DATELINE OCT. 17, 2001 12:55PM PDT Eugene, Oregon... I write this Part IX of our series on the Attack on America as Neptune stations (stops its movement) and turns from retrograde to direct motion at 6 degrees Aquarius. Although Neptune is not the central part of this particular feature, it has been and continues to be a major celestial player in this terrorist and American war drama that is now unfolding around the world. Neptune does have a deep connection to the theme of germ warfare, biological and chemical terrorism on a global scale, because Neptune is affiliated with gases, poisons, mass or universal scares, hoaxes and profoundly confusing/chaotic conditions. As I have mentioned many times in this series of articles, Neptune also links to religious fanaticism and has been sitting on top of America's South Lunar Node (karma; fate; weakness; vulnerability) for this entire crisis. Neptune has been at this location -- on and off -- during 2000-2001, as this outer planet moves rather slowly. Nevertheless, the Sun, Moon, all the planets, four main asteroids and Chiron have all been active participants in this recent awakening of the American people.
Now the question of the moment is: How does the bio-terrorism scare (right now centered on anthrax) connect to the shocking events of Sept. 11, 2001 and the American air war in Afghanistan, which began on Oct. 7, 2001? Like everyone else, I have been puzzled by the scary news first coming out of Lantana, Florida in the first few days of October when 63-year-old tabloid photo editor Bob Stevens came down with anthrax. He died on Oct. 5. The USA began the air war over Afghanistan just two days later. Since that time, the anthrax panic has been set off at Tom Brokaw's offices at NBC in New York, a Nevada office of Microsoft, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office, where over 30 people have tested positive for exposure (not necessarily infection, as of yet), and ABC headquarters (where a 7-month-old infant was infected). The scare has also begun moving around the world, striking other offices in the U.S. Congress, Canada's parliament, French and German governmental facilities, and as far away as Israel and New Zealand. [Note: Late-breaking news today is that the House of Representatives will close for several days in order to check the building for anthrax. The Senate will stay open.] It appears that some of this is clearly from "hoaxers," and the FBI has already zeroed in on two men in Connecticut who may be responsible for creating an anthrax scare in that state. Where does the asteroid Pallas Athena come into this picture?
Pallas Athena was the second asteroid to be discovered (March 28, 1802), following the sighting of Ceres (the largest asteroid) by the Italian astronomer Piazzi in 1801. I have reported to you before that it was Eleanor Bach of New York City who came out with the first asteroid ephemeris in 1972. That ephemeris included placements of Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta. I knew Eleanor. When I began my astrological studies in New York City in 1972, I met her at an astrology gathering and we became close friends. Perhaps the connection was that we were both born with Jupiter rising -- she in Libra and myself in Aquarius. Our Jupiter placements were almost exactly trine. She used to have meetings at her apartment in lower Manhattan and many astrology students shared their ideas at these wonderful evenings. She was THE pioneer of research into the asteroids and in 1986 created a literary masterpiece (that she self-published) entitled A Graphic Ephemeris of Sensitive Degrees. Although this contained information on all the planetary bodies, its focus on the four main asteroids was astounding in scope. And this is particularly true on the level of down-to-earth, practical and specific meanings of the asteroids. In addition, Eleanor included an important discovery in this work. She investigated the stations of planets and asteroids -- finding that the degrees of the stations held their power and significance for many months, if not years, in duration.
Eventually, I convinced Eleanor to write a series of articles on the asteroids for my journal, Welcome to Planet Earth. She wrote quite a number of these fascinating reports on the deeper significance of the four main asteroids. She also created a monthly newsletter called Planet Watch that was rich in her unique insights. When she passed away in the early 1990s, it was a terrible loss for the entire astrological community.
I turn to her Graphic Ephemeris book very often. It is an absolute gold mine on Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta. Unless you have it, it's hard to convey how extraordinary the book is. Eleanor had a phenomenal ability to hone in on the mundane or worldly meanings of the asteroids and to illuminate your thinking about them in a way you would always remember. It is thanks to her remarkable work that I have been able to report to you in earlier articles about the power of Juno (connected to terrorism by the powerless and the rage that follows by the innocent victims), Vesta (national security, safety and insurance themes; FBI; CIA; NSA), and Ceres (grains; cereals, land and agriculture; America born at a stationary Ceres in Pisces and being the "bread basket" to the world). Here and there in this series, I have also mentioned the crucial importance of Pallas. When America was born on July 4, 1776, the Moon had just united with Pallas and both are located at 26+ Aquarius. I also indicated that when America began the air war over Afghanistan, it was amazing that the Moon and Pallas were exactly polarized (the opposite celestial signature to the one that existed at our nation's birth!) -- and the Moon (public; mass emotions) was conjunct Vesta (national security/safety) and Saturn (fears; long sustained conflict) while Pallas was conjunct Pluto (terrorism; underworlds; death and mass destruction themes).
