This continues a sporadic series of charts of famous names, both in today’s news, and of historical interest.
Let us start with Vladimir Putin, who was very recently, and not surprisingly, elected to the office of President of Russia. I think this link will take you to the link I’ve been using to view and analyze the chart: http://www.astrotheme.com/portraits/9x8Nb4T2Pvmp.htm
What do we see? SUN in the House of Friendship and Associations, so he is well-connected. He does certainly have friends in powerful places. His Sun is conjunct Saturn by only 3-1/2 degrees. This is THE marker of a very serious mind. The realist. The dogmatist, perhaps, because Sun conjunction Saturn represses the best of feelings and the most sensual of feelings: It is not usually a happy combo, Putin is nothing at all like his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, who knew how to have a few vodkas once in awhile. Putin is about as exciting with this Sun-conjunction-Saturn as an old photograph of Woodrow Wilson or Calvin Coolidge. You wonder if the man knows how to have fun. Ah, where he gets FUN is through power. Sun conjunction Saturn is a strict father, the “Father of his Country” who, in this case, makes the rules and punishes the bad little boys and girls who want to have too much freedom. Well, he WAS the head of the KGB, after all!
PLUTOCRACY and POWER cry out in his chart… Pluto. which is Plutocracy itself, is at the very Midheaven, so matters of control and influence, as well as forecasting that his may well somehow involve the very rich, the heart of an empire, the Plutocracy and Oligarchy of Russia… dominate his chart and affect his success… which is exactly what has evolved for Putin and Russia over these past two decades.
Here is how Stephanie Clement defines the Pluto conjunction Midheaven aspect on her site, Sky View Zone: Please note, she was writing how this aspect works for the millions who have it, not just one individual, which, in fact, through its overarching quality, helps validate it, to even the skeptical mind. Because how many people do you know that have an abundance of these following qualities? :
Through sheer force of will, this conjunction inclines one to seek a mission in life and to fulfill it. As the ego consciousness is focused on life’s mission, personal power is mobilized to attain success, to organize one’s life and to express personal authority. Any misuse or misdirection of personal power can lead to disasters. Power out of control is like a race car without a conscious driver, dangerous in the extreme. This conjunction indicates power, authority, fame and attainment of recognition.
Venus is in the First House, in Scorpio. He exudes a boyish charm that is completely different than all his predecessors in power. He is like the ‘blond-haired boy’, the ladies must think he is really something, as Venus Rising makes for popularity, attractiveness, and in Scorpio, an undeniable sensuality, even if is kept under wraps.
But even more weight can be given to the following powerful elements: Putin has 3 planets in the 12th House of Secrets, Mysteries, Skeletons-in-the-Closet, and Self-Undoing. The 3 planets, Saturn, Neptune and Mercury, are the most significant thing in his chart; his Mercury-Neptune conjunction makes him good at his hunches. He has a nearly mystical ability to see through things as well as use his imagination most effectively. So in some ways, he could be, but really is not, a visionary, a true “reformer”. What keeps this energy dark and with an implacably practical, efficient aura, is that Mercury is also conjunct with Saturn, and Saturn is Neptune’s polar opposite. It shreds away layers of mysticism and obfuscation as if they were the layers of an onion. Perhaps Putin fights a battle sometimes between hard-line conservatism (Saturn) and the reformist energy within him, (Neptune), but the fact they are in 12th, means their energy is mostly behind-the-scenes, unmasking his opponents, dethroning his adversaries. Wasn’t Vlad in charge of the Soviet Secret Police? Secrets are the heart and soul of the 12th House, so he has a perfect chart for that kind of job. With his mystic Neptune, he has psychic flashes. For decades as he climbed the rungs of success within the KGB, he must have surprised his mentors and superiors with the way he was able to envision things through the eyes of the enemy. Russia has always had sinister leaders, and Putin is part of this grand continuing succession of subtlety and sneakiness. His planets prove it. The fact the 12th House consists of secrets means there must indeed be many “skeletons in his closet”, but the 12th House is zipped so tight, we may not find out for 50 years what they are or were!
Putin must also have overwhelmed his mentors with his dynamic energy, a “macho male” energy, but not a necessarily nefarious or violent energy. It could be said that Mars rules for the GOOD cause in Putin’s chart, and that therefore he will grab the stick at the right end, NOT make enemies, NOT enter into self-destructive power struggles… He is a survivor partly because he is such a hard worker! His MARS makes NO “bad” or hard aspect to any planet. His Mars is in a nice sextile to Mercury, giving him an admirable ability to communicate smoothly and with the right jargon, the right “line”, to suit her purposes and soothe his listeners. Mars is also in a trine to the Midheaven, to Pluto, and to Lilith. The Mars-Pluto trine is a wonderful thing, it gets a man where he wants to go when factionalism and struggles of any kind appear. Here is part of a definition of Mars-trine-Pluto from “Cafe’Astrology.com”, as good a source as any. The aspect definition was, like the previous aspect, written for anyone (in tens of millions!) who has this aspect, it was NOT written with Putin’s chart in mind, and yet, you see, it rings true:
You are usually decisive, and often unwavering, once committed… You possess a fascinating and commanding aura… You employ strategy when you are going after something, and you are very talented at this, saving time and energy… perfectly capable of outwitting others as a natural psychologist… The spiritual lesson is to learn moderation… to learn to be more like one of the pack instead of always being the leader.
