The unintended consequence of Putin’s ill-judged and barbaric attack on Ukraine has been to unify the EU and strengthen NATO. Finland and Sweden, both EU members, are now inclining towards NATO membership in the face of naked aggression from the east. Both are in the EU and already Enhanced Opportunity Partners in NATO. Because of the sophistication of their militaries, the stability of their democratic political systems, they would easily be accepted as full members. Their critical geography is likely to raise red flags with Russia if they were to reverse their non-alignment status.

  Though if Russia was to invade either at the moment, it would also trigger the EU’s mutual defence clause for members who are a “victim of armed aggression on its territory”. The other 27 member states would step in to defend them and engage Russian forces directly. This also extends to other EU eastern countries like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, who are in addition NATO members.

  Finland’s independence chart of 6 December 1917 3pm Helsinki has a Sagittarius Sun which caught last December’s Solar Eclipse challenging them to make key crises decisions and to institute significant changes. Their Saturn at 14 Leo will catch the tr Uranus square from late this April into early May, returning in January 2023, which will bring a series of considerable jolts and tensions into the open  – and tr Uranus then moves on to conjunct the Saturn/Uranus midpoint at 17 degrees from mid June with the same result. These are degrees showing up as critical on several of the related charts so it will be a turbulent time ahead. Into 2023 tr Pluto will conjunct the Finland Venus, on and off till late 2024, bringing an emotionally and financially challenging time.

  The last time there was a Finnish-Russian War, 30 November 1939, Uranus was at 19 Taurus, but there was also Pluto just into Leo about to be squared by Saturn – so not entirely similar.

  The Sweden 7 December 1865 3.30pm Stockholm chart, also has a Sagittarius Sun and Mars, both rattled by the last December Solar Eclipse, covering these months up to May. Their Pluto at 12 Taurus square the Leo Moon at 17 degrees will be rattled and jolted by tr Uranus in hard aspect, starting in a few days with tr Uranus conjunct the Sweden Pluto and in June square the Moon – repeating on into early 2023. The Swedish population are likely to be upset and reactive since the Moon is 4th house. If anything mid 2023 onwards for a year looks even riskier and more violence- or accident-prone.

  Finnish President Sauli Ninisto’s 2^nd Term chart, 1 February 2018, with an Aquarius Sun Venus at 12/18 degrees and North Node at 14 Leo will be shaken up – and in an all-systems-change phase from the middle of this month onwards.

  Swedish PM Magdalena Andersson’s Admin chart, 30 November 2021, has a Sagittarius Sun conjunct Mercury, again in the line of fire from the recent Solar Eclipse; and has a stalwart Mars in Scorpio trine Neptune, sextile Pluto Venus in Capricorn.  That chart picks up a worrisome, high-risk and calamitous tr Neptune square the Mars/Pluto midpoint from March 19^th (now); and another swampy, not-progressive Neptune conjunction to the Saturn/Uranus midpoint from late May onwards. Plus plus – and these less than helpful influences roll on into 2023. She looks in a meltdown panic.

  It isn’t possible to extrapolate exactly what these influences relate to – pandemic recovery, Russia’s psychopath, economic pressures, domestic crime or whatever.  But the likelihood is that the Ukraine situation is likely to drag on.  

There will be clues in the 2022 eclipses about which countries are likely to be in the spotlight of global events. Last November’s Lunar Eclipse, in effect for the six months after, had an explosive, vindictive, military Mars in Scorpio opposition Uranus square Saturn. Mars fell across the Midheaven located to Ukraine; the Full Moon sat conjunct the IC/MC for Moscow.

  Lunar Eclipses are often stronger in effect than the Solars and places where planets sit close to the axis are generally most affected. That Eclipse had a sobering, cautious Saturn in the Midheaven for Beijing and a trapped, paralysed Pluto in the IC for Washington.

 The upcoming 30 April 2022 Solar Eclipse is at 10 Taurus conjunct Uranus; with a Pluto trine Taurus North Node sextile Jupiter Venus in Pisces; and the North Node opposition South Node square Saturn in Aquarius.  Its geographical signatures aren’t that interesting. Although the Uranus at 14 degrees Taurus is pointed up as a disruptive degree on various of the eastern European and other associated charts. It will create sudden crises in Russia as it hits key planets on the 1990 (Pluto Venus) and Russia 1917 (Scorpio Sun) charts. See post below Russia feeling the cold wind.

