“[Assange] decided early on that the world is not as fair a place as it could be,
but that the internet provides a way of creating a more level playing field in terms of justice”.

Awards
2008 Economist Freedom of Expression Award.
2009 Amnesty International Media Award.
2010 Sam Adams Award.
2010 New Statesman Number 23 among the
“The World’s 50 Most Influential Figures”.
Utne Reader named him as one of the
“25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World”.
– Time magazine has nominated him for its Person of the Year,
calling him a “new kind of whistle-blower … for the digital age.”

Assange: “Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love. In a modern economy it is impossible to seal oneself off from injustice.

If we have brains or courage, then we are blessed and called on not to frit these qualities away, standing agape at the ideas of others, winning pissing contests, improving the efficiencies of the neo-corporate state, or immersing ourselves in obscuranta, but rather to prove the vigor of our talents against the strongest opponents of love we can find.

If we can only live once, then let it be a daring adventure that draws on all our powers. Let it be with similar types whose hearts and heads we may be proud of. Let our grandchildren delight to find the start of our stories in their ears but the endings all around in their wandering eyes.

The whole universe or the structure that perceives it is a worthy opponent, but try as I may I can not escape the sound of suffering. Perhaps as an old man I will take great comfort in pottering around in a lab and gently talking to students in the summer evening and will accept suffering with insouciance. But not now; men in their prime, if they have convictions are tasked to act on them.”[1]

This passage gives a good insight into the personal philosophy and motivating impulses of Julian Assange. The second ray of love-wisdom is strong, with several references to love, compassion and concern for the suffering of others. Jupiter is the ruler of the second ray and also the soul ruler of the hypothetical Aquarian ascendant for his horoscope.

The Problem of Julian Assange’s Birthtime
The question of his time of birth has not yet been resolved.[2] The ‘given’ birth time is from an anonymous source, 2.05 pm, giving him Scorpio rising. (See footnote.) The data therefore is highly uncertain due to the ‘anonymity’ of the source. How appropriate for Assange!

Yet the Scorpio rising chart for the 2.05 pm chart ‘works’ in terms of some of the solar arc (SA) directions that astrologers use. For instance, SA Uranus was conjunct the Scorpio ascendant one month ago when his fame or notoriety was peaking. Transiting Venus was conjunct a Scorpio rising sign over Christmas when he clinched his million dollar book deal.

However, when I first started writing this newsletter a month ago, Sagittarius rising first came to mind – as a sign of truth emerging – and the way Assange one-pointedly fires his arrows! A co-worker who has helped me dowse for uncertain birth times over the years came up with a time of 3.16 pm, giving Sagittarius rising. This occurred several weeks after looking closely at Libra rising and finally Aquarius rising. The Sagittarius rising chart is very powerful, with Neptune conjunct the ascendant, the Sun in the Scorpionic eighth house, and the Scorpio Moon in the twelfth house. It is included here as a possibility.

There are other good arguments for Libra rising. Astrologers can be very talented at making things ‘fit’ (its a third ray thing!) and are not always as intuitive as they might wish they were. This author is currently using Aquarius rising and could of course be completely wrong, but feels that it is one of the strongest charts. Whatever the rising sign, there is still plenty of information that can be extracted about Assange, as follows.

Here are some reasons for Aquarius rising:

1. He looks like an air sign rising – ‘the lean, lanky, leather jacket-clad figure with the pale skin and mop of white hair’ (CNN). (Sag rising also fits here.) He also changes his hairstyles frequently and has a somewhat unkempt appearance, as if has just gotten out of bed! This is also part of this third ray nature which must be present, as perhaps the soul ray and maybe even the mental ray too. The absent mindedness of the third ray also forgets to eat, and that is well documented about him (CNN).

2. He bears many of the humanist characteristics of Aquarius. He is also known for  a ‘wicked sense of humour’ – a well-known Aquarian trait.

3. He has the Aquarian qualities of the radical, reformer, rebel, revolutionary, renaissance man. However these qualities are also be expressed through his Sun in Cancer square Aquarius ruler Uranus – placed in Libra. (Interesting to note that the Italian revolutionary Garibaldi, had the Sun in Cancer one degree from Assange’s. Both had the Moon square to Mars.) Another association with revolution  (French) is Assange being called ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’ because of his elusiveness – ‘you seek him here, you seek him there…’ This is also another ‘slippery’ quality of the third ray as well as his Venus in Gemini square  Pluto.

