‘The Triumph of the Genius of Destruction’ Mihály Zichy 1878 {{PD}}

This post appeared first in the current issue of ECLIPSE, and was written on 20 February. As we turn our attention now toward Venezuela, we need to remember that what burns, burns–going through hell is no different in Europe than it is in South America, or anywhere else. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll have a great weekend–and if you’re looking for the forecast, please subscribe!

Rioting in Ukraine, centered in the capital of Kiev, has reached a crisis point, with deaths in the double-digits as of this morning—and other than Russia, which hopes to bring Ukraine back under its control, the rest of the world is slow to react. Let’s look briefly at what the astrology might tell us.

Ukraine adopted a Declaration of State Sovereignty in July 1990, but it wasn’t until 24 August 1991 that the parliament officially created Ukraine as an independent state, putting into practice the declaration of Ukrainian law over Soviet law, with a formal dissolution of the Soviet state in December of that year. With a noon chart for the August date, set for Kiev, we get a Sun at 00 Virgo, appropriate for an area that has, as long as it’s existed, been seen as just a region of another nation, until this point; this also fits the character of the country well, as Ukraine was long known as an agricultural producer, the ‘breadbasket’ of the region. The Aquarius Moon is within a day or so of culmination at Full, suggesting a national character both emotionally mature and intellectually astute. There are a slew of planets in retrograde: Venus, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, Juno, and Saturn; in order, this suggests difficulties surrounding finances/ trade, communications/ free speech, truly remaining independent, in either creative abilities (there may be too much reliance on agriculture, for instance, and too little on entrepreneurial innovation or manufacturing) or this could suggest an inability to clearly understand the way they come across (Neptune is sextile the country’s Ascendant, though we must remember the angles are unreliable)—but Neptune is also trine Sedna (confusion about their own hidden urges, a serious ‘blind spot’) and Neppy also conjuncts Juno and Uranus—again with the independence, empowerment, and perhaps confusion or inability to see how to achieve these. The Saturn retrograde is of special note; it could suggest a government that can’t keep up with the times, that is disorganized, that is always one step behind, a country in total that is perpetually unhappy with those in authority (the quincunx to the Sun—and their history supports this), or where the authorities may have had a poor idea of financial realities or management (shown by Saturn retro plus Venus sesquiquadrate Neptune, with Saturn quincunx the Sun and the Sun out-of-sign conjunct Venus).

Now an unpopular leader has turned away from a trade deal with the West and toward greater enmeshment with Russia—and the people are seriously unhappy about it, resulting in about a month of riots so far—and they turned deadly in the double digits this week. When we look at current transits (as of the 20th) we see what I read as an overripe situation, with lots of significant contact just a degree or so past contact to origin chart energies, suggesting a great deal of tension, issues that have been presented but with no progress achieved. Now we look at what’s still in contact by degree even if past exact, and at what’s immediately approaching—that will tell us which way the whole situation may fall.

Transiting Ceres is currently square origin chart Saturn, and just moving past sextile to the o Sun/ trine o Earth=Ceres likely represents the protesters, people recognizing their own authority and trying to exercise it in relation to the authorities and in-place system of their country—and so far those in charge are oblivious. T Saturn (current authorities) is on its way to sextile origin chart Mars (violence) and then square Jupiter (the public, word getting out, and possibly specifically word getting out via social media—for all its modernity it’s a very Jupiterian thing)=in other words, more violence and trouble ahead, but it may be bad enough that the world really takes active notice, not this half-hearted acknowledgment of problems that’s going on now. T Pluto is trine o Sedna=a blind spot for the rage and violence, and Pluto is also at the midpoint of o Uranus-Neptune=this could imply that rage and the desire for change could suddenly get very radical—maybe in ways the authorities have failed to imagine—or there could be abrupt upheaval that creates something no one anticipated (Neptune rules Ukraine’s Earth, and this could mean some direct material effects to the country itself). T Venus is at 20 Cap—the next thing she aspects is Mars, by trine=violence will cost, thoroughly and easily more destructive than anyone anticipates, and it will take a human toll.

T Mercury and Sun are both near/ poised to opposition to their origin chart counterparts, promising that prevailing energies will certainly test the nation’s identity, even existence, and its ability to process what’s happening and to communicate with each other. T Chiron is sextile Sedna, and so putting its two hurtful cents centered on wounds deep-seated in the Ukrainian psyche via the Plutonian blind spots/ rage expression. T Juno is opposed o Mars=clearly the struggle and violence are over who holds the power, which translates to who holds status and calls the shots—but in opposition, it doesn’t seem the riots will have the effect the demonstrators are hoping for. T Uranus is square itself and makes a Grand Cross with t Jupiter and o Pallas=growing pains! and susceptibility by the public to taking radical, erratic, and unusual measures to try and achieve that desired sense of freedom, as they are convinced this is the wise thing to do—they are willing to risk revolution. The Nodal axis will soon hook into o Venus, the SN by trine=old issues of money and old relationships may end up sending them back toward Russia’s influence. T Sedna is trine o Mars=again, participants in this drama are unaware of the true effect their violence will have. T Zeus squares o Juno=this suggests that ambition and desire are squaring off with a want for empowerment and status—a clash that has yet to resolve, of course.

T Mars sextiles the o Venus-Mercury midpoint and catches o Zeus at the midpoint of the sextile=action is driven by ideas, money, and ambition—but you didn’t need astrology to tell you that! And finally, t Vesta is at 29 degrees conjunct the t North Node=it’s both a crisis in highest values and a crisis in the direction the country’s headed—but honestly, is there anything else worth making revolution over?