D Pearmain – 18 April 2022
Introduction
The question of which chart to use in mundane astrology is a problem many astrologers face which is not helped by the many charts for each country given by Nicholas Campion in his Book of World Horoscopes.
A nation is defined in the dictionary as a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory. It is not enough just to be a large body of people – that is simply a crowd. It is also not enough to be a large body of people united by common descent. We know from history and genetic studies of haplogroups there are very few, if any, nations occupied solely by people of common descent. The same can be said for history, culture and language. So, what are we left with? The land, the territory, the country.
What is a country? It is an area of land controlled by the people whose home it is through their government. But the government is not the country. Governments, whether they be kings, politicians, presidents, emperors, military leaders, come and go as we all know. When a new party wins an election, we seldom change the name, let alone the boundaries of a country. Rhodesia changed its name to Zimbabwe, true, but the boundaries of the land did not change. It still looks the same on the map. South-West Africa became Namibia but its boundaries did not change. It is still the same land on the map.
Will Ukraine ever be recognized as Russia if Putin wins the war? When India was governed as a colony by the British, did it stop being India? When Afghanistan was controlled by the US, did it become America? Even under the USSR, Russia was still Russia. Uzbekistan was still Uzbekistan and Latvia was still Latvia. There is clearly more to a country than just its people, just its government, just its ethnicity.
Why is the land so important? Because the configuration of the sky above is tied to that land. It is my opinion that the configuration of the skies at the time when the land’s boundaries were set, when disparate tribes or city states first came together to form a nation is that nation’s birth chart.
Just like a person a country can have significant events in its lifetime – famines, plagues, earthquakes, rebellions, revolts, changes in rulership, changes in fortune, enemies, allies, changes in religion etc. However, its fundamental nature does not change. Not while it is a country. Countries can die (disappear), diminish in stature on the world stage, rise and fall, just like people.
Astrology is as much about location as it is about time. Time and space are inextricably linked. Indeed, one of the problems faced by mundane astrologers is which area of space on Earth to look at for a particular time. When studying eclipses, we always ask over which nations they will be visible to get an idea of who will be most affected.
When we look at weather astrology, an aspect of mundane, we look at the configuration of the skies for a specific location. Weather affects the land, the crops, the people and is not the same everywhere in the world. Geological features like mountains, rivers, underground fault lines, mineral deposits, volcanoes, geothermal vents etc affect the weather and the wealth of a country to this day.
Back To The Mundane
I was looking at the 1991 chart for Russia recently (see below) in connection with the Russia-Ukraine war when it struck me that it did not reflect what little I knew about the country. Look at this chart. What is the overall impression?
It is a child (predominance of planets in the 5th house) hiding in a corner below the horizon, invisible with few planets on the angles i.e., without much power to act. It is a gifted child admittedly because it excels in sports and the arts – gymnastics, athletics, ice hockey, music, ballet, chess, the Olympic games, famous authors. It is ruled by a playful Sun in the fifth house in Sagittarius.
In mundane astrology the fifth house is about children, entertainment, gambling, lotteries, theatre, pleasure and sport. The Sun represents the ruler or the monarch. It is not particularly dignified in Sagittarius but it’s broadminded, tolerant, philosophical, jovial right, always thinking about the bigger picture – right? That’s Putin to a tee. Or is it?
You might even think the Russians are a dissolute lot, partying and gambling and generally having fun. They aren’t very visible to the rest of the world though and mostly keep to themselves since not a single planet is above the horizon.
The land (4th house) is ruled by passionate, benevolent Venus who happens to be in the 4th house in Scorpio in her detriment so things are not entirely happy, but Venus does rule artists, musicians, children, women’s issues and peace[1] and these Russians are all about their fifth house. Is anything jarring yet?
Heavy destructive Pluto is also there in Scorpio and it’s true the permafrost is melting which is cause for considerable concern in some parts of Russia. The Moon is in Capricorn in its detriment so the people may not be as happy as they seem but it’s in the 5th house of fun right on the cusp of the 6th which signifies civil servants, soldiers etc. The Moon is a bit a sour note in the chart but with its proximity to the 6th house perhaps reflects the hard Russian work ethic? No?
I wasn’t satisfied so I went digging and this is what I found.
[1] https://www.skyscript.co.uk/ingresses.html
This is a world power. It is highly visible on the world stage. It is no shy artist hiding its light under a bushel.
This oldest chart for Russia is for 20 September 862 at 12:01 PM. It has Scorpio on the Ascendant with Mars in Leo in the 9th house of international trade, bankers, the judiciary, religion, lawyers, higher education. Mars also rules Russia’s 5th house of children, entertainment, sport and the arts. This is clear from Russia’s highly competitive nature in these areas. Look at the Sun! It’s right up there on the Midheaven where it belongs. It’s in fall in Libra, but let’s face it many of Russia’s rulers and leaders have had unfortunate ‘mishaps’.
- Igor, son of Rurik, the first ruler of Russia, was assassinated in a most gruesome manner. His enemies, the Drevlians, bent down two birch treesto the prince’s feet and tied them to his legs; then they let the trees straighten again, thus tearing the prince’s body apart.
- Ivan VI was murdered by his prison guards in 1764 while still an innocent child.
- Peter III was killed in 1762 and some suspect his wife, Catherine the Great of ordering his execution.
- Paul I, Catherine’s son was choked to death by a scarf in 1801 in an assassination.
