Red River Under a Blood Moon: the Astrology of Vietnam

1: On the Trail of the Red River

2: The Status of Astrology in Vietnam

3: Travelling and Astro-Cartography

4: The Geodetic Lines across Asia

5: The Natal Chart of Vietnam

6: ‘Uncle Ho’ Chi Minh 

7: The Way Out is In

 

1: On The Trail of the Red River

The Vietnamese are proud of their country as this year’s Independence celebrations reveal. Not only have they achieved massive success with their reform strategy which has boosted their economy and exporting power, they have increased their GDP fourfold and are now rivalling China and Japan. 

2025 marks 80 years of Independence for Vietnam from 1945-1925. The people have all been out flag waving to see the parade of young soldiers -male and female -march down the main streets in ultra clean uniforms and it is impressive. Nationalism is instinctively self protective linked to the idea of sovereignty, but how far it goes depends on the country’s situation and how much it needs to restore that patriotic fervour, if that feels on the wane.  

The demonstrations of its military prowess, efficiency, tanks and missiles is extremely popular with the Vietnamese people. Patriotic fervour was on full display. It’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement though some avoided it altogether. They love their culture and the red flag with its five-pointed yellow star red is on bunting, T-shirts, balloons, badges and even on food, so it is literally everywhere. Red is a powerful colour for luck and good fortune used in Tet lunar year celebrations and weddings. It is the Red River that runs through Hanoi and the Saigon that runs through Ho Chi Minh City. The Yellow star refers to the five strata of society: farmers, intellectuals, workers, entrepreneurs and soldiers.

 

 

Vietnam is a mixed bag of traditions and influences that they have worked into a seamless fabric that somehow functions very well though not always in straight lines. Hanoi is a bustling non-stop city. But Vietnam on the surface is not quite as unified as it appears to be. The North-South divide still lingers on and Southerners tend to prefer to keep the name Saigon for what was re-named Ho Chi Minh city. Huế in central Vietnam was once its own capital and the Nguyễn dynasty of Kings there left astonishing mausoleums such as Tu Duc and Kiah Dinh; one lushly romantic and the other utterly baroque. Also Ninh Binh further north just two hours away from Hanoi claimed its own autonomy at one time, rivalling Hanoi, until Hanoi eventually became the capital.

Many traditions that were stamped out by the Communists in those early years of power have seen a resurgence in the past decade. These include ancestor worship, Vastu Shastra (science of architecture) and Feng Shui, Vasikaran (Hypnosis) and even the use of mediums and shamans to counter and heal the prevalence of spirit possession. Every house has a little shrine considered essential to feed the ancestor spirits who can become jealous and vengeful if not pacified.

Mai Lan Gustaffson’s book War and Shadows: the Haunting of Vietnam (2009) outlines case studies where this possession took hold of people in strange and inexplicable ways. Their illnesses was attributed to a mysterious ‘angry spirit.’ These cases often pointed to the culprit being someone dead, or forgotten from the Vietnam War. It  leaves doctors puzzled as they cannot locate any physical cause of the illness.  However,  it was via a spirit medium in a ritual trance that a final often emotional resolution occurred. 

Sometimes the mediums, usually women, but some men too, were accurate in the voice of the ‘ghost’ working through them, at locating  a disappeared body. Then the remains, if any, could finally be laid to rest or be honored with a shrine in the house.  This affects more northern Vietnamese than Southern Vietnamese she says. The borders during the Indochine period were porous and changeable. The scars of war- and a war-like mentality, be they physical, emotional, or psychic are woven deep into the history of Vietnam as for centuries it was under the thumb of its larger neighbour China which has at times triggered a feisty ‘big dragon’ versus ‘little dragon’ dynamic. 

2: The Status of Astrology in Vietnam

As expected, there is widespread use of the Chinese astrological system in Vietnam with the 12 animals from Rat to Pig. However, in this sequence, they prefer the Buffalo to the Ox, and the Cat to the Rabbit. They also use the Can-Chi (Heavenly Stems- Earthly Branches) system which alternates Yin and Yang with each of the five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water. So each animal year differs in kind based on that element, creating a much more complex set of variations. But as for Western or traditional astrology, it may be known by anyone using the internet, but not generally understood. There are however some Indian astrologers working in Vietnam who offer black magic removals and use the Vedic system. The majority of Vietnam is loosely Buddhist and even that is heavily influenced by Confucian traditions from China. Catholicism is also prevalent with many church spires dotting the landscape.

