If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget about it. This is real astrology for the real world. If it's real astrology for yourself that you want, you can get it by phone or in print. And if you need help deciphering the astrological glyphs in the graphics accompanying this article, see Astroglyphs: Astrological Symbols Guide. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT).

Surprise, surprise: you got advance notice that the pair of Mars squares this month (on the 5th and 19th) pointed to "a risk window that extends at least a few days either side of the exact dates," a time "of bold or even rash action, short fuses and hot tempers . . . disruptions in energy distribution due to infrastructure damage, shipping delays, sabotage, terror strikes or threats and the like." From the Islamic cartoon riots to the Iraqi pipeline sabotage to the Nigerian guerillas kidnapping Western oil workers, the surprise is that anyone was surprised at all. I mean, you knew it was coming, because you read it here first. But why is the rest of the world all in a flap? It's not as though we should have expected anything else.

Take the Palestinian elections, for example. (Please!) I see that pundits and politicians are puzzling over the way Palestinian voters have empowered murderous thugs (as happened in Germany in the 1930s). Democracy without a secular culture and a history of freedom and justice - an Athens, a Roman Republic, a Magna Carta, a Bill of Rights, etc. - is just mob rule; and absent a separation of church and state, it's genocide waiting to happen. The Muslim world is still mired in warlords, tribal feuds and honor killings. Democracy? It took the West centuries to go from tribalism to the Magna Carta . . . let alone anything approaching modern democracy. Can it be any different for the Muslim world? Elections are necessary for a democracy, but they are not sufficient.

The Mohammed cartoon thuggery is a timely illustration of this: riots, arson, murder, and genocidal threats like the Islamist protester's sign I saw that read "Europe is the cancer, Islam is the answer" - all over a few cartoons! A culture that goes ballistic over newspaper cartoons is insanely dangerous to the rest of the world, and an utter disgrace to itself. If your religion prohibits any depiction of its holy man, then don't draw one. But don't expect to bind the rest of the world to your dogma, or raise hell over it. I'll grant that it was senselessly disrespectful and provocative to publish those cartoons; well, provocative anyway, but not senselessly disrespectful, since Islam has earned that disrespect through its cultivation of hatred and violence.

I had mentioned that the last geocosmic stress window of the month would extend "from February 21 through March 3." While pointing out that "monstrously powerful windstorms appear to be the strong suit of this particular cycle," I also warned of "an upsurge in moderate to severe earthquakes (Richter 5 and up) and volcanic eruptions, higher than normal tides and heavy surf . . . inland flooding, landslides and avalanches due to unusually heavy precipitation." Right on cue, the Mayon volcano in the Philippines began erupting on the 21st. The 2,460-meter volcano was racked by 147 small "explosion type" quakes in just 24 hours, and sent a column of ash 500 meters into the air. That same day, landslides and floods triggered by torrential rain killed at least 24 people in Indonesia's eastern city of Manado.

A very powerful 7.5 Richter earthquake struck Mozambique on the 22nd, shaking buildings and forcing people from hundreds of miles around to dash into the streets for safety. The quake was felt as far away as Durban, South Africa, and Harare, Zimbabwe. Buildings swayed and doors shook in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. Fortunately, the epicenter was in remote and sparsely populated farmlands near the border with Zimbabwe. Four people were killed and more than two dozen people were injured in what is being called the strongest earthquake to hit southern Africa in 100 years. The city of Beira was without electricity; as were some suburbs of Maputo, the seaside capital, where the quake knocked down power lines.