A Uranian Age of Pisces

Uranus in Aquarius certainly served up an interesting final week, capping what, at minimum, can be described as an interesting seven years. In those twenty-eight seasons were born the modern Internet, the anti-globalization movement, the "post 9-11 world" and a heck of a lot of babies. The polar caps are melting.

We witnessed the most blatant theft ever of a U.S. presidential election and got set up for a second act. Everyone now has four phone numbers. Cell phones take pictures. We're talking a lot, but are we saying anything?

It has been a world of surprises. If you're new to planetary signification, that's Uranus for you: one never knows. It is going to get more interesting; but one never knows. What we call '2003' and '2004' are marked by the transition of big green Uranus from Aquarius to Pisces, which occurred early Tuesday, Dec. 30. Those big outer worlds that surround the Sun move through the signs and change the entire backdrop of life, in more or less subtle ways. Uranus tends toward less. Less subtle, that is.

As for this happening at the turn of a year, we experienced something similar Dec. 30, 1999, when Chiron and Pluto made their rare conjunction (occurring once per six decades, this, just after the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle).

So begins the Uranian Age of Pisces

Mercury retrograde ends -- that is, the exact station direct occurs -- the morning of Jan. 6 in the U.S. and in the early afternoon in the U.K. On that day, Mercury stations at 26 degrees and 16 minutes of Sagittarius, right on the Galactic Core. This is rare and magnificent astrology that takes us beyond our local world and our local star. The planet of mind aligns with the very core of creation as we know it -- or are discovering it.

The next day is the Full Moon in Cancer. This occurs in a T-square pattern: Moon, Ceres, Varuna in Cancer; Sun, Chiron in Capricorn, Mars, Pallas in Aries. Suffice it to say that a lot changes in the next week, and with the recent addition of Uranus to Pisces, more is developing than we can really imagine.

The morning of Jan. 14, Mercury, still moving slowly, returns to Capricorn, and on Jan. 25, the shadow phase of the retrograde ends, meaning that Mercury enters new territory for the first time since the retrograde began on Dec. 17.

As of Monday, Venus is in Aquarius, Mars is in Aries, Jupiter is in Virgo and Saturn is in Cancer.


The Mad Cow-Monsanto-Saddam Connection

My fellow fish Bruce Horowitz stopped by yesterday to chew the cud about Mad Cow. Spruce (as we know him in his capacity as proprietor of the Sun Kitchen, a travelling raw food establishment) recently typed his Master's thesis on natural foods on our computers here, and tonight he shuttled between the stove and a pile of books, frantically hurling facts at me as I typed and he made quinoa and green pea stew.

My initial thought for a commentary was that Mad Cow is about more than whether beef is safe for humans. It's about whether factory beef production is safe for the planet, including humans. That it's not safe is not an especially difficult case to prove, and I knew Spruce would have the facts.

Then with additional data in hand, another analysis emerged.

First let's take a look at the Mad Cow issue. But before that, if I may add this. News about food is not easy to deal with. As a person who has lived with lifelong dietary restrictions and "too much information" about supertoxins, I am aware how challenging it is to question or alter one's food practises, and how hard it is to get the world to cooperate. We don't want to be told that the food we eat and love is toxic. However, it seems we live in an era when we need to gradually raise our consciousness about what we take into our bodies, for some very compelling reasons. This article strives to offer a little of that. And, for the record, I'm not a vegetarian of any variety.

Happy cows eat grass. They are ruminants, creatures with multiple stomachs and digestive systems which can convert plant protein into usable energy. They don't need complex carbohydrates (such as grain) or animal products (such as clam chowder or pork chops) to survive. They do not eat one another. They stand round and chew, munching on leaves, looking pretty cute and throwing the occasional sideways glance.

