having flown out to Los Angeles yesterday (8^th) and been up for twenty-six hours, my ability to articulate – even hit the keys on my computer pad – is limited to say the least. So please bear with me until I get over my jet-lag.

This past week always looked to be one of huge global significance. And the stars did not disappoint. Events in the Middle East between Palestine and Israel ushered in a new and potentially even more dangerous phase of hostilities but on the upside after nine days of hard talking and threatened walk-outs talks between the Afghanistanian delegates in Bonn resulted in an agreement.

AFGHANISTAN – A new era?

This is one of those moments when I wish everyone could read a horoscope. Although, if you’ve been a faithful follower of these Cosmic Updates since August you may already have guessed which degree areas and planets are prominent in the chart of the historic agreement signed by the Afghanistan delegation in Bonn, Germany this week.

 
The Afghanistan Agreement
5th December 2001 08:30hrs CET, Bonn, Germany
(Click For Enlarged View)

All the usual suspects

Yes, flanking the Ascendant/Descendant at fourteen degrees Sagittarius/Gemini is the ubiquitous Saturn-Pluto opposition, on this occasion conjoined by the sun, Mercury and Venus at the Plutonic end. In fact, the constant repetition of certain degree areas is making my job a whole lot easier since I can spot them at a glance.

(Remember twenty-seven degrees of Aquarius? That is the moon in the chart of the USA. And since the Ascendant-Descendant axis of the Agreement chart is within a degree or so of that of the USA’s America’s hand on this event is clearly demonstrated.)

The chart above is the very model of a country transformed. Signatures on a piece of paper have changed the destiny of a country that has been at war for twenty years. A sun, Venus, Mercury, Pluto conjunction epitomizes the rebirth of Afghanistan. From a country that has been reduced to rubble out of the dust and debris a phoenix is rising.

Pity about Saturn though.

This Plutonic process of becoming, so clearly etched in the Ascendant configuration, is challenged by Saturn. The old guard won’t let the new come in without considerable struggle. Then again, if we look at Saturn’s position on the cusp of the seventh house – the house of relationships and open enemies – the inference is that it is not just the indigenous die-hards and tribal factions that will make the process of transformation a struggle but other countries too. Perhaps the multinational peace-keeping force that will oversee Afghanistan’s reformation will be too controlling and interfering…

I am also concerned that the Ascendant configuration may express itself in even greater violence and death. That Bin Laden has still not been found and clearly commands a huge following is, if you like, the loose canon on the deck of Afghanistan’s future. What if, secreted in those underground caves, are not just men, computers and mobile phones but phials of plutonium?

The powerful line up on the Ascendant-Descendant axis is relieved by an elevated moon in Leo in the eighth house – Pluto/Scorpio territory again, so a double whammy on the transformational theme. The moon both trines Venus, Mercury, the sun and Pluto and sextiles Saturn. And since the moon represents the soul of the country, its people, there is no doubt that the Afghanistanians are going to benefit tremendously from this new order.

Rather more concerning is the opposition to the moon by Neptune, which could represent the dashing of hopes and the inability of these dreams of democracy to translate into reality. Neptune is a tricky customer: sometimes miracles occur with an aspect like this and sometimes sacrifice and loss.

However, very positive, is the quintile between Mars and Pluto. Here, perhaps, is an indication that the use of force-backed diplomacy is the right way to go and will help Afghanistan achieve its sovereignty. The ends justify the means, so to speak.

Jupiter is the ruler of the chart and its position in the seventh house of relationships and open enemies may well offset some of the Saturnian harshness and difficulty. However, Jupiter is not particularly well aspected and there is no harmonious trine or sextile to relieve the tense quincunx to the Sun, Mercury, Ascendant and Pluto.

 And we should add that this Jupiter at thirteen degrees of Cancer is, of course, the USA’s natal sun.

Oh, and yes, fourteen degrees of Libra is the Mid-heaven. (Remember this degree? It was the Ascendant-Mercury combination of the Twin Towers, the sun when the first bombs dropped on Kabul in October – effectively the start of the war on terrorism – and last but not least, it is the United States’ natal Saturn.)

The chart above has much to say about Afghanistan’s future. However, there will be other important dates to come – the 22^nd December, for instance, when the interim assembly takes over and runs the country for six months and then the Loya Jirga (traditional assembly), which will elect a transitional government in June. These dates are also of powerful astrological significance – and far from easy.

Afghanistan has come a long way since the 7^th October. But it is still just the beginning. 

Recommended Reading:

Click To Order

	The Astrologer's Handbook Frances Sakoian, Louis S. Acker
	Planets in Transit Robert Hand
	The Final Prophecies of Nostradamus Erika Cheetham