I'm sure that some of you will know this story already, about the man from Samarkand - lets call him Abdullah. He was walking through the marketplace in Samarkand and he saw Death coming towards him. To his great relief, although Death looked at him, with a surprised look on his face, he passed him by. Still, he was shaken by the encounter. The fact that he saw him at all made him quite sure that Death was looking for him. So the next day, he took himself off to Tashkent, and thought he would be safe there. But as he was walking in the streets of Tashkent, to his dismay, there was Death again. And this time, Death came right up to him and spoke to him. 'I'm glad you kept your appointment' he said. 'You see, I knew I was to meet you in Tashkent today, that's why I was so surprised when I saw you yesterday in Samarkand! ‘

In other words, there is an appointed time and place for our death and there's no escaping it.

I'd like to think about destiny, not in the sense of fate or being fated, but one's destiny in the French sense of le destin- our personal purpose - not a concept but an energy, like our personal daimon or muse, a 'great' part of oneself that one seeks for, desires to meet, link up with and become one with, in one's life. We may tend to think of 'muse' as being something only 'creative' people have access to, but as we well know that everyone is creative in their different ways, it's not just artists or musicians who have a personal daimon or energy they can connect with.

Angus Calder quote 'we need a destiny or we can't fulfil it' from 'Watching a photograph of Robert Mitchum in the Cameo cinema bar'

Rebecca West quote 'I had to admit that I ... knew nothing at all about the south-eastern corner of Europe; and since there proceeds steadily from that place a stream of events which are a source of danger to me... that is to say I know nothing of my own destiny.'

Malidoma Some, an African healer, talked about '...doing what I'm destined to do - that is, to be a kind of linking agent between cultures.'

 If we think of someone’s destiny, it could well be not just personal but in a particular action or function that they perform. For all of us, our destiny you could say is to evolve, to draw closer to the light, go up through the dimensions, return to God - all ways I feel of saying the same thing. But it could also be that our personal destiny could be connected with a group, could be involved in a very public function. People like Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Theresa as well as many more - their destinies seemed bound up with a country or a certain group of people. These people are of course very famous but there are a host of others, less well known, who carry out amazing service to humanity - through research, inspiration, healing, music and all the arts. Could we perhaps say they were fulfilling their destiny, by pursuing their chosen path and dedicating themselves to it? Seen in this way, destiny then includes both love and service, as well as the exercising of their own unique, individual talent.

We look at dedicated individuals and see how much of their time/life they spent devoted to their profession, their calling. Obviously some live more secluded lives than others, not everyone who serves humanity lives life in the public eye, but those who live more secluded lives can have a huge influence as well, sometimes through their creations such as Andrew Marvell, Vincent van Gogh, Eric Satie, Saint-Exupery, Carlos Castaneda, etc

I've read that people make agreements before incarnating, ranging from something fairly short and definite such as giving someone information, to spending most of your life with someone. This suggests that there is a destiny to be fulfilled, as well as free will.

I think a lot of people have had an experience where they've felt - I was destined to meet this person, come to this place, etc. Its as if, at that time, the place or person speaks to a part of you that was dormant, and wakes it up, brings it to life, suffuses everything with meaning and significance.

Places, people, and certain activities as well, can have that ability to bring a part of you alive, create links and paths into previously unexplored, or forgotten, parts of your inner geography. Have you ever dreamed of discovering a part of your house, one that you either didn't know existed or had somehow unaccountably forgotten about? It’s a bit like that, only in waking life. It’s at times like this, I would suggest, that we are fulfilling our agreements, meeting up with our 'destin'. And I'd also suggest that the purpose that people or places play in our lives may be very different from what we think they are or what we would like them to be.

Although we are all individuals, with discrete bodies, my feeling is that on the subtler levels, we mix and merge and are much less individual than we imagine ourselves to be. In terms of emotions and feelings, I feel we are much less separate and discrete. You only need to be part of a crowd, to experience how contagious emotion is.

What we feel we need we feel part of. What we feel some emotional connection with, we feel part of. What we dislike intensely, feel angry about, even hate, we feel part of. What we love, we feel part of. In death or other kinds of loss, we really feel we've lost a part of ourselves. On some other level, where physical incarnation is not such a defining part of who we feel ourselves to be, death is an illusion and there is no separation, but while we are incarnated and so define ourselves in part by our personality self and who we think and feel ourselves to be, then other people/places are genuine components of our identity and death or loss is experienced as a loss of a part of ourselves.

I believe that we can experience our destin in death and loss, just as in awakening and discovery.

This was sparked off by looking at Zoran Djindjic's birth and death charts.