 The 16 May 2022 Total Lunar Eclipse looks a good deal more powerful. It has a 25 degree Scorpio Moon opposition Taurus Sun and North Node square Saturn and the Full Moon is in a Half Grand Sextile to Pluto sextile Mars Neptune – cold, unpleasant, forceful and duplicitous. Located to Kyiv, Ukraine puts Saturn exactly (to the minute of a degree) conjunct the  Midheaven, which suggest adjusting to a hard reality under the can-be-domineering Saturn in Aquarius. Beijing has the Sun in the Midheaven suggesting it may enter the fray more visibly. Iran has has the aggressive Mars on the Midheaven.

  The 25 October 2022 Solar Eclipse at 2 Scorpio conjunct Venus is riddled with strained quincunxes of Pluto inconjunct Mars; Mercury to Neptune and Jupiter to New Moon – nothing will fit together easily. Ukraine has an unsettled Uranus on the IC with Pluto just below the Ascendant; Washington, DC for both the late Eclipses like last year has Pluto Saturn in the IC suggesting an inability to make progress or get a grip.

  The 8 November 2022 Lunar Eclipse at 16 Taurus conjunct Uranus squares onto Saturn which is the final hit of the irritable, high-tension theme of 2021/22 which Andre Barbault related (amongst other things) to authoritarian power.  It puts the assertive/aggressive Mars on the Ascendant for Beijing, and a resolute, unyielding Pluto Saturn on the Ascendant for Moscow; and Pluto Ascendant for Ukraine.  

  To summarise from a blizzard of charts and figures – it doesn’t look to be easing up for eastern Europe and eastwards; with China stepping more into centre frame.  

The Russian attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest, caused fears of a Fukushima-style meltdown. Flames were eventually doused but it sent shivers of fear through Europe, with President Zelensky accusing Putin of resorting to ‘nuclear terror’.

 The Fukushima disaster on 11 March 2011 2.46pm occurred as a result of an earthquake and tsunami which shut off emergency generators at the nuclear plant allowing the core to overheat, which led to three nuclear meltdowns, three hydrogen explosions, and the release of radioactive contamination. Tens of thousands of local residents were evacuated but there seems to have been little health damage in the aftermath.

  It occurred with an afflicted Pluto on the point of a T Square to a Jupiter in Aries opposition Saturn; with Uranus square the North Node which was widely conjunct Pluto.

  The midpoints were stark with Uranus and the North Node in exact aspect to the accident-prone Mars/Saturn midpoint and Pluto conjunct the high-tension, can-be-violent Saturn/Uranus midpoint.

  The worst nuclear accident ever was at Chernobyl 26 April 1986 1.23am Priputni, Ukraine, when an equipment failure led to an open-air reactor core fire, releasing airborne radioactive contamination for about nine days over parts of the USSR and Western Europe. 70% of fallout landed in Belarus. According to wiki, health effects to the general population are uncertain. The most robust studies predict 4,000 fatalities in the three most contaminated former Soviet states, to about 9,000 to 16,000 fatalities for the whole of Europe. Nuclear clean-up is scheduled for completion in 2065.

  It occurred with an emphasized/afflicted Pluto in Scorpio opposition a Taurus Sun and Aries North Node, sextile/trine Neptune. Again the midpoints are stark with Saturn conjunct the destructive Mars/Pluto midpoint and Uranus conjunct the neurotic Saturn/Neptune midpoint.

  Of these two accident charts, the similarities lie in the over powering strength of Pluto conjunct either the North or South Node.  

 The Hiroshima bomb, 6 August 1945 8.15am, along with the Nagasaki bomb three days later, was the only war-time deliberate use in armed conflict, resulting in around 400,000 deaths  immediately and in the months afterwards, though there is surprisingly little evidence of long term effects in birth defects etc.

 Pluto in Leo was on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine to an attention-grabbing Mars trine Neptune; with Mars in an explosive conjunct to Uranus and Pluto conjunct the Sun. Neptune was on the point of a T square to the North South Node opposition. The midpoints were again stark with the brutal Mars/Pluto and Mars/Saturn midpoints highlighted – as well as Pluto sitting on the Uranus/Neptune midpoint which did point to an immense catastrophe and according to Ebertin ‘the necessity to give in.’ As Japan surrendered as a result.

