Yeltsin Loses Power
Zip Dobyns
On March 12, 1993, Russia’s Parliament (the Congress of People’s Deputies) proclaimed itself the supreme ruler in Russia. The action was an affirmation of the Soviet Constitution which gave final power to the Parliament, but Yeltsin had sought a much stronger role for himself as a popularly elected President. A majority of the Parliament are still Communists who oppose the fast-paced market reform which has been supported by Yeltsin. Yeltsin wanted a referendum, but it might not have helped him. It is quite possible that he would not be supported by the majority of the citizens who now blame him for the worsening economic conditions in the country. The Parliament is now pushing to force a new election which could remove Yeltsin from the Presidency. Alternately, he might remain relegated to a largely figurehead position.
A report from a Russian astrologer who talked to Yeltsin’s mother and passed the information on to the Astrological Association in England which passed the information on to their members, gives an approximate birth time for Yeltsin of 4:30 to 5 P.M. The Russians also say that his place of birth was 5 hours from UT, in disagreement with the International Atlas which puts the time difference as 4 hours. Unfortunately, we still have to consider this “dirty data” since a different Russian organization says that Yeltsin’s mother gave them his birth time as 7:03 A.M. At least, both groups agree that the time difference from UT is 5 hours. Two different villages are listed for Yeltsin’s birth; Talitza and Butka, but the difference in longitude and latitude is only 1 to 2 minutes.
My Moscow friend, Farida, recently visited me in Dodona and brought a biography of Yeltsin which she translated for me. There were not many specific dates in his life which we can use for rectification, but I will give what was included for any readers who have time to work with his chart. The effort may be as futile as was the effort to determine Gorbachev’s birth time if the stressful conditions in his country are about to push him onto the sidelines of power as happened to Gorbachev.
Based on a very limited amount of work, the time which seems to work best is around 4:48 to 4:50 P.M.: 11:48 to 11:50 UT. (I suspect that the morning time is someone’s rectification.) Yeltsin was born in a village very near Sverdlovsk. This afternoon birth time puts Uranus exactly on his MC and his life was dramatic from the beginning. According to his biography, the Priest who baptized him was drunk and actually “drowned” him but he was successfully resuscitated. The dominant Uranus-MC in Aries is appropriate for both unstable and/or harsh authority figures and for Yeltsin’s own perpetual rebellion against authority in any form. The tight Moon conjunct Pluto in Cancer in the Pisces house fits the importance of water in Yeltsin’s life. In addition to the early near drowning, he also nearly died from drinking poisoned water during an excursion in the woods. During his last year of school, he had organized and led a group of kids on the trip and they got lost. During the summer before he was 14, Yeltsin also lost two fingers on his left hand while playing with bombs. He was always a good student but he was also always a rebel. He was kicked out of school at the age of 14 after he talked back to a teacher. As a child, he was also beaten by a tough father but his mother was gentle and kind. His father would put his mother in a different room so she could not protest when the father beat Yeltsin. The father had mechanical skills and he invented a machine which put bricks together.
Yeltsin’s grandfather built fireplaces for the communal homes in which his family and most people lived. (Like most Russians, Yeltsin hates communal houses.) His grandfather encouraged him to go to the university after Yeltsin demonstrated that he could build an oven by himself. He spent five years in the university and got a degree in engineering. He always had trouble with bosses. One of his first accused him of financial misdeeds and took him to court, but Yeltsin won the case. In his first year after graduation from the university, Yeltsin learned a different profession each month, but then he worked as an engineer for 14 years. He always loved sports, and had his first heart attack while playing basketball. He switched to tennis when he got older. Though many of these events are undated, they do fit the Uranus in Aries on the MC and the Leo Ascendant.
