Astrology of a Pandemic

Can you feel the ground moving under your feet? Saturn is squarely in Capricorn: the sign of moveable earth, where he will be for the next 2+years. As I wrote in a previous post, this transit is globally significant, as it is the hinge between 200 year cycles. Saturn is testing all our previous hypotheses and ‘good ideas’ against the unbending laws of Nature. We seem to be failing, though I do have hope for the human capacity to evolve in the face of adversity.

Given the overwhelming evidence that a major overhaul of ‘business as usual’ is unavoidable, I’ve been inspired to take a deeper look into the astrology of the widespread sickness that has been making news everywhere. I have been aware that the timing of Saturn’s transit was a major instigating force in the spread of this sickness, and in particular in China—a country whose chart is hit hard by this transit. But I wanted to get more specific with transits alongside the timeline of the outbreak and spread of the sickness to understand the astrological mechanics and implications of this global event:

The first cases of something that looked like pneumonia but turned out to be the virus were on December 31 of 2019. This is five days after the hugely impactful solar eclipse which involved the majority of the planets in the zodiac. It was clear from this extreme configuration that the impact of the eclipse would be large. The impacts of an eclipse can last months or sometimes up to a year, making the sign they occur in sensitive. It is likely that the sickness was being contracted around this time and/or the pathogen was let loose and only diagnosed as of the 31st.

The sign of Sagittarius was the focus of this eclipse, which I wrote about on my Facebook group.. Part of what I said in that post is that “Sagittarius is the place where our individual life attaches to the bigger story, and every planet in this sign right now is attempting to work out the mechanics of that.”

We are seeing in a rather appalling way the way in which we as individuals are connected as a species to this larger story simply by way of being in a body that is susceptible to contagion. This is the more gruesome form of this insight, which ideally arrives in the form of softer insights and elated experiences, though those may still be accessible if we can keep our heads screwed on properly. The flavor of this moment reminds me of the explosion of the atom bomb and the radioactive fallout which has been found in even the most remote places on the planet. The discovery of the intricate interconnectedness of the ecosystem came in such a morbid way, as strontium 90 was showing up in breast milk.

Another task of Sagittarius is to make a connection between the tangible and intangible, the abstract and the concrete, the spiritual and the material. Foreign or “other” in general is supposed to be reconciled into one’s own being in this sign, which is shown by a Centaur which is half horse, half man. In his body is the reconciliation of the tension between the human and animal worlds. There are some rich parallels here between what is being reconciled through many bodies at this moment—a pathogen which in one way or another escaped from the body of a wild animal (evidence points at this time to it having come either from a wild game market in Wuhan or a virology lab dealing with bat coronavirus for the purposes of biological warfare). There is a certain terror that comes with the human/animal interface, as we realize how little control we have over what is wild and untamed. The virus, too, is Nature in Her ferocious form, and I believe she is pissed (and who could blame Her?)

It is interesting to consider the origin of the issue, and to understand that its seed was planted in some small mistake. Mistakes are ruled by the planet Ketu, which was one of the lunar nodes directly involved in the eclipse. Sagittarius is the sign of warfare in general which make me suspect that this mistake was related to the biological warfare, not the wild game market.

It was Frued’s fervent belief that ‘mistakes’ are caused when the unconscious contents of the mind bubble to the surface, causing us to veer from our intended (or conscious) course. This happens all the time on an individual level, but now we are wading into the world of collective karma where impacts are felt through the majority of a population as the collective unconscious begins to surface. Capricorn is the sign of the burial ground, so what has been buried in the unconscious begins to open. In the Vedic system the unconscious is basically equated with past karma.: both are forces we have little to no control over.

Here is a fascinating excerpt from an Ayurvedic text describing the root cause of pandemics, which is related to dharma or ‘unrighteous action’:

“Thus when the reigning heads of countries, cities, trade guilds etc. govern the people irresponsibly by transgressing the virtuous path, then their officers, sub-ordinates and under- subordinates, people of the city and community and traders deviate from their duties as well and propagate such unrighteous acts further. Their sinful acts perforce causes the righteous acts to disappear. Because of the disappearance of righteous acts, even the Gods desert the people living in such places. This causes seasons to get impaired in these places. There is no rain in time, or never at all, or abnormal rain occurs; the air does not blow properly; the land is afflicted, the water reservoirs dry up, and herbs lose their true properties and suffer deterioration. As a consequence, the people perish as the result of infectious contact or ingestion of polluted food and water.”

Many of what is described here is very accurate to the times. And we can see that the root cause of the disturbance is “transgression of the virtuous path” but that the reason shit really hits the fan is because “even the Gods desert the people.” Calling the Gods back then becomes an important part of navigating this tumultuous time., and/or behaving in such a way that would cause them to consider favoring us again. This seems like an appropriate time for prayer. Regardless of how this ‘pandemic’ will actually play out it is clear that there is change brewing and I suspect there will be more following on the heals of this most recent crisis, based on the transits approaching.

If we can posit the ‘seed’ of this global event at or around the eclipse (which is really just a conjecture since we may never know for certain how this all began) then the configuration of the sky is important for understanding something about the nature of the events’ unfolding. This is a principle of Vedic Astrology which considers the moment an event begins to contain the seed of its entire unfolding.

Moon was posited in Purvashadha nakshatra which is ruled by a goddess named Apas: a personification of water. The element and the deity were under considerable duress during this eclipse, meaning that they both would become sensitive. Water is historically (and spiritually) associated with purity and cleanliness. Apas is worshipped to destroy poisons and cleanse the impurities of ignorance. It strikes me as interesting that this illness is so entangled with water: being primarily spread through contact with mucous membranes, and our best protection against it being hand washing. Water is also connectivity, both practically and metaphorically. And what seems to be developing is a consciousness of connectivity, as well as a consciousness of cleanliness.

After the initial cases that seem localized mostly to China the spread of the outbreak occurred alongside the transit of Saturn on 1/24 (more on that in this article). There are other contributing factors, such as Mercury’s transit through a constellation which has to do with difficult to cure illnesses (Shatabisha nakshatra).

Later in the month (3/22) mars will move into Capricorn where he is exalted. A harsh planet such as mars being exalted is not necessarily a positive thing, as it intensifies his violent energy. This does not bode well for the situation (and also happens to create a possibility for earthquakes) through the duration of the transit which ends on 5/4. Jupiter will join the mix on 3/29 but will be debilitated, so it is not clear how much he will actually be able to help the situation.

Obviously I am not a health expert, but based on what I’m seeing I’d suggest making friends with water by staying well hydrated and performing a daily prayer to Apas. The mantra of praise for this deity is om jaladevaya namah.

There are many other immune supporting practices which can be done, as well as remedial measures to address health specifically. The Sun is the primary indicator of health in the chart, so getting some sunshine and making prayers to the sun are ways to invite health into your life. None of this can hurt, and it might help.

If you’d like some personalized guidance consider a consultation.