Often overshadowing the aspects covered in the daily texts of Astro-Weather are long-term outer planet aspects. These can last for weeks, months, years and sometimes even decades. These aspects have powerful effects that can be missed when focusing on the short-term aspects that are exact on any given day. While I have always tried to be aware of them and compensate for them as I write the daily forecasts, it is now time to share them more fully with my readers.

On September 11th of 2001 Osama bin Laden finally got our attention. The radical apocalyptic fringe within the Islamic world, of which he is the only the most well known, has been at war with the developed world, and with mainstream Islam, for many years. But in spite of the embassy bombings in Africa and the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, prior to 9/11 bin Laden and his cohorts were minor players among the myriad of issues jockeying for attention. In what will prove to be a classic case of “be careful what you wish for,” bin Laden now has all the attention he could have hoped for.

This article explores the astrological implications of the timing of the attack and tracks the planetary aspects that describe the ebb and flow of the conflict leading to bin Laden’s inevitable defeat. The attack of 9/11 served as a wake-up call to the developed world and as such can be viewed as more or less the birth of the war. As we will see, the astrological energies that granted the apparent success of the attack will rebound on the perpetrators.

There are several planetary aspects to consider. First among them is the ninety-year Neptune sextile Pluto. This energy has been and continues to be of tremendous benefit to humanity. It has much to do with our survival through the cold war and will see us through the current conflict. The relationships between outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto from September 11th through July of 2003 provide the astrological backdrop for how the war will play out. This essay describes the shifting angles these planets form to each other and what the patterns reveal for the course of the war.

NEPTUNE SEXTILE PLUTO
Our Saving Grace Aspect
The longest running of these long-range aspects is Neptune sextile Pluto. This very benign, almost ninety-year aspect first came into focus in the 1940’s and remains with us through the 2030’s. It started coming into effect as WWII was winding down and made its first exact 60-degree angle in January of 1950. Over the decades the aspect remains in effect, never separating by more than nine degrees, and forming the exact angle several times. It will come together to the exact angle for the last time at the end of February in 2032 and will remain in orb through the most of the 2030’s.

Every few hundred years Pluto’s oddly elliptical orbit brings it inside of Neptune’s. This increases the speed of Pluto’s orbit and it then keeps relative pace with Neptune until it again moves outside and slows back down to its more normal speed. I have long considered this 90-year Neptune sextile Pluto to be our Saving Grace aspect. It has seen us thus far through the evolutionary process to our next level and kept us from destroying ourselves, which we so easily could have done. We currently have a little under 40 years left of its beneficence in which to sufficiently mature and earn our continuing place on Earth.

The sextile aspect is Venus ruled and in essence represents balance. Neptune, among other things, rules spirituality, religion, entertainment media and other major components of mass consciousness. Pluto rules all things secret and hidden. This includes, among many things, the transformation of human consciousness, the politics behind the political maneuvering that is visible (hence the term plutocracy), mass consciousness on its deepest levels, sexuality and the death/birth birth/death transition. While many terrible things have occurred since the end of World War II, we have been spared the worst of what could have happened.

The true battleground in the war between the forces of right and wrong is the mass consciousness of humanity. We have made great strides in our awakening process but we have some way to go. We have the tools and the emerging consciousness to achieve the birth of a global community, unified and yet diverse, that has earned the right of survival on the Earth and its place in the universe. We need to make the greatest possible use of the balance brought to bear by this Neptune sextile Pluto aspect as we work through all of the problems we currently face.

A case can be made that for the duration of the Neptune sextile Pluto aspect, the planets become more or less one energy. This argument has merit, especially when reading the charts of individuals and most especially when the aspect is tightly formed. Both of the planets are their own entities, however, and have their own natures. Thus they have the right to be read both singly and in tandem. The sextile is at all times in effect during the ninety years and serves to keep things in balance, while persons and events sometimes seem to try to create as much imbalance as they can. The Neptune sextile Pluto will thwart Osama bin Ladin and his radical fundamentalist apocalyptic visionary brothers in the same way we avoided nuclear war with the Soviets. As bad as things do get in many ways, the worst just does not happen. Let’s just hope we get it sufficiently together before the 2040’s when the aspect is no longer protecting us.

