The Celestial Agenda for 2016 includes a few unusual, intense planetary patterns that will likely make this coming year memorable in a number of ways.
The action begins almost immediately, in January, when the nodes, Rahu and Ketu, change signs. The lunar nodes are the intersection points of the path of the Sun and the path of the Moon, as seen from Earth. These are the eclipse points, which in Vedic Astrology are considered to be almost equal in importance to the solid planets. The nodes move backwards through the zodiac, compared to the rest of the celestial bodies. In January, Rahu, the north node, leaves Virgo and moves into Leo. Ketu, the south node, leaves Pisces and moves into Aquarius. These new nodal placements will create a new sign emphasis, and bring new events to the area of your life as indicated by the house positions of Leo and Aquarius in your natal chart. Additionally, each of the nodes will initiate a new energy pattern, due to having to combine with planets that are already transiting in these signs.
Rahu will pair up with Jupiter, which has been transiting in Leo since July, 2015. In fact, the conjunction of Rahu and Jupiter will be exact as soon as Rahu enters Leo. By January, Jupiter will be at the extreme end of Leo, where it begins its retrograde phase. As Rahu enters the end of Leo, it will immediately encounter Jupiter, and since they will both be moving backwards in Leo at about the same speed, we will get a powerful sustained interaction of Retrograde Jupiter and Rahu for the first few months of 2016.
As an eclipse point, Rahu has the ability to Obscure any planet that it comes into contact with, resulting in distortion of that planet’s significations. Jupiter is the planet of Wisdom, Prosperity, Optimism, Faith, and Law. Since Jupiter will be retrograde, its significations will already not be behaving normally. Rahu will only further pervert the indications of Jupiter. Therefore, expressions of Truth, Wisdom, Faith, Optimism, Prosperity, etc., will not be “normal” during the first few months of 2016, and thus will highlight another quality of Rahu: Confusion. Rahu also has the nature of Obsession, Urgency, and Separation. Its combination with Jupiter will put more emphasis on individual Beliefs, Religion, and Personal Truth, creating more division between people.
Directly opposite in the zodiac from Rahu is Ketu, the other eclipse point. Ketu will be pairing up with Neptune, which has been creeping along in Aquarius since 2009. Similar to Rahu, Ketu also alters the expression of any planet that comes in contact with it. In a natal chart, Ketu represents the past life karma. Since it signifies the “unseen world,” Ketu’s function in mundane events is to dematerialize, i.e., dissolve things, on the material plane. Ketu can be a spiritualizing factor, which is synonymous with Dissatisfaction. Neptune in some ways is similar to Ketu, as it represents the world of dreams and fantasies; i.e., the non-rational. Thus, both of these significators are mysterious, irrational, and unpredictable. In your own life, keep a watch on the house occupied by Aquarius in your birth chart. It is likely that you will experience instances of idealism, dissatisfaction, illusions, confusion, and/ or misunderstandings in this sector of your life during 2016.
On another level, both Ketu and Neptune are considered to be expressions of “the collective,” i.e., visionary idealism, the greater good, societal movements, etc. The sign that Ketu and Neptune will be together in, Aquarius, is the social scientist, the humanitarian, of the zodiac. So this combination can signal some changes, or at least movement, towards sensitivity to the needs of the masses, more democracy. What is interesting is that the exact conjunction of Neptune and Ketu will occur in November, just as we approach the 2016 U.S. national elections.
Another important planetary combination that becomes a major feature of 2016 is the conjunction of Mars and Saturn. Saturn has been in Scorpio since November 2014, and remains in that sign for all of 2016. Mars enters Scorpio in the third week of February. Mars and Saturn have diametrically opposing energies. Mars is Action and is Impatient for Results; Saturn is all Caution, Pessimism, and Delay. These two planets don’t like each other, yet they will be forced to stay in close proximity for an extended period of time during 2016. The result will be a lot of tension, stress and crisis, both in world events, and in our personal lives. Normally Mars only spends 6 weeks in a sign, but this time, Mars will remain in Scorpio for 7 months. The reason is that Mars will be go through a retrograde phase in 2016, from April 17th to June 30th.
