The Tiger that Feasts on Bears

Image by Brandi Alexandra

Astrology’s purpose is to identify, chart, and juxtapose cycles of planetary motions and link them to events that transpire in our lives. That’s the main reason one cannot be an astrologer without having a sincere passion for history. They say history repeats itself, well, kind of. History, like anything in the universe, goes through series of cycles, waves of probability, and patterns, and these sequences are entangled with planetary orbits.

Right now, the eyes of the world are directed towards Ukraine, which became the battlefield for Putin’s grievances with the West. Once again, the world has to follow the whims of a narcissistic self-serving macho who never fully accepted the Soviet Empire’s defeat.

Remember Putin’s tiger? The one that apparently devoured a bear in 2015? How symbolic, as the Brown Eurasian Bear is the official animal of Russia. To me this suggests that Putin and his kleptocracy are eating up Russia and its people. And since we are on the topic of tigers, let me remind you that from Feb 1, 2022, until Jan 31, 2023, according with Chinese astrology, we are under the influence of the Water Tiger (in Russia’s case it is the Ice Tiger).

Chinese astrologers have warned us that just as the tiger is an aggressive animal that unlike other predators also hunts when it is not hungry, this year we might experience unnecessary violence. In addition, the tiger, like the zodiac sign Leo, is a fire creature and it does not like being in the water. Fire mixed with water creates a great deal of steam, anger, frustration, misunderstanding, and aggression.

The last time the tiger went swimming was in 1962, and for some of you this year will pop out as a very significant one especially considering the relationships between Russia (USSR) and the West. Let me remind those of you who fell asleep in history class because their teacher wasn’t versed in the art of storytelling. In October 1962, the world was closest it ever got to a nuclear war. It was later dubbed the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.

The infamous Leo, Fidel Castro, took over Cuba in 1959 and as a leftist revolutionary, he naturally aligned himself with the Soviets. On October 16, 1962, a U-2 spy plane flying over Cuba took pictures of SS-4 ballistic missiles buildup in the Caribbean Island. For two weeks the US government under the leadership of JFK grappled with what should be the best response to the threat. The Soviets were upset about the missiles positioned in Turkey, just south of their own borders and in addition, in 1961 the US tried and failed to invade Cuba. Comrade Nikita Khrushchev reasoned that maybe a few missiles on the island 90 miles from Florida should deter a future attack from the US.

JFK ordered a sea blockade around Cuba but when an American plane was shot down over Cuba, the US started amassing troupes in Florida ready for an invasion. That was the moment the Cold War could have turned burning hot. But the guardian angels of the US and Cuba worked very hard to avert WWIII and Khrushchev sent a communication to Kennedy promising to remove missiles from Cuba if the US agrees to leave Cuba and Fidel alone as well as remove their missile installation in Turkey. While Kennedy pretended to refuse to the second demand, he did agree to it in secret and the missiles were removed from Cuba and in April 1963 from Turkey.

There are a many astrological similarities between 2022 and 1962. First, both are Water Tiger years which happens every 60 years. In addition, Saturn, the great teacher, was in the same sign in 1962 as in 2022 – Aquarius. By the way, Saturn was in Aquarius in 1991 as well, the year the USSR collapsed and both Russia and Ukraine were established.

Another astrological parallel between 1962 and 2022 is the transit of Jupiter in Pisces. This position of Jupiter can manifest as deception, illusions, and a great deal of confusion. I don’t think it’s the world that does not know what is happening in Putin’s mind. At least according to Jupiter in Pisces, Putin himself lacks the same clarity. As you can see, many cycles are returning and placing similar actors in the center stage.

Let’s look at what an Historian sees in these cycles. From the New York Times article by Anton Troianovski:

Vladimir Pozner was an English-language Soviet propaganda editor in Moscow in 1962, a job that gave him rare access to American newspapers and magazines. That allowed him to follow the Cuban Missile Crisis outside the Soviet media filter, says he now feels something similar. “The smell of war is very strong,” he said in an interview on Friday, a day when shelling intensified along the front line in eastern Ukraine. “If we talk about the relationship between Russia and the West — and in particular, the United States — I feel that it is as bad as it was at any time in the Cold War, and perhaps, in a certain sense, even worse.”

The article continues to discuss the period when Saturn was again in Aquarius (1991 – 1993). The article suggests that “Mr. Putin is seeking to undo a European security order created when his country was weak and vulnerable after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and to recreate the sort of geopolitical buffer zone that Russian rulers over the centuries have felt they needed.” 

That transit of Saturn in Aquarius is a time we reevaluate our communities, allegiances, who are our friends and who are our enemies. Aquarius is associated with countries, governments, and large groups of people (duh, 190,000 soldiers surrounding Ukraine). Putin misunderstood Saturn in Aquarius and he thought it meant breaking Western alliances, the EU, or NATO. Instead, Saturn galvanized not only the West and NATO against him but also unified Ukrainian and made their tilt westward stronger.

Aquarius is also the ruler of technology, and we can expect massive cyberwarfare in 2022 as Saturn glides through digital Aquarius.  

Oh, I almost forgot, Aquarius is an air sign that relates to flights, and during the Year of the Water Tiger, Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, carrying mainly U.S. Army personnel vanished over the Pacific Ocean. All 107 on board were lost as no wreckage or bodies were ever found. Take heed from flying tigers over the water this year!

All is One and One is all and I’m a firm believer in the idea of oneness. If something is happening out there in the world, it does have a reflection inside each one of us. We too are dealing with aggression, an attempt of someone to break our support group or divide our friendship. We too feel threaten by competition that might be too close to home endangering our prosperity or peace. We also feel misunderstood, a victim of misinformation and propaganda. We all will have to deal this year with hungry tigers prowling in the water (emotions). But as we can see from the situation in Europe, it is a year when we also can get closer to our friends (Saturn in Aquarius) by aligning ourselves with people who share our values (North Node in Taurus), folks we can feel close enough to lower our guards and be vulnerable with (Jupiter in Pisces). Let us hope that on March 6 when Venus and Mars move together to Aquarius, the sign of hope and altruism, that the situation in Ukraine will calm down.  

On a different note. March 2 is the New Moon in Pisces, the first one this year that is not afflicted by a retro, so that is the best day to revamp your New Year’s resolution and get back on the horse. Hmm, actually, the tiger…