CHAPTER ONE OF THE ASTROLOGY OF WORLD EVENTS INTERNET EDITION

There is nothing like a major worldwide disaster to ruin your day. What good does it do to read in your horoscope that "today is a wonderful time to get out and meet new people" if everyone is being forced into quarantine by a pandemic? We have to pay close attention to the astrology of world events for our own protection.

This book is written for people who already know the basics of astrology. If you don't, then go to my website,http://bobmarksastrologer.com/TOClessons.htm where I have over 200 pages of free astrology lessons. I did that years ago when I grew tired of explaining to people that astrology is a lot more than just 12 sun signs. Then come back here and read on.

Chapter One: Horoscopes Can Have Birthdays Too

When we want to study the astrology of world events, what horoscope do we turn to? Not our own—that only affects us as individuals. The answer lies partially in the cycles of the major planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Eris. These planets have long cycles, and the longer the cycle, the greater the influence. Why? A long cycle means that a planet can stay in a particular area of the Zodiac for a longer time. Why does time matter? Pick up a heavy weight and hold it for three seconds. Now pick it up and try to hold it for three minutes. Notice the difference?

The longer a planet stays in one place, the greater its influence in that particular area. Now, what if two major planets happen to be affecting the same area at the same time? The effects add up. In other words, major aspects (angles) between outer planets combine their power and have major effects on the world.

But horoscopes have to be set up for a specific place and time. What place do we use? That was the question I asked myself in November of 2015 when I was preparing a lecture for the National Council for Geocosmic Research (NCGR) conference in New York City The conference's theme was "The Future Effects of the Uranus-Pluto Squares"—one of seven that had occurred between 2012 and 2015.

Uranus and Pluto are both planets of major change. The "Square" (a 90 degree angle) can cause stress. Imagine when they all get together. I started by setting the charts for the Uranus-Pluto squares for the capitals of several countries. The results were amazingly underwhelming. What was missing? What was the key? Then I remembered what my specialty was in astrology. <

SOLAR RETURN CHARTS!

Every year, the sun returns to where it was when you were born. If you make a horoscope for the exact moment of the return on your birthday with the minor adjustment of precession correction, that solar return chart can have a substantial effect on your life for the next year. Most of the impact is during the first half-year until your demi-solar return (half-birthday chart, when the sun is exactly opposite your birth sun). That Half-Birthday chart will influence the second half of your personal year.

Could solar and demi-solar returns work for world events? Of course they can. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this book!

With this method, we don't have to worry about having an exact time of "birth" for a nation. In many cases, it's difficult to get exact times for the start of a country. Astrologers are still arguing about the exact birth time of the USA. All we need here is the exact time when major aspects occur, and that information is available from any ephemeris.

To test this theory out, we first have to look at major aspects from past years. Let's start off with something spectacular: The Uranus-Pluto square on September 19, 2012.

There was a solar return for this chart on September 19, 2016—just six weeks before the presidential election.

Two essential parts of any horoscope are the ascendant and the midheaven. Any planet's influence is significantly increased if it is near either of those points, especially if the planet is within one degree. So what is within one degree of the midheaven? Uranus is there and also the recently discovered planet Eris.

In the chart of a nation, the midheaven rules the leader of the country. So, what are the effects of Uranus and Eris?

Uranus is the planet of sudden, crazy, and totally unexpected events. For example, if you do a chart for the start of a sporting event, Uranus at one of the chart angles can indicate that the underdog will win against all odds—usually to the shock of many. Well, after the 2016 election, everyone was shocked (and they are still being shocked).

What is the effect of Eris? Eris is the Greek name. The Roman name is Discordia. She is the discord that always accompanies war. We haven't had any major new wars since the 2016 election but we certainly had plenty of discord. Demonstrators chanting "not my president" were in the streets before Trump even took the oath of office.

And all of this was indicated right there in the Solar Return of an event that took place four years earlier!

Was this just a fluke? Let's take a look at some other cases. Uranus and Pluto made a series of squares back in the 1930s. Here is the chart set for Berlin, Germany on January 18,1934.

Do you see a major war here? There is a Cardinal Grand Cross with Jupiter opposite Uranus making squares with Pluto opposing a Sun/Mercury conjunction. Mars and Saturn have a close conjunction, but they have no major aspects to any other planet. And there was no war in 1934—Germany was far from being ready.

Now take a look at this chart's half-solar return for July 21, 1939. Remember that a solar return chart has its maximum effect for the following six months.

Mars, Saturn, and Pluto are making a T-square in the first degree of fixed signs. The aspects are almost exact to the degree, and that makes them really powerful. The Mars-Pluto opposition is violent. Saturn, squaring both of them, focuses the destructive energy. Eris (discovered in 2005) makes a sextile to Mars and a trine to Pluto.

Don't be fooled by those favorable aspects. When you have a stressful horoscope, trines and sextiles can just mean that violent actions have a better chance of success.

Notice Neptune at the bottom of the chart. It is opposite the midheaven and sextile the ascendant. Mars and Pluto may be violent, but Neptune, planet of illusions, can give you a mass following. Hitler hypnotized a whole nation and led it to death and destruction.

Here is another example, a square between Saturn and Pluto in a chart set for Washington, DC in 1956.

