We’ve seen more downside recently in the NSE Nifty index as the geopolitical concerns from the Russia-Ukraine war have been piled on top of surging inflation that has forced most central banks to tighten their monetary policies.
In planetary terms, the ongoing Venus-Mars conjunction has broadly fit with some of this late February decline. Venus typically conjoins Mars about once a year and even then just for a day or two. Given the bearish symbolism of Mars, the Venus-Mars conjunction therefore only produces a brief period of volatility. But this year is unusual in that Venus has just finished its retrograde cycle (Dec 19-Jan 29) and thus has yet to return to its full forward velocity. Normally, Venus moves about 70 arc minutes per day while Mars travels about 44 arc minutes per day. Therefore, it is only now catching up with Mars and is due to conjoin exactly on March 6. It will remain in close one degree proximity until March 12, however. This ongoing affliction of Venus by Mars is therefore one reason why stocks continue to struggle here as we enter the month of March.
We will recall that January’s pullback coincided neatly with the overlapping simultaneous retrograde cycles (Jan 14-Jan 29) of Venus and Mercury. Retrograde periods of inner planets can sometimes be difficult and this is more likely to be the case when both of these planets are moving backwards through the sky.
Looking ahead, we can see another potentially important alignment in late March and well into April when Saturn forms a 90 degree alignment with Rahu (North Lunar Node). Due to their slow speeds, this tense square aspect could actually be within effective range for several weeks, depending on how other planets may activate the energy of the Saturn-Rahu square. While the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction on April 12 looks bullish, the ongoing presence of this Saturn-Rahu square warrants our attention.
February 14, 2022
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Recent planetary patterns can provide a useful template through which to see fluctuations in price. Much of the recent pullback occurred during the rare simultaneous retrograde cycles of Mercury and Venus from Jan 14 until Jan 29. The Venus retrograde cycle (Dec 19-Jan 29) actually coincided with a huge range of price as the start of the retrograde cycle marked an interim bottom. The Mercury retrograde cycle (Jan 14-Feb 4) coincided more closely with the Jan 17 interim top although stocks staged a significant rebound before the culmination of the cycle on Feb 4. The overlap of the two cycles (Jan 14-Jan 29) actually captured the bulk of the pullback fairly well.
Volatility has risen in recent days, in part due to the ongoing conjunction of Venus and Mars. While the Mars influence is somewhat bearish, this conjunction typically only lasts for a couple of days and may only have a passing effect on prices. However, here Venus is moving more slowly than normal since it has recently resumed its normal forward motion. Therefore, Venus and Mars will experience an unusually long period of conjunction. Using a strict one-degree maximum range between the two planets, the conjunction began on Feb 11 and will last until March 12. While other factors also exert an influence, this extended conjunction of Venus with Mars is nonetheless a significant headwind for the stock market.
Looking further ahead, the early April conjunction of Mars and Saturn is also something to keep an eye on. This looks like a fairly difficult combination, especially given the broader alignment with Rahu, Jupiter and Neptune.
