Astrology, Prediction and Comment

Electional astrology is the astrology of timing. The astrologer chooses the best time to do something. This could be a wedding, the start of a business venture, or an important announcement. In terms of politics, astrologer Joan Quigley claimed:

“I was responsible for timing all press conferences, most speeches, the State of the Union addresses, the takeoffs and landings of Air Force One. I picked the time of Ronald Reagan’s debate with [Jimmy] Carter and the two debates with Walter Mondale; all extended trips abroad as well as the shorter trips and one-day excursions.”

As far as Russia is concerned, I doubt that Vladimir Putin consults an astrologer. However, it might have been a good idea to at least consider the astrological picture. A good invasion horoscope wouldn’t have guaranteed success, but Putin should have pondered on the fact that Reagan was the Teflon president, and that some of his success might have been down to Joan Quigley’s advice.

When you’re choosing the best time for an event, you’re usually constrained by practicality. If someone asks me about the best time to get married, I can’t say 3.37 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Likewise, if a Moscow astrologer was asked by Putin to select the best time for the invasion, he couldn’t have suggested February 15 2022, because that was during the Chinese Winter Olympics. As many analysts predicted, the invastion would come after the Olympics were finished, and before the weather started warming up. In other words, the invasion had to happen as soon after the Olympics as possible.

As it happened, the invasion started at 4.55 am Kyev time, on February 24 2022. Here’s the chart, set for Kyev:

It’s not a bad chart. The Ascendant and the First House represent the aggressor. Capricorn is rising, and there is a Venus-Mars conjunction in this sign. Mars is exalted in Capricorn, and benefits from its proximity to Venus. This is the signature of a successful invasion, especially as Mars is the planet of war. Furthermore, Mars rules the Tenth House, which is the objective of the operation.

If you are crazy enough to use Alfred Witte’s hypothetical planets, you’ll immediately note that Mars at 22 degrees 27 Capricorn is making a 90-degree aspect to Zeus, at 22 57 Libra. Witte connected Zeus with armaments and gunfire, and in Rules for Planetary Pictures we read that Mars-Zeus is about “Shooting flames” and “Machines. Military Technique. Officer. Firearm”.

The Mars-Zeus square was triggered by the Moon in Sagittarius, which was exactly 45 degrees from both Mars and Zeus. The Moon is also the ruler of the Seventh House, and therefore represents the Ukrainians, the defenders. Rules for Planetary Pictures describes the Moon on the Mars-Zeus midpoint as “Strong emotion. Excited populace”. This symbolizes the Ukrainian populous resisting the invasion, and specificually, taking up arms: the Moon is the people, the Mars-Zeus combination represents the free rifles being handed out.

We also see the Moon applying to a sextile aspect with Mercury in Aquarius. This shows how effective the Ukrainians have been at communicating their message to the outside world.

This doesn’t take away from the fact that astrologically the timing of the invasion was good – given the Russians were going to invade, and they had to wait until after the Olympics. But I must emphasize that a good chart doesn’t guarantee a good result – if something is fated you can’t change the outcome by messing with horoscopes.

And right now, our hypothetical Moscow astrologer is chewing on his or her fingernails. They came up with a good chart for the invasion – sorry, special military operation – but was is good enough?

I am not a US voter, but if I was I would vote Democrat.  Simply because Republicans are less interested than Democrats in universal health care and environmental protection. However, if my only concern was world peace, and the local military base not being a nuclear target, I would vote Republican. Maybe it’s because Democrats are indecisive – they give mixed messages until it is too late. Or they don’t understand realpolitik. In the case of the current Democrats, I think they are still blaming Russia, rather than themselves, for losing the 2016 election.

Biden himself was always a threat to world peace. I commented on this in a previous article, and we can see this from his horoscope:

There is a conjunction between Saturn and Uranus, circled in red, on his descendant. He attracts unexpected conflict, almost without thinking. Incidentally, Biden was born on November 20 1942, the day after the Soviet Union launched a massive offensive on the German Sixth Army in Stalingrad. He was therefore born when the Russians were turning the tide of the Second World War, and as president he is again seeing the Russian army in action.