Mad cows eat other cows. By now, we all know that Mad Cow disease (technically, bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE), which rots the brain and which is most likely transferred to humans through an indestructible protein called a prion, was made into a crisis by the practise of feeding cows to other cows. Skins, bones, brains, nervous systems and other inedible parts are also rendered into cow feed.

Bioconcentration

The practise of rendering cow parts into cattle feed and feeding them to other cows -- particularly the brains and nervous systems -- concentrates certain diseases such as BSE that are present in cattle and magnifies their frequency of occurrence. While there is a feeding ban on feeding cows to other cows, it has loopholes the size of a barn door (for example, you can feed a cow to a pig and then feed the pig back to a cow, which can spread BSE).

Cattle raising practises also commonly include feeding the blood of dead cows to calves as a milk supplement (since we take so much of the milk for dairy). Cows are also fed road kill, dead horses and euthenised pets, which are also rendered into feed. And pets, in turn, can be fed rendered cow material.

Such practises also do very, very weird things on the biochemical level; they entirely unnatural, a kind of perpetual dietary incest. Hence, the development and proliferation of Mad Cow (and God knows what else) as a persistent problem rather than as rare or isolated occurrences. The technical term is bioconcentration for when things build up in the food chain, and that's the case with Mad Cow. What we are seeing today is, unfortunately, only the beginning, since this has been cycling in the food chain for a long time, and still is.

Water, Energy and Global Concerns

Yet the deeper issues with beef are the global environmental ones. You are, I am sure, aware that the rainforests (principally in Brazil, which is a large country located on another part of our planet) are being eliminated to support the McDonald's habit of the civilised world. Look at before and after photos of the Amazon and you will see they approximately resemble a comparison between Yellowstone National Park and Long Island.

That's part of the environmental problem. Here's another: it requires 600 gallons of water (at minimum) to make a quarter-pound beef patty. (A Peppermint Patty takes a lot less.) Credible estimates of water consumption for beef production start at around 2,500 gallons used per pound. This includes water the cow drinks and water required to raise the grain the cow eats. I am not sure if it includes water used to clean up after the cow, to run a slaughterhouse and meat packing plant, and the water used by supermarkets to prepare and sell the beef -- but I doubt it. Plus, intensive agriculture is one of, if not the biggest, causes of groundwater pollution, so the groundwater contaminated by wastewater used to produce beef can be added to the total.

Imagine someone having a nice barbecue for all their friends, going through a modest 10 pounds of hamburger. That required use of (i.e., contamination and redistribution of) 25,000 gallons of water -- at minimum -- enough to fill a good sized living room. Or, put in terms I can understand, that's 862 29-gallon fish tanks worth. For one meal. This, at a time when water is becoming extremely scarce, indeed, as we stand on the threshold of a global water catastrophe.

Then there's the grain issue. Each pound of beef requires 16 pounds of high-protein corn or soy to produce (cattle are fed grain as well as rendered parts of other cows). That's a lot of corn and soy; each 1,000 pound cow gives about 450 pounds of meat. That 450 pounds of beef requires 7,200 pounds of grain or soy (plus additional rendered feed and grass). How much corn and soy is it, really? Consider it in the global terms described by author John Robbins in his book Food Revolution. The amount of grain needed to feed every single person on the entire planet who dies of hunger and hunger-caused disease annually is 12 million tons.

If Americans cut their beef consumption by 10%, that would liberate 12 million tons of grain, enough to feed all the starving people in the world. (And, thanks to Mad Cow, this is about to happen, just coincidentally as China is calling on the U.S. to supply it with a LOT of grain as it severely depletes its own water table from over-farming its land.)

Here's the Monsanto connection. Presumably, most or all of that corn and soy is genetically modified, or GMO, which means that the more inefficient beef production is, the more money biotech giants like Monsanto make. And the more of their Frankenstein pollen contaminates the entire biosphere. Farmers say that GMO grains produce lower yield than do their non-modified equivalents, requiring more energy per acre. And "RoundUp Ready" grains (those genetically modified to withstand a particular herbicide made by Monsanto) increase the sale of RoundUp.