Yet what many do not realise is that there are remains of a Hindu culture at My Son, 60 kilometers outside Da Nang and Hoi Ann. This is where the Cham people, a distinct ethnic group followed Indian practices of cremation and temple building and who used Sanskrit as their mode of communication. 

In Vietnam they follow the lunar calendar and that is how the date of the annual New Year – Tet– is determined. They string chicken feet from the doorways to ward off evil spirits. But astrology here falls mostly under the heading of ‘fortune telling’ and can therefore be easily dismissed as a bunch of superstitions. in spite of that, linked to geomancy, it is widely followed for new businesses and marriages, resting on the belief that there are powers that are greater than any individual, call that fate or what you will. Most have a sense of it as ruling their lives without their knowledge. Hence, the domestic altars and shrines some of them very elaborate with fruit and flowers, trinkets, coins, cards, coloured lights and amulets are carefully positioned at strategic angles in the house.

Volkov (2013) provides an overview of divination practices in Vietnam among the Kinh people. It lists “geomancy, astrology, “sorcery,” physiognomy, and “zoochiromancy” as the most widely practiced forms of divination”. Traditionally, their system over the centuries was inclined to use Hemerology which is prediction by the use of calendars. Several documents from centuries back were translated from the Chinese into Vietnamese or Nom (logographic characters) and these exist in archives showing astronomical data and horoscopes based on the Indian system.  After vilifying it for decades, by 2020 the attitude has softened and the Prime minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc recognised astrologers and others involved in spiritual activities as a ‘profession’.

Astrology is a multi-faceted tree which grows in many directions both personal and in world affairs. Here I want to use Geodetic Equivalents along with Astro-cartography and some Mundane astrology to illuminate what I learned by going to north and central Vietnam.  I offer these insights, not just for travellers anywhere to be on the alert for synchronicities,  but for everyday life and understanding of the world. If I don’t mention Saigon, it is because I didn’t go there. But there’s always another time for that.

3: Travelling and Astro-Cartography

My approach is to choose a place to visit because I am interested. But that does not mean I am blind to the astro-cartography or the Geodetic lines. Which planet lines traverse your chosen destination can often explain why you are attracted to that location in the first place or explain why you have certain typical experiences there. So both the random and intentional choices have a way of felicitously aligning together.

Not everyone can travel for whatever reason. So, the idea of ‘remote activation’ is now growing, You use your ‘inner’ eye. For example, if you cannot travel for any reason and you want to be more in tune with your Jupiter line which lands in a far away country where a planet line exists, you can do imaginative focus on that place, meditate on photographs, eat the typical cuisine of that country, and generally ‘tune in’ to the planet line. This is said to enhance that archetypal energy and give you the feeling of being there.

People get very excited when they become aware of the potential of astro-cartographic methods as if it can wave a magic wand. But there are many  assumptions that need clearing up and pitfalls to be avoided before choosing to relocate to a place based on the astrology.

Simply put,  you cannot change what’s in your chart, but perhaps only shift it slightly and overlay its effects. Basically, if your planets are not well aspected and behave badly, or you have not managed to defuse and overcome the resulting internal conflicts with maturity, they will still behave badly in that other new place. One planetary archetype can dominate the others, but they can hit back too if they are pushed around. It ought to be overall equilibrium you strive for, not imbalance.

It’s inevitable that you take your chart with you wherever you go, or as I once said you can end up taking “ruins to ruins.” The idea you can enhance energies is attractive, and not impossible, but is also fraught with problems. You have to bear in mind also that Saturn is not always heavy and bad and Venus is not always romantic and good. Each planetary resonance is not isolated like a laser beam, but comes with a confluence of mitigating factors- in the final analysis it is a package deal.

Plus, sometimes it is better to live far away from any planet lines which increase the intensity of that planetary archetype, not bang on the line which has the effect of plugging in at the mains. The influence goes hundreds of miles to the east and west of the line.  Pluto is a good example as it is definitely not boring on a Pluto line. I went to live on one not realising this fact and a war erupted that transformed my life. So if that’s what you want and your life has been dull up to now then go for it. But if you stay away, it  will make for a quieter life. That may be the right decision too. So think hard before casting a relocation chart packing your bags and zooming off.