- Paul’s son, Alexander II was assassinated on 13 March 1881 after previously surviving several attempts on his life.
- The Russian Imperial family, including Tsar Nicholas II, of the Romanovs, were executed by the Bolsheviks in July 1918
- Fyodor Kokoshkin a member of the first Russian state Duma was assassinated in Leningrad in 1918.
- Putin himself revealed to film maker Oliver Stone that he has survived five assassination attempts.
Saturn exalted in Libra is on the MC and conjunct the Sun indicating the Russia’s rulers are autocratic, stern and dominated by ideology. They are cold, dry, authoritarian, not jovial, light-hearted and broadminded. They are about setting boundaries, restrictions and rules. The Sun exalts Saturn. Russia’s leaders are not a barrel of laughs.
What about that Scorpio Ascendant? In true Scorpionic fashion, the Russians have continued their long history of political assassinations of people they who don’t subscribe to their ideologies. Scorpio’s association with poisons is obvious.
You’ve heard the tale of the Scorpion and the frog? The scorpion asks the frog to take him over the river since he cannot swim. The frog says “No way! I know you! You’ll sting me halfway across and then we’ll both drown. The scorpion says that doesn’t make any sense because it would then be the cause of its own destruction. After some to and fro, the reluctant frog is persuaded to let the scorpion hop on his back. Halfway across the river the scorpion stings the frog. The dying frog cries out to the scorpion “Why have you done this? Now we will both perish!” The scorpions last words as it sinks below the water are “I couldn’t help myself. That is my nature.” In a twist of vast irony, the earliest known appearance of this fable is in the 1933 Russian novel, The German Quarter by Lev Nitobur[1].
The Russians developed the nerve poison Novichok and poisonings with this agent have been noted since at least 1995. A Novichok agent was used in 1995 to poison Russian banker Ivan Kivelidi who died three days later in a hospital at the age of 46. Kivelidi was the head of the Russian Business Round Table, and had close ties to Viktor Chernomyrdin, who was at that time Prime Minister of Russia.
Alexei Navalny an outspoken critic of the Russian government was poisoned with it in 2020 while Sergei Skripal and his daughter were its victims in 2018. Other poisons the Kremlin has used include ricin (Georgi Markov) polonium-210 (asylum seeker Alexandr Litvinenko), thallium (oligarch Nikolai Khokhlov) and dioxin (Viktor Yushchenko). Russia has used chemical or biological weapons during past conflicts, notably in Chechnya and Syria, in violation of international law[2]. There is currently a fear that Russia will or may already have used them in Ukraine.
In the days leading up to the attack on Sumykhimprom in Ukraine, Russia claimed that Ukraine was planning to release dangerous chemicals from the plant, typically laying their actions at the door of their enemies.
“Nationalists have placed mines in ammonia and chlorine storage facilities at the Sumykhimprom chemical plant in Sumy in order to poison the Sumy region residents in case Russian troops enter the city,” Mikhail Mizintsev, chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, told the Russian state news agency TASS on 19 March 2022.[3]
The Sun-Saturn combination indicates highly disciplined, strict and harsh rulers. They put their vital energy into ruling with cold determination and ruthlessness. Saturn is a malefic and has no mercy.
Although the Sun and Saturn are in the ninth house, they have power over the tenth being so close to the cusp. Is it just a coincidence that Putin has a sun in Libra? The chart is ruled by Mars sitting in Leo in the 8th house of death and close the cusp of the ninth. Mars is ruled by the Sun and signifies the military, war, aggression, fire and conflict.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog
[2] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/03/harvard-analyst-assesses-chemical-weapon-threat-posed-by-russia/
[3] https://www.newscientist.com/article/2313126-is-russia-getting-ready-to-use-chemical-weapons-in-ukraine/
The Moon, the people, rules the 8th house and is in the sign of its rulership in the 8th house. The eighth house is also concerned with financial relationships with foreign countries. Russia’s supply of gas to Europe and the huge amounts of foreign money it brings in are very much in focus right now. Russia’s control of these resources is of major strategic importance to the rest of the world as we have seen from the problems with oil prices in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Also in the eighth house is Uranus, the planet of shocks, unexpected events, revolution. Does anyone remember the Russian revolution of 1917 that lasted until 1923? The Moon, the people, rule Uranus in the 8th house.
“The Russian Revolution of 1917 stands as one of the most impactful political events of the 20th century. Lasting from March 8, 1917, to June 16, 1923, the violent revolution saw the overthrow of the tradition of czarist rulers by the Bolsheviks, led by leftist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. Perhaps more significant to the future of international politics and security, Lenin’s Bolsheviks would go on to form the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.”[1]
“Primary causes of the Russian Revolution included widespread corruption and inefficiency within the czarist imperial government, growing dissatisfaction among peasants, workers, and soldiers, the monarchy’s level of control over the Russian Orthodox Church, and the disintegration of the Imperial Russian Army during World War I.”[2]
Where are all these fun people from the 1991 chart? These shy retiring entertainers, artists, musicians, theatregoers, and sportspeople of the second quadrant? Which chart more accurately reflects the essential nature of the country, Russia? You decide. Meanwhile I am going to go and cast my natal chart – for the day I graduated, not the day of my birth.
[1] https://www.thoughtco.com/causes-of-the-russian-revolution-1221800
[2] https://www.thoughtco.com/causes-of-the-russian-revolution-1221800
