Every
four summers and every four winters, athletes from across the globe convene
somewhere on the planet for a tradition that goes back to 8th
century B.C. Athens: the Olympic Games.
In fact, Athens represents the Games’ deep heritage: the so-called “modern”
Olympic Games date only to 1894 A.D.,
when the International Olympic Committee
was founded in Lausanne, Switzerland.
According
to Wikipedia, the Olympics mission is
to “support the development of competitive sport by ethical and
environmentally sustainable means.” According to the Olympic Charter,
this mission embraces a robust philosophy of life and goal that’s more relevant
now than ever. Again, from Wikipedia:
· Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced
whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and
education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort,
the educational value of good example, social responsibility and respect for
universal fundamental ethical principles.
· The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the
service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a
peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.
In
the midst of today’s geopolitical tensions, it’s easy to lose track of these
lofty, Olympian principles, but lest we forget, the South Koreans did christen their 2018 Olympics the “Peace
in Motion” Games. From looking at the news, we might think that the Games
are called the “Pence
snubs Korean Peace efforts” Games.
The
situation is extremely complicated—so far, Pence hasn’t acknowledged the North
Korean delegation, including Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister and close advisor
of North Korean leader, Kim Jung-un, but Pence and South Korean president, Moon
Jae-in have reportedly chatted about the “North Korea problem” repeatedly
during the Games already, and have agreed to open talks with the Kim regime
(first, by South Korea and then, possibly,
by the U.S.). “Maximum
pressure and engagement at the same time” is what Pence is calling their
negotiating framework.
There
are rumors that Pence could agree to meet with the North Korean delegation
while they’re in Pyeongchang—high level officials such as Kim
Yong Nam (President of their Supreme People’s Assembly) are attending—but
nothing appears to be certain. Moon, the South Korean member of this tense
geopolitical “triangle,” is playing go-between, encouraging the meeting.
So
yes, it’s all very complicated, but astrologically, key planetary cycles are
involved that will probably promote action in the next couple years at most. Amazingly,
the Saturn-Pluto,
Jupiter-Pluto
and Jupiter-Saturn
cycles are all quickly waning, with new cycles commencing in 2020 (in January,
April and December, 2020 respectively). It’s hard to imagine that these cycles wouldn’t force some kind of resolution
between the U.S. and the Korean peninsula.
And,
not surprisingly, these cycles are playing out on both personal (Mike Pence) and collective
levels (in North-South Korean-U.S.
relations, and the IOC). Pence is experiencing both his Scorpio Jupiter return and his second Capricorn Saturn return these days (chart not shown), so his involvement in Korea is clearly meant to build political "capital" for himself ahead.
Collectively, I would hazard a guess that we don’t really know a lot of what’s happening between the U.S. and
the Korean peninsula—partially because we have a very incomplete picture of
what other ties North Korea has in
the world—and partially because our Tweeter-in-Chief says one thing and does another
so often that we’re denied a clear picture of our politics abroad, in general.
Then
there was the stony, dark look on Pence’s face at the Opening Ceremonies on
Friday night, in the midst of a ceremony that brought North and South Korea
together as one team for at least 17 days of Olympic “Peace in Motion.” You
wouldn’t know from Pence’s demeanor that anything
positive was happening, and frankly, his presence there was disturbing. If he
wasn’t in a position to set aside his political “deal-making” face for that
brief interlude—just long enough to promote the cause of peace and harmony
represented by the Games—maybe he should have simply bowed out?
No,
the word from D.C. was that North
Korea was trying to propagandize
the situation and drive a wedge between the U.S. and South Korea, and Pence was
clearly skittish about Kim’s sister hand- delivering an invitation for high-level
meetings to Moon Jae-in. Given all their economic and political differences,
the North and South aren’t likely to join hands and sing Kum-bah-yah after one
meeting, but a little speculation is called for here. What if North Korea did offer
to drop its nuclear program in return for North-South reunification?
![]() |
Chinese Chairman Mao-tse tung |
Maybe
after all these long decades of a Maoist-style Communist government, the North
wants some of the “good life” it sees in Asia’s booming economies?
Could
the two Koreas head the U.S. off at the proverbial “pass?” It’s happened before
in other tangled, “triangulated” situations—most notably, Viet Nam.
Clearly,
this situation is not just complicated, but super-precarious.
