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Shock and awe and the world holds its breath. One theory is that Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman leant on Trump to go ahead, since most of the Middle Eastern countries dislike the Islamic Republic and see it as a destabilising force. Will it pull the region minus Iran together? Or will it cause a cascading tsunami of vengeful counter attacks causing turbulence into the extended future?  Trump’s laughable idea that the violently repressive IRGC (Iran’s Revolutionary Guard) will chum up with a new political opposition (which does not exist) won’t survive the unfolding of events.

  A previous post outlined disturbances stretching ahead to the turn of the decade and beyond. See reprinted below at the foot.

  In the immediate future, the Gulf countries look rattled now and more so after mid year. Dubai, 9 June 1833, has a trapped, risky, frustrated tr Pluto opposition Mars from later this month to late June and then on and off till late 2027. The August Leo Solar Eclipse will conjunct its Uranus for a significant jolt.

Kuwait, 19 June 1961, has tr Uranus square the North Node and Solar Arc Sun mid March into April for jolts and jangles; and the August Eclipse conjunct its Mars Uranus in Leo which will increase risk and conflict. Late this year or in 2027 the SA Pluto will conjunct the Neptune for confusion and devastation.

 Bahrain, 14 August 1971, has an upsetting SA Venus conjunct Uranus this year; with a nervy, highly-strung and jolting tr Uranus opposition the Neptune and conjunct the (Moon) Saturn from this April onwards into 2027. The August Eclipse will exactly conjunct their Leo Sun for an existential crisis of direction.

Qatar, 1 September 1971, looks in nervous crisis this year, with even more stormy seas and forced change come 2027/28.

 Saudi Arabia, 15 January 1902 has not much showing exactly now but looks jolted and jangled in 18 months with SA square their Capricorn Sun but since Jupiter is also involved there may be silver linings.

 Mohammed bin Salman himself, 31 August 1985, will be on argumentative form come the August eclipse with it hitting his Mercury Mars in Leo and square his Saturn – which might suggest military involvement. His life is due for a major change in 2027/28 as his Solar Arc Pluto is conjunct his Uranus. A similar shift is indicated on his Crown Prince chart, 21 June 2017, with SA Pluto square the Uranus late this year into early 2027, which can sometimes point to instability though it could also be him moving from de facto to the established ruler.

 His relationship with Trump has not a great deal showing apart from their composite Mars at 25 degrees Leo which will catch the early and later Solar Eclipses this year. There will be more resentment or negative outcomes in 2027/28, perhaps blowback for bad choices made now.

 Marco Rubio, US Secy of State, 28 May 1971, has an Air Grand Trine of a Gemini Sun trine Mars in Aquarius trine Uranus, formed into a Kite by Sun opposition an overly hopeful Jupiter Neptune = up in his head and on a short fuse with judgement that often veers to the overly optimistic.  Tr Uranus moving into Gemini this April may well upset his applecart as it starts to rattle his Jupiter Neptune (sometimes coincides with a scandal of own making or deflated hopes) with more forced change in 2027 as tr Uranus is conjunct his Sun.

  His relationship chart with Trump isn’t great at the moment despite DT’s bombastic claims, with alarm in April, arguments in May. Worse in 2027.

 Someone will have to take the blame when it goes pear shaped since it is never Trump’s fault.

 Additional thought. Not only is the Solar Arc Sun square the Mars exactly now on the US country chart, this was always the time that the Trump Second term was going to be at peak bulldozer/intimidator with the Progressed Moon on the 2025 Inauguration chart exactly square Pluto which is another coming together of the initial bully-boy Sun Pluto opposition Mars square Moon – after this it may fade.

Previous post:

DECEMBER 29 2025

  The endless turmoil of the Middle East rolls on as Iran escalates tensions with threats of nuclear responses and Israel maintains conflicts on several fronts with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, and Hamas in Gaza – and allows/promotes 19 new West Bank settlements. Netanyahu is in Mar-a-Lago for Trump talks as the US administration is becoming increasingly frustrated with slow progress towards Phase 11 of the Gaza peace fire which involves disarming Hamas and putting in an international stabilization force.

  Keeping this simple since there are too many charts:  Israel’s relationship with the Iran 1 February 1979 chart is under pressure across 2026, more fractious and explosive in 2027. Much the same for the relationship with the Iran 7 October 1906 chart with high tension at the moment, disappointment in 2026 and aggravation come 2027. Both Iran charts hints at a confident push in the near future but loss of confidence and outright failure by 2027/28.

