Afghanistan, the “graveyard of empires” is taking another lurch with the US withdrawal. The Taliban, removed from power in 2001, now controls half the country causing alarm in China and Russia. Motives are mixed since neither of the eastern superpowers want an upsurge in Islamic terrorism, or an outflow of narcotics or a surge of refugees across their borders and have an eye to future trade possibilities. China wants access to Afghanistan’s reserves of rare earths and precious metals, and Pakistan backed by China seeks to block Indian influence. Russia fears a power vacuum on its southern doorstep as well as all the above
All are agreed including the west that internal stability is a priority but it will be difficult for any of the main Asian players to avoid getting dragged into domestic Afghan conflicts in the face of a civil war that could threaten the region.
Modern Afghanistan, 19 August 1919 12 am Kabul, has a long and turbulent history stretching back 50,000 years with constant invasions since recorded history took note – the ancient Greeks, Alexander the Great, the Mongols, the Mughals, the British, the Soviet Union and after 9/11 the USA. Nowadays the country is deemed to have high levels of terrorism, poverty, child malnutrition, and corruption.
The 1919 chart has a Fixed Grand Square giving it extraordinary endurance and resistance to change. But since it involves a prominent Uranus on the Midheaven opposition the Leo Sun and Saturn in Virgo square a Taurus Moon opposition a Scorpio North Node the main constant is rolling upheavals. The Afghan Uranus is further highlighted being on the focal point of a Yod giving a wilful, rebellious, contrary national temperament, which can breed lawlessness and intolerance.
There’s nothing to suggest the relentless turmoil of Afghanistan’s history will calm down anytime soon. Tr Pluto will be in a high-risk, brutal, frustrating opposition to the Afghanistan Mars from early 2022 to late 2023; and then tr Uranus will rattle its way round the Fixed Grand Cross from 2023 first in square to Mercury, then the Sun, conjunct the Moon in 2024 and square Uranus in 2025 – all of which will be jolting, jangling and upsetting.
This November’s Lunar Eclipse in Taurus will be exactly conjunct the Afghan Moon which will test the country’s foundations and bring back the past, as well as unsettling the population and triggering the Afghan North Node in Scorpio – none of which looks helpful.
Relations between Russia and Afghanistan will be strained if the relationship chart is anything to go by until 2024 though there may be a re-set in 2023 which could go either way. Relations with China are likely to move into a radically new phase from now onwards with tr Uranus squaring the composite Pluto, but it will be stop start into 2022; with nothing much thereafter until after mid decade when it deteriorates.
See previous posts: April 14 2021
On the 2001 War – post March 1 2020.
On September 20, 1994 there was an event responsible for the birth of the Taliban.
I think that the following day September 21, 1994 the Taliban was born in Kandahar.
MC 24 Leo?
Ascendant 18 Scorpio?
C-11 26 Virgo?
Guardian today has an article about defiant Afghan women taking up arms against the taliban;
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/07/armed-afghan-women-take-to-streets-in-show-of-defiance-against-taliban
The Taliban has responded with its typical misogyny; “Women will never pick up guns against us. They are helpless and forced by the defeated enemy,” said a spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid. “They can’t fight.”
Sounds like more than misogeny here; very out-dated and obsolete thinking. Dangerous place to be, staring back at a woman blasting you with an AK-47.
There’s a chart for the Taliban rulership of Afghanistan on Astrodatabank. 27th September, 1996, Kabul. What’s curious is the Taliban’s Mars at 10 Leo opposes Afghanistan’s Neptune at 9 Leo, while Afghanistan’s Mars at 27 Cancer opposes the Taliban’s Neptune at 25 Capricorn. The idea or symbolism of ‘religious war’ is connecting the two charts – along with deceptive actions?
This Taliban chart also has it’s MC at 25 Taurus – with the Afghanistan Moon and Nodes, and Algol. It’s AC is 28 Leo, opposing the Afghanistan 1919 Uranus at 29 Aquarius. A very complicated pattern of disruption or revolution – with transiting Jupiter (and Mars in Leo) heading back there by the end of July. As Marjorie says “relentless turmoil” – what a tragic, and seemingly never-ending, situation.
Marjorie,
Astrologically, how does Afghanistan interact with China?
It has been the graveyard for Russian, British, (possibly Iranian) and American imperialism.
