Saddam Hussein had an unhappy childhood. He was born in the total poverty typical of rural villages near Tikrit, north of Baghdad. His father died or left the family soon after birth, and he was brought up by his mother and a brutal criminal stepfather, who relentlessly beat his stepson and forced him to steal. Only at the age of 10 did he escape this home to live with an uncle in Baghdad who grew to have tremendous influence on him. The uncle had nazi sympathies – and was instrumental in getting Saddam into the fledgling nationalist Baath party in his late teens. Schooled in violence from an early age, Saddam participated in an assassination attempt of General Qassim, who had just overthrown King Faisal II, at the age of 22, got wounded in the leg, and fled to Syria and later Egypt to continue his “education”.

Apart from the childhood, there are few mitigating circumstances in Saddam Hussein’s life, although the whole climate of Iraq was pervaded by a unique brutality at the time. When Baath party officers overthrew General Qassim, he was tortured and assassinated, and this and the subsequent execution and mutilation of his followers was shown on television for all to see.

Rise to Power

Hussein quickly returned to Baghdad, where he excelled as interrogator and torturer, rising through the ranks of the fascist Baath party. He built up an all-pervading security network of spies and informers, not dissimilar to the agent network in East German during the same period, which he had studied in detail. When he finally took power in 1979, his first act was to “cleanse” the party, and he and his henchmen personally executed 20 of top officials in his own party. Add to that the millions killed in the debilitating war with Iran, and the killing of 5000 Kurds in poisonous gas bombings, it is safe to conclude that Saddam Hussein is not a nice man – difficult childhood notwithstanding.

The Future Trial

This man is now a prisoner. The time ahead will be a collective remembering for the people of Iraq, as he goes to trial, and his crimes against humanity are listed. It seems the Americans in Iraq had learned from their lamentable handling of previous high-level fugitives, the sons Qusay and Uday, who were quite unnecessarily killed when located. Unless Saddam Hussein was taken alive by error, as some Arab commentators suggest. He has a lot of truths to tell, which will be very embarrassing to the West. Britain, America, France, Germany, Russia… they kept him well supplied with weapons and all the ingredients needed to make chemical and nuclear weapons throughout the eighties.

A Possible Birth Chart

Officially, Saddam was born on April 28, 1937 and this date was made a national holiday in 1980. Whether this is his actual birth date or not is a matter of dispute. The tradition with poor peasants at the time was to give them all the same birth date: July 1st, and there is evidence to suggest he borrowed his birthday from an associate with a better pedigree. Still, the official birthday is a fascinating chart, and definitely worth using.

See chart for Saddam Hussein

The Journey of Progressive Mars

Taking a noon time for the birth, which often works well for public figures, because this places the sun in the 10th house, there is a dominant Sun/Uranus conjunction in Taurus that could show his revolutionary rise to power. What is fascinating about the chart is Mars, which (like Venus) is retrograde at birth. During the course of his life Mars moves back into Scorpio first trining Saturn and then Pluto, indicating his relentless and ruthless consolidation of power through an all-pervading informer network. In the buildup to the 2nd Gulf War, Mars finally stations at 19 degrees Scorpio, which just happens to be the unchanging position of the actual planetary node of Mars. This degree is associated with evil in horary astrology, and has the name Serpentis . Currently his Mars is at 19.49 degrees, moving direct at just 3 minutes of arc a year, and soon to make a sesquiquadrate to Saturn progressed at 4.57 Aries.

With the capture of Saddam Hussein, George W Bush, certainly a believer in the corrective powers of the death penalty as governor of Texas, has called for the “ultimate penalty” to be imposed. The Mars/Saturn connection in Saddam’s birth chart indicates that this is not an unlikely fate, no doubt at the hands of a court run by the provisional government of Iraq. In the meantime CIA experts are interrogating Saddam, and entertaining him with his own torture videos from the past between sessions.