Pallas refers to mental brilliance, genius, inventions, strategy, wisdom and justice, excellence, efficiency, seeing patterns in life. She rules over handicrafts, pottery and particularly weaving. She is also a warrior goddess and the ancient Greeks prayed to her for victory in battle. But it is in areas of health and intelligence that we find Pallas having such an important rulership. In order to literally "do justice" to the meanings of Pallas in this regard, I am going to quote a few sentences and phrases from Eleanor's Graphic Ephemeris. "Intelligence is also protective. It is a shield against being taken by surprise by unexpected developments. Pallas has much to do with immunology, and the immune system, that which protects against invasion in the body. Because she is a creator of patterns, Pallas has to do with DNA, the genetic code.... Pallas is busy with high-tech industries ... strategic arms, with defense systems, with star wars technology.... Negatively she will indicate a troubled economy ... poor planning and strategy, oversights, out-moded systems, obsolete technology, incompetence ... vulnerability to attack ... lowered standards and cities in trouble.... Pallas is the indicator of our body's defense system, that is, the immune system, which protects us against invasion by dangerous organisms.... Negatively, there may be ... inadequate immunity to disease..."
The preceding quotation is a condensation of key phrases and terms connected with Pallas from Eleanor's book. Ponder on those meanings again. Etch them into your mind -- and never forget them. It is amazing that the symbolic weapons that Pallas carries are the spear and the shield. The owl (a bird of wisdom and vigilance) is her avian totem from mythology. Now that it is crystal clear that Pallas links with immune systems and/or susceptibility to disease, to intelligence or the lack of it, to "vulnerability to attack" and to shields, we can go back to this year's transits, and the USA natal and progressed maps to understand the power of Pallas. Prepare yourself for a whirlwind of ideas to assimilate.
As stated earlier, the closest conjunction in America's birthmap is a Moon-Pallas union at the same degree -- 26+ Aquarius. Remember that we are a Cancerian nation and that the Moon rules America's Sun in Cancer. In addition, with Sagittarius rising, Jupiter is our nation's ruling planet. However, Jupiter is also in Cancer when our nation began on July 4, 1776. Thus, America's Moon is incredibly potent -- ruling over both our Sun and Jupiter. America also has Mercury and Venus in Cancer -- showing the lunar body controlling these planets, too. Because Pallas is united with our Moon degree, Pallas becomes a kind of twin celestial ruling body with the Moon for America.
Now realize that it was America that gave the world airflight via the Wright Brothers' first successful powered flight on Dec. 17, 1903. America's Moon-Pallas union is in Aquarius -- the universal air sign. As the world's last remaining superpower, America controls the skies and is the leading nation in terms of aviation and missile technology. As Eleanor pointed out, Pallas connects with defense systems and star-wars technology. Our defense department is literally housed in the Pentagon -- which has hit by one of the 4 hijacked planes on Sept. 11th. Due to oversights, incompetence and inefficiency, our military establishment was asleep at the wheel on Sept. 11th. We were defense-less and, literally and symbolically, our Pentagon was struck and almost destroyed. It was President Reagan -- a Sun-sign Aquarian (whose Sun was connected to America's Moon-Pallas union in Aquarius) -- who was the first person to originate the idea and concept of star-wars technology, a missile-defense shield (Pallas) to protect (Pallas) our nation from nuclear nightmare and rogue missiles, etc.
For many months, earlier in 2001, one of President George W. Bush's strongest proposals was to spend hundreds of billions of dollars over many years for a new version of this star-wars defense shield (Pallas) to protect our nation from nuclear weapons. Why was this happening earlier in 2001? Be ready for a shock. Many of you may remember that in the beginning of this series, I reported that I was getting ready to write a big article this past July about a major conflagration that was going to happen for America. I didn't write it or publish it. I stopped short of doing it because (1) I didn't want to be an alarmist and (2) I didn't want to appear ridiculous if nothing extreme occurred. I was going to write the alarming story because Pluto (terror; nuclear fears; death; the underworld) had stopped in March 2001 at 15+ Sagittarius and Mars (war; bloodshed; volatility) also stopped at the same degree in July 2001. The problem was that this degree is the Mars/Uranus midpoint (murder and bloodshed from explosions) in America's chart from July 4, 1776. It is the same midpoint that was activated on Dec. 7, 1941 when the sneak attack occurred on Pearl Harbor -- propelling the USA into World War II. Thus, I was gearing up for some kind of disaster to befall America, but I didn't know when or from whom.
