(16 August 2015)  Last week saw an unusual coincidence of events in China.  On Tuesday, China’s central bank surprised global financial markets and devalued its currency.  On Wednesday, there was a huge industrial explosion in the port city of Tianjin that killed over a hundred people.  While these two events were unrelated in fact, they do have common astrological origins due to afflictions in the horoscope of China. Specifically, I would say they are the result of close aspects to the Ascendant in this chart.

First, we can see this devaluation and its fallout in the horoscope of China.  Using the October 1, 1949 chart, the Ascendant (8 Capricorn) suffers a double affliction from the transits of malefic Rahu (North Lunar Node) and Mars.  Rahu is currently stationing on 7 Virgo and therefore it casts a near-exact 120 degree aspect to the Ascendant.  Last Tuesday, Mars was situated at 7 Cancer — almost exactly opposite the Ascendant.  So why would an affliction to the Ascendant, which symbolizes "the body" or nation as a whole, correspond with a currency devaluation? 

Currencies are certainly one barometer of a nation’s health and so this affliction was a kind of symbolic injury that China may have suffered, partially as a result of its slowing economy.  A falling currency typifies a weaker economy and hence a weaker country.  Of course, the Rahu and Mars transits to the Ascendant could have corresponded with any number of difficult events that would disrupt the status quo (Rahu) and occur suddenly (Mars). 

Indeed, the massive explosion in the port city of Tianjin on Wednesday (the day after the devaluation) was likely related to this same alignment of Rahu and Mars which was hitting the Ascendant as well as the Moon, which is less than two degrees off the Ascendant.  At the time of the blast, Rahu has barely moved at all and Mars had only moved half of a degree.  Mars was joined by the Moon in Cancer for an extra impact on the Ascendant.  We can say that the Rahu and Mars transits therefore played a role in the near-simultaneous devaluation and explosion as both could be seen as sudden events that caused injury to the symbolic body of the country.

But the damage to the economic life of the country was also related to the current position of Saturn in the 11th house of gains and rewards.  The 11th house is one of the money houses in astrology, and in the horoscope of a country, it is closed related to general economic health.  Saturn (4 Scorpio) had recently stationed direct two weeks ago and was therefore sitting very close to the cusp of the 11th house (i.e. 8 Scorpio) for an extended time.  We should also note that Saturn is also casting its full strength 3rd house aspect to the Ascendant.  This is one of the main reasons why its economy is suffering in a more manifest way in recent months.  Saturn has been transiting in the first third of Scorpio since late 2014.   The Rahu and Mars transits to the Ascendant therefore were acting as co-factors for this longer term negative Saturn energy.

Now the question is whether China is done with its devaluation.  Government officials say that have no other moves planned but it is still possible that new circumstances may warrant additional adjustments.   Saturn will be hovering over that sensitive area in the 11th house for several more weeks so there is still the likelihood of more economic bad news for China.  It is unclear if Saturn’s contracting effect will take the form of further currency moves, however.  It is possible that Saturn’s transit may simply produce more weak economic data.  That said, I would still keep an eye on the Mars-Venus conjunction in the first week of September as a possible time window when more moves could occur.  The problem here is that Mars will conjoin natal Mars and Pluto at that time, as well as align with Ketu.  This is likely to correspond with sudden and unwanted events which could well be associated with a slowing economy.  We can also see that on September 7th, the Sun will conjoin with natal Saturn at 20 Leo.  Saturn rules the 2nd house of wealth so that may be another clue that the economy and the currency may be in focus at that time.  China may be vulnerable to economic troubles for some time to come as Saturn is due to leave the 11th house and Scorpio in early 2017. 

Weekly Financial Forecast

Stocks were mixed last week as global markets reacted to China’s devaluation.  US markets managed to eke out a modest gain as the Dow finished at 17,477 while India’s Sensex drifted lower closing at 28,067.  In last week’s forecast, I thought we would likely see some declines in the first half of the week on the Mars-Rahu aspect and the Mercury-Neptune opposition.  This was pretty much the case as markets reacted to the devaluation on Tuesday and Wednesday.  The late week was more positive as expected on the Sun-Uranus aspect and the Venus sidereal sign change.

This week looks somewhat more positive as Jupiter and Rahu form a close alignment for several days and Mercury aligns with Venus and Uranus in the middle of the week.  Both of these patterns look positive so gains in stocks and commodities like oil and gold are more likely.  The late week is more problematic perhaps as the Sun comes under the square aspect of Saturn.

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