One of the most illuminating aspects of Norse astrology is studying how planets affect human history. We see this most vividly on slow-moving planets. Loki, who is represented by the planet Uranus, brought revolution and tumult to Asia in the 20th century.
In a personal horoscope, Loki represents how we create problems for both ourselves and others. Unlike Odin (Luna), who provokes conflicts to fulfill a higher goal, Loki breeds conflicts of their own. Loki shows how we cause trouble for others. He is the dissident within us, the side that is ready to fight anyone and everyone. Loki indicates how we rebel against people, institutions and life itself. He reveals how we ignore or challenge social roles and customs. It represents our desire to bring down suffocating organizations and structures. Sometimes Loki represents the revolutionary breakthrough we need to achieve something greater. Loki is the catalyst for change, be it good or bad. Makes everything unpredictable.
Both the Norse Loki and the Greco-Roman Uranus are shocking and disturbing, and often a destructive force. In the life of an individual person, they are almost always negative. But his influence on society is more double-edged. Naturally, both are disruptive and threatening to the established order. However, these two archetypes encourage discovery and enlightenment. Although they can promote dissatisfaction, they also take us out of our routines.
Loki is at his greatest power in Dagaz, the rune of sudden conversion, enlightenment, cataclysmic change, and transformation into the opposite. Dagaz takes us to the highest heights, but it can also mean a jump from this summit.
On October 1, 1949, while Loki was in Dagaz, the Chinese civil war ended when the People’s Liberation Army proclaimed the People’s Republic of China. China is the most populous nation in the world. This was a drastic change for half a billion people, who went from a feudal and backward society to a modern socialist nation. If judged by population, this was the greatest revolution in the world. In Dagaz we see the power of Loki to reverse the social order.
However, his influence was restricted in some respects. At the same time, the Norns (Neptune) were on Gebo and Tyr (Saturn) on Raidho. The Norns in Gebo emphasize the restrictions of formal contracts and personal relationships between people. Tyr in Raidho emphasizes orderly and well-defined movement in our social duties. Thus, the Norn and Tyr provided a means by which traditional Chinese society could hold its own in the face of a socialist revolution.
The other major historical event that accompanied Loki at Dagaz was the partition of India and Pakistan in August 1947. British colonial rule had become unsustainable in South Asia after World War II, and the British government attempted to create nations. Muslim and Hindu women separated when they left. The national borders they drew were inadequate for the task, and the antagonistic nations of India and Pakistan were formed amid bloodbaths and mass migration. Once again, Loki overthrew the social order, heedless of the consequences. The Norn, as in China, were also in Gebo, but here their position emphasized the insufficiency of formal contracts and agreements. Nationality and religion overwhelmed attempts at a peaceful settlement.
We see the difference between Norse and Greco-Roman astrology by studying the position of Loki / Uranus. The Dagaz rune encompasses the end of Gemini and the beginning of Cancer. There is nothing in these two Greco-Roman signs that indicates a violent revolution for a third of the world’s population. The mutable air of Gemini is not conducive to the radical overthrow of the social order, and peaceful, domestic and traditional Cancer can be one of the worst possible channels for Uranian energy. The Norse runes provide a better historical perspective.
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