 Hamas, 14 December 1987, looks to be running into the buffers in 2026/27 so will, in its present form, not be operational after that for a few years – though as ever a hundred-headed-hydra it may reconstitute in later years. Relations with Israel are on a further downward slide in 2026 and further ruptured in 2027.

 Hezbollah, 16 February 1985, is staying bullishly confident through 2026 but running into a calamitous setbacks in 2027/28. Relations with Israel will worsen towards the end of the decade.

 Other Middle Eastern countries hints at ructions and turbulence in 2027/28/29 either in their own charts or in relation to Israel – Qatar, Turkey, UAE. Saudi Arabia looks in rolling turmoil from 2028 for several years thereafter, within itself but also in relation to Israel.

 The shifting sands won’t settle anytime soon.  Especially for Israel. Tr Pluto will start to oppose the Israel 10^th house Moon from February 2026 for two years but that is followed by tr Pluto crossing the midpoints and then opposing the 10^th house Pluto and Saturn in the early 2030s for years of hardship, perhaps way, certainly a monumental struggle. That worsens as tr Pluto continues on to hit the midpoints between Mars and Moon, Pluto and Saturn in the later 2030s to reach a calamitous peak in the early 2040s or rather a total dead halt. Along the way the Solar Arc Sun will conjunct the Pluto and Saturn at the turn of this decade into the early 2030s and after.

 Netanyahu, 21 October 1949 10.15 am Tel Aviv, Israel, won’t be around for ever. He is facing a nerve stretched 2026 as an election on which everything hinges for him looms for him. There are hints of a change of direction with Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his Midheaven; and an explosive Progressed Mars square his Uranus which will be in place between 2026 and 2028. His relationship with Israel is edgy at the moment and high tension through 2026. His 2022 Term chart is sagging this year from low confidence.

 His relationship with Trump is fairly chained together at an underlying level and will have peaks and troughs this year, nothing too definitive.

 The Middle Eastern volcano will continue to spew lava for the foreseeable future.

Woke or stay awake has been in use since the late 19^th century as an invocation to stand against racial prejudice and discrimination. Over time, woke came to be used to refer to a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sexism and denial of LGBTQ rights and became the shorthand for the US Left approach to identity politics and social justice, such as white privilege and reparations for slavery.

 In the backlash the political right and some centrists use the term pejoratively to disparage leftist and progressive movements as superficial and insincere performative activism. The terms woke-washing and woke capitalism later emerged to criticize businesses and brands who use politically progressive messaging for financial gain.

 ‘The Trump administration’s “war on woke” has pushed a lot of large companies and institutes to retreat from the diversity, equity and inclusion policies they used to pretend to be proud of.’

 There is not much astrology in this except that two early examples of the use of ‘woke’ fell on Saturn Pluto squares which are repressive in nature – Pluto = power and Saturn = social ruling classes. So ‘woke’ was a way of standing up and not submitting.

 The recent Neptune in Pisces during both of Trump’s terms did not bring clarity, quite the opposite as it muddied the waters. And did it in both directions as the victim-culture emerged.

  One problem with the identity politics of marginalized groups is that they assume the manifest unfairness of their situation should be prioritised by the wider population. The problem being that the ‘ordinary’ person does not have the bandwidth to cope with multiple groups demanding rightful attention, so they switch off.

  There is an extension to this in the results of a psychological study done years ago which showed that where people can help another with problems they will. Where circumstances are too overwhelming and the situation is such that they can’t help, they treat the ‘victim’ with hostility, maybe since it arouses guilt or a sense of impotence.  

  On a personal note, it irritated me immensely in the 1990s when I ran a campaign about child abuse and could not understand why everyone was not as enraged as me about inaction to root out cruelty and worse. Or even interested. They just tuned out. Not their thing and what could they do anyway?  Getting realistic is a hard lesson but it helps.

  One other problem about social attitudes is the pendulum swing – victims of all shades used to be swept under the carpet and now they are everywhere. Neptune in Pisces may be part of the reason for the snowflake effect, with minor infractions to social niceties being blown out of all proportion.

  Trevor Phillips also had an interesting set of observations recently in The Times: “Too much political time is spent trying to protect our youngsters, we could take a lot from immigrant family values.  It has been apparent for some years that poor immigrants display a mental and emotional resilience that seems to be rapidly disappearing in the historically native population.”

  In England, 15.9 per cent of white children needed Send (special educational needs) support last year. The equivalent for black Africans was 10.3 per cent, for Indians 6.7 per cent and for Chinese-heritage children 5.6 per cent.  ‘Immigrant parents, themselves typically the products of hard, unforgiving circumstances, raise their children to expect the world to be unkind, holding that no amount of coddling by the state will ever protect them from its hard knocks.’

