THE U.S. businessmen and journalists who gathered around the large coffin-shaped table in the Cabinet Room of the White House last week had just returned from a Time Inc. -sponsored News Tour of the Far East. They had come to report their observations and reactions to President Nixon -- and the President and his guests questioned each other intently about the problems of Asia. From firsthand observation, the travelers were able to talk of the fighting in Viet Nam, trade difficulties with Japan, sniping across the DMZ in Korea, Communist insurgency in Thailand. Looking back, most of them agreed that perhaps the most pleasant days of the trip were spent in Malaysia, where they were entertained by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak.

While the tour members reminisced, Tun Razak was attending another party, this one in honor of his 47th birthday. There, the most impressive of the gifts Tun received was an announcement by the Tunku reiterating his determination not to stand for office after the next election -- which leaves Tun Razak heir to the premiership. Next day Tun Razak got another gift: a biography of Winston Churchill. The life story of the great British statesman was given to the Malaysian statesman by Time Inc.

For the TIME staffers involved in this week's cover story on astrology, there was no question about how to begin the assignment. They consulted experts and had personal horoscopes cast. Senior Editor Peter Bird Martin, who was born under the sign of Cancer, discovered that he would be working on the project at a time when the aspects of the planets would be largely unfavorable. Researcher Mary Themo, also a Cancer, got the same word. So did Researcher Georgia Harbison, a Gemini.

Nothing untoward has happened to any of them--yet. But Associate Editor Douglas Auchincloss (Gemini), who wrote the cover story, is looking to the future with no little nervousness. Interested in the occult ever since a family maid told his fortune from tea leaves when he was a young boy, Auchincloss had a pair of horoscopes cast; he consulted a palm reader and interviewed a clairvoyant.

One of the astrologers looked at his charts and told Auchincloss that he was unquestionably in for a bad time under the summer sun of July or August. The clairvoyant offered the news that the Auchincloss car will soon be damaged in a minor accident. No matter that TIME'S cover writer braves Manhattan traffic on a bicycle when he comes to work. He does own a cherished antique car, and now he is leary about taking it out of the garage.

The Cover: Oil painting by Birney Lettick. The constellation shining in the night sky is Aquarius. Drawn in the sand is the I Ching symbol for "Inner Truth." The crystal ball is a standard prop for clairvoyants; the Tarot cards are those for the devil and the sun. The palmist's hand shows the zodiacal signs.

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