Another day another atrocity. This time in Mali, a former French colony in western Africa, where a breakaway Al-Quaeda group of terrorists held guests and staff hostage at a hotel favoured by westerners. 18 are reported dead so far, some of them gunmen after special forces stormed the hotel. French and US troops have recently been in the country helping to fight Islamist groups.
Mali gained independence on 20 August 1960 at 2 am GMT, capital Bamako. It has a fairly tough, unsettled chart with the Leo Sun conjunct Uranus on one side and conjunct Pluto on the other. With Pluto Venus in Virgo square Mars and trine Saturn in Capricorn.
Over the past two years tr Uranus square Pluto have been in hard aspect to the Mali Saturn though that is now past. The tr Saturn square tr Neptune have also been elbowing the Mali Pluto. The September Virgo Solar Eclipse was exactly conjunct the Mali IC, so a domestic crisis was indicated.
The attack started around 7am this morning in Bamako when Saturn was on the Ascendant square Neptune on the IC. Alongside the panic of that and perhaps more pertinently Mars in Libra, on the ingress on the day of the Paris shootings last Friday, is now moving towards the square to Pluto (Dec 6) and opposition to Uranus (Dec 11). The run up to this particular aspect is very accident prone, enraging and can be violent. And it often triggers early.