Retrograde Mars is the planet of Energy and Action, going “Backwards.” Obviously, this is problematic for moving anything forward: projects tend to run into difficulties; it’s hard to even get things off the ground when Mars is retrograde. Now add in the energy of Saturn, the planet of Time & Delay, Restriction, Obstruction, and Suffering. As it happens, Saturn will also be retrograde while Mars is retrograde. The general rule in Vedic Astrology is that natural malefics, when retrograde, do more harm than usual. When two natural malefics are both retrograde in the same sign it is a sure signal for major trouble. Making matters still worse, at the end of April, Mercury begins a retrograde period, lasting through most of May. You can redline mid-April through the end of June as a time to avoid for scheduling anything important. Best to stick to routine actions during those months. The sector of your personal chart containing the sign Scorpio is where the problems will most likely appear. Mars will finally leave Scorpio in mid-September.
Jupiter takes about 1 year to transit through a sign. Since mid July 2015, Jupiter has been in Leo. On August 11, 2016, Jupiter will change signs, moving from Leo to Virgo. Starting then, the planet of Wisdom, Prosperity, Increase, Beliefs, Law, etc., will be manifesting through the sign of Details & Analysis for a bit more than a year, until September 2017. Since Jupiter is the “Great Benefic” in Vedic Astrology, the area of the zodiac where it transits generally experiences some kind of improvement. In your Vedic Astrology birth chart, find the house that contains the sign Virgo. This part of your life will likely experience some benefit, opportunity, and/ or increase, during the 12 months of Jupiter’s transit beginning in August.
One interesting effect of Jupiter moving into Virgo is how it will affect the coming US elections. Virgo is the 10th house of the USA birth chart. The 10th house of a country’s chart represents “the ruler.” In the case of the USA, that would be the president and his party. What is interesting here is that Jupiter’s entry into the chart sector signifying the president, 3 months before the elections, indicates benefit to the president, which implies that the Democrats will win the presidential election.
Thanks for your insights. If the 10th house represents “the ruler”, is the President only part of the rulers, would Congress also be included? Would that also possibly indicate a stalemate, i.e. President to the Democrats and Congress to the Republicans?
The 10th house of a country’s chart is “The Ruler” which in the old days was the king. But the 10th house significations go beyond that, including anybody who can qualify as being in the ruling elite, or the party in power. The 4th house, being opposite to the 10th house, stands for those opposed to the leader, i.e., the opposition party. (4th house also signifies a lot of other things, including the country’s lands, comfort of the people, etc.)
Of course, this was all devised in ancient times, before modern systems of representative government. Today, the 11th house is usually taken to be the house of Parliament, or Congress, “as a body.” Since the 4th house is still those opposed to the leader, we can take the 4th house at this time to represent the Republicans (whether in congress or not). But again, it gets complicated: since someone like Bernie Sanders is opposed to the existing ruling establishment, he too (although not a Republican) would be a 4th house person. Were he to become president, he would become a 10th house person. In the US chart, since Saturn is placed in the 10th house, and Saturn is the planet of The Established Order, the 10th house becomes not just the ruler, but also the Established Government. Here we see how Uranus, transiting opposite the chart’s Saturn, signifies the general Rebellion against the Established Order, which in this case could even be interpreted as rebellion against the Republican Establishment.
Hi Ron
Thanks again for another insightful article on the coming year. Having this conjunction natally (Taurus Asc – 5th house Virgo mars sat conj) i always dread this once in a two year clash. It would seem every time this conjunction occurs, upheaval and disruption is the outcome. But does it always have to be so? Any tips on how to survive it this year would be greatly appreciated…
Thanks in advance 🙂
The Mars-Saturn conjunction doesn’t have to be a bad combination. Mark Zuckerberg, billionaire founder of Facebook, has it in his chart. It all depends on the rest of the chart. Mars is the planet of Action; Saturn is the planet of Focus. The best use of this energy is to Concentrate on a particular endeavor with the intention of sticking it through and getting it done.