My astro-cartography map of Asia has a Neptune line running right across the China Sea into Indonesia. But also Mars/Uranus on the angles, making the journey feel action packed and exciting. According to Martin Davis these can be considered as your personal ‘song lines’.  And, it’s true, I am susceptible to the allure of Buddhist and Hindu shrines and temples, the way they are designed on hilltops and peaks and the loving attention to detail given to the stone carvings, gardens, layout and design of the temples. I will go out of my way to see them and am willing to climb however many steep steps there are just to get to the top and have that ‘peak’ experience such as at the main temple of Angkor Wot in Cambodia, or the Hang Mua dragon at Ninh Binh (500 steps), or at the Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi (260 steps).

If you meet any monks on the way, then that’s all the better, especially if they utter any words to you. Those words will carry a weight of meaning unlike any others. I never forgot what a monk in orange robes said to us personally while at Angkor Wot. ‘Don’t cry before it hurts’ he said apropos of nothing. The words had a profound effect. It was on the day of my solar return too so the timing was significant. That was in 2019, and considering the barbaric plans foisted upon the population by their own governments since 2020, it was if he knew what was coming. That short statement carries acute psychological insight into how you might separate one feeling from another in order to suffer less and become more resilient in the face of personal and world calamities. I learned a lot about differentiating thoughts from feelings from that one phrase.

This could perhaps be that participation mystique that Jung talked of. This is how events can become numinous and synchronistic, and this happens suddenly and serendipitously but then afterwards seems to be intended for you and your self development.  Jung himself however was deeply sceptical of marrying Eastern and Western traditions too easily. This he said was due to the danger of importing its subconscious psychic detritus from another culture which can cause harm along with the good bits. Views have changed on yoga for example, but still he had a point.

You certainly do not need to go to Asia to experience this oceanic mystical feeling. That can occur anywhere; it is not location specific. It just happens to be more pronounced for me in these South East Asian countries. Neptune represents the oceans and spirituality but also deception, lies, disease and death, sacrifice, illusions and deception.

Close to this Neptune line, I visited many temples, even an abandoned water park in Huế and a mysterious ‘city of ghosts’ at An Bang; I observed rituals performed by Buddhist monks at Thiên Mụ  Pagoda, there was a typhoon and intense rain for days on end resulting in flooding. Uranus brought disruptions to plans but also a freedom to choose where to go.

Pisces rules the feet and I was obliged to pay attention to them because became ruined by a combination of wear and tear, the heat/humidity and rubbing of the leather on sandals between my toes. So, the skin came off from under my toes which caused soreness.  I spent hours replacing plasters on my toes. Then, in Hoi Ann I had the very best foot massage I’d ever had at the Relaxnanh Spa. First they used warmed beans to relax the feet, then they bathed my feet carefully in warm water filled with lemon grass and scraped salt across the soles; and then they used Vietnamese Oud ‘Agarwood’ oil massaged into all the muscles up to my knee. This was deeply satisfying and kept me grounded for a while. Foot injuries and obsession with your feet focuses on Pisces which is ruled by Neptune.

Neptune is also the significator of films and within a few days of being in Hanoi I met a film director Anna Fam, originally from Vietnam but living in Poland. Her short film Entropy will appear at the Winchester Film festival in October.  She and I spent hours and hours talking about all the great films we loved. We dissected every aspect of film making and discussing what was the purpose of films, what made some great and others such duds.

Several films about Vietnam come to mind: the the darkly twisted mood of Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987), and of course Apocalypse Now (1979) by Francis Ford Coppola, Indochine, (1992) by Regis Wargnier, The Lover (1992) by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on the novel by Marguerite Duras, and The Quiet American (2002) by Philip Noyce based on a Graeme Greene novel.

But these are all made with a Westerner’s point of view and all tragic in one way or another often celebrating Vietnam’s sublime landscapes. In the case of all these directors Neptune is strong in their charts- not necessarily on the MC, but strongly aspected. And in the case of Jean-Jacques Annaud Neptune is directly conjunct his sun in Libra. The stories that Vietnamese themselves want to tell can be quite different. There are more recent home-grown films from a Vietnamese perspective e.g. one by Vietnamese director Leon Le called Song Lang (2018) an intriguing story about a friendship struck by an opera singer and a mafia thug set in 1980s Saigon.

Still on the Neptune theme, I also took lot of photographs and love Asian countries for providing some good shots without using a drone .The gallery of Ha Long Bay below is just one example. Neptune was discovered in 1846 just after the first few photographs were developed. All I have is an I-phone and a Canon 600. At that same book filled café in Hanoi- Tranquil– I flicked through books of old photographs of Vietnam.

