Note: This article was originally posted on my old website on April 26, 2017. The first two sentences are in that context. There is no forthcoming Mundane Monthly, but articles will continue to be posted regularly.
I've noticed when writing for the latest Mundane Monthly (coming to you in mere hours), a familiar astrological pattern was beginning to develop.
Mars, the planet of war, happens to be traveling through a part of the zodiac known in the astrology world as the Nuclear Axis. Before I continue, I'd like to advise whoever is reading this to please NOT PANIC. It takes far more than a single planet on the Nuclear Axis to trigger a nuclear war. It would take several planets and angles interacting with those parts of the zodiac before we would even come close.
Also, planets cross the Nuclear Axis quite often without anything happening.
In other words, it's not going to happen right now. I shall explain.
The chart for the first nuclear reaction (see below), shows Uranus and Saturn conjunct in the first decan of Gemini, opposing a stellium of the Sun, Mercury and Venus at 10-14 Sagittarius. Therefore, anything from 2 to 14 degrees of Gemini and Sagittarius are part of the Nuclear Axis, although based on subsequent events we can stretch this to 0-16 degrees. In particular, 8 Gemini seems to be a real trigger point for nuclear incidents in the world, and have been since 1942.
Not at all coincidentally, the US natal Uranus is at 8 Gemini. It is no wonder that the US is considered a leader in nuclear weaponry.
Now, a brief look at nuclear history of the world. A list of some milestone incidents (more to possibly be added later):
December 2, 1942: First Nuclear Reaction
Uranus at 2 Gemini
Saturn at 8 Gemini
Sun at 10 Sagittarius
Mercury at 11 Sagittarius
Venus at 14 Sagittarius
August 6, 1945: Hiroshima Bombing
Mars at 9 Gemini, square Mercury (about to station retrograde) at 4 Virgo.
Uranus at 16 Gemini, at the Midheaven in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing, also square the Ascendant at the time.
August 29, 1949: First Russian Nuclear Test
Sun at 5 Virgo, square the Nuclear AxisSaturn at 9 Virgo, also square the Nuclear AxisMidheaven at 13 Gemini, square the Sun-Saturn conjunction in Virgo.
October 30, 1961: Tsar Bomba Test
Pluto (planet of extremes, and Tsar Bomba is the largest nuclear detonation in history) at 9 Virgo, conjunct the Saturn of Russia's first nuclear test and square the Nuclear Axis.
March 28, 1979: Three Mile Island Partial Meltdown
Saturn at 8 Virgo, square the Nuclear Axis
Midheaven at 14 Sagittarius
April 26, 1986: Chernobyl Disaster
Saturn at 8 Sagittarius
Chiron at 11 Gemini
Jupiter at 14 Pisces
This resulted in a loose T-square between the three planets. The Saturn-Chiron opposition at this axis is particularly troublesome, and Jupiter's role was clearly to expand on this trouble (also proving that Jupiter isn't all fun and games). As you can see, it takes a lot of planetary action to trigger major events such as the Chernobyl meltdown.
1998-2001: Multiple nuclear scares and accidents, including Pakistan's first nuclear test, a war between Pakistan and India that threatened to go nuclear, and post-9/11 nuclear terrorism worries.
It was right around the turn of the millennium when both Pluto and Chiron transited the Sagittarius side of the nuclear axis, with Saturn crossing the Gemini side in 2001-02, and with those transits came a time when nuclear news was rather common.
May 28, 1998 - Pakistan's first Nuclear Test
Mars at 3 Gemini
Sun at 6 Gemini
Pluto at 6 Sagittarius
Note: The Sun and Pluto were in an almost exact opposition to one another at the time - 12 minutes apart. Add Mars to the mix, and BOOM! Note that India had tested nuclear weapons about two weeks prior, and that Pakistan continued testing through May 30. However, the May 28 test was a milestone.
May 31, 1999 - Pakistan threatens nuclear war in midst of border war with India
Sun at 9 Gemini
Pluto at 9 Sagittarius
Chiron at 0 Sagittarius
Mercury at 16 Gemini
Note how Mercury is at the same degree as the Midheaven at Hiroshima during the 1945 bombing. Opposite the Sun and Pluto, it's no surprise that a verbal threat of nuclear war would occur here. Astrology doesn't lie!
September 30, 1999 - Tokaimura Nuclear Power Plant Accident
Moon at 8 Gemini
Pluto at 8 Sagittarius
Ascendant at 7 Sagittarius
Chiron at 0 Sagittarius
September 11, 2001 - 9/11 attacks; non-nuclear, but triggered public fears of nuclear terrorism (i.e. "dirty bombs") that were portrayed in the media for many months.
