Astrological Maundering 4: The Great Eclipse of 1999

The familiar picture of Nostradamus (from independent.co.uk - The Independent listed eleven apparently accurate prophecies of his in their article of 14 December 2015!)

When I first encountered astrology during my twenties, I also discovered the prophecies of Nostradamus. My first lecture at the Astrological Lodge in London focused on the sixteenth century French seer, who is the most celebrated of all mystical forecasters. As time went on, I became more and more convinced by the sceptics who pointed out that Nostradamus’ oracles (first published in 1555) were deliberately vague, so that anyone could find anything hidden in them. He was a very clever charlatan, it seems. And so Nostradamus got pushed to the back of the bookshelf.

More recently, I was reflecting on the current state of the world, and remembering that, for a time around the millennium, things did seem to go through a period of relative calm compared to what we have now (2025). From a U.K. point of view, the Good Friday agreement of 1998 had poured oil on the troubled waters of Northern Ireland. Elsewhere, the Cold War between East and West Europe had ended back in 1991 and its aftermath, the Yugoslav Civil War, had come to an end in Kosovo in June 1999. South Africa was now ruled by Africans. The one trouble spot for which there never has been a solution, the Middle East, stood between the two Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003, and there had been a period of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine which eventually crumbled after 2000. And 9/11 had not yet happened; I went up one of the twin towers sometime in the late 1990s.

Nostradamus’ famous oracle about 1999 suddenly came back to my mind. It was the one prophecy he wrote that specifically related to our times. It is usually translated thus:

In the year 1999 and seven months,

From the sky will come a great King of Terror,

To resuscitate the great King of the Mongols (?),

Before and after war reigns happily.

The oracle is translated from the French:

L’an mil neuf cens nonante neuf sept mois,

Du ciel viendra un grand Roy d’effrayeur:

Resusciter le grand Roy d’Angolmois,

Avant après Mars regner par bon heur.

(Source: https://rarebooksdigest.com/2012/12/07/les-propheties-by-nostradamus/, post by Melodie)

‘Before and after war reigns happily’ is the line that struck me. The original prophecy says ‘Mars’, but it is assumed that Nostradamus was referring to war, of which Mars was the Latin god. The ‘happily’ which helps the last line to rhyme with the second is presumably ironic, as it presents things from Mars’ point of view. Mars may be happy, but in times of war and conflict most of us are not!

The line seems quite appropriate to the July and August of 1999, just after the Kosovo conflict had ended. We were in the eye of a long global storm, in a temporary period of relative peace. The ‘before and after’ could mean continuous war, but it makes more sense to understand it as an interval between times of conflict. At the very end of 1999, Putin took control in Russia. Two years later, we had 9/11, seven years after that, the banking collapse and global recession, another six years, the annexation of Crimea, and the rest is history. The gap between the end of the Kosovo conflict and the accession of Putin was only six months. Does this mean that Nostradamus actually foresaw the events of 1999?

What is clear is that Nostradamus, who used astrology, based his prophecy on the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999. Nostradamus’ calendar was the Julian, thirteen days divergent from our present Gregorian one, and so ‘1999 and seven months’ (July 1999) can indicate any date from 14 July to 13 August. It was quite possible for Nostradamus and other astrologers of his day to calculate which total solar eclipse would occur nearest to the millennium. So what we have in his prophecy is an interpretation of the horoscope of that solar eclipse. We do not need to assume that he could foresee the future in any other way than consulting this horoscope, just as we can today, albeit after the event. The 1999 eclipse was a rare total eclipse for northern latitudes as many of you will remember, the path of which went right through France, Nostradamus’ native country.

The planetary positions for the solar eclipse of 1999 show the Sun and Moon in conjunction, a new moon, which of course is what a solar eclipse is. A total eclipse means that they are in exact conjunction rather than being above or below one another in the same degree of the sky. The Sun and Moon in the solar eclipse of 1999 were in Leo. The chart is striking as the Sun and Moon stand in a grand cross, with planets at four points round the circle at 90 or 180 degrees to each other. This is unusual and suggests considerable tension. The other planets in the grand cross are Mars in Scorpio, Saturn in Taurus, and Uranus in Aquarius. Uranus had not been discovered in Nostradamus’ time, and so we can discount it from his interpretation. But Mars and Saturn are very, very close to an opposition with each other - just two minutes (which is one thirtieth of a degree) away from 180 degrees. It is this aspect that might suggest a lacuna in a time of conflict.

