Mubarak and Egypt's Unrest

The Sphinx and Great Pyramid of Giza

photo credited to Hamish2k (2005)

So I was doing what I do with the news on this past Wednesday...(always a risky thing)...when across the wires came news of unrest in Egypt. Preceded by unrest in Tunesia, perhaps it was unfair of my brain to react to Egypt but not Tunisia, but...

To Tunisia, my apologies. I do happen to be more familiar with Egypt. I've studied its history, its pantheon, its landmarks. I've even been there.

This unrest evolved into full fledged trouble which had the Egyptian government closing down some (if not all) international communications as Thursday became Friday with protests scheduled for Friday the 28th. 

For those who don't know where Tunisia is...it's a fairly small country, not right next door to Egypt but only a country away as you get on your Arabian stallion (or camel) and head west.

Egypt appeals to most people because of its history - land of Pharaohs, pyramids, Cleopatra...but there's far more to Egypt than just that. For one, Egypt is a pretty big place: at 1,001,450 square kilometers, it's twice the size of Spain. Four times the size of the UK. It's actually the 38th largest nation around at the moment.

(Stand by...that world map keeps being redrawn...)

On June 18, 1953, Egypt became the Arab Republic of Egypt - the Egypt we know today.

Arab Republic of Egypt - June 18, 1853

(national chart/set for noon at Cairo)

The Sun of this chart is at 26 Gemini - in exact opposition (direct dynamic) with the Galactic Center. What this suggests is that Egypt is best when it's not a bystander in this world, but a nation which is a participant in the greater world, working to build that world.

You know...sort of like the whole world is a pyramid? There's a whole sector of astrological theory devoted to 'legacies' of say...a national chart. Egypt started with pharaohs, moved on to kings, and now has a president. Nations are 'reborn.'

When they are reborn, there are still traces of old charts which still operate as 'shadows' in the background, as got mentioned in Chart USA article series (LINK). And when it comes to people, let's not even think that charts die when we leave this life. I have yet to see the horoscope of an author (for instance) which doesn't have a big transit when after their death, a movie gets made out of their book.

And if time/space is a continuous fabric and E=mc2'd is the contiguous definition of What Is, those things should all be true.

Which makes us...well, sort of all as eternal as the pyramids. Or the drifting sands of Egypt.

 Map of Egypt

But enough of that romance! Gemini being a sign of choice and being at the top of this chart with fixed star Betelgeuse right atop the Midheaven, Egypt reaches for the choices to be made. But there are things in the way.

Generally, when we look to see what's 'in the way' of achievements, we look to objects in the 9th house of the chart. There we find Juno - a firm, nurturing hand which, being in orb of conjunction with Aldebaran tells us governmental integrity is important.

We also find Pallas - which particularly when found in the 9th and in this case exactly conjunct Aldebaran speaks to the integral necessity for national education and the integrity of the Egyptian court system.

Juno was at 7 Gemini, Pallas at 8 Gemini...and then we have Jupiter at 9 Gemini. Well placed by house but in detriment by sign, this is a Gemini Jupiter representing good intentions which get watered down.

And then we have that big, big jump to the Sun at 26 Gemini conjunct the Midheaven at 27 and Betelgeuse at 28 - a signature of 'can't this be easy?' which tempts all those 9th house figures by being converted to government officials having it easy while being unable to make the hard choices for the country.

By the by...before we get to the messages of the moment, the reason why Egypt is so (rightly) famous for all its history - in the horoscope sense - is interestingly posed by the Galactic Center, the "gift to the world" being at 26 Sagittarius and thus right at the bottom of the chart at the 4th house cusp of 'history and homeland.' Lest we miss the point here, Mnemosyne, symbol of reflecting on what has been, is at 29 Sagittarius, just on the other side of the 4th house cusp.

But if I was Egypt (and no I'm not, even though I did once as a kid dress up as a pharaoh for Halloween)...it would seem not a really spiffy idea to rest on past historical laurels for national greatness.

Temple of Abu Simbel

photo credit: Marion Golstein (2007)

Why?

