The military developments of the last few weeks have deeply unsettled the entire world, as fears of an escalation started ruling the global headlines. We have not yet walked out of all this, and it is extremely difficult to see what is ahead at this point. However, the astrological scenario of the coming months seems quite interesting, and it deserves an in-depth analysis.
I will start off by emphasizing the fact that these months see all the solar planets (up to Pluto) gathered within a portion of the zodiac. The Low Planetary index which we are currently experiencing is a major indication of social contraction, as I have explained for quite a while. Hopefully northern summer and autumn will bring some fresh wind again, as it occurred in 2021. We expected that this season would turn out to bring major imbalance within the global scenario. Interestingly, I can see how the arrival of a new Mars-Pluto cycle has rapidly shifted our attention away from COVID, which for a couple of years had been our major concern. This projection seemed natural to me when I saw that the alignment of Mars with Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in March 2020 triggered a major escalation of the pandemic. Turning the page does not mean we are out of the woods yet; this is because, as explained in previous articles, I do not expect significant social expansion to occur before the next Jupiter-Uranus conjunction of 2024. We are still living through a phase of major global imbalance.
Looking at the short term picture, the coming squares of Venus and Mars to Uranus in Taurus promise to be significant. In other articles I have specified how the area in which Uranus is currently transiting seems to be deeply related to Russian internal imbalance, and with these two inner planets coming up to a square from Aquarius, there may be further developments. Let’s not forget that modern Russia (reshaped in 1991) has recently gone through its first Saturn return, with its Progressed Sun approaching an important conjunction to national Saturn in Aquarius. A strong humanitarian, iconoclastic seed is embedded within the national structure. It is not a surprise that lots of internal unrest is brewing and that the nation is trying its best to curb it all. On the other side of the world, we find a nation which has officially entered its Pluto return period. The next few years are likely to bring major political and social instability in the United Stated as well. The onset of this major rhetorical standoff against Russia right when Pluto hit 27 degrees of Capricorn somehow alerts me, but it is still too early to judge the profound implications of their Pluto return.
Looking at the upcoming Full Moon (27 Virgo) of March 18th and the subsequent New Moon (11 Aries) of April 1st we can identify interesting patterns. What I find most interesting in these two lunations is that 20 degrees of Aquarius will be culminating over Moscow in both cases. The Full Moon chart therefore shows angular Saturn at the Midheaven over the capital of Russia. The New Moon chart portrays a rather unsettling Venus-Mars-Saturn conjunction over the same area of the zodiac. We should not forget that the invasion of Ukraine started under the recent Venus-Mars-Pluto triple conjunction, which reactivated the historic Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto alignment of 2020/21. In other words, there is a Venus-Mars signature in this war, and the fact that both inner planets still have to meet up with Saturn in Aquarius is quite important to consider. We are facing two scenarios: either the hostilities will come to a settling point with the cooldown effect of Saturn, or this will become a much more serious issue. Either way, the prominence of Russia in the coming months is quite evident, looking at the future astrological scenario. Going back to the lunation charts mentioned at the beginning of this article, I would like to point out that the next lunar cycle, which will begin in Aries under a maverick New Moon aligned with Chiron, may turn out to be extremely volatile. The Aries ingress chart shows a descending Sun over Moscow. It will be squaring the MC/IC axis, which ranges across 29 degrees of Gemini/Sagittarius. This could be considered as a critical configuration, though I personally look at major cycles and transits before giving importance to any Ingress chart. There seems to be an indication of major imbalance within the nation, but we will look more deeply into this. Neptune will be descending over Kiev, possibly a sign of surrender, or distension, but we cannot be sure about it. What we know is that the Neptunian archetype will continue to be prominent over the war zone, highlighting the ongoing crisis which deeply affects millions of people. The refugee crisis is unlikely to stop soon.
The natal chart of Vladimir Putin is reported to have the Midheaven at 21Leo12 (Astrodatabank). If this is correct, it would put natal Pluto in an angular position together with the South Node, a very interesting symbol of coercion and power, but also of dismantlement. Nevertheless, as Saturn is supposedly entering Putin’s natal 4th House, there may be huge struggles ahead for him. Regardless of the natal angles, Saturn will be opposing natal Pluto, and that is likely to challenge his position.
I would like to take you back to October 2021, when an interesting Sun-Mars synod started at 15 Libra. I wrote about its connection to Asia, and specifically the China-Taiwan standoff. In fact, during those days, there were fears of a military confrontation breaking out between the two. In Shifting Balance (September 2021) I specified how the Sun-Mars conjunction in question was deeply related to NATO as well. The organization was founded in 1949 under a strong planetary alignment in Aries/Libra, therefore the New Moon of early October 2021 opened up a major chapter for it. The military alliance was in the news back then as well, when AUKUS was established, reshaping the military balance in the Pacific. As I specified in that article, a six-month period would have to be considered for important developments to take place, from the New Moon in Libra of October 2021 to the one in Aries of April 2022. Therefore, as we approach the next lunar month, we may see what direction NATO really wants to take. Interestingly, the Sun-Mars conjunction of October 2021 was rising over Moscow. Also, Putin’s birthday is October 7th, therefore his last Solar Return shows a warring Sun-Mars conjunction. The very same degrees of Libra are related to China’s idealistic Mercury-Neptune-South Node conjunction, a configuration which definitely recalls major ideological patterns from the past. We can see how the origin of a mundane cycle can relate quite deeply to several national and political charts at the same time. When that occurs, significant political and social shifts unfold. The current Sun-Mars synod, which originated at 15 Libra under a very important conjunction which culminated over Beijing, will unveil its message over the course of two years. In conclusion, we expect the next New Moon in Aries to hold huge significance for the current situation within Russia, as well as its relations with China.