From Soap to Saddam

Now for the Saddam connection. In order to create one calorie of beef, 60 calories of petroleum energy are "ploughed into the land," in the words of vegan activist and medical doctor Michael Klapper. This energy is used to power tractors and combines that plant and harvest the grains, fertilize the soil, kill pests with oil-based insecticides and herbicides, and so forth. A sixty-to-one energy ratio! And they even make a profit! ConAgra, one of the three biggest beef producers, earned $4.2 billion in profits last year, according to the company's balance sheet. (That balance sheet did not include figures for federal subsidies, tax breaks, cheap water, cheap fuel, cheap land, and so on.)
 
So, basically, beef is a converted form of petroleum. And petroleum is why we are at war in Iraq. It is why we have killed thousands of Iraqi citisens and many children, it is why we have lost nearly 500 soldiers in the first year of fighting, and more than 10,000 of our men and women have suffered maiming and other casualties (not including the forthcoming Iraq War Syndrome). It is why we have destabilised Iraq and made it fertile ground for the breeding of countless new terrorists.

There is a second angle on the petroleum issue. According to Peter Montague, editor of Rachel's Health & Environment News, the practise of rendering cow parts into feed for other cattle began in the 1960s. Here's what happened. The beef industry used to sell its excess cow parts to be rendered into soap. But in the Sixties, industry was replacing soap with more 'modern' petroleum-based detergents. This left a whole lot of cow bones, skins, brains, blood and other tissue with nowhere to go.

What to do? But of course. Feed them to other cows, create biohazard beef, and use virgin petroleum to do the washing-up.++

Additional research: Laura Miller, Tracy Delaney, Bruce Horowitz

Mercury Retrograde Follies

Sticking to the news for a moment, developments during the current Mercury retrograde in Capricorn could develop into big winners next year. One interesting thing I've noticed about Mercury retrograde is that information often emerges. Consider this story from Dec. 17, the day Mercury stationed, dealing with the White House's 9-11 cover-up:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/122003H.shtml

Next, consider the situation involving Joseph Wilson, whose wife was a deep-cover CIA operative working to keep weapons out of the hands of terrorists, and was exposed by someone in the Bush administration. This was in retaliation for Wilson writing in The New York Times that Bush's claim of Iraq seeking Uranium ore from Niger was bullshit:

http://truthout.org/docs_03/123003A.shtml

Then, on Tuesday of this week, Attorney General John Ashcroft stepped down from heading the investigation into who was responsible for the leak, recused himself and his office from the investigation, and named a special counsel to take over the project:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3840566/

And finally, Robert Scheer reports, from http://www.robertscheer.com/

Sometimes democracy works. Though the wheels of accountability often grind slowly, they also can grind fine, if lubricated by the hard work of free-thinking citizens. The latest example: the release of official documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, that detail how the U.S. government under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush nurtured and supported Saddam Hussein despite his repeated use of chemical weapons.

The work of the National Security Archive, a dogged organization fighting for government transparency, has cast light on the trove of documents that depict in damning detail how the United States, working with U.S. corporations including Bechtel, cynically and secretly allied itself with Hussein's dictatorship. The evidence undermines the unctuous moral superiority with which the current American president, media and public now judge Hussein, a monster the U.S. actively helped create.

The documents make it clear that were the trial of Hussein to be held by an impartial world court, it would prove an embarrassing two-edged sword for the White House, calling into question the motives of U.S. foreign policy. If there were a complete investigation into those who aided and abetted Hussein's crimes against humanity, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and former Secretary of State George Shultz would probably end up as material witnesses.


