Kenya is currently in turmoil in the aftermath of the contested Presidential election. Kenya’s natal astrology chart is under a lot of pressure right now. The chart shows Mars at 5 Capricorn, which appears to already be feeling the effect of applying Jupiter and Pluto, and is opposed by transiting Mars, although weakly. I think that Jupiter’s proximity to the Pluto Mars opposition is amping up its effect and involving kingly figures in power struggles. The symbolic assocations here are power (Pluto), violence and discord (Mars), and kings and rulers (Jupiter).
In addition, Kenya has a 9 degree Virgo ascendant with Uranus and Pluto conjunct the ascendant at 10 and 14 Virgo respectively. Saturn is transiting this area, currently at 8 Virgo, and the middle region of Virgo was affected by two eclipses in 2007, destabilising existing power structures in the country.
There is a nasty Saturn Neptune square in the Kenyan natal chart, (Neptune at 16 Scorpio and Saturn at 18 Aquarius), which Neptune has been amplifying for the past few years by transit. This shows us that the current storm has been brewing for a while, and involves a deep sense of betrayal. The natal Moon at 3 Scorpio describes the history of corruption in the country that threatens the benificence of the Sun Jupiter trine, a blessing that promises and has sometimes conferred an overall sense of peace and stability on the nation.
Saturn on the ascendant is bringing corruption out into the open: it was a really bad time to try and steal an election. This influence will do its job throughout 2008. Then over the next few years Pluto will transit several key points in the Kenyan chart: Mars (5 Cap), Mercury (8 Cap) and then Venus (15 Cap). If the governing powers can learn from Saturn and shape up, Kenya could become a more powerful and prosperous nation over the coming decade.
Kenya Independence: 12 Dec 1963, midnight, Nairobi. Source: Nick Campion’s Book of World Horoscopes.