So,
back in Pyeongchang’s Olympic stadium, Pence’s stony scowl and lack of simple
sociability dragged media attention away from the positive, “Peace in Motion” Olympic
message and back into the muck and mire of Trump’s alternate “games”—cranking
up the sanctions pressure on the North, while keeping the South on a short
lead. What’s the point, in the end?
The
stated purpose is to force North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions once
and for all, and on the face of it, that’s a laudable cause. However, the
divided Korean peninsula represents some of the last vestiges of a post-WWII
Cold War order that’s long overdue for a final act, and (not to be
underestimated), astrologically, it’s
time. A nuclear threat has a way of
forcing everyone to pay attention to a reality that has become untenable. Besides,
Saturn,
Jupiter and Pluto are getting impatient.
It
appears that both North and South Koreans are feeling that it’s time for some
kind of resolution. As we’ll see, astrologically,
these two artificially-created nations have little innate reason to remain divided: if Korea hadn’t been annexed by
Japan in 1910 as a consequence of the Sino-Japanese War,
it probably never would have found itself on the “spoils of WWII” chopping
block in 1945. Instead, it was treated as “booty” by those negotiating Japan’s
surrender and divvied up between the Soviets (North) and the U.S (South) along
the 39th parallel, or DMZ.
Clearly,
their polarized North-South ideologies have
been nurtured by outside Cold War players (Soviet Union/Russia, China and U.S.)
and complicated by economic alliances and commitments. Given the tensions of
the past year, however, they may be realizing that they can overcome at least
some divisions and stop being so vulnerable to outside influences. The U.S. runs the risk of becoming the
“problem” here, and Pence seems to know it. Or, so that scowl on his face
suggests.
North meets South
Nicholas
Campion’s Book of World Horoscopes (BWH) makes
an amazing contribution to mundane
astrology because it traces most major nations’ histories back centuries and provides
multiple charts for various stages in each nation’s evolution. Korea is a
notable exception: no doubt, specific research that includes event dates and
times can be difficult to access in that region. In any case, the book provides
two charts, one for North and one for South Korea—both celebrating their
independence in 1948 after three years under their respective Cold War
overseers.
This
separate, 2-state independence did not proceed smoothly, however, and was
followed closely by the so-called Korean War—1950-53—which
explains to large extent why we (and the other Cold War powers, including
China) became so entangled in that region.
There
is more to Korea’s history, however,
as reported by Wikipedia:
Korea emerged as a singular political
entity in 676 AD, after centuries of conflict among the Three Kingdoms of Korea, which were unified
as Unified
Silla to the south and Balhae to the north. Unified Silla divided into three separate
states during the Later Three Kingdoms period. Goryeo, which had
succeeded Goguryeo,
defeated the two other states and united the Korean
Peninsula. Around the same time, Balhae collapsed and its last crown prince
fled south to Goryeo. Goryeo (also spelled as KoryĆ), whose name
developed into the modern exonym "Korea", was a highly cultured state that
created the world's first metal movable
type in 1234.”
From
this perspective, the present situation on the Korean peninsula seems like a
cruel travesty. IMHO, everything that history has taught us about trying to
impose regime change (i.e., Iraq), or about trying to steer a sovereign
nation’s destiny (Viet Nam) comes into play here. As “Peace in Motion” seems to
be saying, after 7 decades of forced division, North and South Korea will find
ways to mend fences with each other if the only alternative is a permanent
state of fear and anxiety. Will they be allowed to do so?
As alluded
to earlier, today’s astrological cycles suggest that there’s a window of
opportunity for Korea to resolve its dilemma and restructure itself in some
way. In fact, there may just be a “cosmic ultimatum” afoot, with the critical
cycles involving Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto finishing up in 2020. To see
why these cycles are particularly important, let’s examine a triwheel for both
Koreas against the Olympic opening. The national charts are taken from Campion’s
BWH, Charts #179 (North) and #180
(South), pp. 179-180. The Olympics opening ceremony chart reflects information
in the news.
Triwheel #1: (inner wheel) South Korea, August 15, 1948, 12:00
p.m. DST, Seoul, S. Korea; (middle wheel) North Korea,
September 10, 1948, 12:00 p.m. ST, P’yongyang, NW, N. Korea; (outer wheel) Pyeongchang
Olympics, February 9, 2018, 8:00 p.m. ST, Pyeongchang, S. Korea. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.
