Yulia Tymoshenko – Being held behind bars but still defiant.

Sometimes you just need to look into the eyes of a person in a picture and you immediately know what they are all about. Look into the eyes of Yulia Tymoshenko, and you see one determined lady. Yulia, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine and one of the leaders of the Orange revolution in Ukraine back in 2004, was rather controversially thrown into jail for brokering an alleged bad deal for her country during her second term in office via an agreement with Russia over the provision of gas supplies. Seeing that Ukraine often shivers under sub-zero temperatures in harsh winters and in 2009 Russia had previously turned off the taps for 13 days, I suspect Tymoshenko's hands were somewhat tied when agreeing to a deal to preserve Ukraine’s gas supply. Her story has hit the headlines as she has been suffering severe back problems, made worse by being allegedly punched by prison guards as she was being taken for medical treatment. In response, she has gone on hunger strike and on finding out her plight, several European countries including Germany have boycotted an international summit which was to be held in Yalta, and the European Football championships which are taking place in Poland & Ukraine this summer may yet be affected too. Yes, the treatment of Yulia is bad and should be condemned, but Yulia herself is no angel as the astrology shows.

Yulia was born on 27th November 1960 in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. She is a Sun sign Sagittarius and her Moon is either in dreamy Pisces or in assertive Aries. I would love to find out her birth time and if anyone reading does know please email me. Her Moon more than likely is close to the Aries point (0 degrees of cardinal signs); this would make sense at the same time pushing her into the public eye. I am not saying that everyone with a planet on the Aries point will get fame and fortune, but the possibility exists. Her Sagittarian Sun brings her an open, generous and lively character, always wanting to learn and experience new challenges. They do have plenty of chances to learn too, as Sagittarians have a penchant for enjoying life to the full which can often lead them into trouble.

Now Yulia’s Sun sits square to Pluto and the Nodal axis. This tension aspect combined with the conjunction of Node and Pluto suggests a very close bond between herself and her mother, and this was true. I am sure that her Moon sits peregrine in her chart disconnected from the other planets, and whenever I see this I know that there was a big split between mother and father which lead to them separating. Yulia’s father left the family home when she was just 3, leaving her mother to bring her up. This a multi faceted conjunction, and I think it is the main pivot on which her chart is based.

After leaving school Yulia, joined the local mining company majoring in cybernetic engineering. Here we see the opposition between Saturn and Mars in operation. This is a very determined and disciplined store of energy and here we see ambition and a career (Saturn) in mechanical subjects (Mars). Mars in Cancer is not very aggressive unless one’s family is threatened, and then your would see Yulia protecting her loved ones with great energy. Saturn in Capricorn is very strong sitting in it’s own sign so Yulia’s ambitions were never going to stay in engineering, she would have wanted more and more responsibility. What type of responsibility? The trines from Saturn/Venus and Jupiter conjunct in Capricorn back to that Pluto gives the key, control and power and international status. It was in her destiny North Node to be a powerful (Pluto) social (Venus) international (Jupiter) leader (Saturn).

Lets return back to that Saturn Venus and Jupiter conjunction. This cools the emotions especially in romantic situations, where one would expect red hot emotions and passion with Mars opposing Venus. Saying that, with a trine between Pluto and Saturn/Venus Yulia’s emotions will run deep and passionately. This will be especially seen in her politics, which she entered into in 1991. Saturn sextile to Neptune shows she is socially aware, but also somewhat conservative in nature. This is balanced out by Jupiter trine to Pluto which is very, very expansionist and shows good potential for making money. We have a shrewd combination here able to administer big sweeping social projects with ease. The sextile from Jupiter to Neptune and Mercury shows that Yulia believe anything is possible, but and this is a big but, it also indicates a naïve side to her character, a tendency to take deceptive risks and to play devil’s advocate.

We have two mini grand trines formed off the Saturn/Venus/Jupiter conjunction trine to Pluto with a conjunction of Mercury and Neptune in Scorpio at the focus point. Mercury and Neptune is imaginative in communication, incisive even surgical in it’s delivery yet also nuanced with a poetic nature. Yulia will be a very powerful orator. This conjunction is not only influenced by Pluto in Virgo bringing an obsession for correctness and detail, but also by a trine from Mars in emotional Cancer and of course authority from the sextile from Saturn. Jupiter adds a dash of optimism and a wider vision, and her speeches may take on a spiritual style or a faith based nature of delivery. Mars trine Mercury loves the cut and thrust of debate, of challenging ideas and arguments (what did I say about Sagittarians loving a challenge?) and when Yulia speaks people will follow her, Mars is clear and decisive in speech and loves to lead from the front.

