Lanka stands on the threshold of a new dawn with the planets propitiously in place to cast their beneficial eye, long denied to the nation.

elections, the SUNDAY PUNCH commented when Saturn entered Scorpio that year in November. It predicted that Saturn in Mars’ house will set forth a train of events that will lead to a dramatic change, a change that will have profound consequences for Lanka, even as Saturn had done each time it occupied Scorpio. It said:

“On the second of November, after thirty years of voyaging the twelve constellations, the most feared planet in the astrological sphere Saturn moved into the house of Scorpio, home of the zodiac’s war lord Mars. Saturn’s Aquarius is Sri Lanka’s birth sign in mundane astrology. And Saturn, being the lord of Aquarius, is the ruling planet of this nation. It is also the planet which stays the longest in any single house. As a result it is considered to be the one planet, whose influence is not transient, whose power is not fleeting; but whose transit in a particular sign is more felt and feared and leaves a more lasting mark than any other planet. Malefic Saturn is also the planet most regarded as a protagonist of change, for better or for worse. Saturn is the bogey man in the zodiac.”

During the two years it stayed in Scorpio, the effects of Saturn could be seen. It brought about the downfall of the Rajapaksa regime, something which was considered impossible. For the first time in Lanka it gave birth to a coalition government, not one made up of a motley of political parties but a coalition of the two main opposition parties in Lanka. The two party system had also been one of Saturn’s creations. As the Sunday Punch commented two years ago:

“Then flash your mind back to thirty years before 1984 when once again Saturn moved into Scorpio on the 12th of November 1955. The prelude for change had been set four years earlier when the senior Minister of the UNP Government, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike had left the sole reigning United National Party and formed his own nationalistic party the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. On the 12th of April 1956, exactly five months after Saturn had crossed over to Scorpio and whilst remaining in Scorpio, Bandaranaike is elected as the Prime Minister of Ceylon. The mould of a one party state is broken. Change is wrought. Democracy is revitalized as a result. And even today sixty years after, the country remains a two party political state. Saturn in Scorpio had brought change, this time for the better. “

In another 26 days Saturn leaves the General’s house of Scorpio and leaves behind him a house on fire. But his transition to Jupiter’s house of Sagittarius will douse the flames. For Saturn moves from the den of the local village thug to the kuti, the rock cave of the sage. And there, in that environment in the home of the Zodiac’s most benign planet Jupiter, dreaded Saturn turns mellow. For the next three years, till the 24th of January 2020 Saturn will remain there, as Jupiter’s tenant and subject to Jupiter’s benign philosophical influence.

And furthermore, Saturn, the overlord and ruler of Lanka’s kendraya, will be entering the eleventh house in the Lankan astrological chart: the House of Income. It heralds a period of stability and peace and will usher in prosperity to the Lankan household. But since Jupiter is the moral guru in the planetary sphere, there will be no freebies. The revenue that will flow into the government coffers and the money into the people’s pocket will have to be earned by the honest sweat of their brows. The chances for wholesale graft will be lessened. Development work will progress and even Yahapalanaya will see a revival.

However, in the first week of April, Saturn makes a U- turn and heads back homesick to the warrior’s house, Scorpio. He enters it on June 18th and remains there until October 26 when he will enter Sagittarius again. During this period, the Government may once again face a few upheavals but nothing of the sort that cannot be quelled. Whatever the astrologer, who predicted Mahinda’s presidential triumph in 2015, may have told Mahinda Rajapaksa of what this year will hold for him, it is clear that Mahinda Rajapaksa will not be able to topple this government this year as he declared he would to foreign journalists on Thursday.

And furthermore, at the time of Saturn’s entry into Sagittarius, Mercury, the Lord of Knowledge, will also be in Sagittarius, the home of wise Jupiter. At the same time, Jupiter will be in Virgo, the house of Mercury. In astrological terms this is called a Parivarthane Yogaya. When planets interchange houses, they assume the power of the corresponding planet and become masters of all they survey as if they were living in their own house and had complete power over it. According to the ancient astrological art of predicting the future based on the exact moment in time when an event occurs, called the Thathkala Welawe, it is at a supremely auspicious moment that Saturn knocks on Jupiter’s door. And the above mentioned benefits to Lanka are more pronounced since Jupiter’s power over his own household is further increased.

But one word of warning. Though this is what the zodiacal cabinet has lined in store for Lanka in the new year, though the planets have aligned to dawn on Lanka a year of development and progress that will benefit the rulers and the ruled and will lead the nation forward, its best to be aware that human action can waylay the best laid plans of the stars above. Though it may be ordained fate the heavens behold for the nation, there is also the operation of free will that made man first err and turn the taste of all life sour.

Lanka stands on the threshold of a new dawn with the planets propitiously in place to cast their beneficial eye, long denied to the nation. This opportunity to make hay while the stars shine and turn this country around should not be missed. It will not come again in a hurry soon. It is left to the government to grab the moment with both hands and, to ensure its own future, genuinely work to keep its pledges to the people. It has three years more to go and many promises to keep before it can wake to eat it’s just deserts in 2020.

But how it functions this year, will be crucial. It’s this year or never. It will be a tragedy for this nation and her people if the Government does not hear Saturn bestowed opportunity knock, knock knocking on Lanka’s door and fail to let the good times stroll in. Wish you all a very Happy New Year.