  There is nothing too similar coming up in the near future of any of the above.  

  I’ve always associated – or read somewhere – that the initial Hiroshima/nuclear bomb is tied into Pluto in Leo which would make sense of the ‘light of a thousand suns.’ Wholesale catastrophes causing widescale deaths and utter devastation – such as earthquakes, tsunamis – often have Pluto Neptune hard aspects or midpoints, with Uranus often thrown in to top up the disruption.

  A small aside – the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004 occurred with the North Node in final degree Aries, as it cycled back to its position on the Chernobyl meltdown. Which it returns to again in mid 2023. It was around previously in September 1967, a time of Vietnam War and race riots in the US. Before that January 1949 when the Communist Party moved into Beijing.

  That is worrisome.  More to add to the general seismic shift in 2023. Though tr Pluto will be sextile from Aquarius and not in hard aspect as it was for Chernobyl.   

The massive cost of disengaging from Russia’s stranglehold over Europe’s gas supplies may be a partial explanation for the hefty financial crunch flagged up on many central bank charts as Pluto moves into Aquarius in 2023.

See post September 11 2021.

 Germany gets 55 per cent of its gas, 45 per cent of its coal and 40 per cent of its oil from Russia. Belgium, France, the Netherlands import less than 10% natural gas; Spain and Portugal none. Italy 40%. Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, 60%, Poland, 80%. Bulgaria all. With reserves in place, most states would likely make it to autumn of 2022 without severe shortages. But the price, already up by 60% on the Ukraine invasion, would go through the roof. Post-COVID-19 economic recoveries will be derailed. It will be far more difficult to run the European economy for several years without Russian gas.

  The much lauded Angela Merkel has seen her legacy tarnished as her softly softly approach to Putin over Nordstrom, closing nuclear power stations and keeping defence costs down has blown up in her face.

  The new chancellor Olaf Scholz has, much to general surprise, transformed German policy in just a week, increasing Germany’s  defence budget by €100 billion, finally meeting Nato’s 2 per cent spending target; and beginning to tackle a revamp of the energy policy.

  The explosive jolt showing on the Germany 1 January 1871 chart from mid June this year as tr Uranus is conjunct the 8^th house financial Pluto (for the first time since 1939) is beginning to make sense. It runs on and off into early 2023. With tr Pluto in a frustrating, trapped trine to the Germany Mars picking up from March 2023 till late 2024.  Like the UK and the EU chart it has tr Uranus bringing a roller coaster economic ride as it moves through the 8^th house for another several years.

  The Bundesbank (Central Bank) 26 July 1957, will hit a crossroads from late this May as tr Uranus  is conjunct its South Node, throwing up, though 2023/24 is when it moves into confused and paralysed state with tr Pluto square the Neptune and tr Uranus in a ‘shocking’ insecure square to the Mars.

  Olaf Scholz was sworn in on 8 December 2021 at 10.55am which puts a redoubtable Mars in Scorpio conjunct the Midheaven sextile Pluto Venus and trine Neptune, so there’s no doubting his determination. But the 2^nd house Neptune square Sun Mercury hints at financial disappointments and indecision. His own personal chart, 14 June 1958, has tr Neptune square the Gemini Sun and Saturn in Sagittarius now, and running till the year end, so a confused, undermining year.

  Relocating Angela Merkel’s chart to Moscow buries her resolute Pluto trine Mars in the ‘trapped’ 8^th and less-assertive 12^th houses; and puts her hopeful Jupiter in the 7^th. The Midheaven of that relocated chart will receive a serious jolt from late May onwards.

 Gerhard Schröder, former Germany chancellor, even more complicit, sits on the boards of Russia’s state-owned energy companies, Rosneft and Gazprom. He once called Putin a “flawless democrat”; while the  Wall Street Journal called him “a luxury-loving, paid-up, swaggering instrument of Vladimir Putin.”  He signed the signed the original Nord Stream deal to supply Russian gas to Germany just before he departed office in 2005 and then swiftly accepted Gazprom’s nomination to head up the shareholder’s committee of Nord Stream AG. His chart located to Moscow has puts his Aries Sun in the speculative 5^th and Venus in his 4^th, hinting he’d be relaxed about living there (in luxury). The midheaven of his relocated chart is catching the dissolving tr Neptune square at the moment.

