It takes a lot of courage to say the right words at the right time and in the right place. You need fortitude for that, along with a strong personality and inner strength.

Richard Clarke was born with the Sun Scorpio, the sign of the eagle, in its best incarnation. The Sun in one's chart expresses the sense of self. Scorpio is the passionate fighter for the underdog. It is the detective of the universe. Scorpio has a ruthless determination to unturn every stone to discover what lies beneath, no matter how dirty or ugly it may be. Jonas Salk fighting to get the polio vaccine in his lifetime, Billy Graham looking up towards heaven and down to hell, and Teddy Roosevelt charging up San Juan Hill , all exemplify Scorpio fire, passion and determination.

Clarke's ability to identify deeply with people's sorrow corresponds from his watery Scorpio Sun, this same Scorpio Sun that allows his dignity and fortitude at the recent 9/11 commission hearings not be undone by his apparently genuine apology to the multitudes of people affected by that tragic occurrence.

Chiron and the Fisher King

Clarke's natal Chiron is at 19 degrees of Sagittarius. Pluto is currently at 22 degrees of Sagittarius and has been transiting Clarke's Chiron for over a year. Pluto, the ruler of Scorpio and the underworld, the deep recesses of our minds and souls, and Chiron meeting together might uncover in Clarke's psyche the need to be a healer in the world around him, and to use the right words to heal those around him.

Chiron is called the wounded healer in astrological lingo. Chiron is the asteroid named after the centaur who was wounded as a child and later developed his healing powers to serve others. Chiron has always resonated in my mind with the Fisher King in the Holy Grail medieval tales. The wounded king, the Fisher King, was waiting for the right words to be said to him so he could be healed. Parsifal, the knight, sent on his quest to find the Fisher King and heal him, didn't say the right words the first time he met the Fisher King. He roamed the countryside for the next seven years until, again, he was presented with the Fisher King. This time Parsifal uttered the right words, and voila, the king was healed and his kingdom restored to him.

Mars is in Sagittarius and lies on the Eighth House cusp. Mars in this house echoes Scorpio (the eighth sign) music played out over and over again in Clarke's chart. Clarke chose to do battle against terrorism. Mars in the Eighth House is a very formidable opponent, a true fighter, one who wants to not just defeat his opponent but to also understand him, to really get inside him and know what makes him tick. Sagittarius is the symbol par excellence of the philosophical warrior, the Don Quixote charging on his white horse against any and all enemies as he sees them. His enemies, in this case, were foreign religious fanatics, perfect Sagittarian symbolism.

Terrorism, spy counter spy, and secret agents, all bear the marks of Scorpio. It is in the underground dungeons and alleyways of the world that the spy makes his living and has his very existence. It is a world fraught with deceit, lies and double dealing, all things Plutonian. Casting light on this dark underworld of whispers and secrets may be where Chiron comes into play for Clarke, since his Chiron conjuncts Mars.

Clarke's chart, given to him at birth by the Cosmos, may have made him a player in the world of fear and terror and misinformation we see around as at this time, and allowed him to emerge as a spokesperson of the truth no matter the odds against him. It depends on your belief system if you agree with him or not, but from an astrological point of view, everything Clarke said, looking into the camera on March 21, in his interview on 60 Minutes , was from the heart and soul.

In the myth of the Fisher King, it is not just the King who is healed by Parsifal's words, but the entire court and countryside. While history will determine whether Richard Clarke is a true hero or not, it is clear that he has touched a great wound in the national psyche and played out the drama of his natal chart. Chiron, Pluto and Scorpio aim for a transformation of the soul in their healing work, and nothing less will suffice.