This article was first published on 12 December 2010 at the old C*I*A – Zone X blog.

Olof Palme (1927-1986)

The horoscope for modern Sweden is that cast for the introduction of liberal parliamentary government in the mid-1860′s.  On 7 December 1865, the nobility voted away their privileges and enabled the parliamentary regime to flourish as a modern democracy.*  The chart is notable for the Jupiter-Uranus opposition across the early degrees of Cancer and Capricorn, square Neptune in Aries, perhaps symbolic of the idealistic and enlightened social attitudes which have resulted in a country with a toleration for higher taxes in return for higher standards of social capital and state-provided services.

Currently, the combination of the nodal axis, Pluto, Mars and retrograde Mercury is tightly aspecting the Mercury-Jupiter conjunction, opposite Uranus, in Sweden’s chart, which seems to be putting much pressure on the political values, and ideals of social justice at the heart of Sweden’s national identity.  Can the judiciary and the media be trusted, or are they bending to a more powerful force which is unseen but which is trying to maintain control over the country’s decision-making?

BiWheel. Centre Chart> Sweden: Constitution. 7 December 1865, 3:30pm LMT, Stockholm, Sweden. From Book of World Horoscopes (Campion, 2004). Timed Chart – Whole Sign Houses. Outer Points> Assassination of Olof Palme. 28 February 1986, 11:21pm CET, Stockholm, Sweden. From Wikipedia. Timed Chart.

It is interesting to note the transits to this chart that occurred at the time of the assassination of prime minister Olof Palme on 28 February 1986, a crime that remains unsolved to this day, but which is suspected by some to have been carried out by secret intelligence operatives from a foreign country.

Palme was known to be quite outspoken in his defence of social democratic policies, pro-union ideology and criticism of the imperial violence of both the USA and the USSR in their various Cold War engagements; he was also a prominent supporter of the PLO in Palestine and the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa.  At the time of his assassination, Mars was exactly conjunct the Swedish Sun, Pluto was conjunct the Swedish Saturn and square the MC, and Neptune was conjunct the Swedish Mercury-Jupiter conjunction (and opposite Sweden’s Uranus).  The Swedish judicial system, moral sense and confidence were undermined by something subversive; an act of sabotage that struck at the very leadership and embodiment of the country’s highest ideals.

BiWheel. Centre Chart> Sweden: Constitution. 7 December 1865, 3:30pm LMT, Stockholm, Sweden. From Book of World Horoscopes (Campion, 2004). Timed Chart – Whole Sign Houses. Outer Points> Transits on 12 December 2010.

Today, the same structure in the Swedish chart is being triggered by the nodes, Pluto, Mars and a retrograde Mercury, and we see the fiasco arising over the case of Julian Assange, wanted in Sweden for alleged sexual offences against two women.  The case is being overshadowed by enormous suspicions that the judiciary and government is being pressured into proceeding with the case for purely political reasons of expediency, pressured by the US Government and the powerful forces of the international corporate elite who are being increasingly threatened by the information that Mr Assange and his Wikileaks organization have been releasing into the public domain.

BiWheel. Centre Chart> Sweden: Constitution. 7 December 1865, 3:30pm LMT, Stockholm, Sweden. From Book of World Horoscopes (Campion, 2004). Timed Chart – Whole Sign Houses. Outer Points> Julian Assange. 3 July 1971, 12pm, Townsville, Australia. From Wikipedia. Untimed Chart.

Comparing Mr Assange’s (noon) chart to that of Sweden, we can see that his natal Venus-Pluto square, which perhaps represents his tendency to enter into intense relationships, including sexual relationships, which are marked by dark power-plays and hidden intrigue, and which in this situation may symbolise his assignation with the two women which is the subject of the alleged offences, has strong connections with the Swedish chart.  Assange’s Venus conjuncts the Swedish Ascendant and his Pluto squares it.
The upcoming Uranus-Pluto squares which will be occurring exactly 7 times between 2012 and 2015, will be triggering all horoscopes with significant points in the first 10 degrees of the cardinal signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.  This will include the Mercury-Jupiter / Neptune / Uranus alignment in the Swedish chart as well as the Sun-Uranus square in Assange’s chart.  We can already sense the energy of this aspect that will define a generation of political activism:  fighting for individual rights against the totalitarian, all-controlling forces of the global corporate elite.  The events surrounding Wikileaks and its dramatis personae are already aligning to the fault-lines in time that the great Uranus-Pluto squares represent.
* from The Book of World Horoscopes by N. Campion (Wessex Astrologer, 2004)