Something I didn't notice or had forgotten about was that Pallas had also stopped -- along with Pluto -- in March 2001 and at the same degree area in the zodiac! 16 Sagittarius. This occurred on March 6, 2001. And on Oct. 14-15, 2001 -- the beginning of this past week -- Pallas finally returned to this very spot. What happened? Following the initial anthrax scares of the preceding two weeks, suddenly our country has been galvanized by our nation's capitol being struck by a wave on anthrax exposures -- leading to the evacuation of the House of Representatives (the key national body signifying universal representation, linked to Aquarius, and our Moon-Pallas union)! Add on this disturbing fact: The anthrax found in Sen. Daschle's office is said to be very pure, very high-grade, so that the anthrax spores can "float on air currents." The Moon-Pallas union is in Aquarius, a universal air sign! [Note: By the way, Pallas also stopped and turned direct on July 17, 2001 at 27+ Scorpio -- less than one degree from an exact square to our natal Moon-Pallas union at 26+ Aquarius. This conflict from the station of Pallas to our natal Pallas was part of the reason our intelligence-gathering methods were so inadequate and deficient less than two months later on Sept. 11. It is a good part of the reason why our "defenses" (Pallas) were down.]
OK. So, we see this "ganging up" of three planetary bodies making stations this year at 16 Sagittarius -- including Pallas (ruling defense systems, "shields," immunology). Note that because Pallas rules intelligence and mental brilliance, on a national level that equates with our intelligence systems. While the asteroid Vesta (national security and safety) actually rules over the organizations of the FBI, CIA and NSA (intelligence groups), our intelligence-gathering ability itself is more connected to Pallas. It was the lack of national intelligence (particularly with the FAA -- again a Moon-Pallas in Aquarius link-up because the FAA controls our supposedly sophisticated air-traffic control system) which was so startling on Sept. 11th as four airliners were hijacked, leading to the dire war we are involved in right now.
To answer the question posed a few paragraphs earlier (why was our President so focused on a new and very costly missile defense shield earlier in 2001?), we go to America's Secondary Progressed birthchart. As I have shared in numerous articles before in this series, secondary progressions are very potent and are based on the equation of each day after birth equal to a year of life. Secondary Progressions have been used for centuries. A progressed chart symbolizes the inner emotional, psychological and even spiritual landscape of the entity being analyzed. Many professional mundane astrologers have been aware for a long time that 2001 would bring the USA Progressed Sun to our natal Moon for the first time ever in our history as a country! This still hasn't happened yet precisely. It will occur on October 24. However, America's Pallas is about 1/3 of a degree earlier in the zodiac than the Moon. Thus, one thing many astrologers weren't aware of or focused on was that the USA Progressed Sun was in conjunction with our natal Pallas in the late Spring. Keep in mind that America has existed for 225 years. The Sun is the most important celestial body in any chart. It is the source of life itself, radiance, heart, power and light. The Sun had never illuminated our natal Pallas or Moon. Now, in 2001, in the Spring and Fall, the solar sustenance of our existence is crossing our Pallas (defense systems; intelligence-gathering ability; immunology from illness and foreign dangers) and Moon (mass emotions; the public as a whole; our national mood, land and family foundations).
Recognize the rarity of 2001. It is the only year in our 225-year evolution, when the life-giving Sun is energizing directly our Moon-Pallas conjunction in late Aquarius. This will not happen again for 360 years! And what happens? We literally wake-up to a new world and new reality (Moon conjunct Pallas in Aquarius, the sign of the new age). Therefore, let us posit a new theory about Secondary Progressions -- a theory not related to individual, natal charting, but to nations and entities that may live for many centuries. The new theory is this: When the Secondary Progressed Sun crosses a celestial body in the chart for that nation, the themes and principles related to that celestial body wake up, are zapped, energized, reinforced, to an extraordinary level. It's almost as if the celestial body is waiting, asleep, dreaming, not fully alive, but when the Progressed Sun crosses that point, it suddenly comes to life! If you think about 2001 and the Sun crossing first our Pallas and then our Moon, this is what appears to be happening.