4. Aquarius rules computers and technology via the fifth ray of science which comes through this sign. He could have a fifth ray mind, given his skill in the sciences. “In interviews, his scientific precision shines through.” (CNN)

5. Mars conjunct an Aquarian ascendant expresses on the one hand as the innovator and inventor, on the other, a champion who fights on behalf of others; even an anarchist which is also a looming theme in response to oppressive government and big business – with transiting Pluto square to transiting Uranus over these next few years.

6. Aquarius rising places his Moon in Scorpio (revealer of secrets) in the ninth house of overseas affairs, travel, philosophy, ethics etc.

7. Aquarius rising places Jupiter in Scorpio on the midheaven (public) of his chart. Jupiter is currently being acutely squared by transiting Neptune and Chiron in Aquarius, thrusting Assange into the spotlight of public scrutiny.

8. Aquarius rising sees Venus, the ruler of the fourth house, placed in Gemini, the sign of movement, change and wandering; a lifestyle Assange has had for much of his life – from living with his single mother when he was young, to constantly backpacking on planes around the world, in his role as Wikileaks founder.

9. Aquarius rising places his Cancer Sun in the fifth house, giving several Leo-like tendencies in his personality expression. ‘He projected a stately demeanour’ (CNN). Leo is the king and leader and Assange’s somewhat autocratic approach has alienated some co-workers who dubbed him ‘Emperor’ and ‘slave trader’. Assange has said, “I am the heart and soul of this organization, its founder, philosopher, spokesperson, original coder, organizer, financier and all the rest. If you have a problem with me, piss off.”[3] He also does not seem to mind the media throng of cameras and lights on an almost daily basis at times.

A fifth house Sun can be the folk hero and many fifth house Suns who have not achieved that, certainly imagine it! Certainly, Assange’s culture hero status assumes almost Messianic proportions in the minds of some, setting him up further to be a martyr or scapegoat.

The Rays of Julian Assange
So far in the previous points, the second, third and fifth rays have been touched upon. It is possible that Assange also has the first ray of will or power in his make-up, if his various statements are assessed. One in particular: “It is my role to be the lightning rod.” The sixth ray is another strong possibility, given his political idealism and devotion to his task.

Other Indications of the Third Ray

“It’s like chess,” he told New Yorker magazine. “Chess is very austere in that you don’t have many rules, there is no randomness and the problem is very hard.”

Chess is another symbol of the third ray, ruling strategy and gamesmanship. Assange’s ‘doomsday file’ is another example of brilliant strategy. This huge encrypted file will be released if he is arrested by the US government. This gives his enemies some pause for thought, given the many damaging truths that may emerge, let alone all that has not yet been processed in the mountain of material extant.

Assange studied mathematics (3rd ray) and physics at the University of Melbourne. He can hack into the most sophisticated computer system but can forget to show up for an interview (3rd ray absent-mindedness, the ‘nutty professor’.)

“Assange delved into computer encryption [3rd ray] and grew keen on computer security. He once relayed a story about how he set up an encryption puzzle based on the manipulation of prime numbers.” (CNN)

Assange displays an astonishing breadth of knowledge which the third ray is also known as – the ray of knowledge: From computers to literature, to travels in Africa, mathematics versus philosophy, the death of author Kurt Vonnegut, censorship in Iran and the corporation as a nation state.

The challenge remains to figure out where these rays go. Is he a third ray soul? Quite possible. Mental body on the fifth ray? Good chance. Personality ray? Perhaps the first ray of will-power. Emotional body? Probably sixth (“Assange is just a zealot with a messiah complex.”) Physical body? Most likely the 3rd ray given the punishment it takes travelling, not sleeping and ‘forgetting to eat’.

We have therefore, the following hypothetical ray structure, bearing in mind that the second ray speculated upon earlier may derive from Jupiter as soul ruler of Aquarius:

PROPOSED RAYS: Soul 3, Personality 1. (Or 1/3) Mental 5. Astral 6. Physical 3.

Scorpio Moon and Cancer Sun
There seems to be no doubt about this sign for the moon, it’s a question of what degree, given a questionable birth time. A Scorpio Moon delves deeply and is somewhat the ‘confessor’ – eliciting, often unsolicited, the deepest secrets of others. (Wikileaks however, does solicit!)

It is also a sign of intense feelings and, coupled with his Cancer personality, yields a great emotional sensitivity, creating a strong emotional contrast to his robust intellectual nature; a man passionate about his ideas. The Scorpio Moon contributes much to his elusive and cagey nature, although he can be very charming – Sun in the fifth house, Venus in Gemini. His mother, reflecting on his sensitivity, said:

“He was a lovely boy, very sensitive, good with animals, quiet … and a strong desire to do what he perceived as just.”[4]

One is reminded of another messianic figure in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, where Brian’s mother says in a male falsetto voice, ‘He’s not the Messiah, he’s just a very naughty boy!’ Yes, Brian, I mean Assange, has been ‘very naughty’ and a large proportion of the world’s leaders, celebrities and thinkers love him for it.

