Malaysia has frequently been in the international news in the last couple years. Perhaps I should say it made it to the US news which means it made it into the five minutes we allot to the rest of the world in our national news.

Malaysia first made news in 2014 with the disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370 which left Malaysia bound for China but for some reason diverted course and still has not been located (tomorrow is the three-year anniversary of its disappearance). A few months later, Malaysian flight 17 was struck down over Ukraine.

This year on February 13 the half-brother of the current North Korean leader was attacked at the Kuala Lumpur airport and died of poisoning by a lethal toxin. Two young women were arrested for this murder with one, at least, having come up from behind the half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, to rub the toxin in his face. Both assailants have claimed they thought they were part of a TV show prank. While the facts are sparse in this story, it’s quite believable that these two cute, young women did not know they were part of a political assassination.

Astrological Neptune and Pluto are definitely at play in Malaysia in their most political, nefarious manifestations. Neptune is the disappearing planes and trickery involved in exploiting two young women who sought fun and fame and instead may be hung for murder. Pluto is the force that betrayed the women and organized an assassination.

Neptune is the ruler of the sea and astrological Neptune brings mysticism, merging, spirituality, illusion, imagination, ambiguity and manipulation. Pluto is the ruler of the underworld and astrological Pluto brings transformation, regeneration, death, power and evolution.

No planet is good or bad – they do their business. But like any energy, a planet’s energy can be manipulated by others. The spirituality of Neptune can be exploited by gurus and directed toward personal gain. Our Plutonian power is exploited by a world that seeks our energy like hungry wolves and leads us into activities where we are provoked to release energy.

The Young Women

The saddest part of this story is the Neptunian sacrifice of two young women to a ruthless Pluto. The women involved are 25-year old Indonesian Siti Aisyah and 28-year old Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong. Both have Pluto and Neptune stories occurring in their horoscopes.

Aisyah is of a generation born with Uranus and Neptune conjunct in Capricorn (early 1990s). Now that Pluto is transiting that sign, this generation must deal with Capricorn issues such as collapsing governments and loss of economic security – intense challenges. I’ve pondered much on how this generation will fare over time dealing with such important issues prior to full emotional maturity.

In addition to the Uranus/Neptune conjunction in Capricorn, Aisyah has Venus and Mars in that sign. She also has three planets in Aquarius (Saturn/Mercury/Neptune) and moon in Taurus. Jupiter is in Virgo and Pluto in Scorpio. Aisyah has very little water in her chart and possibly no fire (but time of birth could reveal a fire rising sign).

Neptune lives in the collective unconscious and Aisyah would probably have trouble picking up the emotional undertone of a situation. In one of the few articles about her, she was described by friends as naïve and trusting. With moon in Taurus and sun in Aquarius, there’s a tendency to take life literally and at face value. Moon in Taurus is strong, steady and generally calm.

Transiting Pluto is currently passing between her Neptune and Venus. Neptune conjunct Venus creates some powerful ideals in love and relationships. In Capricorn, she seeks a partner with ambition who is of a high status. Possibly the person who led her into her current difficulties was that type – a mature, older (Capricorn) man who had money, possessions and apparent control of his environment.

Transiting Neptune in Pisces was almost exactly opposite natal Jupiter in Virgo on the day of the incident. Robert Hand in his book on transits describes this as “inflated expectations, excessive and impractical idealism and sudden disappointments.” Sudden disappointments surely occurred on this day.

Huong has an entirely different personality. With sun, Mercury and Venus in Gemini and moon (most likely) and Uranus in Sagittarius, there is much more playfulness, risk taking and seeking of adventure.

The more unpredictable aspects of her personality are balanced by some other placements – Saturn and Neptune in Capricorn, Mars in Pisces, Jupiter in Taurus and Pluto in Scorpio.

Unlike Aisyah, Huong met Pluto much earlier than last month’s incident. According to the news stories, she left home ten years ago and her family was not clear on her whereabouts. Ten years ago (in 2007), Pluto was in the last degrees of Sagittarius transiting Huong’s natal Uranus. Uranus is sudden and Pluto is transformation – Huong may have made a radical change to her life on an impulse. Uranus opposite Venus suggests following a love interest.

Pluto then quickly changed signs and transited Huong’s natal Saturn in Capricorn in 2008. Pluto transiting a natal out-of-sign conjunction of Uranus/Saturn was a spark that lit an already simmering situation. Uranus is the rebel and Saturn is the system so there are lots of issues with authority here. Pluto in Sagittarius blasted out of its confines but then moving into Saturn probably faced a new and different type of external control.

In 2013, Pluto then transited natal Neptune in Capricorn. This movement probably improved her conditions somewhat or she moved to a new level of acceptance. Around the same time, transiting Neptune made a transit of her natal Mars in Pisces and squared her sun which suggests latching onto a new ideal, a new partner or new religion. Huong definitely went through a spiritual shift around 2013 as both transits involve Neptunian energy (Neptune rules Pisces).

Then in early 2015, Huong had her Saturn return – the time when people begin to settle down. However, settling down is never easy for Gemini. The last ten years for Huong probably were like living several different lives. Huong has probably had more changes in the last ten years than more sedate folks have in a lifetime.

It’s unlikely that Huong has had many moments of internal peace or tranquility in her short life as Pluto has been making oppositions and conjunctions in her chart since birth. First it opposed natal Jupiter in Taurus so there was financial or physical difficulty. Then Pluto was conjunct the moon and opposing the sun indicating problems with the parents. Then Pluto began the transits noted above.

What’s interesting is that at the time of the airport incident, the Pluto and Neptune transits had already passed although transiting Neptune is still in orb. Why are Neptune and Pluto trapping her now?

Malaysia

According to this chart by Astrodienst, Malaysia has natal Pluto in Virgo. Transiting Neptune in Pisces is currently opposing Malaysia’s natal Pluto.

This play of Virgo and Pisces is about analysis and synthesis. Virgo is focused on details and facts while Pisces is focused on feeling and connection. This is an energy playing out in the world today that boils down to the empirical question – what is true?

In my country, the United States, we recently elected a president who routinely utters nonsense surrounded by advisers purporting “alternative facts.” We are in the midst of a national mind game and are busy trying to sort out 140-character puzzles so can’t help sort out facts right now.

Malaysia, you can be the hero of the world by sorting out the Virgo facts from the Pisces imagination. We all love and need imagination. But we also need to know where planes go when they leave the airport.