Saturn and Pluto are square and the moon affects both of them. But they are in cadent houses, which tend to be weaker, so there should be no problem here. And there wasn't a problem in 1956. But let's see what happens when you get to the precession-corrected solar return for October 1963, six weeks before President Kennedy's assassination. Where is the assassination?

The sign of Cancer is on the midheaven (the country's leader) and Cancer's ruler (the moon) is in the house of long journeys. But where is the death? The chart we are looking at is the solar return for the United States. But it is the midheaven and the 10th house that rule the country's leader. To see what happens to the president, you have to use derived houses.

Turn the chart wheel until the 10th house cusp is on the far left side where the ascendant should be. Now renumber all the houses! The 10th house (the president) becomes the 1st house and the sign of Cancer is now on the ascendant. That makes the moon the new ruler of the derived ascendant, and that derived Cancer ascendant now rules the president. The 9th house becomes the derived 12th house, the house of hidden enemies. In this case, it is the hidden enemies of the president.

The president's ruling planet, the Moon, is in the house of his hidden enemies. The 12th house can also be self-undoing, self-destructive behavior. That could indicate the president making mistakes that put him in danger (like not having that bulletproof plastic bubble attached to his open car). There's more. Gemini is the sign on the cusp of that house.

That makes Mercury the ruler of the house of the president's hidden enemies. And Mercury is making a square to the Moon, meaning the president's ruling planet is being afflicted by the ruler of his hidden enemies. And that's just the beginning of the problem. Saturn (difficulties and bad luck) now lands in the derived 8th house, the house of the president's death. But Saturn is making squares with violent Mars and deceptive Neptune.

The bottom line is: the president is being delivered to his hidden enemies and is in danger of violent death from hidden (Neptune) sources. And with Neptune conjunct Mars, many of the details about what really happened have been hidden to this very day. Let's look at something more recent: The COVID-19 Pandemic This is what we find when we take those seven Uranus-Square-Pluto charts and set their solar and demi-solar returns for Wuhan, China.

The April 2014 chart had a demi-solar return on October 25, 2019, right before the first cases of the virus were reported in early November. Here is the chart: Look at the ascendant and midheaven—the two strongest points in any horoscope. Pluto (death) is in the 10th house just 9 minutes of arc from the top. That's not just powerful. It is super powerful.

Uranus (sudden upheavals) is in the 1st house 3 degrees from the ascendant. Uranus is also opposing the sun, indicating more sudden upheavals. Still more stress. Ever hear of a mundane square? This is what happens if there is a planet on the ascendant and another planet on the midheaven.

Even if the planets are not 90 degrees apart, they can still act as if they are making a square. And in this case, the planets are Uranus, the planet of sudden shocks, and volcanic Pluto. And that's just the start! Jupiter (expansion) is in the 8th. It's in Sagittarius, its own sign, making it powerful. As if that's not enough, Jupiter also rules the sign on the cusps of both the 8th house (house of death) and the 9th house (long journeys).

This links death with long journeys. Jupiter's power to expand is helping to spread the virus. And let's not forget the Yod. With a Yod, you can feel swept along by forces outside of your control. What planets are involved here? The Moon sextiles both Venus (ruler of the Taurus ascendant) and Mercury. Right opposite the sextile's midpoint is Eris.

As mentioned above, the Roman name for Eris was Discordia. She was the discord that always accompanied war. We are at war with a virus and we certainly have had a lot of discord in the last few months. And you don't have to be an astrologer to see that there is more discord to come.

This chart alone can indicate a major upheaval coming from Wuhan and spreading around the world. But this chart is not alone. Uranus and Pluto made a total of 7 squares between 2012 and 2015. The chart for March 16, 2015 had a demi-solar return on September 19, 2019. When that chart is set for Wuhan, we get another beauty. Pluto (mass death) in the 10th house makes a conjunction to the midheaven.

Saturn in the 9th house makes a conjunction from the other side. On top of that, the midheaven is sitting on the Saturn/Pluto midpoint.

Saturn gives you the results of your actions, for better or worse. Pluto intensifies the result. The effects are increased when both planets are at the top of the chart and conjunct the midheaven.

Jupiter rules the 9th house of long-distance travel and sits in the 8th house (death). Yes, I know the 8th house rules more than death, but when you are living through a pandemic, you tend to narrow your focus. The 8th house itself is ruled by Pluto, which is right at the top of the chart.

That makes death the focus of public attention. Eris is right above the ascendant (another strong horoscope point), and it also squares Pluto. So Pluto, Eris, and Saturn (death, discord, and karma) are the strongest planets in the chart.

The last horoscope is the Solar Return of the September 2012 Uranus-Pluto square chart set for Wuhan. Uranus, planet of sudden, unexpected events, has a double power placement.

It is opposite the ascendant and square the midheaven. Mercury rules the 8th house of death and it sits in the 12th house, which rules hospitals. So far, three of the return charts indicate a potentially disastrous health crisis. When an incident is indicated by more than one chart, the likelihood of that event increases.

These are a few examples of what solar return charts of major aspect events have done in the past. Can we use this technique to see what is going to happen in the future? That's what we are going to look at next. Here's a hint. The 2020s are going to be the wildest, most chaotic decade in the last 50 years.