Month: July 2017

Boris Becker, the Wimbledon glory boy, champion as an unseeded player at 17, ‘kissed by the gods’ as the German describe him, has tumbled to an ignominious low. A UK court last week declared him bankrupt, a former partner has demanded repayment of a £36.5 million loan and his Maserati has been taken back by sponsors over his failure to pay parking fines.

Becker, who won six grand slams in the 1980s and 90s, has continued to live as if he was still earning mega-bucks; appears to be exceptionally generous; has had a string of failed business ventures; an acrimonious divorce costing an estimated €15m from his first wife; and a string of publicised relationships one of which produced a child; and he plays poker, though does seem to win at that. The bankruptcy judge said he appeared to stick his head in the sand rather than face up the reality of his situation.

Born 22 November 1967 8.45am Leiman, Germany, he has a 12^th house Sun Neptune in Scorpio so will be both intense and vague. His Sun Neptune is sextile Uranus Pluto in Virgo. Relocating his chart to the UK, where he seems happiest, it puts Uranus Pluto across his Midheaven. Uranus Pluto can be chaotic, constantly in a state of upheaval and since it is trine/sextile Mars in the 2^nd in Capricorn opposition an 8^th house Cancer Moon, he will wobble around fiercely, driven by emotional impulses probably even he doesn’t understand.

That 2^nd/8^th house Mars Moon opposition is being rattled by tr Uranus squares this year; and worse when tr Pluto catches up to conjunct his Mars in 2019/2020. Plus Tr Saturn is heading downhill through his 1^st quadrant to hit his 2^nd house from 2018 till 2020, which is always a tight time on the cash front.

He does have a Yod in his chart, the most difficult one onto a focal point Saturn in Aries quincunx Mercury sextile Jupiter – that requires real maturity and self-discipline to make it work. The Yod has moved by Solar Arc to put the Solar Arc Saturn opposition his Neptune two years back, his Sun/Neptune midpoint now, and then his Sun by 2020. So a perfect storm of difficulties.

So brilliant too young and couldn’t quite make the transition to real life.

Serbia stands on the frontier between east and west and throughout its long and troubled history has always seemed to be a place of great significance. 17 Roman emperors were born there; 140 wars have been fought around its capital Belgrade in the past two thousand years. And it was home to the renewed fervour for gnostic Christianity in the 8^th and 9^th Centuries which sent the Cathar heresies out into Europe. It was swallowed up in the Ottoman Empire, then incorporated into Tito’s Yugoslavia and suffered through an exceptionally destructive break up a decade after his death.

Serbia declared Independence on 13 July 1878 2.58 pm; and became a stand-alone sovereign republic on 5 June 2006 2.09 pm Belgrade.

A gay woman has just been appointed prime minister, a double first for the EU-candidate state, all the more surprising given the virulent homophobia which is still widespread. The President, a former extreme nationalist, rebranded as a pro-EU reformer, also wants deeper ties to Russia. His candidacy was endorsed by Putin amid fears from some of Moscow’s expanding influence in the tense Balkan region. Opposition candidates have accused him of over control of the media, mudslinging and intimidation of voters. Critics are worried he could become too powerful, leading to freedoms being eroded in Serbia’s fledgling democracy.

Both charts for Serbia have Mars in flamboyant Leo, strong aspected Jupiter and Uranus Pluto so it will always makes its voice heard internationally, be confident and almost certainly always be in a state up upheaval. Both charts have planets in the 9^th, so an international reach; though close neighbourly relations will always be tricky with one having the Node conjunct the Descendant and the other Pluto in the 7^th. Both charts are quite Neptunian as well, so idealistic.

There’s nothing much of huge note going on bar the Leo Eclipse being conjunct the Uranus MC on the 1878 chart; and jolts and discouragement on the Serbia 2006 chart through 2018.

The much respected and loved astrologer Donna Cunningham has died on her 75^th birthday. The author of over a dozen books and hundreds of articles, she was given several awards for her contribution to astrology.

Born 5 July 1942 7.40am Onawa, Ohio, she started her working life in social services, studied astrology under Richard Idemon and started in private practice combining psychotherapy, astrology, and healing.

She had a 12^th house Cancer Sun conjunct Jupiter and square her Moon Midheaven in Aries, so was well-designed to be a good listener, work behind the scenes and also out in the public eye with her Moon MC. She had the creative Neptune trine Uranus of that period, sextiling onto an influential and persuasive Pluto on her Leo Ascendant. Her Pluto was widely conjunct her Mars, which would give her an understanding of other people’s difficulties in life; and her Uranus was in an innovative conjunction to Saturn Venus in Gemini. It’s an Air Fire chart, with a Water Sun, so inspirational if not always practical.

Her Mercury also in communicative Gemini was in her 11^th so she’d want to give of her knowledge to a wider audience.

