(28 September 2022)
The Ukraine crisis has taken a dangerous, new turn this week after the
apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines that carries Russian
gas to Europe. At this point, is it unclear who is responsible for the
damage to the underwater pipeline which prompted more early week
selling in the stock market and another swift rise in energy prices.
The pipeline attack follows an eventful week in which Russian President
Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of 300,000 additional
soldiers to bolster his flagging war efforts in the Ukraine, while
referendums were held in the disputed provinces in eastern Ukraine
which would facilitate a formal union with Russia.
While most Western media seems convinced that Putin is in trouble
following the recent retreat from Kharkiv, the astrological picture
suggests otherwise. If the Ukraine horoscope is correct (Aug 24
1991, 5.31 pm, Kyiv), the planets look difficult for Ukraine in the
weeks ahead. The transit of the Sun and Venus through Leo in September
has generally been favourable to Ukraine's war effort. This is not
unexpected since Leo is in the 9th house of good fortune along with
Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and the Sun. It was a excellent transit set up
for promising outcomes. In addition, Mercury stationed retrograde on
Sep 9 at 14 Virgo -- exactly conjunct the equal 10th house cusp and thus
aligned with the natal Ascendant. This was even more likely to
coincide with positive events related to government since Mercury is
strong in its own sign of Virgo.
But those faster-moving transits have since passed out of the picture and the fighting continues across a wide front with little new movement. As I see it, the bigger problems for Ukraine's efforts is that Saturn will station direct on Oct 23 at 24 Capricorn in an exact square with Pluto (24 Cancer). This Saturn-Pluto alignment is symbolic of intense and brutal power struggles often entail damage and hardship,particularly when they occur when one of the planets is stationary.
In addition, Ketu (South Lunar Node) is conjunct the Midheaven (unequal 10th house cusp) throughout the month of October. This increases the risk of sudden events that could force government (10th house) to react quickly and perhaps irrationally.
More immediately, Mercury is due to station direct at 0 Virgo on Oct 2 -- just one degree from a conjunction with natal Mars. This combination suggests frustration and anger, especially related to leaders, and the station tends to have a more negative connotation. Therefore, we could see some important developments in the first days of October that ratchet up the tension even further. While this Mercury-Mars conjunction isn't always a "bad" influence, it does tend to reflect difficult situations which may or may not have favourable outcomes.
The bigger problem is that Mars is due to station retrograde on Oct 30 at 1 Gemini while in a close square aspect with natal Mars at 1 Virgo. This is invariably a negative influence in matters related to government and leaders, perhaps directly concerned with the military. There are rumours now that the additional Russian reserves could well be moved to the front lines at that time and that these reinforcements could pose a threat to existing Ukrainian positions. More ominously, the Mars station at 1 Gemini will almost exactly conjoin the natal Mars in the USA horoscope at 0 degrees of sidereal Gemini. This is an indication that the US could get more directly involved as the conflict escalates further. All scenarios are on the table here given the volatile and violent Mars-Uranus conjunction in the Biden 2021 inauguration horoscope.
Weekly Market Forecast
Stocks rebounded today after falling further on Monday and Tuesday. The blue chip indexes slipped a bit below their June lows before recovering sharply today after the Bank of England abruptly restarted its QE bond buying program in response to the controversial Truss-Kwarteng Budget. Markets took it as a sign that other central banks may follow suit soon enough as economic and military storm clouds are gathering. Despite the recent spate of interest rate hikes, it seems increasingly likely that the ECB will also be forced to ease its monetary policy if the economic outlook deteriorates. Eventually, even the Fed could also be forced to pivot as higher rates will make large numbers of the home owners insolvent amid falling house prices.
Today's gain could be seen in terms of both less negative influence and more positive influence. The Mars-Saturn-Uranus alignment was near exact early this week just as stocks slumped towards their June lows. By Wednesday, however, Mars had moved a bit past its alignment with Saturn and thus could signal a diminution of bearish influence. At the same time, Jupiter (9 Pisces) is nicely placed in an approaching Grand Trine alignment (i.e. each factor separated by 120 degrees) with the natal Moon (7 Cancer) and the natal Jupiter-Neptune conjunction at 9-10 Scorpio. Since Jupiter is moving quite slowly, I would not be surprised if this positive influence lasted a bit longer.
And yet with retrograde Saturn (24 Cap) parked in a conjunction with the natal Sun (25 Cap) within just one degree, it's hard to get too bullish about the Nasdaq and about stocks in general in the near term.
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