By Resti Santiago
Earthquakes are indicated in the 2020 Aries Ingress chart with Mars and Saturn at a critical section of the chart. Though it was not as prominent in the Cancer Ingress chart. What I did was check the June 6 Eclipse chart and there it is, Saturn’s location indicates “destruction of buildings” according to medieval astrologer Guido Bonatti. I also attribute the recent 6.6 Masbate earthquake to the upcoming Mars Saturn square (August 25, 2020). In the previous square in 1990, we had a very destructive earthquake.
The most recent Mars square Saturn in the same zodiacal position as this year was in 1990, when a killer quake, the “Luzon Earthquake” devastated Baguio and other provinces in the northern part of the Philippines.
In 1960, there was no notable earthquake but the Austerity Program of President Carlos P. Garcia seem to be applicable in the current setting, where GDP has fallen to its lowest level and unemployment is 45%. Millions of Filipinos are jobless. Saturn is about control and restrictions. Mars is about actions. When there is a square, there is a conflict between these two planet’s functions resulting in some form of shakeup in different areas of our life.
President Garcia exhibited the positive use of the ringed planet’s function. His aim for the Austerity Program was to break the yoke of alien domination in business, trade, commerce, and industry. The open arms policy to Chinese POGOs is in direct contrast to this policy. Some very basic policies such as the intensification of food production and minimizing rice imports are also applicable now.
In 1930 Manuel L. Quezon and others were fighting for Philippine independence in the realm of law.
What is also similar was the imposition of Martial Law by the Americans in 1900. Though this year, the Philippines is not officially under Martial Law, there are similarities in terms of limited movement of the people, curfews, and sanctions against mass gathering.
Two critical turning points in history stand out if we will review events through the lens of astrology. The first is that of 1872, wherein the three Filipino priests, now considered martyrs on the altar of independence, were executed by garrote 4 weeks before Mars in Aries was also square Saturn in Capricorn. This event was etched in the minds of the generation that followed. The death of these priests inspired Jose Rizal to right the wrongs that happened in the country. Rizal in turn became the guiding spirit of the Katipuneros, who fought for independence.
The other turning point was in 1983 when the country was thrown into an economic crisis. Mars and Saturn also formed a square aspect, though in another sign. Similar themes are also taking place. On August 21 of that year, 11 days after square aspect, a Senator of the republic was assassinated. Its effect on the economy was gargantuan:
“As foreign banks withheld their credit facilities, Marcos declared bankruptcy in October 1983 and sought a 90-day moratorium on principal debt payments. The World Bank provided bailout loans to avert a default but with painful conditions like cutting the government budget, peso devaluation, tariff dismantling, and ending subsidies. Marcos had become the proverbial debt addict wholly dependent on foreign aid.”
-The Marcos Debt, Philippine Daily Inquirer (Nov. 24, 2016).
By looking at astrological cycles it may seem that history repeats itself as similar themes recur when planets re-align following their synodic cycles. But it is worth echoing what historian Ambeth Ocampo emphasizes in his lectures– “History does not repeat itself, we repeat history.”