Iraq Against the World
Zip Dobyns
Astrologers knew when Bush was elected that he was likely to be a “war” president. As has been mentioned in previous issues of The Mutable Dilemma and Asteroid-World, Bush’s natal Sun is exactly conjunct Mars in the U.S. chart for the Declaration of Independence and his Pluto is on the U.S. Sun. To strengthen the case, at the moment that Bush took the oath of office, Mars was exactly on the East Point and square the tenth house Sun while Pluto was exactly opposite the Ascendant. Mars symbolizes the right and power of a person (or an institution) to do what they want. Pluto marks the issue (the capacity or the need) for compromise and the sharing of power, possessions, etc. When personal power is used excessively, we eventually produce outer conflict. When it is repressed, really buried in the unconscious, we produce auto-immune illnesses as we attack ourselves in the form of the unconscious attacking the body. When the personal power is projected, we can become the target of aggression by others. When it is displaced, we fight team members, have rivalry where compromise and cooperation would be the appropriate response.
Astrology clearly showed the likelihood of power struggles during Bush’s term of office, but the details can vary endlessly. The battles could have been mostly financial since Pluto along with its sign (Scorpio) and its natural house (the eighth) is connected with debts among many other details—joint resources and any sharing of money, possessions, pleasures and power. The battles could have focused on the “drug war.” (An inner form of the Taurus-Scorpio polarity calls for integrating appetites and self-indulgence with the capacity to master the appetites, to know when is enough and how to let go). Or the battles might include real military action. Initially in the U.S., we had the S & L bailout for which the price tag goes up regularly. We had lots of talk about the drug situation, but the government of Columbia, the main source of our cocaine, was left to do the dirty work and to suffer the terrorist bombings of the drug lords.
Then we had Panama, and I jumped to the conclusion that the future Mars emphasis in the charts of both Bush and the U.S. might indicate later troubles in that country. Instead, we have Bush leading the world in a mostly united effort to roll Saddam Hussein back into Iraq. At this point, the crisis looks likely to be a long one with periodic flare-ups. We have published the charts of the U.S. and Bush several times in the past, so space limits will determine whether they appear again. The chart for the Declaration of Independence, using my rectified time of 9:36 A.M. EST, will have P Moon opposite our tenth house Mars during most of October and November, 1990, with a square to our first house Neptune beginning in November and lasting about six months. Aspects involving Neptune show issues involving unconscious faith in some way. Conflict aspects such as squares suggest a challenge to the faith and possibly to the ethics which are based on it. If the problem involves a lack of faith, the manifestations can include anxiety, fear, depression, loss of hope etc.
For a much longer time, years rather than months as with Moon aspects, P Mars holds a square to P Jupiter. Jupiter symbolizes our conscious faith, so a square from Mars can be an indication of questionable judgment or acting against one’s better judgment. Simultaneously, our Washington, DC P Ascendant (carrying a similar significance to Mars—personal action) completes a T-square, opposing P Mars and squaring P Jupiter. This pattern suggests that there will be some opposition in the country to the war-games, as is clearly and inevitably the case. But with the P Ascendant for our Philadelphia birthplace sextile natal Mars, the majority of our citizens are apparently ready for violence as is shown by the way that Bush’s popularity rating rises every time he throws his weight around and shows that the U.S. is tough! It is not common to have both natal and local P Ascendants aspecting a form of Mars at the same time, and of course the pattern does depend on the accuracy of my rectified time for the final vote on the Declaration of Independence.
With the potential in the U.S. chart for military action during October-November, there may well be skirmishes this fall. In one sense, we are already using military power when we stop and search ships as is happening while this article is being written in mid-September, 1990. But Bush’s own chart makes a much stronger case for fighting during the spring of 1991. His P Sun started an opposition to natal Mars in early July, 1990, just one month before Saddam moved into Kuwait. The aspect lasts two years, though the power tensions will continue longer since the Sun will remain opposite the south lunar node for another year. The south node is an indication of a basic lesson involving human relationships and security issues, so the natal conjunction of Mars with the node points to Bush needing to learn something about handling aggression or power. The Mars-nodes-P Sun combination falls precisely on the Ascendant-Descendant in the capitals of Panama and Cuba, pinpointing two geographic regions, one of which has been and one which could be a target for Mars militancy.