Two reasons. Reason One is that Hybris (arrogance) is at 0 Capricorn. And 0 Capricorn is only one degree past Mnemosyne. It thus is one thing to explore Egyptian history and another to try and trade on it - a concept which leads us to Reason Two: what we have done is done. So long as we exist, we are born to evolve.

So anyway...trouble broke out in Egypt. For those who have been blog-watching, it broke out as Saturn went on station (to go retrograde) at 17 Libra. This would be conjunct the national Saturn/Neptune in the first house of national identity.

Neptune is a master symbol of illusion - 'illusion' here as a quality being a descriptor which in governmental terms can be anything from propaganda to disappearance to dissolution.

Conjunct Saturn, we know at least that this would be a 'dissolving' of stability - at least for the moment. With Saturn now retrograde for several months, it is to be assumed this is not a 'quick fix' problem.

That same Saturn station having also squared the national 10th house 17 Cancer Uranus/Ceres and the 4th house 19 Capricorn Chiron. The people have needs the government isn't meeting, hasn't figured out how to deal with yet - something. With last July's solar eclipse having been at 19 Cancer setting off what amounts to a t-square (the Uranus/Ceres opposition Chiron with Neptune/Saturn in the middle) situations which arose early in 2010 have now come to eruptive force.

Pharaonic statue at the entrance to the central

corridor of the Temple of Luxor (Egypt)

photo credit: Spitfire ch (2009) 

Of course the recent (January 2011) Solar Eclipse at 13 Capricorn didn't help things. But interestingly, given that the 'standard' orb for conjunctions, oppositions and squares is 5 degrees either way, 13 plus 5 is 18. That means the January eclipse didn't affect Egypt's national Chiron. Nor would it directly affect the national Saturn/Neptune.

What it did affect is the Uranus/Ceres - which taken alone is a change the way you do things signal.

So...okay. With all which is going on, how does this affect President Mubarak?

There are two ways to look at this question. One is how it affects him personally - and the other is how it affects his being President of Egypt.

Mohamed Hosni Sayyid Mubarak became President of Egypt on October 14, 1981. Here's the chart, which by astrological convention is set for heads of state and nations at noon.

It's a 'top of the pile' theory.

 Mohamed Hosni Sayyid Mubarak becomes President of Egypt

October 14, 1981

This chart has either three, four or five major bodies in the 10th house - depending on what you count as major. Just going with the mainline astrological POV however, they would be Ceres at 5 Libra, Saturn at 13 Libra, Jupiter and Sun at 20 Libra and Pluto at 24 Libra.

In short, this is an astrological statement all about how by thinking things through and by being willing to resist influence and be a teacher to a nation. Pluto so close to the top of this chart could be the need to purify the government and/or its methods of operation. It could be a purging of emotionally canted influences on government and the judicial process. There's a  statement made here on Mubarak as a figurehead being asked to change the nation at some intrinsic level, particularly in how it interacts with others.

As described by this chart, the job certainly isn't easy. All those Libra planets (plus Mercury in the 10th at 29 Libra) are ruled by a Venus which is itself conjunct Black Moon Lilith (social denial) conjunct Atropos (endings) and Antares (vengeance).

The whole Venus 'pack' being in Sagittarius, with Sagittarius being ruled by Jupiter, this becomes a mutual reception - a self-feeding cycle which says Mubarak was being asked to do something about things, lest everything backfire in his face.

The heart of this has two faces. One is the Venus (results) in the economy/economic 11th house conjunct Black Moon Lilith, which is either denying society or society feeling denied or society denying Mubarak.

Sun/Jupiter is the other end of this stick - it pretty much says 'be the teacher' or 'get taught a lesson.

Astrologically, Saturn/Jupiter - as a transiting pair - are the symbol of societal rise and fall. The January eclipse squared Saturn, telling us that three years from now Mubarak will not be where he is now. But perhaps more important to us as a signal is that Saturn going on station at 17 Libra is right between the Saturn and Jupiter in this chart. 

This is not what we would expect for things to remain status quo. Something is going to change. If Mubarak stays in office, there will be a social/societal price to be paid. Will that be 'denial' in a whole other form?

If he remains in office, Black Moon Lilith suggests the answer is probably yes.