Mars as the planet of war is held back by this close opposition to Saturn, which restricts and restrains. This suggests a period during which Mars cannot enact its full force. But otherwise Mars in strong, in its own sign of Scorpio. It is the first rising planet if you draw the new moon chart for Nostradamus’ native France (see footnote below*). At the same time, Saturn’s attempt to build and conserve structures is thwarted by its opposition to Mars. So this horoscope is a good match for a time of calm between periods of conflict and disruption. In particular, the 1990s, a decade when it seemed that major world problems were being resolved one by one, came between the Cold War and the return of tension between Russia and the West during the presidency of Putin.

Eclipses at the time of Nostradamus were usually interpreted as omens of disaster and turmoil. For over two thousand years, astrologers have understood perfectly well that an eclipse is caused by the Moon passing in front of the Sun (solar eclipse) or the Earth casting its shadow on the Moon (lunar eclipse). But that doesn’t mean that eclipses were not also seen as omens for times of dread. The Sun is the symbol for a great ruler, king, or emperor, so the solar eclipse could be regarded as an omen of a king being overthrown. But they were also portents of famine and plague.

Given the common kingly symbolism of a solar eclipse, it is not surprising that Nostradamus also includes obscure references to two kings. The translations in both cases are debated. ‘King of Terror’ (Roy d’effrayeur) or, perhaps better, ‘King of Fright’, has been questioned. Should it point instead to Roy defrayeur, which would be a king meeting expenses, or funding something? Perhaps, but I think that ‘Terror’ or ‘Fright’ makes perfect sense in a sixteenth century view of an eclipse, as these phenomena did terrify people and made them think that unforeseen turmoil was at hand. The ‘great King of Terror from the sky’ is nothing other than the millennium eclipse itself. We cannot know what was in Nostradamus’ mind, but this is a reasonable guess. And the eclipse was high in the sky, near noon.

It is understandable that the idea of ‘terror’ coming from the sky has led people to connect the prophecy with 9/11. I first read the translation ‘terror’ in the 1970s, so this was not an after-the-event term. The link to 9/11 is also encouraged by the fact that two of the most famous astrologers in history write about eclipses in ways that support the idea of 9/11 having a direct connection with the eclipse. The second century astronomer-astrologer from Alexandria, Ptolemy, stated in his Tetrabiblios (c 168 CE) that the effects of an eclipse lasted for as many years as the eclipse itself lasted in hours. The 1999 eclipse including the partial obscuration at its beginning and ending was in force for five hours fourteen minutes as it moved across Europe and Asia. The maximum intensity of the effects in Ptolemy's view would occur in the middle third of the whole period of influence because the eclipse was in the Midheaven, the highest part of the sky. The middle period for the five years eighty-five days (equating to five hours fourteen minutes) after the total eclipse falls between May 2001 and February 2003, if I have got my arithmetic right! So 9/11 falls in that period. Added to this, we can consult the seventeenth century English astrologer William Lilly, using his An easie and familiar method whereby to judge the effects on eclipses, either of the sun or moon (1652). His system is highly detailed and complex, some of it derived from Ptolemy, but the one fact that stands out is that eclipses in the fixed signs, which include Leo, threaten buildings.

On the other hand, many medieval interpreters thought that the effects of an eclipse lasted for many years. The pre-millennium eclipse, being total across Europe, West and South Asia, and with some unusual and powerful planetary aspects, does seem to be a rather unusual and prominent instance of a solar eclipse, even though eclipses occur regularly. While 9/11 is an important part of the story, perhaps we should look at the eclipse chart and ask what is happening even now, in 2025. That is not very comfortable, as it is a chart full of tension and ominous aspects which we wouldn’t want to last for too long, but it does feel as though we are in that sort of period of history. I think many would agree that the world is not in the happy state that we might have hoped for with the new century and new millennium, and certainly anyone of even a middle-of-the-road political persuasion will be dismayed by what is happening in the United States. It seems that the most powerful nations in the world are opting for an authoritarian, nationalist, and reactionary style of government, subservient to long-lasting, intransigent, and corrupt leaders. There is also in Europe the growing threat of extreme right-wing, nationalist political success in response to concerns over immigration. The great programme of the Enlightenment from the eighteenth century, with its gradual progress towards democracy, equal opportunities, and human rights seems to be under severe threat.