A Neptune line/location is the perfect for a holiday escape – even romantic interludes- but it can confuse travel arrangements, and I did have to change plans at the last minute, but it is also likely to encourage you to be as McCrae says “deeply moved of inspired in that location and have a spiritual experience.” So I’ll go with this last thought as there were certainly moments of awe and insight on this trip.

4: The Geodetic Lines across Asia

Astrology has more to say about travelling or relocating than you might imagine. The Zodiac superimposed on the map of the world goes back to Ptolemy and Manlius. There are several modes of cross-mapping the astrology chart to the world map. Astro*Carto*Graphy® as created and promoted by Jim Lewis is about taking your personal natal chart and mapping that across the world. The lines can fall in the ocean or across specific towns, cities and countries. People use as a tool to consider whether they live in the right location and to relocate.

But there is also a system known as Geodetics (Geodesy) which has come to the fore in recent years although it is not new. Geo means the Earth and ‘desy’ referring to the size and shape of the earth. The Geodetic Lines or ‘Equivalents’ can be either seen from the POV of the collective or the personal. They are the zodiac signs and cusps mapped across the world and are more fixed than your personal astro-cartography map.

However, your personal chart can also be mapped on the world. They used to start from the pyramids of Giza but most people now use the zero-point ‘prime’ meridian of Greenwich. This is where time zones and the latitude-longitude coordinates are calculated from. It is the starting point for Geodetic equivalents where each sign of the zodiac occupies a 30° slice of the world going East from Greenwich. There is a straight MC line and a curved Ascendant Line that cross at each location.

This means Pisces MC lands and the Cancer Ascendant dissects across most of London, then the 0 °Aries MC and the Leo Ascendant starting at Greenwich itself across the East of England and the rest of Europe. Yet London itself is considered a Gemini city of commerce and business. The Taurus Geodetic line 30° further East begins around where Istanbul is and so on. For example, this puts the Leo Geodetic line through Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Bali and Perth. And the Sagittarius Geodetic sign occupies the mid-west of America which includes sunshine California. There can also be significance for ley lines and what is called the earth grid.

The current location of planets and aspects has another use in that it can be mapped to the world. It can and often is now used to detect and even predict where the ‘hotspots’ are in the world, for political unrest, economic trouble and natural disasters. This is where Uranus might represent a volcano or earthquake and Mars/Saturn a war and Uranus political rebellions. Nepal, Indonesia, France and even the UK experienced this type of uprising. This could have been that Uranus was stationing retrograde in Gemini exactly at the time of the September 7th Lunar Eclipse. It is also conjunct the fixed star Alcyone in the Pleiades. But it is also that Pluto in Aquarius is both out of bounds and to the southern declination point.

But it is also interesting that it places the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, which will peak in February of 2026, right across the English channel which connects France to England. This has become the bone of contention and contrary viewpoints about the influx of illegal immigrants as it represents an open border – Neptune (open)- Saturn (border). People have their divided beliefs about this and the struggle to stop it or make any sense of what is happening continues.

Geodetically, Jupiter lies across Hanoi and Vietnam and according to McRae (p25) “Jupiter is fun, but also tends towards over indulgence”. Jupiter is in Cancer at the moment. Jupiter expands and magnifies so that could point to the massive typhoons blasting in from the sea. Also, all the opportunities to meet new people I encountered that all helps to expand knowledge of the world. The descriptor of Jupiter (the green line) on the 10th House cusp can be found on astromaps-links and is fascinating to read.

It’s more or less what happened.

Jupiter comes with the danger of excess and grandiosity. But I think that was reserved for the Kings of Huế of the Nguyễn dynasty who left their legacy of magnificent tombs some of them ever so over the top. It was the weather that kept me down to earth, travelling overnight by train and by bus takes its toll. Travel, they say, broadens the mind- that is except when it does not. For some, it merely confirms their narrower beliefs and prejudices. But for me as a Sagittarian ruled by Jupiter, I learn a lot from other cultures which does not detract from my own culture and even if it means knowing which ones to avoid.

The Ascendant line over Vietnam is Libra so here we also see Mars crossing the Ascendant. Mars and Jupiter together make for potentially volatile time, though Mars in Libra ruled by Venus is more balanced.

