Aspects for the week beginning 8 May 2011

This week on “Question Time” they could have debated the issue ad infinitum: whether or not Osama bin Laden should have been killed.  Watching this it seemed to me that even those who said he should not have been killed were probably not pacifists, and would not go as far as to call for every person on the planet to lay down their arms under any circumstances.  Here is my potted astrological history: George Bush Senior (warrior in past lives, with Mars on the South Node) waged the 1^st Gulf War against Saddam Hussain. [You are probably thinking: “does she really have to go back that far?”  I feel I do].  This is one of the events where U.S. interference in the Middle East fuelled resentment in Arab minds and hearts.  Osama bin Laden (warrior in past lives, with Mars on the South Node – not a common aspect, found in approximately 1 in 90 charts) founded Al-Queda dedicated to avenge this interference. Fast forward to 11^th September 2001, and up to 3000 Americans were killed under this inspiration in New York.  In the meantime George W. Bush had become President of the United States, fuelled by a spirit of revenge desiring to finish his family mission; and Tony Blair (Mars conjunct the Ascendant, indicating warriorship as a basic character trait of this lifetime personality) had been the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 1997.  From there, began involvement in Afghanistan for both countries, costing many lives.  2003 brought the Iraq war, finally disposing of Saddam Hussain, but again an entanglement which resulted in many lives lost for the Iraqi people, and U.S. and U.K. forces.  George W. Bush talked constantly of capturing Osama bin Laden, and Barack Obama inherited this baton, which became a focus for justice and possible closure for some Americans.  Finally on 1^st May 2011, this was achieved, under Obama’s orders, with Uranus currently squaring the U.S. Venus.  George W. Bush got closure at this point, with the transiting North Node (universal karmic mission) trine his Midheaven (Career and place in history).  From this account, Osama bin Laden, George W. Bush and Tony Blair were prepared to kill many people (despite their religious convictions), and Barack Obama set out to kill just the one.  Some are warriors, some are not warriors but did end up killing, and none of them are professed pacifists or would follow Gandhi or Martin Luther King’s philosophy.  For me, that is the issue.  Moving swiftly on, we have a good few aspects to get through this week, and a few good aspects.  Tomorrow, Mercury is conjunct Venus at 22 degrees Aries, and there will be a flowering of communication generally, and for you personally in the area in which the conjunction falls in your birth chart.  The Arts and the Media should benefit from this influence.  On Wednesday (11^th) Mars enters Taurus, finally leaving its Headquarters in Aries, having settled the battle if not the war, and entering the more peaceful gardens of Taurus.  Even a warrior needs to rest sometimes.  You are invited to a garden party as Venus conjuncts Jupiter at 24 degrees Aries.  Perhaps a celebration of Justice, or Closure.  At this party Mercury will be conjunct Jupiter, so there will be some good news, sparkling conversation, and perhaps also some happy journeying, or joyful skyping from one party to another.   On Thursday (12^th) Mars sextiles Neptune, so idealistic ruminations may take place about old battles:  more refinement of the arguments about who was justified;  but also a spotlight on the new freedom fighters of the Middle East and their struggles, idealism and blogging, taking place under the fresh impetus experienced through the energies of Jupiter and Uranus in Aries.   Mars sextile Neptune enables you to approach action in a way which also incorporates your sensitivities, and your spirituality.  It’s a useful day, for instance, to effect a rapprochement in a difficult relationship.  On Saturday (14^th) Venus and Mercury are travelling companions at the end of their tour of Aries, more scope for putting the finishing touches to an artistic project, or even your war diaries, or catching up with your book reading, before the travelling companions arrive together in the new land of Taurus early next week.  I shall be doing a spot of travelling of my own next weekend, and will therefore post my blog early.  In a fit of frivolity, I am off to the Eurovision Song Contest in Duesseldorf.  Yes, I have been following this silliness since I was a girl in the 1950s, and I will be travelling in a party of four.  Among those performing are Blue, and if they qualify, Jedward and Dana International.  In our party, one of us has a fear of flying, another has a fear of dying, another a fear of Germany, and the fourth has a fear of water.  So we will also be a kind of phobic self-help group as we go.  As the Troubadours come together to show us their wares and parade their eye-catching costumes, we hope to find that Europe’s Got Talent, but will enjoy the time-honoured format even if we don’t.