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.

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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.

SATURN-PLUTO, THE VACCINE AND THE PROJECTION OF MALEVOLENCE

We are living under the influence of the 2020 Saturn-Pluto conjunction. One of the characteristics of these two planets in aspect is the projection of the shadow, our own unacknowledged malevolence. In 2001, under the opposition, 9/11 created the perfect opportunity for the creation of a new category of enemy, the 'terrorist', who mindlessly created destruction, just for its own sake. And justified the taking over of a whole country - Afghanistan - in pursuit of just one man, Osama bin Laden. Britain stood staunchly alongside this US invasion.

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But this isn't just about 'them', the governments and the crazy things they sometimes do. We do it as well. It often seems to me that many people's political attitudes, or attitudes to the vaccine, are based on the assumption that those in power mean us harm. I think this is by and large a projection of our own unacknowledged malevolence. Yes, we all have that; if we'd have been in Nazi Germany, it is much more likely that we'd have been a concentration camp guard, and taking pleasure in it, than a hero saving the inmates. So own that malevolence, it is all to the good.

The projection has become quite extreme lately, all good Saturn-Pluto stuff. The UK government is doing its damnedest, by its own lights, to protect us from Covid. Yet there are so many people thinking that the vaccine is really harming and killing thousands of people, and the government is covering it up. It is a straightforward projection of malevolence, because it bears no relation to reality. But it seems very real if you are caught inside it. It is illusion, it goes deep, and is not amenable to evidence or persuasion. This is part of what Saturn-Pluto can show us. I think this projection is particularly prevalent in the 'counter-culture' because hey, aren't we the nice guys, the conscious guys? 🤣

BORIS JOHNSON'S VENUS

The Prime Minister has Sun conjunct Venus. With Libra Rising, Venus is also his chart ruler. How appropriate that the No 10 lockdown parties are headlines again, as Venus retrogrades, a time for addressing Venus issues. I expect part of it was that he couldn't bear the opprobrium of not giving his employees what they wanted. That is the weakness of Venus. The need to be liked. 

 

 

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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.)

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This PM will go down with a whimper, not a bang: it will be low-level stuff, because he couldn't help himself. It's a pity, because his 9th House emphasis gives a lot of ability to lead and to convey optimism. It's his Grand Trine, and his Saturn in Pisces too, that show how he undermines himself. It's a moral failing, and it is unnecessary. The 9th House is ethics. Maybe he will learn something. Or maybe not. You can never tell. That bit isn't in astrology charts.

MY ASTROLOGY BOOK

Yes! I have copies of my astrology book, which is influenced by my shamanic perspective. Not available in the shops till later next year. You can purchase from me for £14.50 including p&p.

Here is what published astrologer Joanna Watters said about it: "The astrologer's first job is to demystify. The second is to fascinate. Through his insistence on pure craft winning, at every turn, over personal feelings or bias, Barry Goddard achieves just that. An astrological page-turner."

BORIS JOHNSON’S SATURN

Boris was the man who got Brexit done. It was a fudge over Northern Ireland, it was always going to have to be, and I think both sides tacitly understood that. The need to enact the outcome of the referendum ended up paralysing Parliament, it was a crisis, and maybe no-one but Johnson could have pulled it off.

I’ve been wondering for a while whether the major transits coming to Johnson in the next couple of years – Neptune square Sun, Pluto square Moon, second Saturn Return – will mean the end of his premiership, or its rebirth for a long innings. I think it is one of those two things, and I am now leaning quite strongly towards the former.

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I think Johnson’s Saturn in Pisces describes both his strengths and his weaknesses. It is opposite Uranus, and as Richard Tarnas has pointed out, this is a configuration that lends itself to crisis management. Churchill and Joe Biden both had/have hard aspects between these 2 planets. You can see why: Uranus disrupts the status quo (Saturn), and that is the crisis. But then Saturn reshapes and contains it.

Saturn, the planet of form and structure, find it difficult being in formless Pisces. Where it can come into its own here is on a collective level. The signs with outer planet rulers all have a collective dimension: Scorpio, Aquarius and Pisces.

Johnson seemed very sure-footed around Brexit. He stormed into Parliament, attempted to prorogue it, won a convincing election and steered the whole thing through. His Saturn was operating on behalf of a collective demand, and it was very effective. It was the same with Covid: he was able to manage that crisis, I am not saying no-one else could have done, and of course it was bumbling, but governments usually are.

Where Johnson’s Saturn in Pisces comes undone is on a personal level. Metaphorically, he cannot keep his flies done up. He lives and works in a chaotic way. He does not know how to give form and probity to his life. Johnson is an object lesson in the difficulty that Saturn has in this sign.

