Starlight News Blog

As of today through April 23, Saturn has returned for the second of three crossings of President Obama’s Neptune (8 Scorpio36). This signifies a time of great emotional strain. It will be exacerbated by his progressed Moon square to progressed Saturn (23Capricorn14) beginning on April 11 and culminating in strength on May 7. These aspects indicate stress and anxiety for the president while he handles some very difficult situations.

Also at present is a building Sun/Mars conjunction which will be within a one-degree orb from April 13 through April 18 from 23 to 28 Aries. This points to an increase in tension and anger in the world wherever its powerful energy is not focused into constructive channels.  Moreover, from April 10 through April 13, first Mars and then the Sun will conjunct Obama’s progressed Moon (22 Aries) and square his progressed Saturn (23Capricorn), acting as a trigger to this tense, anxious Moon/Saturn configuration. In addition, also from April 10 through April 13, while the Sun/Mars crosses 23 Aries, it will be in a semisquare with the US Uranus (8Gemini55) and the US progressed Sun (8 Pisces), acting as a trigger for this rather combustible and unpredictable aspect.

Thus, the period from April 10 through April 13 seems likely to bring some kind of sudden, unexpected and transformative event (US pr Sun/Uranus) that is also quite stressful for President Obama (Saturn/Neptune and Saturn/Moon), leaving him with a difficult and unhappy situation that goes for several weeks.

It may well be that gun legislation does not fare well under these aspects. Also in the US chart, transiting Saturn is currently quincunx natal Uranus, impeding and thwarting (Saturn) attempts at progressive (Uranus) improvements. This may account for some of the president’s upset.

However, the Sun/Mars conjunction would seem to imply something more dramatic erupting over the next several days. This could point to the situation with North Korea continuing to escalate in the immediate future, with a significant possibility of further tensions erupting in early May. In Kim Jon Un’s ascension to office chart (12/29/11 at 11:57 AM), the progressed Moon will be opposite natal Mars (19Virgo23) for all of May and triggered by a Jupiter transit from May 5 to May 9. With transiting Saturn moving to conjunct North Korea’s Node (6Scorpio11) while it squares the US Node (6Leo36) from May 6 through May 27, it seems likely tensions between the two nations will be high. The exact Uranus/Pluto square throughout most of May will also add to the inflammatory nature of any volatile situation, while the US progressed Moon square to natal Pluto (May 7 to June 7) points to increased anxiety in the US. This confluence of so many difficult configurations suggests a couple of very stressful months.

Suddenly, North Korea is sputtering with rage and indignation, ready to declare war on the US and South Korea over no one knows quite what. This unquenchable fury has apparently been spun out of whole cloth, with the young, inexperienced dictator, Kim Jong Un, seemingly stoked into a fantastical outrage by his more seasoned handlers. The whole thing may be modeled on the antics of his father, Kim Jong Il, who was a master of the art of the infantile tantrum, slyly garnering all kinds of concessions from the West just to shut him up. At this point, the world is wondering if this is just déjà vu or are they really threatening war? Unfortunately, this episode of blustering brinksmanship is pushing us closer to the red zone than any in recent memory.

Alas for the astrologers of the world, there are several charts for North Korea and no confirmed birth year for Kim Jong Un.  Thus, the following is far more speculative than I would like. What is clear from events is that the aggression of Mars and the unpredictable and erratic qualities of Uranus are in some way predominant in recent weeks with respect to North Korea.

The various charts for the birth of North Korea include September 9, 1948, (no time given) and September 10, 1948, alternatively, at 12:01 AM, at noon, and at 8:50 PM. Of these, the one that seems to fit the best is the one for 12:01 AM on September 10, although caution is recommended in using this unverifiable chart. In the 12:01 AM chart, Uranus is conjunct the Ascendant (00Cancer) describing the erratic and defiant nature of this small, militarized dictatorship. There is also a Mars/South Node conjunction in the 5^th house in Scorpio which indicates the angry demands for attention and the proclivity for a paranoid and aggressive attitude.

All of the North Korean charts have the South Node/Mars conjunction, but only those for September 10 have the progressed South Node in a decades-long orb of an exact conjunction to natal Mars (4Scorpio00, exact in 2043 in the 12:01 AM chart).  The intensified potency of this Mars, strengthened by the progressed South Node, seems likely given recent history. Moreover, only the 12:01 AM chart has progressed Mars conjunct natal Jupiter (20Sagittarius01), peaking in mid-September 2013, and semisquare to progressed South Node (4Scorpio57), culminating in August 2013, further indicating the current tendency toward belligerence and grandiosity.