I don't usually look at death charts, but I looked at this one for two reasons. One was that he was a public figure and had just been assassinated. The second was because he was killed in a city I had just left, one I had very much enjoyed being in, but had left with an inexplicably uneasy feeling, a mounting anxiety bordering on a compulsion to get out. The man was Zoran Djindjic, the Prime Minister of Serbia and the city was Belgrade. Looking at the chart of the transits at the time of his assassination, what struck me most was the transits of Jupiter - conjunct his Sun (in Leo) and trine his Moon in Sagittarius. There are some people who say that Jupiter transits are not all they're cracked up to be in their experience, but I've always been an exponent of the positive effects of Jupiter; perhaps because Jupiter is a very focal point in my chart, I have a great fondness for it. Anyway, there I was, newly returned from my travels, sitting in my garden in the unseasonably sunny weather - for Scotland - in mid March, with the charts spread out on the table. It's true that there was also a transit of Pluto to Venus and natal Pluto and one of Neptune to the Sun and Mars but I couldn't stop thinking about that prominent Jupiter.

And as I sat there, thinking about this, I suddenly had the feeling that instead of looking at this from a personal point of view and seeing it as the tragic and untimely death of a charismatic and reforming leader, that his death, on some level, was his destiny and his gift to his country. This is not to discount the personal tragedy, but to see it from another point of view. To shift from the psychological to the spiritual. I understand 'spirit' to mean a higher dimensional purpose, a bigger picture that in our own lives, can be hard to fathom, because we tend to see things from the limited point of view of our rational, personality selves. Spiritual experience is of an expanded and heightened awareness but whether or not we experience this, we do have a spiritual purpose that we may not be aware of, in our daily waking lives, lived mostly on the three dimensional level.

What if Zoran Djindjic's death was the fulfilment of his purpose? He worked hard for his country, he was committed to its reform - though as we will see, there were those who did not like him or what he did - considered him self serving and motivated by a desire for power -and he very obviously had enemies, still, he had that commitment where his life became so involved with his work, his career and his involvement in his country's political reforms, that they couldn't really be separated. It could be said that he had met and joined with, his purpose.

Was he then, with his death, fulfilling his destiny?

I remember once reading in the writings of Rudolf Steiner, how he saw the purpose of children born handicapped in some way (as some of you will know, Steiner was not just a theorist - his ideas were based on clairvoyant experience - he was also effective in the practical world, and set up schools; study and practice in agricultural methods, and schools and communities for handicapped children). Darwinists would not see a purpose in the lives of handicapped people. But Darwinists, as far as I know, focus on an evolutionary theory that has to do with physical adaptation - not necessarily strength, but a combination of talents and qualities adapted to a particular environment, that ensured survival. He doesn't talk about quality of life, but focussed on physical and biological survival.

Steiner on the other hand is not looking just at biological life, but at the life of the soul. He talks about love. The purpose of handicapped children is to evoke compassion in the parents or carers; these children assist in the development, in their carers, of compassionate qualities, through the practice of looking after them. In other words, they are doing a great service to all who come into contact with them and this service, it could be said, is their destin. From the viewpoint of soul, we are privileged to be given the opportunity to develop our compassion.

I believe we are shifting away from Darwinism, and the new evolutionary focus/development is towards love, compassion and the qualities of soul. It's time to let go of this biological competitiveness and start caring about each other.

We're not all destined to become Ghandis or Krishnamurtis or Rudolf Steiners but we all can have the opportunity in however small a way, to develop our faculties of caring and compassion. Some people care for the handicapped, others for their children, or for the earth and the environment. Others are dedicated to their country, or to spreading knowledge, or to peace.

And from looking at Zoran Djindjic's birth and death charts, I got the strong feeling that this man was fulfilling his destiny, with his death. Without wanting to turn him into a posthumous saint or saviour (which he wasn't) nevertheless he was dedicated to making his country a better place, after the tyrannical oppressions and atrocities of the Milosevic regime. He gave the people of Serbia a vision of possibility - that it can be done. That freedom from tyranny, oppression, war, atrocities, fear and violence, is possible.

Anyway, with this idea of destiny in mind, lets look at his life.

Zoran Djindjic

What was this man really like? He's been described as
'the Kennedy of the Balkans'
'a tireless campaigner for democratic change'
'the smartest one we had'
But he inevitably had enemies -
'charismatic, intelligent and vain beyond comprehension'
'Washington stooge'
'the quisling' (one who aids the enemy; a native puppet Prime Minister set up by an occupying foreign power)

 It very much depends on your point of view, or which picture you're looking at or coming from. There's the larger and less autonomous one, which involves much closer contacts and co-operation with, the EU and the US. And there's the smaller and more independent one, which is more nationalistic, thinking in terms of Serbia or even, greater Serbia. These are roughly, the two camps in Serbian politics right now.

