The Full Moon in Virgo on February 24 was squared by asteroid Pallas in Sagittarius. Pallas Athene was the Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handicraft. She was an excellent strategist. Demetra George says that in Sagittarius she is a defender of truth and righteousness. Pluto in early Aquarius is in conjunction with two centaurs, Amycus and Orius. Amycus’s ingress into Aquarius was in December 2023. Orius entered Aquarius in the beginning of January 2024. Pluto’s second ingress into the sign was on January 21, 2024.

55576 Amycus is named from Greek mythology after one of the wild centaurs that fought against the Lapiths at the wedding of king Pirithous. The centaurs were invited to the wedding, but they became drunk and lost their control. One of them tried to rape the bride. In the battle that broke out, Amycus was responsible for the first death of one of the Lapiths. Amycus was then killed in turn.

As human beings we can choose our actions. We are connected to other people, and what we do affects everybody. Society gives humans their humanity. Amycus can help us to be truly human and spread the good.

The following persons were born with their Sun conjunct Amycus: Miep Gies (Feb. 15, 1909 – Jan. 11, 2010), one of the Dutch citizens who hid Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis during World War II; Michael Moore (born April 23, 1954), an American filmmaker, author, and activist; Alexei Navalny (June 4, 1976 – Feb. 16, 2024), a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, and anti-corruption activist; Edward Snowden (born June 21, 1983), an American former computer intelligence consultant and whistleblower, whose motive was ”to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.”

Desmond Tutu (Oct. 7, 1931 – Dec. 26, 2021), a South African Anglican bishop, anti-apartheid and human rights activist, had Amycus at the Aries point, which joins individuals with the collective. The African Ubuntu philosophy, loosely translated as “I am what I am because of who we all are”, became best known through the writings of Desmond Tutu.

330836 Orius was discovered in 2009 at the Baldone Observatory, Latvia. In Greek mythology centaur Orius lived in the mountains and was killed at centaur Pholus’s cave by Heracles when he tried to steal the wine, which was common property of the centaur tribe. Orius may represent people who are somehow rebellious, live outside the mainstream, defend humanity, or act against those in power.

These are people who were born with their Sun conjunct Orius: James Dean (Feb. 8, 1931 – Sept. 30, 1955), an American actor in roles of a young rebel; Garry Kasparov (born April 13, 1963), a Russian chess grandmaster, political activist, and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin; Shahla Sherkat (born March 30, 1956), a feminist journalist, one of the pioneers of Women’s rights movement in Iran; Aki Kaurismäki (born April 4, 1957), a Finnish film director and screenwriter, who has boycotted the Oscar awards, and whose film characters are usually people living outside the mainstream.

WikiLeaks website was launched on Oct. 4, 2006, while the Sun was conjunct Orius in Libra. The goal of WikiLeaks is to bring information, provided by anonymous sources, to the public. The founder of Wikileaks, the Australian publisher and activist Julian Assange (born July 3, 1971), has an exact opposition of the Moon and Orius.

At the Full Moon it was two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The counteroffensive of Ukraine was not a success, but the war is not going to end anytime soon. Now Ukraine suffers from an acute ammunition shortage. The leaders have to think over their strategies. As the defender of the whole Europe, Ukraine deserves our support. The outcome of the war will affect all of us.

The opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in prison on Feb. 16, 2024, when Mars was tightly in conjunction with Amycus and Orius in early Aquarius. In the natal chart of Alexei Navalny, who was referred as the symbol of brighter future for Russia, the Sun is in exact conjunction with Amycus and Jupiter is in conjunction with Orius. Navalny was a political prisoner. He was falsely accused and sentenced in prison, and the Western leaders widely hold Putin responsible for Navalny’s death, whether it was an actual murder or a result of the conditions of his inprisonment.

Julian Assange has been kept five years in the British Belmarsh prison awaiting extradition to the United States. The court decision is expected soon. The extradition of Assange would set globally a threat to press freedom. His health has worsened and his wife recently stated that he would not survive in US prison. It would be hypocritical to condemn those who are responsible of Navalny’s death if the extradition of Assange will be accepted.

The New Moon in Aquarius is square to Uranus and Lempo in Taurus. The square aspect means tension. Uranus is the planet of unpredictability. Also Pluto and Mercury are in Aquarius, the sign ruled by Uranus. Pluto entered the sign on Jan. 21 and Mercury on Feb. 5.

Uranus can be linked with surprises, disruption, rebellion, reform, and breakup of structures. Many astrologers think that it had been appropriate to name the planet Uranus rather after the god of fire, the Titan Prometheus, than after the sky god Ouranos. In Greek mythology Prometheus rebelled against the gods, stole fire from them, and gave it to humans. Prometheus’s fire can be seen symbolizing the creativeness and technological inventiveness associated with the planet Uranus.

The trans-Neptunian Lempo that is now in conjunction with Uranus, was named after the fiend in the Finnish national epic Kalevala. However, Lempo too was originally a god of fire. According to the myth, a glowing fireball shot from the sky and hit the ground. Fire helped people get fertile soil, tools and weapons.

Finland declared its independence from Russia on Dec. 6, 1917. Uranus was at 20+ degrees of Aquarius. The current New Moon at 20+ Aquarius is in the same degree with Finland’s Uranus, which receives the square transit from Uranus in Taurus too.

A lot is going on in Finland.

On Sunday the Finns will vote in the second round of the presidential election. The president of Finland is elected by a direct popular vote. This presidential election is the first since we joined NATO. The first round took place two weeks ago. The second round is a tough competition between Alexander Stubb of the National Coalition Party and Pekka Haavisto of the Green League, who is running as an independent candidate. Stubb is leading but according to the latest polls, Haavisto is catching him up. In the past most often the candidate that has won the first round also has won the second. Could Uranus break the pattern this time? At least it is going to be an exciting result evening tomorrow.

Currently we are facing some unusual events. Next week tens of thousands of workers across many sectors will be taking part in nationwide political strikes. The labour unions are protesting against goverment’s plans to reform labour market laws and its unjust cuts in some social security benefits. The government has not shown any willingness in negotiations.

Earlier this week the government decided that the land border between Finland and Russia will remain closed until Apr. 14, 2024. It will also not be possible to submit applications for international protection at any border crossing points on the eastern land border. Since November 2023 Russia has deliberately been using refugees as weapons and pushing the migrants to our border in a hybrid attack. Hopefully we have sent Putin a clear message that Russia has to change its behaviour. Uranus can show its upsetting tendencies later in the spring, but preparations are being made to deal with the possible worsening of the situation once the snows melt.

Are there more Uranian surprises ahead?