But when we calculate Bush’s local chart in Baghdad, he has Jupiter on the Ascendant, normally not an indication of the urge to bully others. For example, Bush has been very protective of communist China where he has Jupiter close to the MC when the chart is calculated for Beijing. Bush does have P Jupiter in an octile, a stress aspect, to Saturn for many years of his life, implying that his ethics and judgments based on them (Jupiter) are in conflict with universal law—what is possible and/or what is necessary (Saturn). This could simply mean that he wants more than is possible, an extremely common form of the mutable dilemma. In fact, I’ve never met anyone who was totally satisfied. I define the life urge as the desire to always do more. But a Jupiter-Saturn conflict aspect can also indicate questionable morality. With the latter, I would include Bush’s determination to continue Reagan’s goal of making the rich richer. Of course, it is quite possible that his Jupiter-Ascendant conjunction in Baghdad is telling us that Bush will be very successful in his operations there, that he will achieve his major goals even though this might occur through the deaths of others. Bush is very likely to be re-elected in 1992 unless the Democrats run an incredibly strong candidate. Cuomo missed his chance in 1988 when he could have walked away with the election, but Bush was clearly the destined winner as I pointed out in the spring of 1988.
The aspects coming in Bush’s chart in the spring of 1991 include P Moon (now in Aries in the eighth house which has already set the stage for violence) coming into an octile to Mars and the south lunar node, a trioctile to P Sun and the north lunar node, and squares to Pluto and P Venus. These are all stress aspects with all except Venus being typical of power struggles, and Venus is often included when money and possessions are involved in the situation. At the same time that it holds the preceding stress aspects, P Moon will form a grand fire trine with P Jupiter and P MC, an indication of success and reaching one’s heart’s desire.
During the next two months when P Moon in the U.S. Declaration chart is opposing Mars, Bush has his P Moon octile Neptune which could indicate that we are not receiving full information (inevitable in a war situation) and that we are being conned in some way, or that at least some of our people have divergent ideas about what is ethical. The firing of the Air Force chief for being too talkative with reporters is just one public demonstration of the struggle to keep Americans from knowing “too much.” The Moon is always a key to the “people” and their emotional security needs as well to Bush’s own feelings about home, family and security. Neptune is a key to one’s partly unconscious search for the Absolute, and our unconscious faith is an important part of the basis for our ethics. To the extent that our beliefs, values, goals etc. are unconscious, we can be persuaded (conned), to act against them and can feel very uncomfortable without consciously knowing why. As I have written before, the rising Neptune in Virgo in the U.S. chart is an appropriate symbol for our pious front as we pay lip service to democracy in the world and destroy any government that (like Castro and Ortega) tries to actually protect its poor people against its wealthy elite. The coming winter and spring will highlight our “holier-than-thou” persona and pose some serious ethical problems as our P Moon squares Neptune for about six months. It is a time for soul-searching in the U.S.
The chart for the U.S. Constitution (which remains the law of our land) has had P Mars square Neptune for several years, pointing to the perennial questions of personal freedom to do what one pleases versus empathy for others. The U.S. has mostly stood firmly for individual freedom, including the freedom to be jobless, hungry, homeless, etc. We talked about our high principles while Europe experimented with various forms of Neptunian socialism that took some of the hard edge off of rampant capitalism. The great danger in any society is the concentration of power in the hands of one or a few individuals, whether they gain the power by inheritance, wealth, military means, or membership in the right “party.” P Moon in our Constitution chart was conjunct Vesta and square Uranus when Saddam invaded Kuwait, activating one of the aspects that shows our potential for power struggles over resources. (Vesta is in Scorpio and Uranus in the natural house of Scorpio.) The Constitution P Ascendant is also in the natural house of Scorpio and it was and remains quincunx Pluto. The repeated theme reinforces our concern over joint resources, possessions, debts etc. P Sun is in the middle of a two year quincunx to Mars while P East Point trines Mars for a similar time and P Venus will leave a trine to Mars in the summer of 1991. If, as is theoretically the case, the charts of a country reflect the mental and emotional state of its people, the U.S. is going overboard for individual freedom (Mars) except when Saddam’s personal exercise of it threatens our oil supplies (Pluto for joint resources and Neptune for oil). We can also interpret the current strong Mars theme in our national charts as our self-congratulations that the whole world has acknowledged that our supreme emphasis on personal freedom is the right way to live. But the polarities of astrology point clearly to the dangers of going to any extreme at the expense of the opposite pole. Mars, Aries, and the first house of a horoscope symbolize one’s right and power to assert and defend oneself. Venus, Libra and the seventh house represent one’s handling of the rights and powers of others, whether we fight, compete in “proper” ways, or cooperate. Either extreme becomes destructive when it is not balanced by the other.