5: The Natal Chart of Vietnam

Mundane charts are useful to understand the character of a country. But countries may have more than one chart to choose from as each nation state can emerge through several upheavals and phases. This is definitely the case for Vietnam. There is also the reunification chart for July 21st 1954 based on the Geneva Accords, when the French, having split the country north and south, finally left. This chart is interesting too forming new borders with Cambodia and Laos. But also the end of the Vietnam War chart at 8.30 am for July 2nd 1976 may be significant.

But in Vietnam the date that the country itself celebrates with great hullabaloo is the original one for September 2nd, 1945. The government of 2025 have behaved magnanimously to the people by gifting every single citizen the amount of 100,00 Vietnamese Dong. This is to celebrate Independence. Some argue such a small amount could have been distributed more fairly and concentrated more to those who really could benefit and not the already well off,  for whom it would only buy a coffee and croissant. But others welcome this rare example of generosity from a government.

It was a Sunday when Ho Chi Minh read out the Declaration of Independence on Ba Dinh Square. So most likely this was midday making ‘noon’ a reasonable time to assume. The mundane chart of Vietnam’s Independence has the sun at 9° of Virgo. It’s a culture of service to the country, even of huge sacrifice, who have only in the past twenty or so years welcomed back foreign visitors. It is their ‘service’ industry that has transformed them into an economic miracle and it’s evident that people work hard here.

Vietnam, according to this chart has a Virgo sun and a moon in Cancer, and while for several decades it was not possible to travel there, that mood has lifted and tourists are now welcome. The Neptune conjunct Chiron points to a search for redemption via some collective, not just  e from Communist style collectivism but a shared sense of how suffering somehow ennobles the people as a whole.

If the 1945 and the 1976 Reunion chart are compared, the position of the Sun and Moon are reversed. The 1976 chart has the Sun in Cancer and the Moon in Virgo. This mirroring and symmetry of the rulers Mercury and the Moon even goes close to the original degrees. The earth is practical and hardworking and the water is dreamy, reflective and perhaps even a bit moody.  But it does have Venus close by highlighting the prominent role of women in everyday life in Vietnam. Mercury is strong here in the sign of Gemini. Plus it echoes the Geodetic positioning of Vietnam under the sign of Cancer.

Contradictorily for a communist country, personal enterprise and commerce is flourishing. State owned capitalism is indeed a contradictory hybrid held back by rules and bureaucracy. Yet, with people making so much money, the mood is on the up and up- ever expanding. Everyone seems to be doing their own business. Every twenty metres or so there is a Banh Mi baguette stall, or a fruit display, or a shop where you don’t know where the shop ends and the living space begins, its a chaotic boundary.

Assuming that Virgo is central to Vietnam makes sense as it offers sustenance to the body and purification rituals, so there are numerous Spa/Massage parlours. Massage is good to keep lymph flowing in the body and avoid toxins building up. One observer I met who has been living in Vietnam for 20 years said that massage is in their DNA, in other words, it’s instinctive. The herbs used in almost every meal but especially Bún Chả, the favourite dish of Northern Vietnam, are said to be good for digestion. This pyramid of greens placed on your table can include coriander, rice paddy herb, perilla (sesame shiso), lemon balm, basil, chives, sorrel, mustard greens, and various types of lettuce, all fresh and fragrant as promised. You need also to use your fingers ( associated with Mercury).

But also there’s an obsession with health with a small percentage of people still wearing masks for no apparent reason. What that reveals is very much of their negative, fearful, perhaps even hypochondriac, state of mind. This is not to say that wearing a mask on a motorbike can protect the nose and mouth from air pollution from the heavy traffic.

Saturn and the Moon so close together denotes a sensitive need for feeling nurtured. The Moon in this chart is in Cancer and this shows their obsession with food. One of their typical phrases is ‘have you eaten yet?’ showing they care about you being properly fed. This is so very motherly and Cancerian.

It is interesting that there are no planets at all from Scorpio to Aries so it is a lopsided ‘bowl’ shaped chart intensified into the earlier signs suggesting they are still finding their way. but that this anchors the country’s characteristics.

