Saturn/Rahu Conjunction  
Saturn, the planet of suffering, delays, denial, oppression and other lessons by experience, comes together this summer with Rahu -- the head-of-the-dragon eclipse point.  Rahu is intensity personified, fast, uncontrollable and unanticipated.  As an eclipse point her moves backwards int the zodiac.  Saturn naturally moves forward.

Think of these toughest and roughest of malefic planets as two trucks on the interstate, both going north.  One loses control and crosses the lane line, running into the other truck.  It's a big accident.  But envision how much more destructive the accident would be if one truck were traveling north and the other south -- and one crossed the lane to hit the other head on.  Two trucks weighing tens of thousands of pounds and traveling some 70 mph in a head-on collision releases tremendous energy that engulfs not just the trucks but everything nearby.  That's what Saturn and Rahu will be doing from mid August, when they draw close together, to mid September -- when they reach exact conjunction. 

     August 18, is the day Saturn/Rahu harms start peaking.  This is very late in the evening on Sunday -- so Monday actually works better.  This is a sensitive date, the first of this interval.  Saturn/Rahu energy peaks on when they exactly conjoin -- on September 17.

Saturn and Rahu conjoin once every 11 years.  They disrupt world affairs, particularly in the U.S. and the Mideast.  However, as this energy is global transit energy -- where the planets are in today's skies, this is global planetary weather, impacting everyone everywhere.
                                                                    

                                                                          Your Personal Experiences 
The below forecasts about the gathering Saturn/Rahu storm is an alert to use care in your personal lives.

Saturn/Rahu is pushing ahead hard, remorseless, driven to success.... and those energies express themselves both on the global stage and in your karmas as well.

So, if you are involved with a major project or change in your life, use care -- don't just push ahead relentlessly.  Step back and evaluate your goals and how you are acting to achieve them.  Finally, know that from mid August to mid September, when the Saturn/Rahu conjunction becomes most intense, efforts you make now can backfire -- for this combination is also victimizing. In other words, be conservative in all things in all ways until at least September 17.

Still, Saturn/Rahu can bring long needed change, for Saturn is the planet of responsibility and duty, and Rahu, the head-of-the-dragon eclipse point, intensifies Saturn's energies.  This combination can blow one out of even the deepest of karmic ruts.  A stubborn client, who prefers to describe this penchant as,  "I have to learn the hard way you know," finally, after years and years moved from Arizona to Pennsylvania -, to be close to family and support her health through positive Astrocartography there.  Another finally committed to the medical care for a chronic condition.  The former had a rough drive east.  The latter struggled with hospital arrangements.  Saturn/Rahu is like riding a bucking horse.  Without care you can be thrown.  With care you can clear the highest hurdles.

Remember the old saying, Only through turmoil comes change?  There is always an upside to even the most challenging planetary combinations.

A major blow-up in the Mideast
Mideast Karma Peaking Again  
August 9 2013

Major Mideast Shifts
In the now nearly 3/4 century since the Second World War, the globe has undergone the greatest growth spurt in history. This unique achievement has been facilitated, actually enabled, by oil energy economies accessing the tremendous bounty of inexpensive Mideast oil.

Mideast Forecasting
The Mideast is an old Celestial Wheel area of interest. The June 2004, The Timeless Mideast Bottleneck -- Ancient Karmas is a five part series, the latter four parts discussing the charts for Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Israel.  The Moon's Nodes (eclipse points) Rahu and Ketu were a focus.

Slumming Around The Web
My editor, Pipe-smoking Yoda, often sends links, stating, It's amazing sometimes what I find slumming around the web  Vedic Astrology similarly digs around through vast amounts of information for something meaningful, or at least interesting!  I hunt and peck around charts, new items, previous forecasting....

Previous Saturn/Rahu Conjunctions
Let's look the last seven previous Saturn/Rahu conjunctions to see what has occurred. In Vedic Astrology, patterns are everything. When patterns repeat, history repeats, although obviously not exactly. This concept is important in all areas of life, for, as George Santayana famously said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

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8/13 Saudi prince defects: ‘Brutality, oppression as government scared of Arab revolts’
8/14 ongoing  Egypt Unrest Live
8/22  Syrian activists accuse government of deadly chemical attack near Damascus
9/15  Assad government hails 'victory' in arms deal, troops attack
10/6  U.S. forces strike in Libya, Somalia, capture al Qaeda operative
10/6  Egypt death toll rises to 53, streets now calm

Political infighting

8/5  Raucous Kentucky campaign kick-off highlights GOP challenges
8/15  Voter-suppression off to a fast start in North Carolina
8/20  Cruz will renounce Canadian citizenship
9/20  U.S. House taunts Democrats with anti-Obamacare spending bill
9/22  Shutdown threat reveals split in Republican Party
9/25 More Than 21 Hours Later, Ted Cruz Has Been Cut Off
10/15  Could the tea party split from the GOP?

