Astrology and Epidemics - guest post by Ashutosh Kulkarni

A good friend of mine who also studies the stellar system, did some work into the mundane astrology of epidemics. This is a topical subject and hence requested me to publish his work on this platform. Please do read his research, comment, and even improve upon it for those so inclined. I would also encourage readers to use the material on these blogs, and in my youtube videos to go about structurally and systematically understanding jyotisha, instead of taking up "party jyotisha" i.e. rote learning random statements from websites to be used in social gatherings. Ashutosh has done an admirable job in sticking to a systematic methodology of learning this art. The blog begins:

Given the uncertainty created by the Covid-19 epidemic, there has been a flood of upstart astrological predictions about the end of epidemic. This study tries to analyse the astrological combinations present during epidemics of 20th century and connect them to the current epidemic. 

Epidemics Under Consideration

Following are the epidemics considered in this article:

Pluto, the Devil

While traditional astrology doesn’t consider Uranus, Neptune and Pluto for predictions, these three planets have gathered considerable importance. The things that these planets signify are important 

● Uranus signifies sudden changes, revolution and challenge to existing norms

● Neptune is a deeply emotional planet

● Pluto signifies events that happen on mass scale. Often, these events are destructive (or we can say, creatively destructive) 

The most common thing found during all the epidemics is that Pluto is in some way connected to the disease. 

Pluto-Jupiter Conjunction, the basis of epidemic

Jupiter is the Guru of Devas, signifies highest wisdom and healing. But when it got conjunct with Pluto (means Pluto and Jupiter are in same Rashi), it led to some major epidemic. 

Pluto is a very slow planet. But Jupiter covers all Rashis in about 12-13 years. Thus, after roughly 12-13 years, Jupiter-Pluto get conjunct. This makes it roughly 8-9 times in a century.

Other planets when conjunct/aspect Pluto also intensify diseases-

1. Uranus

2. Saturn

3. Rahu-Ketu 

Analysis of Earlier Epidemics

1.Spanish Flu (Mid 1918 till early 1920)

Spanish Flu became a huge epidemic affecting about 50 crore people worldwide and killing about 5 crore people. 

The start happened in March 1918 but the deadliest time started after mid-1918. If we look at planetary positions in 15th June 1918, they look like this:

The chart shows start of the conjunction between Jupiter and Pluto in Gemini. The conjunction is aspected by Uranus. This conjunction continued till June 1919. This period between June 1918 till June 1919 was the deadliest phase of the epidemic if we believe the description on Wikipedia.

2.Asian Flu (1957-58)

The first few cases were found in 1956. Pluto and Jupiter were conjunct since June 1956 that led to genesis of this virus. But the pandemic hit in early 1957 with its peak from June 1957 to early 1958. 

The position of planets on 15th May 1957, the start of peak phase, was this:

The conjunction of Pluto-Jupiter is seen in Leo. It is aspected by Ketu and Saturn. Jupiter moved ahead into Virgo in next few months but Pluto continued to be aspected by Saturn and Ketu till February 1958. Thus, the important conjunction/aspect lasted during the peak phase of this pandemic.

3.World Cholera Epidemic (1963-1975)

This was the longest epidemic. Such an epidemic meant some really destructive combination was at play

The Cholera disease began in 1961 and soon became a global pandemic. 

This time, the combination was even worse. It was Uranus and Pluto conjunction. Imagine Uranus, a significator of sudden events and Pluto, a significator of mass level changes, coming together! 

Uranus was conjunct with Pluto since July 1961 in Leo. Both are slow moving planets. That’s why the conjunction lasted till August 1967. The chart shows position of planets on 15th August 1967. Uranus and Pluto can be seen conjunct in Leo. 

The moment Uranus moved ahead into Virgo in August 1967; Jupiter entered Leo to be conjunct with Pluto. One devil replaced by other!

In 1969, both Pluto and Jupiter crossed over to Virgo and again became conjunct with Jupiter. This meant that the epidemic was to continue. The chart shown below is the planetary position on 15th August 1969 showing Jupiter-Pluto-Uranus conjunct in Virgo.

