I have been promising to write this article for quite a while now and many of my readers have been asking for it too, so today I finally get out the crystal ball and try and predict what may happen as these two most influential of planets connect up in the month of January 2020 and beyond.
On a basic lever, Saturn is the great teacher and an influence of restriction and caution, and as it travels around the zodiac every 28/29 years it gives us lessons to learn and take in. At the moment, Saturn is in the sign of Sagittarius, one of expansion, diversity, faith and wisdom. As expected, Saturn's entrance into this sign has seen the rise of protectionism and a pull back from globalisation, faith issues have risen and terror linked to beliefs have blighted many people's lives. Harshness against ethnic groups has been in the news leading to a wave of migrants and refugee problems. Linked to this the "Black Lives Matter" movement, linked to diversity and the right of black people to enjoy equal status as other ethnic groups has been prominent. Even what we actually believe has been questioned, with fake news claims rife and politicians and administrators taking advantage of confusion within the population. In December this year Saturn moves into Capricorn, the same sign that Pluto has been moving in since 2008.
Pluto in this sign initially lead to a world financial crash which destabilized governments and countries right across the world. Pluto is a great transformer and is linked to power and control, and it works through smashing to pieces what we know and replacing it with a new way of doing things. If you think of Capricorn as an administrative sign, one where we look for stability and steadiness, Pluto here really will rock the boat, overturn it and replace it with a brand new cruise liner. The structures and old order we know are gradually being replaced by a brand new one. Remember, we still have 6 years of Pluto in Capricorn to go and a lot can happen between now and the moment Pluto enters Aquarius.
If you go back in history and look at previous Pluto Saturn conjunctions, they have invariably been linked with significant moments in the rise and fall of nations, and there also does seem to be a pattern of brutal conflicts or purges of power that occur in the wake of these conjunctions, often connected to the reassertion of control by oppressed peoples, or there seems to be the beginnings or ends of eras of repression. As an example of this the 30 years war that raged between 1618 and 1648 in Central Europe pitting Catholic subjects under the rulership of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II against Protestants was bookended by a Saturn/Pluto conjunction in 1617 in the sign of Taurus and another in 1648/9 in Gemini. This brutal war fought on German land drew in France, Sweden, Austria and Spain leading a redrawing of the Central European map, with the Roman Catholic Empire being dismantled and replaced by a collection of sovereign states. The year 1649 was also the year that King Charles the first of England was executed after the defeat of his Cavaliers at the hands of the Parliamentarian Roundheads lead by Oliver Cromwell, leading to the only time that England was briefly ruled solely by Parliament, and subsequent brutal sacking of Ireland by his New Model Army.
Move on 300 years and history repeated itself. Europe in 1914 was plunged into World War one after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (another Ferdinand involved!!) in Sarajevo. That year there was a Saturn/Pluto conjunction in the initial degrees of Cancer and the first world war oversaw the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire and the transformation of the Russian Empire into the Soviet Union. Moving on 33 years later in 1947, just after the end of the World War II as a Saturn/Pluto conjunction formed in the sign of Leo, new nations emerged such as Israel, India and Pakistan and immediately they were plunged into internal religious conflicts. These two conjunctions again bookended a very significant period in world history, and with the Soviet Union diving into the void vacated by Germany, she annexed the Eastern European states and the cold war years ensued. China was also staggering out of the second World War victorious but battered, and immediately was plunged into a nasty civil war where the Communist Party would eventually gain control, and the People's Republic of China was declared by Mao Zedong.