  My own pet theory (being old) is that my UK generation were brought up by no nonsense parents who had lived through WW11 and their parents WW1 before that.

  Saturn in Aries until 2028 (leaving Neptune out of the equation) may knock some of the more fragile over-reactions out of the picture. It tends to produce circumstances that demand self-reliance and will attempt to put a curb on an overly dependent mindset.

  I realise none of the above is of much help to those who are discriminated against. Maybe (??) Pluto in Aquarius will bring a tolerance of difference and help to iron out some injustices. Saturn Neptune will also do its bit for women and workers.

  A joint US-Israel strike on Iran set off explosions in Teheran shortly after 9.30am, and other hits were reported across the country in several cities. Iran retaliated with attacks on US air bases across the Middle East in Kuwait, Bahrein, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.  The violent escalation took place with Mars in late Aquarius exactly conjunct the recent Solar Eclipse which located to Teheran had Pluto exactly on the Descendant on the cusp of the 7th house of allies and enemies.  The eclipse chart also has Eris (= discord) conjunct Chiron on the midheaven hinting at old unhealed wounds.

 The strike chart had a fight-for-control Pluto on the Midheaven; with Mars in an over-reactive and explosive square to Uranus and Algol. Mercury is retrograde. The Pisces Sun is conjunct the North Node. It is not as damaging as the Iraq Attack chart from 20 March 2003 which had the Pisces Sun square the war-mongering Saturn opposition Pluto.  The Mars Uranus square might suggest a shorter-lived conflict but then again Pluto on the Midheaven will not give in easily.

 According to one analyst “Iran could unleash hell on Strait of Hormuz – through which a quarter of the world’s oil travels.”

 Although described by Israel as pre-emptive the evidence is that this is not a response to an imminent threat. ‘It is a war of choice with Israel and the USA calculating that the Islamic regime in Iran is vulnerable; dealing with a severe economic crisis, the fallout from the brutal crackdown on protesters at the start of the year and with defences still badly damaged by last summer’s war.’

 Since Tehran is one of Moscow’s staunchest allies and has supported Russia’s war effort in Ukraine by supplying drones and missiles and buying Russian weaponry to strengthen their own defences, it puts Putin in a tight spot.

 On the astrology it came a few days earlier than anticipated with the tr Uranus square the 10^th house Mars on the Israel chart running from 12^th March to 5^th April which always looked to be a flash point, both recklessly aggressive and insecure.  Tr Uranus is also square the Mars/Ascendant on Trump’s chart now which the recent eclipse spotlighted, putting him into an even more combative mood than usual and continuing until Uranus exits into Gemini in April.

 The most illuminating chart for Iran is the 22 December 1501 chart, which has a tough, brutal Mars in Taurus opposition Pluto which is being triggered right through into April.  Great risk and great instability. A fight to the death.

  However there is not much visible sign on the astrology that the Islamic regime will collapse instantly which is what Trump seems to be demanding.

 Ali Larijani, 3 June 1958, has been named as the successor should the Iranian Supreme Leader succumb though he is evidently not trusted by the hardliners. He is a Sun Gemini with a confident (maybe overly so) Jupiterian yod inconjunct Mercury sextile Mars. He has Pluto in final degree Leo being opposed by Solar Arc Saturn for this year and next and by tr Uranus square both in the next two months. So under maximum pressure, weighted down by war and unsettled by turbulence.

 The Israel chart has tr Pluto exactly opposition the 10^th house Moon now to mid March for a moment of national intensity and great pressure on the government. That stays around on and off till late 2027. Also around now is a ruthless and dangerous Solar Arc Mars square Pluto which could suggest a frustrating and risky phase of being trapped. Into and through 2027 the Solar Arc Midheaven will conjunct the 12th house Neptune for a country mired in confusion and indecision. 2028 looks agitated; and 2030 will see even more destructive and stuck situations with SA Sun square Pluto and SA Mars square Saturn. And on through the 2030s with grinding change from tr Pluto opposition their 10^th house Pluto, then maybe another war with Saturn and finally even more jeopardy and mountainous obstacles from tr Pluto opposition the Mars into early 2040s. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that this escapade or any future one will bring peace to Israel.

  It is difficult to see how this ends – the US public will not take kindly to being dragged into a foreign conflict having voted Trump in on a no-war ticket.

  Where Trump is concerned given his recent over heated mood, it reminds me of one of Maggie Thatcher’s cabinet minister saying before the Falklands War that she was itching for a fight and did not much care who she had it with.

