It’s been quite a while since I’ve written a blog. I had gotten ill and slowed down quite a bit as I recovered.  In the meantime, I started posting quick updates on Facebook on the Annai Center page in order to try and keep people informed during these crazy times. I had been planning another topic for my first blog of 2020 but, as COVID 19 took over our lives, I decided to change the topic and look into the virus via the planets.

Whenever I look at a current event via astrological influences, I first look back into time to find similarities to the current issue.  The most similar event is the influenza pandemic of 1918. As soon as I ran the chart, what jumped out were the nodal points of Rahu and Ketu. The nodal points are the location on the ecliptic path which indicate what constellation will host our bi-annual eclipses.

Eclipses indicate karma and deep emotions and are always filled with surprises.  The USA chart has a Sagittarius rising sign, and heightened activity in either Sagittarius or Gemini does indicate surprises and important challenges and changes for America.

Currently, Rahu is in Gemini, and Ketu is in Sagittarius. During the 1918 pandemic, Ketu (south node) was in the sign of Gemini while Rahu (north node) was in Sagittarius.   Astrology teaches us that the opposite constellations are always energetically connected much like a playground see-saw is connected.  The same plank of wood has seats on each end and, as some of us may have learned as children in the playground, it is impossible to play on a see-saw without someone occupying the opposite seat.

The sign of Gemini is one of the indicators of pneumonia or any type of respiratory illness.  Gemini is an air sign which indicates an airborne quality to the spreading of the virus, and it also influences the hands. Rahu is an influence of unknown illnesses as well as rapid surprise and is also an indicator of anxiety; additionally, it has a strong influence on media messaging.  Sagittarius is a sign of global influence,   government leadership, and international travel. Since Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, the planet of expansion, when this sign is strong it can expand whatever events have transpired under its influence.  In my opinion, the fact that Ketu is in Sagittarius is helpful because it will lend energy to the self-quarantining being recommended by the health care experts.   Ketu is very much an influence of restraint and isolation.  This will help counter the influence of Rahu in Gemini which has added to the air-borne contamination as well as to the fake-news and panic.

What is different from 1918 is that, with Ketu being in Gemini, many more people died as a result of pneumonia since Ketu is a life-denier.  Rahu being in Sagittarius indicates that those in charge were clueless about prevention, so the disease spread out of control much more quickly.  Of course, with the advances of medical science we have no reason to expect 50 million people to die or that America’s life expectancy level will decrease by 12 years which is what happened in 1918.   Rahu can also cause sloppy actions and over-confidence which is the last thing we need from our political and medical leaders.  In 1918 (another time when the oligarchs ruled), those in charge had a belief that the lower classes brought about their own life circumstances, and they did not do much to alleviate the problem until the flu started affecting the upper class as well.

Jyotish generally recognizes only the planets that can be seen except for the upagrahas (shadowy) of the nodal points known as Rahu and Ketu.  However, even thousands of years ago, they did know about the outer planets; generally, they were considered important only if they were bolstered in one’s natal chart by the other planets as in a close conjunction.  The outer planets of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are considered in terms of affecting the whole in transits. I’ve noticed in particular that Pluto can mark entire generations because Pluto moves so slowly.  Pluto is known for having a deep, somewhat dark, and profound effect when he is in strength with other planets.

In 1918, Pluto was conjunct the nodal points when the influenza began.  At the end of 2019 when COVID 19 first appeared in China, Pluto was conjunct the nodal points and was involved in the eclipses of January, 2020 as well as being conjunct Saturn.  This time because Saturn is the planet of truth his involvement in the pattern showed the truth of the poor leadership in our country as well as the truths of where, we as a society, can do better.  As awful as this is, it does seem to fit a pattern of something we’ve been through before.  We survived then, and we’ll survive this.

I’m not going to spend too much time on Pluto because he is the topic of the article that I am working on right now.  However, he has left Sagittarius and is now again with the planet Saturn but in the much more stable sign of Capricorn.  This energy shows the rose-colored glasses that have had to be removed from the eyes of many people.  Pluto tends to change things in a radical manner, and perhaps we are going to see people no longer believing that if we just get rid of government life will be good. Perhaps people will think carefully before they elect a trust-fund guy who had a habit of declaring bankruptcy and spent most of his life as a con artist who learned how to turn his con into a reality television show.  Saturn will hold our feet to the fire until we accept truth and facts.  Progress can be made, but only if we are objective, truthful, and willing to do the work.

What we all want to know is:  when does life go back to normal?  There are three eclipses in June and July (6/5, 6/20, 7/5),  and I suspect that we might see a spike in cases or a situation in which people who had recovered getting  sick again.  I also think that since Ketu and Rahu are both involved in formulas,” we might see a rapid development of a vaccine.  On September 19th the nodal points move to Taurus and Scorpio.  The nodal points are better placed in Taurus and Scorpio which could indicate a lessening of the crisis.  Taurus and Scorpio rule the houses of health and research in the chart of the United States and indicate that the situation is not completely over, but we can turn a corner. These placements also indicate that there could be some rapid advance in medicine for COVID 19.

In addition to the development of formulas, the nodal points being in the sixth and twelfth house also indicates changes for health policies.  After the pandemic of 1918, centralized and socialized medicine became the goal for many countries.  While Europe moved in the direction of socialized medicine, the United States went in the direction of private health insurance.  However, even the United States realized that there needed to be some sort of public health system.  Prior to 1918, health professionals had little to no influence on the policies of any country. That changed after the influenza of 1918 took 50 million lives.  I suspect that we will see positive and concrete changes in our country’s health policies.

There are always silver linings to any situation.  Historians tell us that World War I ended because of the influenza.  There is so much chaos, disconnection, and selfishness in today’s modern world that it is not possible to think that we do not need to make social changes.  This crisis shows all of us how connected we really are, and it is my hope that we take this understanding and push toward more humane policies which include everyone, not just those at the top of the heap.  A while ago someone said to me that “the health and well-being industries are the next big thing.” Let’s hope that attitude filters down to others besides those who can afford to fly to Bali for a dose of health and well-being.

As always, I trust the wisdom and the energy of the planets, and the planets themselves are giving us a wake-up call here.  We need to be aware of how bad 1918 was and be grateful that we have better medicines and some responsible leaders who are taking the right actions to slow the curve. Some of us may actually discover that down time can be a good thing and that this crisis might actually cause changes for the better.   While we take care of our physical bodies, let us all pay attention to one another and project for wellness for each and every person.