Saddam Hussein is an example of the danger when unrestrained freedom (read personal power to do what one pleases regardless of the consequences for others) is acquired by a single individual or a small group. Saddam is obviously a threat to his own people first, and then, to the extent of his power, to the world. He was born on April 28, 1937 in Tikrit, Iraq, but we have no time of birth. I have already heard of two other rectifications of his birth time, and I have a third choice. I think he was born near 6 A.M. That birth time gives him a natal Moon-Mars conjunction within one minute of longitude. Moreover, he would have had P Moon exactly conjunct P Mars when he was jailed after an unsuccessful early coup attempt and again when he invaded Kuwait. Also, a 6 A.M. birth time puts the current P Moon-P Mars combination exactly on his Descendant, the cusp of the house of partners or open enemies. P Mars holds a long trioctile to P Saturn, so the 6 A.M. birth time also puts P Saturn in a long octile to the natal Ascendant, an alternate form of Mars (self-will in action). The combination is a clear statement of self-will (Mars) struggling with the limits of self-will (Saturn), whether those limits are posed by other people as equals (the seventh house) or by the rule of Law and the power figures who enforce it in the form of government leaders (Saturn). The Moon is always a key to the security needs of the “little people” who get squashed when power-mad individuals (Mars) fight it out with the establishment (Saturn). We are watching one of many possible forms of astrology’s cardinal dilemma: letters one, four, seven and ten of our alphabet whether represented in the horoscope by planets, houses, or signs. To further repeat the confrontation between the one-ten principles, Saddam has natal Saturn in the sign of Mars (Aries), exactly conjunct the perihelion of Mars (the point where Mars is closest to the Sun) and trine natal Mars-Moon. P Saturn holds a trine to natal Mars for years at the same time that it holds a trioctile to P Mars which is moving slowly retrograde, and it holds an octile to the Ascendant (equivalent to Mars) if my choice of birth time is accurate. Anything important in a horoscope is said repeatedly, and the issue of personal will versus the limits of personal will is strongly stated in this chart.
The system always wins in the end, but Saddam has the tenacity to put up a real fight. His Mercury is in Taurus in a grand trine to Jupiter and Juno; earth signs in fire houses (if my chosen birth time is right) which puts him in the “steamroller” class. The Mercury-Jupiter aspect also shows that Saddam is intelligent and articulate though he often over-estimates his own power. Jupiter’s placement in Capricorn can indicate a “worship” of executive power, making it a supreme ideal. Others with the same placement include Hitler and Richard Nixon. Saddam has his Sun and Uranus conjunct in Taurus and they are also on the East Point if my birth time for him is accurate. The combination fits an independent and strong-willed rebel. P Pluto has been opposite Jupiter within the permissible one-degree orb for all of Saddam’s life, testifying (along with the Taurus Mercury) to his mental stubbornness. Pluto-Jupiter in the third and ninth houses (if his birth time is right) supports his mental capacity, and the nodes of the Moon in Gemini-Sagittarius repeat the message. My chosen time also puts Pallas on the MC, the asteroid most associated with politics on the chart factor which (along with Saturn) is most associated with career, role in society and the handling of executive power.