Other conjunctions linked to Saturn/Pluto include the 1786 in Aquarius which lead to the official drawing up of the Constitution of the United States, the 1819 one in Pisces which precipitated a gradual wave of immigration from Europe, suffering after the European Napoleonic wars to North America where incidentally there was the first ever financial and economic crisis, known as the Panic of 1819. The 1851 triple conjunction of Saturn/Pluto and Uranus in the late degrees of Aries and the cusp of Taurus saw the first debates over the legitimacy of slavery leading to a rift between the Southern states where slavery was rife and the free rights attitude of the states in the North of the country - this would lead to the American civil war 10 years later as Saturn and Pluto made a trine and Abraham Lincoln won the Presidency on an anti-slavery ticket. In France there was a coup leading the the declaration of Napoleon II as emperor, the disillusionment of Parliament and the end of the Second Republic. The conjunction in 1883 on the cusp of Gemini saw the repeal of the Civil Rights Law of 1875 in the US, a decision that would anger black citizens and cause division between races in the United States for nearly 80 years. This was a time of technological advancement through the introduction of electric lights, the combustion engine was invented and and in medicine the use of local anaesthetic was advocated.
Moving forward to late 1982 and 1983, the last occasion of a Saturn Pluto conjunction in the later degrees of Libra, and it oversaw the death of Leonid Brezhnev, after which the Soviet Union would never be the same power that it once was and the end of the cold war and the nuclear stand-off between East and West was thawing. As this was happening, the United States under Ronald Reagan started to assert her global power to become the most powerful economic force on earth. In the far East, China was starting to adopt a more open economic stance under Deng Xiaoping and adopted it's current constitution in December 1982, as the communist state started to open itself up to trade and economic development.
Now in January 2020, we will experience the next in this fascinating cycle of Saturn Pluto conjunctions. There are some clues to what may happen through looking at the signs involved as it will occur in Capricorn, the sign of governments and rulership. Pluto is changing the nature of power in the world, and one has to ask where the power actually lies in the technologically networked world that we live in today. We have seen through the use of targeted subterfuge and less than subtle interference that people's opinions these days can be manipulated to affect the election of governments. We have seen the potential interference of Russia on the US Presidential Election that candidates can be destroyed through the constant drip of negative advertising and the release of secret information, and now the genie is out of the bottle, it will never be put back in. Indeed the rise of the rich and powerful corporations and those who master the world wide web could well have an ever increasing hold on all of our lives. Will corporate giants like Mark Zukerberg at Facebook, Sundar Pichai at Google and Jeff Bezoz at Amazon be the real masters of our lives in the years to come as borders become increasingly insignificant? Just to prove this point, at the end of 2020 there is a Saturn Jupiter conjunction on the cusp of the sign of technology and the internet, Aquarius. A new cycle highlighting independence, science and the social age properly coming into it's own?
On the other side of things I see an increasingly protectionist attitude as Saturn in Capricorn brings a very conservative and restrictive edge to things as nation states try to hold onto the power of the borders they have as the global village becomes more intertwined. I can see America continuing to pulling back into herself and on the chart I use, this conjunction occurs in the house of self-undoing, the 12th. This is a house of sacrifice, a place where hidden enemies undermine and with the US natal Pluto at 28 degrees Capricorn awaiting both transiting Pluto and Saturn just after the conjunction occurs, you can just see the power of the United States becoming unravelled and a some sort of crisis ensuing, can't you? Pluto is the planet of transformation and a Pluto return on the chart of the articles of the confederation chart following a difficult Saturn Pluto conjunction that will stress the American psyche. Pluto traditionally has represented the black immigrant population of the nation (Pluto rules 9th house), hidden away in the house of sacrifice and suffering. I sense division and a potential crisis evolving involving that will totally transform the nation. The 9th house also represents overseas trade, and this may be limited and discouraged, as the US continues to look inwardly. Remember too that at the end of 2020, there is a Saturn Jupiter conjunction at 0 degrees Aquarius, also conjunct to this Pluto that may pit the administration (Saturn) against matters of faith and/or diversity (Jupiter) leading to a transformation or change of power in some manner? There is a Presidential election in 2020 and these aspects will affect the direction that the US goes in. Traditionally with Venus as the morning star the ruling party is favoured to hold onto to power, and with the Republicans holding the crown and having Saturn moving into conservative Capricorn, I feel that whoever runs for them will prevail. Whether that is Donald Trump is open to question and I sense he has many more tests to pass just to survive through until the next election.