Last (but not least) to be considered here is Mubarak's personal chart...

As I originally posted this blog, I had an April 1928 birthdate, which a blog reader wrote in to comment on, saying they knew of Mubarak as having a May birthdate - same year. Plus there is no time of birth given for Mubarak.

Tossing the furnished date through Solar Fire (my astrology software)  I find the date furnished - while still not fit to print as a chart with a Moon included - would give Mubarak a Scorpio Moon. And those who know Scorpio Moons know that they are emotionally retentive of what they feel as being what they feel...which in light of Mubarak's reluctance to step down would seem apt.

But let's go to the hard core facts: Saturn's recent (17 Libra) station is unquestionably in opposition to Mubarak's native Aries Sedna and Jupiter while also squaring his Cancer Pluto - unless he's born in some total other year!

Outer planets do move slowly...which in real life most of us rue many a time. Will this just go away? Answer: no! If the matter is one connected with any planet from Saturn (maybe Jupiter, but certainly Saturn) on out, it rarely passes in a flash.

The astrological rule of thumb here would be that the farther out in the solar system the transiting planet is, the longer the transit lasts....with the great exception being when a planet takes a station in close aspect to something in your chart. That being the case, we are looking at a literal 'turning point' in someone's life - as we are apparently looking at here.

If we only thought of this as Saturn taking station atop Mubarak's Sedna, we would question some sort of level of maturity. But that his Sedna is inconjunct calculated  Black Moon Lilith at 17 Scorpio (which would be closer in exactitude to Saturn's station) gives us the message that this has to do with the values (Scorpio) Mubarak either does or doesn't 'jointly' hold with his society.

With Pallas (wisdom) being at 14 Aquarius, one would guess that Mubarak knows the importance of 'matters economic' in running a country. Whether on the international level (with other nations) or as regards how the 'Egyptian State' (i.e., Mubarak) can attempt to use financial liberty to calm or quell the situation - or try and get his own way, the sextile between Saturn's station and this 14 Aquarius Pallas suggests an attempt to 'get things back to a working status quo.'

But that Saturn's station is square Pluto in Cancer is problematic. Being that Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and though we don't know the degree, with a May 4, 1928 birthdate Mubarak would have a Moon in Scorpio, this sets up the testy relationship between Mubarak and his society. The military-trained 'iron-firm hand' so many speak of is not an asset in this situation, but it may be all life has taught Mubarak to know or rely on.

 President Mubarak in 2008 at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East

photo credit: World Economic Forum

Bottom line, it's probably not much fun being President Mubarak at this point. It may even feel perilous, considering that Atlantis (surrender to overwhelming circumstances), Charybdis (needing to continuously work at something) and Nessus (poisonous jealousy) are clustered with his Sedna.

And that calculated Lilith, the things about the society Mubarak doesn't want to deal with? That's conjunct Sphinx. He may be hoping to wait his society out. His society, on the other hand, may be fully willing to do what they need to do to get what they need.

Of course into this comes the real thing - the Sphinx - as emblematic of Egypt's great historical and irreplaceable cultural treasures. Both sides here are likely to say the other is placing all that - and the revenue they bring in via tourism - at stake.

Even worse, there may be a moment of madness when someone actually decides Egypt's priceless art is worth 'holding hostage' or even worse.

Whether Mubarak will retain the Presidency or not - that we can't know without a proper chart. But given that the June 1, 2011 Solar Eclipse at 11 Gemini will conjunct Mubarak's North Node, something is likely to be taken from him between now and then.

What that is, we just don't know yet. With July's 9 Cancer eclipse occurring in conjunction with Mubarak's Pluto and in a bruising semi-sextile to his North Node, what would seem to survive here, with this Gemini North Node being ruled by Mercury/Panacea, is the will to settle grudges and deal with the serious basic concerns of the Egyptian people.

That 4th house arrogant Hybris of the national chart tells us something about the people as well as the history of Egypt as a country. No one wishes any country ill, harm or disruption, but Egypt has a long, long history of such.

And it has endured - which like as not, it always will...in some form.

 Sunrise at Abu Simbel

photo credit: Heinz Albers (www.heinzalbers.com)