I’m not going to watch the elections on TV. I’m going to the beach, since here in Quito we have a 5-day holiday. I’m going to celebrate All Soul’s Day, the Anniversary of the Founding of Cuenca, and a day that the government kindly inserted as a bridge between the two. I’m going to scuff my toes in the sand, play mah-jongg with friends, and read tattered paperbacks.

So I probably won’t know the winner till the next day. But I’m not worried. I do think that it will be Kerry, and I don’t think that people will be taking to the streets in November. For one thing, there’s a Venus/Jupiter conjunction on election day, and so I think people will be partying. Of course, this begs the question - who will be partying? But at least I don’t see one of those inconclusive confusing election fiascos like we had in 2000.

Getting out the vote will be a big party too, and that’s all to the good. The League of Pissed Off Voters, out of NYC, is trying to engage too-cool young people in the democratic process. Mainstream Moms Oppose Bush has banners that say “Adopt a Swing State”. The Trick-or-Vote project has people getting into costume on Halloween, knocking on doors, and handing out info on polling places. Some folks will be wearing George W. Bush masks, the most terrifying costume of all. (I just read that British film fans have voted George “the scariest movie villain” for his role in Fahrenheit 911.)

There is one obstructive aspect on election day. Mars in Libra is rising when the polls open on the east coast, and this will get everybody out. Mars energizes, and Libra is the sign of justice and balance. But Mars is square Saturn in Cancer, which stands for entrenched interests. So there will be some resistance to all this activity, and it could take many different forms. The image that comes to mind with the Mars/Saturn square is a bus stuck in the mud. Saturn can also generate enormous amounts of soul-destroying red tape. But, with Mars rising, I don’t think people will be passive about any attempts to curtail their right to vote.

And I don’t see these attempts as successful. Rising Mars is also square George W.’s Saturn in Cancer. He represents entrenched interests, and he is going to be bowled over by a surge of justice-loving people.

So November looks like a pretty happy month, a social and energetic time. The Venus/Jupiter conjunction is strong during the election, a bit weaker at the new moon, and gone by the full moon of the 26th. So the buoyancy that begins the month doesn’t necessarily last. People start out cheering and clapping each other on the back, and then look around and realize that Kerry (while a whole lot better than Bush) has his own limited vision of the world.

And so the war goes on, and could get even messier as November comes to an end. On November 25, just a day before the full moon, Pluto in Sagittarius is making the exact opposition to Mars in the US chart. This can mean coming up against a terrifyingly powerful opponent. In the US chart, there’s a natal Mars/Neptune square, and so there’s often some confusion when it comes to using strength. Pluto intensifies this ambivalence and uncertainty, as it makes a mutable T-square with Neptune as the catalyst.

I don’t think there will be much reward from Kerry’s idea of bringing in international support. It’s really too late for that. At this point, the US is perceived as the enemy by a large number of principled/fanatical people. And the interests that dispassionately promote war are mostly headquartered in the US.

What would I say to an individual who was dealing with this configuration, this mutable T-square? The main thing is to realize that every hard aspect is an opportunity to heal something within your own horoscope. In the case of the US, the Mars/Neptune square represents the internal challenge, the psychological wound. This aspect is about struggling to exert one’s will in the face of the inchoate, the unnamable, the strange.

We’ve seen this aggressive reaction many times in US history, starting with the massacres of the indigenous people. The US has always tried to get rid of what it couldn’t understand - and often that’s meant flailing around aimlessly (as in Vietnam and now in Iraq) or being deceitful (as in the treaties with Native Americans, or the many covert operations to shore up oppressive governments).

Now is the time that we need to look at this, with Pluto breathing down our necks. Pluto, the planet of power, could be represented as a Dragon. The Mars/Neptune square in the US horoscope could be seen as a Warrior fighting Fog. As long as the Warrior is expending energy on the Fog, then the Dragon can quite easily overpower him.

So what is to be done? The Warrior needs to learn to find his way in the Fog of Neptune. This means dealing with things that are unclear, that can’t always be named. This means trusting instinct and intuition. It means finding the Spirit, something that has nothing to do with the heavy-handed and judgmental religious posturing of George W. The Spirit is about love, compassion, and seeing the world as one.

Neptune dissolves boundaries, and this can be either blissful or frightening - but it’s inevitable. Wrapped up in all that soggy, confusing fog is the Spirit. It seems foggy because it is not limited by any form or definition. Swords cannot cut it, nor bullets pierce it. It shape-shifts, staying just out of reach - until we find it in ourselves.

This is a good time to get in contact with the Spirit, in spite of this hard Pluto aspect to the US chart. At this point, transiting Jupiter and Neptune are in trine in air signs. And so there will be some openings. What this may mean is the gentle but inexorable burgeoning of peace organizations all over the world. People will gather together to honor Spirit. When the cheering and celebrations are over, people will look at each other, and say, “What can we do now?”

The election is just the first step. After this, it’s time to release the doves.

Index of Jenny Yates' Writings on Lesbian.com