SATURN-PLUTO AND THE NEW WORLD ORDER

The Saturn-Pluto conjunction of January 2020 took place at 23 Capricorn, a degree away from the Russian Saturn at 24 Capricorn. When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 Feb this year, Mars was at 22 Capricorn. This links that war to the central astrological event of our time.

The chart I am using for Russia is for 12 June 1990 (time approximate), when the Russian parliament declared the sovereignty of the Russian Republic within the USSR (From Nick Campion’s Book of World Horoscopes.).

Note the unaspected Sun and Saturn. The leader, and the structures of authority, are not connected either to each other or to the people. That is quite something. It’s almost an indictment for a country to have a chart like that. By definition the chart reflects the circumstances of the country’s birth, in this case when communism was collapsing and the USSR was breaking up. It was a seizure of sovereignty, led by Boris Yeltsin, without, it seemed, much forethought as to what came next. Russia gradually descended into chaos under Yeltsin.

Born 1 Feb 1931, Yeltsin had the Saturn-Uranus hard aspect that often characterises crisis leaders. Saturn is the status quo, Uranus is its disruption, and the hard aspect offers its resolution under a new paradigm. But that doesn’t mean they are good ‘peacetime’ leaders. Boris Johnson, who has the opposition, is a case in point: he performs well when there is a crisis like Brexit or Covid or the Ukraine war, but outside of that he creates needless trouble for himself. Churchill also had Saturn-Uranus in hard aspect, and the same kind of temperament.

So the lack of structure, combined with Yeltsin’s temperament, left a hole for an authoritarian leader to step in – which is what Russia is used to anyway, from the Tsars onwards. It was a return to type.

Saturn in Capricorn in the 4^th House shows a desire for the traditional (Capricorn) homeland (4^th House), which includes a number of its bordering countries, including Ukraine. The Saturn-Pluto conjunction of 2020 (which was also the modern Russia’s 1^st Saturn Return) activated this unaspected Saturn in a big way. The invasion of Ukraine has probably been brewing since that time, and then catalysed when Mars hit that point.

--------------------

I offer skype/FB video/zoom astrology readings, by donation. Contact: BWGoddard1 (at)aol.co.uk My book, Surfing The Galactic Highways, is available for pre-order on Amazon (or by post from me now.)

                                       ---------------------

We do not have a birth time for Putin (7th Oct 1952), but this year Neptune will be within a degree of squaring his foreign-adventuring Mars at 26 Sagittarius. That is not a good time for him to start a war. It might be a good time for psychonautic adventures, Neptune likes that. But in this world, Neptune is liable to swamp you down. Just as happened to the US when it invaded Iraq in the run-up to a Saturn-Neptune opposition, and found itself bogged down in the succeeding years.

Russia itself has Neptune hard-aspecting its Angles this year and next (the chart is approximate, but it is probably not far off.) So while Putin will be personally floundering through the amount he has staked on his Mars, Russia herself will be floundering. This could go on for some years, because Putin will not be easy to depose. In 4 years, however, Pluto will conjoin the Russian Moon (the people) in the revolutionary sign of Aquarius. Watch this space!

It is interesting that the EU has the same Angles, a few degrees on, as Russia, so the EU is about to undergo the Neptune transit that Russia is currently undergoing. It ties together the destiny of these two superpowers (one military, the other economic.)

The EU has had a foretaste of its own Neptune maddening (Pluto abducts and dismembers; Neptune maddens and drowns) via Brexit, this event that made no sense to many people. It seemed mad at the time, but astrologically it foreshadows, or has catalysed, a wider unravelling, and possibly an eventual coming together in a new way, within the EU. The old paradigm, symbolised by Jacques Delors and his heady drive towards European integration, is already dying. Europe has lost its Mojo, but nothing has yet come in to replace it.