Leo
is key. Clearly, all the Leo energy in South Korea’s independence
(inner wheel) placements set that nation up for a stronger, more vital outcome
over time, but first they had to endure Pluto’s “trial by fire” as it transited
within orb of their radix Sun-Mercury-Saturn from 1950-53 (the
Korean War). This same transit would have impacted the North’s radix Saturn
as well, so both “halves” suffered greatly. Both were heavily
influenced by outside forces—the basic reason for the conflict was that each
side claimed it was the “legitimate” government of the entire peninsula, a
position promoted by their respective Cold War overseers.
The
Soviets and the Chinese supported the North’s efforts; the U.S. and some U.N.
forces supported the South. Unfortunately, it all ended in stalemate with an Armistice
agreement that formalized the 38th Parllel DMZ boundary between
North and South—a grim reminder today that there’s unfinished business. These
two entities were basically crushed during the war and had to reinvent
themselves after the armistice—Pluto’s transit in identity-related Leo was right on target. With such an
influential Pluto, it also made sense that there was such heavy outside
influence on both players.
Interesting
note: when the war commenced in mid-June 1950, Saturn (Virgo) was
transiting within orb of conjoining the North’s Virgo Sun and square the
South’s Sagittarius Jupiter!
The
Saturn-Pluto cycle’s key role. This tale of two Koreas is
truly a Saturn-Pluto story at heart: this potent geopolitical cycle had
just commenced anew in August 1947 at 13+ Leo, ushering in the Cold War era. By
that time, the post-WWII negotiations were complete and to the victors had gone
the “spoils.” Unfortunately, whole nations were torn into pieces and doled out
in the process, thus destroying the
original, intact entities. “Death by borders” (dismemberment?) is an apt
keyword phrase for Saturn-Pluto, but that trivializes the toxic strategic
entanglements that resulted from these divided arrangements.
The
Cold War evolved around this tangled mass of questionable alliances and
arrangements, all intricately pitted against each other , and all with the
threat of atomic “Mutually-Assured
Destruction” hanging over everyone’s heads. Is it any wonder that North Korea’s
Kim family decided along the way that developing nuclear weapons was the only
way to assure their own security?
Typically,
we see great social and structural changes made from one Saturn-Pluto cycle to the
next, however this Cold War cycle didn’t really move the two Koreas any closer
to reunification. Any aspirations in that direction also seemed out of reach
during the next cycle that dawned in
Nov. 1982 in late Libra. The two Koreas weren’t quite ready to reunify: even
though the new cycle presented opportunities, launching sextile their respective Leo Saturns, their goals were focused
elsewhere: in the South,
on building one of the world’s strongest “Asian Tiger” economies through
high-tech innovation and prudent trade agreements; in the North, on consolidating
the Kim-Il-sung family’s hold on the people and establishing the state’s more
militaristic (Virgo Sun) “self-reliant socialist” identity.
Under
classical Communist influence, the North was determined to produce whatever its
people needed, with as little dependence upon imports as possible, which has
made for difficulties.
By
the time the 1982 Saturn-Pluto cycle launched, the North’s economy had begun to
stagnate as a consequence of its growing international isolation.
Unfortunately, the Kim regime—fast becoming a “cult of personality”-style
dictatorship—took the repressive road forward, rather than reaching out more
cooperatively. Both Korean charts
features a strong Sagittarius Jupiter; the South uses it for its strong global
outreach (P’yeongchang is its second Olympics);
the North apparently uses it to nurture its “self reliant” image.
![]() |
North Korea leader, Kim Jong-Un |
The
different tones set by the two sides are also reflected in their respective Mars
positions, as well: the South’s Libra Mars (conjunct Neptune) is
perhaps more idealistic and diplomatic, though less aggressive militarily; the
North’s Scorpio Mars (conjunct So. Node) is fiercely self-protective
and untrusting. The So. Node connection tends to drag that regime back into
isolationism when their people’s interests might be better served by a softer,
more Venusian approach (Taurus No. Node, disposed by Leo Venus).
On
the other hand, the South’s Venus (Cancer) sextiles their Taurus
No. Node, reflecting that taking care of their material needs has been
a relatively smooth task. Both nations have the potential for economic and
geopolitical growth, with both Jupiters trine Plutos (Sagittarius-Leo).
The starkly different results are the product of ideology, leadership and
decades of choosing to follow wildly different paths.