The Timing of the Attack
As will become increasingly clear, the radical fundamentalist Muslims with the apocalyptic vision that Osama Bin Laden is just the most visible member of have been at war with the developed world for some time. No birth time of this movement is available and so no chart for it can be erected. But the attack on the World Trade Center did occur at a moment in time, so it serves as a birth of sorts for the war. The timing of the attack tells us much about the course of the war and the outcome we can expect.

In looking at events of this magnitude that have had such global implications, it is the outer planets that the astrologer examines. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are the outer planets, and tracking their movements and angles relative to each other tells the nature and timing of the events.

How It All Plays Out
As we traverse 2001 through 2003 the Neptune sextile Pluto aspect is wide, at times separated by the maximum 9 degrees, while at others as close as 5 degrees. Through this period Jupiter and Saturn are at play with Neptune and Pluto and have much to say about the overall tone of the time. The World Trade Center attack and the beginning of the current struggle of awakening occurred with Saturn opposed Pluto and Jupiter semi-sextile Saturn and quincunx Pluto. At the outset of discussing this complex, I want to point out that the resolving aspects of all of this will be a Saturn trine Uranus peaking in late June and Jupiter trine Pluto peaking in early July of 2003. That will be a 4th of July celebration to behold.

The Saturn opposed Pluto part of the equation shows in several ways. One, it showed America that it is not immune to the scourge of terrorism, and it brought war with casualties to American soil for the first time since our own Civil War. It showed the American public that it can no longer ignore the rest of the world and that its own safety is tied to the security of all of the people on Earth. Saturn rules discipline, form and physical plane reality. Pluto rules the death/birth transition. The WTC attack brought the death of innocence and the birth of awareness of America’s role in the world. Those who have declared war on America have awakened a giant they would have best left sleeping.

As devastating as the attack has been, and the ripples will be felt for quite some time, in the long run it will be shown to have been for the good. This is indicated by Jupiter’s involvement. Jupiter is the most positive of the planets. It serves to magnify whatever situation is at hand while preserving and protecting. Whenever it shows up in what appears to be a negative occurrence, it makes a big splash … but its over-riding positivity always comes through in the end. Let me be clear that I am not saying that the death of the victims, the financial losses and the wound on humanity’s psyche isn’t a tragedy of the first order; of course it is. What I am saying is that when all the dust settles, the sacrifices that have been made will result in greater consciousness, with a more secure and better world.

Saturn and Pluto combined in the attack to produce the death, destruction and the cold, hard reality of the world situation. Jupiter added the huge scope of the loss and the spectacular impact of the action. No one will ever forget the images of the planes striking the buildings and the subsequent collapses.

The Saturn opposed Pluto component remains active through mid December of ’01. This period will prove to be among the darkest of the conflict. By mid December, Saturn will have moved by retrograde into a trine to Neptune that will remain in effect through mid April of ’02. During this period we will see the more moderate Islamic leadership emerge and begin to stand up to the radical fundamentalist minority that is responsible for the terrorism.

The apocalyptic version of Islam, which in reality is held by a tiny minority, has in recent years gotten the lion’s share of attention. The more responsible leadership has been intimidated, understandably, and is now forced to speak up lest the radicals succeed in hijacking Islam and plunging it into a war with the more developed world … a war that it cannot hope to win. The war that the radicals seek to incite would be a war to dwarf all wars ever fought and literally millions would suffer and die. During this period of Saturn trine Neptune, the responsible leadership of the Islamic world will have its opportunity to repudiate the radicals. The moderates will have to find the courage to put down the radicals—as the cost of acquiescing to them will be far greater than confronting them. This will be done at great personal cost to the responsible Mulla as the radicals’ willingness to deal harshly with opposition is well known. The moderates will deserve our support, which must be wisely provided.