The current progressions show plenty of stress with more to come. In 1991, Saddam’s P Sun will reach the square to Saturn, suggesting a period of “karmic reaping” as the consequences of past action arrive on the scene. P Venus will also start an octile to Saturn. It is already octile P Sun and square P Icarus, the mythical figure who flew too close to the Sun and crashed. If my chosen birth time is accurate, Saddam was born with Icarus square the Ascendant and with Phaethon on the Ascendant. The latter was another mythical figure who over-reached and crashed. Other interesting asteroids (minor planets) include P Herbert (for George Herbert Walker Bush) conjunct P Arabia. P George is opposite P Jupiter and just coming to a conjunction with Pluto before the end of this year. That kind of specificity of the asteroids just blows me away. Remember, I only mention aspects which are exact within one degree. In Saddam’s chart, P Washington is approaching an opposition to Saturn though the aspect will not be exact until some time in 1991. P America is on the midpoint of natal and P Saturn. We were clearly destined to play the role of karma-bringer.
One of the most mind-blowing experiences in working with our expanding multiplicity of asteroids is to see their names “work” (provide appropriate patterns) even when the matching name was actually not associated with the current target when it was originally assigned. To explain that opaque statement, the asteroid Irakli was named for the son of the discoverer. Astronomers who discover an asteroid get to name it. But the son’s name incorporates the sound of the name of the country Iraq, and it seems to be “working” for the country. Saddam’s chart has natal and P Irakli conjunct Jupiter as well as P Medea, and natal Pluto exactly opposed to both Irakli and Medea. The latter lady was the one who killed her two children in the play by Sophocles, so we have the suggestion that Saddam’s worship of power (Jupiter in Capricorn) may kill the children of Iraq. One of the many associations of Pluto is with death. Its core meaning of learning to share money, possessions and power includes learning “when is enough and how to let go.” It also includes learning to understand and master oneself and tends to be strong in the charts of individuals who practice depth psychology, whether on themselves or professionally.
The other asteroid we have for Iraq is Chaldaea, the ancient name of the region. In Saddam’s chart, Chaldaea was exactly quincunx Saturn (repeating the potential for his association with power in the country) but the quincunx is a separative aspect, suggesting an eventual loss of the power. P Chaldaea stayed on Neptune for years and has more recently been octile the rectified fourth house cusp. All water principles in astrology are associated with the potential of closure; finishing a chapter and letting go. Death is one of many ways to do that. Neptune (a water planet) has been described as the unconscious search for the Absolute and final union with the Whole. Its manifestations include many forms of artist, savior and/or victim. Among other associations, it is connected to chemicals, drugs, oil and gas. Saddam’s use of poison gas to kill his own people has been well documented, and fits the Chaldaea-Neptune octile to the fourth house cusp which is the same principle as the Moon; the land, home, family and ordinary people.
An even more striking example of the “working” of Irakli and Chaldaea can be seen in the 1990 Cancer ingress calculated for Baghdad, Iraq. As most readers know, the Sun’s entry into the four cardinal signs is taken as a key to the coming three months with the Aries ingress usually read as significant of the whole year until the next Aries ingress. The planets’ positions (including sign placements and aspects to each other) are identical for the whole earth, but the houses depend on the geographic location. Mundane astrologers study the ingress charts for the capitals of the countries in which they are interested, but it is pretty impossible to keep track of all of them. However, if I had been home during the past summer, I would have done the Cancer ingress for Baghdad when Saddam started making threats against Kuwait, and would have seen the coming conflict. It could not have been clearer! Chaldaea was at 0 Aries 22 and Irakli at 29 Pisces 33 so they were conjunct each other and square the Sun at 0 Cancer 0 within my permitted one-degree orb. They were all, including the Sun, also exactly trioctile Pluto while Mars was quincunx Pluto. When transiting Mars moved within two degrees of an opposition to Pluto, Saddam invaded. Other asteroids supported the picture. Washington was on Herbert and square the Part of Death. America was square the Ascendant in Baghdad. Medea (who killed her children) was conjunct Iphigenia (who was sacrificed by her father) with both quincunx Mars to form a yod with Pluto. The double quincunx (yod) is one of the strongest indications in astrology of major changes. David, which might be associated with Israel, was conjunct the Mars in Aries so it participated in the yod. Many other aspects might be mentioned, especially Vesta with its suggestion of a focus on getting something done that can be ruthless on occasion. Vesta was square the nodes of the Moon, quincunx the MC, and trioctile the Ascendant. All aspects listed were within the one-degree orb.