So,
now this 1982 cycle is quickly waning, and the new 2020 cycle will kick off at 22°+Capricorn, inconjunct
S. Korea’s Sun-Mercury-Saturn (Leo) and trine N. Korea’s Sun (Virgo). The
final years of a cycle are intended for finishing old business, clearing out
outworn realities and making way for the new, so it’s possible that if the two
Koreas don’t pursue these objectives willingly,
change will happen, ready or not.
In
fact, in the outer wheel of this triwheel, we see Opening Ceremony Saturn
(Capricorn) applying pressure on both Koreas to get with this clearing
out program between now and 2020, so maybe this time around, they sense that
it’s time to get serious about resolving their issues? Let’s examine the transits more closely.
Reunify or else?
It’s
a minor miracle that the North and South fielded a unified team at the Games, but
the initiative makes sense in light of the pressure from the Trump
administration. When Trump first took office with his “America First” agenda,
lobbing brutish insults at our traditional allies, the South Koreans were
initially unsure that they could count on the U.S. going forward. Maybe that
insecurity worked out, in a twisted way, to break up the inertia and promote
North-South dialogue. They have the
most to lose, obviously, from hostilities breaking out on their peninsula. But
this initial breakthrough at the Games is far from the answer.
Interchart T-Square: Ceremony Saturn (Capricorn) opposes S. Korea
Venus-Uranus (Cancer-Gemini) and N. Korea Uranus (Cancer); this axis squares S.
Korea Neptune (Libra)-N. Korea Mercury-Neptune (Libra). As
suggested above, transiting Saturn is tightening the screws on
both parties, and since this is a cardinal T-Square, some kind of action is
called for. The pressure is only enhanced when we see that the transiting Saturn/Pluto
(midpoint, Capricorn) also squares S. Korea’s Mars (Libra), along with
N. Korea’s Mercury-Neptune.
Clearing
the way for a serious restructuring of their relationship is in order: the
North’s “charm diplomacy” and the South’s decision to string along, hoping for
talks, suggests that the two parties are positioning themselves for later, more
serious negotiations. The North is displaying some mental shrewdness that may
or may not be trustworthy (Mercury-Neptune square transiting Saturn/Pluto);
the South is choosing the path of diplomatic action for now (Libra
Mars square transiting Saturn/Pluto), whether the Trump
administration is ready for that or not.
In
February, 2019, both North and South will experience their Jupiter return, as this “Big
Guy” works its way through home sign Sagittarius, en route to its April, 2020 date
with Pluto
at 24°+Capricorn. If other
cooperative efforts are in the works by then, this should be a nice interlude
when things start moving more smoothly—perhaps on their own volition, rather
than at the behest of outside forces.
They
may be operating under some delusions, however: transiting Neptune will be hovering
within orb of squaring their Jupiters from Pisces, and in fact, Neptune
will still be opposite N. Korea’s Sun (this has been true for at least
a year), which reflects the insecurity—masked by bravado—that they’re
undoubtedly feeling and will continue to feel.
What about the specter of war?
Trump
probably isn’t bragging about reupholstering our nuclear arsenal just to hear himself talk, so it’s naĂŻve
to think that the Korean peninsula (or any
of us) can rest easy about how big his "Button" is quite yet. He thrives
on chaos and secrecy, is determined to make nuclear weapons more “usable” (i.e.,
smaller and more portable), and is not to be outdone when it comes to
saber-rattling, so the months ahead could be dicey, at best. War is a great
distraction from domestic issues, too (like pesky investigations), and a great
way to concentrate even more power in
Executive hands, so no, we’re not out of the woods.
Uranus
is finishing out its final degrees in Aries over the next
few months, entering Taurus in May, so if something is going to happen, I suspect it will commence during these last Aries
weeks. It retrogrades back into Aries in November (2018) and will be there into
March 2019; these periods are also potentially volatile. That said, Uranus
in Taurus can also shake things up and wreak havoc on everyday life; it’s all
about how it’s interacting with the players and their situation. In the final
degrees of Aries, Uranus trines both Koreas’ Saturns, with S. Korea’s Sun-Mercury
pulled into the fray.
Of
course, they’ve been living with this volatile Uranus for years now, as
it’s been transiting their Leo points, so this placement alone may not be
enough to trigger anything new. As Uranus transits closer to N. Korea’s
No.
Node (Taurus), things may get actually get livelier. The North may be reeling under the
weight of Trump administration sanctions, and we may see a reaction.