Scorpio Moon, Sex and Sweden
Scorpio has a not unearned reputation when it comes to sex. Assange was a father at 19 and was probably exposed to quite liberal views on sexuality via his Mum who traveled the hippy path.[5] And of course any sexual misadventures (if that is what they were), are currently being exploited by the Scandinavian police – who at first dropped the charges then raised them again – no doubt through pressure from the USA.

To many, the charges of rape are an obvious smear campaign designed to not only discredit Assange, but to get him back to the USA via Sweden. On 28 November 2010, WikiLeaks began releasing some of the 251,000 American diplomatic cables. On 30 November 2010, at the request of the International Public Prosecution Office in Sweden, Interpol (under intense pressure from the USA), placed Assange on its red notice list of wanted persons.

It is encouraging for the Assange defenders that one of the world’s foremost human rights lawyers and fellow Australian Geoffrey Robertson, has thrown his weight behind Assange by joining the defence team. It also speaks to the calibre of Robertson and many like him, who believe Assange is being done an injustice.

Sexual charges like this are usually the lowest common denominator in political skulduggery. The Swedish law defining rape is very weird, especially coming from such an ‘advanced’ nation. It is hilariously stated in the following:

“The Swedes have created a man-eating legal plant, like the one in The Little Shop of Horrors, a Penis Fly-Trap, that has ensnared A’s testicles in its desperate tentacles. Willing consent between adults is no defence to rape in Sweden.

Some laws passed in 1999 in Sweden have reversed years of civilisation. They criminalised the buying of sex and decriminalised the selling of sex. Prostitution is viewed as male violence against women. Be that as it may, the “victims” in Sweden, the small v’s, Sophia Wilen and Anna Ardin, have worn their shoes out shopping from prosecutor to prosecutor to find someone to press charges. Sweden’s public prosecution office announced and withdrew allegations on the same day. Three prosecutors later, they finally got it up.

There are four charges, including “ofredande”, which is a peculiar Swedish charge of annoyance. The first charge is that A used his inconsiderable body weight to lie on one of the v’s. He also “assaulted her sexual integrity” by having consensual sex but without a condom. A is further charged with pushing his morning glory into her back after they spent the night together. The final charge is having sex with a sleeping woman.

Both women apparently boasted of their respective celebrity conquests on the internet via mobile phones after the events and said that they would bring big A to his knees. Ardin hosted a celebrity party after the intimacy and tweeted that she was “with the world’s coolest, smartest people, it’s amazing”. She has written a guide on how to get revenge on cheating boyfriends. They sought maximum exposure of their allegations in the Swedish newspaper, Expressen. They have WikiLeaked all over A.

In Sweden, when the tables are turned or when you are having sex, you must bear in mind that everything must go together like the Ikea instruction book.

When people come together in Sweden to make love, all the myriad acts that make it occur require a series of legal permissions for every movement. You need a border pass at every gate, let alone entry point. You need your permission passport stamped before and after any visit to any part of the body. You may even need a notary public to witness. It is little wonder the population there is so small because procreation is like making Ikea furniture, with an Allen key required at every turn of the screw.”[6]

Interestingly, The Tibetan characterises the Moon in Scorpio thus:

“The Moon is here regarded as functioning in its true nature and, therefore, as expressing symbolically that which is dead. The Moon here stands for the personality and, in the final victory in Scorpio, the personality is entirely vanquished and defeated. Desire is killed, for it is through expressed desire of some kind that personality demonstrates life, quality, appearance. Ponder upon this, for in Scorpio the Moon falls and its influence fades out.”[7]

Sweden and Libra
Scandinavia is ruled by Libra at the soul level and Cancer at the personality level.[8] The Libran soul is evident in this conglomerate of nations through the Nobel Peace Prize – as recently discussed in this regular newsletter.

Libra is about fairness and justice which currently the Swedish authorities are practicing anything but. The transit of Saturn through Libra currently is most curious, given the soul rulership and that Saturn is exalted in Libra. It is also the Saturn return of the USA and where this nation is currently being tested.

Assange’s Enemies
Assange has made many enemies and a few comments are listed below:

“I think Assange should be assassinated, actually,” he said. “I think Obama should put out a contract and maybe use a drone or something.” Flanagan chuckled as he made the comment but did not retract it when questioned, adding: “I wouldn’t feel unhappy if Assange does disappear.” Tom Flanagan, a senior adviser to the Canadian prime minister.