Vietnam has both Mars and Uranus in Gemini so is in tune with the AI advancements, pushing forward vigorously in fact. Technology is high on the list of what helps Vietnam be so successful. In July 2029 Uranus returns to its home spot at 17° of Gemini. This is interesting as it suggests that their Uranus opposition – slightly more challenging, more like a ‘wake up’ process-which occurs usually around 43-45 years after the natal placement was the trigger to their ‘opening up’ period. The real post-war regeneration and opening of the country did not begin until the 1990s- their Uranus opposition. Still, Vietnam will experience the final Uranus return to the specific natal degree. That will be interesting to see what insights they have gained or if it is a culmination of their internal innovations. A Uranus ruled by Mercury is extra powerful for business efficiency, e-commerce and use of AI. That they are already pushing such schemes in banking is indicative.

Vietnam’s educational level is high and  includes a highly level of mathematics, science and technological skills almost rivalling that of Singapore. This has increased the export of computers and electronics making Vietnam the fifth largest exporter globally.  Vietnam makes its own cars too now- Vin Fast Auto. These are electric of course as a gas-fuelled cars will soon be outlawed.

Some say that this is going too far too fast when in July 2025 a law was invoked that saw 86 million bank accounts wiped out overnight. It has targeted foreign residents too with digital requirements as proofs of identity. This it was claimed was to avoid fraud, but it normalises iris and fingerprint identification linked to your spending habits and no mention is made of the drawbacks of tech-only currency such as power outages. Typhoon Kajika caused power outages so businesses can be crushed if they don’t have cash.

On an odd note – the Sabian symbol for Uranus in Vietnam’s chart is “Two Chinese men talk Chinese”. Make of that what you will.

The two eclipses, the lunar on September 7th and the solar on September 21st could have an effect in this country as they are in their nation chart’s sign. But not so much in the geodetics where the likelihood of earthquakes and tsunamis is more towards the Eastern Western Pacific and Eastern Atlantic.  There was a blood moon at exactly 1.11am on September 8th. I got up especially to see it and take a photograph. This was the first lunar eclipse I’ve seen directly above as  the moon was was fully visible and bright across Vietnam- then it clouded and became dark red. Changes in leadership are unlikely though as the stability of the ruling party is well established and works continually in the background, beyond the personalities in charge. But north and central Vietnam can be prone to weather disasters and typhoons in Asia are known to be fierce as they come directly across the China Sea from the Philippines.

On the morning of August 26th, over a week before the first eclipse, I was due to visit Ha Long Bay. But the port authority snapped into action. Typhoon Kajiki was blasting inland from the Gulf of Tonkin causing widespread torrential rain that submerged cars resulting in 3 dead and 13 injured. It was simply not safe. The port was summarily closed. I had to go to Ninh Binh instead two hours south of Hanoi, but at least inland and away from the storm. Tensions were still high at Ha Long because there had been a recent disaster.

On July 19^th at 1.30pm a boat of tourists overturned in a flash thunderstorm and 39 people perished. Only 10 survived, one of whom was a 14-year old boy who was trapped for over four hours in the capsized boat. The boat was called ‘The Wonder Sea’. The chart of that moment has a fated feel to it. Uranus has conjunct Sedna at 0° of Gemini. Gemini refers to short trips, and Sedna is there too as the archetype of those drowned at sea. This is in the 8th House where death is a feature. There are two T-Squares in the chart: one where Mercury in Leo is at the apex of a T-Square to the Moon and the Ascendant. And Venus in Gemini is at the apex of a second T-Square to Mars and the North Node. The Moon is opposite the South Node conjunct Mars in Virgo. And Pluto is opposite the Vertex-which points to something fated. So since this happened the port authorities are extra careful.

The nearby Gulf of Tonkin is infamous also for the alleged attack  in August of 1964 which provoked the US to attack the Communist North Vietnamese, thus officially beginning the US involvement in the Vietnam War. Saturn in Pisces was opposing the Pluto-Uranus conjunction in Virgo around this time. But it matched the degree of the Vietnam Independence chart. Uranus was at 9° of Virgo. This lasted over a decade of bloody conflicts and indiscriminate use of weaponry, napalm attacks and massive loss of lives. The very same Naval Admiral George Morrison involved in relaying the false messages was none other than the father of Jim Morrison, charismatic singer of the Doors, a fact that has puzzled many commentators.

That name Morrison is celebrated in Hanoi for another stranger reason. There is a street named Mo-Ri-Xon but it’s not in celebration of Jim, but Norman Morrison, the Quaker, who on the 2^nd November, 1965, using kerosene set himself on fire in protest at the Vietnamese war. He was a Scorpio sun sign and he left behind his wife and children.

