The world we live in has become polarized. Nation against nation, racial divides, rebellions against government, and fighting against the established authority have all been central themes in this last year. Many people have asked me, “what the hell is going on!?”, and as an astrologer I try my best to bring sense and reason to a seemingly chaotic world scenario. Luckily I have the authority of past masters to fall back on, as well as the evidence of previous historical events to help me interpret what is happening right now in the world and what role astrology plays in it.

The History of Rahu, Ketu and Jupiter in Leo/Aquarius

The last time, to my knowledge, that Rahu, Jupiter and Ketu were all posited in the Leo/Aquarius axis of the chart was 1933. This is the current situation we are in, though Rahu and Ketu have switched places. Rahu is a powerful force of change, while Ketu creates discontent. Jupiter enlarges situations, moves the people, and deals with governments. If Jupiter is in Leo, the sign of government, with either Rahu or Ketu then there is going to be quite a lot of commotion on the world scene and the “world order” will be shaken up substantially. In 1933 Jupiter was in Leo with Ketu (instead of with Rahu like it is now), and this set into motion a number of important events before World War II. In 1933 Hitler seized power of Germany and was declared Chancellor, and subsequently that year outlawed all other political parties other than the Nazi party, and also began his infamous persecutions against peoples of different faiths and political views. Meanwhile in America, the “Great Depression” had become official and people were starving. In India, Gandhi was leading a revolution and was imprisoned in 1933, shaking the populace into motion and eventually leading to a new government.

Now let’s jump ahead to 1961. This is an important year because Rahu and Ketu were in the same signs (Leo and Aquarius) that they occupy right now, and similar world events were happening. The USA was in the throngs of a race war, to the extent that martial law had actually been invoked against the protesters. The same kind of racial division, especially issues between policemen and protesters, was seen then as we are starting to see it now. Turkey threw a military coup (sound familiar?), but this time it was successful and they hung the previous prime minister alongside a number of other top government officials. Relations between Cuba and the USA plummeted after the failed “Bay of Pigs” operation (interesting to note that the embargo has now ended in this combination). Syria also had a military coup, and Sierra Leone becomes independent from the UK. In 1979 when Rahu returns to Leo and Ketu to Aquarius we have the Iranian revolution and the rise to power of Khoumeni.

Note that the keywords for Rahu in Leo and Ketu in Aquarius are: revolutions, revolts, polarization, division, riots. The only time in the last hundred years, before now, that this combination has also been added to by Jupiter in Leo was in 1933, which set the stage for catastrophic events worldwide. Jupiter deals with government, rise to power, and it expands things. It is a windy planet, and is the fan to the fire of Rahu in Leo. In the personal chart it’s presence in Leo is a saving grace, but for the world it is causing quite a bit of trouble.

Brexit

Jupiter and Rahu were conjunct, with the Rahu-Jupiter-Ketu axis squaring Mercury within 3 degrees. Mercury is the planet of litigation and legal disputes, and was placed in the lunar mansion of Rohini, a lunar mansion associated with personal identity and how we define ourselves. Saturn was opposite Mercury, a malefic aspect indicating an outcome that would be perceived as a setback or return to a more traditional situation. Saturn is all about tradition and “the way things used to be”. However, it was retrograde at this time, meaning it was largely up to the free will of the people to determine whether or not a return to the “old ways” was better, thus a vote was raised and it is now history as to which way the vote ended. The Sun was in the lunar mansion Ardra, a malefic mansion within Gemini that leads to division and discord. Rahu is the indicator of foreigners, and its conjunction to Jupiter and aspect on Mercury at the time of the vote shows that many people were influenced by the presence of the Syrian refugees.

Now the obvious question arises; “Why didn’t the rest of the world do something similar?”. To begin with I would argue that Brexit does affect quite a bit of the world, but nonetheless I will endeavor to give an explanation. The Sun is in its Northern Course right now, so we would expect the northern hemisphere to be the most affected by astrological. I have always felt that Mount Kailash should be used as the center point for mundane astrology, following the vedic teachings. From Kailash the UK is North-West, and in fact all of Europe is West of Kailash and generally to the North as well. The Sun was in Gemini at the time of the Brexit vote. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, and as the astrological scriptures point out, Mercury rules the Northern direction. Gemini itself rules the Western direction. Thus North-West of Kailash is indicated, which the UK would be a match for. In fact all of Europe can be indicated by this direction, and all of the EU was affected by Brexit. Does this mean only the North West can be affected by the astrological aspects of that date? Of course not. The light of the planets are hitting the whole world. Nonetheless, the energies seemed to be focused in that direction more than elsewhere.