I had done the Cancer ingress chart for Washington, DC, but had not looked at the heliocentric positions of the asteroids. I had noted that the Washington angles were almost identical to the natal Declaration of Independence set for the time which I think is accurate, and had wondered whether this was a reminder of the conditions when we were “born” as a country. At the time of the Declaration, we had already been at war with England for a year. After the Kuwait invasion, with the advantage of hindsight, I checked heliocentric Irakli and Chaldaea, (their positions as seen from the Sun), and found that they had strong conflict aspects to the angles of the ingress chart calculated for Washington, DC. H Chaldaea and Rockefeller (oil and banking) were exactly square the MC and H Irakli was exactly opposite the Ascendant. I don’t know what the statistical odds would be for that kind of coincidence, but they have to be astronomical, and the fact that heliocentric positions do give appropriate information continues to reinforce my belief that almost all of astrology is symbolic.
We also have a horoscope for the beginning of the Republic of Iraq when a coup overthrew the monarch. The coup began at 5 A.M. and a radio announcement at 6:30 said that the king had been killed and power was in the hands of the rebels. I have done horoscopes for both times, and the beginning of the coup gives a chart with more appropriate aspects for the subsequent events in the country. The 5 A.M. chart had an exact progressed New Moon in Leo in the second house at the time of the Kuwait invasion. The New Moon occurs at 30-year intervals and usually marks a major new beginning for the person or other entity. The second house is, of course, a key to money and material possessions while Leo is associated with the power of a king, both appropriate indications of Saddam’s goals. P south lunar node (a lesson) is holding a long conjunction with natal Mars in Aries in the tenth house, repeating the same theme which we saw in Saddam’s chart, self-will (Mars and Aries) facing the limits of self-will (the tenth house which signifies the same meaning as Saturn and Capricorn). The “true” south node is also on natal Arabia while the mean (average) south node is on George within our one-degree orb. Both positions of the nodes seem to “work” and both are opposite Dresden, an asteroid which like Guernica was named for a city in which non-military targets were bombed. So we have Arabia again placed with George and possible aggression. P Mars in the current patterns is opposite natal America.
Other aspects include P Venus (money etc.) on natal Pallas and opposite P Irakli across the first and seventh houses which call for the integration of self-will with the rights of others. P Irakli is also square the natal lunar nodes and will hold the aspects for years as both the asteroid and the nodes move slowly retrograde. The pattern includes a full cardinal dilemma in both signs and houses and partly even planets since Mars is in its own sign. The picture could hardly be more appropriate for a country born by a military coup. P Jupiter was added to the cardinal cross some years ago and continues in an opposition to Mars, suggesting the potential of acting against one’s better judgment or of monumental miscalculation in the judgment. Many other aspects could be mentioned, including P Antivertex (an alternative Ascendant similar to Mars in its indication of personal self-will in action) on the P north node of Mars with both on natal Chaldaea. Chaldaea is definitely in action. Other planetary nodes repeated the description of a country born and continuing in a power struggle. The P south nodes of both Saturn and Pluto remain in opposition to the natal Ascendant for years with S Saturn also still in orb of an opposition to the natal Sun that was just rising as the coup began.
Looking ahead, continued stress seems inevitable. P Mercury remains on the third house cusp (its own house of communication, media etc.) in a quincunx to the natal MC, a square to the Washington, DC MC, and an octile to the Sun, all tension aspects. P Sun continues its octile to the natal MC and its opposition to Chiron which repeats the theme of questionable judgment and ethics since Chiron seems similar to Jupiter. P Mars was square Mercury at the time of the invasion, and in the fall of 1990, it will start a square to the asteroids Apollo (a sun god) and Washington. The spring of 1991 is highlighted by P Moon moving out of Leo into Virgo (connected to work and health) and into a conjunction with Pluto. In late summer 1991, P MC starts a square to Chaldaea and by the end of the year, P Ascendant will be reaching a conjunction with Apollo and Washington.