Thus, North Korea’s amplified aggressiveness is likely to continue at an exceptionally dangerous level through mid-September 2013, with a heightened period of tension from June through July when Saturn stations on North Korea’s progressed South Node and semisquares natal Jupiter and progressed Mars. This same period will also bring the Saturn station to a conjunction with Mars (5Scorpio44) in the chart of the President of South Korea Park Guen-hye (2/2/52), suggesting a long, tense, angry stalemate between the two nations.

May 2013 may bring particular stress to the US/North Korean relationship. Transiting Saturn will be square to the US Node (6Leo36) while it is conjunct the North Korean Node (6Scorpio11) through much of the month.  Moreover, the Uranus/Pluto square will again be exact from May 4 to May 21, while the US progressed Moon will be square to natal Pluto (27Capricorn33) from May 7 to June 7. In addition, Secretary of Defense Hagel (10/4/46) has Uranus opposing his Sun (10Libra54) through mid-May, Pluto square his Sun through early June, and Saturn conjunct his Mars and square his Saturn through mid-May.

It seems likely the stress level and anxiety in the US will be strong in May (progressed Moon square Pluto), particularly with respect to some of its relationships with foreign nations (transiting Saturn/Node square). Secretary Hagel will be directly involved in rapid-moving events (Uranus), but at the same time extremely cautious and restrained (Saturn to his natal Mars/Saturn square). With the exact Uranus/Pluto square building through May 21, there may be an eruption of unexpected and extreme violence somewhere in the world.  It remains to be seen if this will be a brief altercation with North Korea or some completely unexpected event elsewhere. But tensions will surely be high in May, and due to the involvement of the US Node, it would seem to involve difficulties with one or more foreign nations.

The last ten days of March has brought with it a whirlwind of energy, some of it inspiring and some of it very disturbing. On the one hand, a bright light was shone on the evolving struggle to grant recognition and full rights to gay marriage. The Supreme Court heard two cases that were covered extensively in the media and that attracted enormous attention, amounting to an intensive tutorial on the subject for the entire nation. In addition, we reached the 100-day anniversary of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, which brought impassioned speeches and emotional demonstrations in favor of stronger gun restrictions.

On the other hand, there were several high-profile and brutal instances of gun violence, including, but not limited to, the purposeful shooting of a toddler and his mother, a three-way murder-suicide at a marine base, and the killing of the Colorado prison chief and the subsequent fatal shootout in Texas between police and his murderer.  In other news, the long-simmering discord between the US and North Korea has suddenly escalated to a fever pitch, with North Korea now in a “state of war” against South Korea, and with its rockets on stand-by aimed at US bases in the Pacific, while US nuclear-capable bombers are newly in South Korea having just completed a training mission.

The astrological signature for all of this two-fold. The inspiring and transformative movements – calling for expanded civil rights for an oppressed minority and changing lax gun laws to meet with new, dangerous situations – are reflected in the activation of the progressed US Sun square to natal Uranus (8Gemini55). This aspect is bringing us a year of awakening to new realities, with a focus on greater freedom and civil rights, as well as the impulse to rid ourselves of that which is problematic or unfairly restrictive. It has been strongly triggered in late March through early April by a sextile from transiting Uranus (8 Aries) and by the waxing Sun/Venus conjunction (8 Aries), exact throughout the Supreme Court hearings. The Sun/Venus conjunction brought the warm celebration and joy of those hopeful for reform, while the Uranus sextile is strengthening the more general, progressive underpinnings of the moment.

The heightened aggression and threat level of the past several days derives from transiting Mars and the Sun moving to conjunct transiting Uranus and square transiting Pluto. This two-week proclivity for increased violence, accidents, high-powered storms, and power struggles will diminish after March 31.

As we move into April, President Obama is demonstrating boldness, strength and his best rhetorical skills, seen both in his speech to Israel’s youth and his speech on the 100-day anniversary of the Newtown shooting. This renewed vigor and effectiveness stems largely from the Jupiter transit sextile to his natal Sun (12Leo33), running from March 29 through April 5, which itself is under a year-long square from solar arc Mars. The final Jupiter conjunction to his solar return MC (13 Gemini) from April 5 to April 11 is also likely to bring the feeling of success and optimism.

