The horoscope of Vladimir Putin

I am a bit late to the game, but I thought I’d better say a few words about Vladimir Putin. He was born on October 7 1952, in Leningrad. People have suggested times for his birth, but we don’t know for sure. Therefore, I am setting his horoscope for midday.

The first point to make is that Putin is a Libran. At first sight this is surprising. Libra is a sign that supposedly relates to balance and compromise. This is why many astrologers in the 1930s thought that Hitler, with Libra rising, was not going to start a European war. However balance is not the same as compromise. Librans either want to balance themselves to the world, or balance the world to themselves.

It may be that Putin is more of a traditional Libran than we realize. His image is certainly tough, but perhaps behind closed doors he is more indecisive than we realize. He might compromise and go for half measures, and this may damage his effectiveness. In this light, we should remember that all things being equal, Libra is one of the worst signs to have your Sun in, particularly if you’re male.

Putin probably has the Moon in Gemini – unless he was born early in the morning, in which case he would have the Moon in Taurus. I would interpret this as someone who says a lot of stuff, almost as an emotional defence. And we shouldn’t always take what he says at face value, especially as he has a conjunction between Mercury and Neptune. This conjunction is deceptive, and at the same time can encourage someone to make errors of judgement. For example, if you believe his critics, the invasion of Ukraine. In this case, the Mercury-Neptune conjunction may represent wishful thinking, both about Russian military capacity and Ukrainian public opinion.

Putin’s Venus in Scorpio exactly semisquare his Mars in Sagittarius is interesting. Venus in Scorpio can be vindictive, and Mars in Sagittarius could be connected with long distance revenge. If you cross Putin, or Mother Russia, you’re in trouble. Also, Putin’s Mars, at 27 Sagittarius, is close to Stalin’s Sun, which was at 26 Sagittarius. At some level, Stalin may be a role model for him, on how best to use one’s power.

At the moment this Mars is being hit by solar arc directed Saturn.  Putin is 69 years old and his Mars and Saturn are 69 degrees apart, so it is not surprising that he has got himself involved in a very difficult war. Incidentally, his Mars, along with his Venus, aspects the Pluto-Hades midpoint. Rules for Planetary Pictures gives support to the anti-Putin narrative, when it describes this midpoint as “Corrupt and degenerate and devilish plans and manipulations”. Directed Saturn on the midpoint highlights the current situation very well: “Grievances which cannot be removed for a long time. A bad situation grows worse”.

From a collective point of view, I notice that Putin’s Saturn in Libra is square his Uranus in Cancer. This aspect is about tension and upheaval. There was a square between Saturn and Uranus in 2000, when he became Russian president, and through 2021 the two planets were also making a square.

Putin has the North Node at 20 Aquarius, and over the next few weeks Saturn is moving onto this degree. Russia is traditionally an Aquarian country, and it is fitting that someone with the North Node in Aquarius is its leader. Russia is Putin’s destiny, and Putin is Russia’s destiny.

But I don’t have a time of birth, and I don’t find the chart particularly interesting or telling. I suspect that the current situation would be happening whoever was leading Russia.