In the previous post, I narrated the story of Djokovic’s fight with the Australian government to get a visa so he could play in the Australian open. The astrology of it showed up in Uranus transiting over the IC in Djokovic’s chart. Here again is the transit chart for January 16, 2022–the day on which the visa was finally denied, and Djokovic had to leave Australia–overlaid on Djokovic’s natal chart:
The question is, as astrologers could we predict exactly when the events (whatever they may be) corresponding to the transit might transpire? Before we get into the weeds, it’s important to know that the events will not necessarily happen on the exact date when transiting Uranus is on the IC. Life just doesn’t work that way. A transiting outer planet (as well as Saturn and Jupiter) cast their influence during a window of time around the exact hit to an angle or planet. The span of the window depends on the orbital period of the planet: the slower the planet, the larger the window.
So you will need to first pick a window of “opportunity” around the transit period of Uranus, then look at Mars to establish a narrower window. The Sun and Moon are not reliable timers by transit. Mercury and Venus may be used, but they are not as reliably precise as Mars.
Let’s take a crack at this.
First, a window for the activation of transiting Uranus on the IC. The monthly ephemeris is a good reference to establish this. (The monthly ephemeris gives the positions of the planets on the 1st of each month at UT midnight.)
Let’s start with the times at which Uranus is on the same degree as the IC, 14 Taurus. That happens during Aug-Oct of 2021, and again in May 2022. Between these two times Uranus goes retrograde to earlier degrees (as far back as 10 Taurus), then direct again back to 14 Taurus and beyond. So we can determine the activation window to be Aug of 2021 through May of 2022. I have expanded this out slightly with a 2-degree leeway on either side, so we might consider the entire 1-year period from June 2021 through June of 2022.
This is a long time span! Common sense dictates that whatever happens will not be intensely active for a whole year. However, circumstances that eventually come to a head might be set into motion by actions that Djokovic might have taken beforehand. And one of these actions or decisions is simply that Djokovic was steadfast in his refusal to get vaccinated, during all of 2021. We can determine a trajectory of events in his case by knowing that this is a champion tennis player whose overriding ambition is to win as many majors as possible. So an outer planet transit would cause maximum impact if it coincided at the time of the majors: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open appearing chronologically every calendar year.
Let’s cycle through the majors starting with August 2021. First up was the US open tournament, which is held in the last week of August and first week of September. Transiting Uranus is right on target during that time! If I were to go back in time and forecast in, say, March or April of 2021, I would definitely say that trouble was brewing, and something unusual might transpire at the US open. Now, because this is Uranus’ first hit on the IC, it is likely (in foresight) that nothing dramatic might happen, yet. And as it turned out he played (there was no vaccine mandate for the players), marched all the way to the final, then lost to Medvedev.
He didn’t win the championship, but that is simply the ups and downs of competitive sport. However, there was one big false note: he was roundly defeated in straight sets in the final. This was completely unexpected. He was Djokovic, with 20 championships titles, and a hot favorite to win again! So, if ahead of time, the astrologer in you predicted that something unusual would happen, well, you would be 100% correct.
Up next was the Australian open, held in the second half of January, starting January 17 2022. This is right in the middle of the activation window of transiting Uranus.
Now, there is an extremely important marker for a transiting planet, the time at which it is stationary, either before it is about to go retrograde or about to go direct. Let’s take a look at the daily ephemeris for January 2022:
I have drawn a block around the days on which Uranus is stationed at 10 Tau 50. See that Uranus was in retrograde motion before that, sliding back from 10 Tau 58 at the beginning of the month, all the way to 10 Tau 50. At this point it has come to a halt, relative to observation from the earth. For a few days it sort of stands still at this exact position. Then, on Jan 23, it slowly starts moving forward. In other words, it is in direct motion.
Stationary periods of planets (except Sun and Moon, which never go retrograde) are very important, because a stationary planet packs a lot of punch, a lot more than usual. Because of this, the stationary period of a planet can correlate with significant events in the life. In Djokovic’s case, in foresight, I would have said that an event of great significance should be expected during the time of Australian open. And this event would appear out of the blue, causing sudden disruption, because these are Uranian significations. All of this would have borne out: he was denied a visa and deported on Jan 16.