Yeltsin became the local leader of the Communist Party in Sverdlovsk on November 2, 1976, which elevated him to politics at the national level. Brezhnev had asked him two years earlier if he was willing to take the position. Gorbachev was the head of the Stavropol region at the time and the two men became friendly. On April 3, 1985, less than a month after Gorbachev became the leader of the U.S.S.R., he sent an invitation to Yeltsin to become part of the Central Committee. On April 12, 1985, Yeltsin moved to Moscow which he didn’t like. His family joined him later. He has two married daughters, two granddaughters and one grandson. His wife is soft, like his mother, but with enough independence to change her name and keep her choice even though Yeltsin did not like the name and called her “girl” for years. She was an engineer in construction and they met in the university. After being attracted to each other, they decided to wait a year to see if they were still interested. After the year, they decided to marry. She sounds very Aquarian, which fits Yeltsin’s Sun in Aquarius in the seventh house. Their older daughter is in construction and the younger one in computers.
On December 22, 1985, Yeltsin was invited into the Politboro to head the Moscow chapter. The actual vote occurred on December 24 which made him an official member. In October 1987, Yeltsin criticized Gorbachev’s regime in a Party gathering. Observers suggest that this was the beginning of the death of Communist Party rule in the U.S.S.R. Following this episode, Yeltsin had a heart attack, went into the hospital, and lost his job. He describes himself as living in a major crisis for a year, losing his temper and screaming at people. He did a little work as a Vice Minister in construction, but had severe headaches every night, couldn’t sleep, and lived like a hermit with his family for the year.
On December 13, 1988, Yeltsin decided to run for Deputy in the People’s Congress. On March 10, 1989, the results were announced and Yeltsin left Moscow with his wife for a rest. He visited the U.S. including Esalon but the timing on the travel is not clear. On July 29-30, 1989, the new democratic party formed but Yeltsin did not get its support. Yet, less than a year later, Yeltsin was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation. The biography from which these events were taken was published in Vilnius, Lithuania before the coup against Gorbachev, but in the book Yeltsin speaks of rumors of a coup to remove Gorbachev, and he says that if it happens, he will fight for Gorbachev even though he thinks that his measures are not effective.
The tentative birth time puts Yeltsin’s P Moon square his Ascendant-Descendant for the current struggle for his political life. He has not given up, but the coming aspects do not look very hopeful. His P Mercury is squaring P Mars and will continue into squares to natal Mars and then to the Ascendant (if it is right) and to the Sun. If this birth time is right, P MC is also moving into an opposition to Vesta which fits a change of job. P Sun is on the P north lunar node which puts it opposite the south for a possible change of job and/or home. P Sun will soon conjunct P Uranus and oppose Ceres with the same message. And just over two years ahead, P Sun will square the tight Mercury- Saturn conjunction. Predicting details is always risky, but in view of Yeltsin’s history of heart attacks, he could lose his political power and prominence first and then have another, possibly fatal heart attack. If this birth time is accurate, P Ascendant has just started an octile to natal Mars; an aspect which will last a little more than two years. P East Point is quincunx Uranus-MC and will continue into quincunxes to the north node and P Uranus, supporting the potential for major changes in personal action/health and/or in relationships with other people. P Vesta is opposite natal Jupiter, another repeat of the same potentials. P Venus conjunct Juno shows some support from other people, but there are more demonstrators on the other side.
One of the supports for this birth time for Yeltsin is the powerful local angles when his chart is calculated for Moscow. If the birth time is accurate, natal Moon and Pluto are exactly on the local Ascendant and Jupiter is fairly closely trine the local MC. With this birth time, P East Point is currently quincunx natal Sun and P local East Point is opposite the Sun, P Antivertex is conjunct Neptune and opposite Juno and P Venus, P local Ascendant is about to conjunct P Pallas, our political asteroid, P local MC is conjunct P Chiron and quincunx Vesta. Aspects for change are all over the chart. Rectification is a chancy business, especially for a person you can’t talk to, and ask for more dated events. But Yeltsin is important enough, his chart is worth watching in these momentous times.