By Edith Hathaway © 2025
Venus is the planet of diplomacy. I have long maintained that there is no one planet of peace. Even if Mars is the planet of war, Venus is too passionate about having a certain version of a harmonious outcome. Even so, there is a better chance of a different outcome, one that satisfies all participants with Venus currently transiting through sidereal Pisces, its sign of exaltation: Jan. 28 to May 31, 2025. (All planetary positions are in the sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsha.)
Since Venus is in its sign of exaltation, it has a chance to do some extraordinary things in the realm of diplomacy during these four months. There are very high stakes and various wars going on, the biggest one being the Russia-Ukraine War, which has been going on in Ukraine for some 11 years – since the Maidan Revolution of Feb. 2014. Enormous casualties have been suffered on both sides along with major damage to Ukrainian infrastructure by the much larger Russian military forces.
President Trump has promised to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, and to start the path towards ending this war, the U.S.-Ukraine Minerals Deal was due to be signed on Feb. 28, 2025 in Washington, D.C. But if the parties cannot come to an agreement, war may drag on in Ukraine with further destruction to the country and its citizens. The same applies to those trying to settle serious conflicts in several other hotspots, such as in Syria, South Africa and elsewhere.
Tr. Venus stays longer in a sign about every 19 months when it turns retrograde. And when Venus turns retrograde (March 1 to April 12, 2025), there is the potential for diplomacy to falter or be re-evaluated, along with the other realms of Venus, including love and the arts. Adding intensity to the retrograde action, tr. Venus is on the eclipse axis in Virgo-Pisces through May 18, 2025.
Venus retrograde: March 1 to April 12, 2025 (Eastern time zone). Venus Stationary Retrograde: 16°37’ Pisces on Sat. March 1, 2025 at 8:38 pm EST. Venus Stationary Direct: 0°24’ Pisces on Sat. April 12, 2025 at 6:02 pm EDT.
We saw this on center stage with the infamous Trump-Vance-Zelensky meeting at the White House on Friday, Feb. 28, one day prior to the exact Venus Stationary Retrograde – in the shadow of the retrograde – and on a Friday, Venus’s planetary day (from sunrise Friday to sunrise Saturday). Tr. Venus SR on Sat. March 1, 2025 at 16°37’ Pisces was in turn within a 2°orb from the upcoming Partial Solar Eclipse degree on March 29, 2025 at 14°47’ Pisces. These connections intensify everything.
Pisces is also associated with devotion, sacrifice, and/or surrender. In any peace treaty, especially one involving tr. Venus in Pisces, each party has to be willing to make some major sacrifices. Venus in Pisces is exalted in large part because in its devotional love it transcends more limited human concepts of contractual or sexual love. This is a realm where unconditional love reigns and where there is a willingness to sacrifice everything in expression of that love. In this realm people have to see a higher framework beyond typical human weaknesses, failures, and material cravings, including in this case – the enormous profitability of the war economy for a chosen few and the political rationale given to keep it going at all costs.
Brief review of how to read a South Indian chart. Underlined planets are in retrograde motion. Not shown in the chart is tr. Neptune at 4°40’ Pisces.
Zelensky was scheduled to arrive at the White House at 11:00 am, when tr. Jupiter was exactly rising! Jupiter rising in a chart is considered Digbala, best possible angle of the chart and very protective. But he was running late due to his meeting at a nearby hotel with a dozen U.S. Senators. According to their social media messages sent out immediately after that meeting, they were urging Zelensky to push Trump for military security guarantees for Ukraine – despite the fact that the U.S.-Ukraine Minerals Deal had already been carefully and doggedly worked out at two prior meetings with U.S. and Ukrainian diplomats, one in Kiev, and one in Munich. Zelensky kept delaying his willingness to sign the treaty and had insisted on a meeting with Trump in Washington, D.C. to do the final signing of the treaty. Since negotiations had been completed weeks earlier and the treaty could have been signed in Kiev or Munich, this meeting at the White House was intended to be largely ceremonial.
Although there was a waxing Moon and a fortunate Jupiter rising in the Taurus Ascendant in exchange with exalted Venus in Pisces (a Parivartana yoga), tr. Moon was about to conjoin Saturn within 1° 26’, and that would be the Moon’s last aspect to any classical Vedic planet before leaving the sign of Aquarius. Moon and Saturn also repeat in the Navamsha, again in the 10th house and again in a fixed sign, this time in Taurus. The Rashi chart contains a fixed sign (Taurus) Ascendant and 4 planets in fixed signs. The Navamsha contains a fixed sign (Leo) Ascendant and 5 planets in fixed signs. But what seems fixed here are the emotions, not the treaty.