 On the USA chart what is significant is the Solar Arc Sun exactly square the USA Mars which is a sign of a collision/shock/conflict/outburst of anger. On the Sibly USA chart tr Uranus is exactly square the late Aquarius Moon which was in the direct line of the recent Aquarius Solar Eclipse hinting at an emotionally upsetting moment which will test the USA’s internal sense of cohesion and security, as well as bring its public image under scrutiny. Tr Uranus will square the Solar Arc Mars this April for a phase of high insecurity.

No doubt more anon.

See previous post: Israel and the Middle East – rolling turmoil. 29th December 2025 

Social history versus art might well be the title of Tate Modern’s Tracy Emin A Second Life retrospective.  30 years ago her installation “My Bed” shot her to a tabloid fame and then gradually to national treasure though retaining her reputation as a “swearing, sexually aggressive provocateur.”

  Her initial foray into conceptual art was taken initially as promiscuous boasting but was ultimately seen as a self-portrait of depression, following childhood neglect, abuse, rape at 13, and suicidal thoughts after a recent break-up.

  Her oeuvre has been connected to women’s homespun, storytelling traditions from mining her abortion to other trauma. ‘She smashed taboos about women’s bodies, desires, abuse, periods, pregnancy.’

  One reviewer wrote “The show is one extended howl of agony.” Another “Emin’s recent monumental paintings resemble an inner hellscape.”

“I could have loved my innocence” (2007)

“Just Like Nothing” (2009) (inscribed “You made me Feel like nothing”)

“Rape”, 2018

“You heard me Scream”, 2022.

     Emin was treated for cancer in 2020 by the removal of many internal organs and now uses a stoma bag.

 ‘Emin tells her life as it is in a voice necessarily vehement, hectoring, narcissistic. This isn’t a criticism: autobiographical art, especially survivors’ tales, depends on an indomitable sense of self.”

  “Art is for feeling not for looking”, she insists.

 Born 3 July 1963 6.50 am London, to an unwed mother of Romani traveller descent and a Turkish-Cypriot father who had another family. She left school at 13, was raped at 13, later had two traumatic abortions and went through a suicidal phase.

  She has a 12^th house creative Sun Cancer trine a 4^th house Neptune in Scorpio sextile (Uranus) Pluto Mars in Virgo – she dreamt of a happy home and ended up with ruthless, unkind Mars Pluto, which last would admittedly give her a do-or-die determination. But what is certainly her saving grace is an upfront and resolutely optimistic Jupiter in Aries in her 10^th on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Mars sextile Neptune. An apex Jupiter would give her the confidence to promote herself, sometimes a touch too vigorously, but as a counter balance to her problems it would be a definite advantage. Her Saturn in the cusp of her 8^th is square an intense Scorpio Moon and trine her Venus Mercury in Gemini – so emotional rejection would cut deep. Her Saturn is conjunct the centaur asteroid Chariklo, which carries the tale of eternal suffering. Algol, the destructive Fixed star, is in her 10^th. Her Chiron at 14 degrees Pisces is trine her Sun and Neptune, opposition Mars – so a driving force for her.

  I would have to confess I struggle with conceptual art, Joseph Beuys etc, and can’t get a grip of Emin’s work at all. It’s not the darkness and unhappiness that is the problem it just does not feel like art to me. Goya’s dark paintings I get. This not so much.  

  With the Saturn Neptune conjunction omnipresent in the celestial sphere and bringing to prominence individuals who have it writ large in their charts it seemed worthwhile looking across the spectrum of ways it can be lived out. It has been given a litany of meanings from social reformer to artist, to neurotic, to a curiously slippery operator. Glancing across recent headliners who carry the stamp in their birth chart, the early 1950s produced Peter Mandelson, Tony Blair, Gisele and Dominique Pelicot, the US Fed Reserve Jerome Powell and possibly Vladimir Putin all with Saturn Neptune in Libra.

  And that is quite a range. Gisele Pelicot pushing social reform forward along with women’s rights and her husband did the exact opposite. Ebertin describes Saturn Neptune as having a dual character, a fight between the lower and higher nature, between materialism and idealism. It can lead to slow attainment of success through the methodical execution of plans and painstaking effort. Though it is also associated with illness and diseases hard to diagnose.

 Sakoian & Acker point to its artistic and spiritual attributes when well aspected. When afflicted ‘foul play may be involved’, along with depression, anxiety and a morbid imagination.