Will the new Chinese imperialism meet its graveyard in Afghanistan?
As an aside, the time change at the Afghanistan-China border in the Wakhan Corridor is one of the largest in the world, going from UTC+4:30 on the Afghan side to UTC+8 on the Chinese side.
Women were terribly abused. I will never forget on TV seeing a woman, her face and eyes completely covered, shut dead in a stadium by a male soldier for alleged adultery and this went on all the time for a number of years. It is a brutal regime to women and children. Brutal on men too. However females are targeted specifically for harsh repressive law and punishment.
Isn’t Afghanistan, along with Yeman, Syria and Pakistan, one of the worst places to be a woman, according to the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security? That poor moon, beaten up by Uranus, Saturn, the sun and the nodes, has do its best with its sextile to Venus and Mars. One hears inspiring stories of how women in that country manage to do their best for other women and girls despite the way their menfolk treat them.
I don’t suppose many of the men like it either.
Yes, there seems to be little respect for women and girls there at all.
The Moon and S Node are aligned with the Pleiades – the “weeping sisters” – a close cluster of stars in Taurus. These stars are much associated with sorrow, tragedy, and violent death. When positive, they represent ambition, turbulence, and a desire for peace.
The Moon also aligns with the decapitated Medusa’s Head, fixed star Algol. This is one of our brightest fixed stars. It has a reputation for violent death, mass tragedies, and terrible events. The creative energy of Algol is potent and can be very productive, and it is much associated with an intense sexuality. Women in any of these oppressed locations here on earth are not supposed to be creative, or sexual. The symbolic energies of Algol are then suppressed, and warped.
Marjorie talks about the lunar eclipse in Taurus this coming November. I noticed that back in 2002, when the US went into Afghanistan, there was a lunar eclipse at 28 Taurus in November, followed by one at 25 Scorpio in May, 2003. The Moon/Nodes area of this chart seems to be very sensitive.
“US left Bagram Airbase at night with no notice, Afghan commander says”
BBC article detailing the complaints of “gee, where are the Americans? You left us during the night!”
Like, how did you NOT know this was going on?
“https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57682290”
Afghanistan Natal chart has Moon conjunct South Node in the 12th. In simplistic terms this appears to play out in the country as living in a Religious past. It has hardly changed in centuries. The country’s Mercury/Saturn midpoint sitting the on its Sun could be another stolid immovable attitude against moving on. In many ways Afghanistan is in a time warp, both with its terrain and ruling planets. Apart from drugs what can this harsh terrain market? Although it was reported that China is going to build a highway through Afghanistan. I think tourism may be out of the question though.
China will build a road to service its extractive mines in Afghanistan. (read big money rare earth ores) It wants nothing else from Afghanistan except to thwart any Islamic fundamentalism from reaching Xiangchen area of western China where the Han Chinese are oppressing the local population. The Chinese Communist party is just a money machine for the insider leadership. To them Afghans are the same as all Westerners = foreigners. China has a fierce rejection of all non-Han Chinese as semi-official policy.
Russia has long feared Afghanistan for all the reasons you noted. They will tacitly support anyone who goes into that quagmire w/o actually putting their own Russians into that conflagration.
The US will hold its nose and stay as far away as possible. Hopefully we take in as many of the Afghans who were helpful for us as possible. (Translators, tribal heads/families/ maybe some soldier units).
Pakistan and India have the most motivation to effect the country but Islamic fundamentalism will predominate and be the most powerful party in the country. There will be a lot of death and destruction ahead. All the longstanding tribal and ethnic rivalries will be the spark for extensive violence. The average tribal peoples will bear the brunt of the violence. Sad situation. There are no good answers.
All the major parties will be stalemated and pretty much stay out. They just don’t want it to be exported to their country.
Carson, where do you live? I don’t need to know, but its a crucial question. There is an Afghan man in business where I live (the Hague) who keeps a low profile, works hard, and paid smugglers to get his family out of Kabul (where he was an employer) 20 years ago…. they had no choice/knowledge of where they would end up but luckily it was the Netherlands. This country has always been open to the realities of life and they are grateful to have had the luck of landing well….. I have heard their experiences and salute countries who don’t shove immigrants onwards, instead of welcoming their enormous, hugely valuable contributions.