Black Lives Matter

In the USA there have been two main themes to the last year: Black Lives Matter, and Liberals vs. Conservatives. Jupiter in Leo is power, authority and government, while Rahu is abuse of power. Aquarius is a sign associated with the traditional “caste” of “untouchables”, such as slaves, underprivileged minorities and the homeless. In today’s world the planets and signs associated with this caste now indicate minorities and underprivileged groups of people who are being mistreated. Ketu is the planet of discontent, and its placement in Aquarius is bringing to the forefront the mistreatment of African Americans by people in power, which unfortunately tends to be the very people that are supposed to be protecting them and ensuring their rights. Saturn’s slow transit through Scorpio has helped bring all of this corruption and abuse of power to the surface. Saturn is a long-lasting transit of three years, and so this movement has gradually arisen in the last two years and will continue to be an important figure for the next year or two, at which point I would expect the government to make some serious agreements and reconciliations with the movement once Saturn moves into the much more agreeable Sagittarius. I believe the current transit of Ketu from its previous lunar mansion into its new residence in Satabhishaka (lit. “100 healers”) will begin to show some healing and improvement in the mistreatment that has prevailed hitherto. This being said, I still think it will be 3-4 years before the African-Americans begin to feel safer and empowered again.

USA Presidential Race

It’s been one for the books…….and not in a good way. Rahu and Jupiter conjoined in Leo can cause meteoric rises to power. Take for example the rise of Hitler in 1933, which was the last time these planets joined in Leo. In the US we saw two such figures rocket up into the sky; Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. There could be no better image of Ketu in Aquarius vs. Rahu/Jupiter in Leo! Bernie Sanders was representing an American voter-base of people disenfranchised with the current system (Ketu), opposed to the corruption of Jupiter/Rahu in Leo and the big businesses and big money indicated therein. The aspect of Jupiter in the 7th from Ketu allowed the movement to grow to serious proportions and it had tremendous force. However, once the Sun entered into Jupiter-ruled Punarvasu the Jupiter-Rahu combo gained power and Bernie’s campaign suffered losses, most likely due to the kind of back-room deals that Saturn in Scorpio can lead to. By the time Mars and Sun, both fiery planets, had entered into the Water signs of Scorpio and Cancer respectively, the passion had died down (the fire dowsed by the water) and Bernie endorsed Hilary.

Donald Trump is the archetypal big-business, money talks, kind of person we would expect to see running for president in a year when Rahu and Jupiter are together in Leo. Everything about him is big. Big character, big wig, big bank account, big talk, big promises, etc. Rahu makes him an unconventional candidate, Rahu typically indicating that something is taboo or unorthodox. Jupiter gives him a lot of power right now, but I would expect to see his campaign start to suffer once Jupiter leaves Leo in August. I will say though, I am not too excited to see someone with divisive, hateful and racist ideologies possibly becoming president in the same kind of combination that helped Hitler rise to the top.

There are three parts to the sarpa yoga: Ketu in Aquarius, Jupiter/Rahu in Leo, and Saturn in Scorpio. I think these pretty well depict the three main presidential front-runners (when Bernie was still running). Ketu in Aquarius was clearly Bernie Sanders, while Rahu/Jupiter in Leo is clearly Trump. I would argue that Saturn in Scorpio is Clinton. Saturn indicates tradition and “the establishment”, while Scorpio represents someone who works from behind closed doors and curtains, backroom deals, etc. Saturn most potently aspects the 3rd and 10th houses from it, meaning it doesn’t care much about Ketu in Aquarius (the disenfranchised Bernie supporters), but it has tremendous focus on Jupiter/Rahu in Leo (Trump). Even when Bernie was in the running, Hillary tended to direct most of her criticism and attention towards Trump, never seeming to take Bernie Sanders too seriously. Once Jupiter leaves Leo in August, and Mars enters into its own sign of Scorpio to strengthen Saturn, I think we will see Trump’s campaign start to have serious issues while Hilary’s thrives. On Election day Scorpio will be very strong with its Lord Mars exalted in Capricorn, while Rahu (Trump) will be alone in Leo with no support. Unfortunately, the powerful and dreaded Kalasarpa Yoga, with all planets trapped between Rahu and Ketu, will be ruling the sky on election day. Regardless whether Hilary or Trump wins, we (the people) will lose.