Interestingly, China also has an Aquarian ascendant, and this conjunction will land also in the 12 th house directly on the Chinese natal Jupiter, the planet of expansion. Now Jupiter on the Chinese natal chart is well aspected (sextile to Venus) and Saturn and Pluto may see China rising and rising in influence. Jupiter will be joining the party this year giving China a Jupiter return and the following Jupiter Saturn conjunction will be conjunct to the Chinese Ascendant at 1 degree Aquarius. I feel a self confidence here about the land of the dragon, and 2020 and 2021 may see a significant shift in power from West to East. As Saturn and Pluto can be a brutal combination, there is a chance of the Chinese expansion bubble being burst at this point plunging the rest of the world into a tailspin, however my judgement is that this won't happen and the problems will occur elsewhere in the world, leaving China in a very advantageous position.
In Europe, we already know what will be happening in advance of the Saturn/Pluto conjunction, Brexit, and the Saturn Pluto conjunction along with the South Node convene together on the natal Uranus Neptune conjunction with Uranus ruling the 7th house of relationships and neighbouring nations. Here is a definite indication of a split coming. The conjunction here lands in the 6th house of services and the workers and I wonder if the European Union will move after Brexit to unify social services, health, union laws, or even create a pan European police or military force? Mars, Mercury and Pluto all in Scorpio to me signify decisions, intelligence, police, the military and underground power and this conjunction will sextile these three planets, initiating in my view change. The Saturn Jupiter conjunction in this 6th house suggests a new cycle of unification and administration (Saturn) between the different cultures (Jupiter) of the remaining 27 nations based around shared services.
For the UK leaving the European Union the Saturn Pluto conjunction land in the 4th house of the land and territory of the nation and it will widely oppose the Moon, representing the people's of the nation. I always have had and I still have a feeling that there will be pressure exerted by Scotland or by the Northern Irish to seek more independence. Obviously this depends on how the Brexit negotiations go, however if there is not a favourable outcome for these nations, I sense they may decide to go it on their own. There is certainly an adjustment being made, as the 4th house ruler Saturn will receive an inconjunct aspect from Saturn/Pluto and and I think that there is a possibility that a future break up of the UK could be on the cards. There is one more idea I have and that regards housing. The British system has always encouraged people to buy their own homes, and in recent years because of immigration and inflated housing prices, the housing stock has got extremely expensive. It is incredibly difficult to afford to but a house as a first time buyer because of the levels of deposit that are required and at some point the crisis in the housing market will explode. I feel that 2020 when then this conjunction occurs in the sector of the UK chart linked to housing and families that things will come to a head.
Russia is interesting too as it has an ascendant at 23 degrees Cancer, therefore the Saturn/Pluto conjunction will land directly on the Russian Descendant. Somehow, Russia's relations with other nations and in particular those who oppose them will be rocked. Is there some kind of stand off, conflict or change that will occur here? Will former friends become adversaries, or even more unlikely will former adversaries become allies? One or many relations that Russia has will be subject to being ripped up and being reformed. Any powerful conjunction on the angle of a chart will be a significant one, and this Saturn/Pluto conjunction will go to the heart of how Russia is seen throughout the world.
As you can see, many of the major nations and alliances will feel the full force of this conjunction and the year of 2020 may realign relationships and the way that power is used. I feel that the traditional powers we have known in the West for the past 40 years will start a decline and emerging forces, such as China and the global corporations will increase in influence.
One last prediction for you and it's the most shocking of the lot. Israel has 23 degrees Capricorn sitting on it's IC sitting right at the bottom of the chart and it has a 23 Libra Ascendant. Expect a brutal reaction the conjunction between Israeli and Palestine and in the Middle East as a whole. Israel may do well to survive the pressure as all 4 angles of it's chart are bombarded by Saturn and Pluto all at the same time!!! I wouldn't mind betting if a Middle East war or a major realignment in the region is triggered as Pluto and Saturn go to work on the chart of the Jewish nation. It's not something I would be looking forward to if I was there, as the potential for historical events taking place I think will be very high indeed...