Uranus and Pluto finally detached in June 1974. From their conjunction in 1961 till 1974, millions of people were infected. 

4.Hong Kong Flu (1968-69)

It began in July 1969 and lasted till end 1969. As clarified above, this time Jupiter-Pluto were conjunct in Leo and by early 1969, all crossed over to Virgo leading to Jupiter-Pluto-Uranus conjunction. 

This flu killed half a crore people.

5. HIV AIDS Pandemic (1980- till date)

This pandemic continues even today. The combinations must have something special

The cases of HIV began appearing in second half of 1980. If we look at the planetary position on 15th October 1980, it is like this:

Note the Pluto-Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Virgo. Saturn is a natural significator of diseases. When Saturn joined with Jupiter and Pluto, it was bound to upset the world dynamics. The deadly disease of HIV AIDS doesn’t have a viable cure even today

The decade of 1980s was the peak of HIV. The planetary positions were also unusual. 

● Pluto and Saturn were conjunct in Libra till 1985

● After 1985, Sat moved to Scorpio and got conjunct with Uranus. This conjunction lasted till 1988

● In 1988, both Saturn and Uranus moved to Sagittarius. The conjunction continued till end 1990. 

This makes entire decade of 1980s reel under the combination of Saturn, Jupiter, Pluto and Uranus. Not only we got the AIDS pandemic, but lots of upsetting events were also seen like:

● Khalistan Insurgency

● Killing of Indira Gandhi and anti-Sikh Riots

● Insurgencies in Assam leading to accord in 1985

● Kashmir insurgency and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits 

● Killing of Rajiv Gandhi

● Process of collapse of USSR began in late 1980s

● Gulf War

6. SARS Epidemic (2002-2003)

Which planets conjuncts with Pluto will decide on gravity of the pandemic. In November 2002, SARS spread. But the confirmed cases were barely a few thousand. This makes it a smaller epidemic. Does astrology confirm it?

Planetary position on 15th November 2002 shows Pluto conjunct with Ketu in Scorpio. This conjunction lasted till September 2003, the exact time when SARS peaked. 

Ketu, although malicious, is not as malicious as Saturn or Uranus. Neither it is as powerful as Jupiter-Pluto conjunction to upset things. This made SARS a smaller epidemic. 

7. Swine Flu (2009-2010)

This was a relatively smaller flu affecting about 2-5 lakh people. The combinations were equally less powerful. 

The virus began to make news since 2008 when it was first detected. This was the time when Jupiter and Pluto were conjunct in Sagittarius. 

But the epidemic began in early 2009 and peaked in late 2009. By this time, Jupiter had moved ahead. No destructive conjunction around Pluto was present. This meant the epidemic died down quickly and didn’t affect much. 

Comparison with Covid-19

With this knowledge of the special role of Pluto, Jupiter and others in spreading of pandemics, let us look at what combinations are present during Covid-19.

The first evidence of the virus began in late 2019. Let us see the planetary position on 15th November 2019

Jupiter crossed over to Sagittarius and became conjunct with Pluto and Saturn in November 2019. This tri-conjunction was also present during outbreak of HIV AIDS in 1980. This underlines why Covid-19 became a huge disease just like HIV AIDS.

This tri-conjunction shifted to Capricorn in early 2020 and continued till June 2020. Some planetary movement changed but Jupiter-Pluto conjunction continues even to this date. This proves why Covid-19 cases are increasing even today. 

Only relief will be a brief period of December 2020 when Jupiter and Pluto would be apart. But beginning January 2021 till April 2021, yet again Saturn-Pluto-Jupiter conjunction will happen. It will be only after April 2021 that Jupiter and Pluto would separate for well and good. Probably this is when Covid-19 cases will go down/ vaccine will be found. 

Not Always True

Jupiter-Pluto were conjunct in 1929-30 and 1941-42 too. But no major pandemic broke out in these years. The position of other major planets was also favourable. In 1929-30, the conjunction happened in Gemini just like it was in times of Spanish Flu 1918-1919. But pandemic broke out in case of latter but not in case of former. 

