It is impossible to ignore the shattering events in eastern Europe these last few weeks. Vladimir Putin, isolated autocrat animated by a ‘Lost Cause’ narrative, sent in the tanks, missiles and an apparently under prepared army, to subdue a large independent nation with a popular democratically elected government.
He had his reasons. They were presented to the world and the Russian people in a tumble of Orwellian Doublespeak: the invaded nation isn’t a nation at all, but actually a ‘little Russia’ held in thrall by Nazified agents of western interest. Then, like every autocrat before him, he eliminated access to anything but state controlled narrative and criminalized reporting of contrary fact. His reasons did not have to make sense or match facts, they just were.
If the reported birth time for Vladimir Putin is accurate, he is a man with four planets in Libra in the Twelfth House. Normally, Libran interests are for balance, negotiation and fair play; however, in the Twelfth they can assume the character of unresolved grievance, a sense of great injustice around ‘that which has fallen apart’ – in this case the former Soviet Union. Behind the scenes the trained KGB agent gathers information: who are allies, who are enemies? Plans evolve as the circle of advisors contracts. Putin’s public face is his Scorpio Rising, augmented by Venus in that same sign in the First House. We have seen the images – a physically fit martial artist, unsmiling ‘sexy beast’ of dangerous unpredictability. We are meant to be intimidated, this is the face of Pluto.
Putin is seventy and of the generation whose Pluto is in Leo, sign of playfulness, warmth, joyful creativity and humor. In this sign of the well loved child, Pluto evokes fearful tension between Innocence and Experience; love and domination. A sympathetic listener might lean in to ask, “What happened when you were a child?” Whatever the answer, the world is now shaken by implacable pain.
This pain has now inflicted real suffering, with more, no doubt, to come. It has also miscalculated. Ukrainians are not welcoming tanks with open arms. The people do not heap bouquets into the arms of soldiers, however confused, for liberating them from who or how Ukrainians chose to be. The vulnerable flee to the borders for safety, if they can, leaving behind those who are totally outgunned, yet prepared to fight. The world watches, with newly discovered flags of yellow and blue, as millions of lives are profoundly disrupted, more environmental devastation wrought and economic activity further disordered. Life has just gotten harder for so many, including Russian citizens who are utterly in the dark. Global petrochemical politics, nuclear reactors operated at gun point, bodies unsafe to bury; it is all Pluto, Lord of the Underworld stepping out of the shadow.
But, deep breath — this is a tale of two leaders. There is more to this than Pluto.
Phyllis Hill Astrology 