Two Predictions

1. The Second World War

In August 1938, the Indian astrologer B.V. Raman published a report titled World Prospects in 1939 and 1940. He wrote, "Taking the world situation as a whole one feels from an astrological survey of the horoscopes of different nations that 1940 to 1942 are indeed critical years pointing towards a great cleanup. If statesmen can get through this critical period, then the world would be saved of terrible destruction of humanity."

In the July-September 1938 issue of the self-published Astrological Magazine, writing on "Europe's Fatal Year" Raman said, "it is highly significant that the months of August and September 1939 are fatal months for peace in Europe."

At the time of these predictions, Raman was already very well regarded in India for his formidable astrological skills. His continuing detailed mapping of astrological patterns to the unfolding of the second world war brought him world-wide fame. Up until his recent death, Raman was still giving astrological advise to his many clients in Bangalore. (The initials B.V.
in his name stand for Bangalore Venkataraman.) His The Autobiography of a Vedic Astrologer is a fascinating account of his life as an astrologer in India.

2. The Collapse of the Soviet Union (USSR)

In 1980, the astrologer Liz Greene gave a lecture about the impact of the outer planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) on the lives of individuals and nations. This and other lectures have been published in The Outer Planets and Their Cycles - The Astrology of the Collective (CRCS Publications, 1983, 1996). I am excerpting here snippets (tagged with my explanations of astrological terms and ideas) that lead to a celebrated prediction she made.

"What hasn't happened to Russia is the approaching transit of Pluto through Scorpio."

In its orbital motion around the Sun, Pluto transits, i.e. passes, through each zodiacal sign in turn. Since it takes well over 200 years for one complete orbit, once it transits through, say, Scorpio, the next transit through Scorpio would not happen for another 200 plus years. What's the connection to USSR? Each country is "born" at a certain time and place. The birth of the USSR is taken to be November 7, 1917, 10:52 PM in Leningrad (according to The Book of World Horoscopes). Two hundred years before the 1980s, the USSR did not exist, and so, this upcoming transit of Pluto through Scorpio would be experienced by the USSR for the first time.

"Pluto always brings profound changes and rids the person of things which he has outgrown. It's a kind of fate. If the person can't meet the challenge to change, then he breaks down. This is likely to happen in Russia, because there isn't a great deal of inclination shown to alter the system in any way except to tighten it."

The astrological horoscope is nothing but an instant snapshot of the positions of all the planets at the time of birth. Everyone knows their Sun sign. Scorpios are people who are born when the Sun is in Scorpio, roughly October 22 to November 21 each year. Then, when Pluto transited through Scorpio from 1984 to 1994, it would have "hit" the "natal" (birth horoscope) Sun of all Scorpio people, bringing into their lives experience of all things Plutonian. Exactly when this happened would depend on the exact position of the Sun. For example, a person born on November 7 would have the Sun in his natal horoscope at around 14-15 degrees of Scorpio, and would have felt Pluto's impact in his life around 1989-1990 when transiting Pluto was also at around 14-15degrees of Scorpio. And what holds for the individual holds for countries. Russia, born on November 7, would experience Pluto's impact around 1989-1990.

The other planets in the natal horoscope (Mercury, Venus, etc.) would also feel the impact of the transit of Pluto and the other outer planets (Uranus and Neptune). The actual effect would depend on the the "meanings" of these natal planets, the meanings of the transiting planets, and the current circumstances of the person or country in question.

"The conjunction of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in Capricorn which we have approaching toward the end of this decade will conjunct Russia's natal Venus in Capricorn in the fifth house, and oppose natal Pluto in the eleventh. This happens at roughly the same time that Pluto hits the natal sun. Now in an individual's chart Venus deals with relationships and partnerships, and transits like this would put enormous pressure on that side of life. You often see marriages breaking down when the outer planets transit over Venus. Russia is a conglomerate of many different nations, not all of whom went into the marriage very willingly. Poland and Czechoslavakia and Hungary may be thinking of divorce."

"...there would be a period of disintegration, and a potential for a new birth. If this were an individual, he would seek help of various kinds to retain some ego continuity while the changes were happening. But a country can't get that kind of help. And a sun-Saturn country wouldn't ask for it anyway. So it may that Pluto takes on the very literal meaning of death, and the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics will no longer be a union."