You Say You Want a Revolution…
The branch of astrology that deals with world events is called Mundane Astrology. It’s probably the oldest branch of astrology, since it dates back to a time when people were trying to make sense of the world around them. There are a number of techniques that traditional astrologers use to predict what might happen in a coming year. Among them are Ingress Charts, Eclipses, Great Conjunctions, and Time Lords. We’re going to take a look here at Ingress Charts.
Ingress charts are cast for the moment a planet (the Sun in this case) enters a new sign of the zodiac. The astrological year begins at the Spring Equinox, so that’s where we start.
Keep in mind that we’re focused primarily on the USA, which means that our “players” are going to be the people, the president, the congress, and maybe the courts. We may also see financial systems at play.
On the Revolutions of the Years of the World
According to Masha’Allah (8th century) in On the Revolutions of the Years of the World, we cast a chart each year for the exact moment when the Sun enters tropical Aries, also known as the Aries ingress or the Spring Equinox. (Note: The word “revolution” simply means a “coming around”.) If the Ascendant is a fixed sign (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), then this chart will endure for the whole year, until the following Aries ingress.
If the Ascendant is a mutable sign (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces), then the chart will be in effect until the Fall Equinox, six months later, at which point a new chart will need to be generated for the moment the Sun enters Libra. When the Ascendant is a cardinal sign (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), then a new chart needs to be cast for each season, and each of these will last only about three months. The Aries ingress chart will be in effect for the Spring, the Cancer ingress for the Summer, the Libra chart for the Fall, and the Capricorn ingress for the Winter.
Aries Ingress 2019
The first consideration whenever we cast a chart is which location to cast the chart for. When looking at how the current astrology will affect a country, the custom is to cast that chart for the capital of that country. So we’ll look at the chart for Washington, D.C.
The first thing that we note is that Virgo, a mutable sign, rises. That means that this chart is valid for six months, and we’ll need to look at the Libra Ingress chart for the Fall Equinox, too. But this chart still sets the tone for the year, so let’s look at issues of health, illness, the public, and leadership to see what hints we might have.
Masha’Allah says that the Sun or Moon will be the lord of the year if they are in any of the angles and unimpeded. (Dykes p. 105) Here we have the Moon rising, and she is not conjunct, square or opposed to Mars or Saturn. So she is the lord (lady) of the year. The Moon also represents the common people in any mundane chart, so in this case, our signifiers are focused into one: the Moon.
Both the Moon and the Rising Sign (Virgo) are ruled by Mercury. Here we see Mercury retrograde in Pisces in the 7th house, conjunct Neptune, the great deceiver. Mercury opposite its own sign and retrograde argues for a real inability to deliver anything that the first house/ascendant represent. And it’s applying to conjoin Neptune, which is an anti-physical, confusing influence.
He tells us to look to the lord/lady of the year to know how things will go for the common folk, and to the lord/lady of the Midheaven and to the Sun itself to know how things will go for the leader of a country. We see that the Moon (lady of the year) is just over two degrees from the entering Libra, and from an exact opposition of the Sun. This sets up the common people against/in opposition to the president.
It’s interesting, too, that the Sun is alone in the chart, and neither makes nor receives any other aspect, other than the opposition to the Moon. This highlight’s President Trump’s tendency to attempt to speak directly to the citizenry, and his habit of avoiding the advice of professionals, as well as not actually appointing department heads to permanent positions in his administration. In a real sense, he stands alone.
By definition, the Sun will always be somewhat dignified in the Aries ingress chart, since the Sun is dignified in Aries, and is dignified in all fire signs, especially during the day (and this chart is a daytime chart). However, the Sun is in the 8th house, which strips away much of its power, since it’s not on an angle (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th houses). The 8th house is a succedent (it succeeds, or follows the angular houses coming across the horizon and the zenith), and as succedent houses (2, 5, 8, 11) go, the 8th is considered the worst.
The 8th house also represents death and shared resources. So having the Sun there indicates the president’s preoccupation with financial markets (shared money/resources). The ruler of the 10th also represents the president. We see that the 10th house is Gemini, and like the 1st house/ascendant, it’s ruled by Mercury. To repeat, Mercury is retrograde and opposite its own sign in Pisces here, conjunct Neptune.
Masha’Allah says that when the ruler of the king/president and the ruler of the citizens are retrograde, they “signify the loss and weakness of the king, and of the citizens.” (Dykes p. 118) We’re starting to get a not so nice picture of the year. All of this is a pretty strong indication that both the president and the people are deceiving themselves, or at the very least, like the proverbial ostriches, burying their heads in the sand in order to avoid unpleasant facts.