As I have already explained, Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20 2021 was inauspicious.  Here’s the chart:

There was an exact Mars-Uranus conjunction, which was square the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn. This is a clear signature of violence, that chimes with the Saturn-Uranus conjunction in Biden’s own horoscope. We also have Pluto conjunct the Midheaven – with Pluto being very close to its position on July 4 1776. Biden’s presidency is an integral part of the transformation and probable decline of the United States.

It could be argued that any president would have had this inauguration chart. However, if Trump had won in 2020 his presidency would still have been linked with his 2017 inauguration chart. This makes me think that in 2020 America may have made a huge mistake voting the incumbent out of office.

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.

Since the end of 2020 Jupiter has been moving through Aquarius.  It’s not the best sign for Jupiter to be in, especially as Saturn is also in Aquarius.  However on May 13 2021, at 11.36 pm London time, Jupiter changes sign, and moves into Pisces.  This should be good news – Jupiter is the the ruler of Pisces, and as a result we’re going to be more optimistic.  Perhaps we’ll feel that COVID-19 is finally over, and we can start chasing our dreams.

It is worth considering other times when Jupiter entered Pisces:

October 28 2022
December 29 2021
May 13 2021

January 18 2010
September 9 2010

February 4 1998

February 20 1986

March 8 1974

March 25 1962

December 1 1950
April 15 1950

October 30 1939
December 29 1938
May 14 1938

September 11 1927
January 18 1927

February 4 1915

Jupiter has a cycle of just under 12 years. However, there are periods in its orbit where it appears to go backwards. This means it can go into Pisces, go back into Aquarus, then return to Pisces. It can even enter Pisces three times in a cycle: enter Pisces from Aquarius twice, and enter Pisces from Aries, while moving retrograde. I have listed a century of Jupiter going into Pisces, from 1915 through to 1922. I don’t really want to try too hard to find patterns, because I don’t want to be accused of being a meaning machine. We have to look at each situation individually.

One has to think what Jupiter in Pisces might mean, in the currewnt context. It is about the reaction to the state control of people’s lives while Jupiter was in Capricorn and Aquarius. Things are going to get better, and we may see objective evidence that we’ve turned a corner. We might see this in terms of higher asset prices – for example, stocks. Jupiter is also the planet of inflation, and given people are already worried about rising prices, this could become a reality between May 13 and July 28, when Jupiter goes back into Aquarius. After July 28, Jupiter loses strength, and the optimism of the early summer is likely to drain away.

Interestingly, over the next two years Jupiter goes into Pisces three times. The first time is May 13 2021. The next time is December 29 2021, when Jupiter returns to Pisces after its revisit of Aquarius. The final time is October 28 2022, when it goes back into Pisces after entering Aries. So we are talking about a process rather than just an event. It’s the attempt to maintain a positive view of the world, against mounting evidence that things are moving from bad to worse. The last time there was a triple Pisces ingress was in 1938 and 1939, in the run-up to the Second World War. For a number of reasons the world will be a more dangerous place, and if we listen carefully we can hear the distant drums of war. But I don’t think that it will be until 2022 that the US is forced to seriously ramp its military activities.

If you’re a Republican, Jupiter moving into Pisces should be good news. Traditionally Jupiter rules the GOP, and Saturn the Democrats. Over the last few years  Jupiter has been in Saturn-ruled signs, while Saturn has been in signs of its own rulership. Jupiter’s movement into Pisces allows the Republicans to break free from past restrictions, and at the time of next year’s mid-terms it will still be in Pisces.  Perhaps the Republicans will benefit politically from rocketing inflation and a deteriorating geopolitical situation? This will in turn pave the way for a Republican to win in 2024, especially if Kamala Harris is the presidential candidate – but more of that later.