(17 August 2021)
The US suffered a body blow to its prestige this week after the
Taliban defeated the Afghan army and captured the capital, Kabul. The
sudden collapse of the US-sponsored Afghan army marks an ignominious
end to the 20-year war that cost $2 Trillion and many thousands of
lives on both sides. While the US had planned a complete withdrawal
of its forces this year, the chaotic end of this nation-building
exercise has undermined confidence in US foreign policy and its
military capability.
For now, the big loser in this debacle seems to be President Joe Biden.
While former President Donald Trump negotiated the withdrawal last
year, the Biden White House is responsible for this disastrous end to
the US involvement in Afghanistan. Even worse, there are now thousands
of American citizens who have been left behind to fend for themselves
against the Taliban. Another batch of US troops are now being sent to
safeguard these remaining citizens and protect the Afghans who have
provided ground assistance to the US over the years and are vulnerable
to Taliban reprisals.
This unfortunate situation shows up quite clearly in the Joe Biden's
horoscope. There are multiple planetary afflictions in his chart which
reflect the seriousness of the current circumstance for his
presidency. The ongoing Saturn-Uranus square is still in close range
to his Mars (19 Libra) and denotes the difficult (Saturn) and sudden
(Uranus) events involving conflict and the military.
Uranus stands out a bit more in this respect since it is due to station
retrograde on Thursday, Aug 19, at which time is will reverse and
approach its exact opposition with Mars due in October. As we know,
stationary planets tend to become stronger so this Uranus-Mars
alignment suggests that Biden will likely be scrambling to keep up with
unexpected military developments in the coming days and weeks.
Ketu and Neptune are other difficult influences in his chart for the
second half of 2021. Ketu is approaching its conjunction with the
Ascendant (10 Scorpio) and can signify disruptive events that force him
to quickly adapt to new circumstances. The Neptune opposition to the
MC (= Midheaven, the unequal 10th house cusp) also tends to be
challenging as it represents the erosion of status and position.
Neptune often conveys a sense of dissolution or distortion and when it
is associated with the 10th house of career, it can weaken an
individual's occupational stature. This is very much the case now as
Biden attempts to fend off those who are questioning his competence and
abilities.
With Neptune now retrograde, it will move closer to an exact opposition
to the MC over the next 4-6 months. This suggests that Biden's
competence will continue to come under scrutiny through the fall and
perhaps even into early 2022. Neptune is due to station direct almost
exactly opposite the MC on 1 December 2021.
In the near term, we should watch for possible effects from the upcoming
Mars-Neptune opposition at the end of August and the beginning of
September. This opposition will hit very close to Biden's MC and could
signify more unwanted developments in Afghanistan that could further
weaken his presidency. As I noted back in the spring, Biden's horoscope
does not look good this year. These various tense aspects are likely
to impact his presidency on several fronts besides Afghanistan.
Weekly Market Forecast
Stocks are still looking firm here, although today's weak retail sales
data sparked a significant sell-off. I thought we might have seen a bit
more volatility last week on the Mars-Ketu square but early week
declines were very modest.
There is the real possibility for more volatility this week. Mercury
conjoins bearish Mars tomorrow and then aligns with unpredictable Uranus
late in the week. The Uranus alignment is a wild card of sorts since
it is stationing retrograde on Thursday. This could magnify its
effects on Mercury and Mars somewhat. However, the Sun aligns with
bullish Jupiter during the second half so that may offset some of the
potential negativity. And, of course, Venus continues its often
difficult transit of Virgo this week so that could be a further drag on
sentiment.
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