I have always been skeptical about using natal charts to study the astrology of the nation because historically, a country would have gone through various significant socio-political events and it is always difficult to conclude on which one is the correct chart to use for astrological purposes and hence, I always prefer ingress charts or conjunction charts cast for the specific location.
The reason I am using the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction chart is because they always bring about a massive socio-political and socio-economic changes that have a long-lasting impact on the human society. What Afghanistan is going through is almost a repeat of what happened in the early 90s and the grim future would remind them of very familiar olden days.
Some of the modern Vedic astrologers don’t agree with the usage of the Dasa systems for Mundane purposes but there is no classical text mentioning we cannot use the Dasas for Mudane purposes. I also think there is no astrological or philosophical basis for such disagreement. In my experience, I have found the compression and expansion of Dasas to be very revealing! For this post, I have used the compressed version of Chakra Dasa to point out the nature and quality of some of the periods. This will be a very brief post which I will try to follow up with Ingress chart analysis.
Background
In this post, I will write about the current situation in Afghanistan using the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in December 2020, four months before which the then US President, Donald Trump hinted about the withdrawal of the American troops by reducing the troops stationed in Afghanistan. Six months after his swearing-in, the current US President Joe Biden has announced complete withdrawal of the US troops stationed in Afghanistan. Before two decades, USA stationed their troops in Bagram base to fight terrorism and until now, US occupation has been prevalent in Afghanistan. Many people from the armed forces of Afghan National Army are of the opinion that the exit of US from their land put them at more risk in their war against the Taliban. Some civilians are of the opinion that the US presence did not bring any peace, and it is their exit which will bring peace. It is very difficult to have an opinion on this unless one is actually living in Afghanistan.
There is another opinion that during the Afghan-Soviet war in the late 1970s, US and a few other countries backed the Mujahideen group to oust Soviet from Afghanistan (Cold War era) which eventually to some extent might have contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Two decades later, America fought the extremist groups and occupied the nation for two decades. So, inside forty years, various US governments have taken contradictory positions based upon different situations. However, Bush administration (2001) made it sound as if the US reached Afghanistan to retaliate for the 09/11 attacks. Their presence in Afghanistan apparently cost them trillions of dollars over the two decades, which also aided in training and facilitating the Afghan troops with modern war equipment.
It was the combination of the US and Afghan forces that kept the Taliban at bay, but the exit of the US forces is not something to cheer about for the Afghan forces because the Taliban has already taken control of many districts. To make matters worse, around 1300 Afghan forces fled to Tajikistan as refugees to save their lives. Biden made an abandoning statement that “It Is Time to End the Forever War” when the peace-makers would think that the US should have ideally stayed back, but Biden probably was in a stale-mate situation because of the deal Trump made to end the war. Biden calls for peace (not to forget the perennial and an increasing gun/weapon business in America) and stated that Afghanistan is capable enough to handle the situation on their own. The civilian lives lost are beyond count and grief. No one knows when the world will be free of the religious and capitalist extremism. Whether the Afghan soldiers will save their own land from the Taliban control is the prominent question and that is what we will analyze astrologically using the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction chart cast to Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan.
The Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction Chart of 2020
(Chakra Dasa period of 20 years)
Virgo was rising and the ruler, Mercury is placed in the 4th house of Sagittarius which is also its detriment. The Sun is placed in the 4th house, which is exactly opposite to the 10th house of its directional strength. The Sun in the anti-culmination is always a sign of a falling or a suppressed government and that is the current condition of the Afghan government.
Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction Chart - Kabul
Jupiter and Saturn are conjunct in the 5th house. Saturn rules both the 5th and the 6th houses. With Saturn strong in the 5th house, it indicates that enemies of the land are stronger. 4th house is the well-being of the people of the nation and Mercury is placed in the 4th house of Sagittarius, in detriment with the Sun. This is also an indication that the government is finding it difficult to take care of the people of the nation. However, the ruler of the 6th house is very strongly placed in the 5th house of Capricorn. 7th ruler Jupiter is debilitated in the 5th house and it shows the current condition of being bereft of military aid from friends and neighbors. As of latest news, 90% of the American troops have left Afghanistan and the fate is left to the hands of the reeling Afghan government and the troops of Afghanistan. 10th house is the government or the actions of the government and the ruler of the 10th house, Gemini, Mercury is placed in the 4th house of Sagittarius (detriment) which is yet another indicator of the government being in a very precarious position.
The natural significator of enemies, Mars, is placed in the 7th house of Pisces in the bounds of Saturn. Mars is placed in the last degrees of Pisces and is transitioning into the fire sign of Aries and hence, this position is Gandanta which is quite dangerous which is descriptive of the extremely tense and precarious situation in Afghanistan. The Moon in a whole-sign conjunction with Mars in Pisces, we can understand that people of the nation are currently very nervous and worried about their lives in their own land. The MC in the bounds of Saturn (the 6th ruler), indicates a very stubborn enemy.
From the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in December 2020, Virgo is activated and will stay until early July 2022. The ruler of Virgo, Mercury is placed in the 4th house of Sagittarius, in detriment which is quite descriptive of the situation of the entire nation. Biden’s confirmation came in precisely during the sub-period of Sagittarius in the major period of Virgo. So, along with Mercury, Jupiter is also activated and we already discussed the condition of Jupiter. We can expect a communication deadlock in Afghanistan which was the situation earlier where very less news will come out from Afghanistan because of the Nodes in the 3/9 axis.
Capricorn sub-period in Virgo’s major period will begin from 14th July 2021 and will remain until the end of August 2021 during when the enemies of the state will gain a strong foothold. After this, Aquarius sub-period will begin and again Saturn will be activated, this time, as the 6th lord in the 5th house which is the 12th from the 6th house. This is probably when some of the non-bordering neighbours like India and Russia who are already discussing combating the situation in Afghanistan through diplomacy might take more prominent steps along with many other nations in the international community. However, this surely is not the end of it and Afghanistan will continue to struggle in finding peace.
During the year 2029, Aquarius-Capricorn period will begin and with Saturn placed in the 5th house (12th from 6th house), the Afghans would be half-way through this Jupiter-Saturn conjunction period and by then, Jupiter will oppose Saturn which is when there will some change in the situation.
Joe Biden–Swearing-in Chart
(Chakra Dasa period of 4 years)
Aries was rising when Joe Biden was sworn-in as the President of the United States in early 2021. I have compressed the Chakra Dasa and divided the periods for the next four of his tenure in the White House.
Joe Biden - Sweraing In - January 2021
Currently, the major period is Taurus and the sub-periods change once in every 10 days. Hence, we can focus on the major periods. Biden mentioned in his speech that he was not ready to sacrifice another generation of Americans by placing them in war. 2nd house is about the people of the nation and it is very much in line with the statement made by the President. Venus is placed in the 9th house of Sagittarius and the dispositor of Venus, Jupiter is debilitated in the 10th house. Yet, Jupiter has mitigation as Saturn is placed in the 10th house of Capricorn which indicates reception. However, the Sun is also placed in Capricorn. The Saturn-Sun conjunction indicates tough decisions that are made without much choice which descriptive of the fact that Joe Biden did not really have many choices before decided to announce the complete pull-over of the troops from Afghanistan. There is no question of US changing this decision because of the solidity of the 10th house.
Anyway, we can only hope that Afghanistan finds a way to maintain peace within their country.
Let Peace Prevail!
© Aswin Subramanyan 2021
Image Credit: NDTV