Currency failure (or inflation)

8/8  Government Shutdown? Odds Are Uncomfortably High
9/24  Analysis: Washington to Wall Street - Threat of default is real
9/25  The Fed's 'hidden agenda' behind money-printing
9/25  Lew Issues Debt-Ceiling Warning
10/1  Absolutely everything you need to know about how the government shutdown will work
10/16  Republicans Back Down, Ending Crisis Over Shutdown and Debt Limit
10/21  Treasuries Lose Cachet on Lowest Foreign Demand Since ’01

 Massive destructions

8/5  Exclusive: Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an 'emergency'
8/5  Strong quake hits eastern Japan, no tsunami warning issued
8/17  Up to 100,000 face evacuation in Russia's flood-hit far east
8/17  Philippines suspends hunt for ferry disaster survivors; 32 dead, 170 missing
8/18  10,000 homes threatened as Idaho wildfire spreads to 92,000 acres
8/19 Manila under water as storms and floods devastate Philippines
8/20  Wrecked Fukushima plant springs highly radioactive water leak
8/22  Japan's nuclear crisis deepens, China expresses 'shock
9/12  Firefighters Make Stand Against NJ Boardwalk Blaze
9/13  National Guard evacuating Colorado town caught in flood   (see September 13 VedicLeaks)
9/15  Thousands flee as Sumatra volcano erupts
9/22  Suicide bombers kill 78 Christians outside Pakistani church
9/25  Pakistan earthquake: Hundreds dead in Balochistan
9/27  Sudan fuel protests: '50 shot dead'
9/30  Car bombs kill 54 in Shi'ite districts of Baghdad
10/3  Divers recover 10 more migrants' bodies from Sicily wreck
10/6  Egypt death toll rises to 53, streets now calm
10/9  Around 60 dead in clashes in Central African Republic
10/13  India cyclone leaves trail of destruction, but few casualties
10/13  Bus falls off cliff in Peru, killing all 51 people aboard
10/13  India temple stampede in Madhya Pradesh 'kills 89'
10/15  Strong quake kills at least 74 in central Philippines
11/3 to 11/11 Typhoon Haiyan -- Philipines & Vietnam
11/17  Tornadoes rip Midwest

 Food and/or drug crisis

8/6 Fonterra under fire over milk scare; more product recalls
9/14 Indian pharma draws more FDA scrutiny as U.S. imports rise
9/16  Drug-resistant bacteria pose potential catastrophe, CDC warns
9/26  First cases of flesh-eating drug Krokodil surface in US
9/25  Overdoses attributed to club drug 'Molly' increase
10/1  Giant Asian Hornets Are Killing People In China, Breeding In Larger Numbers
10/9  Rare amoeba found in 1 water system in Louisiana
10/10  Flesh-eating Krokodil drug surfaces in Chicago suburb
10/12  31 in Florida infected by bacteria in salt water

 Sensitive Dates 
(This information was published beginning August 27)

 

Keep in mind these peak stress intervals:

      Saturn/Rahu conjunction widespread harms harms is August 18 to September 16

      Far East Typhoons -- August 18 to September 16
.
      U.S. hurricanes -- September 10 to October 25

Sensitive Dates are specific days when transiting planets combine to signal major events:

     August 20 -- Mars enters Cancer.  (See August 20 and 21 VedicLeaks)

     September 2  -- Moon crosses Mars  (See September 1 and 7 VedicLeaks)

     September 9 -- Moon hits Saturn/Rahu and all three are aspected by Mars  (See September 7 10  and 13 VedicLeaks)

     September 17-18 -- Venus crashes into the Saturn/Rahu combination

     October 3 to 8 -- Mercury crosses Saturn/Rahu

     October 8 -- Mars aspects Moon/Venus

     October 18 -- Penumbral lunar eclipse

     November 3 -- hybrid solar eclipse

     November 11 to 19  Mercury transits to Rahu  (See November 9 VedicLeaks)

      November 23 to 25 -- Merury transits to Saturn  (See November 23 VedicLeaks)

     November 24 to 30 -- Mercury remains afflicted in Libra.  (See again November 23 VedicLeaks)