Now we can understand more fully why President Bush was so desperate to get our Congress to agree to greater funding this past Spring for a new generation of star-wars technology and truly building a sound and reliable nuclear-defense shield (Pallas in the extreme). It was because America's Progressed Sun was alighting upon our Pallas for the first time ever. And President Bush has his Sun in Cancer exactly conjunct America's Sun at 13+ Cancer. Thus, President Bush was and is the right person to be our president now as the Sun crosses our Pallas. We didn't know this in 2000, but now most people feel comfortable with him as President. [I explained some of this in my article on President Bush's Speech to Congress and the "awakening" of his natal Mercury-Pluto conjunction on his Ascendant.] But there is much more to this story.
You will notice in our USA Progressed chart that Pallas has moved from 26+ Aquarius at America's birth to 8+ Pisces. This is the exact placement of the largest asteroid Ceres when America was born. And as I shared in another article, Ceres is the only celestial body that was stationary (hence very strong) when our country was born. And what is Ceres? The grains and cereals of our Midwest. It is agriculture, land, farming. And where -- usually -- does anthrax originate from? Livestock and farm land! What we have here is an extremely rare secondary progression of the USA Pallas precisely on our natal Ceres and a sudden and alarming outbreak of anthrax. The astrological proof is in the pudding!
It is sobering to consider that Osama bin Laden and his band of terrorists may actually be connected to this anthrax scare and outbreak. Now while many in the media are suggesting that hoaxers are out and about -- and some of this is probably true -- even our new Director of Homeland Defense Tom Ridge was quoted as saying just yesterday that Osama bin Laden might be linked to this. To follow up on this thought, I happened to "accidentally" be looking through the Oct. 23, 2001 copy of The National Enquirer the other day (while I was at the supermarket waiting on line). While this tabloid is often trashed by mainstream newspapers, once in awhile they get it right. On pages 26-27 of this issue, there is an article entitled Bin Laden Family In America. The feature begins like this: "Osama Bin Laden's brother Yahia is part owner of an American biomedical firm engaged in advanced DNA research. And stockholders in the company -- Cambridge, Mass.-based Hybridon, Inc. -- also include Abdela Bin Mahfouz, whose family controls a Saudi Arabian bank accused by the Saudi government of trying to transfer $3 million to front organizations for Osama's terrorist organization!" This is just the beginning of a rather involved and very specific feature detailing the influence of Osama bin Laden's family here in the USA! Even if only part of this article is correct, isn't it possible that one or more members of Osama bin Laden's very large family could be behind the anthrax distribution and scare? After all, apparently his family owns a biomedical firm in Massachusetts. Has anyone looked into this? The major media has reported for a very long time that Osama bin Laden's family has "disowned" him. This article says the same thing. But just because a family disowns one member doesn't mean there aren't other members of the family still loyal to Osama bin Laden. I think this connection needs to be investigated further. [Note: In my article on Osama bin Laden's probable birthdate of March 10, 1957, I wrote that he had a brilliant and inventive mind. Why? Because he is born at a Sun-Pallas conjunction in Pisces, a union within two degrees! If this is true, how astounding -- because his natal Sun-Pallas union will rival our nation's Moon-Pallas union! Now that we understand the Pallas tie to defense systems, immunology, intelligence gathering, air and missile technology, perhaps this is a validation of Osama bin Laden's date of birth.]