Sun conjunct Venus and Libra Rising gives him his great popular appeal. It also leads to the chumocracy.

His Mars is square to Saturn, suggesting he can find it difficult to motivate himself – unless, as we have seen, there is a crisis. As Ken Livingstone said of Johnson when he was London Mayor: “Boris is a lazy tosser who just wants to be there.”

The Sun-Moon-Saturn Grand trine can also suggest the ‘lazy tosser’ quality, someone who is talented and therefore to whom things have always come easily. I think it also gives him his optimism which is genuine and infectious. The optimism also comes from the 9th House Sun-Venus.

The only personal Earth in the chart is Jupiter in Taurus, which is hardly an earthy planet, and opposite Neptune. Nor is he impelled to find Earth by House – all he has is Neptune in the second. This is also why he can be optimistic – he is not overly weighed down by practical considerations. But it also means he doesn’t think ordinary practical things matter, like who pays for his decoration, or whether there is a party at No 10 during lockdown. It does, however, mean he can be creative and open in a way that is difficult for a more grounded person, which is how he got Brexit done.

The lies are very Gemini, and he has 4 personal planets in that sign. Politicians always lie when in a tight spot, it’s just that Boris has more tight spots than most due to his chaotic ways. They are always over stupid things like parties and affairs and personal money. His one big public lie was the bus, and he regretted that – it was an exaggeration from £250m to £350m with some dodgy accounting. The reason I’m saying this is that he also tells it as it is to the public, he likes to explain. Gemini has a strong relationship with truth as well as lies.

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Above is Johnson’s Solar Return for 2023, just 18 months away, or maybe a bit less, as SR charts can kick in a few months early. Sun on the IC square to Neptune Rising. The IC, the bottom of the chart, describes endings, because that is where something is no longer visible. I think that says it. It is a very strong chart. He will step down. Boris’s SR Chart for 2019, when he became premier, had Moon-Saturn-Pluto in Cap in the 10th, and Cap MC: a weighty responsibility. So his SR charts show form.

In 2023 he will have his first exact Saturn Return just before his solar return. Pluto will all but square his Moon, ruler of his MC, his standing in public. It looks like sometime in 2023 will probably be the end of his premiership.

I think that, as with any politicians, we have to be able to look at their strengths as well as their weaknesses. It is too easy to dismiss them as just this or just that. We get a kick out of doing so. It puts us above them, as if we could do any better. But I don’t think a chart analysis is possible unless you can give credit where credit is due. And that applies to Donald Trump too.

 

FAMILY CONSTELLATIONS

 

I have two younger brothers, who are a lot more like my father than I ever was. He died in 2015. Their relations with him were easy. They have lived as he did - straightforward, ambitious, materialistic guys, like a lot of people. Their charts don't interact particularly strongly with my father's, except in easy ways.

Mine, however, does. His Sun conjoins my Asc and squares my Moon-Saturn. His Saturn conjoins my Moon. His Moon opposes my Sun. His Mars hard aspects my Asc, Moon and Saturn. His Asc conjoins my North Node. My MC conjoins his North Node. Strong, visceral, challenging interactions that were 'meant' to be. 

 

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We never had much to do with each other once I left school. We were chalk and cheese. I fled for my own psychological survival, and to pursue my metaphysical quest. But he was never far away. Breaking free consumed me for decades. He is still there. A shadow lifted from me when he died.

For his part, he was proud, how was he to speak of me to his friends, this eldest son who was, from his point of view, an embarrassment and a failure? This man, with a Sun-Mars-Saturn t-square, to whom what other people thought mattered so much?

 

As I say, the astrology shows the connection to be strong and visceral, for both of us, but never spoken because challenging, and powerful in a way it could never be with the younger sons who were like him. How interesting. Such a strong interaction, yet we lived away from each other, precisely because it was so challenging. But that didn't mean there wasn't an intense relationship occurring. Considering our charts has alerted me to this.

 

And then it happened again with my ex, who I was with for 18 years. She has the same Sun and Moon as my mother. Her Sun squares my Mars, my Sun squares her Mars. Her Saturn squares my Sun, my Moon-Saturn squares her Moon. Very difficult. Yet we were pulled irresistibly together because her Sun and Moon are in my 7th House, my Sun conjoins her Asc, my Moon-Saturn conjoins her MC. We have been apart for over 4 years. It was always difficult, yet it changed me hugely. I can't speak for her. We have very little to do with each other now, and I suspect it will need to always remain that way. It is not the sort of synastry where you remain 'friends' afterwards. We could easily be enemies if I behaved like she does. 

