Julian Assange

If there is nothing the Establishment can pin on a whistleblower, it will settle for whatever sticks. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been cleared of sexual assault charges against him in Sweden pending since 2010, and after being holed-up in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy for five years he is now, in theory at least, a free man.

Chart lord Mars with Rahu in Capricorn in the third house is a powerful signature for a communicator with rebellious streak. Assange is akin to an anti-establishment 'supergrass' and Rahu here acts as a classic amplifier which gives his story an extraordinary, larger than life quality. It is also reckless, cunning and potentially rather sleazy. The allegations against him in Sweden may have been a proxy to arrest him for espionage, but it is also likely Assange has used his secret-agent style image to make a few conquests. The Jyotish 3rd house has all the significations of the West, but it is also a more Mars-y house of energy, initiative and sex – the 8th house from the 8th.

July 3rd 1971, 15:00, Townsville, Australia (date Jim Morrison died...)

Assange is a maverick and outlaw with powerful connections and Mars’s aspect with 8th lord Mercury – which is close enough to the 8th house to have a double influence - shows his attitude towards secrecy. Tenth lord Sun in the 8th house tells its own story and placed in Ardra shows tears from his chosen profession – this could be chart of a researcher or grief counsellor. Since 2011, Assange has had something of a perfect storm, between his Saturn-Rahu dasha and simultaneous Sade-Sati , an extraordinarily harsh and stressful period. Yet compared to swinging by his thumbs in Abu Grahib prison, he has been very lucky, with enough friends and supporters to keep him at liberty. Jupiter rising, making a Maha Raj Yoga with Saturn is symbolic of his quest for truth and a potent talisman in its own right that offsets all manner of evils.

Mercury’s dasha on first appearance has freed Assange, though Mercury itself is a mixed bag, placed with the Nodes on the 8th house cusp and aspected by Mars and Saturn, with a subpar Shadbala rating (certainly compared to Shani). On the plus side, Mercury is vargottama and also gets a close aspect from Jupiter. In September, Assange goes into Mercury –Venus dasha, with Venus afflicted by Dushkriti Yoga – 7th lord in 8th house – which emphasizes his wandering, restless and unattached side. He will always be looking over his shoulder.