Venus and the Trial

Another interesting progression in the chart is Venus, which moved direct at the age of 10, when Saddam moved to Baghdad, and is now at 26 Taurus, trining Jupiter on the one hand at 26 Capricorn, and Pluto on the other at 26 Cancer. This Pluto/Jupiter opposition may indicate the elevated position and power of Saddam’s clan based around Tikrit, and the ruthless political power that was evoked in him through the influence of his uncle. This will almost certainly culminate in a high-profile court case, and the Venus trine from Taurus may indicate that he receives tremendous support, both financially and in terms of support from his clan. It is probable that a high profile lawyer will defend him well. Mind you, Venus is currently 26.06 Taurus and the ill-fated star Algol is currently placed at 26.09 Taurus. This star is particularly associated with injuries to the neck, such as hangings.

The Capture

The capture of Saddam Hussein was an interesting and predictable moment. This took place at the Sun/Pluto conjunction… obviously a completion of the process started at the Sun/Pluto trine which took place at the exact moment Saddam’s statue was toppled in Baghdad back in April. Mars was also leaving Pisces, after a 6 month sojourn in the sign. Quite obviously the direct and retrograde motion of Mars during the latter half of 2003 related to the chaos in the country at the time, and the deterioration of conditions for the US military. Mars in Pisces also represented Saddam on the run, and when Mars’ time in Pisces ran out, he ended up as a prisoner. Curiously, when the invasion took place on 20th March 2003 at 3.34 am the Sun was at 28 Pisces. Mars finally arrived at this degree with the capture.

See chart for capture of Saddam Hussein

At the time of the arrest Mercury was in exact opposition to Saturn, and because of Mercury’s retrograde motion this aspect will take place two more times in December and January. Despite reports that Saddam was cooperative, this hardly indicates a talkative prisoner. One would imagine that a painstaking interrogation would take place until at least January 22nd, when the final Mercury/Saturn opposition takes place. As Mercury retrogrades to conjoin the Sun it makes a square to Mars, now in Aries, which certainly indicates high stress levels, if not an element of brutality. Still, with the three Saturn/Mercury trine, it seems like there is a triple lock on information.

The Future of Iraq

See chart for Republic of Iraq

There are a number of horoscopes for Iraq for the last century. I have ignored the earlier horoscopes that relate to an Iraq under the control of the British, and concentrated on the military coups that established republics, the first one being in 1958, and the subsequent one when Saddam Hussein came to power. The 1958 coup shows a Moon/Venus conjunction in at 19-20 Gemini opposition Saturn at 20 Sagittarius, and obviously the current Pluto transit has been activating this opposition, and will continue to do so in 2004.

Amongst other influences it was this Pluto transit that suggested that the Americans would go to war. As I wrote in a previous article (Sept 2002): “This suggests that the long-suffering Iraqi population will undergo a hammering throughout the year, but it also suggests that the yoke of oppression will be removed, especially for women and children.” The American invasion has brought tremendous destruction to the people, and the loss of a good deal of their cultural heritage through plunder. Whether Iraq continues to be plundered as American corporations make lucrative contracts in the country remains to be seen. Still, whatever the ravages cause by western capitalism, they are unlikely to equal the material and spiritual destruction of Iraq, which Saddam is responsible for.

An Islamic State

The actual chart for the foundation of modern Iraq (23.08.1921 6 a.m.) has a Jupiter/Saturn conjunction at 22-24 Virgo. Pluto will activate this in 2005, which will almost certainly indicate an ongoing transformation and upheaval of all existing political and religious structures, typified by extremism and ruthless power play. Saudi Arabia also has a Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, (conjoining the Sun in Capricorn), and this may indicate the union of religion and politics in government: namely, the Islamic state. Therefore it is likely that elections in Iraq in 2004 do not result in a stable government, but rather bring extremist religious groups to the fore. Pluto transit in square to Jupiter/Saturn simply does not promise a democratic country or democratic reforms. Indeed, 2005 is the year when there is a full Uranus return to its position at 8 Pisces at the original creation of Iraq – another indication of revolutionary upheaval at this time.

Adrian Ross Duncan 19.12.2003