Whatever does replace it will be partly shaped by what is happening now. Provoked by Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, Europe and NATO are coming together as they haven’t for a long time. Pluto will begin to hard aspect the fixed Angles of NATO in a couple of years, suggesting perhaps a re-empowerment in the face of renewed Russian aggression.

The Angles in a personal chart are our main points of connection to life, they ground the cosmic drama of the planets in their signs. And the same with a country. So when Pluto or Neptune, the big transformers, hard aspect all the Angles within a short time, you get a profound change in many aspects of the life of the person or the country. And we will see this with Russia, the EU and NATO in the coming years. What is happening now with Ukraine, and Brexit before that, are just the start.

But back to the Saturn-Pluto conjunction, the emerging significance of which is the main theme of this article. The last time this conjunction occurred in Capricorn was in 1518, 3 months after Martin Luther nailed his theses to the church door in Wittenberg and began the Protestant Revolution, which challenged the pan-European power of the day, the Catholic Church. In this sign of Capricorn and under this conjunction, governing structures either gain in power, or lose power, in a major way.

The Ukraine War Mars and its connection to the Saturn-Pluto conjunction tells us that it is a very significant war, that will play a large part in reshaping the governing structures, and balances of power, across Europe and into Russia.

A month in, and it is clear the war is not going Russia’s way in the way she wanted it to. Russia may yet prevail, but she is getting bogged down (Neptune on her Angles), and has become a pariah state in the process. Her international standing has plummeted. The war was intended to be a display of Russian power, but it has had the opposite result. She may gain a bit of territory in the process, but the cost will be huge.

So we are seeing a diminished Russia, and an enhanced USA/Europe as part of the Saturn-Pluto power restructuring. It is NATO, rather than the EU, that is the unifying body, bridging as it does the USA, the EU, the UK and other European countries, including three that were formerly within the USSR.

I don’t think Russia can survive in its present form, due to the strength of its transits: Neptune has just finished squaring the Sun (the leader, who has just made a bad move), then on to the Angles, then Pluto conjunct Moon.

We could maybe say that the Saturn-Pluto conjunction will come to be seen as the end of the second Cold War that has come about between Russia and the West, with Russia the loser again. The Saturn Return, which she had in 2019/20, is a time to ‘grow-up’, in this case as a nation. A time to grow up from being a gangster state with almost arbitrary rule, trying to steal power by encroaching on its neighbours, to one that is governed by law and prepared to earn, rather than attempting to steal, its power in the world.

It is easy to forget that we live in a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. We forget this because it is not news. Neither peace nor prosperity are news, whereas localised wars and poverty are news. This is the context in which we need to see the Ukraine War. It is merely local, albeit of huge political significance.

The fact of this prolonged peace on a world scale says to me that we are getting something right. As does the prosperity. There are considerable grounds for optimism about the future of humanity, climate alarmists and the XR death-cult notwithstanding. Peace can only come about when countries co-operate. We have been co-operating to a sufficient degree for a long time now to prevent major wars. The Ukraine crisis is seeing a heightened co-operation by most of the major powers, and a diminution of the power that does not want peace, Russia.

So what I am saying is that the international power restructuring that is Saturn-Pluto in Capricorn may well be towards increased peace and co-operation.

The pandemic preceding the Ukraine War, which began almost with the Saturn-Pluto conjunction, was also an international, indeed a worldwide, event. It was felt to be a world problem, and was dealt with in similar ways across the globe. Our interconnectedness was palpable, as new variants of the virus started in one country and spread rapidly across the world. Within a sort time, vaccines were available to most of humanity, again an international effort.

So you could say that Saturn-Pluto in Capricorn has been creating another level of globalisation, just as Pluto (wealth) in Sagittarius (foreign parts) described the economic globalisation that gathered pace in that period, in which our economic fortunes became ever more closely tied together.