  Marine Le Pen, the French far-right candidate, another Putin apologist has Venus on her Midheaven and Jupiter in her 10^th located to Moscow suggesting her career has benefited from her Russia connection.

 Boris Johnson is similarly at ease in the Moscow mood with his sociable Sun Venus in Gemini on his Descendant there, and a relaxed, indulgent Jupiter in his 4^th. However it also puts his Scorpio Moon conjunct his relocated Midheaven and Neptune in his 10^th being rattled from this mid May onwards. He’s coming under increasing pressure to speed up sanctions on his erstwhile buddies, tennis cronies and Tory Party donors amongst the Russia oligarchs.

Belarus, under the thumb of steadfast Putin ally, the authoritarian Alexander Lukashenko, has sent troops into northern Ukraine. Belarus has recently been used as a staging post by Russian forces, but now appears to have moved towards becoming an explicit participant in the war. And has taken steps to open the way for a possible deployment of Russian nuclear weapons from Belarus. The EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said Lukashenko was allowing his country to become a Russian satellite state.

 The modern Belarus chart, 25 August 1991 6pm Minsk has a souped-up Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct Mars now suggesting an overdose of confidence which will rapidly run into a sinkhole of panicky failure from mid May onwards as tr Neptune opposes both the Mars and the Jupiter, suggesting the outcome will be the opposite of what Lukashenko hopes. Mid June has the Belarus Pluto catching the tr Uranus opposition Pluto at 17 degrees Scorpio which echoes through many of the charts so will be a time of significant upheaval.

  Lukashenko took over as president on 20 July 1994 and has been there ever since. That chart is under immense pressure this year with tr Pluto opposition the Cancer Sun and next. From 2023 onwards not only is it looking road-blocked, it will become less stable thereafter.

  Even more obvious is his 6^th term chart, 23 September 2020, (after flawed elections) which looks to be facing gigantic setbacks now or soon; and will be immensely frustrated and trapped August to November this year with tr Pluto square the Mars.

  His personal chart, 30 August 1954, is picking up a catastrophic, high-risk, angry and blocked tr Pluto square the Mars/Pluto midpoint from before mid March onwards and that runs on and off till late 2023. If anything his 2023 looks even worse – devastated, confused, unable to cope.   

Maybe just maybe Pluto in Capricorn is intending to clear the boards of despots before it exits.

“One-in-a-thousand-year” floods are engulfing parts of Australia’s southeast coast. More than 40,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes and another 300,000 warned to prepare to flee. The intense rain storms, which have so far killed nine people with more feared dead, are expected to hit Sydney in the early hours of Wednesday.

  Australia appears to lurch from one climate disaster to the next with recent catastrophic wildfires being unprecedented in their scale and intensity, scorching millions of hectares and killing or displaced an estimated 3 billion animals, and sending vast amounts of carbon dioxide and smoke plumes into the atmosphere.

  At the moment the tr Pluto Mars Venus conjunction are sitting on the Australia Midheaven (on a 1.35pm start time) which is a massive hit.

The December 2021 Total Solar Eclipse had a vengeful Mars on the Descendant for Sydney trine a 10^th house Neptune, sextile Pluto Venus in Capricorn. With the Sagittarius New Moon falling close to the AU Venus and Uranus which would presage a crisis of more than unusually large proportions.

The November 2021 Lunar Eclipse has Neptune closer to the Midheaven for Sydney – as well as the volatile, high-tension, unstable Uranus opposition Mars square Saturn which is being rattled now till late April.

  That late 2021 Lunar Eclipse is affecting more than Ukraine.

The Bank of Russia raised key interest rate from 9.5 per cent to 20 per cent today as the rouble value tumbled to an all-time low, with the Russian economy plummeting as the West’s sanctions began to bite. Vast queues have been seen outside cash machines in Russia, as fears rise of an economic collapse. The government ordered people and companies to sell 80 per cent of their foreign currency revenue, forcing them to buy the ruble to help prop it up.

