"You're In The Army Now"...I Think?

"You're In The Army Now"...I Think?
mumin_bey@yahoo.com

9:10 AM 10/14/2006 Sat

You might have heard the news story eariler this week about how the US Army will now go about dealing with new recruits - there is to be no yelling, no screaming, no cursing and so on on the part of DIs. Instead, they are to act as "counselors" to the greenhorns - a kindler, gentler Military. Gone are DIs seen in films like "Full Metal Jacket" - heck, a DI more akin to a Dr. Phil won't do either - what we need is Sargent Winnie The Pooh!

Deep.

This, at a time when the world faces a malevolent force known as Terrorism, emanating from the Islamic World; this, at a time when the US military will face fighters like the Taliban and Hezbollah, guys who, according to writers like Ahmad Rashid (author of the book "Taliban", the authoritative account of that group's rise to power, etc.) have at least a decade's worth of combat experience (they tend to start off around 14 years of age or so) in the most inhospitable of locales (pretty cold in Afghanistan this time of year, pretty hot in Iraq) - and we're talking about the need not to upset recruits???

This story follows a string of similiar stories over this past year, where announcements concerning changes in the military have been made - earlier this year, a report came out about the concerns the military had regarding the fattening of America, too many recruits unfit to serve because they were too fat. Another story came out talking about how too many recruits had tatoos and body piercings - and how the US Army was now relaxing regulations standards in this regard so as to keep their recruitment levels up!

A regiment of out of shape, bloated, tatooed, holes in the face and body soldiers that prefer "couseling" to drilling is just what the doctor ordered to handle the likes of Al-Qaeda - to say nothing of the prospect of going toe to toe with a million man standing army in North Korea. What an impressive sight they are!

This turn of events for the American Military is in my view, easily seen in the Mundane movements of the Planets; in fact, I discussed this in part in a piece I wrote last year, called "Mars Retrograde & The Incredible Disappearing Man":

"Astrologically, we can see this shift occurring with respect to men, in two "waves" if you will - the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1965, and the Uranus-Neptune conjunction of 1993. As we all know, these conjunctions had massive social, legal and economic implications for all concerned. One of the most sweeping - and far reaching - was with regard to Women. The Women's Movement gained monumental steam during the 60s, and by the time the early 90s rolled around, more women were in every sphere of public life than ever before in American history. On the micro level, more women had choice in nearly every aspect of their lives than ever before, ranging from career choice to reproductive options. While we astrologers were caught up in assessing these conjunctions themselves, I posit that we might have overlooked their impact on the "inner planets", in this case, Mars; at the time of the Uranus-Pluto partile, Mars was conjunct Venus and trine the Moon (both female planets); and, perhaps even more ominous, at the time of the Uranus-Neptune conjunction, Mars was sitting opposed it in Cancer and RETROGRADE. Classically its sign of Fall, Mars in Cancer shows a much-weakened male population, made all the moreso by its retrogradation. The Uranus-Neptune conjunction, portended a protracted period of confusion, befuddlement, literally being in a fog, about what it means to "be a man" (and please note, that Faludi's book centers on this period!), as all of the "male" institutions - schools, colleges, corporations, industries, even the military (think VMI and The Citadel) - underwent massive and rapid change. Today, most men don't know whether to hold the door open for a woman or not; many men are chided for having "base" desires, such as the liking for buxom women; and we all have either heard about and/or read about the dangers of "patriarchy". Men have truly lost their "male compass" and it's my view that this Mars in Taurus Rx transit is pointing us in the proper direction to go - if we but would listen."

- Mars Retrograde & The Incredible Disappearing Man, 3:03 AM 10/3/05 Mon

Without question, Mars represents any country's military - how it's formed, how it's armed, how it's deployed (used) how it expresses itself. The Uranus-Neptune Conjunction of 1993 occured during the Clinton Era, which, as we all know, was a time of significant change for the military. It was during this time that, among a great many other things, the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was introduced, regarding gay military personnell; women were being admitted to institutions such as The Citadel and VMI; the Tailhook Scandal occured; and the beginnings of what could be called the Air Force Academy Sex Scandal began in earnest here as well. The Mars-in-Cancer placement at the time of the Uranus-Neptune Conjunction could only spell trouble for the US military in the times to come. And think about it - doesn't the news stories mentioned above fit the Mars in Cancer symbolism?

At present Mars is transiting Libra, classically, not particularly a strong placement for Mars. Yet, as mentioned earlier, we as a civilization are in the struggle of our Times, against people who know little about, indeed have contempt for, the very things the kindler, more gentler drill sargent is to do with the US Army. As the battle against Terrorism wears on, I'm hopeful that someone in the military and/or political hierarchy will have the guts to call a spade a spade -

That we've weakened - neutered - our military.

And that we'll pay a huge price for it.

Salaam,
Mu