November seemed to be dominated by two things – the American presidential elections and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As I wrote in my article on the former, there did seem to be a clear astrological indication that Obama would win, and indeed, he did. For those interested in the details, visit my Astro-Headlines page.
The Palestinian-Israeli crisis seemed to erupt shortly after the solar eclipse in Scorpio on November the 13th when rockets were fired over the Israeli border by Hamas rebels in Gaza. This was met with an aggressive retaliation by Israel in the form of the assassination of the leader of Hamas’s military wing, Ahmed Jabari, on November the 14th. Things soon escalated into out-and-out aggression on both sides until a ceasefire was negotiated by Hilary Clinton and the newly-elected Egyptian leader, President Mohammed Mursi on the 22nd. Many critics fear that the peace will not last until a permanent solution is found to this on-going problem.
If we consider the chart for the Israeli nation in relation to that of the eclipse, we do notice some striking points of interest. It should be stated here that there is some controversy over whether to use the time of 4pm or 4:37pm for the birth of the Israeli nation, depending on which version of events you believe.[1] I have chosen 4pm, although the temptation to go with the latter, which has Scorpio rising, is very appealing under the circumstances.
At any rate, what we do find is that, regardless of the Ascendant, the eclipse occurs at 21-22 degrees Scorpio which is both conjunct Israel’s natal Chiron (memories of persecution arising from numerous anti-Semitic historic events, including Hitler’s Nazi regime) and opposing Israel’s Sun at 23 degrees Taurus. This on its own, evokes a story of conflict revolving around Israel’s deep abiding need for homeland security (Taurus is a sign very much associated with land as well as territoriality) as well as their badge of persecution rooted in fears arising from years of and religious persecution and the struggle to find and maintain a spiritual homeland (Chiron on cusp of second house), a wound that is made evident as early as the first testament of the Bible with the Israelites wandering in the desert in search of their promised land and again later during the numerous invasions of Jerusalem by the Christians and the Moors.
Furthermore, we have a striking conjunction between transiting Mars and Israel’s natal Jupiter in Sagittarius, which by itself, could be interpreted as a battle or war undertaken for religious reasons – a crusade of sorts, you might say. These together then also happen to oppose Israel’s Uranus in Gemini (9th), suggesting a push-me-pull you situation that is unpredictable and which sets off in Israel the need to make a principled political and ideological stand, even if it does end up alienating them from the international community.
So what prompted this seemingly unexpected flare-up? Here we need to take into consideration the ingress of Saturn into Scorpio on the 1st of October. As the ruler of Israel’s IC (and therefore themes around home and belonging) Saturn’s ingress may well have set off in Israel an increased need to consolidate its position and defend its borders without any outside interference from others. Given that Saturn’s tour through Scorpio will last for another two to three years, it would seem that this impulse may well be present for some time to come.
The eclipse, taking place as it does in Scorpio, (and therefore in Israel’s 2nd house) does, in and of itself, seem highly resonant of the situation, depicting a struggle for territorial supremacy. The killing of a male leader (in this case, Ahmed Jabari) is not only fitting of a solar eclipse, but also brings out the theme of revenge or retribution – a major element of this particular conflict – as well as the tendency to overreact and be especially harsh, uncompromising and unforgiving in the way one reacts to a challenging situation – all fairly typical of the sign of Scorpio.
Given that eclipses usually have a reach of around six months, we could expect the ripples from this particular crisis to continue for some time. However, on the supportive side, it might bring about added impetus to agree on a permanent roadmap for peace in the region. That said, Scorpio‘s generally will not settle for anything less than complete and utter resolution from the roots up, so we can safely say that resolving the matter and keeping the peace will ultimately require a permanent solution regarding Gaza’s legitimacy and future if the current ceasefire is to last.
References
[1] See the Source Notes section at Astro-Databank: http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Nation:_Israel
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