  Recently the Buddhist Walk of Peace started on a Saturn Neptune conjunction as well as Trump’s Board of Peace – a hint of the extreme ends of Saturn Neptune in spiritual compassion and the opposite in materialistic sleight-of-hand.

  Mexico is more difficult to identify how its Saturn Neptune conjunction in Sagittarius plays out. Admittedly it is square a 10^th house Pluto which possibly pushes it over into negative territory.

  Many creative types have Saturn in hard aspect to Neptune – Emily Bronte, Whitney Houston, Mark Tully, as well as Jilly Cooper, EL James, Julio Iglesias –  those are just the ones recently in the news.

 Jeff Bezos and Nicola Sturgeon are another two with Neptune square and opposition Saturn respectively. Both good operators in their field but not entirely trustworthy.

 Obviously house positions and aspects to other planets matter. But it is helpful to consider the range of meanings.

 Below old post with general historical roundup

Saturn Neptune conjunctions come round roughly three times a century in 1989 in Capricorn, in 1953 in Libra and in 1917/18 in Leo. The next one nearly comes together in Aries in June 2025 and comes exact briefly in February 2026.

  Historically they have been associated with the fight for womens’ and workers’ rights, epidemics, religious events and collapsing empires.

WOMEN:   All countries have their own specific arc of history but looking at the UK, the first key change towards the emancipation of women came with the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882, with Saturn Neptune together in Taurus, which gave wives for the first time the right of separate ownership. Then on the next conjunction in 1917–18 in Leo, the campaign for women’s suffrage succeeded in getting the vote for women over the age of 30.

  Both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne to exert feminine influence over matters of state on Saturn–Neptune conjunctions — in 1558 in Taurus, and 1953 in Libra. Both of them were enduring monarchs in typical Saturnine fashion, Elizabeth I ruling for 45 years, the present Queen in place after 70 years.  Benazir Bhutto became the first woman prime minister of Pakistan on the conjunction in Capricorn in 1988, though it proved a short-lived triumph.

  Literature also rose to the challenge and produced memorable novels by or about women – Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer and Laclos’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Molière’s The Misanthrope and The Dumb Lady. More recently Pedro Almodovar, the Spanish film-maker, produced his cult movie Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown.

  Not that anything happens without a backlash and Saturn Neptune also has associations with the persecution of witches – arising from the masculine Saturnine fear of the mysterious, less rational feminine in Neptune.

  The two previous Saturn Neptune in Aries were in 1702/1703 and 1379. Felicitously in line with Saturn Neptune’s proclivity towards the feminine, Queen Anne took over in 1702 as monarch from her brother-in-law William of Orange to reign for five years. The 2018 Olivia Coleman movie ‘The Favourite’ related court intrigues as she sank into depressed middle age after 17 pregnancies with no issue. She was born on 6 February 1665 when Saturn and Neptune were both in Capricorn, so she followed the pattern. When she took over the throne Saturn was in the final degree of Pisces about to join Neptune in Aries.

EPIDEMICS:

When the Spanish flu struck around January 1918 the Saturn Neptune conjunction in Leo was in place.  Saturn Neptune is the classic astrological signature for epidemics and illnesses. Spanish flu killed off, on rough estimates, anywhere between 1 and 6 per cent of the global population – perhaps 25 to 50 million people.  It was exacerbated and spread by troop movements at the end of World War 1 and killed more in 24 weeks than HIV/AIDS did in 24 years. Curiously it mostly killed young adults it is thought because the older population had built up immunity from a previous flu exposure. It came in three waves – over early 1918, receded through the summer, built up again in the autumn and killed most in the USA over the winter of that year.

But it doesn’t mean it always shows for every epidemic since the early 1950s Saturn Neptune in Libra, while it coincided with one minor flu outbreak, was more notable for the setting up of The Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) by WHO to monitor the evolution of influenza viruses. (See Health and Medicine below.)

HEALTH AND MEDICINE:

The dual face of Saturn–Neptune in providing practical care for the suffering and in the insidious undermining of the body’s health both find a place in world history. An epidemic of St Vitus Dance (chorea) broke out in Europe in 1021 when Saturn and Neptune were together in Aquarius; the disease causes involuntary jerky movements and leads to brain deterioration, and was so called because victims prayed to St Vitus, the patron saint of dance.

   The plague that devastated Europe and Asia during the 1340s was marked by the Saturn–Neptune conjunction in Aquarius of 1344, and the Uranus–Pluto conjunction at the same time. The outbreak of bubonic plague in London in 1665 and the Great Fire of London a year later both took place when Saturn and Neptune were together in Capricorn.

