I’ve been thinking about the upcoming eclipses a lot lately. The eclipses this spring hit me really hard on a very personal level, so I’ve been dreading this second round. I’m a Taurus rising (as regular readers of my blog and newsletter will undoubtedly know by now!) so these eclipses are happening across my first/seventh house axis, very close to my Ascendant/Descendant degrees.
Not fun! But I feel more prepared this time around, and I think I’ve learned my lesson. I always take eclipses seriously but this spring, I definitely had a sense of nonchalance and I slacked off a bit on my usual eclipse remediation techniques. Well, this time around I’m going hard on all of them.
The eclipses will affect everyone individually, as all astrological transits do. Some people won’t even notice them. But on a geopolitical level, eclipses can have profound effects and I’m especially apprehensive/excited about what will happen during the impending autumn 2022 eclipse season.
One of the most ancient significations of a solar eclipse is the death of a king. In mundane astrology, the Sun represents the monarch so it follows logically that when the Sun’s rays are blotted out by an eclipse, it would signify the death of that monarch.
The next solar eclipse is on October 25, 2022 at exactly 2 degrees of Scorpio. This is a partial eclipse centered over Russia, and will be visible across the western half of Russia, the Middle East, most of Europe and Iceland. When I first looked at the eclipses of 2022, this one really stuck out because the Russia-Ukraine conflict had just started.
Now, I’m not predicting the death of Putin. I couldn’t do that even if I wanted to, because his birth data is unreliable (DD Rodden rating) so there’s no point checking his chart to see where this eclipse will land. Also, an eclipse alone can’t predict someone’s death; there’s a lot of other timing techniques that must be considered. (So don’t worry if these eclipses are hitting your own chart in a key place!)
However, we can look at how this eclipse will land in the chart of Russia.
Note: this is the chart I use for Russia, based on a New York Times article stating that at 7:32pm Moscow time on Christmas Day in 1991, the old Soviet flag came down over the Kremlin and the new pre-revolutionary Russian flag took its place. This is the symbolic start of post-Soviet Russia.
Looking at the chart, we see that the eclipse happens within four degrees of the IC, and within three degrees square to Russia’s natal Saturn in the seventh; Russia just experienced a Saturn return and will continue to feel the effects of this weightiness as Saturn approaches its Descendant degree (exact conjunction on January 7, 2023).
The transits to Russia’s chart are fairly straightforward: Uranus has been moving through the tenth house, indicating a prolonged period of Russia appearing publicly as a force of rebellion and disruption, and also amplifying the effects of this year’s eclipses. Pluto has been moving through the sixth house, associated with the military. Mars is preparing to station retrograde in the eleventh house of legislation, opposed to natal Mars-Mercury – signifying the enactment of military-related pieces of legislation that Russia has done this year, including but not limited to conscription of young men.
This solar eclipse is conjunct Venus, bringing to mind issues of balance and harmony (or lack thereof, with Venus being in detriment in Scorpio) and women’s rights. Russia’s natal Venus is conjunct Pluto also in the fourth house of home, land and family: a truly underworld, primordial expression of Venus, Mother Russia herself.
Not to be outdone, the lunar eclipse on November 8 also holds a deep promise over the events in Russia, Ukraine and Europe. That eclipse occurs at 16 degrees Taurus, opposing the Russian fourth house and natal Venus-Pluto conjunction. It also occurs four degrees from Ukraine’s IC, very closely opposed to its natal Pluto. (Note: I got the data for Ukraine’s chart from Astro.com.)
That both of the eclipses happen within four degrees of the IC for both Russia and the Ukraine is notable. This suggests some sort of major development over their physical land – perhaps one or the other gains/loses territory in the conflict. I don’t know that this eclipses signfies an end to the conflict, but I think we can expect some major developments very soon, with major things impacting the land itself in Russia and/or Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s chart has an A Rodden rating, so I’m cautiously optimistic that it’s fairly accurate, though the birth time is almost certainly rounded off. However, there’s a decent buffer of time on either side where his Ascendant would remain in Gemini, so this chart is still useful.
The eclipses hit Zelensky’s sixth-house Uranus in a major way, particularly that lunar eclipse at 16 Taurus on November 8. Given that that’s the eclipse closely conjunct Ukraine’s IC, I wonder if this could signify some shocking development for both Ukraine and Zelensky personally. The sixth house is associated with health issues and having eclipses hit a planet there (especially a planet of chaos, associated with nervous system stress), is not great.
He’s also got Mars stationing retrograde right before that eclipse, between his Ascendant and natal Jupiter, and will have Mars go back over his Ascendant a couple weeks after the eclipses. That’s really not a great transit for health either, as Mars in the first can bring about injuries and illnesses to the body.
Zelensky also has a lot of planets in Leo and Aquarius as well as his MC/IC axis, which will be square the eclipses and therefore receiving some tense energy from them – setting him up for conflicts with both his public image and his private self. He’s in a ninth-house profection year ruled by Saturn, and Saturn is very close to his MC.
So, the transits are not kind to Zelensky right now! How this all plays out remains to be seen. Were either Putin or Zelensky to die, or at least suffer a major military defeat, that would fit the symbolism of eclipses as signifying the death of the king too perfectly.
Switching gears, I want to talk about another royal dynasty that might be impacted by these eclipses. King Charles III was born under an eclipse – which is another ancient signification of eclipses, that those born under them will become kings or queens. (Obviously that’s not true for most people born on eclipses, but there are a number of royals – or those who function in that role – who are indeed eclipse-born.)
The solar eclipse on October 25 occurs within one degree of his South Node and four degrees of his Mercury; three degrees square to his Ascendant; and two degrees opposite his Moon. The lunar eclipse on November 8 is six degrees opposite his Sun and exactly square his Pluto in the first house.
He is in a second house profection year ruled by Mercury, so having his annual time lord included in these eclipses is significant.
Charles’ son William – next in line for the throne – is also born under an eclipse, as is his William’s wife Catherine.
The solar eclipse on October 25 is three degrees from Catherine’s IC and five degrees from her Jupiter, perhaps signifying a major event in her family that will have significant ramifications for her children (Jupiter rules her fifth house). It is also square her Mercury-Venus conjunction in Aquarius, bringing in themes of women and children as well as her role in communications and her public persona, as well as her personal finances and community groups.
Catherine has Saturn within a degree of her Descendant, so there are heavy responsibilities, duties and restrictions coming from and/or affecting her marriage right now; the lunar eclipse on November 8 squares her Ascendant/Descendant axis and transit Saturn, and thus she may experience some challenges and craving for liberation from these weights.
William has the eclipses falling across his sixth and twelfth houses. The solar eclipse on October 25 is exactly conjunct his Midheaven, which is buried deep in his twelfth house. Were his father to pass around this eclipse, that would certainly fit the significations of a twelfth house MC conjunct Jupiter – doubly so, with Jupiter ruling his Ascendant as well as his fourth house of family.
With all this being said, I don’t know how eclipse season will play out. It may well pass without any great calamity. How’s that for the stereotypical astrologer cop-out!
Nonetheless, I wanted to put these thoughts out publicly, because I keep coming across syncs related to eclipses and the death of kings, so it seems a good time to think about kings and kingship. Given the prominence of Uranus in these eclipses, however, it’s just as likely that the death of the king this eclipse season happens in a totally unexpected – but no less disruptive – way.