Russia’s behaviour is showing the West what it is not prepared to tolerate. We have been ruthless in imposing economic sanctions to a level never seen before, paralysing Russia’s economy (as disruptor Uranus crosses and disempowers her 8^th House Venus, ruler of her 2^nd House of wealth, and opposite 2^nd House Pluto.) Russia may have to default, she is being brought economically to her knees. Yet she is militarily a superpower.

Putin can only remain in power while there is sufficient collective will for him to do so. Leaders inevitably reflect the desires of a large section of the population. But national pride can only take you so far. The people also need food on their plates, and they hunger for the standard of living seen in their near neighbours. It was bankruptcy that brought down the communist Russian empire, it may be the same for the gangster state that is modern Russia. It may be a slow Neptunian collapse, but there is nevertheless a new world order when a superpower collapses.

Saturn-Pluto in Capricorn then, may signify the new world order brought about by the slow collapse of Russia, along with the closer international political and humanitarian ties that Russia’s war and Covid respectively are engendering.

And – not mentioned so far – the reining in of the multinationals, who gained enormously in power during the Pluto in Sag economic globalisation, such that they became in many ways answerable to no country, and often paid little or no tax. That has begun to change under the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn: the bringing of proper governmental oversight to the wild west of the big tech industries. That process too has been its own globalisation, as many countries signed up to an agreement forcing the corporations to pay 15% tax. Yeah, only 15%. But it is a significant start.

Inequality soared as Pluto entered Capricorn under the 2009 economic crisis. Inequality soared again under the Covid economic crisis. Capricorn is a sign of hierarchy, and this has so far been an unfortunate outcome (bringing in a non-astrological value judgement) of Pluto’s transit through this sign. Admittedly, much of the increase in wealth is just on paper, it is asset inflation brought about by quantitative easing: house prices have gone up, and if you have a large house in London, your wealth will have gone up by what seems a lot. But you still own just one large house, which you live in. However, there remain real issues.

Hierarchy is inevitable, as realistic Capricorn, which values competence, recognises. But too much creates civil unrest. Humans do not like unfairness, and will not tolerate it beyond a certain point, even if they have enough food on the table. Whether our Saturn-Pluto era will see an addressing of this issue, or a hardening of it, remains to be seen.

Russia and the Ukraine

On 1^st March 2014, the day Mars turned retrograde, President Putin ordered Russian troops to mobilise in Crimea. So Mars is the planet to watch out for in this crisis, and he will be retrograde until 20^th May.

A retrograde period can be a time to turn inwards and reflect, and by the same token a period for going over old ground. And the status of the Crimea has been anomalous since the end of the Cold War. During Soviet times, Crimea was transferred to the Ukraine, though still under control of the USSR/Russian Empire. And during the 20^th century, her demographic changed from 35% Russian to 55%. In 1991, as the Cold War ended and the USSR fell apart, Crimea became an autonomous republic within the Ukraine.

As the Ukraine has moved towards Europe, the divided loyalties of the country have been exacerbated. And Russia, like the US, is protective of its sphere of influence. As the Ukraine underwent a revolution in favour of moving towards Europe, so did Russia act.

There are many possibilities for a chart for Russia, as the USSR’s collapse occurred in a number of stages. One chart I have used is for 19 August 1991, when Yeltsin stood on a tank and proclaimed his resistance to an attempted coup by the old guard. That was arguably the decisive shift in power from the USSR to Mother Russia. It occurred at about 11am, giving 23 Libra Rising, which Mars has been retrograding over in the current crisis. By progression, the MC is approaching Jupiter, so Russia’s expansionism is not going away anytime soon. And Vladimir Putin has a stellium of Sun-Saturn-Neptune-Mercury between 14 and 23 Libra, close to Russia’s Asc, making him the mouthpiece of Russia’s self-expression.

--------------------

Ad Break: I offer skype astrology readings (£60 full reading, £40 for an update). Contact: BWGoddard1 (at)aol.co.uk

---------------------

Meanwhile the West is wringing its hands and imposing sanctions on Russia for its annexation of the Crimea. Putin is not someone to be pressurised. He acts on behalf of Russia with the straightforward ruthlessness of a country that has 1^st House Pluto in Scorpio square to proud Sun in Leo.

