Musings on Mundane Astrology

This is the second blog post in a series where I pick an interesting political event from history and examine the appropriate charts according to the rules of Mundane Astrology to see if I can spot any signs. I’m no more than a beginner at this all advice is welcome. The previous post in this series looked at the year of the Brexit referendum, starting with Aries Ingress, London 2016 which fell on March the 20th 2016 at 4:31 am. The campaign had slightly more than 3 months to run at that point.

The context:

This chart is Cancer Ingress 2016 which falls on the 20th of June 2016 at 10:35pm and the vote itself will take place on the 23rd of June. The political fighting between Remain and both the official and unofficial Leave campaigns has been hard fought with considerable passion on all sides – and then on the 16th of June, MP Jo Cox, 42, Remain supporter, wife and mother, was murdered in the street near her constituency office by a far right Leave supporting constituent. By mutual agreement campaigning was suspended for a day, and I think it’s fair to say that the country was collectively horrified.

Here’s the chart:

The rising sign is Aquarius which is fixed, so we can expect the immediate consequences to last to the end of the year. Once again, the aspects form an unusual configuration and in this case, the rare square of squares - a Grand Cross – is the astrological equivalent of every car and burglar alarm in London going off simultaneously. I jumped out of my skin when I saw this.

Clearly, there’s a catastrophe in the offing, but in a two sided political conflict one side’s rout is the other side’s victory. Were there any signs as to who gains and who loses in this chart?

Analysis:

The Sun represents the head of government, at this time the Prime Minister David Cameron. He is supported by a trine with Uranus (activists and pivotal individuals) and is conjunct with Venus but suffers from an opposition to the Moon – that part of the public that is capable in political terms.

I suspect this reflects the situation that the murder of Jo Cox by a clearly Leave supporting assassin actually helped the cause of Remain. Polling was quite frequent at this time and although there were signs that Leave was ahead by the 10th, ,this dipped after the murder as people, women voters in particular, re-examined their opinions.

In the meanwhile, the absurd stories about the financial catastrophe that awaited the UK if it left were still being pushed by the mostly Remain leaning establishment (the Moon), badly damaging their standing with the public.

The Moon represents that part of the public able to make their political views heard in government, which is congruent with the London based establishment in the UK. This group of people largely supported Remain, naturally enough as were best placed to take advantage of the opportunities membership offered. The Moon is in her detriment in Capricorn and stands in opposition to both the Sun and Venus, so it is poorly placed. This is first sign that Remain is not about to get its way in the referendum.

JMG tells us that Mercury represents the chattering classes, and I’ve tentatively concluded that he may also represent travellers and immigrants as well. In any case Mercury is taking part in the grand cross, standing in opposition to Saturn and square both to Jupiter and Neptune. The only plus side it is in its rulership and an angular house.

If any institution represents the chattering classes in the UK it is the BBC. They were well placed to make their views heard by the country since their coverage was broad and well funded. It also conveniently followed the Government line and as a consequence much of their reputation for impartiality was lost and has not so far been recovered.

We also see another sign that Remain is about to be on the losing side because both travelling in general and the lives of immigrants in the UK or planning to enter the UK is about to become significantly harder.

Venus represents women voters, she is conjunct with the Sun and therefore combust (thanks to JMG for clearing that up). She also stands in opposition to the Moon. She doesn’t really get help from it’s placement or from any positive aspects so Venus is not in great shape. In ordinary times this might be significant but compared with Saturn, Neptune, Mercury, and Jupiter it sinks into the background.

Mars is the planet of conflict. He is is in his rulership in Scorpio but in a Cadent house and with some minor poor aspects semi-square to the moon and inconjunct with Uranus. In many respects he seems to be sitting this one out but his appearance in the 9th house is significant.

Jupiter represents big business and financial interests. Membership of the EU gives many advantages to this groups and they were strongly Remain. Jupiter benefits from it’s placement in an angular house but is in an intercepted sign, unable to express itself and disastrously involved in the grand cross. It is in opposition to Neptune (representing mass movements and unity) and square to Mercury and Saturn. The oncoming problems for Remain supporters seem particularly clear here.

