Putin And Ukraine

The most popular man in Russia right now is Vladimir Putin. Fresh from the international success of the Sochi Winter Olympics, he has managed to engineer a referendum in Crimea that has brought this peninsular, which in the past has been ravaged by war, back into the Russian family.

In the West, we think that Russia must want to be like us, but really the Russian soul could scarcely be more different to the American soul. An American comment like “How are you doing today” is met with incredulity by a Russian, who, remembering millions of dead through Stalin’s depredations, and more millions through Hitler, is proud to be just getting by.  A Russian would say, “I’ve survived so far” and mean it.

The Russian soul can be seen in the face of Putin. Inscrutable, closed, full of unseen depth. It is the face of a man who has his Sun in Libra conjoining Neptune and Saturn, and it is the Saturn/Neptune conjunction cycle that completely harmonizes with the major historical cycles of Russia, from the 1917 revolution to Stalin’s death and Putin’s birth in 1952-3, to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. That is why we can expect to see Putin until two six-year presidential periods end in 2024, upon which there will be dissolution and chaos in Russia during 2025-2026 when the next conjunction cycle takes place at 0 Aries. A new Russia will be born at this time, and Putin will have disappeared.

It is safe to say that the crisis over Crimea will escalate, and that sanctions by the West will convince Putin and Russia that they have little to lose, so that more extreme actions will take place. He is a major player in the world, and with his Mars in trine to Pluto exactly on his Midheaven, we have the signature of an all-powerful and dictatorial leader, who knows how to pick a fight and win it.

Is he in the mood to do so? He certainly is. His Mars progressed is at 12.08 Aquarius exactly square his Jupiter progressed at 12.21 Taurus… the bullyboy aspect. Will Barack Obama back off? Not really, because his Mars progressed is at 26.38 Libra square his progressed Jupiter at 27.20 Capricorn. Quite an extraordinary coincidence of progressions, and an indication that the diplomacy will not work.

Putin has Venus rising in Scorpio (which progressed Mars is currently in square to along with progressed Jupiter) and the extraordinary extravagance of the recent winter Olympics along with the repercussions of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, will drain the finances of this country, which has traditionally struggled with failed economic plans. 1917-Russia had Venus in Capricorn opposed to Pluto; the USSR (1922) had Venus in Scorpio and modern Russia (1992) has a Venus/Pluto conjunction in Scorpio. There is enough inept financial management and corruption there to impoverish this huge country so rich in natural resources, and it will be in a state of collapse in 2025.

Meanwhile we must await the extraordinary grand cross between Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto around April 23rd 2014. That’s when we will see if there are further escalations. That is at least the death of diplomacy – Mars in Libra square Pluto.

Check out my article on the articles section.

Adrian Ross Duncan