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So like my Dad, there is this strong ongoing relationship in which we rarely meet, described by the antagonistic astrology. But that doesn't mean there isn't something transformational going on under the surface, that requires the distance in order to happen. It's a long and deep process, which will run for many years yet.

 

Pluto is coming up to conjoin my Aquarian Venus. How will I love, who will I love, then?

TEACHER PSYCHOLOGY

This is the point I am leading up to: if there are things in ourself we don't want to get close to, our relationships with pupils will tend to reinforce that.

I don't always recognise it when people are seeing me as someone they can learn from. It's not just English modesty - a much over-rated, and sometimes hypocritical, virtue - but also an unwillingness just to stand up straight and say to myself this is who you are, you've been round this block enough times: if you haven't got something to say, then who has?

It's not just to do with having been around the block. It's also something I came here with, that has always been natural to me, and yes I've had to stand back for years at certain points to round it out and clear some s%$t out the way, but it would be false of me not to own that. So my first point is if you've got it, own it, it is not a virtue to deny it. You will see it in people's responses to you.

Coming out of that is my second point. People will love you and they will give some of their own power to you. This is a natural thing: most of us are not fully living our own connection to Spirit - the East of the Medicine Wheel. They may raise you up beyond where you are yourself. Never mind. Projection is usually a necessary thing, to some extent. First we see it out there, or we imagine we do, and then we claim it for ourselves. The pedestal is something we have to learn to handle, and to honour it, for we are holding something precious for the other person till they are ready to embody it themselves. It's a delicate thing. Often people's way to their own power is the painful one of betrayal by the teacher. But it doesn't have to be like that, not if the teacher has been around the block enough times and learnt from that.

And what I'm referring to is the teacher's shadow work. The places we are needy, or concealed from ourselves. It has perhaps been the place I have learnt most from myself: giving others my East, then having that betrayed. It is a valid path, albeit rather protracted and painful. To some extent, it is inevitable, for no teacher is perfect, we are all human.

There is this gross level, where the teacher really should be back in his or her cave for a decade, sorting their stuff. The teacher who needs everyone to think like they do, and if they don't, tells the pupils they are 'confused'. The one who creates a love-fest centred around them at the end of the workshop, because they need to be loved. The one who has their issues with authority, and draws the pupils into their own conspiracy views of how the world works. You can often tell when there is something funny going on, because the people around the teacher will tend to reflect the imbalance or woundedness of the teacher.

Then there is the more subtle level, which is where I really wanted to get to. The people who come to your workshops aren't going to challenge you in an intimate kind of way. Challenge is the wrong word. It's softer than that. It's more like they won't relate to you like a good friend will. It's an energetic thing as much as anything. They won't move in on you personally, they will hold you at a respectful distance. By and large. You are the teacher. I'm not quite sure how to put this. I know. They are not going to come near the stuff in yourself you want to keep a distance from, whereas a friend may do, if you're lucky. Or a family member, that's what they're for :)

The astrologer Liz Greene talks in her Mythic Tarot book about the psychotherapist as someone who can protect their own woundedness by creating relationships in which they always have the power. I think this is really what I am getting at. When you have pupils, there is usually a relationship based around you carrying the East, and initiating them into it. That is a powerful thing, and it creates a powerful relationship. But it also hides you from the things in yourself that you aren't very comfortable with, or are unconscious of. There is an unspoken agreement not to go there. And this is what we need to watch out for, even if we have done a considerable amount of our own shadow work.

Put it this way: if there are things in ourself we don't want to get close to, our relationship with pupils will tend to reinforce that. So we also need people we don't have that kind of relationship with.

BE TRUE TO THE UNIVERSE

Most of the blogs I write at the moment are at my Shamanic Blog. They get emailed out (unlike this one) if you subscribe, and you can find me at http://shamanicfreestate.blogspot.com/. Here is one I wrote last night, having had the idea just before in the bath:

If there is any way that you are not being true to who you are in your life, do not overlook it for the sake of not causing trouble for yourself or others. It matters, and it will eventually bite you, hard (if you are fortunate.) It cannot be smoothed over or wished away. You may get seriously ill if you try to skirt around it. It is where the cutting edge of your soul lies. It can take courage, it can take those close to you thinking you have lost it. It can take a lot of trust in the bigger design of things, and that you are being taken care of.

 

 

It is not just ourselves we need to be true to, more accurately it is the whole universe we need to be true to, because that is what we really are - the whole universe. It is about being true to the Great Spirit that runs through everything. That is what we are here to do