What about the near future? Where will this crisis go? Will it disappear or get bigger? I will have a follow-up report to this one on the potential for smallpox threats, chemical and nuclear terrorism, but at this time with the antibiotic Cipro now being produced in massive quantities to treat anthrax victims, we need to stay alert to a deeper development of this anthrax problem. I have written about many dates that will be significant between now and Jan. 1, 2002 concerning terrorist scares and the war in Afghanistan. The rest of October, November and December are like a mine field of celestial explosions. You will have to review my other articles to extract these dates. However, we definitely want to note Dec. 5-7 (which includes the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor being struck) because at this time, the Sun will oppose Pluto and the Sun will also TRIGGER all three potent stations from earlier in 2001! Those stations are the ones by Pallas, Pluto and Mars -- all at 16 Sagittarius (on the USA natal Mars/Uranus explosive midpoint). By the way, at the Sept. 11th attacks, Pallas was located at 5+ Sagittarius (at the midpoint of the Sun and Uranus that day). This midpoint "picture" (summed up as Pallas = Sun/Uranus) symbolizes our lack of defense and vulnerability -- simply because we were not living on a higher Pallas level at the time. Remember that the Pallas station in July had been at 27+ Scorpio -- squaring our natal Moon-Pallas union at 26+ Aquarius. And the earlier Pallas station of March 2001 (16 Sagittarius) had occurred on our natal Mars/Uranus midpoint (violent explosion). It was as though all year long we were sitting ducks -- with our national intelligence-gathering services asleep. Note as well that as I said earlier, we started the air war over Afghanistan with an extremely bizarre and rare celestial pattern: The Moon with Vesta and Saturn in mid-Gemini sharply polarized to Pallas conjunct Pluto in mid-Sagittarius. This compounded the problem of the three Saturn-Pluto oppositions afflicting the whole world on August 5, 2001, November 1, 2001 and May 25, 2002. However, realize the ominous portent of our starting the air war on Oct. 7, 2001 with this weird pattern. We started our response as an air war with the Moon exactly opposing Pallas, when we are born with them united. This doesn't make too much sense and is very worrisome to me. It makes me feel that there are NUMEROUS pitfalls and obstacles ahead and that this war could grow way beyond what we anticipate. Note, too, that with Pallas (defense systems; intelligence gathering; immunology) conjunct Pluto (the darkest side of terrorism; death; extremes; underworlds; nuclear fears and threats) at the start of the air war, it's almost as if our enemies (Pluto) have a deep connection with our own technology (Pallas) and can use it against us. They already did this with the plane hijackings of Sept. 11th and they may be doing it again via anthrax right now.
2002 is the true problem ahead. It is in 2002 that transiting Uranus (which rules Aquarius, where the Moon and Pallas are located for America) will crisscross our Moon-Pallas conjunction three times -- in March 2002, August-September 2002, and finally in December 2002 and into the first half of January 2003. Uranus is revolution, rebellion, high-technology, cyberspace and computers, aviation, missiles, the atmosphere, Uranium and radiation, intuition, revelations, higher awakening, but also widespread instability, uncertainty and nervousness. This will be the first Uranus crossing of our Moon and Pallas since Uranus did this throughout 1918 and in early 1919. The year 1918 saw the devastating end of World War I -- the so-called "war to end all wars." In October 1918 -- exactly 83 years ago -- the Spanish flu (a worldwide epidemic) began striking America full-force. The total American civilian deaths by influenza in 1918 far outnumbered the deaths of American soldiers fighting in Europe. Several years ago, I wrote an article about a unique discovery I made that Jupiter retraces its steps in the zodiac, almost precisely, day by day, every 83 years. Thus, in October 1918, Jupiter was at 15+ Cancer (where it is now), and slowing down (as it's doing now), preparing for a station at the beginning of November (which it will do on Nov. 2, 2001). Thus, 2001 and 1918 are deeply connected and perhaps there is a link between the influenza pandemic of 1918 that killed many millions of people globally, and this current anthrax and bio-terrorism scare of 2001.
As if three shocking Uranian passages over our national Moon-Pallas union isn't scary enough, Pallas itself -- for the first time in about 4+ years -- will enter Aquarius and in May 2002, July 2002 and January 2003 return to 26+ Aquarius in three precise hits. The last time Pallas did this "triple return" was in 1979 -- when the Iranian Islamic Fundamentalist revolution began and our hostages were seized in Teheran! 1979 was clearly another year when our intelligence system (Pallas) failed us. There were only two times in the 20th century when transiting Pallas actually stopped right on its natal placement in America's birthchart: June 1942 and October-November 1970. In June 1942, the USA navy and airforce beat back an attack by the Japanese at Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean. It was one of the biggest naval battles in history. This defeat of the Japanese marked the turning point in our war in the Pacific. Remember the Pallas connection to our national defense, air power (Pallas in Aquarius) and its ancient symbolism as victory in war. On October 19, 1970 -- when Pallas stopped on its own USA zodiacal degree -- the World Trade Center (still under construction) became the world's tallest skyscraper.
From now on, when you envision the Pentagon and our entire defense establishment, you must think PALLAS. When you consider the strength or weakness of our intelligence-gathering organizations, attempting to protect our nation from harm, you must think PALLAS. And when you read, see and hear about the bio-terrorist attacks striking against our collective immune system, you must think PALLAS. Until the next time, keep studying the power of the asteroids!
Copyright 2001 by Mark Lerner and Great Bear Enterprises, Ltd. All rights reserved.
[Mark Lerner is the publisher of Welcome to Planet Earth. To reach him, please send an e-mail to markgobear@aol.com or write him at Mark Lerner, The Great Bear, PO Box 12007, Eugene, OR 97440. Please see our "Special Offer to Friends of Planet Earth Magazine" near the top of our Index page.]
