IRAN has made headlines for months now, but what do we really know about their culture, their struggles and their story of liberation?

Arya, the origin of the word Iran, means “honorable”. Westerners gave Iran the name Persia, which comes from Parsa, or the Sanskrit word parsu meaning “rib” or “side”.  Aryan is an indigenous term found in Zoroastrian scriptures. Zoroastrianism was a monotheistic faith that dominated this region of the Middle East until the Arab-Muslim armies invaded during the 7th century CE.

(For those of you wincing because you know the word Aryan, it was appropriated by the Nazis – a complete distortion of its original meaning. It’s true context has nothing to do with “race” or eugenics, though I will mention Hitler again later.)

It took several centuries, but the Aryans eventually accepted the Islamic faith. However, they did not adopt Arabic as their official language. They instead chose to preserve their own language (Farsi), culture and literature. This blending of Islam and Aryan heritage is what gradually (and forcefully) shaped Shi’a Islam, the state religion of Iran.

The Islamic faith has a number of sects, but the dominant branch are the Sunni. The Sunni make up roughly 85-90% of the Islamic population. The Sunni established The Ottoman Empire, which spread from Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa.

As the Ottoman Empire was at its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries, The Safavid Empire began in 1501 CE, establishing Shi’a Islam. It spanned what is now Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Eastern Georgia, Central Asia, Anatolia (Eastern Turkey), Syria and Pakistan.

Shi’a and Sunni Islam have several key differences, but the most important is succession. Shi’a believe that leadership must remain within the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad (founder of Islam), whereas Sunni believe that leadership should be chosen by the community.

This is only part of the larger backstory of Middle Eastern religion and politics. Once western colonialism entered the political discourse in the late 18th century, the Islamic world was forced to redefine its boundaries in a different way.

To fast forward to the 20th century: when the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi wanted to westernize and secularize Iran, he was attempting to minimize Iran’s Islamic identity. His father, Reza Shah Pahlavi, initiated this path in 1935 by officially declaring to the western world that their name was Iran and not Persia (take note of the timing here, though, and Hitler’s rise to power).

Another important difference between Sunni and Shi’a Islam is that Shi’a has a highly structured, clerical hierarchy. These are top ranking scholars called Ayatollahs. Sunni Islam does not have this clerical structure.

In 1971, when the Shah threw an extravagant party celebrating 2,500 years of the Persian Empire (which was intended to minimize Iran’s Islamic history) he alienated not only Iranian citizens who were struggling economically, but also leftists and religious conservatives (led by the Ayatollah Khomeini). This led to the 1979 revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

I’m not going to do an entire analysis of Iran’s national chart and run the risk of losing focus. What stands out to me most is how a complex cultural history was crystallized with this national declaration on April 1, 1979.

The 8th house has the most activity. The glyph at 15 degrees of Pisces is the asteroid Ceres, which rules agriculture, food supply, nourishment and basic life necessities. It’s 2 degrees from the south node in Pisces, which is the placement of ultimate sacrifice, spirituality and martyrdom.

Ceres was Persephone’s mother in Roman mythology, losing her daughter to the Underworld. Ceres represents nurturing, but also grief. She withheld the harvest (i.e. winter) as she was mourning the loss of her daughter. The Pisces south node often loses itself in suffering and persecution. The conjunction with Ceres suggests a kind of collective grief.

Iran’s drive for agricultural self-sufficiency has been a chaotic, difficult journey since 1979. By 2000-2010, in an effort to grow and sustain a large supply of wheat, the agricultural sector ate up over 90% of the nation’s water reserves. Since 2020, they have been hit with 42% inflation on the cost of food.

Because Ceres is a mother figure, there is an emphasis on the feminine ideal being chaste and sacrificial. The new Islamic Republic required women to wear hijabs (head scarves) in public, when prior to this they were free to dress as they wished. Tens of thousands of women marched in the streets of Tehran in protest.

Mars and Mercury at 25 and 27 degrees are also conjunct in Pisces in the 8th, which speaks to deep transformation but also secrets and manipulation.

Prior to the revolution, there were three strong leftist groups in Iran. The Tudeh Party, which was the traditional, pro-Communist group, the Fadaiyan-e Khalq, the Marxist Guerillas, and the Mujaheden-e Khalq, the heavily-armed Islamic Marxists.

When they aligned with the conservative cleric Ayatollah Khomeini, this made no sense other than that they were all against western imperialism. Khomeini was skilled at saying whatever he needed to do to appease these groups. Once the Shah was ousted and Khomeini was clearly in power, he turned his back on the leftist groups and systemically set out to destroy them.

The Islamic Republican regime shut down Universities in the early 80s as they were breeding grounds for leftist ideologies. The Mujaheden fought back, only to have the regime respond with total ruthlessness. Thousands of leftists were executed.

The darkest of 8th house horrors happened in 1988, when Khomeini issued a secret Fatwa (religious decree) ordering the execution of political prisoners who remained loyal to any leftist groups. Secret tribunals called “Death Commissions” questioned prisoners regarding their loyalty to the Islamic Republic. The death toll from that summer was estimated at close to 30,000 people.

Iran is coming out of the long Neptune transit in Pisces from 2011-2025, which was a time of civil unrest and economic strain. Neptune’s official ingress into Aries at the end of January 2026 did seem to activate them out of this period with some aggression. Mars in the 8th can be a sexual placement, but in Pisces, there’s psychic sensitivity. Are they hiding something? Mercury aligned here has cunning financial abilities (the U.S. chart has Mercury in the 8th too, fyi).

Chiron in Taurus conjunct the Midheaven (at the top of the chart) explains their difficulties regarding reputation and global standing. They are one of the few nations without nuclear weapons, yet there has been international backlash for years re: their provocative tactics.

Lilith on the Ascendant in Leo is the last aspect I will mention and I think it is the most important. This is a signature of defiance – a kind of “us against the world” identity. In Leo, there is tremendous pride. Lilith is raw, untamed, but also victimized power.

Women in Iran are highly educated, yet also persecuted for their gender. There have been movements in Iran over the past two decades. The 2009 Green Movement, the 2017-2019 economic and social protests, and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in 2022.

Lilith on the ascendant is a target for projection: “Who does she think she is?” is a common reaction to people who have this in their natal charts. It provokes jealousy, anger or uncontrollable desire.

The total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026 will be at 20 degrees Leo, just 1 degree away from Iran’s Lilith. Seems worth mentioning that Russia and Iran have the same ascendant, by sign and degree: 17 degrees Leo.