Of course the ‘referendum’ in favour of Crimea joining Russia was rigged. But that was probably just a sop to the West. Russia doesn’t think in terms of our democratic niceties. Crimea is mainly Russian, we want Crimea, so we will take it.

And you can see their logic. What would be the democratic alternative? Crimea perhaps having a referendum, after years of bombings and atrocities by Russians who want to be part of Russia, versus a Ukraine that doesn’t want to lose any territory. That is what democracy often produces. When Russia has a breakaway region, it stamps on it ruthlessly, as it has done in Chechnya. That was what the US needed to do if it was to have any chance  in Afghanistan. Unless you are prepared to do that, then don’t invade. Democracies are too accountable to be able to have this degree of ruthlessness.

Now I’m not speaking out in favour of these brutalities. I’d much rather live in a western democracy. But it occurred to me in the case of the Crimea that this straightforward assertion of power by Russia may in the long-term give a better result than the democratic approach.

The chart I’m using for the Ukraine is for 24 August 1991, when Independence was proclaimed. All 3 outer planets conjunct the 2 main Angles, which suggests to me a country that is liable to be swept along by wider forces. And Uranus Rising suggests a country that is not stable and settled, that is liable to split – much as the UK, with its Uranus Rising in the 1801 Chart, has been subject to calls for independence from Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

Pluto and Uranus are activating Ukraine’s natal Uranus by transit – just as they have been for the UK, where we have a referendum on Scottish Independence later this year.

The East of the Ukraine leans politically towards Russia, though it is only in the Crimea that Russians form a majority.

The crisis is likely to continue in its present form until Mars stations in May at 8 Libra – square the Ukrainian Asc, Uranus and Neptune.

As far as Russia is concerned, that is that, Crimea belongs to Russia. The only negotiations will be over the sanctions the West is for now imposing. The noise will probably have mostly died down by the time Mars returns to 27 Libra, the point from it which it began retrograding, in late July. At that point Mars will have crossed 3 times over the Russian Ascendant between February and July, a cycle of assertion and aggression. But in the sign of Libra, traditionally a sign in which Mars finds it hard do well, being opposite the sign it rules, Aries. Russia, however, seems to have been able to use Mars in Libra to its advantage, using the thoughtful quality of the sign to wait until the right time before seizing the Crimea. And creating an illusion of ‘fairness’ through the referendum. Well, from Russia's point of view, and from the point of view of the Russians in the Crimea, what has happened probably does seem fair. It really is Mars in Libra.

After its cooked-up invasion of Iraq in 2003, the US is not in a position to claim the moral high ground over Russia’s actions. And Russia knows this.

Putin is not a man who explains his actions. America is the opposite, producing copious justifications – many of them spurious – when it infringes the sovereignty of other countries. America feels secretly ashamed where Russia does not.

So what is the future for the Ukraine? The Crimea has considerable strategic importance, as well as having a population that is mostly Russian. These conditions do not apply to the East of the country, which though it leans towards Russia, has a slender majority of Ukrainians, and far fewer Russians.

So though the country will continue to feel divided – as evidenced by the natal Uranus Rising – for demographic reasons this doesn’t seem likely to result in another split.

The Solar Returns for this year and next year are interesting. This year’s (starting last August) has Angular Sun, Pluto, Neptune and Jupiter, as well as a Moon (the people)-Uranus (division) conjunction. We don’t need to interpret all this to see that it is pretty tumultuous.

But then next year’s Solar Return (starting this August) is nowhere near as dramatic. Overall this suggests that as the Mars retrograde cycle completes in July, and as the new Solar Return begins, the Ukraine will settle down – though perhaps licking its wounds (Neptune-Chiron opposite the SR Asc!)