Your Weekly Horoscope

Aries (March 20-April 19)
One change that's come over you after enduring six months of Mars in Pisces is that you've been bestowed with a chameleon-like power to become whatever you need to be. Right now necessity dictates a hybrid of diplomat, lawyer and warrior. Clearly, you have an agenda, and clearly you're not taking bets against what you want most. Yes, the stakes are high, but in fact you're very well situated to pull off a coup that will make the world a better place and give you the recognition you deserve for so much work well done. Just keep your cool. You have all the aces.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)
A dreamy vision of the life you want seems to be floating in and out of your awareness. Factors in your environment are loosening up your ability to flow with the possibilities. At the same time you're the one teaching people that that clinging to so-called reality just doesn't work. To the extent that you've engaged in relationships with people who have kept you stuck in the past, multiply that by ten and you'll have an idea of how much freedom awaits you. You finally recognize that you don't owe anyone a life made only of caution, but moreover, you may be feeling the pleasant shock that some people and things in are far too compelling to resist.
 
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
Whatever else may be happening -- and it may range from unpleasant to utterly ecstatic -- you're undergoing a radical change of perspective. Look first to the immediate events of your life to describe or understand what that change is. But it involves developments so deeply personal, it may take you some time to actually see what's developed. I can offer you this clue. Imagine the best human properties you've ever known or thought of, and have tended to see in others rather than in yourself. Imagine your idea of 'supreme creator'. These are the contents of your own identity, standing so close you can touch them, if you'll but dare to reach within.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)
The approach of Wednesday's Full Moon in your birth sign, which happens just once a year, is certainly giving your foundations a good workout, and it's compelling you to speak up for what you need and want. Just remember that what you need and want has very little in common with what seemed so important last week. You live in a bigger world, and a world that's at once much safer but calls for a truly courageous approach to existence. For most people, the words stuck, safe and comfortable are quite interchangeable. You have reached the heart of the matter: any idea is worth considering, and every choice is open.
 
Leo (July 22-Aug 23)
You have an admirable way of seeing the best in people and situations, and gradually, through example, you're teaching the world to see the best in itself. Though upcoming circumstances may stir up a seizure of self-doubt, in truth the time is perfect for you to understand the origins of your inner questioning. Meanwhile, this is a fine opportunity to work out the most persistent problems of your life: whether you're struggling with your health, your attitude toward work you don't really want to do or an obsession you can't seem to fulfil, acknowledge the problem and you'll soon be awarded the solution.
 
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
Cautious Virgo is sometimes given to stupendous, genuinely impressive fits of revolt, and that happens to be the case at the moment. It's just that you wage your revolutions so politely nobody catches on till there's a new flag flying over the capitol. Remember that what you're really doing is working to establish a place for yourself in a vast world that, despite allegedly tolerating diversity, barely allows a crack in the concrete for individualism, much less a pay check for it. Fortunately, you're not seeking any guarantees at the moment, and fortunately, you don't need them.
 
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
A complex problem possibly involving international communication is about to work itself out, no matter how snagged or confusing things may seem. Most of the great inventions of the world were developed precisely in response to human struggles. Some of those were intensely personal; others were more based on the big picture and furthering the humanitarian cause. You're in the second category right now, or suffice it to say that what you soon discover and give language to will help more people than you can imagine. Take an arm's-length rather than emotional approach and your work will be much easier.
 
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
In many Scorpio entries over the past five or six seasons I've made reference to old emotional baggage that has had a tendency to weigh down your life, and even dictate the outcome of present-day situations. In a way that long-hidden conditions sometimes do, when we free the first few blockages or resistance points, nature gets the message and does the rest. No need to ask yourself why someone worked so hard to convince you of something about yourself that was simply not true. The point is they were suffering, and you don't have to. But you'll feel a lot better when the point is proven by experience.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)
Some of the most challenging spiritual ideologies tell us that everything we see in the world outside us is the product of an inner reality: an idea, a value, a belief or a memory. Most of the time, this seems totally unrealistic, even frustrating. But when the reality that we create the world dawns on us for those rare, gem-like moments, the point is not to stop and marvel. The point is to acknowledge what you see and make decisions that will effect your life and your path of liberation. The universe is talking to you right now, and it's not whispering.
 