 The Bank of Russia, 13 July 1990 chart, is understandably stunned and depressed at the moment though it is 2023 which shows up as the bottom-of-the-pit time, which is echoed in the original 12 June 1860 Bank of Russia chart. The 1990 chart also indicates that this May onwards will be critical as tr Uranus opposes the Pluto at 15 degrees Scorpio for a significant upheaval. Many of the related charts in Russia as well as surrounding are showing up mid degree Scorpio planets as being triggered this year from late April onwards – including Germany.

  Most pointedly, the Russia 8 November 1917 2.12am Leningrad chart which has a Sun Mercury at 14/17 degrees Scorpio square Saturn at 14 Leo (conjunct Neptune) will be upended with shocks, jolts amid considerable pressure to shift track with difficulty. Not improved by tr Saturn conjunct the Russia Uranus in March, September and November for much the same high-tension and eruptions of frustration. That’s followed in 2023 by tr Uranus square the Uranus and tr Saturn opposition the Mars. It’ll be a rocky road ahead. Mind you it shares that with many countries.

  The modern Russia 8 December 1991 7.45pm chart, I would have to confess I never find that illuminating – for what it’s worth this year looks generally undermining on it with more obvious upheavals in 2023 – and hardship by 2025.

  Having scoured around I gather Russian astrologers use 12 June 1990 for modern Russia though there’s a variety of times – if anyone has a verifiable time I’d be grateful.

  That chart has Pluto at 15 Scorpio exactly opposition the financial Venus in Taurus which will be rattled badly from early May onwards; with high-anxiety and economic confusion worsening in 2023 with the Solar Arc Neptune in square. It does make more sense than the 1991 one. At the moment and on and off till late 2023 there are two midpoint influences running, one of which suggests a)over-confidence/rule-breaking and b) running into the buffers, fearful and trapped.

  The three Russian stock market indices, closed for today by government order – RTS, SE MICEX 1992/2011 – all look roadblocked, panicked and not in good shape now and over the next three years plus.

The head of the Russia Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina, 29 October 1983 is a stalwart Sun Scorpio but is, not surprisingly, looking exceptionally rattled at the moment, on a panicky slide mid March to mid April, and again later in the year; with major forced changes late May to mid June, as her hopes of improvement don’t pan out – and that will be the story of the rest of her year; with even more pressure in 2023/24.

The last remaining and leading author of The Holy Blood Holy Grail, the controversial proponent of the theory that Jesus survived the crucifixion, married Mary Magdalene and their descendants lived on in southern France founding a secret monarchical bloodline connected to the Knights Templar, has died. Henry Lincoln, a former actor and scriptwriter of the fantastical Dr Who, had previously made BBC documentaries on a related subject, when he hooked up with Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh to write the best seller which became the publishing sensation of the 1980s.

  After writing it they fell out so when Dan Brown published the stupendously successful and ‘prosperous piece of pulp fiction’ The Da Vinci Code twenty years later on a similar theme, Lincoln refused to join the other two in suing for infringement of copyright. He pocketed the surge of royalties from their original book which soared with the Brown epic and movie, while the other two went down millions in legal fees after losing in court.

  Michael Baigent, a New Zealander, went on to write with Leigh and solo a range of books on Templars, Dead Sea Scrolls, mysticism and alchemy as well astrology during a period when the publishing world became obsessed by Templars, ancient Egypt and all matters freemasonic. Richard Leigh, an American-British novelist, brother of Liz Greene, was the third.

  Henry Lincoln, 12 February 1930, a Sun Venus in Aquarius, came out of the tough, innovative Depression generation with Pluto opposition Saturn in Capricorn square Uranus. His Mars in stubborn and can-be-mischievous Aquarius sat square to the Nodal Axis of Taurus NN. And his Jupiter in communicative Gemini is square Neptune. All three of these are significant since:

1. his bleak, unyielding Saturn opposition Pluto fell across Michael Baigent’s Descendant/Ascendant axis; and Richard Leigh’s MC/IC axis making for an important but difficult partnership.
2. His Mars opposed Baigent’s Pluto and squared Leigh’s Pluto Jupiter – for a battle of wills. His Sun Mercury also opposed Baigent’s Saturn Mars in Leo which would give rise to major aggravations.
3. Lincoln’s Jupiter square Neptune mirrors Dan Brown’s Jupiter opposition Neptune. Dan Brown was born three days after Boris Johnson, and although a Sun Cancer has similar chart placings. Jupiter in hard aspect to Neptune can give rise to impracticality and a tendency to build castles in the air, not deliver what is promised, be over hopeful, sometimes downright dishonest, smooth talkers pushing ideas/schemes which lack substance.