We must conclude that Jupiter-Pluto conjunction is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for break out of a pandemic. 

Summary of Conclusions:

1. Pluto is deeply involved in pandemics

2. Jupiter-Pluto conjunction is most frequently observed during pandemics

3. Introduction of Saturn, Uranus, Rahu and Ketu with Pluto can also trigger pandemics

4. Neither retrogression nor forward movement of planets affected any pandemic. 

5. The nature of the Rashi in which conjunction happened (fire, airy, earthy or watery) has no relation to the nature of disease. 

Lost person will he be found?

There is a person who has been missing from an area in Mumbai over the past day at least. There has been a frantic social media campaign on searching for him. I looked at a self generated prashna chart to check if I can predict the fate of this person. The chart has been rotated by 9th house since I do not know this person. The chart and significators (nadi, and my own) are given below:

The first thing I checked is the Asc CSL, to see how the self/ body of the person in question is doing. Asc CSL is Rahu. Let us look at Rahu's significations above.

Rahu signifies 2 1 6 8 (depression), complete moksha trigon (4 8 12), general misfortune combination of 6 8 12. Note Rahu is also the graha that confuses, it is possible that this person was confused at the time of going missing. 

Rahu's only saving grace is that it also signifies 5 10 11. Will that be enough? I looked at my own significators next to identify the strongest significations. Below:

Here is becomes clear that Rahu is not signifying the positives. Because even though it does signify 10 11 in the source levels, the result grahas it signifies only 1 2 7 12 of which 1 12 is self loss, and 2 7 are the maraka sthans. In fact in the strong significations, only the maraka sthans of 2 and 7 are signified in the results section. The source grahas also include the 9th house which is the badhaka sthan for this chart given that the chart has a sthira ascendant. Overall the Ascendant is not showing me positive signs.

Lets now look at DBA. The ongoing DBA is Ve-Sa-Me. 

As per my significators Venus strongly signifies 3 and 9. Both the houses are houses for staying away from ones house. Thus the dasha itself is denying this person from coming back home. However news about the person will definitely be received (Venus has 3 + 11).

Bhukti of Saturn is also not encouraging. Note, Saturn is the only graha that can give death. It is also signifying 1 + 12 + maraka (2 7) + badhaka (9) + 8th house of accident

With sincere hope that my analysis is incorrect and the person is in fact found hale and hearty, I think we will hear about his whereabouts between 21 to 25th March, either when Moon transits Rahu or Mercury star.

Arvind Kejriwal, traveling a rough road.

Its been sometime since I blogged, and its good to be back. I've wanted to analyse Arvind Kejriwal ji's chart for sometime but never got his birth data. I finally found it on another blog, where the blog owner has acquired it from someone close to Kejriwal, and I have of course corrected it a little bit using the ruling planets.

First of all, congratulations to Arvind Kejriwal (AK) are in order because he has indeed repeated a mini feat in defeating the BJP's poll machine for the second time. In 2015 he managed to overcome a Modi wave, and this time he battled anti incumbency and held on to most of the gains he had made. While I do not subscribe to his brand of politics, I do acknowledge that it is not easy to fight and win polls. So automatically, his chart becomes interesting. I will put up the chart first, and my significators after:

Personality

First thing to be pointed is that AK is a Krittika native. The symbol of Krittika is a an axe, or a cutting blade, or knife. Hence it is connected to the act of cutting, or dividing. This mentality can be used for both positive and negative purposes. It can be used to analyse, investigate, or penetrate. After looking at a few K natives that I know, I often wonder if the english word "criticize" comes from Krittika! I know these individuals as extremely sharp tongued people who seem to take it upon themselves to find fault in everything. The quality of a knife is to cut, so they cut into everything to criticize. 