  In 1846 in Aquarius, widespread famine in Ireland followed the failure of the potato crop. During the 1917 and 1918 conjunction in Leo, there were massive casualties in the First World War, especially at Passchendaele, and the Spanish ‘flu epidemic of 1918 killed 20 million in Europe, the United States and India. By the conjunction of the late 1980s in Capricorn, the AIDS virus was running amok, causing countless deaths in Africa, Europe and the United States.

   Medical advances are also highlighted under Saturn–Neptune, with the physicians’ meeting place in Rome, the Schola Medicorum, being set up in ad 17 in Sagittarius; in 1739 in Cancer, the London Foundling Hospital was established; and by 1881 in Taurus, Louis Pasteur had discovered the anthrax vaccine.

WORKERS’ RIGHTS: Neptune’s compassion for the victim meets Saturn’s ability to organize in a constructive way. If the balance is wrong, however, then Saturn’s authoritarian need to exert order and maintain the status quo can completely crush the Neptunian dream.

   The English Peasants’ Revolt during the Saturn–Neptune conjunction in Aries in 1381, demanding an end to serfdom was suppressed and its leader, Wat Tyler, beheaded. Two conjunctions later, in Virgo, Irish rebel Jack Cade leading the Kent and Essex peasants’ revolt, was also killed. Another two conjunctions further on, in Pisces in 1524, there were extensive peasants’ revolts in Germany.

   By 1845 with Saturn–Neptune in tolerant Aquarius, Engels was writing The Condition of the Working Class in England. Still under the same influence, the Irish potato-crop failure of the following year drew attention to the plight of the starving and the suffering. By the next conjunction in Taurus in 1881, British prime minister William Gladstone had passed the Irish Land Act to prevent excessively high rents, although the outrages of 1882, when 10,500 Irish farming families were evicted, gave every indication that Saturnine rigidity and greed still held sway. In the United States, the American Federation of Labor was founded in Pittsburgh in 1881.

   One conjunction on, in 1917 in Leo, striking Russian workers rose up, and were joined by soldiers to overthrow the last feudal tsardom.

   During the last Saturn–Neptune conjunction of the 20th century, in Capricorn in 1989, Solidarity, the Polish workers’ party, came to power in democratic elections. The fall of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe freed workers to control their own lives and government. There was also mass rehabilitation of Russian citizens who were victims of Stalin’s brutal purges, Stalin himself having succumbed on the Saturn–Neptune conjunction of 1953. Also in 1989, the Tiananmen Square demonstration in China, staged by students and workers, was brutally suppressed, resulting in 2000 deaths. In Britain just a year later there were the violent Poll Tax Riots, the first serious mass revolt against the government in decades.’

  Although Saturn Neptune doesn’t sound rebellious it tends to bring the state and the status quo (Saturn) into conflict with spiritual movements or the underdogs (Neptune). The flower power, hippie movement was very much a Saturn Neptune in Libra phenomenon in the 1950s. 

A three-way wild card byelection between Reform, the Greens and Labour in south-east Manchester today will add to Keir Starmer’s woes with the pressure continuing to mount towards the more significant May 7 local byelections.

  A delightful cartoon this morning has a voter asking whether she could vote “off menu” which largely sums up electorate disenchantment with parties of all stripes.

 On May 7^th tr Saturn will be approaching the square to the UK Capricorn Sun for a mood of gloom as the result sinks in; with an uncertain tr Neptune conjunct the Solar Arc Saturn. The one note of cheer is tr Jupiter conjunct the UK 10^th house Moon which might suggest someone in the ruling classes is happier than expected.

  A Mars in Aries square Jupiter on the day might give Reform a boost since their foundation chart of 23 November 2018 has a Mars square Jupiter Sun. It can be opportunistic and give rise to sudden strokes of luck followed by the opposite.

 The Reform chart does have its Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct Mercury around now for a high; with much excitement from tr Uranus opposition its Sun Jupiter and square its Mars mid May to July and later in the year. It may be on a roll but it won’t last with a panicky-failure SA Mars conjunct Neptune in 2027 as well as mounting concerns, muddles and indecision from tr Neptune square its Saturn in 2027 as well.

Nigel Farage, 3 April 1964 4.30pm Farnborough, England, has a longish downhill slide from late May this year right through 2027 as well as tr Neptune first is conjunct his Mars, and then undermines several of his Jupiter midpoints into 2028.

  Zack Polanski is awash with Neptune which tends to be non-progressive when it comes to competitive politics – SA Neptune square his Sun now; SA Sun square his Neptune in 18 months and tr Neptune trailing in square to his Mars Jupiter up to late April this year, returning August/September.

