New Moon in Leo — August 19, 2020, 02:42 UT
The New Moon at 26+ Leo is in conjunction with Mercury and opposite 5335 Damocles at 26+ Aquarius. The New Moon is in a flowing trine to the exact Mars-Eris conjunction in Aries. The New Moon forms a tight, irritating quincunx to Saturn in Capricorn. The people of Belarus are living this play of planets right now.
5335 Damocles is the namesake of the damocloids, the odd group of small bodies, like aggressive centaurs. Its orbit reaches from inside the aphelion of Mars to outside Uranus. When it was discovered in 1991, it was found to be on an orbit completely different from all others known.
According to the official naming citation, “Legend has it that Damocles, a courtier of the tyrant Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse, was invited to a feast, where he was seated below a sword suspended by a thread. Intended to demonstrate the impermanence of power, the ‘sword of Damocles’ has become a symbol of impending disaster. This minor planet, in an unusual orbit of very high eccentricity and inclination and crossing the orbits of Mars to Uranus, could itself be seen as such a sword during periods of its orbital evolution when it becomes an earth crosser.”
“The Sword of Damocles” is the metaphor for the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. It is often used also in a broader sense, and simply meaning an unexpected peril.
The orbital period of 5335 Damocles around the Sun is nearly 41 years. However, astrologically it spends most of it, around 30 years, in Aquarius, and hurries through the eleven other signs of the zodiac in about ten years. On the current round Damocles made its final ingress from Capricorn to Aquarius in 1994. In April 2021 it will visit Pisces for the first time, and by 2026 has ingressed Pisces entirely.
Belarus declared independence on Aug. 25, 1991. President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko (in office since 1994) is the last dictator of Europe. The election on Aug. 9, 2020, as with previous elections, was not free and fair. The opponents are repressed, the media is not free, and journalists and demonstrators have been brutally beaten. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition candidate has claimed to won the election. The protest on Aug. 16 gathered 100,000 – 200,000 people on the streets of Minsk, demanding the departure of Lukashenko.
In the independence chart of Belarus, Mercury; Jupiter; and Venus are at 25+ — 27+ degrees of Leo, and the transiting Damocles in Aquarius has been hovering opposite them for a few years now (because of the retrogradation phenomenon). The natal Sun of Belarus is at 1+ degrees of Virgo. President Lukashenko’s natal Pluto is at 25+ Leo and his natal Sun at 6+ degrees of Virgo. Is Lukashenko’s dictatorship coming to an end soon now, or will the Sword of Damocles hit later when the transiting Damocles reaches Pisces and starts to oppose both the Sun of Belarus and the Sun of Lukashenko?
People with prominent Damocles:
John Profumo (Jan. 30, 1915 – March 9, 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler – Sun, Mars and Uranus conjunct Damocles in Aquarius.
James Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor, who died in a car crash. – Sun conjunct Damocles in Aquarius.
Sauli Niinistö (born Aug. 24, 1948) is President of Finland (in office since 2012). Niinistö and his two sons narrowly survived the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. They were in Khao Lak, Thailand, and survived by climbing up and down an electricity pylon and adjusting themselves with the water level. – Damocles at the Aries Point quincunx the Sun in Virgo and square Uranus in Gemini.
William Knox Schroeder (July 20, 1950 – May 4, 1970) was a student at Kent State University, Ohio, when he was killed by Ohio National Guardsmen in the Kent State shootings. – Sun conjunct Damocles in Cancer.
Scooter Libby (born Aug. 22, 1950) is the former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney. In October 2005, Libby resigned after he was indicted by a federal grand jury concerning the investigation of the leak of the covert identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson. He was convicted. – Sun conjunct Damocles in Leo.
Ellen DeGeneres (born Jan. 26, 1958) is an American comedian and television host. In summer 2020, DeGeneres has faced allegations of abuse, racism and sexual harassment against her staff. – Sun and Venus conjunct Damocles in Aquarius, opposite Uranus in Leo.
Ayrton Senna (March 21, 1960 – May 1, 1994), a Brazilian racing driver, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time. He died in an accident at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. – Sun at the Aries Point semisquare Damocles at the ascendant in Aquarius.
Julian Assange (born July 3, 1971), the founder of WikiLeaks – Mars conjunct Damocles in Aquarius.
Anders Behring Breivik (born Feb. 13, 1979) is a Norwegian terrorist. – Sun conjunct Damocles in Aquarius.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (born Sept. 15, 1984) In 2018 he married American actress Meghan Markle. In January 2020, the couple announced their intention to step back as members of the royal family. — Damocles in Pisces square the lunar nodes (Gemini/Sagittarius).