Djindic was a pragmatist - almost everyone would agree on that. He was going for the bigger picture - he was European as well as Serbian. But from the point of view both of those who held powerful positions in Serbia (described as underground gangs; Mafia; ex-Milosevic regime secret police, known as the Special Operations Unit or Red Berets - and these all seem to blur together) and those who wanted Serbia to be its own nation, independent and self-reliant, he was a 'Washington stooge’, he sold out to the US.

Djindjic at any rate was quite clearly in the camp of Europe and US. This won him funds and support from US and Europe but not always popularity at home. He did not appear to have taken this political stance merely from self-interest and personal power. He was never a member of the communist party and he had a long history of non-compliance with the authorities. This began when he was still in high school. He was labelled a dissident when he wanted to know why Tito was made president for life, a question that was not supposed to be asked. He then tried to collect petitions against this law.

As a student he argued with his professors regarding Marx and socialism. There was more conflict with the authorities when he tried to organise a non-communist student union, in 1974, with students from Croatia and Slovenia. He received a suspended jail sentence for this. He wrote articles and essays critical of the authorities. After graduating, he went to Germany and studied for his doctorate in philosophy. He spent most of the 80s in German universities, and set up a business. He returned in 1989, became lecturer in philosophy at Belgrade and Novi Sad universities. He wrote books (political/philosophical) articles and essays and translated philosophical works.

He won a seat in the first multi-party elections in Serbia in 1990. With others, he formed the Democratic Party, a pro-European opposition party. By 1994 he was the party president. He described the party as being like an enterprise - everyone in the party must have a product, which needed to be satisfactory. He said that high-ranking officials must take responsibility and that the people - and the customers - are always right. He also offered his own finances for public scrutiny. In 1996/7 he organised protests and demonstrations after the Milosevic regime tried to annul the results of elections where the opposition won. In 1996 he was elected mayor of Belgrade. He stood out from other politicians by taking the bus. He also tried to introduce European buses, but his efforts were blocked. (That may sound like a small thing but until very recently the lack of public transport and the horrendous overcrowding was a big issue with the Belgrade public.)

It then gets a bit complicated as the opposition in Serbia was very fractured, with many parties. This meant that various different parties had to make coalitions with each other to get anywhere at all, but there were conflicts within these coalitions. So there were all kinds of wheeling and dealing going on, with various alliances made, and people going in and out of power at great speed. Because of an alliance Djindjic made with the Serbian Renewal Movement and changes of allegiances within that, he was not mayor for long, but he continued to be very vocal in his opposition to and criticism of Milosevic.

He was on the regime's hit list during the NATO bombing of 1999, and went to Montenegro because he believed, probably quite rightly, that his life was in danger. But this earned him criticism from his enemies who claimed he ran away. While he was away, he and Milo Djukanovic, the president of Montenegro appealed to the US, France, Britain and Germany for support for the Serbian opposition. He said that without international support, Former Yugoslavia and Serbia would not be able to resolve their problems.

On his return, he formed the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) with Kostunica, because it was discovered that Kostunica had a good poll rating and so would be most likely to win in the forthcoming elections in 2000, where it was hoped to oust Milosevic. Djindjic was very active in the removal of Milosevic, although he needed the assistance of the police and the special operations unit, to do this. Once Kostunica was in, Djindjic became Prime Minister, a position that actually had more power than the president. He introduced important reforms, and was instrumental in extraditing Milosevic to The Hague. But because he needed the assistance of the underground gangs (aka special operations unit or red berets) to oust Milosevic, once he was in power, he was in a difficult position as he had to continue with his extraditions, to continue to secure EU funding, which they of course opposed, because they were the ones who would be extradited. In 1999 he had been on Milosevic's hit list. And since his decision to extradite those suspected of war crimes, to The Hague - the same people who have helped him get rid of Milosevic - he'd been on their hit list too. His anti Mafia campaign began a few months ago in 2000, when police powers were strengthened. Then in early February 2003 an illegal drugs factory was seized. On February 21st, there was a failed assassination attempt. He said after that ' you can attack me you can even kill me, but it will not stop the democratic reforms of this country nor its domestic war against violence and crime.' The day before his death, a warning was published in one of Belgrade's newspapers, that he would be the target of an assassination.

Looking at his chart, we could ask - what was his destiny, what gods did he serve?

Zoran Djindjic chart - 1 August, 1952, 10:46 am, Samac, 45N04, 18E28
The obvious Leo energy, which gave him a love of public office and audience, a taste for the dramatic.
Jupiter in 8th, in Taurus - the land, national territory - ruling the 3rd. He made large, inspiring speeches - and was determined to make links with other countries.
He was a pragmatist; he had a practical philosophy.
And house and sign rulers of Jupiter's placement, are very close. Venus/Pluto - almost a love affair with the underground, underworld, what society rejects. But it was his relationship with the criminal underworld - a relationship you could say, that had gone wrong and he was trying to end, that killed him.

