And so, in looking for the astrological trends for March, I naturally have to check out the birthchart of King George II, also known colloquially as "W". (He will never allow that initial to stand for "wimpy", but the rest of us may decide it stands for "woefully misguided".)

And, unfortunately, it looks like a good month for him. Jupiter is in Leo - not coincidentally, the sign of royalty - and it's hovering over his Mercury/Pluto conjunction in Leo. (George II also has Leo rising.)

So I have a feeling that he's going to get what he wants - and what he wants is a little war to raise his status, to build his ego, and to insure more power for the U.S. I hear that the US government is already preparing to award $900 million in contracts to rebuild the upcoming bomb-damage in Iraq, and that these contracts will go exclusively to companies from the US and from "officially friendly" nations. Hey, getting rich from war is an old tradition, right? So a few people get squashed in the process? Who can buck tradition?

Aspects at the new moon look a little worrisome as well. Mars and Pluto are both in Sagittarius, and both opposing Saturn in Gemini. The Saturn/Pluto opposition won't be exact (as it was last fall), but it's close enough. And the presence of Mars is stimulating. There's a gathering fierceness here.

Going back to George II's chart, we can see a midlife crisis, with Pluto opposing his natal Uranus, and Neptune opposing his natal Pluto. These are both collective aspects, in that they affect a great many other people in his generation. For most people experiencing these aspects, there will be issues around power and control. But most people can't deal with these things in the same way that George II can.

The Pluto/Uranus opposition gives a need to take action to confirm your own power. This aspect tends to a restlessness, an impulse to dramatically change existing conditions. For some of us, this will mean working to change the social structure, and to prevent war. You know what it means for George II.

For him, this aspect won't be out of orb until September 2005. Let's hope that, when the transit ends, he won't be looking around at the wreckage and saying, "What the heck did I do that for?" This is, after all, a typical reaction to the things one does during a midlife crisis. Why can't he just run off with the meter-reader, or buy a red sports car, or something?

Of course, the king always assumes that the world turns around him, and this is also typical of Leo. But I don't want to bad-mouth this sign. People take the roles that are available, in the world they live in. It's up to us to change the world, so that the available roles are beneficial to everyone else's well-being. This is basic to the social structure of the tiniest village, and there's no reason that the world can't be laid out this way.

So it's time to say some good things about Leo. Mainly, it's one of the most generous, creative and dynamic signs in the zodiac. Given a society in which creative expression is more rewarded than dominance, Leo folks can contribute wonderful things. In whatever milieu is open to them, they will push for success and accomplishment. They will demand a lot, but they will also give everything they have.

It's true that George II has strong Leo influences. But his sun is in the homebody sign Cancer, with a square to Jupiter. The sun/Jupiter square shows a strong need to make good, to attain approval, mainly as a way to impress daddy. At an early age, he was told that the most important thing was to shine in the public eye.

In reality, George II is more of a mama's boy, and he has been struggling all his life with the split between his father's path and his mother's path - shown in his chart by the moon/sun square.

As a boy, he was expected to model himself after his father. But he'd really be happier if he could be home baking cookies. Maybe that's why he works so hard to prove he's not a wimp. He just can't come to terms with the inner longing to be female, not understanding that it's a universal human condition.

So he inherited the throne, and it hasn't been easy for him. Poor guy. We can only hope that the next election will allow him to switch to a simpler way of life.

And who can we have instead? Well, how about Carol Mosely-Braun? I realize that the current presidential set-up is a bit archaic. But maybe, before it crumbles, we could replace the usual king with a queen.

Carol Mosely-Braun couldn't be more Leonine. I don't have her birth time, so I can't tell you her rising sign. But she has the sun, moon, and four other planets in Leo. So I think she can cope with the office. She could even cope with getting there. She has fire, she has energy, and she has her own natural sense of entitlement.

As an African-American woman, Mosely-Braun has a very different sense of the world than George does. She will fight like hell for her people, but her people is a much more inclusive group than "George's people". She showed her level of confidence in 1992, when she first ran for the senate. She was a political unknown, and she was outspent by more than 10-to-1 in the campaign. But she made it, and she was an important voice for social reform in the senate for six years.

I get ticked off when I read that it would be impossible for her to win. Who can read the public that accurately? Who can say what the next hot possibility will be? It could be Carol Mosely-Braun. People may get tired of King George II, and his eagerness to prove himself through war.

It's definitely a time of change. Uranus changes sign only every seven years - and in March, it's moving into Pisces. Last time it was in Pisces, the League of Nations came into being. And the 19th Amendment was passed, giving U.S. women the right to vote.

So I'm still hopeful. I'm not happy that it looks like George II will have a good month. But I don't believe that long-term change can go his way. The age of kings has to end some day.

Index of Jenny Yates' Writings on Lesbian.com