Instead of concluding with a firm handshake, Trump dismissed Zelensky, after expecting a signed deal and a major step towards securing peace between Russia and Ukraine, even if not the final one. Zelensky was reported to plead numerous times for a return to the White House that afternoon, but he could no longer convince Trump and his team that he was serious about signing this deal.
So despite the high promise of Jupiter in the Ascendant and the favorable mutual exchange between Jupiter and exalted Venus, the close Moon-Saturn conjunction indicated that matters could get constricted and/or sour very quickly. Further, tr. Mars indicated that aggressive speech could and did prevail in the end. With the chart for 11:20 am, tr. Mars is not only very close to the exact 2nd house cusp (of speech) from the Ascendant in Mars-ruled Mrigashira nakshatra, but it is also very close to its Stationary Direct degree at 22°48’ Gemini on Feb. 23, 2025, giving it added power for aggressive speech.
Among the outer planets, tr. Neptune at 4°40’ Pisces was tightly conjoined Rahu (within a 30’ orb), indicating that relations were not as they seemed. This was meant to be a happy day of finalizing this treaty, with lunch at the White House and further meetings with the press after lunch to celebrate the event.
But as we all know, the meeting in front of numerous television cameras, journalists and cabinet members devolved into a major spat between President Trump, President Zelensky, and Vice President Vance. This occurred after over 41 minutes of pleasantries and conversation largely devoid of conflict.
But then Zelensky became insistent about how much damage Vladimir Putin had done to the Ukrainian people. He wanted the Americans to acknowledge this and agree to guarantee continued military support to Ukraine. Zelensky also complained how isolated and “alone” his country was in fighting this war. But Trump and Vance were having none of this, because in fact Ukraine has been largely funded by the U.S.
Having given over $350 billion to Ukraine without any loan agreement, a large majority of American taxpayers no longer want to fund an endless war in Ukraine or anywhere else that doesn’t serve our national interests. Trump was elected on that campaign promise, among others, though most Democrats are in disagreement and want to keep the money flowing to Ukraine. They are joined by various legislators from both parties and also European leaders who are geared towards a war economy.
Indeed, a war economy has been the driving force and business model of the U.S. for many decades. Most of those wars (including in Vietnam) have led to losses without any strategic U.S. advantage or victory except to the military-industrial complex. So this is a major trend that the Trump administration is trying to end, notably the lengthy and bloody Russia-Ukraine war.
But for his efforts towards brokering a peace treaty, President Trump has been facing yet more assassination threats and strong condemnation. European Union leaders assume (with no proof) that Putin intends to invade the rest of Europe. Now with the U.S. removing its unlimited funding of European wars, EU leaders want European nations to prepare for war. They have indeed neglected their own military needs for decades, depending overmuch on the U.S. to supply military equipment and soldiers. But this may also push them deep into debt, just as the UK only finished repaying WWII debt to the U.S. in Dec. 2006 – 61 years later. Meanwhile, the U.S. itself currently has over $36 trillion in national debt!
The USA Independence chart has an 8°59’ Sagittarius Ascendant (USA Kelleher chart: July 4, 1776, 6:30 pm LMT, Philadelphia, PA). For this USA chart, Pisces is the 4th house of infrastructure, real estate, and minerals or whatever riches may be found in the ground. The U.S. needs attention to all these matters, and they are getting featured in this chart, especially in the 4 months during which Venus transits through Pisces.
The Ukraine national chart (source: Nick Campion’s Book of World Horoscopes, 2nd edition, 1995) may not be definitive to the hour and minute, but using Campion’s data it has 2°21’ Capricorn Ascendant: Aug. 24, 1991, 17:31 EET, Kiev, Ukraine. Pisces is then the 3rd house and is featured in this time period. It is more about local travel and communications, much of which needs rebuilding after the ravages of war.
This 4-month period through May 31, 2025 should yield some good results in the end, but a positive and final outcome may not arrive before tr. Venus turns Stationary Direct on April 12, 2025. This period of time also includes Mercury retrograde in Pisces, from March 15 to April 7, 2025. Mercury turns SR at 15°22’ Pisces, very close to the Venus SR degree on March 1st. The addition of Mercury retrograde further complicates matters. Not only is Mercury debilitated in Pisces, but it is conjoined Rahu, Neptune, and Venus in Pisces. Neptune contributes to the subterfuge and Rahu exaggerates it. But exalted Venus enables Mercury to achieve Neecha Bhanga Raja yoga status. That is, after various setbacks and unfortunate miscommunications, Mercury rises above its failings and all should be set right to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. The Globalists and the war-mongers will not be happy, because in their Orwellian world, WAR is PEACE.
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