Eyes on Russia
Lenin addresses the crowd, October 1917.
Stern Saturn and idealistic Neptune met in the 20th century in just three signs at approximately 35-year intervals. Each time, there was a paradigm shift for Russia.
1917—By February, more than 9 million had been killed in the war; famine scratched at the civilian population as the government staggered from crisis to crisis. Then workers at the Pulitov factory in St Petersburg went on strike, and the February Revolution began. Over the following months, deals were struck, compromises were made, it seemed as if catastrophe might be averted. But in October, the real revolution began, plunging Russia into a civil war that would last five long years and result in the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922.
Between the February Revolution and the October Revolution, Saturn and Neptune conjoined at 4° Leo. The royal (Leo) paradigm (Saturn) was dissolved (Neptune). That was just one conjunction.
Stalin lies in state, March 1953
1952-1953—1 March, 1953, after a long night of drinking with his closest political allies, Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, suffered a massive stroke. Four days later, he was dead, marking the end of decades of his iron rule.
This was Saturn and Neptune’s second conjunction of the 20th century. This time there were three hits: 21 November 1952, 17 May 1953, 22 July 1953, all in Libra, the sign of justice and the law, and exactly sextile Pluto in Leo.
Changes were rapid. In April, torture was banned, economic reforms began, and anti-Semitic purges stopped; by July the Soviets were negotiating a settlement of the Korean War, which had been dragging on for three years.
That October, during Libra season, in Leningrad, a factory worker Maria Ivanovna Putina, gave birth to a baby boy, whom she named Vladimir.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 9 November 1989
1989—The Year of Revolutions begins with the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, swells into the Singing Revolution of the Baltic states, reaches a crescendo with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and ends with the bitter winter execution in Romania of Nicolai Ceaucescu.
Within those 12 months, the Iron Curtain was shredded.
Neptune and Saturn met on 3 March, 24 June and 19 November that year — all in the sign of established power, Capricorn. Neptune dissolved another structure.
2026—Neptune and Saturn will meet again at 0° Aries, the opposite sign to Libra, where they met in the 1950s on 20 February.
Thank you Christina -very significant for us all, Any thoughts on how things could play out in 2026? End of war with
Ukraine, for starters?
I jolly hope so. With Uranus in Gemini, anything could happen! And I believe there are suprises in store. There are several things I think are likely to transpire in 2026. I touched on some of these at the Salon on Sunday, and I’ll be sending out the video of that as soon as I have time to edit it into a reasonable shape.
My friend Anton D’Abreu has just sent me an email pointing out that he has also noticed this correlation and in fact wrote about it a while ago. His piece is much more in depth and really fascinating. You can go to his website here. https://cyclesofhistory.com/communism/
That’s really interesting
I do enjoy your worldly astrology
When is the meeting of Saturn & Neptune at 0”Aries?
It’s exact on 20 February — but these two have been close together for much of 2025. Looking at past examples, there does seem to be a kind of ripple on either side of the conjunction, like a pebble thrown into a pond. I find the 1917 example especially interesting in that regard. Like this one, it was one hit.. It was pretty much half way between the October and February Revolutions. — more to the October end.
This coming Saturn-Neptune conjunction though, is getting some power from Pluto on one side and Uranus — later, in April — on the other. So it’s very strong. All aspects are dynamic and positive — although positive in astrological terms does not always equal “good”. Just easier and faster.
Fascinating article as well the comments. This time Pluto will be opposite to the 1917 Conjunction. Would that be significant?
I think that is significant. I’ve also been looking at the US chart with this conjunction. In 2026, its on the IC — and in 1917 it is close to the moment when the US entered WWI