“The former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has described him as “an anti-American operative with blood on his hands” and called for him to be hunted down like a Taliban leader, while another senior Republican, Mike Huckabee, has said that “anything less than execution is too kind a penalty” for his actions.”

“I think the man is a high-tech terrorist,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “He has done enormous damage to our country. And I think he needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“…The US attorney general, Eric Holder, announced yesterday that the justice department and Pentagon are conducting “an active, ongoing criminal investigation” into the latest Assange-facilitated leak under Washington’s Espionage Act … But asked how the US could prosecute Assange, a non-US citizen, Holder struck an ominous note. “Let me be clear. This is not sabre-rattling,” he said, vowing to swiftly “close the gaps” in current US legislation…”

‘Blood on his hands’? ‘High-tech terrorist’? Espionage? Many of these labels fly in the face of Assange’s stated personal and Wikileaks philosophies. Other ‘shock jocks’ in the US bay for more blood by calling for his assassination. One newspaper commentator says:

“The battlelines are well and truly drawn. WikiLeaks, representing an alternative society of geeks and visionaries that constantly questions the world view handed down to it from above, is at war with the elite who inhabit and maintain that mysterious above.

It’s like when, in those years before the Reformation, a few brave seekers of truth printed and distributed Bibles in the vernacular, so that the people might read and judge for themselves rather than mutely accept the possibly jaundiced interpretations of their supposed betters – betters who stood to gain much from retaining the status quo.”[9]

Julian Assange and the USA
If Julian Assange is Aquarius rising, then his soul purpose is the same as that of the esoteric horoscope of the USA – an Aquarian soul and Gemini personality. Hence from one perspective, Assange is for the USA’s wellbeing – in terms of moving them toward their soul purpose and out of their tricky and manipulative Gemini personality.

President Obama[10] is also Aquarius rising and has recently condemned Wikileaks’ ‘deplorable behaviour’. The synastry between Assange and the exoteric USA horoscope for 1776 is extraordinary.

1.   Assange was born the day before Independence Day and hence shares the same Cancer Sun.

2.   USA has its Cancer Sun square to Saturn. Assange has his Cancer Sun square Uranus. In other words, the rather conservative USA Sun square Saturn grinds up against the radical Sun square Uranus of Assange. Assange’s Uranus sits on USA’s Saturn. See the tri-wheel above in the tenth house. USA is going through its Saturn return – where every thirty years it comes to terms with the challenge of integrating the Saturn square into its Cancer personality.[11]

3.   Assange’s speculative rising sign is in Aquarius, sign of the USA Moon. (And USA soul esoterically.) If Assange is later Aquarius, his rising sign falls right on the USA Moon. Transiting Neptune and Chiron are currently making their last ‘hit’ to the USA Moon and squaring Assange’s Jupiter in Scorpio. In other words, USA Moon in Aquarius makes an exact square to Assange’s Jupiter: The past (Moon) is at odds with the probing and humanitarian nature of Jupiter. The USA Moon represents the ‘dweller’ or shadow of the nation, hence the transits of Neptune and Chiron are revealing that which USA would prefer to keep secret.

4.   Assange’s Venus in Gemini falls on USA’s Mars in Gemini in the seventh house of relationships, a love match! As commented copiously in my The Destiny of the Races and Nations and past newsletters, Mars in Gemini is THE big problem in USA’s chart – as far as manipulation and deceit go, and how it gets in the way of the integration of USA’s Mars-ruled sixth ray personality. The seventh house is also the area of ‘open enemies’, so Assange’s Venus placed here is like Odysseus sneaking in disguise into the enemy camp of the Trojans. (Trojan is also a name for a type of internet virus.) Assange’s Venus is in turn exactly square his Pluto, the latter falling in the USA’s ninth house of foreign affairs, giving much persuasive influence over the USA and a good match in the ‘deviousness stakes’!

5.   Assange and USA have Mercury in the same 25th degree of Cancer! The Sabian Symbol for this degree is: “A leader of men, erect and fearless, suddenly has thrown over his right shoulder an invisible mantle of power.” Here is what has been written by this author about Mercury in Cancer opposite Pluto in USA’s chart:

“Mercury in Cancer can let the emotions cloud clear thought, but also be illumined and receptive to higher intuition. As with all the Cancer placements, there needs to be a willingness to continually release the past, (glories and mistakes alike), as it only reinforces the shadow of the nation.

The negative and positive traits of Mercury’s placement in Cancer have a great bearing on the resolution of the Mars-Neptune square. Mercury opposite Pluto can make for a very persuasive argument and at its extreme, bring much force and pressure on others to conform.

