When I heard the news I could not believe it. Another Malaysia Airlines airplane lost. This time though there was no doubt to what happened to it. Flight MH017 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was blown out the sky by a BUK Russian ground to air missile fired from Eastern Ukraine killing all 298 people on board. The incident has been condemned by every world leader, and questions will now be asked of why this appalling tragedy happened…
The year 2014 has already been a very interesting one with three consecutive periods of retrograde planets coming along to dominate the early months. First up was Venus throughout January, then Mercury in February and now Mars that turned retrograde at the start of March and it will remain moving backwards for the next two and a half months. Also in the past month, Pluto Jupiter and Uranus have been in a tight t-square formation and whilst this was forming the Ukraine revolution took place and Russia sensing a power vacuum in her smaller neighbour dived in to take effective control of the region of Crimea. In the next month this t-square with the aid of Mars will turn into a grand cardinal cross. This formation will dominate the spring of 2014 and will drive the agendas of the world. How is it going to affect us. I give some thoughts on the matter…
This aspect is in force now as Agena sits at 24:00 degrees Scorpio. Saturn will get close to an exact conjunction before turning retrograde on 2nd March although they will stay in contact until 22nd March. Saturn will return to make a second conjunction in October later this year.
As you may know if you follow my blog, Agena is a star that sits in the constellation of Centaurus, the Centaur. The Greeks saw this star as representative of the tale of the two Centaurs, Chiron and Pholos. The story goes that Hercules who, after drinking too much wine, accidentally wounded Chiron thinking that he was under attack from them. Chiron was the immortal to the two Centaurs and so this injury condemned him to a life of pain and suffering. As Pholos was pulling out Hercules’ arrow from the foot of Chiron, he grazed himself with the tip of the arrow also causing a mortal wound. Pholos was able to die, and Chiron gave away his immortality to Prometheus so that he could die too. This star is thus tied to the idea of healing and the sacrifices you make in order to improve your situation or to encourage growth, either by yourself or collectively.
Now of course the Pluto opposition to Jupiter squared by Uranus which had precipitated the situation in Ukraine - outright power and control (Pluto) opposed by justice and international desires (Jupiter) being affected by a revolution of the masses (Uranus) has been the dominant aspect affecting our world in the past few weeks however Saturn now slowing to a stop and connecting with Agena is now coming along to correct the vacuum of power in that country. This connection brings the need for a common goal and an understanding of what is needed by the people combined with the sacrifices that Chiron in the story above depicts. There is a sense here of bringing together all the resources you have to make something lasting and potentially strong and out of it a leader of substance may emerge.
Saturn is the planet of administration and the formation in embattled Ukraine of a unity government is a perfect example of this conjunction and the healing properties that it can perform. In this sense you may have to collate what you have to curb the potential excesses and reckless behaviour that you may have been subject to under the very volatile skies above us. The next three or so weeks may also be a time of trying to be a bit more sensible. As Robson wrote many years ago about this conjunction about this conjunction it is time to be "shrewd and thoughtful" and to use the healing powers on offer to us.
Ukraine is back in the news as a night of violence erupted in the capital city Kiev. Protesters still camped in Independence Square in the heart of the city clashed with riot police as they tried to get to the Parliamentary building after Viktor Yanukovych the Ukraine President enacted new laws designed to restrict basic public freedoms.
European Union supporters and demonstrators against the government of Viktor Yanukovych protested in freezing temperatures in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital against his refusal to sign a deal with the European Union to get closer ties with the West. Many think that he is being heavily leant upon by Vladimir Putin and Russia to the north, however jailed former leader Yulia Tymoshenko who is on hunger strike from her prison cell through her daughter Eugenia called for the people to rise up and not let the government take away the hope that one day Ukraine could join the wider European family. Vitaly Klitschko the leader of the opposition UDAR party has also called for protests and pressure is rising on Yanukovych to act to quell the dissent.
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.