Another name of K is Dahanarksha (दहनर्क्ष) which suggests burning, or a flame. Again, the same dichotomy of burning for warmth or cooking, or burning down something to destroy come into play. This dichotomy is reflected somewhat in AK's personality whose political plank at one time (now considerably moderated) was allegedly to bring change through anarchy or revolution. K falls in Aries which is ruled by Mars, and K is ruled by the Sun. So Mars martial, firey energy is operating through another fire planet of the Sun. But Sun is the ruler and Mars is his general, so the Sun tried to moderate this fire by positioning it as constructive. Indeed several K natives that K know genuinely believe they are doing others a favour by continuously finding fault. 

Kartikeya the celestial general is the presiding deity of this nakshatra, which gives natives a very combative attitude. Kartikeya was born with a specific purpose and many a times these natives are very purpose focused, some times going to the extent of "ends justify means" approach as well. Because of the nature of Kartikeya, ie he was born to Shiva, but was raised by the wives of Saptarshis (Krittikas) I have found that in at least 45% of the charts of K natives that I have seen, the natives had an unorthodox relationship with their parents (physically or emotionally separated by death, disease, circumstances, educational reasons, work, etc). They often seek or get love or get taken care of from people other than their parents. I do not know if this is the case with AK, but there is some chance that there is.

AK has Uranus in his ascendant, making his personality kind of explosive in the way he operates. And following from the above, he probably has a very sarcastic or hurtful or even condescending nature of speaking, though both of which he seems to have controlled at least in public life. 

Since AK's Moon is in the first pada of the nakshatra it is worth pointing out that it falls in Sagittarius adding to the already quite enterprising nature of the nakshatra. This is also the only pada that falls in the Aries sign, the balance 75% of this constellation falling in Venus ruled Taurus. Combined that with its 'Rakshasa gana', the fire of K, and Uranus in the Ascendant, may have made AK into someone whose mentality is in permanent confrontation or combat mode. After all, that is what a general is supposed to do, right? But sometimes in the times of peace, the natives may go about looking for conflict because they feel incomplete without it. This may also be the reason for a sharp tongue or ideas that conflict with reality.

Interestingly, his name is as per the Nakshatra pada, i.e. beginning with "Ar".

Political ascendency

The below are the significators that I have calculated for AK. We will see the "All" segment to get an overall idea, and then the "Strong" to get some focused understanding. 

AK was in Rahu dasha from March 1990 to March 2008. He came on to major public limelight in 2011 when he climbed aboard the Anna Hazare movement for the Lokpal bill. This was the Jupiter-Saturn dasha. You can see clearly that Jupiter is giving results of 10 (reputation) + 11 (gain) along with 6, 8 and 12 which together cause a lot of struggle for the native. Saturn is more positive given that it does not have the 6 8 12 connection, making the struggles more fruitful. It cannot be denied that AK did go through a lot of troubles (physical and mental) for making his political debut. Even if it were to be dismissed as 'drama', it requires a lot of work to make it successful, isnt it?

He became the CM in the Mercury Bhukti which is also giving him the 11th (gain) results, in the form of the 10th house (position, status, reputation). There is a recurring imagery of 8 and 12 through his chart which bears testimony to the continuous struggle and fight phase AK seems to be in. 

Normally, the prevalence of so many 5 8 12s would be fertile ground for some sort of a scandal. 5 8 12 combination appears in about 5 grahas, but nothing unusually scandalous seems to have come out about AK as yet. 5 8 12 does suggest significant health issues though, and primarily related to the stomach (5th cusp is for stomach/ digestion and 8 12 is for creating problems).

Looking closely at the recent elections, they were held in AK's Ju-Mo-Ju period. While Moon is outright negative for AK, he benefited from two things:

a) He was already the CM, and Jupiter his dasha lord continues to protect his status.

b) There was no opposition leader, against whom his chart could go up against

So in a way it was like a walkover. A player wins a walkover not because he is the strongest, or fastest, but because his opponent does not show up. I can understand however if any astrologer had predicted that AK would lose based on his Moon Bhukti. Luckily for me, I had used a prashna chart to predict BJP's loss (given that I did not have AK's chart by then), and thus got it correct.