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
You have never been better able to see 'both sides' of a deeply personal issue, nor have you ever felt less amenable to either. You have your own solution, and it's based on an unusually strong sense of your own being. Capricorn always experiences itself as part of the greater whole, but now you're finding the power and the clarity to insist that the greater forces acknowledge your version of reality. You are entitled to raise hell, particularly if you've set out to restore heaven.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Contrary to the notion that it's impossible to have an impact on the great or the small pictures of life, your current endeavours are managing to both reach and impact an unusually wide constituency. Have faith in that. There is a principle you're working with, which is that friends tell the truth, and the truth has power. This can come as a shocking revelation in a world where lies often hold the greatest currency in the marketplace of ideas. But you've never been one to brook deception or hold your piece in times calling for commitment and conscience. Be who you are and the world will change whether it wants to or not.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
You have the energy, the insight and the innovation to get the results you're striving for. You merely need to remember that you're motivated by love, and remember it all the time, and let this alone guide you. You of all people cannot lose contact with this reality, since it is YOUR reality. Without love, the nebulous substance of Pisces degrades to fantasy. With it, a force that celebrates life, creation and protection is invoked and awakened. In recent days a change has come into your life, granting you strength and determination. Love with every breath and the right thing will happen every time.
 
Birthdays This Week

In a few days the Sun makes its annual conjunction to Chiron, and this is the third of four years this will happen in Capricorn, your birth sign. This year it happens around your birthday, so the emphasis is much more personal. You could interpret this setup as a message that you've reached stage three of the most daring growth process of your life so far. However, you may not have given yourself credit for having come so far so fast, and you may feel daunted by how far you have to go.

Growth, healing, creativity and the quest for wholeness all have one factor in common: the need for awareness, or rather, the undeniable rise of awareness. We hear people say all the time how the bad things that happen to them give them back their life. That is what happens when people resist all change and any change becomes a means to liberation. You have embraced changes and you have faced some pretty big limitations, too. In the process, your awareness has slowly dawned with greater and greater light, calling your attention to all kinds of issues and problems you know you have to change. You are living proof that denial cements in stagnation and that awareness provokes action.

That is the formula for a truly rewarding four seasons. But you may ask: of what will you become aware? The current story of Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius explains quite a bit, actually. There is what you could call a mediation process between who you think you are, and who you know you are. Who you think you are is much more bound by duty, orthodoxy, obligation and structure. Who you know you are answers to nothing other than the highest calling of Spirit, and there are those rare, magnificent times when you encounter your inner being without the least hesitation. This is one of them.

The great gift of your inner being is that it knows who you are and what you need. What you perceive as a limitation, it perceives as an opportunity. I suggest you get in the habit of believing no problem is insoluble. Most of the time, we hold the key to life in our pocket while standing outside the locked door.

In your personal relationships, it is most important that you remember this bit of philosophy. For this is a truly pivotal time in your lifelong journey of love, romance and adult companionship. There may be a process in your current relationships where turbulence and discord serve to draw you closer and bring unspoken feelings to the surface. There may be a rapid clearing process going on in your life as certain people make their exit after many long years.

It may also be that, after many seasons of little eventful action on the relationship front, people you can relate to are beginning to appear in your life. In any event, the outcome is certain. You are making room for real experiences of relationships: real as in mature, and real as in experiences that don't require you to be someone else as a precondition. When someone loves you in truth, that's about who you are, not who someone would have you be.

And that should come as very happy news indeed.

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Note on the text: this edition of Planet Waves
is written using British rules of spelling.

Planet Waves Weekly International Edition
Jan. 2, 2004, Version 1.0

Copyright © 2004, all rights reserved.
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Customer Service: Chelsea Bottinelli
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Editing and Research by Tracy Delaney
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