Jupiter-Saturn have their say
A potentially
hopeful new Jupiter-Saturn cycle will launch at the end of 2020—at 0°+ Aquarius! This
is an exciting prospect for a variety of reasons (many described in this 11/12/2017
article), but what is it likely to mean for the Korean situation? The actual
cycle launch opposes N. Korea’s Venus (Leo) and squares its Mars (Scorpio).
Uranus is involved, of course, ruling Aquarius, hovering retrograde and
turning this configuration into a fixed grand square (it’ll be opposite N.
Korea’s Mars and square its Venus). This is significant.
Will
negotiations (if any) designed to jumpstart a new order on the Korean peninsula
be caught between a “rock and a hard place” at this time? Will fixed stubbornness
or hubris stand in the way of a resolution and a fresh path forward? Will this
intransigence simply cause more stand-off, or will it trigger a volatile
response that tosses everything in the air? My sense is that something new will come out of this
cosmic transition, but what that will look like is a wait-and-see.
Final thoughts
If
Trump, his military advisors and the State Department are really looking for a peaceful solution to the nuclear standoff with
North Korea, why not focus on defusing the situation by helping the two Koreas coexist
more constructively on their peninsula? Wouldn’t
that help the North feel less threatened, vulnerable and victimized, and hence,
less eager to attack? Maybe even to the point of giving up their nuclear
program? The Cosmos is clearly steering the two halves towards a resolution of
their ineffectual 1950s armistice by dint of important cycles: it’s simply time for something to give. The key here
is, will that something be achieved through violence, or by peaceful means?
Koreans
are the ones who have to live with each other across that DMZ, after all. On
the other hand, if our intentions in the region are more “complicated” than
Trump’s crew is admitting, then we need to understand what’s really at stake,
and who, ultimately, are the stakeholders. It’s far from
clear at this moment.
These
are issues that our Congress needs to take responsibility for understanding and
communicating clearly and transparently. And Congress needs to take back its Constitutional right to issue any
and all declarations of war, if and only if they are seriously warranted.
War-making was never meant to be an Executive decision alone, with Congress
simply rubber-stamping every demand the White House decides to make in
conjunction with “his generals.”
If
we’ve learned anything in the past 60 years of war-making, it’s that motives
and pretexts matter. We know that war profiteering is real, and that karmic
comeuppances are real, as well—the Saturn-Pluto cycle covers a lot of
territory. One person should no longer be left to say when it’s time to wage
war because of legitimate security concerns—it’s too easy for “national security”
to be twisted and perverted as a justification for war.
This
latter point has never been more critical: Trump’s natal Mars (Leo, chart not
shown) tightly conjoins the late Leo points in both North and South Korea’s
charts, suggesting that a lot of the insults and threats he lobs at Kim Jong-un
are not just Trump being a macho blowhard, but are heavily fixed ties that could also be goaded into something more serious.
Trump
is way too proud of his pugilistic approach to every challenge, so the
so-called “Bloody
Nose” strike his military chiefs have been mulling over could be too
tempting to pass up for him. The title sort of downplays how recklessly
provocative—and ultimately illogical—such a strike would be, like Trump’s just
planning to take a quick jab at Kim for the sake of proving who’s who.
IMHO,
any action that smacks of Trump’s Mars
would be better avoided because it will never be totally free of hubris. “Pride
goes before the fall” is not just a
catchy phrase—it’s astrologically astute. Mars may get a “jab” in, but the
late Leo Saturns in both Korean charts will prevail in the end, and will
probably act more rationally and with greater dignity. Their interests may not
accord perfectly with ours in the end, so the rational thing to do is to engage in smart diplomacy (Saturn
is dignified in Libra).
Instead,
Trump likes to paint Kim as a “madman,” and even though Kim has clearly proven
to be ruthless and oppressive in many regards, his willingness
to reach out and send his people to participate in one united Korean team at
the Olympics was far from mad. It may have been just a wily strategic move, but
it may mark a type of breakthrough. If Trump would use his Mars to energize a
dignified, mutually-agreeable “dĂ©tente” between the Koreas, everyone would gain.
Kudos
to our great Olympic athletes!!
Raye
Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and former educator. A graduate of
the Faculty of Astrological Studies (U.K.), Raye focuses on mundane,
collective-oriented astrology, with a particular interest in current affairs,
culture and media, the astrology of generations, and public concerns such as
education and health. Several of her articles on these topics have been
featured in The Mountain Astrologer and other publications over the years.
She is
also available to read individual charts—contact her at: robertsonraye@gmail.com.
© Raye Robertson 2018. All
rights reserved.