REGULUS AND MARS

The Little King at War

Following yesterday’s U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities: targeting Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan - I found myself, almost instinctively, turning to the sky. Astrology has long provided a symbolic lens through which I approach moments of chaos. As in my documentary The Astrology of Pandemics (2020), where we examined the cosmic signatures of historical disease cycles and touched on the U.S. national chart, this moment too seems full of celestial correspondence.

Whether you interpret these patterns as synchronistic symbolism or mere coincidence is up to you. I’m simply reporting what aligns.

Mars and Regulus: June 12 - 22, 2025

From June 12 to 22, 2025, a striking astronomical event occurred: a conjunction between the planet Mars and the fixed star Regulus, reaching its closest alignment on June 17. Visibly, Mars, the red warrior, shone near the blue-tinged Regulus in the constellation of Leo.

On June 16, the Virtual Telescope Project captured a striking photo of Mars (top) and Regulus (bottom) shining next to one another in the night sky. (Image credit: Virtual Telescope Project /  livescience.com)

Illustration showing the passage of Mars north of star Regulus, June 2025. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

This isn’t just astronomy. In astrology, such a meeting is heavy with implication. To understand why, let’s look at the symbolism of both bodies.

Regulus: The Heart of the Lion

Regulus, known as Qalb al-Asad in Arabic (“Heart of the Lion”), is the brightest star in the constellation Leo. It is in reality a quadruple star system formed by two couples. Etymologically, Regulus means “Little King” in Latin. In Indian astrology, it’s called Maghā: a nakshatra associated with power and authority. 

It sits almost exactly on the ecliptic, making it one of the few fixed stars regularly conjoined by planets.

In Vivan Robson’s classic The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology (1923), Regulus is said to bring:

This is a royal star with teeth. Power gained through Regulus often comes with a price.

Mars: The God of War

Mars, of course, is the planet of action, aggression, and war. When it conjoins Regulus - particularly in Leo, the sign of kingship and spectacle - there’s a high potential for militant display, dramatic conflict, and power plays on the world stage.

Which brings us to the human actors currently embodying these celestial patterns.

The Protagonists: Trump and Netanyahu

Donald Trump

Trump’s natal chart is astoundingly aligned with this configuration:

• Ascendant: 29º Leo - precisely the degree of Regulus.

• Mars: 26º Leo - conjunct both his Ascendant and Regulus.

At the moment of Trump’s birth, Mars and Regulus were literally rising together on the eastern horizon - a cosmic image of a brash, a king entering the stage in a overly dramatic way.

Robson describes Mars conjunct Regulus as:

I would add: but danger of violence, downfall through pride.

Benjamin Netanyahu

Astonishingly, Netanyahu’s Mars is also at 26º Leo - exactly the same degree as Trump’s Mars. The statistical probability of that coincidence? Roughly 1 in 360.

This Mars-Mars resonance between the two leaders suggests a powerful, potentially combustible alliance - one not only political but archetypal.

And what happened during this Mars-Regulus conjunction window?

June 13: Operation Rising Lion

On June 13, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the first missile strikes on Iranian soil - an operation reportedly named "Operation Rising Lion." The symbolism could hardly be more explicit.

• Rising = Ascendant

• Lion = Leo

• Mars + Regulus = aggression under royal pretense

Then on the night between June 21 and June 22, near the tail end of the Mars-Regulus conjunction, Trump authorized the U.S. bombing of nuclear facilities in Iran. He praised it as a “spectacular military success.” With Mars in Leo natally, it’s unsurprising that Trump views military aggression not just as strategy, but as performance. He wants recognition.

June 14: The Parade and the No King Protests

In the days just before the strikes, Trump held a massive military parade - another expression of Mars in Leo. On the same day, nationwide "No King" protests erupted, denouncing Trump’s leadership.

Here again, the symbolism is layered:

• Regulus = “Little King”

• Mars = war, soldiers, parades

• Leo = monarchy, ego, showmanship

  
  

It all reminds us of the legacy of Louis XIV, the French Roi Soleil (Sun King), who also had Regulus prominently placed - at his Midheaven, the point of public stature. Trump, born with Regulus rising, seems to echo that archetype in our own media-saturated era.

But while Louis XIV embodied a "divine" and absolute monarchy in its peak, Regulus warns of pride before the fall.

Celestial Mirrors

Astrology doesn’t cause events, but it can reflect them. The Mars-Regulus conjunction of June 2025 coincided not only with war, but with royal symbolism, political spectacle, and archetypal drama.

This isn’t a prediction. It’s a mirror.

As Mars aligned with the Lion’s Heart, familiar figures returned to the world stage to play out their mythology. Whether history will frame this as courage or reckless arrogance remains to be seen: though I, personally, find the latter far more fitting.