I finally was able to do a boat trip to Ha Long Bay in September. Ha Long which means ‘descending dragon’ is one of the world’s most famous beauty spots and is a magnificent seascape formed of almost two thousand limestone karst formation islets that look like towers jutting from the sea. Each rock has a character that speaks. It also has enormous stalactite-stalagmite caves and sailing though it feels like truly a different world. These trips take place every day without hitch though a thunderstorm did start grumbling just as I started swimming at Titop island and the mood became dark and mysterious with a heavy, brooding sky.

6: ‘Uncle Ho’ Chi Minh 

The face of that is everywhere on posters and walls across the country of Vietnam is also internationally known. It is Ho Chi Minh, (19/05/1890) who was born on a new moon in Taurus in 1890. Taurus can be steady and patient until they reach their goals and that is certainly true in this case. But there’s a sternness here as he had Sun square Saturn- he had a long wait to achieve his goals. The name Ho Chi Minh was chosen in 1942 means ‘enlightened will’. He was born in central Vietnam and went to school in the ancient capital of Huế.

He travelled for many years to Europe, to Russia and could eventually speak Mandarin, Cantonese, French, English, Russian and even he even learned Esperanto.  With both Mercury and Venus in Gemini this probably helped him become a skilled and strategic communicator, softening his words.

In 1922 he wrote a play called ‘The Bamboo Dragon’ which was a satire on the Chinese officials. But also he also wrote a book of poetry while in prison in China between 1942-3.  This was his ‘Prison Diary’ diary written cleverly in classical Chinese to avoid detection and fool his captors.

Everything changes, the wheel
of the law turns without pause.

After the rain, good weather.

In the wink of an eye

The universe throws off
its muddy cloths.

For ten thousand miles
the landscape

Spreads out like
a beautiful brocade.

Gentle sunshine.
Light breezes. Smiling flowers,

Hang in the trees, amongst the
sparkling leaves,

All the birds sing at once.

That he wrote poetry puts him in a different category to other leaders and less artful Communist party members. It suggests much greater sensitivity  and Venus with Mercury often denote beautiful words. It reminds me of the other Vietnamese poet- Thich Nhat Hahn, the Zen master who came later in 1926. There is however an entire generation of people who were great movers and shakers, leaders and revolutionaries, all who were born at the end of the 19th century. Many were born on or around the great Pluto-Neptune in Gemini conjunction of 1890 which ruled that decade. This list includes Mao Ze Dung, Chiang Kai Chek, Dwight D. Einsenhower, Leon Trotsky and Ho Chi Minh himself.

While Ho Chi Minh failed to meet Lenin before he died, he did meet and gain the approval of Stalin for his plans for the Vietcong in Vietnam. The Pluto conjunction with Neptune was extremely powerful heralding not only the discipline of psychology, but also quantum physics. It has a mind bending, dark occult quality as happened with H.P. Lovecraft, also born in 1890. There was the depth transformation with Pluto, and the profound depths of mind-bending Neptune which put forward the idealism needed for utopian visions of a new social reality.

Minh’s chart is loaded with Air and Fire as fitting a man of ideas. He has some placements in Earth and no planets in Water signs. There is nothing in the sign of Virgo and nothing in Capricorn. But the stellium he has of Sun/Moon in late Taurus may have given him his steadiness of purpose and longevity and the Pluto/Neptune close by in early Gemini would have helped him shape the world through new ideas. It is all placed opposite a fiery Mars in Sagittarius adding that proselytising energy to lead like a warrior.

So, he certainly had his work cut out for him to take on France, China and USA and not be the loser. The Jupiter in Aquarius adds to the revolutionary fervour motivated by social justice and an ability to disseminate ideas that became popular. The Sun/Moon on the Ascendant kind of guarantees someone will be famous.  I’d suggest that Saturn in Leo also would form his image into the ‘father’ of the country. He became known to the Vietnamese as ‘Uncle Ho’.

Very interesting to me that in 1969 he died on September 2^nd the same day of Vietnamese independence that he had helped orchestrate. So, his death date matches nation’s chart in that peculiar way, which is something he probably wanted linking his own life to the destiny of the country.

Not only that but his birthday -19th May- was chosen back in 1959 to establish the Ho Chi Minh trail.  This trail allowed North Vietnamese to traverse the constantly shifting borders into Laos and Cambodia into the jungle of pathways through the Annamite mountains to the south without being detected by the colonial powers both French and American.