Unfortunately, the landscape will quickly shift on or around April 11, possibly beginning as early as April 9, when transiting Saturn moves to conjunct Obama’s natal Neptune (8Scorpio36), from April 9 through April 23, and his progressed Moon moves into the beginning of its month-long square with progressed Saturn (23Capricorn). Something is likely to occur that is deeply distressing to the president and that may upset him for several weeks. The building Sun/Mars conjunction from April 12 through April 18 points to either a brief build-up of hostilities in some area  or possibly a very destructive natural event at that time. With the Sun/Mars in square to US Pluto (27 Capricorn) from April 15 through April 17, we may see some brief confrontation with US power. The Saturn transit quincunx US Uranus (April 4 to April 19) points to the difficulty the US has in moving quickly and effectively in the face of an upsetting situation that may develop.

There is no way to predict what this tension during the middle two weeks of April will bring. It could be intensified partisan wrangling and the disappointing defeat of important legislation such as gun control or a heightened international conflict (Korea, Syria) or another high-profile violent event in the US. The only thing that is clear is that the president goes from relative optimism under Jupiter during the first days of the month into a much more frustrated and stressful time in mid-April that points to something we might all be witnessing with bated breath.

Spring arrived last week with the President of the United States in Israel. His goal was to bring a warm flush of renewal into this historical alliance, repairing any recent stresses to forge a seamless melding of strategic purpose. To that end, Obama’s speeches were inspiring and visionary, and the consensus is that Israel and America comfortably stand shoulder to shoulder, with barely a breath of air between them, in their opposition to Iran’s nuclear program and their plan of how to deal with it.

Although this seems to be good news in the short run, it nonetheless feels like one more step forward in the path to an impending, wider war in the Middle East. With the increasing difficulty of keeping Syria’s civil war from spilling over its borders, with Hezbollah’s growing grip on Lebanon while that nation’s more moderate Prime Minister resigns, and with Iran edging ever closer to a nuclear weapon despite the world’s opposition and the tightening sanctions, it is hard not to worry about the escalating danger of a regional conflagration in the months or years ahead. Even the success of President Obama’s push to reunite Turkey and Israel after a recent breach in their relationship, can be seen as a lining up of global alliances on a path towards a far bigger breach.

As an astrologer, I am especially concerned, given that we continue to be in the midst of the waxing Uranus/Pluto square over the next two years.  This aspect describes growing world-wide tensions, with the potential for massive upheavals against a confining status quo and intense, explosive power struggles. We have already seen the Arab Spring and its rather tumultuous aftermath in several countries, the ongoing and fierce civil war in Syria, the swelling conflict between Iran and Israel, and the growing unrest in several other African nations. This swirling, wild energy will continue to build through March 2015, with maximum impact, when exact, in May and October 2013, in April 2014, and from November 2014 through February 2015. Moreover, transiting Jupiter, acting to exaggerate the already potent impact of these two planetary behemoths, will be in opposition to Pluto and square to Uranus during late July and August 2013, in January and February 2014, and, aspecting both Uranus and Pluto simultaneously, in April 2014.

As noted, it is in April 2014 when these aspects come together, with an exact Uranus/Pluto square magnified by a hard aspect from Jupiter. A slow-moving retrograde Mars will also be in the mix at that time. Moreover, this combustible, highly agitated configuration will directly impact the charts of Israel, the US, and Iran.

The most commonly used chart for Iran derives from the 1979 revolution, with the Sun at 11Aries06. In this chart, transiting Pluto is currently in a long square to the natal Sun, from late January through May 2013, returning in December 2013, and again from July through October 2014. This aspect implies a sense of intense power struggle within the government and between the government and outside forces. The global alliance against Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the crippling economic sanctions aimed to thwart it are certainly manifestations of this ongoing confrontation.

Moreover, transiting Uranus will conjunct the Iranian Sun from late April through May 18, 2013, and from mid-July through mid-September 2013, as well as in February and March 2014, pointing to times of potentially precipitous action and sudden unpredictable and transformative events. The addition of a long, slow Jupiter station very close to a square to Iran’s Sun in February and March 2014 suggests a time of enormous confidence and success, possibly pointing to a culmination of nuclear ambitions.

It should also be noted that the present parliamentary regime in Iran was founded in 1906 and is still functioning, despite the collapse of the monarchy in 1979. It is this chart, assuming it is still relevant, that most strikingly points to the potential of a confrontation in the spring of 2014. The Sun here is 13Libra10, with solar arc Pluto conjunct the natal Sun from March 2014 through March 2015. The natal Sun is square to natal Neptune (12Cancer36) and semisquare to natal Venus (28Sorpio19). Moreover, these planets in the Iran 1906 chart are in tight hard aspect to the US Sun (13Cancer19) and the Israeli Mars (28Leo18), which itself will be under a solar arc progressed Uranus conjunct natal Mars from February 2014 through February 2015. And quite dramatically, hitting all of these combustible combinations multiple times in 2014 through early 2015 – in Iran, Israel, and the US – will be transiting Uranus (13 Aries), transiting Pluto (13 Capricorn), transiting Jupiter (13 Cancer), and transiting retrograde Mars 13 Libra, with all of them coalescing in April 2014.