Saturn represents the views of the countryside and small towns, He is close to the Mid Heaven giving him power and located in the 10th house which is hugely significant. He is also part of the grand cross, now looking very bad indeed for Remain.

Uranus is the planet of activism and pivotal individuals. He has some minor bad aspects with Mars and Saturn but is helped by his trine with the Sun. I suspect this represents the murderer of Jo Cox and the unintended (by the murderer) slight bump to the Remain side. This narrowed Leave’s lead in the last few days but was not enough to eliminate it.

Neptune is the planet of mass movements and unity. He is in an angular house and benefits with a sextile to the moon, but he is also in an intercepted sign that prevents him from expressing himself, and takes part in the grand cross. As if this wasn’t all bad enough, he is retrograde. Unity is not something this chart expresses.

Looking at the houses we see the 1st house, the house of the common people has Aquarius on the cusp and is therefore ruled by Uranus. Uranus is in a fairly neutral position in this chart so this is not especially suggestive. The first house contains a weak Neptune much afflicted by the grand cross. H.S. Green suggests this suggests trouble and fluctuation in political power caused by the afflicting planets – a powerful square Saturn (the views of the rural places), Mercury (pundits and perhaps immigrants),

The 2nd house is the house of the national economy. This has Aries on the cusp and is therefore ruled by Mars. Mars is also fairly neutral suggesting that for the period of the chart, the economy will not be impacted. However it contains a mildly afflicted Uranus which H.S. Green suggests fluctuations and losses in money matters. In fact, the exchange rate of the pound against the Euro had begun to rise as speculators assumed that the death of Jo Cox was going to help the Remain cause. It crashed quite badly on the announcement of the results so there was plenty of fluctuation to go around.

The 3rd house is the house of internal transportation, communication and media. It has Taurus on the cusp and is therefore ruled by Venus. Venus is combust and afflicted but compared with the planets in the grand cross it seems minor and indeed the overall impact of the referendum in these areas was fairly low.

The 4th house is the house is the house of agriculture, mining, resource industries and the countryside. Also real estate. It has Gemini on the cusp and so is ruled by Mercury. It also contains Mercury although he is badly afflicted by the grand cross. H.S. Green suggests amongst other things discontent amongst land workers. At the time, much of the UK’s fruit and vegetable harvest was gathered by cheap labour brought in form cheaper parts of Europe. This seasonal work was about to suffer considerable disruption.

The 5th house if the house of speculative finance, gambling, and tourism. It has Gemini on the cusp and is therefore ruled by the badly afflicted Mercury. In particular, those who were speculating on the Pound recovering its previous value against the Euro as it had started to do after the murder of Jo Cox were badly burned when it fell sharply when the result was announced. The low value of the Pound also discouraged tourists from the UK although it would have been an advantage for Europeans visiting. This house also contains the Sun and Venus both who stand in opposition to the Moon, although the Sun gains some support from Uranus.

Both Raphael and H.S. Green suggest that an Afflicted Sun in the 5th is a sign of the illness and death of theatrical folk. Although 2016 had already seen a large number of actors and musicians die, from July onwards we lost Caroline Aherne, Ken Barrie, Kenny Baker (R2D2), Jean Alexander, Jim Perrie, Pete Burns, Sir Jimmy Young, Craig Gill, Keo Woolford, Andrew Sachs, and Peter Vaughn. 2016 was actually quite notable for the extraordinary number of famous people who died.

The 6th house is the house of public health, the workers, and the military. It has Cancer on the cusp and is therefore ruled by the poorly placed Moon. The UK defence budget continued its long term decline but despite this it was a relatively peaceful six months for the UK defence forces to March 2017.