We have still hardly touched the mass of aspects and the charts which are relevant for the Gulf crisis, but time and space run out. At this point, with an inadequate amount of time to do a thorough job on all of the charts, the confrontation seems likely to continue for months with an intensified likelihood of violence in the spring of 1991. In addition to Bush’s aspects at that time, the P Moon in his inauguration chart will reach a square to Pluto-Ascendant and a conjunction with the Part of Mars. It will also square the asteroid America which is just past the natal Ascendant, and the Part of Death calculated for the chart when it is set up for Baghdad. P Ascendant and P America are currently conjunct and still within the one-degree orb of the Baghdad Part of Death. The “Arabic Parts” of astrology, like all of the system, can be symbolic of many details. P Icarus had just started a conjunction with the natal Sun in Bush’s inaugural chart when Saddam invaded Kuwait, and it will reach the square to Mars and the East Point in 1991. P Irakli remains conjunct P Guernica which, like Dresden, was named for a town famous for the bombing of innocent civilians.
The overshadowing presence of guns continues through the following cardinal ingress charts calculated for Baghdad. Though the asteroid Winchester could refer to the famous cathedral and school in England, we have mostly seen it prominent in charts where guns were used, perhaps associating it with the Winchester rifle. In the Libra 1990 ingress, heliocentric Winchester will be on the MC. In the Capricorn 1990 ingress, geocentric Winchester will be on the MC. In the Aries 1991 ingress, heliocentric Winchester will be on the Descendant. All aspects are within a one-degree orb, and remember that the angles of the chart (MC, Ascendant, etc.) are changed about one degree every four minutes as the earth rotates on its axis, so these angle conjunctions are very time-specific. Again, the odds against these patterns happening by chance must be astronomical, yet this approach to astrology is anecdotal, not scientific. Are wars good for the economy when the nation is already deep in debt? It should be an interesting year ahead.
We’ll probably discuss additional relevant charts in the next Asteroid-World. I have a tentative chart for Kuwait, and it too c change in the spring of 1991. P Moon will cross the Descendant, a point of cooperation or conflict, opposing the Ascendant, East Point, and Antivertex which are all at 29 Pisces, and squaring the 29 Sagittarius MC. P MC continues to conjunct Saturn, fitting a major change in the executive structure of the government and in the handling of power. I also have a date but not a time or even a place when the “major powers” signed the Sykes-Picot Treaty in the middle of the First World War. This treaty divided the near east into zones of influence for the European nations, and started the ball rolling toward the current power struggles though it was the presence of vast quantities of oil that made the area really worth fighting for. This is the type of article which should be in Asteroid-World, both because of contents and because we can have more readable charts with the larger page size, but I didn’t want to wait.
I have seen two different times for the actual invasion of Kuwait, but the one given in the Los Angeles Times seems to be very appropriate. It is set for 3:14 A.M. in Baghdad on August 2, 1990. The UT is three hours earlier. I will not spend much time on the chart but want to point out that Irakli was in the tenth house in Aries exactly opposite America, and Chaldaea was two degrees later in a quincunx to Mercury. Neptune was exactly opposite the Ascendant, reminding us of questionable faith and ethics and judgment as well as of the threat to use poison gas against enemies. Mars and Herbert were conjunct and within a few hours they reached the opposition to Pluto. The Sun was exactly opposite the Ascendant in Washington, DC, sextile George, and just two degrees from the south lunar node. The MC was just coming to an opposition to Iphigenia, Ra-Shalom, and Arabia. As has been mentioned already, Iphigenia was named for a sacrificed teenager. Arabia was named for the country. Ra-Shalom was named for the Camp David peace treaty signed by Israel and Egypt. It combines the name of an Egyptian sun god and a Jewish word for peace. As the news commentators have suggested, Saddam’s immediate goal was the acquisition of more oil, money, and better ports on the Gulf, but his long-range goal remains increased power in the Arabic world and the destruction of Israel. His military power is said to be third in the world, behind only the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. He is not going to be easily overthrown.