So what's it gonna be?  The dramatic "trial" of Saddam Hussein?  The magnificently timed capture of Osama?  A domestic terrorist attack canceling the election?  Code Red, to impress us all?  Some bizarre turn-of-events in one or both of the political campaigns?  A stunning new exposé of September 11 lies and secrets?  Or, despite the impressive astrological fireworks that occur in October and November, an ordinary-enough election ending in an Electoral College tie, along with accusations of widespread fraud?  Or a vote count contested in numerous states?

Or maybe all of the above?

It's going to be something, I dare say.  Beginning with the autumn equinox in late September, the birthcharts of the modern era (in particular, the September 11, 2001 charts) have come under a series of potent transits, as planet after planet makes its way into Libra.  We then head into two eclipses - a partial solar eclipse in Libra on October 14, and a total lunar eclipse in Taurus on October 28.  Along the way, the Moon eclipses two planets (called occultations), Mercury on the day of the solar eclipse, and Mars the day before.

When the Moon plays a fancy trick like that, it means there is a behind-the-scenes planetary alignment in three dimensions.  In November, we get another one of these, as a sequence of four additional lunar occultations blows through about a week after the election, between November 9 and 14.  This year really should be called the Year of the Occultation, with the June 8 Venus-Sun transit being the most impressive event of that genre.  Something is up.

But something has been up for a while.  In 1996 and 1997, we had two outstanding comets come through the neighborhood, invoking a Chinese prophesy predicting a "change of emperor."  Blink your eyes and a presidential impeachment is underway, the second in presidential history, over a quaint denial of a sexual affair.  This is not commonly seen as part of the same timeline as the stolen election of 2000, the 9/11 attacks, the fraudulent Iraq war, and whatever comes next.  However, think of the impeachment hearings as part of a bullfight, or rather, a donkey fight.  The picadors, the guys on horses with spears, come through first and weaken the donkey with blows to the back.  Those blows, like the hearings, desensitized those members of the public who might otherwise be inclined to care.

And at this point, I am certain Americans will go for absolutely anything.  Or at least they will fall for anything.  The least common denominator seems to have reached a new all-time low, as far as critical discernment is concerned.  The media mind-control machine will go along for the ride as long as it sells advertising space, turning the world into a giant soap opera.  If it's shocking and dramatic and feeds our national appetite for violence, fear, and Pepsi, it must be real.

How deep that appetite for fear goes, and what it connects to psychologically, is worth a look.  I have been reading article after article about how the philosophy driving the Bush administration is based on something called the Rapture.  Rather than being a word for exuberant erotic surrender or a great symphony, Rapture in this sense means the end of the world.

There are numerous visions of how this might occur, most of them too horrifying to write about, as children might be reading this article.  But the most common seems to involve God's chosen people suddenly flying naked up into the sky, called to heaven.

I wish Dr. Freud were here to psychoanalyze that one personally.  I can see him puffing his cigar and rubbing his beard as his client describes the scene.  It is an ordinary day in the city, and then there is a voice from above, the voice of power, stirring the yearning for surrender.  There is the sudden feeling of liberation and personal exaltation.  The clothes come off and the client lifts to the sky, higher and higher, spinning, arms and legs spread, perfectly unabashed.  All the other pure people, the true believers, are flying up together.

What happens next is Armageddon, the final battle of good and evil.  This battle is supposedly fought between the friends and foes of Israel.

It is true that there's often a resurgence of "spiritualism" around the turn of the century, and we have recently experienced the turn of 10 centuries, so we get a bonus prize.  That calls for some extra special kind of revelation, perhaps the real thing.  George Monboit writes of the Rapture in the Manchester Guardian, a British daily in a country where journalism still exists in newspapers:

"What makes the story so appealing to Christian fundamentalists is that...not only do the worthy get to sit at the right hand of God, but they will be able to watch, from the best seats, their political and religious opponents being devoured by boils, sores, locusts, and frogs, during the seven years of Tribulation which follow."

Meanwhile, back in the White House, it appears that foreign policy is being waged in such as way as to bring on the big day as soon as possible.  Policies on the Middle East are being run past Rapture Christian leaders to make sure they fit the Armageddon scenario.  And nonstop strife is being fuelled between Israel and the Palestinians, who appear in the scenario as the alleged proxies for Satan's chosen people.  Any possible opportunity to incite the rage of the Arab world is being seized upon, be it the bombing of Iraq or the imprisonment, rape, and torture of Muslims in America's prison camp system.

The funny thing is, you're not behind any of this, are you?  And while there may be a big surprise in October, you're not really expecting it to be the Rapture, right?  But as sure as the Lord made little green planets, plenty of people are going to experience the astrology of eclipses, occultations, and the rest of it as fearful and intense enough to lead to some deep need for psychological or spiritual release.  That, in turn, will lead to a deeper expectation that anything at all is possible.

Part of the cycle of fear is that it leads to the expectation of bad things happening.  When bad things happen, they can easily go from bad to worse.

Meanwhile, back in reality, all of these astrological events come through not only our world but our individual charts.  Numerous planets change signs (Virgo to Libra), and eclipses always bring progress, or at least change.  All the emphasis in Libra is about a choice, because this is the one keyword that most clearly describes the effect and experience of Libra.

It is possible to throw that choice to the wind or the cosmos and let it be made for us.  It is possible to exercise your option solely as the response or reaction to fear.  It is possible to revert to full-on victim mode.  It's been a long time since a bunch of Yippies, Hippies, and Human Potential freaks believed we have the power to change the world by changing ourselves.  Fortunately, we've arrived at yet another cosmic intersection at which that becomes the only viable option.  Meanwhile, get ready for the October surprise.  Or perhaps surprise yourself.