One of the worst traits of Pluto in the second house is the enormous financial institutions and corporations that have selfishly cornered much of the nation’s wealth, with the Cancerian tendency to hoard and hold onto. This intense materialisation inherent in the Capricorn-Cancer axis is a major challenge for this nation to transcend. It is what makes America hated by some foreign nations and religious traditions.

On the other hand, Mercury opposite Pluto can give great insight and probing into the unseen and subtle realms, hence an ideal aspect for those pioneering the intuitive sciences. Mercury in Cancer is highly imaginative and creative, cultivating a fertile bed for the reflection of the intuitive consciousness.”[12]

It seems then, that Assange’s Mercury is, like other placements between these charts, well equipped to take on the USA at its own game. The anti-corporate individual versus the Corporate State. Mercury in Cancer would have a strong bearing upon Assange’s computer and technology skills, particularly as the third ray pours through Cancer strongly.

6.  Assange’s Pluto in Virgo is exactly trine to USA’s Pluto in Capricorn, perhaps reflecting some mutual respect around the theme of power. Currently transiting Uranus and Jupiter are making the last hit of an opposition to Assange’s Pluto, revealing the hidden powers that he is up against, through his Uranian forays into finding justice. The transit triggers his Venus square Pluto pattern, challenging him to be ruthless in his relations.

Befitting this newsletter’s theme of Sagittarius, USA’s 1776 exoteric horoscope is Sagittarius rising. The opening line to the TV show Superman, comes to mind: “Truth, Justice and the American Way!”

Bradley E. Manning
One of Wikileaks main sources for leaks about the war in Iraq was the young 23-year old US Army private Bradley Manning. Apparently he was angered about the way the US military was treating gays like himself. If he had a compulsion to reveal the truth, then it might just be a stellium of planets in Sagittarius! (Mercury, Saturn, Sun and Uranus.) In the past six months, transiting Uranus (rebellion) and Jupiter (truth) have been sorely testing Manning by closely squaring his Sun and Uranus particularly.

Bradley (Chelsea) E. Manning (Wikipedia: Time Unknown)

Manning has been languishing in prison, facing a hefty prison sentence with nowhere near the apparent support that Assange enjoys. There are several similarities to Assange’s horoscope – both have the Moon in Scorpio, Manning with Scorpio rulers Mars and Pluto also in Scorpio, conjunct the Moon.

It is currently speculated by some sources that Manning is being tortured, and/or enduring extreme deprivation such as solitary confinement, in order that the authorities can strike a plea bargain deal, so that Manning can testify against Assange.

Both individuals have a strong Uranian (revolutionary, rebel, reformer) element – Assange has Uranus square his Sun and Manning has Uranus conjunct the Sun. Both had unstable childhoods due to their parents’ divorce and moved around alot with their mothers.

---

[1] From Julian Assange’s personal blog at IQ.org, 2006.
[2]  “True to the spirit of the time (and the Uranus station), several days ago The Mountain Astrologer (TMA) received an (unsolicited) exact birth time for Julian Assange. Our source has requested anonymity, which we are respecting. Both Tem and I felt that the circumstances through which we got the information, and some other details, suggest that this is an authentic time. The source personally viewed, but was not able to make a copy of, Mr. Assange’s birth certificate. Update: our source clarified what s/he saw: “The birth record (is) from the registry which has appended to it a copy of the birth certificate but the hour was not on the certificate but on the record in the registry files.” Because of ink that was a bit smeared, there is a question of whether the time of birth was 2:05 pm, 2:06 pm. or 2:08 pm on July 3, 1971, in Townsville, Queensland, Australia (19S09 146E48).” Mary Plumb. See this lengthy discussion at the Mountain Astrologer website: https://mountainastrologer.com/birth-time-for-julian-assange.
[3] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/10/openleaks_wikileaks_breakaway/
[4] Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper, Australia.
[5] His son is an Aquarian Sun; quite often one will find synastry between one of the parents’ rising signs and the child’s Sun sign.  Perhaps there is another factor here that points to the possibility of Assange being Aquarius rising.
[6] A to V of a WikiLeak, Charles Waterstreet, The Australian newspaper.
[7] Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.225.
[8] Destiny of the Nations, Alice A. Bailey. p.67. See also.
[9] The Times newspaper, Frank Skinner.
[10] See essays on Obama here and here.
[11] This aspect has been extensively discussed at https://esotericastrologer.org and in The Destiny of the Races and Nations, by Phillip Lindsay.
[12] “Liberation of the Nations: The Role of Sirius, Aquarius and Uranus”. The Destiny of the Races and Nations, Phillip Lindsay.