Sochi Winter Olympics 2014 ? Threats a real and present danger
In a couple of weeks time the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia get underway with the opening ceremony. If you look on a map, Sochi is not so far from the very unstable region of Chechnya and I would imagine that the authorities in Russia are very aware of the potential problems that this could pose. This was brought into very sharp focus as the Slovenian Olympic Association were sent a terrorist threat just today. Now I took the liberty of having a look at the moment for the start of the Games (the official website has a countdown clock) and I would suggest that the Russian authorities stay very much on their mettle.
This is a chart for the moment that the Olympics get going in a couple of weeks time. Just on the basic chart you will see that the moment of the opening has a Leo Ascendant and an athletic Aries Midheaven which is very apt for a grand brash sporting ceremony however just look at the ruling planets here. Leo is ruled by the Sun and this Aquarian Sun is being squared by Saturn which is very downbeat, serious and could hint at some sort of loss. The other angle, the Aries Midheaven is ruled by Mars and it is receiving a quindecile from erratic and unpredictable Uranus. This is a risky angle for the start of an event. Certainly it represents the speed, danger and chances that the competitors will be taking in their quest for the ultimate prize, a gold medal. The thing is Uranus is a revolutionary influence and as you will be aware, this part of Russia in the south has been a hotbed for terrorism and civil war in recent years and this has spread north on the odd occasion to the Russian capital Moscow. Mars quindecile Uranus has the potential for violence, terror and unexpected shocks.
Uranus on this chart also is under huge pressure through a t-square focused on it, with it receiving squares from international and faith based Jupiter, destructive, secretive and controlling Pluto and from social Venus. May I point out that Aquarius, the sign associated with Uranus rules the 7th house of open enemies and also the 8th house of death and enforced change. This to me is a potentially dangerous picture especially the Jupiter opposition to Pluto squaring onto Uranus as it can suggest unexpected religiously based brutality aimed for a global audience. There is more too. The Moon representing the people on the day is in Gemini and it receives a nasty set of square aspects from Chiron (wounds), Neptune (deceit and disruptive collective action) and a rather reflective Mercury which will have just turned retrograde all in that hidden 8th house. As ever with Olympic Games the spectre of cheating and drugs (ruled by Neptune) could hang over the performances. The Moon also will be in a quindecile aspect to Saturn as well providing a potentially downbeat signature for the days to come.
Ok have a look at this chart. Here we have the Russian 1991 natal chart I use against the transiting planets for the Sochi Games. The start of the Games sees transiting Saturn exactly conjunct to the Russian natal Venus (exact 0:00 degree orb) as well as being conjunct Pluto, the planet that rules the public Midheaven and Saturn will also be square to the Russian Leo Ascendant. When Saturn hits either the top of the chart or the chart ruler, there is a great weight of responsibility on the shoulders of those involved or those leading the nation. I wonder if with the Ascendant and Midheaven being impacted as well as natal Venus and Pluto sitting in the 4th and ruling the 4th, the house of the opposition to the administration, there will be suffocating security and controls in place to try and prevent some disruption to these Games? Maybe this picture shows loss and unfortunate incidents; both are highly possible.
That Uranus, Jupiter Pluto Venus t-square I mentioned in the Sochi Chart natal sits bang on the Russian Nodal axis impacting the natal Uranus and Neptune conjunction sitting in the 5th house of sport. Maybe there is potential here for glory and fame combined with a lot of unexpected shocks as winners, but there also remains the potential for the darker side of this t-square to come out too.
Now I have been tracking these Games for a while since the last Solar Eclipse happened on the 3rd November 2013. That solar eclipse was conjunct to Saturn and Mercury and it saw the close Uranus Pluto t-square as well. When I relocated the eclipse to Sochi the effect is quite dramatic. Look how close that the Uranus Pluto square is to the Ascendant and Midheaven and Uranus sits exactly on the Ascendant at the point of a fearsome yod aspect. This picture is also very similar to the one for Moscow too. Uranus on an angle does not guarantee revolutionary and disruptive action but I tell you this, I think it highly possible that something nasty and horrible could happen affecting these Olympics. In graphic form, just look at the AstroCartography map of the eclipse and you will see the Uranus Ascendant line (in yellow) going straight through the heart of Sochi and the Pluto line (in red) cutting close to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. Coincidence, or a prediction of the future?
As an Astrologer who does look at the eclipses very closely and focuses on international events, I feel very uneasy about the picture that presents itself here in front of me. The planets to my eyes seem unsettled, are making difficult angles to each other and the ever present Uranus Pluto square sits in the back of my mind. The fact that Sochi is holding an event that the whole of the world will be focused on will focus minds. This city is close to an area of Russia that has seen in the past a great amount of problems, and it seems to me too juicy a target for the more militant and resentful of the anti Russian population of that region to ignore. I hope that the Olympics go off smoothly and that they will be remembered for superb athletic achievements, but don?t be in the least bit surprised if the headlines get swallowed up by far more unsavoury incidents.
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