Book excerpt: Astrology and geopolitics may seem strange bedfellows, but Soul-Sick Nation puts the two together to provide a perspective as extraordinary as the times we are living in. Using the principles of ancient wisdom to make sense of the current global situation, this book invites us to look at the USA from the biggest possible picture: that of cosmic meaning. With a rare blend of compassion, humor and fearless taboo-busting, Soul-Sick Nation reveals America's noble potential without sentiment and diagnoses its neuroses without delusion, shedding new light on troubling issues that the pundits and culture wars inflame but leave painfully unresolved: the WTC bombings, the war in Iraq, Islamic jihad, media propaganda, consumerism and the American Dream. In her interpretation of the birth chart of the entity born July 4, 1776, Murray offers an in-depth analysis of America's essential destiny--uncovering, chapter by chapter, the greater purpose motivating this group soul. She shows how this purpose has been distorted, and how it can be re-embraced in the decades to come. She decodes current astrological transits that express the key themes the USA must learn in this period of millennial crisis-including that of the responsibility of power-spelling out the profound lessons the nation will face in the next few years. Combining the rigor of a political theorist with the vision of a master astrologer, this keenly intelligent book elucidates the meaning of an epoch in distress, and proposes a path towards healing-of the country and of its individual citizens. Murray explains how each of us can come to terms with this moment in history and arrive at a response that is unique and creative. This book willleave you revitalized, shorn of illusions and full of hope.