Pluto at 12 Sagittarius
Saturn at 14 Gemini
As you can see, this horrible incident was more of a flirtation with the nuclear axis, hanging out at the outer edges. It was just enough to stoke fears in a big way.
October 9, 2006 - North Korea's first nuclear test (thought by many scientists to have been largely unsuccessful):
Uranus at 11 Pisces (square the Nuclear Axis)
11th house cusp (ruled and squared by Uranus, representing hopes and dreams) at 13 Gemini
5th house cusp (self-expression) at 13 Sagittarius
Mercury (communications) in Scorpio (explosions) opposite Moon at Midheaven (public status)
Neptune opposite ascendant (deception, spin, lack of clarity)
This shows that even nuclear incidents that don't directly conjunct the Nuclear Axis can still connect to the axis in other ways. The above configuration tells me that the Kim regime really hoped to make themselves look big and powerful by showing the world that they can detonate a nuclear weapon. It also tells me that they were far too confident in thinking that the test would be a roaring success, and to their surprise, it wasn't. Still, Kim Jong-Il tried to pass it off as a success.
The next test, universally considered a success, has stronger contacts to the Nuclear Axis.
May 25, 2009 - Second North Korea Nuclear Test
Midheaven axis at 11 Sagittarius/Gemini
Sun at 3 Gemini
Moon at 5 Gemini
Saturn at 14 Virgo
Here, the Midheaven axis lines up with the Nuclear Axis. A New Moon occurred only hours before at 3 Gemini, and the Moon had moved two degrees closer to the MC axis by detonation time. Saturn was square the axis from Virgo, also prominent in larger nuclear events.
March 12, 2011 - Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Disaster begins (using 15:36 local time, when the first explosion at Unit 1 occurred)
Mars at 13 Pisces
Moon at 12 Gemini
Uranus entered Aries several hours prior to the explosion, and was still at 0° 0' Aries at 15:36.
Alone, Mars in Pisces square the Moon in Gemini wouldn't really qualify for a major incident, except that Uranus, in all of his shock and awe, was crossing over the extremely powerful Aries point at the time. Uranus represents the accident, Mars in Pisces is (in part) the tsunami that occurred the day before, affecting the plant (Neptune at 29 Aquarius opposite the ascendant at the time of the tsunami is the other part), and the Moon was on top of the Nuclear Axis. These planetary placements together were enough to cause a major radiological disaster.
There's an obvious pattern that has developed:
In all cases, there is an outer planet somehow involved: Saturn, Uranus, Neptune or Pluto. At least two planets conjunct the nuclear axis (0-16 degrees of Gemini/Sagittarius, seemingly strongest from 8-14 degrees). If an outer planet isn't conjunct the axis, it is either square the axis or conjunct an unusual position of power such as the Aries Point.Nuclear near-misses, such as failed tests, will sometimes connect to the axis. Threats (and this is an important one, hence the bold face font) connect to the axis just as easily as actual physical events.
Now, why would threats of nuclear attack connect to the nuclear axis? I think it's pretty simple. Gemini, on one side of the axis, is ruled by Mercury. Gemini is about words, speaking, thoughts, and also duplicity. Gemini is known as the 'trickster' sign.
Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter, is also a highly communicative sign, and it is one without much of a filter. If it were a movie, it would be "Say Anything", but it would be the version where John Cusack shows up at Ione Skye's house with that boombox playing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" in the first and only scene, and they get together immediately and live happily ever after, without the previous 90 minutes of cinematic conflict. Sagittarius just comes out with it without apprehension, because Sagittarius can get away with it most of the time.
And guess who was born during a lunar eclipse, with his natal Sun at 22 Gemini and his natal Moon at 21 Sagittarius (thankfully, just far enough away from the Nuclear Axis)? That's right. The 45th President of the United States. We're all pretty familiar with his style of communications.
Therefore, the Nuclear Axis falling in this part of the zodiac means that while strong configurations can certainly reflect physical incidents, for the most part it adds up to lots of bloviation. As you will see in May 2017's installment of The Mundane Monthly, we have another nuclear window opening up this spring that should be, once again, just talk. Many will be frightened, and hopefully this article brings some peace to those of us among those ranks. (I have natal Saturn at 7 Gemini, Moon at 14 Gemini, and Neptune at 4 Sagittarius. Guess what my number one biggest childhood fear was?)
Part II of this article (coming soon, really!) will focus on future planetary interactions with the Nuclear Axis.
This page will likely be updated so that I can add links, charts, and more milestones.
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