Madagascar Astrology Piece
MADA tropical Ascendant (5LI7) sideral/(13VI15)
MADA tropical Midheaven (3CAN40) sidereal/(11GE49)
Attack
The last queen of the Imerina watched soldiers and civilians fall dead from French artillery just a few feet away. Queen Ranavalona III 
ordered “a flag of truce to be hoisted” up the palace flagpole. It was Monday afternoon, 30 September of 1895, and the French had begun to set in motion the forces that culminated in the French takeover of Madagascar.
The sidereal Moon has just risen in Aquarius, at 3:30 pm. Deadly artillery (from French forces) ended their journey inside the bodies of their targets in the palace courtyard in the capital city of Antananarivo. Sixty-five years later, Uranus, which ruled the Ascendant when the white flag signaled the truce, in 1895, had then cycled through three-quarters of the zodiac. It arrived at 26 degrees of Cancer, at independence on Sunday, 26 June 1960. Uranus squared its natal Ninth House position, 28 degrees Libra, and squared natal Neptune in the Fourth House. Transiting Neptune was conjunct natal Saturn in the Ninth House. Transiting Pluto at one minute from exact, opposed the Ascendant.
Philibert Tsiranana, the new President and Jean Foyer, France’s Secretary of State, handed each other documents that sealed the country’s independence within the French community. This was a Third House matter, and sacred, because the ceremonial atmosphere was enhanced. It took place at the Plain of Mahamasina on the sacred stone called Vatomasina. This was the place where the Merina monarchs that ruled in the central Highlands of
Madagascar were consecrated.
Sixty-five years earlier, Madagascar had become a French Protectorate by the peculiar concatenation of pen and sword. Tsiranana, from his pictures, appeared to be of medium height, with a round head and a robust-looking belly, like the Laughing Buddha—very yang. As a teacher, he believed that education was necessary for political autonomy.
Tsiranana had Pluto in Gemini. It trined his Sun, Mercury and Mars in Libra. Venus, their depositor, was in Scorpio. Mervyn Brown points out that Tsiranana “had a shrewd political brain which was to serve him well in his maneuverings for power.” Philip Allen echoed this same sentiment. He wrote that “the president embodied an ideal of pragmatic statecraft.” Also that Tsiranana kept his “party intact by carefully listening to disparate voices, astutely sizing up strengths and defects in his collaborators. Steering problems away from ideological analysis, and insisting on the main objects of government.” The concentration of Libra’s ray really triumphs through this gift for incisive analysis. Tsiranana’s moderate political platform was another clear expression of Libra/Scorpio, acting to bring disparate groups together.
Tsiranana’s Mercury and Mars were tied to the country’s Midheaven through the trine, and to Pluto through the conjunction. He was a strong political force, a locomotive in shirt and tie. He entered politics in 1952, and moved steadily forward by a surge of diplomatic acumen. His talent for decisiveness lead his country to independence.
Journey through Time
Finding the time of Madagascar’s independence from France was difficult. For over a year, I researched many books and newspapers. Then I called the U.S. Embassy in Antananarivo, the capital. An embassy political specialist asked me to send an e-mail with a detailed question about my requirements. She “farmed it around” to three other embassy specialists and finally wrote back:
“According to the book entitled, Livre d’Or de Philibert Tsiranana, written by Romuald Bigaignon in 1963, President of the Republic Philibert Tsiranana proclaimed the independence of the Malagasy Republic on Sunday, June 26, 1960, at 11:48 hour.” The National Library of Australia, one of my only sources other than the embassy, sent me the direct quote from the author’s book, “On June 26, at 11:48 h., Philibert Tsiranana, first President of the Malagasy Republic, solemnly proclaims before the world the Independence of the Malagasy Republic.”
According to page 5-A of the Abilene Reporter-News, the proclamation took place “on the plain of Mahamasina at the site of the sacred stone where the ancient kings of Madagascar held court.” Mervyn Brown, in his book, A History of Madagascar, gives the name of the sacred stone as Vatomasina. Madagascar’s charts are calculated for 11:48 am
Mervyn Brown, A History of Madagascar (Markus Wiener Publishers, New Jersey, 2006,
p. 278).
The African Astrologer Report for MADA, coming soon.