Back on 22nd March I looked at Syria and I predicted that the end of this particular saga would come in December this year. Right on cue the Arab league, Jordan’s King Abdullah, the European Union in the form of sanctions and harsh criticism from Turkey are all tightening the noose around the neck of President Assad of Syria. Violence has escalated in the past couple of weeks and finally there may be a resolution to the situation before too long. I am reposting what I wrote back in March and afterwards I will look in a bit more detail how the end may come.
****Posted 22nd March 2011****
Oh my here we go again. Over the past few weeks the temperature has been rising in Syria. Yet another Arab country with this time the ruling Assad dynasty under pressure. President Bashar Al-Assad has been in power since 2000, when he succeeded his father who had been in charge for the previous 30 years. Seeing what has been going on in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, it seems the people are in a mood for change, however they have a huge obstacle to overcome in the name of President Assad and the Ba’ath party.
Like the Libya and Saudi Arabia I did in recent weeks, the Syrian natal chart is also very insular in nature with every planet in the Eastern hemisphere. Saturn sits with Uranus, and true enough Syria’s history has been a mixture of unstable government and authoritarian rule. The Moon representing the people is squared by both Mars in aggressive Aries and Mercury. Syria’s human rights record is appalling, the crackdown after the latest set of protests on the people comes right from the top as Mars sits in the 10th house of government. In Syria all forms of communication (Mercury), including the press, the internet is tightly controlled shown by the Moon/ Mercury square. That control is intensified with Pluto in the 1st house, however Pluto here always indicates that a metamorphosis or complete change of the nation will happen at some time in the future.
The transit charts for Syria are looking quite fraught. Syria’s Midheaven sits at 1 degree Aries and transiting Uranus is rapidly closing in on an exact conjunction. It connects exactly on 27th March. Uranus moves on and then goes retrograde in July and finally stations in December just 10 minutes from the Syrian Midheaven. Aquarius which Uranus rules is on the cusp on the 8th house of change. Supporting this rebellious uprising by the people, Saturn is currently conjunct Mercury square the Ascendant and Moon – protests (Mercury) by the people (Moon) against the authorities (Saturn). Transiting Neptune is square Saturn/Uranus so confusion and worries (Neptune) in government circles (Saturn) about the protesters (Uranus).
President Assad has a brutal chart. Born on 11 Sept 1965 in Damascus (no birth-time), he has a Sun, Pluto and Uranus conjunction in nervous critical Virgo opposite harsh Saturn in deceptive Pisces and maybe Moon forming a wedge pattern with Mars and Neptune in deep dark Scorpio at the point. Here is a man who is sly, sneaky, able to adapt to situations as he has 7 planets in mutable signs, and has no scruples in using brute force (Mars), torture (Pluto), unusual underhand (Neptune) or shock tactics (Uranus) to keep his hand on the levers of power (Saturn). By the astrology, this is someone not to be messed with, and a man who will cling onto power by his fingernails if possible. The transits on his personal chart favour him for the minute. He has a constructive sextile between transiting Saturn and natal Jupiter and a trine between that Saturn and natal Jupiter. It would be nice to see how his Ascendant and Midheaven is affected but unfortunately with no birth-time it isn’t possible. I have to rely on the national chart and it’s aspects to see how the head of State may be affected.
In my view, Assad will see out this wave of protests, however his power and standing will be weakened, and when Uranus comes round at the end of the year to complete it’s retrograde cycle finally stationing on Syria’s Midheaven in December, then it will be crunch time. It is going a lot of force and sacrifices by the people to get the change in power that they so desire.
****Update 16th Nov 2011****
On every chart I have looked at in the past day on Syria, things look as if they are definitely coming to a conclusion. On the transit chart, transiting Uranus is now almost exactly upon the Syrian Aries ascendant. The revolt is now reaching it’s peak. We also have transiting Saturn opposing Mars which is very disruptive and violent as well as indicating that other foreign nations are now taking action against the Syrian leadership (Capricorn sits across the 7th house cusp of relations with other nations). Also we have transiting Mars is square to the natal Saturn Uranus conjunction, activating progressive forces to overthrow the old guard (Mars rules the Syrian Ascendant) and transiting Neptune is also square this conjunction causing confusion and disruption.
By Solar Arc progression, Solar Arc Pluto is currently square to the Ascendant as well as square to the Moon. This is a double whammy as Syria’s Ascendant is in Cancer, the Moon’s sign. The country is going through a transformation and it is the people represented by the Moon who are slowly but surely pushing it to a conclusion. There also is an exact square between Solar Arc Jupiter and natal Uranus. Here we see the international pressure (Jupiter) aiding the rebellion (Uranus) right on time.
As for President Assad, the transits hitting his chart are now so fraught, I cannot see him surviving much longer. Look at the transits chart above and you can see the transiting Nodes (blue diamond feature) square to Saturn, Uranus and Pluto. I see it as almost impossible that he can see out such an nasty set of Nodal transits. The Nodes through problems at you that you have no control over and it looks as if time is up for him, Saturn is harsh, Uranus is revolutionary and Pluto signifies destruction. The South Node as it makes these transits is passing through the 7th house of open enemies, and at the moment Assad has many, both in Syria and abroad. Notice also transiting Uranus quindecile to both his natal Uranus and Pluto. If he is caught by the revolutionaries, then his life will be in serious risk, just like Gaddafi a few weeks ago. The quindecile to Pluto will be exact around the 23rd to 26th November and the quindecile to Uranus will be exact just a few days later. These are dangerous days for Assad, just as the next Solar Eclipse hits on 25th November (shame I don’t have his birth time, would be interesting to see in which house the eclipse hits).
What I can say about the next eclipse is that it hits a spot at 2 degrees Sagittarius directly opposite to Syria’s natal Saturn/Uranus conjunction, the signature for the Assad regime of unpredictable, authoritarian rule. It may signify the beginning of the end of the road for the Assad dynasty.