Richard Leigh, 14 August 1943 10.20pm Teaneck, New Jersey, US, was a Sun North Node in Leo in his entertaining 5^th square Mars in Taurus; with a confident Jupiter Pluto also in his 5^th on the point of a mini Grand Trine to Neptune trine Uranus.

Michael Baigent, 27 February 1948 4.25pm Nelson, NZ, had an 8^th house Pisces Sun and Mercury in Aquarius with his Mercury opposition Mars, Saturn (Pluto in Leo) square North Node in Taurus. His Moon Neptune were in the communication 3^rd house.

  All three came together to create the sensation of the moment which spawned a raft of interest in all fields mystical, culminating in the blockbuster nonsense of the Da Vinci Code which sold 80 million and blossomed into three movies. In each case their North Node is tied into key planets in their charts which connects them to the zeitgeist; even if some would argue their ideas gave rise to ridiculous conspiracy theories – nuggets of truth wrapped up in smoke and mirrors.

  This is a ramble but it was cluttering up my astrological inbox and had the attraction of being NOT Russia.  

Isolated and paranoid, Putin has increasingly withdrawn from the usual wide array of advisers in the past two years to rely on a hardline group of military, security and spy service chiefs, whom he expects to carry out his orders. “He doesn’t ask for advice. He sets tasks and demands they are implemented,” according to one commentator.

Since Putin’s birth data is iffy it’s worth looking at their charts, bearing in mind that being reliant on a madman does not guarantee a stable career or lifestyle. Upsets on their astrology may refer to  personal circumstances in falling out of favour – or could be a clue to the survival of their Lord of Darkness.

  Best known in the west is Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister, whose foreign assets in US, EU, UK and Canada have been frozen. Born 21 March 1950 Moscow, he’s a volatile Sun Aries opposition Mars square Uranus; with a pushily confident Pluto opposition Venus and Jupiter in Aquarius. He’s in a meltdown panic since the invasion a few days back with tr Neptune square his Sun/Saturn and opposition his Mars/Saturn midpoints running on till late this April, and returning late September to mid February 2023; with 2023 bringing further Neptunian losses and disappointment as well. May this year onwards also has tr Uranus jolts and jangles hitting his Venus and then Pluto. 2025/26 will be his nadir with the tr Neptune Saturn in Aries hitting his Sun, Uranus, Mars T square.

Sergei Naryshkin, 27 October 1954 St Petersburg, the head of the SVR foreign intelligence service, another former KGB officer and a Soviet history expert, is a Sun, Mercury, Saturn (Moon) in Scorpio square Mars in Aquarius, with a lucky Uranus Jupiter in Cancer. He’s having a wild year, racketing between highs and extreme lows. Mid February (now) till mid March and again November to early January 2023 is calamity time; with a blip of enthusiasm in mid March; followed by more catastrophes in May, December and February 2023 – and complete disorientation August to November. Worse in 2024/25.

Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Russian security council, KGB with Putin since the 1970s, views the West as a crucible of decadence and has claimed that some European countries are “legalising marriage with animals”, 11 July 1951 St Petersburg. He has an over-excitable, none-too-sensible Sun, Uranus in Cancer on the point of a T Square to self-deceptive Jupiter opposition Neptune. His Solar Arc Sun is meeting a sobering brush with cold reality as it conjuncts his Saturn sometime in coming months. More pointedly he’ll be rattled from late April, and knocked completely sideways by disaster midpoints from late May to mid June, November, March 2023. This August to November will also be catastrophe territory for him.

Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister, appears to have the closest relationship with Putin, accompanying him on hiking trips and holidays. He oversees the work of the GRU military intelligence service, accused of trying to assassinate Sergei Skripal, the former Russian spy, with novichok in Salisbury in March 2018. He was born 21 May 1955 and is a stubborn last degree Taurus Sun square Pluto with Pluto square Saturn in Scorpio – unbudgeable. Mid March for a few weeks looks disorientating and devasting; late May to mid June will rattle his stability as tr Uranus opposes his Saturn. The high anxiety which marked this January, returns August to November, with 2023 being a downhill slide of panicky failure.