The eclipse line does not pass through the U.S.A., Russia, or China, which might lead one to ask whether it is relevant for those nations. However, the fact that it is the last total solar eclipse before the millennium should suggest that it is an important one in the collective psyche. And the world in 1999 was already in the 'global village', when what happens in one part of the world influences another. Certainly the regions of the eclipse - Europe, West and South Asia - are affected considerably by developments in the U.S.A., Russia, and China, and vice versa.

There are lots of different ways we could describe the global situation since 1999, socially, psychologically, and historically. But my task is to make sense of it astrologically, albeit briefly. We can be guided by Nostradamus’ prophecy, but only because we are using the same horoscope and not because we are claiming that he had a window into the twentieth or twenty-first century!

The meaning of Nostradamus’ other king, the Roy des Angolmois, is very obscure, as the word is not known in that period apart from this text. The ‘King of the Mongols’ is a common but speculative translation based on the assumption that Nostradamus’ original text is a hidden anagram of Mongolais, as he uses anagrams elsewhere. Even Anglais, 'the English', has been suggested! However, in actual fact, Angolmois, which rhymes with the mois in the first line, probably refers to the Valois-Angoulême branch of the French royal family which ruled France for all of Nostradamus’ life after he was eleven. This seems to be a plainer translation which had great relevance in Nostradamus’ time, and also relates to his career, as he was an advisor to Catherine de Medici, the Angoulême queen. The ‘great King of the Angoulêmes’ is the French royal family. This branch died out in 1589, but from his perspective, Nostradamus might have thought that it could continue for centuries, to lapse but be resuscitated in 1999. It might have been politically expedient to suggest, even that far forwards in time, that a heavenly intervention (‘from the sky’) would be beneficial to his patron's descendants.

My Interpretation

2024 solar eclipse (photo from https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/)

In the chart of the 1999 eclipse new moon, the planet Uranus, the ruler of Aquarius (not known to Nostradamus, of course), is in opposition to the Sun and Moon in Leo which are both high in the heavens. Both Uranus and the Sun are strong in their own signs of Aquarius and Leo. I would like to refer back to my second astrological blog on the Age of Aquarius. The opposition between a strong Uranus and Sun could signify a situation when the thinking and feeling functions, or air and fire elements, are reconciled, meaning that knowledge is drawing on empathy. This is a perfect situation for progress on human rights. But, of course, the Sun is eclipsed at the particular moment of the solar eclipse of 1999. If the Sun represents empathy, and it is eclipsed, then that might sound a warning note to heed during the years to follow the eclipse, up until today. Have a large number of people in Europe and North America abandoned that most important driver of human rights, empathy? I'm not going to deny that much of humanity perennially struggles when it comes to empathy, but at least in recent decades there has been a broad political consensus that it should inform human rights, which has progressed with some momentum for the last sixty years. Are some, increasingly influential, elements of society turning the clock back and deleting the advances of the 1960s, when people thought that the Age of Aquarius was beginning, and when so many of the seeds of the Enlightenment were finally bearing fruit?

The eclipse, according to Nostradamus, gives rise to the ‘resuscitation’ (or ‘resurrection’) of the Angoulême dynasty. I am not really sure where he gets that from in the horoscope (maybe it was just wishful thinking that the French royal line of the time would be brought back to life in 1999, a sentiment popped in to please his patron, as we have said). If we are going to work with the theme of ‘resuscitation’, we will need to be creative. It is notable that the next most kingly planet to the Sun, which is Jupiter (in Taurus), is close to setting in the new moon chart for France. Could Jupiter make hay while the Sun is being blotted out? Perhaps the setting Jupiter, the ruler of Pisces, could be seen to represent the decline of the old Age of Pisces in the new Age of Aquarius, but it is given new life with the eclipse of the Sun. The French monarchy, the ancien regime, is a good symbol for the old order, given that it was displaced by the successive French revolutions which embodied the Enlightenment in Europe. The resuscitation of that monarchy in Nostradamus' prophecy might suggest to us a resurrection of an age where, while it had its own merits, nevertheless opportunities were not equal and human rights were not embedded in political institutions. And we know that we are living in a time of reaction to the progress and momentum of human rights.

And then, in the eclipse horoscope, Venus, the planet which represents relationships, is retrograde and in its detrimental sign of Virgo. It is in friendly aspect to that setting Jupiter. Could this indicate that attachments are too easily formed with demagogues who represent a turning back from humanity's progress? These twenty-first century demagogues appeared in the person of Putin right after the eclipse, and their number has increased as the century has gone on. And Mercury is in opposition to Neptune, and so 'fake news' may well play an important part, too.