 The Green Party, 13 June 1985, looks blocked this year with SA Sun square Pluto; and tr Neptune trailing around this year until November.

 Keir Starmer’s leadership chart, 4 April 2020 10.45 am London, is under maximum pressure with the Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Saturn exactly in May, which will only slightly be moderated by SA Jupiter also conjunct the Saturn – no matter the pressure, his determination may not flag though with tr Pluto moving to square the Uranus across the election, from late this March to late June, and again early and late in 2027, it may well mark his topple-off-perch moment.

 Kemi Badenoch – with her Solar Arc Uranus approaching her Capricorn Sun this year it will be all systems change, which might mean an exit for her or a radical change of direction.  The Tory Party, 9 May 1912, looks to be erupting with high tension as the SA Uranus is conjunct the Saturn this year but on May 7^th tr Jupiter will conjunct the Tory Party Mars – so may not be a total wipeout.

 Neither Ed Davey not the LibDems are going anywhere with more tr Neptune square his natal Sun in May and a turbulent tr Uranus square his Leadership Virgo Sun from July onwards. The LibDem chart, 3 March 1988 – again all downhill for the next three years or so as tr Neptune squares its Saturn, Mars, Neptune in Capricorn. Tr Saturn is exactly in a disillusioning square to its Neptune on May 7^th.

All more or less floundering in shallow waters.

The UK ruling classes, political and Royal, have been holed below the waterline, in a moment that must be history changing with the King’s brother and the Labour Party/present government’s high mandarin both hauled in by the police. The left can’t call foul on the monarchy since they are equally in the frame.

  Reading through Mandelson’s eye-curling wiki entry, the astonishment is he was ever let loose with not only dodgy financial associations leading to forced resignations but also connections to the ill-fated Millenium Dome and worse as a cheerleader for the Horizon IT system that caused so much misery to Post Office workers. He rose from failure to failure.

  Andrew ditto, since all was well known from way back.

  Mandelson’s birth time is not known but his previous resignations came with tr Uranus and then tr Neptune in first decan Aquarius and tr Pluto is also in early Aquarius at the moment. So one might reasonably assume his Midheaven is in early degrees of a Fixed sign. A Scorpio Midheaven will have tr Pluto square around now or in the next year or so which can bring a career meltdown.  Assuming a Scorpio midheaven he would have a full 9^th house of international affairs – and more significantly Jupiter trine his Saturn, Sun, Neptune in Libra sextile an 8^th house Pluto which make sense of the ‘prince of darkness’ – and international string-puller.

  This is all guess work but his Progressed Mars is exactly conjunct his Progressed Saturn which would be sitting on his early Scorpio Midheaven at the moment and catching the tr Pluto square over the next two or three years.

  What is incontrovertible is that Mandelson’s Pluto is conjunct the UK’s 11^th house Saturn in Leo which represents the legislature. So his cold, dark hand was undoubtedly clamped round the political merry-go-round in ways that were clearly unhealthy.  His Uranus also falls in the UK 10^th giving him the ability to shift the UK’s direction.

 His relationship chart with the UK intriguingly has a composite Pluto at 28 Taurus square Uranus at 27 Leo which is catching the tr Uranus hard aspects at the moment. With more rifts ahead as tr Uranus opposes the composite Sun Mercury and devastation in terms of his public image in the UK come 2027/28.

  Andrew’s yod apex Uranus in Leo rattles off two of the UK’s financial planets – Neptune in the financial 2^nd and Venus in the speculative and playboy 5^th. His Pisces Sun falls close to the UK Pluto which is approaching a turbulent tr Uranus square from this June onwards. So his fate may be intertwined with, or a catalyst for, the upheaval that will be coming.

  Andrew’s relationship chart with the UK points to a three year phase ahead of unrelenting pressure as tr Pluto squares the composite Saturn and is conjunct the composite Sun, Venus with a volcanic tr Uranus opposition the composite Pluto along the way. He won’t be disappearing into the woodwork.

 Two less than wonderful specimens of humanity who are of less interest in themselves than what their public disgrace means for the UK.

 Maybe it is part of tr Uranus’s swansong before it exists the UK 8^th, detonating secrets into the open – financial, sexual and otherwise. Tr Neptune Saturn is opposition the UK Uranus in the 12^th at the moment for high uncertainty – and maybe just maybe Saturn Neptune’s better side emerging to push for improvements in a fairer society. Plus tr Uranus square the UK Pluto from June onwards and before then catching the UK Solar Arc ‘ruling classes’ Moon leading to much upset though with the possibility of a lesson-well-learnt bringing positive change – or not.  The UK Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the UK South Node in 2027 is difficult to interpret but sounds as if it could be a regressive step.