Libra Ingress 2019
Because the Aries ingress had a mutable sign rising (Virgo), we need to look also at the Libra ingress chart for the second half of the astrological year.
Here we have Leo rising, which is ruled by the Sun. So the common people (the ascendant/rising sign) and the president (the Sun) are in some sort of alignment. The Sun, by definition, is always in precarious condition in the Libra ingress chart. The Sun in Libra is opposite Aries, where he’s exalted. And now the Sun is in a cadent house. Cadent (“falling away”) houses are the weakest of all, giving little operating strength to any planets in them.
Again, the Sun is not in close aspect to any planets, though he’s beginning to approach the conjunction with Venus in Libra, where she’s in excellent condition. Venus rules the 10th house, another signifier of the president, so the Sun picks up a little bit of benefit here. However, he is square by sign to Saturn, the greater malefic, who’s somewhat powerful and potentially nasty in his own sign of Capricorn.
The Moon, ruling the common folks, is now in Cancer, where she is at home, but in the 12th house of isolation, illness, enemies. It’s also a cadent house. The Moon is also only 2º past the exact opposition to Saturn in Capricorn. Saturn is powerful here in his own sign, though once again, in a cadent house. But this is the primary house of illness, so we’re seeing health/illness start to come into focus as a real issues.
We also saw the solar eclipse in December 2019 and the lunar eclipse in January of 2020 fall in Capricorn and Cancer, respectively. This is going to shine a huge spotlight on these 6th/12th house issues. This is precisely at the time that the most recent coronavirus, covid-19, was identified.
It’s becoming clear in astrological hindsight (because I didn’t look at all this ahead of time) that the stage is set for a health crisis that involves the population of the USA (Moon in Cancer opposite Saturn), where the leaders (specifically the president) are fairly ineffective (Sun debilitated in Libra, in a cadent or weak house).
Aries Ingress 2020
On to the current chart. We find Scorpio, a fixed sign, rising. That means that this chart will be our chart for the year. We won’t have to look at a second (or third or fourth) seasonal chart.
Mars rules the rising sign, and is in a cardinal sign. According to Masha’Allah and others, this means that even though our fixed-sign-rising chart is the only one we’ll need to forecast the year, the major effects will occur in the first season, i.e., Spring.
We find the Moon in this chart in Aquarius, in the 4th house of home and land, in a very tight square to Venus in Taurus. The people are at home; and as Venus also rules the 12th house of isolation, this takes the form of self-isolating or quarantine.
The 10th house ruler and the Sun represent the leader. With Leo on the 10th house, the ruler of the 10th here is the Sun itself, so again, our signifiers of the president are streamlined into one: the Sun. The Sun in this chart is in the 6th house of illness. It’s only 10 minutes of arc past the sextile to Saturn in Capricorn. Remember that Saturn in the last chart was the signifier of the illness itself. So the president and the virus are tied together this year.
The ascendant ruler also represents the people (in addition to the Moon). Mars here is in Capricorn, where he’s powerful and assertive to the point of possible aggression. He’s also exactly conjunct Jupiter (justice, healing, faith, etc.). This combination helps Mars, but hurts Jupiter, who is opposite Cancer, his sign of exalted dignity. So the people are fighting the good fight.
But Jupiter now rules the 2nd house, money and material resources. And he’s debilitated in Capricorn and further hampered by being conjunct a malefic planet. The 8th house of shared resources/money is Gemini, ruled by Mercury, still in Pisces (opposite its home in Virgo). So the economy is really in dire straights.
To top it all off, Masha’Allah tells us that when we want to know if it’s a year “in which one should have fear, see whether there is a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in that same year.” (Dykes p. 121) You may have guessed by now that we do, indeed, have a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction this year. You can see that Jupiter is at 22º Capricorn in this chart, and Saturn is at 29º Capricorn. On Winter Solstice day, December 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will conjoin in the first degree of Aquarius.
The Good News (?)
The good news is that like just about everything else, this will pass. Remember that most of the effects will be in the first season of the year, so Spring (until Summer Solstice). That doesn’t mean that this will all go away by July, but the intensity should back off somewhat.
And most of us will survive. We will be changed. Hopefully for the better. But that’s up to us, and our ability to continue to fight that good fight.
Bibliography
Astrology of the World II: Revolutions & History, Translated & Edited by Benjamin Dykes, PhD
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