Thank You, Cafe’ Astrology.
Why does he perceive his enemies to be the true revolutionaries, the reformers, of Russia? Even though during the most liberal progressive years after the breakup of the U.S.S.R., Putin swam at the head of the pack of fish? It is because all three of his 12th House planets square planet Uranus, the planet of anarchy, reform, and revolution, Putin is not a revolutionary, he is the antithesis of a revolution — he is Law and Order, as symbolized by Saturn. Saturn’s natural function is put down anarchy. Putin is in power when Muslim terrorists kill hundreds of Russian civilians. Putin is in power when revolts break out in distant Russian provinces. Saturn is quite repressive, in Putin’s chart, at the noxious presence of anarchistic, overly-democratic Uranus in the 9th House, the House of Education. One of Putin’s pet peeves must be the overly-liberal professors and academics whom, he must feel, are leading their students and proteges into wayward paths. The media are not his friends, either, because they thrive on the 9th House radicalization of the academics, as well as bring strains of unseemly entertainment to Russia. Putin is an enemy of anything radica;. although his chart is smart enough and adaptive enough, to roll with the punches so that he was NOT purged in the democratic revolution that swept the Soviet Union away. Somehow he was able to maintain and even strengthen his position. It is because he can use the Uranian energy when he wants to. He RULES it, in this chart. But when the smoke clears, there’s Putin, in a balancing act between the goal of a democratic Russia and an oligarchy of plutocrats and ex-Soviet strongmen.
His vision of protecting the Old Guard from destruction at the hands of anarchy and liberal reform must include having no generosity or understanding at all for radical clerics of what he must see as dangerous religions. During his rule, the Muslim extremists in Russia’s southern provinces did not get gentle treatment. If only Putin and American leaders could see they have a joint long term mission to preserve the West, which includes Russia, from extremists who send their children as bombs to kill civilians. and threaten mass destruction. But this “man of secrets”, 12th House Putin, is so shrewd, he plays his cards so close to his vest, nobody knows his real thoughts on the matter.
But the chart makes it look as if, in Putin’s mind, anything that smacks of an uprising needs to be quashed. This extreme need for “law and order”, even at the behest of violence and suppression, can be seen lately (February, 2012), in Putin’s (i.e., Russia’s) support of the repressive regime in Syria. I think it is obvious from the chart that Putin would rather see some tens of thousands of “Arab Spring” demonstrators silenced, even at the cost of their lives, than let an ally like Syria go down the same path that Libya and Egypt have gone. Putin sees much better bedfellows in dictators than in fundamentalist clerics and nutcases, as we are seeing in Iran and other nearby countries. Stability = Saturn, and that’s what is driving him… the urge toward stability rather than possible future disaster, such as some time in the future when a wall of Muslim countries will stand right up to Russia’s soft underbelly.
A hint of the possibility of his Saturn-Uranus aspect being useful in his career, and to his nation, is part of the definition of the aspect by skyscript.co.uk :
….When usefully employed it can provide the means to stabilize explosive environments as well as conquer and destroy destructive and inhibitive situations.
Well, that’s what the head of the KGB must do… and the head of Russia, as well. In most unevolved individuals, it would not be possible to use this aspect in a positive way. The positive MARS aspects in Putin’s chart reinforce the fact that he could use even the Saturn-Uranus square energy in a way that helps stabilize things. Unfortunately, his recent unflagging support of the Syrian dictatorship, which is, as I am writing, shelling its own people, shows that he may go a little too far in the Saturn-direction, which is regardless of human life and sensitivity. If he could grapple with this side of his nature, and overcome worst side of the 12th House planets, and go with the strong Mars energy, and his Mercury-Mars ability to communicate well, he could overcome those parts of his being that are repressive.
Was the election which just occurred in Russia an honest election? That depends on your definition of honest. The KGB definition may be different from ours. Putin’s chart, with its awesome combination of Pluto at the Midheaven, a valiant Mars, but a problematic Saturn-Uranus aspect and a secretive 12th House, make it clear that Putin would exert as much behind-the-scenes control as he possibly could, but in as unobtrusive way as possible, to achieve his goals.
Putin had a tough year. For more than six months he was plagued with Saturn transits going through that very House of Secrets, the House of Self-Undoing. Judging by all the recent election protests, he just barely did make through this past year! As Saturn criss-crossed, through both direct motion and retrogradation, his Sun, Saturn, Neptune and Mercury up to three times in six months, the transit indicates he just barely survived. It was an ordeal. The loss of much public esteem was noxious. His current situation of being trapped in a policy that favors Syria’s ruthless despot does not bode well. Putin doesn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb in the media of world opinion. He has not fully ‘made it’, by the way, Saturn is only 5 degrees away from conjuncting Putin’s Rising Degree. It is months away, but when it does so, his career may be in jeopardy. He has too much Mars energy in his chart to have as cool a head as he should have, in his esteemed position at the head of the Russian Federation.
Just as Czar Nicholas and his family had Rasputin, the mystic monk, assisting in the “spiritual” realm, so, too, Vladimir Putin needs to have an astrologer, helping him attain the best side of his vision for a good future, more clearly. and with a minimum of repression and a maximum of freedom. They are in his chart… if he would use them!
Best, ———-Ed Augusts
