The Winter Solstice of 2020 was punctuated by an astrological event of some importance. What the ancients called the Chronocrators, the time keepers, Saturn and Jupiter, met as they do every 20 years in the sky. This event is referred to as a Grand Conjunction. The cycle of such Grand Conjunctions was one of the means of keeping time on a longer scale than is permitted by Saturn alone, whose orbital period is the longest of the planets known to the ancients. Grand Conjunctions occur in the same element (Air, Earth, Fire or Water) for a period of about 200 years, after which time the Grand Conjunction will move into the next element for another 200ish years. This move into a different element is traditionally called a Mutation. Mutations are very important in traditional astrology, stamping a long period of time with a certain energy. Just as a life’s themes are present in the chart made for the moment of the first breath, so are themes present in the chart for a Mutation. December 2020 saw the movement of the Grand Conjunction into the Airy element, more specifically into Saturn’s day sign, Aquarius.
You will no doubt recall the atmosphere of late 2020 and early 2021. Unprecedented periods of lockdowns and great concern about the circulating Covid19 virus had laid the groundwork for what would become a push to vaccinate the world. Fear, restrictions, what many would describe as cruel policies towards the elderly in care homes, the idea of restricting one’s freedoms in order to safeguard the lives of the elderly, these are things that most astrologers would recognize as being manifestations of Saturn’s influence. The atmosphere of that period of time was thoroughly Saturnine, in the worst possible way.
A very important series of world events took place right around the Winter Solstice of 2020, as Jupiter and Saturn joined in Aquarius, setting the stage in an astrological sense, for the next 200 years. The first Covid19 vaccines were given under this astrological influence. In the opinions of many people, the lockdowns and fear campaigns were laying the groundwork for getting people to submit to these vaccines on a scale never seen before.
Looking at a chart for the time of the exact conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter in late 2020 (set to my location; house positions will be ignored), we see that these planets met in the first degree of Aquarius. Saturn is well dignified in Aquarius, and we might expect it to exhibit some of the positive qualities associated with this position, such as patience, perseverance, discipline and especially given its conjunction with Jupiter, the faith in good outcomes to fuel such an outlook. And looking back, in fact, we can see those qualities present. Many, if not most, people took a disciplined approach to life in that time, were careful, followed the rules and had faith that the experts were guiding them, and that the rules being implemented would keep them safe. This is a natural manifestation of a dignified Saturn in conjunction with Jupiter. What was unnatural was the atmosphere of intense fear and repression, which was deliberately fostered by authorities to compel compliance. At the time, I had the sense of there being people behind the scenes who understood the astrological symbolism at play and were forcing a more negative manifestation of it than would have happened otherwise.
We will also note in this chart that the Sun and Mercury are conjunct, Mercury being combust. Since we aren’t working with house cusps, we could look at the Sun as the natural significator of authority, and Mercury as the natural significator of information and communication and rational thinking. The state of combustion is a great debility, generally signifying a state in which one can’t see clearly or act appropriately. We have symbolism that would suggest a state in which the authorities are preventing information and rational analysis from being effectively communicated. In another sense, we have symbolism suggesting that the intuition (the highest authority, coming from beyond the rational mind and reaching back to something greater than ourselves) is outshining the rational intellect. Many people simply knew that something was very wrong, without needing to be told.
The Moon is in an applying square to this Sun-Mercury conjunction as well. The square aspect always implies friction and strife. This symbolism suggests the rumbling discontent/cognitive dissonance many felt, it being so emotionally demanding to follow what were inhumane rules and regulations. This is why so many fell into alcoholism and drug use. In a very real sense, the emotional aspect of people was in a struggle against the rational aspect, as well as with the intuitive aspect. On another level, the good of the common citizen, symbolized by the Moon, was in conflict with the authorities.
Astrology is cycles within cycles, and every cycle has its turning points. Often these coincide with the “hard” aspects of square and opposition. Let’s take a look at the first exact square between Saturn and Jupiter in the cycle that began in late 2020, which will occur August 19th, 2024.
Jupiter has advanced to Gemini, putting him in a state of debility. Debilitated Jupiter is associated with the negative qualities of overconfidence, laziness, overindulgence. In addition to the square to Saturn, Jupiter forms a square to a debilitated Venus, forming a T square between the three planets. This debilitated Venus will reflect disharmony in society, immorality and a tendency towards bread and circus behaviour. There is also a conjunction between Mars and Jupiter, adding Mars to this T square, so we can add anger, aggression and themes of war/violence to the mix.
Both Benefics are debilitated (Jupiter and Venus), and both are engaged with the two Malefics (Mars and Saturn). We can expect the overall mood to be a strange mix of misplaced complacency and avoidant behaviour, coupled with a backdrop of anger, violence and repression. This is not a wild prediction for anyone who’s been paying attention.
We also have the same combust Mercury, now in Leo, as well as an opposition from the Moon in Aquarius. Drawing on the same natural rulerships as we did above, similar themes are playing out, though now what was friction has blossomed into outright anger and opposition. We might expect a situation in which it becomes apparent to the majority of people that the authorities have taken a dystopian turn. We might also expect that many people will behave in ways that are unhinged, as the war between rational intellect and the need to feel psychologically secure goes hot. The cognitive dissonance of late 2020 will in many people become irrational mania. Remember, lunacy, named after the moon, is traditionally associated with the full Moon, which is a Sun-Moon opposition. This is further underscored by the tight square made by Uranus to both Sun and Moon, another T square aspect. Uranus represents the unexpected, the disruptive, the sudden shock out of the blue. The revolutionary, even, that which challenges the order and structure of the status quo.
Lastly, we see that Pluto has come to the exact degree at which Jupiter and Saturn met on the solstice in 2020, the first degree of Aquarius. This remains a sensitive point throughout the cycle. Pluto is associated with power, obsession, brutality and destruction.
Returning to the fact that this cycle began in coincidence with the rollout of the covid vaccination campaign. The dignified and optimistic quality of the Saturn-Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius has given way to a much different configuration come August 2024. Neither Saturn nor Jupiter have any dignity in their respective signs, and Jupiter is debilitated in Gemini, in addition to being in square aspect with Mars thrown in the mix. I would expect some tangible, large-scale outpouring of anger regarding the consequences of the vaccination campaign to show itself at this time. I would further expect a move by the authorities to squelch this using war as a way to turn the tables. Remember the timing of the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which came hot on the heels of the Canadian convoy protest, and in fact eclipsed the American version from the media virtually entirely. I don’t think this was a coincidence, it seemed to me that the West deliberately provoked Russia into invading at that time, in part in order to squash that very protest movement. Something similar is likely to occur again, and will need to be on a even greater scale this time.
You don’t need astrology to predict a lot of this. It will be interesting, however, to see if the timing and quality of events lines up with the astrology as described above. Best of luck to you all.
For those interested, Richard Tarnas’ work Cosmos and Psyche looked extensively at the correlations between cycles of outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) and world events. Interestingly, Tarnas was not an astrologer at the outset of his researches, but was converted as the years went by. Here is a link from his website which contains his condensed notes on the symbolism of the planets. Some of this is a departure from traditional astrology, but certainly useful to non-astrologers regardless.