Transits at time of death - 12 March 2003, 12.25pm, Belgrade, 44N50, 20E30
Jupiter conjunct Sun
Jupiter trine Moon
And it was these 2 aspects that really made me feel that it was in his death that he fulfilled his destiny
Pluto trine Pluto, Pluto trine Venus - which just happen to be the house and sign rulers of his natal Jupiter
Neptune opposite Sun - wide
Neptune square Mars- wide
Neptune 135 degrees - sesquiquadrate Sun/Mars midpoint
return Neptune close opposition return Sun
pr Sun conjunct Sun/Mars midpoint (so tr Neptune sesquiquadrate pr Sun)
pr Moon 1 degree away from natal Ascendant

Assassination chart
Sun in 9th (P) and 8th (EH)
ruler of Asc in 12th; ruler of Desc in 12th/11th
Moon (Asc ruler) exact opposition Mars; oblique. perpetrators not obviously visible; 2 men on a rooftop later reported seen, with guns
8th house ruler in 8th

Asssination attempt chart - 21 Feb 2003, 09.20 am, Belgrade
ruler of Asc conjunct MC
ruler of Desc, Mars, in 8th, conjunct Pluto
Sun in 11th(P) and 10th (EH)
8th house ruler in 4th/3rd
involved a large truck - very visible
After the first attempt on his life, in Feb 2003, he said, 'you can shoot me you can even kill me but it will not stop the democratic reforms of this country nor its domestic war against violence and crime'

His death evoked a huge emotional response in the people of Serbia. He was elevated in his death. It took his death for the government and the police to really begin attempts to crack down on the Mafia gangs, crime and corruption in very high places. The event of his death released an energy that's begun to put this enormous task into practice, to make it a reality. His desire was to reform his country, free it and the people in it, from dictatorship and injustice. And I believe he followed his soul's purpose or his destiny, not just in his life but also in his death.

To date, since his death, many thousands of people have been arrested, over 1,000 awaiting trial, some top-ranking people in the judiciary and security. 2 people strongly suspected of being involved in the plot were killed in a shoot out, resisting arrest. The person who, it’s believed, fired the shot that killed him has been arrested although the mastermind Milorad "Legija" Lukovic has not yet been caught. Huge efforts are being made to eliminate corruption. So a big shift - both in awareness and in action, is taking place. (and the DOS has enjoyed big support since his death.) State of emergency is now ended

Chart of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - 27 April 1992, 12.00, Belgrade
Uranus/Neptune conjunction
Saturn/Pluto square
ZD's Sun conjunct its Asc

New chart for Serbia/Montenegro - 4 Feb 2003, 20.05, Belgrade
ZD's Sun conjunct Jupiter - in 11th - he was close to its destiny - of becoming part of a group (EU)
ZD's Sun opposite Neptune/Sun
ZD's Moon conjunct south node and Mars, in 3rd
Vivid Saturn/Pluto opposition - I can't help but think of the authorities, and the state of emergency, and the crackdown on crime; and the criminal underworld. The Moon in Pisces square Saturn/Pluto, I see as the long-suffering people; I suspect there will be at times popular uprisings and mass demonstrations. Destiny in 11th - a sense of belonging (Jupiter ruled 4th house) could be gained by linking up - with countries from what used to be Yugoslavia and with the EU - i.e. belonging through connection rather than through possession.
Jupiter trine Mars in 3rd - energetic links/communications networks with other countries.

Le destin to me evokes images of seeking, travelling, meeting. Obviously linked with the word destination, the place one is travelling to, place of arrival. Jupiter is associated with a sense of meaning and purpose, foreign places, travel and expansion and so, greatness too. So my feeling is that it's the planet linked with our 'destin'. Perhaps as much a 'way' or camino, that sense of meaningful travel one associates with pilgrimage, as a meeting up with our soul purpose, the energy of our personal genius, personal destin. I'm emphasizing energy here because it is an energetic experience, not just a conceptual one. Astrology uses symbols and symbols are multi-layered and associative. They can never be entirely encapsulated in concepts, can never be definitively explained. They are pointers, suggest certain meanings or approaches. That's one of the marvellous things about astrology, the inexhaustibility of its layers of meanings.

Jupiter for me is the place of magical reality and I'm often on the search, the trail, the camino. In my chart, it's the hook from which the basket hangs, the focus the whole chart is heading for, the experience on which the philosophy and the life, is founded, the jet plane from which the vapour trails follows, the point of the arrow which heads the whole trajectory, whichever metaphor you choose.

So I'd suggest you look again at Jupiter in your own chart, and in those of friends and clients, with this idea of destiny and soul purpose in mind - how and where you'll seek it and how and where you may find it, meet up with it.