The G20 Meeting: An Alternative Take - Glenda Cole

On April 2nd the G20 summit will begin, at this stage we have no idea what the meeting will bring, nor indeed do we know what time it will start. For a different take on the day I have taken the traditional technique of the Planetary hours to take an overview of the symbolism of the day and how it might progress.

The Planetary hours is a system in which one of the seven traditional naked eye planets is given rulership over each day. From sunrise to sunset the day is divided into 12 equal parts called 'hours', with each hour being ruled by a different planet following the Chaldean order of slowest to fastest from a geocentric point of view, ie Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon. Oreaching the Moon the cycle begins again. Each day begins at dawn with the planet that rules that particular day of the week also ruling the first hour.

Thursday is a Jupiter Day and, as explained above, the day begins at dawn with a Jupiter hour. As Jupiter rules a nation's wealth and banks and bankers it seems a fitting day to hold this summit, which looks to promote international financial stability and economic growth.

Jupiter is in the 11th house, the hopes of the nation, so the day of the summit starts with a mood of lots of optimism and hope and a focus on growth. Aries rises, and although Mars is in Jupiter ruled Pisces it has no essential dignity and is in the 12th. So there may be an aura of general bonhomie about the day, but it is in effect being undermined by what is already going on behind closed doors. Pluto, the ruler of hidden wealth is conjunct the Midheaven, so the day is marked by the symbolism of profound change. With Scorpio on the 8th cusp, tax havens may no longer be tax havens by the end of the day.

Our second planetary hour is ruled by Mars, which is now in the 11th house. Though the hour begins at 7:43 the members of this summit are quite likely beginning to put on their 'public face.' As Venus ruled Taurus is rises. But Venus is in detriment and intercepted in the 12th. Thus showing a day where the poor state of the world’s economy is being highlighted.

64 minutes later and it's the hour of the Sun as Gemini Rises, Mercury has some slight dignity by being in Aries in it's own terms, though it is combust and still in the 12th so the time is not yet good for wheeling and dealing, or for trade and commerce. Though with an exalted Sun our leaders are putting on a good front.

And yet another planetary hour passes taking us into the Venus hour. We still have Gemini rising but Jupiter and Neptune now straddle the MC. Amongst other things Neptune rules socialism, mobs and secret plots. We know that demonstrations are planned for this particular day, so this may well be when the first demo takes place.

And The fifth planetary hour at 10:55 is a Mercury hour. With Cancer rising and a dignified moon on the ascendant, this would be a good time for the summit to officially begin. The Mercury hour could well indicate the eyes of the media being focused on the events.

Our next planetary hour is that of the moon, which is now in the 12th house, thus highlighting the fact that the summit is not an open meeting but is being conducted behind closed doors. But note also Jupiter and Neptune are in the 8th and so the focus of the meeting could well be on the aforementioned tax havens. Uranus on the MC could indicate yet another disruption by protesters.

By 14:04 we are into the hour of Saturn, with Saturn in Virgo this is when the summit members get down to the nitty gritty of the meeting. And what an excellent time to do so and to try and reach agreement, Leo is rising and the exalted Sun is on the Midheaven. Quite possible one individual will take the lead at this point.

Negotiations should continue to go well as we again meet Jupiter as we enter the 8th planetary hour. Leo is still rising and the Sun is still in the 10th. Jupiter is in the 7th close to the descendant highlighting foreign affairs and charitable relationships with other countries, so this could be good news for the world’s poorer countries.

Mid afternoon sees another Mars hour, with the latter degrees of Leo rising. It is during this hour that the 11th house moon will perfect a square to the 8th house sun. Negotiations which have been doing OK for the previous couple of hours could now stall Any potential solution to the financial crises that will be agreeable to the public may be difficult to come by.

As Virgo rises, so we reach a Solar hour, with Mercury and the Sun sitting together in the 8th house. This is probably a time of critical negotiations with the financiers, possibly centred on tax or trade.


The Venus hour still sees Virgo rising and Mercury in the 8th. Throughout the day Venus and Mars have been in mutual reception, perhaps indicating that everyone has their own agendas here. Now, with Venus in Aries in the 7th things are getting heated as summit members vie to get their own agendas negotiated. The Moon perfects a trine to Mars during this hour indicating that some items would have been concluded successfully.

The planetary hour leading up to sunset is another Mercury hour. Libra rises and with Mercury and Venus in the 7th this is quite likely when the meeting will end. On the surface all will seem pleasant and negotiations would seem to have gone well.


To see another take on the day’s events see Roy Gillett’s News article here and on the Astrological Association’s web site.