Like Saturn’s 7.5 yr cycle is always seen from moon sign, do all other planetary transits have to be understood from moon sign only ?
Thanks
The 7.5 year interval refers to “Sadie Sati,” a period when Saturn transits through the sign before the natal Moon, of the natal Moon, and after the natal Moon. Theoretically, one could apply this principle to other natal planets, and indeed, it is used by some astrologers with reference to Saturn’s transit over the Ascendant Degree.
All transiting planets should be evaluated for their effects as referenced to the natal Moon as well as to the Ascendant. Generally, the interpretation from the Ascendant is used to gauge the actual, physical events of the transit, whereas the transit from the Moon will give insight as to the subjective experience of the events.
Hi Ron,
What makes you have the following conclusion:
“What is interesting here is that Jupiter’s entry into the chart sector signifying the president, 3 months before the elections, indicates benefit to the president, which implies that the Democrats will win the presidential election.”
In a country’s chart, the 10th house is the house of the Ruler, which in the case of the USA, is the President and his party. In the Vedic Birth Chart of the USA, Virgo is the 10th house. The planet of Established Order, Saturn, also lies in the USA 10th house. Therefore, when Jupiter, the planet of Opportunity, Benefit, Increase, etc., enters Virgo in August 2016, it will give benefit to the president and his party, i.e., the Democrats.
Hi,
My ascendant s Scorpio, so mars Saturn conjunction will happen in my ascendant…what sector of life does this signify? How will it affect me?…..also, from moon, Scorpio is my 8th house:( whats in store for me subjectively..?
Everything depends on the layout of the natal chart: placement of natal planets, strength of natal planets, aspects from transiting Mars to natal planets, etc. But, generally speaking, having the Mars-Saturn conjunction transiting in the Ascendant while simultaneously in the 8th from natal (Aries) Moon will prove to be an intense time period, with some significant outcomes.
Is it only Jupiter in the 10th haivng all the influence? Saturn/Mars occupying each others house, (2/12th) in November has no influence on this event the 8th of November? Mercury, the ruler of the 10th house, entering the 12th House the next day, on 11/9, joining Saturn in the 12th also has no influence? It’s in the fateful 29th degree on 11/8 in Libra. Specifically the Mercury position seems to indicate messy circumstances imo, although I don’t know Mercuries position in the US birth chart.
This Article is only a preview of some of the major planetary positions during 2016. It is not meant to be an analysis of the 2016 US election. An article on that subject will be coming later this year. The reference to Jupiter transiting in the 10th house of the USA chart at the time of the election is just one factor, which appears to benefit the party in power. But it need not be the deciding factor for the election. More details in a future article.
Very nice and informative article; even the replies are very resourceful. I am not an expert, but a vivid reader and a strong believer of astrology. I want to know if this mars+saturn conjunction is bad for me? I am cancerian [born on July 4th]; interested to know how it impacts me? I want to change my job and location; was asked to apply for a specific job; applied – now things are not moving ahead; interview is not fixed yet. harassed by a new, young boss and her group of people at work. Under a lot of pressure now. Would appreciate any info.
To skillfully time events in your life, a full evaluation of your chart is necessary. But, in general, the Mars Retrograde period this year, April 17 to June 30, is an unfavorable time for starting anything new. Even projects that are in progress tend to run into obstacles and delays when Mars is retrograde. But, without looking at the natal chart and considering all factors, it is not possible to say with certainty what your problem is. If you are interested in having a reading done, please visit the “order a reading” page.
Is Mars retrograde in Vedic astrology the same as Western wherein is in inadvisable to have dental implants during that period?
Mars is the planet of Surgery. Having surgery done while Mars is retrograde increases the potential for complications. Therefore best to wait until Mars retrograde period is over.
Thank you!
Ron,
Any thoughts about a debilitated planet getting exalted in Navamsha ( D-9 ) chart?
2nd, 9th lord Mars deblitated in 5th house in natal chart.
4th and 9th lord exalted in 6th house in D-9.