The 7th house is the house of foreign affairs. It has Leo on the cusp and is therefore ruled by the Sun. The Sun is in a mixed state, opposed by the moon but in trine with Uranus and in the final few days of the referendum the decision could perhaps have gone either way. However the house also contains a badly afflicted Jupiter in an intercepted sign who is caught up in the grand cross. Raphael states that an afflicted Jupiter in the 7th is a sign of disputes with foreign powers in connection with trade and financial questions, that was certainly bourne out by events.

The 8th house is the house of foreign trade. It has Libra on the cusp and is therefore ruled by the poorly placed Venus. Trade did not immediately suffer after the referendum but it was quite clear that leaving the EU which was in part a trade organisation would certainly lead eventually to trouble.

The 9th house is the house of the Courts, it has Scorpio on the cusp and is therefore ruled by Mars – which it also contains. This is a cadent house and Mars is mildly debilitated however the real warning sign is the presence of Mars in this house as well as ruling it. H.S Green says that Mars in the ninth house is an indicator of some “Active Forward Movement” and “Foreign and colonial trade is likely to suffer, and some dispute arise out of it.” Raphael is similarly grim suggesting “troubles in colonial affairs and affects their trade and commerce”.

The 10th house, the house of the government and the executive branch is equally significant. It has Sagittarius on the cusp and is therefore ruled by the very badly afflicted Jupiter. It contains an afflicted Saturn, close to midheaven and drawing power from it. It seems to me that this house is the key to the whole chart where an overconfident Prime Minister is about to be taught a very severe lesson. Both H.S. Green and Raphael agree on this point that an afflicted Saturn in the 10th is a very bad sign indeed for the government. So it was to prove. David Cameron had resigned within a month and the UK endured two additional elections and substantial changes in cabinet over the next few years.

The 11th house is the house of Parliament. It also has Sagittarius on on the cusp an is also therefore ruled over by an afflicted Jupiter. Parliament was largely Remain (73% of all MPs supported it) and appeared to be astonished by the outcome. It also contains an afflicted Moon which Raphael believes shows changes in Cabinet that was certainly the case. H.S. Green describes an afflicted Moon I the 11th as “Government is unfortunate”, another correct prediction.

Finally we have the 12th house, the house of institutions, with Capricorn on the cusp and therefore ruled by the powerful afflicted Saturn. The main impact seems to have been silence – there was very little said by the charities, NGOs, or those institutions that you might have expected to have a view one way or the other. Naturally, those organisations for whom silence is the central tenet, remained silent.

Synthesis

I’ve been warned about free associating but from my obviously naive point of view, it does seem that this chart has a key which is the grand cross with one corner located close to the midheaven with Saturn. In mundane astrology Saturn represents the rural hinterlands and along with Neptune (unity) Mercury (communication, trade, transport) and Jupiter (big money). Three areas saw trouble from the decision. Trade and transport across borders became would become harder. The chattering classes started to go through the Kubler-Ross cycle and nearly 5 years on are only just beginning to emerge. Big money and large corporations were able to substitute cheap offshore labour for the more expensive UK kind and benefited from heavy EU regulations keeping smaller rivals out of the market. ~That’s all gone. As for unity – well a decision to leave is the exact opposite.

Saturn however stands as an exception to the other three planets in the grand cross. The Remain vote clustered heavily around cities whereas the Leave stronghold tended to be in the smaller towns and countryside. This is the side that won of course.

Saturn has another role in other forms of astrology and hermeticism. That is the role of a stern teacher. There’s no doubt that a lesson was delivered. For the best part of 25 years since the Maastricht treaty was signed the British Establishment struggled with the European question and although they may have strongly suspected that a significant proportion of the inhabitants of this island disliked what the EU was evolving into, they carefully refrained from enquiring.

It’s a strategy that can hold up for a quite a while but as events have shown that when the strategy collapses it collapses completely. Perhaps the lesson here is that it would have been better to find ways to accommodate Eurosceptics rather than ignoring them for so long.

This leads naturally enough to questions about Malefic planets (e.g. Mars and Saturn) and their role in affliction. I wonder if in fact in a square or opposition we could consider a malefic to be the afflicter rather than the afflicted? As always, answers on a postcard would be welcome.