China’s horoscope and the trade war

The start of a trade war between the United States and China comes at an inconvenient time for the Chinese economy. In recent weeks, concerns have been mounting that growth in the world's second-biggest economy is cooling faster than previously expected. Weaker Chinese growth will have repercussions for big trading partners, such as the United States and Europe, and for global companies who do business there.

Now, an intensifying clash with the United States is adding to the difficulties. Both sides announced tariffs on $50 billion of each other's products last week, and President Donald Trump upped the ante further on Monday with a threat to impose duties on at least another $200 billion of Chinese goods.

http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/20/news/economy/china-economy-slows-trade-war/index.html

In this blogpost, I intend to show how China’s national chart contains a clue to the decline resulting from a trade war. But first let us begin with the stellium of planets and TNPs in the 8^th house of China’s chart. Let us recall that the 8^th house in mundane astrology is that of business and international finance, credit and debt. With the Sun [7li] – the central planet of any chart – in the 8^th we can begin to understand why business and trade is so important for China. Moreover, the Sun is conjunct epsilon (ε) Virgo, Vindemiatrix, a bright yellow star in the right wing, or right arm, of the Virgin.

Thoroughness, hard work and conscientiousness are the hallmarks of the Virgin.  The image of the corn carried by the Maiden symbolizes the fruits of her labor. With the Sun conjunct the stars of Virgo in the 8^th house of business or international finance shows that China has earned a surplus because of the hard work.

But now we have a Saturn transit in the 12^th square the Sun in the 8^th.  A 12^th house transit of Saturn coincides with a period when we meet the results of all the thoughts, actions, desires and activities  that we have engaged in during the last Saturn cycle through the other houses. The 12^th has often been referred to as “the house of self-undoing”. The surplus that Virgo has created is now itself the problem. Because of cheap Chinese labor, American factories opened up in China stealing the jobs of millions of American workers. This serious imbalance has to be corrected and that is what Saturn transit is trying to do.

China’s Sun is square Uranus so that the Saturn transit is forming a T. Challenging Sun-Uranus aspects often experiences a tension which urges them to step beyond their current way of life into the unknown in often a very radical way. By the time Saturn is done transiting its 12^th house, China may be forced to make a major re-adjustment. The radix Sun [8li] is square the radix Hades-Apollon [8cn] midpoint which delineates as “decline (Hades) in business opportunities (Apollon)”.

Another clue to the kind of change being demanded can be seen if we superimpose the progressed US Sibly  on the Chinese chart. Here we find the Sibly progressed Sun [13pi] is opposite China’s radix Saturn [13vi] once again in the 8^th house of business. Much of what we know of planets in an individual natal chart can also be extended to nations. Saturn in the 8^th gives apprehensions and difficulties in the area of sharing and joint resources. People feel insecure about what they have to give or experience difficulty in what another has to offer. More generally, there is the fear of letting go which can often show up as trying to control the partner through money matters. With its huge trade surplus with the US, China is doing just that. It is unwilling to open its own markets – a fear that can be typically related to Saturn in the 8^th. Notice that Saturn [13vi] is conjunct the TNP Apollon [19vi] which is associated with business and commerce.

And finally we notice that transit Uranus is squaring China’s Ascendant-Descendant axis. For the moment think of China’s chart as that of an individual. Solar Fire provides the following interpretation for this transit:

Transiting Uranus Square Radix Ascendant

Relationships close to your heart can undergo sudden and dramatic changes during this transit as either you or your loved one feels the need to break out of old habits and patterns in the relationship. You may not have been aware that the relationship had settled into a routine that was a little stale. It could be that a third party enters the scenario surprising both of you. Whatever the circumstances, the challenge is to ride the disruptions, pull yourself out of the rut and put the sparkle back into your relationship.

Doesn’t that sound as though relationship with major partners is in trouble!