I cast an astrological chart for the passing of Yasser Arafat today, asking the question, "How will this affect the state of world peace and the future of the Middle East?" The astrological chart was cast for 6:20 AM, local time in Jerusalem, the best time I have for the moment when his death was announced. The first thing that pops out is Mars 12th house, square Saturn in the 9th. There will be secret negotiations and discussions, and the risk of violence is strong. The 11th house is strong, and the astrological aspects there are considerably better. The best hope for peace is for a "friend or associate" from outside to broker discussions to help the Palestinian people to more smoothly manage the transition. It is possible that a woman or a spiritual leader will take an important role in getting the factions to work together.
There will be powerful, unexpected and dramatic changes to the "homeland" ideas of the Palestinian people following this event. There remain considerable difficulties ahead. There will certainly be more bumps along the road to peace. The leadership and peoples on both sides are divided. Sacrifices will have to be made to promote healing.
I have felt for several days that it might be possible that the true cause of death might never be revealed. The word "poison" kept coming to mind whenever I watched news reports about his illness. This may be confirmed by the Plutonian rulership of the ascendant of this chart, the strong 12th house, and the strongly negative aspects between Mars, Saturn, and North Node indicate political motivation for the events unfolding today.
Overall, the aspects are so mixed that it is difficult to say what the "outcome" may be – in fact, I am tempted to conclude that nothing will change immediately in terms of the daily struggle for peace in the middle east. The positive aspects are equally as powerful as the challenging ones. My sense of things psychically is that this will be a turning point in a more positive direction in the long run, there will be many shocking events to follow, but there will be considerably more time to pass before there is any demonstrably positive effect in the lives of the people in the Middle East.