General Valery Gerasimov, head of the country’s military, 8 September 1955, a Sun, Mars, Venus in Virgo; with Saturn in Scorpio square Jupiter in Leo. Undermining Neptune transits now till late this April, and returning late September to mid February 2023. Late May to mid June flags up as high-tension and unstable with tr Uranus opposition his Saturn – as it does on several of the above charts.  He may have blips of good luck with Uranus square his Jupiter but on the whole it is a swampy year. 2023 will upset his apple cart as tr Pluto opposes his Uranus.

  Putin’s 4^th Term chart, 7 May 2018 11.05am Moscow, is sagging under disappointment now till mid March; with shocks and jolts late May to mid June; some highs and lucky breaks thereafter alongside acute frustrations with tr Pluto conjunct the Mars.   Where it looks in most jeopardy is in a year’s time from February 2023 with the destabilizing tr Pluto square Uranus picking up and the Solar Arc Pluto closing the trapped conjunction to the Mars to exact in the months following.

  Deleting dictators can be a long drawn out agonising process, since they are supported by a clique who depend on them for survival, fiscal as well as literal. And very often have undeserved luck. The fates don’t always discriminate.

PS The headline is a steal from PJ O’Rourke.

Alexander Dugin dubbed as “Putin’s Brain” and the man who wrote Putin’s playbook is a controversial Russian philosopher, professor, political analyst and strategist.

  His 1997 book Foundation of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia evidently signalled every significant foreign policy move of the Russian Federation over the following two decades. In order to regain Russia’s position of dominance lost at the end of the Cold War, he pushed for the invasion of Georgia, the annexation of Ukraine, the separation of Britain from the rest of Europe, and the sowing of divisive seeds in the United States.

  Whether or not he whispers in Putin’s ear, what has transpired in Putin’s 20 year plus long-game has been to weaken America’s ties to Europe (Trump), dissolve the European Union (Brexit), and break apart the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

  Dugin was born 7 January 1962, the son of a Soviet military intelligence officer, and reading his wiki CV he comes across as an extremist whackjob. He picked up two PhDs at the same time as dabbling in Satanism and the occult, embraced Nazism and is described as a traditionalist, a fascist, an anti-Semite and an aggressive Russian nationalist.

  He has four, maybe five planets spread out through Capricorn with a passionate Sun Venus Mars conjunction and Mercury, perhaps Moon.  He has an ideologue’s Saturn and Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius with Jupiter in a delusional/over hopeful square to Neptune. His reforming, status-quo-upsetting Pluto conjunct Uranus in Virgo also has Pluto in an ultra-determined trine to Mars Venus. Sentiment, empathy and moderation, never mind common sense are noticeably lacking.

  He looks buoyed up with enthusiasm at the moment with tr Uranus square his Jupiter till mid March; though edgier in April as tr Uranus opposes his Neptune.  August to November he gets a return of a successful, confident tr Pluto conjunct his Mars/Jupiter midpoint. Into 2023 he has a mix of success, depressing slog and frustration but he doesn’t look totally devastated which is discouraging. 2024 may see him hitting the skids albeit temporarily since he’ll bounce up on the far side.

Add On: Stories about Putin’s earlier birth give 7 October 1950 as his birthdate. It doesn’t resonate quite as much as his 1952 chart – but for what it is worth it makes him a Sun Neptune Venus in Libra square Uranus. With a Leo Moon Pluto.

  If accurate then he’s in for a nosedive this year with tr Neptune in an uncertain, panicked opposition to the Saturn from mid May onwards, continuing into 2023; and the Solar Arc Sun running into a sobering square to the Saturn around now as well. With worse in 2023 with a car-crash Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the Mars – or perhaps earlier in the final months of this year if the birth time was early morning.

The story seemed to have emerged as a marginally unlikely tale of blackmail during the Chechen conflict, with the putative mother at risk of being kidnapped to leverage Putin. On this scenario he was illegitimate and adopted out when his mother married another man.