7: The Way Out is In

In Huế there are many tranquil spots, tombs and pagodas. The Tu Duc tombs is a lakeside haven and the Kiah Dinh tomb is a drama-filled bumptious kind of monument with stunning views of the surrounding countryside.  It was in this area here that a young monk went to school and later joined a monastery at Tu Dieu. He would become a softly spoken spiritual leader with a far reaching influence across the world.  Thich Nhat Hahn is his adopted Buddhist ‘dharma’ name and created his own order of ‘Interbeing’. Like Ho Chi Minh on the political level, Thich Nhat Hahn is synonymous with Vietnam but on the spiritual level, as he developed a new style of Buddhist activism which has influenced the world through his books, teachings, talks and poems.

I have always been fond of his walking breathing meditation- simple but effective. ‘Walking’ he said ‘is not a means but an end in itself’ and ‘you should walk as if the Earth is kissing your feet’.

His philosophy echoes that of Krishnamurti in the sense that he says people should be free of the ideas that bind them to a particular system. In 1966 he advocated for “freedom from any theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones” and added that “this is the Lion’s roar.” It is also the hardest thing to do in a world that continually sucks people’s minds into a polarised doom loop, feeding their hatred and turning former friends into enemies. It is certainly not the people themselves who benefit.

Thich Nhat Hahn’s chart data is disputed but most people go with the notion that he was born near Huế on the 11th October, 1926. Soft on the outside, steely within is shown in the chart as Libra is ruled by Venus which is conjunct his Sun and is the arch diplomat there, smoothing over social fissures. But he has Pluto conjunct the North Node in Cancer suggests the deep feelings he evokes that is also the challenge of his entire life. He was an alluring figure with a subtle appeal to many who followed him across the world or who attended his lectures in person at Plum village. The often quoted metaphor of Libra which is a cardinal sign is the ‘iron fist in the velvet glove’ but his sternness is not obvious. Yet he was able to make complex thoughts accessible to many.

Saturn in Scorpio with Klio is the signature of a great teacher, a master indeed. But it is opposite Mars in Taurus which gives so much resilience. Plus Neptune/Psyche in Leo opposite Jupiter in Aquarius also suggests a guru of sorts as Jupiter in Aquarius is the great disseminator of ideas. He published a weekly newsletter and around 130 books including books of poems and meditations.

That he sought balance of the heart and mind through social action is very Libran and interesting as that very same softness made him a contentious figure. He was accused of dividing religions in Vietnam and siding with enemies by promoting Buddhism and going against the Catholics in Southern Vietnam, etc. He was not without his critics. His very presence there also made him a target of the government who were sceptical. This even lead to sometimes getting his followers killed. Being ruled by Venus is not always the perfect social balm when you have all this fire and you have a Mercury in Scorpio which sharpens your words into weapons. His Pluto/North Node lands on the  sensitive Moon/Saturn in Cancer and that he touched the heart of the people helping them find ways to heal all the war wounds was part of his role.

A good question to ask is how does his chart align to that of Vietnam as we saw how Ho Chi Minh’s aligned on key dates in Vietnam’s history. Nhat Hahn’s chart has similar alignments to notice.  His North Node/Pluto is basically on the Vietnam’s North node/Moon in Cancer so even if those goals of emotional healing have not been fully achieved, it is still the goal. His Venus/Sun is on the Neptune/Chiron/Jupiter in Libra of the Vietnam chart as well. That suggests he was able to shine a loving, balanced light on the spiritual wounding of the country.

One of his gnomic statements is the “way out is in” and this is the clue as to what we should do next if we are not already doing it. Within is the ultimate destination – to the internal realm, to experience the psycho-geography that is usually unexplored and astrology can help us to cross reference the interior and exterior activities of the world and bring them into greater balance.

 

© Kieron Devlin, Proteus Astrology, 23rd September, 2025 

(Written without the aid of AI)

References

Campion, N. (2004) The Book of World Horoscopes, Bournemouth: Wessex Astrologer.

Gustaffson, M. L. (2009)  War and Shadows: The Haunting of Vietnam. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.

McCrae, C. (2016) Geodetic Astrology for Relocating and World Affairs.   Bournemouth: The Wessex Astrologer Ltd.

Volkov,  A. (2013) ‘Astrology and Hemerology in Traditional Vietnam,’ Open Journals 5, 2013, p. 113-140. Available at; https://doi.org/10.4000/extremeorient.282.

all photographs by Kieron Devlin unless otherwise stated as in the public domain.