(31 May 2022) As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth month, there are increasing signs that Russian forces have the advantage.  Ukrainian forces in Mariupol finally surrendered two weeks ago while Russia has made important advances in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in recent days.   While the Ukrainian army has been bolstered from weapons donated from various Western countries,  the much larger Russian army appears to be prevailing in the disputed eastern border provinces.

The challenging military situation is bad news for Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy who has become a popular symbol of resistance in the West.   As we can see in Zelenskiy’s horoscope, the planetary outlook in the coming months looks difficult for him and Ukraine.

As of April 2021, he is running the Moon-Jupiter dasha period.  This is a positive dasha combination since the Moon is well-placed in its own sign of Cancer in the 3rd house (efforts/action and it is powerfully aligned with several outer planets — Pluto (power), Neptune (charisma) and Uranus (originality).  It is also conjunct the unequal 4th house cusp and opposite the 10th house cusp (MC).

Taken together, these alignments infuse the Moon with much more strength and is one reason why Zelenskiy has become an international statesman and celebrity during 2022.  The Moon’s wide conjunction with Mars (conflict, violence) is perhaps one reason why he has risen to fame during wartime.  Minor dasha lord Jupiter is also very favourably placed as it is close to the Ascendant in Gemini and forms a mutual reception and opposition aspect with Mercury in Sagittarius.

So far, so good. But the Moon-Jupiter period will give way to the much less auspicious Moon-Saturn period in August 2022.  Not only is Saturn a natural malefic, but it is closely aligned with Mercury (135 degrees) and Mars (30 degrees).  While these alignments are not full-strength Vedic aspects, they are close enough to their respective divisor angles that Saturn’s period is more likely to bring suffering as a result.  Therefore, from the dasha periods alone we would expect his fortunes to deteriorate during Moon-Saturn from August 2022 until March 2024.

The current transits add another layer to the analysis.  Saturn afflicts his 9th house of luck and foreign affairs while Neptune detracts from his 10th house of status and career.  This malefic alignment appears to be quite strong in his chart since it closely aligns with the Ascendant within just a few degrees.  This is largely a negative influence since the combined energies of Saturn and Neptune suggest weakness, loss and disappointment.  The situation is made more onerous since Saturn will station retrograde this Saturday, June 4 and begin its four-month long backwards journey through his 9th house.  That double whammy of the Saturn-Neptune influence will therefore remain close at hand throughout June at least.

Zelenskiy’s situation will likely become much worse in the summer and early fall as Uranus, Rahu and Mars (24 Aries) will all line up and square his Moon in late July and early August while Saturn will station direct at 24 Capricorn in Sep-Oct exactly opposite his Moon.  Since his Moon-Saturn dasha period is scheduled to begin in August, it seems highly likely that Zelenskiy will face his toughest challenge yet.

While it is possible that Ukraine may be able to avoid the worst of his karmic fallout, the fact that he is president suggests that Ukraine is likely to also suffer.  Overall, it is hard to see how Ukraine can defeat the Russian or even hold them to a stalemate that produces a negotiated peace.  If there is a peace agreement under these transits, the Ukraine is almost certain to lose a significant part of its territory.

Weekly Market Forecast

Despite a small pullback in Tuesday’s session, US stocks remain in rebound mode from their recent lows.  As expected, last week’s Mercury-Venus-Pluto alignment did coincide with some strong late week gains.

This week looks less positive than last week though.  Not only is Saturn approaching its retrograde station on Saturday, June 4, but Mercury is also due to end its retrograde cycle and station direct on Friday, June 3.  This near-simultaneous stationing of two planets is quite unusual.  Moreover, Mercury and Saturn will form a fairly close square alignment, within one degree.  Mercury-Saturn aspects tend to be bearish anyway, but the double stations make that outcome more likely.  While I’m generally not as gloomy about the market as some analysts, it’s harder to make a bullish case this week.

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