Now a question can be asked, how can AK win anything at all if he has so many 8 12s. Conversely another question can be asked, if AK had the winning combination, then why did he not win vs. Narendra Modi in Varanasi, or even manage to win in Punjab, which is a true state (vs. the legislative structure of Delhi).

I will now attempt to answer both questions. First, let us examine the cuspal sublords of 8th house and 12th house for AK. They are Rahu and Venus respectively. Notably, apart from Rahu being outright negative, and thus 8th house being the primary creator of issues in AK's life, the 12th house is not that negative. It signifies positive houses of 1 3 and 10 all of which promote, health, growth, and reputation. 

Now, why did AK not win against Namo, or why did he not win Punjab? The reason is that even if the impact of the 12th is muted, the combination of 8 12 is not a positive combination, and it will mar the native's life in some way. The only reason why AK managed to win Delhi is the fact that he has the 10 11 combination, the only combination that can compete with 8 12/ 6 8 12/ 5 8 12. However, this 10 11 keeps the native only just ahead of his problems, and do not allow for a very large canvas. 

Now lets look at the 10th CSL of AK, to check the exent of his reputation. 10th CSL is Saturn. Saturn signifies a similar combination of 8 10 11 12, which is again not a clear combination of dominance. it is worth noting that 8th is the house of insults, and along with 12th it causes severe problems, and AK has not enjoyed a high reputation (fair or unfair is another story) outside of his small audience in Delhi. The struggle between 8 12 and 10 11 will keep him ahead, but only just. Thus it limits his influence, which is in some way reflected in his control over a city state versus winning in Punjab for example.

Now compare this to the 10th CSL of Narendra Modi (Moon) which looks like this:

Apart from the lone '8' (which can be managed, diverted, or even be helpful in politics), the extent of power that Namo's 10th house holds is clear in contrast to AKs. 1 (self effort), 11 (gain) of 10 (status). 

This is why I always stress on sthala kaala paatra in jyotisha. For AK's capability, he has achieved a lot. You cannot compare the 10 11 of Bill Gates, with 10 11 of a local IT company manager. Both have done well for themselves compared to their individual circumstances, but they cannot be compared with each other. The 10 and 11 combination will tell you that you will gain reputation, but HOW MUCH, is a question answered by the cuspal sublords of the 10th and 11th house. 

Contrast with some other leaders:

I thought I can demonstrate this point for students of jyotisha with a lot more clarity if I put up a comparison with some other leaders in India:

Here I compare, AK, DF, NM, and RG. I look at their dasha significations, and their cuspal sublord significations of the 10th house because that is the house that deals with ones status in the world.

Compare AK's dasha significations with those of the other leaders. You can see he has the 10 11 combination with beats the  6 8 12 in his dasha and gives him some gain of reputation. You can see it very strongly in NM's chart with a clear, untainted 1 10 11 is seen. DF however did not have any 10,in fact his results of Dasha were diverted to house no. 9, which is the maaraka sthan for the 10th house. This is why I had correctly predicted that (despite all odds) DF would not return as CM of MH. In fact the 6 8 12 combination caused him to face the embarrassment of having to be so unethically (and allegedly) conned by the leader of NCP.

But why did DF get to the MH CM's chair at all, the CM of the most prosperous state in the country after all. One, he had a very positive dasha of Venus before his current dasha of Ketu started. And the 'extent' of reputation gain can be seen from the 10th house. It is virtually identical to Namo's having 1 8 10 11. 

The most interesting is RG's chart. He has ample 10s in his chart, but not a single 11. So he has managed to protect his reputation within the Congress which is kind of a handed down thing in that party. But to ascend any important position like PM or CM, the help of 11th house is needed which acts as an catalyst. I find it unlikely for someone to become PM of a country like India without a strong 10 11 or 6 11 combination.  

Anyone who has been following my blog or my online teaching stellar jyotisha videos for any length of time can easily compare the significations for these 4 leaders with varying levels of success and gauge why they have these varied levels of success.

Hope this lengthy blog (after a long time) was helpful to readers who wish to learn.