Syria – The world sits and watches as the death toll rises.

A bit more on the Syrian crisis which continues to dominate the news channels across the world. President Assad is continuing to assert his iron grip over an ever desperate population. Unlike in Libya, the world powers seem reluctant to step into the viper’s nest that is Syria, possibly because there are no oil reserve in the country, and a whole lot of potential religious problems to deal with if you get stuck in there. The world it seems has no more stomach for a drawn out conflict, as happened in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Russians who vetoed the latest round of proposed sanctions have self interest at heart, as they have provided Assad with much of the military hardware that he is using on his population, and China’s veto against sanctions probably was related to it’s own problems with Tibet which is bubbling again. The Chinese view seems to be that they do not want to sanction any intervention, because they themselves are supressing the Tibetan minority against their will, and their view is that the leaders of each country must be able to do exactly as they need to control their own people, and their right to national sovereignty is absolutely sacrosanct.

  

This chart is the one for the Assad regime, which has now been in power for 40 years. It features a huge opposition with Sun Venus and Jupiter opposing Moon and Saturn. Here we have the riches of the President opposed by the Moon in the 6th house of the common people, the general population held down in submission by the close conjunction of authoritarian Saturn. There is a deep polarity in the country with those supporting the regime pitted directly against those who don’t. We also see that the military seen by Mars conjunct to Uranus is in the 11th house of the ruling party of the government – the military is an organ of the state and uses shocking tactics if need be. Pluto the planet of control sits in the 10th house, so secret, brutal & underground control is the seen as the face of the nation, and this sextiles onto Mercury and Neptune in the first house which is deceptive and clouds the actual issues. The leader will tell you one thing, however the real truth is something else completely.

Normally I don’t include the aspects to the Nodal axis on a chart, but these ones are very revealing. Neptune and Mercury sit square to the nodal axis. The square to Mercury shows that the Assad regime’s thinking was at odds to the rest of the population and the square to Neptune showed the the majority were shut out, forced to live a different life from the ruling classes and completely misunderstood. if you get this sort of alienation in a country allied to the brutality and secret controls that the regime uses, then eventually patience will wear out with the majority, and the collective will rise up against it as has happened. On all mundane charts, Neptune represents the collective, and right now as Neptune enters Pisces and the 4th house, it is opposing the Midheaven (the leadership) and making a square aspect to the Neptune/Mercury conjunction. There is a connection too back to the last Solar Eclipse of 25th November which occurred at 2 Sagittarius, in conjunction with these two planets. By the end of March transiting Neptune itself will be square to this sensitive spot.

I have long held the belief that Spring 2012 might be the time when Assad would have to go. Notice how close Pluto now is to the natal Syrian Sun. It hits exactly in mid March this year, closely coinciding with Neptune’s squaring of the 25th November eclipse degree. The transits of Pluto often bring sweeping change and the effect of a delayed reaction to an eclipse degree, especially when it is on an important planetary connection in a chart just cannot be ignored. Pluto destroys and Neptune disintegrates. The power of these two planets will finally be brought to bare on the country as a whole.  

One thing on this chart which does worry me is the connection in May 2012 of the South Node to the natal Uranus/Mars conjunction in the 8th house of public mortality. This connection may well coincide with a shocking event which may end up in loss of live. Mars square to Saturn from the 12th house of suffering, shows the military under orders stepping up their bombardment on the population. I also fear for events around the 1st of March when Mars will be directly opposite the Syrian Moon. Will the actions of the Syrian military on the people finally raise the consciousness of the international community? Aries ruled by Mars sits on the cusp of the 7th house of relations with other countries. Might an atrocity on the Syrian people finally persuade the Arab League, Europe or the US to act? 

The planets to Assad’s chart show the transiting Nodes approaching a half return (North Node conjunct natal South Node). This connects exactly also in March. This will be a time when Assad has to react to circumstances out of his control. Often you have to adjust your life, change tack suddenly. Right now the Nodes are square to natal Saturn showing the pressure being put on his presidency. Notice also transiting Mars which is now moving in retrograde motion towards Assad’s Sun Pluto Uranus opposite Saturn opposition. Mars will connect here in February and again for a final time in late May/early June. Assad should be very careful around this time, as Mars conjunct Uranus/Pluto/Sun and opposite Saturn sounds very accident prone and dangerous, especially in the current climate as he is seen by many in Syria as public enemy number one. My own view is that Assad may well be persuaded to flee before he is replaced by force. Transiting Neptune squaring to the natal Neptune in Sagittarius on the Assad regime chart has international connotations, and the 4th house connection where this transit is doubled because Pisces is intercepted in the Syrian 4th house. I suspect the opposition forces (representing 4th house issues) will take control and Assad will flee into exile.

I will continue to keep a close eye on the events in Syria. I do have a concern as to what will fill the vacuum once Assad is toppled? Getting rid of nasty dictators is one thing, but with Neptune in nebulous Pisces for the next 14 years, we may find that general disruption and a anarchic or ultra religious regime replaces it. Egypt and all the problems that have been facing since replacing Mubarak does not look a good template to follow. With Syria’s proximity to Lebanon and Israel, the whole region could be much destabilized once the first hit of the Uranus Pluto square comes around early summer.