The one planet I have not touched upon is Uranus, which sits alone in Leo. Planets on their own do dominate a chart, and here we have one and maybe two in Uranus and the Moon. Uranus peregrine in Leo is almost uncontrollable, it is the hooligan of the zodiac. Not only is it a very, very proud placing, it is also fiercely independent, egotistical, hugely stubborn and will insist in no uncertain manner in getting one’s own way. Uranus is the planet of overturning the status quo, of revolt and of revolution. Yulia is a law unto herself, lessons in independence taught to her early on by her mother who had to bring her up in a one parent family, and is it no surprise given the powerful nature of Uranus in her chart that she was the one to lead the Orange revolution of 2004? Just think, what in Astrology is Leo’s prime colour? Gold and orange – the colours of the Sun, reflective of Uranus’ position in the sky. One will never forget the thousands of people crammed in Kiev’s main square all furiously waving their orange flags until the overthrow of the Ukrainian government was complete. This was her mission, this was her calling to overthrow the then government of President Leonid Kutchma and Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich which had decimated Ukraine’s economy, and her alliance with Victor Yushchenko who eventually became President swept to victory. Tymoshenko became Prime Minister but in doing so she had created an enemy in Yanukovich who would exact revenge.

Victor Yanukovich never forgot the way he was pushed from power and when he finally became President of Ukraine in 2010 defeating Tymoshenko in the process, a set of corruption charges were issued against Yulia Tymoshenko over the importation of natural gas with Russia, accusing her of “abuse of power”. Tymoshenko has branded these charges as “selective justice and personal persecution”, but she lost the court case and was sentenced to 7 years in jail. Her current hunger strike in protest to awful treatment she is receiving shows the stubbornness of Uranus present in her character, be sure she will not back down until she gets her way. 

You know, for every action one makes, there is a reaction, what you sow, you reap. Karma is present in all our lives and is represented by the North and South Nodes, however Yulia’s North Node was connected to deep, dark Pluto. Pluto here acted as I explained in several ways, as a motivator for power, giving ability over detail and giving intense passion of emotions. Pluto also restricts, is brutal, unfair and controlling. In being sentenced to years in jail, Pluto was showing it’s dark side to Julia Tymoshenko. Pluto trine to Saturn held it’s promise in her natal chart and blocked her route to power and her authority in office. Her destiny in her obsessive quest for power was not only to taste the authority over people’s lives, but also to face and experience of that power rebounded back onto her.

For the Visual Astrology picture of Yulia’s horoscope, I focus in on the constellation of Leo. Here we have Yulia’s life concentrated into one neat picture. Uranus sits close to the star Regulus, the royal star in the heart of the Lion. Regulus brings one fame and glory, but only if you gain honourably and by not seeking revenge or by abusing that power one you have it. If you do, then all you gain can be lost in an instant. Here is Uranus (peregrine) the rebel who seeks change who gains the crown (Regulus), ripping it off the heads of the leaders of the day through revolution. Brady says that Uranus connecting with Regulus indicates taking the alternative position but also understanding the needs of the people. Even if her protests against electoral fraud in the initial 2004 Presidential elections were admirable in seeking honesty and justice, she still lead the protests of 500,000 people in Kiev and eventually forced a 2nd election which she and Yushchenko won. The seeds of her downfall by gaining leadership by force had been sown.

Pluto sits also in Leo near the star Zosma. Zosma on the back of the Lion which in mythology was crushed by Hercules. To be crushed, to suffer and be made impotent is the fate of any planet in conjunction with Zosma. Zosma is rarely found in connection with the planets of the rich and famous, and only when they are directly or indirectly made powerless or fall from grace. Yulia Tymoshenko’s North Node is also conjunct Pluto, and through the Lord of Darkness connects with majority of the rest of her chart. Her destiny was to be confined in prison by the man who she deposed, to be crushed and to lose all the privileges that Regulus had given her.