Massive Protest in Iran

By Alex Miller with Sue Kientz

The mounting unrest in Iran, where millions have been demonstrating in the streets since 28 December, has escalated from its origins as a protest over record-high inflation, food prices, and currency depreciation, evolving into a broader movement demanding an end to the current regime, which has been in place since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.  In an effort to tamp down dissent and prevent protestors from organizing, the government has shut down all internet and phone service in the country, imposing a news blackout on foreign outlets.

Information does trickle through, with organizations such as Iran International reporting that at least 2,000 protesters had been killed nationwide by January 10^th, as Iranian security forces escalated their use of live ammunition against demonstrators, leaving hospitals in Tehran and Shiraz overwhelmed by injured protesters.  Within a few days, estimates of the carnage reached 12,000 dead, with the numbers hard to calculate since many of the dead are taken directly to morgues, not to hospitals where they would be registered.  The protest is now a nationwide movement, with uprisings in all 31 provinces, making it the largest in a series of demonstrations that has been flaring almost annually for the past decade.

Foreign governments have expressed concern for the protestors, with US President Donald Trump threatening retaliatory strikes if the killing continues. 

The notoriously repressive theocratic regime was born 1 April 1979 (1), with Sun (11 Aries) opposed (180 degrees) Pluto (18 Libra), ruling repression and oppression, obsessive, unyielding control, and coercion.  A Grand Cross (2) is formed by squares (90 degrees) to asteroids Demokritos (11 Capricorn) and NOT (16 Cancer), clearly signaling that in Iran, there is no room (NOT) for democracy (Demokritos).

The ongoing conjunction of Saturn and Neptune (now in late Pisces) in itself can reflect both a hardening (Saturn) of the theocratic (Neptune) state, or its dissolution (also Neptune) and its passage over the country’s natal Mars (25 Pisces) and Mercury (27 Pisces) placements has promoted the blackout (Neptune) on media, internet and phones (all Mercury), as well as the military response (Mars, also ruler of violent death).  Saturn is also frustration, and Neptune is idealism, so this pairing was also influential in evoking the protests themselves, as Iranians dream (Neptune) of becoming fully engaged in the modern world, which they feel is being denied them (Saturn).  A Solar Eclipse (29 Virgo) last September activated this pairing, bringing matters to a head.

Another Solar Eclipse last March (9 Aries) conjoined Iran’s Sun, setting up a year of potential turmoil and change, which was reenergized by a Full Moon (13 Cancer/Capricorn) on January 3^rd, just as the protests began to gain steam, T-Squared (4) Iran’s Sun.  As well, dwarf planet Makemake (12 Libra) is opposing the Sun, representing a shock to the system, and responses so extreme as to seem crazy, unhinged or unstable.  The opposition aspect can also refer to an enemy or opponent, and in this case, someone viewed by the regime as an unstable maniac who acts unpredictably and wildly (Makemake), seemingly a role currently filled by Donald Trump’s threats.

Uranus (27 Taurus) is the planet most associated with protest, rebellion and revolution, and is currently semisquare (45 degrees) Iran’s Sun, further agitating the populace, which is represented by asteroid Irani, an adjectival form of the nation and a synonym for its people.  Irani came to oppose Uranus exactly in mid-December (and is still within orb), just before the outbreak of protests, and will come to its station (3) on May 3^rd (4 Capricorn) squared Iran’s Sun and semisquare its natal Uranus (20 Scoprio), perhaps symbolizing the dug-in (station) nature of the protest (Uranus).  Makemake is currently sesquiquadrate Uranus, completing a cosmic circuit, overexciting (Makemake) people’s desire for freedom (Uranus) with such fervor that they risk their lives and liberty to demonstrate and protest (also Uranus).

Currently Irani (5 Sagittarius) is also closely opposing the country’s Moon (6 Gemini), also representing its people, and locked in a T-Square with Damocles (1 Pisces), representing the looming threat or peril, outwardly taking the form of drastic government responses.  Natally, Irani is squared by Saturn (8 Virgo), another symbol of a harsh, autocratic regime which represses and is at odds with (square) its people (Moon), in a T-Square with Venus (3 Pisces, suggesting fiscal (Venus) hardship (Saturn) for the population (Moon), a putative cause of the initial unrest.

The massive loss of life can be related to centaur Pholus (11 Capricorn), noted for mass casualties by whatever cause, which is currently exactly squared Iran’s Sun and was also highlighted in the January 3^rd Full Moon, by conjunction with the Sun.

Upcoming eclipses could prove pivotal moments in the struggle, with a Solar Eclipse February 17^th (28 Aquarius) activating transit Uranus in square, and Iran’s Sun in semisquare, perhaps stoking further fuel on the fire.  As well, a Lunar Eclipse (12 Virgo) on March 3^rd conjoins Iran’s natal Saturn, symbolizing its government, perhaps prompting a collapse.

Notes:  (1) Islamic Republic of Iran, established 1 April 1979, 3 PM GMT, Tehran, from Nicholas Campion, “Book of World Horoscopes”

(2) A Grand Cross is a major pattern comprised of four or more points at roughly 90 degrees equidistant from each other; this dynamic interaction can create stress, but also prompts action and motivates growth.

(3) Stations are periods when, from our perspective on Earth, a planet appears to slow its movement, come to a standstill, and reverse course.  This is an optical illusion created by the triangulation between the sun, Earth, and any third celestial body; astrologically, it represents a focusing of the energies associated with that point, and often coincides with major life events or a radical recalibration of how that point has functioned previously.

(4) A T-Square is a dynamic pattern composed of two or more planets in opposition (180 degrees), each squared (90 degrees) a third.  It represents stress and conflict, with the fulcrum point (at the square) offering a possibility of resolution.

Sources:  reporting from NBC News, Wikipedia; chart data from serennu.com

Title Image Credit:  drawn by Chat GPT