March 2022: A Special Look at the Ukrainian Crisis & Zelenskyy

I believe last month I thought I would write one more forecast for the month of March. And now, at nine months pregnant, dealing with a house reno, baby prep, a four-year old, and winding down my astrology work, I realize that never got around to it. If I had looked at the astrology of March a couple of weeks ago as I usually would have, perhaps I wouldn’t have been so caught off guard by the devastation currently happening in Ukraine.

Like many of you, I have been glued to the news, to the stories of the amazing Ukrainian population, and while I’m up on current events, I’m not someone who has ever really been a news junkie. As I was prepping some students to write an astrology exam a few days ago, we of course couldn’t help but speak about Ukraine. So, I took a look at the charts for the Ukraine and its heroic President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and thought – OMG. I need to hold a drop-in delineation for these charts to share with students what’s happening.

But as I looked at my schedule, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to get to a class on this for about a week, and the critical period I am seeing would be gone. So, I thought I would take a moment to write a fairly brief piece about the charts. I’ve attached both chart triwheels here for those who can read them: Ukraine Triwheel | Zelenskyy Triwheel

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

What is most striking about the current progressions and transits for Zelenskyy is that transiting Pluto and Mars (in the eighth/ninth houses) are currently exactly opposing his Progressed Ascendant (in the second house). I thought I might feel a bit of relief when Mars enters Aquarius in three days, but then it opposes his natal Mars and conjuncts his natal Sun and Venus, and then continues on through his chart. Look, I know Mars does this every two years in all of our charts, but given the President’s precarious situation, it makes me nervous. Plus, transiting Pluto will still be opposing that Progressed Ascendant going back and forth over it for the better part of a year. (This is why I watch a planet like Mars carefully as it can indicate the trigger.) Pluto is also forming a quincunx to his natal Jupiter which rules his seventh house of open enemies and the public as well as his eleventh house of friends/allies/love he receives. Seems quite relevant, doesn’t it?

Notice that transiting Saturn is sitting about one degree off of his natal Midheaven. What does Saturn rule in his natal chart? The eighth house. The Saturn-Midheaven aspect will remain especially critical until about mid-April and then slightly ease off until August where it stays full-on (within two degrees) until next January 2023. Transiting Saturn is also opposing his natal Moon which is usually a depressing time for even the most privileged and optimistic of us.

Zelenskyy is having his Uranus opposition and approaching his Saturn opposition – two astrological indicators of the “midlife crisis”. This is a time when people truly step up or shut things down in their lives as they realize the fragility of life. I can only imagine on what scale he is experiencing these transits.

Uranus will also be approaching a square to his Moon which can indicate significant emotional or domestic disruptions (gee, you think?). Transiting Neptune has been square his Ascendant for awhile now and is slowly moving past that. What will be interesting is when Jupiter conjuncts his Progressed Sun around March 23 and then moves into his eleventh house. I wonder if this signals more support from allies? As Jupiter enters Aries, it will touch on all of his progressed planets (Mercury, Venus, MC and Moon) as well as transit over his natal South Node. This starts in May. If he’s still alive (as horrific as this sounds), this could be a more positive period for him. If he is no longer with us, this can show a groundswell in tributes to him. There’s no doubt that his life is in tremendous danger right now. It shows up everywhere in his chart.

Ukraine

Let’s turn our attentions now to Ukraine.

If you’ve never looked at Ukraine’s chart (24 Aug 1991 at 6 pm) I would suggest you take a peek. It’s a very interesting one that seems to capture the spirit of the country’s citizens.

The first thing you’ll notice is that Ukraine is having its Saturn return. Saturn is an incredibly important planet for this country as it is the ruler of its Ascendant and is located in the first house of the identity of the nation. It’s a good Saturn in domicile which gives resilience. These people aren’t afraid of hard work, that’s for sure. But with natal Neptune and Uranus on its Ascendant and an intercepted first house with Aquarius in there, there is little tolerance for dictatorships. This population needs to be free.

So what’s happening right now? Transiting Saturn is sitting on the country’s Moon. (And Saturn opposes Zelenskyy’s Moon at the same time.) Transiting Saturn is also squaring the country’s Midheaven (its destiny path and leadership). How fascinating that transiting Saturn is sitting right on the President’s Midheaven at the same time. What synchronicity! Transiting Saturn is also squaring natal/progressed Pluto, which is the ruler of the country’s Midheaven further emphasizing what astrologers would call the “complete restructuring of the destiny path” of this country.

Transiting Mars and Pluto are working their way through the country’s first house. They are currently quincunxing natal Jupiter, Mercury and Venus in the seventh house. Pluto will sit here in this “life or death” position for the year. Mars will move forward into Aquarius conjunct the nation’s chart ruler this Saturday. (I’m never really a fan of Mars-Saturn aspects.) It will then move on to oppose that whole stellium in the seventh house over the course of the following few weeks.

When you look at this chart, you see a long struggle. There are no quick wins here. This is a long, arduous battle where we might start to see relief in early 2023 as Saturn moves two degrees past that Moon and Midheaven for good. I’m not saying this war will last the entire year, but certainly extreme hardship continues on as we would expect even if a ceasefire were to be called next week.

Like most people around the world, I am extremely humbled and inspired by Zelenskyy and this incredible country of 44 million. We are all rooting for you and support your incredible resilience in whatever way we can.

If you haven’t already, here’s how you can help:

https://www.blogto.com/city/2022/02/donate-to-ukraine-canada/

I hope that my next blog post this summer is a very, very different one, and that this anticipated Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in April allows for some sort of spiritual breakthrough for this planet. Perhaps the immense pain of Ukraine’s situation will unite the world in a way we’ve never experienced before (or have rarely experienced) and we are able to rise up to something much better than who we are today. We can hope.

Take good care everyone,
Melanie