 Stirring times. Not just Trump’s US that is in a mess.

  One further Mandelson thought. His most notable Harmonic is the 20H with a Grand Cross of Sun, Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter.  The 10H is the wheel of fortune – fate throws high and then low. 20H is twice that. In the Tarot, the number 20 is the number of the Judgement card which says “What you reap, you sow.”   The German mystic, Jacob Boehme associated the number 20 with the Devil or in Jung’s terms the shadow self.

 Anther interpretation of 20 is that it represents a major upheaval that leads to an awakening which changes the ambitions, ideals, goals or plans for one’s life. Considered good for spiritual development. Unlikely in this case I would have thought or in the case of Prince Andrew who also has a notable 20^th harmonic chart with a Grand Cross linking Sun, Moon, Saturn and Venus.  

Mexico is under siege as members of the Jalisco Cartel, one of the most powerful and feared criminal organisations in the country, have unleashed a wave of violence across 20 Mexican states in retaliation to the killing of their leader “El Mencho”. He died in custody shortly after being captured by Mexican special forces.

As news of his death spread, cartel members launched attacks, blocking roads by throwing spikes and nails on to the tarmac, commandeering buses which they then torched and set alight dozens of banks and local businesses such as pharmacies.

In Guadalajara – one of the host cities of the forthcoming Fifa World Cup – travellers at the airport could be seen running and crouching on the floor in panic.

 Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, El Mencho, born 17 July 1966, a Mexican drug lord, was the most wanted person in Mexico and one of the most wanted in the USA, rewards of up to US$15 million and MXN$300 million, were offered for information leading to his arrest. He was wanted for drug trafficking, organized crime involvement, and undocumented possession of firearms.

  Born into poverty in Mexico, he immigrated illegally to the U.S. in the 1980s, was arrested several times and deported to Mexico in the early 1990s. His notoriety was a result of his aggressive leadership and sensationalist acts of violence against both rival criminal groups and Mexican security forces alike.

 Mexico, 15 September 1810 11pm Dolores Hidalgo, is under attack at the moment with the Solar Arc Mars square the Mex Saturn which can accompany violence and destruction; with the Progressed Mars conjunct the Mex Neptune for a sense of panicky failure. The recent and upcoming Lunar Eclipse in Virgo/Pisces falls across the Mexico Pisces Midheaven and Pluto in Pisces in the 10^th which points to a crisis of authority and direction.  The next three years look fraught with the Solar Arc Saturn Neptune conjunction squaring the Mexico Virgo Sun up to 2030; and the Solar Arc Mars square the Neptune/Saturn midpoint and Saturn up to 2029 as well.

 Claudia Scheinbaum, the president, 24 June 1962, is having a bumpy ride with tr Uranus square her Uranus exactly now and tr Neptune Saturn moving to square her early degree Cancer Sun, on and off all year in the case of Neptune, bringing confusion and indecision.

 Her swearing in chart, 1 October 2024 9am-ish, is replete with late degree planets – Pluto at 29 Capricorn, Uranus at 28 Taurus, Moon 28 Virgo, Neptune 28 Pisces and a Midheaven around 29 Leo or early Gemini  – so highly fluid, with sudden changes coming this year especially.

 Caught between Trump and the cartels – not an easy road to travel.

 El Mencho, 17 July 1966, was a late Sun Cancer conjunct Jupiter in Cancer; with Saturn in final degree Pisces with Uranus Pluto in Virgo across the zodiac.  On the face of it not the most brutal chart though ‘born in poverty’ might suggest some unreliability on birth date.

Panchi Kun, a Macaque baby monkey abandoned by his mother was given an orangutan stuffed-toy by zoo staff as a comforter and became a viral hit on the net. Zoo visits shot up and tearful Instagram fans across the globe cheered him on as he eventually became socialized and accepted into the Macaque tribe.

 He was born 26 July 2025 in Ichikawa, Japan as the new era dawned with his Leo Sun forming a Half Grand Sextile in opposition to Pluto which is sextile/trine Uranus in Gemini and Saturn Neptune in Aries. Destined to have an impact. His Mercury and Moon are also in attention-seeking Leo and he has Jupiter in home-loving Cancer. He also has his Mars in Virgo opposition North Node and Nessus square Venus in social-butterfly Gemini – so perhaps a hint of keeping-the-faith Pisces North Node for better times to come.