Summer 2008 Forecast

Our sign-by-sign summer guide has arrived! Check out your forecast at LifeScript to get the goods.

Breaking: Tim Russert and Saturn

Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet the Press, died suddenly today of a heart attack. His colleagues on MSNBC are all in shock, saddened, and breaking down on the air. Tim had just turned 58 on May 7th -- his Saturn was in Virgo and his second Saturn Return had just begun. As with the sudden death of Health Ledger last winter -- we can't blame Saturn for his death. Uranus or Mars are usually implicated in sudden events like this, and Pluto is often involved when it comes to death. But we can look to Saturn for evidence of some longer-term illness or problem that was ignored or undiagnosed. With Saturn in Virgo in particular, mind/body balance and downtime are vital.

Russert was known to be a hard worker, someone that rarely stopped to rest, and who never went out on a Saturday night so that he could wake up at 4 am on Sunday to prepare for Meet the Press. He only missed two shows a year. Ironically he had just returned early from a trip to Italy with his family to prepare for the Father's Day episode of the show, which he had hosted since 1991. This is a very sad bit of breaking news to report. It will be hard to watch election returns this November without thinking of him gleefully jotting electoral votes on his wipe-off white-board until the wee hours. The man really seemed to love his work, something that is very important for Saturn in Virgo.

Just a thought for all of you born with your own Saturn in Virgo -- please don't feel alarmed that something bad is going to happen to you. Just make sure that you don't overwork yourself, or allow your perfectionist tendencies to make you sick. It's a wake up call to make health your first priority and to find time to relax.

Saturn in Virgo Redux

Let's revisit some predictions from last August, when Saturn was just poised to enter the sign of Virgo for the first time in thirty years. We mentioned the dawning of Peak Oil, a ramping up of nuclear fears, and the looming food crisis. I hate to say it, but check, check and check. It's all sadly come to fruition.

During the years after WWII, while Saturn was in Virgo, rationing and food shortages were par for the course. Current headlines are screaming with stories of empty store shelves, truckers on strike and not delivering food, rice and wheat rationing, food riots, drought and famine. At least regular people are fighting back in their own backyards.

As for Peak Oil, it's come out of the shadows and onto the radar screen of mainstream media. Finally -- so that we can do something about it. It's not just gas prices that we need to worry about. (It seems that Saturn is forcing the issue by raising the cost of oil so that our love affair with cars must come to an abrupt halt.) The US still consumes most of the world's oil. Believe it or not, there is some good news. Enter not just hybrid cars, but cars that run on compressed air, a serious locavore movement, the trend toward the end of made-from-oil plastic bags.

We Will Survive, indeed, if we band together and heal the world by first healing ourselves. Knowing where Virgo falls in your own chart and checking in with your Saturn every day is a good start. The Cosmic Taskmaster doesn't want you to starve, he wants you to have fulfillment and meaning, even if it takes a resource war here and there. Get down to your core and figure out what true nourishment means to you. Go after it, no matter what it takes. Saturn will reward you with a full belly and an open heart. Virgo rules nursing -- the only way to bring the world back to a healthy state is to start at the source -- one person at a time.