During the months of May and June of ’02 as Saturn moves back into what will be the final exact opposition to Pluto, we will see how the power struggle between the radicals and moderates shakes out. Then will likely be the decisive battles in the military realm as well. I believe that the moderate majority will succeed in their efforts as that is what Saturn trine Neptune indicates. What will then be left is the mopping up of the radicals, which will be no small task. They are dedicated, well funded and smart. They will score some victories as they lose their war and will take as much of the civilized world with them as they can. It may not be until February or March of ’03 before they recognize the writing on the wall. That is when Saturn comes closest to returning to opposition to Pluto and leaves the complex of aspects covering this crisis and moves into a trine with Uranus. Saturn trine Uranus absolutely favors the developed nations and the United States in particular. As Saturn moves away from the trine to Neptune it moves into trine with Uranus, which is the ruling planet of the United States (this rulership is arguable but not in the scope of this discussion). This is very positive for the U.S. and is very indicative of a favorable outcome. Saturn will retrograde back to close to another opposition to Pluto in January and February of ’03 and may bring us what seems to be ominous news. But it will not back all the way up to the exact degree of opposition, and the trine to Uranus will be the over-riding Saturn aspect all the way to its exact angle in late June of ’03.

Now let’s track Jupiter through this period. Remember that at the time of the attack Jupiter was semi-sextile Saturn and quincunx Pluto. The combined effect of these three planets was the apparent spectacular success of the attack itself. Jupiter supplied the huge scope and impact while the quincunx provided the suddenness and shock value. Again, Saturn and Pluto brought destruction, death and, what will be to the ultimate dismay of the attackers, the birthing of America’s knowledge of its responsibility to the world. The very success of the WTC attack will be one of the major reasons for the perpetrators’ eventual defeat. Jupiter remains in quincunx to Pluto to mid December. At that point its retrograde motion moves it into quincunx to Neptune—which remains in effect through May, after which it completes its final quincunx to Pluto through June of ‘02.

This period of Jupiter quincunx the Neptune-Pluto sextile will be interesting, to say the least. Most of the military battles will occur and more importantly, the power struggle between moderate and radical Islam will be fought. These will be scary and periodically dark times. Remember, however, that it is Jupiter and the Neptune-Pluto sextile that are involved here. However dark and scary things may momentarily appear, it all will work out right in the end. These battles must be deftly handled and won, militarily, politically and spiritually, and they will be. Decisive land battles for Afghanistan will be won before the summer solstice in June of ’02. What will be left then is to work with the moderate forces of Islam to isolate and neutralize apocalyptic radicals in the rest of the Islamic world. Moderate Islam can and must do most of this for itself. It will do it for its own self-preservation and it will only fall on us to support the effort and to defeat the remnant of international terrorism that is beyond the scope of any single Islamic nation.

Jupiter will move on to oppose Neptune from late August to late September. During this period there will be more conflict within the Islamic world as the radicals with their backs to the wall will be fighting what they will see as their last chance to take control of Islam. This again may look scary at times. But yet again look at the nature of the planets involved. The radicals will fail and then seek to cause as much damage as they can on their way out. Jupiter will then move into trine with Pluto through the end of ’02, favoring the West. Jupiter will retrograde back to the opposition with Neptune February through May and this will be the radicals’ last hurrah and ultimate defeat. Jupiter will then by direct motion form its last trine to Pluto in late June and early July of ’03.

In late June and early July of ’03 it will all be over but the shouting. The complex of aspects covering the WTC attacks will separate for the last time. The outer planet aspects will be: Neptune sextile Pluto, which of course will remain. Jupiter trine Pluto and Saturn trine Uranus, all of which very much indicate the triumph of right over wrong, of progressive humanity over the regressive, and of the forces of light over the forces of dark. It will then be time to turn our attention to the other issues of humanity’s place on Earth.