With astrology, we can never predict precisely how things will unfold. What is possible is a description of the quality of energy that will surround events during a particular time frame. There is currently a strong build-up of tension in the world that is likely to flare up each time the Uranus/Pluto square becomes exact and most intensely when it is further strengthened by other transits such as from Jupiter and Mars. With several national charts drawn into the turmoil in 2013 and more profoundly in 2014 due to the impact of these inflammatory configurations, we can predict the likelihood for some very tumultuous, explosive, and transformative events erupting. How these will play out is unknown, but today’s situation certainly points to the potential for a huge geopolitical conflict quite possibly sparked in the spring of 2014, one year from now.

With the arrival of the Spring Equinox, the Earth is poised in a brief moment of balance between the daylight and the darkness. From this point onward until the Summer Solstice in late June, the daylight in the Northern Hemisphere will increasingly triumph over the nighttime shadows, marking the yearly season of fecundity, growth, and renewal.

In the astrological calendar, the Spring Equinox coincides with the first degree of the first sign of the zodiac, Aries, and thus heralds the birth of the new astrological year.  A chart may be drawn for this moment, calibrated to the time zone and location of the capital city of any country, offering some indications about the coming year for that particular nation. The most significant evidence in these charts often comes from potent, tight aspects to the angles, which later get set off by powerful transits.

One example is the Spring chart for 2001 drawn for Washington, DC, which had Uranus (22Aquarius58) square to the Ascendant (21Taurus58).  Uranus retrograded back to the exact square to that Ascendant in early September, arriving just past it at 21Aquarius53 on September 11, and remaining very close to that square until crossing for the final time in mid-December 2001. This was a period of extraordinary turmoil, upset, and transformation in the US, including the terrorist attacks of September 11, the anthrax attacks, and the initial phase of the new war. It should also be noted that there was a very tight Mars/Pluto conjunction in the Spring 2001 chart, which indicated the extreme violence that erupted later in the year.

The Spring 2013 chart also carries within it a very dangerous configuration: a tight Mars (6Aries21)/Uranus (7Aries59) conjunction square to the Moon (7Cancer59). This points to sudden, violent, and transformative eruptions during the coming year. This trend is most likely to influence those living in the countries where this configuration is in strong aspect to the horizon or meridian lines.

In 2013, the most dramatically affected Spring Equinox charts are the ones drawn for Beijing, China, and Caracas, Venezuela.  The Chinese chart is particularly impacted, with the Ascendant at 8Libra14 and the MC at 9Cancer28.  From March 20 through March 24, 2013, transiting Uranus will cross the Descendant of this chart, with Mars transiting there as well from March 20 through March 22. This suggests some kind of sharp spike of turmoil, rebellion, or upheaval around that time, including the possibility of a dramatic weather or natural event. Moreover, transiting Uranus will square the Chinese Spring chart Midheaven from March 28 through April 15, indicating an unexpected shake-up within the government.

Transiting Uranus will not be returning to the Ascendant degree in the Chinese Spring chart, but it will return twice more to the square with the Midheaven, from October 5 through October 31 and from December 17 through February 1, 2014.  Moreover, there will be an overlap with the long station of Pluto conjunct the IC (9Capricorn28) of the Spring chart from June 25 through November 4, 2013, with the combination suggesting some sudden upheaval and significant power struggles in the last months of the year. The first crossing of Saturn to the Chinese natal chart Venus (19Scorpio26) from December 12 through December 22, indicates that this buildup of tensions within the government and perhaps between the government and the people may lead to a very stressful time in December 2013.

Unlike the Chinese Spring chart, the one drawn for Caracas, Venezuela is only impacted by a transit of Uranus immediately after the Equinox, and not at all by any transit of Pluto to one of the angles. The Ascendant of this chart is 8Aries14 and will be crossed by Uranus from March 20 through March 24 and by Mars from March 20 through March 22. There may be significant domestic upheaval or potentially violent protest during this time, but events will quickly subside. The last week of July 2013 will bring a Jupiter/Mars conjunction square to the Spring chart Ascendant, implying further upheaval but likely far less drama than what may show up in late March.

It should always be remembered that any indications found in these yearly Spring Equinox charts will be far more relevant when they are supported by indications in the corresponding national natal chart. But they always yield important clues as to where to turn our collective gaze.