Let’s be optimistic. If we can agree that astrological tradition has come to describe the time that we live in as the Age of Aquarius, then the Aquarian dynamic will eventually return, hopefully at its best when feeling is not repressed. The eclipse will give way, and the power of the Sun and the warmth of empathy will have another chance to shine. However, I don't think I can read anything in the eclipse chart that will help me make any suggestions as to when this might happen. Perhaps someone else might give it a go.

And what of the third of my astrological blog topics, that of the dwarf planet Ceres? Well, it may not surprise you that she makes an interesting entrance into the eclipse new moon horoscope. She is on the midheaven for Nostradamus’ own country, France, most exactly in Avignon, not far from his home town of Salon-de-Provence. As ruler of Ophiuchus, she is also the co-ruler of the degree (16.50 Scorpio) of the position of Mars in the eclipse horoscope.

Like Uranus, she had not been discovered in time for Nostradamus to use her symbolism. Yet, as queen of the suppressed feminine asteroids, she represents the rising up of the feminist form of equal opportunity. So her prominent place in the horoscope does represent some hope in a difficult chart. She is at 9 Leo, not far from the Sun and Moon. She is near to a square of 90 degrees, a difficult aspect, to Jupiter, which we have identified as symbolising in this chart the declining but resuscitated remnants of an old order. This is her enemy. Yet her closest aspect is a benign one, near to 120 degrees from Pluto. The pleasant nature of this aspect suggests that Pluto in this chart represents not Pluto, Ceres’ great enemy in the myth, but his feminine counterpart, which is Proserpina. The relationship of mother to daughter is a key one in this chart.

Therefore, perhaps mothers and daughters will lead us through these troubled times to the renaissance of progress towards equal opportunities that seems to be slipping away, and help us to base our thinking and rationality once again on empathy. This is, after all, not just an Aquarian virtue belonging to modernity, but the very heart of Christianity itself. Piscean Christianity can indeed become Aquarian Christianity. I am one of those who argue that post-Enlightenment human rights and equal opportunities are a logical development of Christian virtues and ideals. But an Aquarian Christianity will have to discard outmoded notions of faith that are divorced from action for justice and peace, and from bureaucracies and leaders that are self-serving, in order to become truly Aquarian in the best sense, a partnership between knowledge and empathy.

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[*Footnote: A new moon, the exact conjunction of the Sun and Moon, can be timed to the minute. In the case of the 1999 eclipse, it was 11.09 a.m. GMT (Universal Time or UT) on the 11 August 1999. However, the eclipse lasted for some hours as it swept across various countries. The geographical range for the 1999 eclipse was from the coast of Canada to the Bay of Bengal. The maximum eclipse occurred in Romania at 11.03 a.m., and so the new moon and maximum eclipse are not precisely at the same moment but six minutes apart (for astronomically technical reasons which I will not try and explain here but can be found online).

At the exact time of the new moon, the eclipse had moved on from France. and would have been viewed in Romania. The path of total eclipse moved just north of Paris at 10.22 a.m. GMT (= 12.22 local time, European Summer Time), 41 minutes before the maximum eclipse and 47 minutes before the astronomical new moon. The eclipse in Paris was 99.4% of total.

I am not sure whether Nostradamus would have been able to plot the eclipse in this kind of detail. I have stayed with the new moon chart, as the timing of the new moon is what he will certainly have been able to calculate. If he drew it up for Salon-de-Provence, where he lived, then Mars and Jupiter will both have been close to the Ascendant (rising degree) and Descendant (setting degree), respectively, Jupiter the closest. If he drew it up for Paris, they are a little further away, as the Ascendant and Descendant move back from 2 Scorpio and 2 Taurus to 28 Libra and 28 Aries. The chart for 10.22 GMT, the time for the eclipse in Paris, puts Mars and Jupiter even further away from the rising and setting degrees which are now at 20 Libra and 20 Aries, but they were still the next planets to rise and set, respectively.

If Nostradamus had managed to calculate that the eclipse would reach its maximum intensity in southern Romania at 11.03 GMT, and used the chart for that time and place, he would have found that the opposition between Mars and Saturn was now very close to the Ascendant and Descendant, although Jupiter had set.]