An excerpt from the 2025 Global Outlook Live Review on March 30, 2025.
Transcript edited for print.
One of the countries that’s in even more dire economic trouble than the U.S. happens to be Russia. We see Russia here, the 1991 horoscope. We see this Moon-Saturn with the triple conjunction happening right on the Russian midheaven. Now, the midheaven represents the government—mainly the executive branch, but really the government of Russia as a whole.
Russia also has transiting Pluto right on its natal Saturn, and the Uranus-Pluto midpoint is hitting its midheaven directly as well. So the prospects of a political breakdown in Russia could be a likely consequence of the economic breakdown that’s already in progress. There are a number of key indicators pointing toward a potential political breakdown.
Putin’s Authoritarian Psychology
Astrologically, we can see this. But we’re also seeing it directly with Putin’s authoritarian psychology, where the economic model in Russia is essentially just an extension of his personal power. That means economic failure is likely to undermine political legitimacy. Russia right now cannot fund itself through normal debt markets or through taxation, because of collapsing productivity. That could lead to governmental insolvency or even a loss of control.
This is clearly what the chart—the mundane horoscope—is showing. Look at that Saturn-Neptune. That Napoleonic, Czar-like persona of Putin suggests the entire regime is brittle and built on perception—or applied perception management. Once economic reality catches up, which it’s doing now, it will shatter that illusion. Political stability in Russia will be in grave danger.
Russia’s Black Box Indicators
Now, before I go into the implications, let’s look at the Russian black box. That black box implies Russia’s coming political upheaval and economic unraveling are already in progress. Or, in other words, Russia is headed for a breakdown due to systemic flaws rooted in authoritarianism and central control.
There are a number of things to note here. There’s massive public dissatisfaction. There’s a loss of elite and oligarchical support. There’s a breakdown in regional governments happening now in Russia. We see protests, strikes, even possible coup attempts. There’s increased repression, followed by potential systemic fractures.
Russia’s war chest is depleted. Consumers face negative disposable income due to low wages and high costs. The average Russian income is $680 a month, while basic living expenses exceed that. Cannibalization of the internal economy is already underway.
Possible Economic Scenarios
So, there are four potential scenarios with any type of economic breakdown.
- Gradual breakdown and decay, based on old-school Keynesian theory—70% probability.
- Deep recession, based on the Stockholm school theory—80% probability.
- Financial crisis, based on Austrian disequilibrium theory—50% probability.
- Total meltdown, like we saw in 1989 with the Soviet Union, based on Milton Friedman’s quantity theory of money—25% probability.
When we look at this overall, we could say we’re seeing a gradual breakdown and decay, likely leading to a deep depression, and ultimately resulting in a major political upheaval. Right now, the Russian government is cannibalizing its own economy just to survive, and that really suggests desperation.
Fragmentation and Putin’s Future
In authoritarian regimes like Putin’s, when economic support disintegrates, unrest follows—whether public unrest or unrest among the elites. By elites, I mean those at the very top. That kind of fragmentation often follows economic collapse.
Will this ensure the fall of Putin? I don’t know. He is a survivor—very cunning. But he’s 71 years of age, and his health is an issue. His sustainability, running Russia like a mob boss, is in question, or will be soon.
Ukraine’s Horoscope and Black Box
And that connects, by the way, to Ukraine. If we look at Ukraine’s horoscope, we see the world point. We also see Pluto right on Ukraine’s Saturn. That would certainly imply structural devastation and unrecoverable losses. Along with that, the potential loss of Eastern Europe to Russia. You can see this sort of breakdown occurring in the country.
Now, when you factor in the Saturn-Neptune on the world point—it’s not a direct tight hit, but it’s squaring off that Uranus-Neptune conjunction on the Ascendant, and it’s in an out-of-sign opposition to Mars. When we look at Ukraine’s black box, it looks very similar to Russia’s—very negative. This indicates Ukraine is likely to continue losing ground, literally, to the Russians in the field. They’ll continue incurring more losses and also risk losing 100% of U.S. support.
Zelenskyy’s Prediction of Putin’s Death
In fact, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy told European journalists that Putin will die soon. That’s interesting, because back in 1953, we had the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, and Stalin died within days of it. Right now, we have Saturn-Neptune along with the Moon happening on the midheaven.
So, Zelenskyy saying Putin will die—that’s striking. He said it just the other day, citing intelligence sources from both the U.S. and Ukraine that have penetrated the Kremlin. According to him, they say Putin will die soon—and he said, “That’s a fact.”
Now, that’s a pretty irresponsible thing to say. But Putin has been dealing with health problems for a long time. If he did die, though, the Russians would certainly remember Zelenskyy’s words. And at that point, it would be nearly impossible to convince them that nothing nefarious was happening. That would make getting both sides to agree to a peace deal or ceasefire almost impossible.
So this is what’s happening. Are we likely to see a peace deal? It’s possible. But before that, we’re going to see a lot more drama play out. And this is certainly taking place now.
For nearly four decades, William Stickevers has empowered business leaders, independent thinkers, and visionaries to navigate global shifts and critical turning points with clarity and confidence. His unique blend of astrological techniques, macroeconomic insights, and strategic forecasting equips clients to stay ahead of the curve and thrive in uncertain times. Discover how William’s in-depth forecasts, programs, and astrological consultations can help you make more confident, well-timed decisions, and recognize opportunities others overlook. Visit williamstickevers.com for your strategic advantage in business, finances, and life.
A trends forecaster, William’s annual global forecasts are backed by a deep study of economies, geopolitics, archetypal cosmology, and modern astrological forecasting techniques. William’s predictions for the outcome of the U.S. Midterm and Presidential Elections are well documented on his blog.
William Stickevers is a strategic astrological advisor, advising clients from 28 countries for nearly four decades with strategy and cosmic insight and foresight to gain an asymmetrical advantage in their investing, business planning and decisions, and to live a more fulfilled life according to their soul’s code and calling.
William has been a regular guest on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and The Jerry Wills Show, and featured on The Unexplained with Howard Hughes, Beyond Reality Radio with Jason Hawes and JV Johnson, We Don’t Die Radio with Sandra Champlain, Supernatural Girlz, Paranormal Podcast, and Alan Steinfeld’s New Realities. An international speaker, William has lectured at the New York Open Center, Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.), two Funai Media events in Tokyo, Japan, the United Astrology Conference (2018), for the National Council for Geocosmic Research (NYC, Long Island, New Jersey, San Francisco chapters), American Federation of Astrologers (Los Angeles), the Astrological Society of Connecticut, the San Francisco Astrological Society, and in Europe (Munich and Bucharest) and Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama).
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