The stationary Uranus being such a clear-cut indicator, I likely wouldn’t have bothered with the faster planets to fine-tune the timing. But let’s do it for the sake of completeness.
I’m reproducing the transit chart here for convenience:
On Jan 16, transiting Mars is at 24 Sag 02, within a degree of conjunction to natal Uranus at 25 Sag 41! Mars, given its significance of sharp objects and sheer energy, is often used to narrow down the time frame for prospective events. And here, it is right on the money, especially since the conjunction is to the same planet whose transit to the IC is portending a significant event.
Boosted by the involvement of Mars, I can stay with a high degree of confidence that something major is definitely going to come to pass around the Jan 15-22 time period of stationary Uranus, carrying the implications of Uranus and IC, as detailed in the previous post. Earlier I said that Mercury and Venus may be used, but they are not as reliably precise as Mars, unless they are stationary.
Looking back at the daily ephemeris, you see that Mercury was in direct motion at the beginning of January, but on the 14th and 15th, it is stationary at 10 Aqu 19 while being exactly square the transiting Uranus! (And is square the natal IC, of course.)
As for Venus, it is going retrograde almost all through the month of January, coming to a station on the 29th and 30th at 11 Cap 06. The station dates are outside the Uranus stationary window, so timing-wise Venus doesn’t add to the growing chorus. Or does it? We can see that transiting Venus was conjunct Djokovic’s natal ascendant (at 16 Cap 03) on the 13th of January, and thereafter moved into the 12th house. Among the significations of the 12th house are confinement and exile, both of which occurred here: periods of quarantine (12th house) pending a decision on his visa status (9th house signification, Venus is 9th house ruler since Libra is on the cusp) and finally, deportation (12th house exile, from Australia) to return home (Venus, ruler of 4th house/IC of home base, Taurus on the cusp).
To be honest, when I thought of writing the astrological story of Djokovic’s plight, I initially only focused on that highly energized Uranus transiting on the IC. But as I started chasing the clues during the writing process, I was stunned to see so many indications resonating with his situation with astounding clarity.
A couple more things. Remember (from earlier monthly ephemeris picture) that Uranus is going to return to exact contact with the IC in May 2022. And what’s in May? The French open, which is scheduled to begin on May 22. Already there has been an announcement that all players who participate in the French open must be vaccinated. What’s Djokovic going to do? Here’s the transit chart for May 22, drawn for 11am at Paris, overlaid on Djokovic’s natal chart:
In transit, Uranus has passed the IC and will keep going. Mars is at 28 Pis 04, just past a square to natal Uranus at 25 Sag 41. Mercury is retrograde again, at 00 Gem 23. Venus is in direct motion at 22 Ari 43, having just made a conjunction to Djokovic’s natal Jupiter.
Uranus and Venus don’t seem to be in focus here. So let’s take a look at Mars and Mercury in the daily ephemeris, focusing in a small window of days around May 22:
On May 19, transiting Mars (25 Pis 33) makes an exact square with natal Uranus (25 Sag 41). This is three days before the start of the tournament. Mars is in the 2nd house of values (what Djokovic considers important), where natally the Moon is placed in combative Aries. With that explosive square to Uranus, there could be another conflict developing at that time. And, at the same time, Mercury is going retrograde, having started its retrograde motion after being stationary on May 10-11. So what gives?
There’s a conflict, and a reversal of circumstance or revisiting a past issue (signification of retrograde Mercury). But transiting Venus has made a conjunction with natal Jupiter (at 18 Ari 57) on the 19th, in the 3rd house of the mindset, so Djokovic seems to be in a positive place mentally–the conflict/reversal/revisiting of past issue, whatever that may be, appears to lead him to a good headspace.
Logically, Djokovic should decide well in advance whether he wants to play, and if he does, then get vaccinated well before May 22. So we’ll see… I will post a follow-up if and when there is a development on this front.