Her Sun was conjunct the deep-thinking Mercury/Pluto midpoint and conjunct the passionately enthusiastic Venus/Mars. Her Jupiter was conjunct her Uranus/Pluto midpoint which not only brings success, but also an interest in philosophical pursuits. Her Uranus was square her Neptune/Pluto which would bring an almost mystical approach and a flair for the unusual. She would certainly have a strong intuition, and almost psychic understanding of the world and other people.

Her victim/healer 12^th Harmonic was strong, even more so her writers’ 21H; as well as a practical pursue-her-dream 11H; and get-it-together 5H. Her leaving-a-legacy for-future-generations 17H was also marked, indicating her work will live on.

She would have had a challenging time recently with tr Uranus square tr Pluto in hard aspect to her Sun, then Moon and MC; as well as Solar Arc Uranus conjunct her Mars 20 months ago. Her Progressed Moon was exactly on her 6^th house cusp when she died. The Moon dominates her chart, sitting on the MC, and on the focal point of several of her harmonic charts – so a truly lunar, feminine wisdom.

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Fourteen-year-old amateur Atthaya Thitikul has become the youngest winner of a professional golf tour event with her first place at the Ladies European Thailand Championship. She bettered the record set by Canadian Brooke Henderson who won at 14 years 9 months; and previously the NZ/South Korean Lydia Ko who triumphed over adult competitors when she was just 15 years old.

Atthaya Thitikul, 20 Feb 2003, is a Sun Pisces conjunct Uranus; with a ferociously determined Mars Pluto in Sagittarius opposition Saturn.

Brooke Henderson, 10 September 1997, is a Sun Virgo on one leg of a Yod in sextile to Mars in Scorpio inconjunct Saturn in Aries; with Mercury square Pluto – so a very challenging and stressed chart.

Lydia Ko, 24 April 1997, also has a chart riddled with quincunxes. She’s a Sun, Mercury, Venus in Taurus with her Sun Mercury inconjunct Pluto; and a Yod of Saturn in Aries sextile Jupiter inconjunct Mars in Virgo.

Yods do set the individual apart from their environment, making them feel they don’t fit in; until they find their direction and then they become very single-focussed. The Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has a Yod of Jupiter sextile Uranus inconjunct Mars in Cancer and he was ADHD until he found swimming and he never looked back.

But it does just go to show that even the most challenging of charts can be put to good use.

John D Rockefeller Snr, the wealthiest man of his time, and arguably the wealthiest in history, would have been 178 yesterday. He rose from poor beginnings with a con-man father and religious mother, to acquire vast wealth through the oil industry. He reigned over a monopoly that refined as much as 90 percent of America’s oil; and when he died, his assets equalled 1.5% of America’s total economic output – in today’s terms about $340 billion dollars, more than four times the fortune of Bill Gates. He also defined the structure of modern philanthropy and left a legacy of a family name that continues to be influential today.

Born 8 July 1839 in Richford, New York, the birth time is conflicted which is a shame since houses would be critical to pin pointing his money-making abilities. Just before midnight was in one biography.

This would put his family-oriented Cancer Sun in the family-oriented 4^th house which makes sense squaring onto a super-confident Pluto opposition Jupiter in Libra. His Sun was in an innovative trine to Uranus; and Cancer anyway has a nose for the defining opportunities of the time so is usually tuned into important trends.

On this birth time he’d have had Saturn in the 8^th which often occurs in bankers’ charts or those who handle money for others. But I’d have expected to see more 2^nd/8^th house markers. Bill Gates has Jupiter Pluto in his 2^nd; JK Rowling has Jupiter in the 8^th; Steven Spielberg has Saturn Pluto in his 2^nd; Clint Eastwood who must be worth as bob or two has Jupiter in his 8^th; George Clooney has Sun Mercury in his 2^nd and Neptune in his 8^th.

John D Rockefeller Jnr, 29 January 1874 10am Cleveland, Ohio, had Pluto in his 2^nd, which is co-ruler of his 8^th – so that looks a more solid birth time.

John D Rockefeller Snr was also a devout Baptist which again doesn’t show up. If the birth time was early hours of the morning it would put Neptune in the 9^th, Sun in the 2^nd, an influential-out-in-society Pluto in the 11^th; family-tied Venus in the 4^th; and a pro-active Mars Jupiter in his 5^th house of speculation and children. But it’s impossible to know.

Game of Thrones, the television mediaeval-esque epic fantasy, replete with dragons, endless wars, plotting and killing, returns for season 7 next week. With high ratings, an obsessively devoted fan base and multiple awards especially for its high production values, it has become a showbusiness phenomenon. There has been criticism of too much sex and slaughter, but viewers seem to lap it up. It is based on George R Martin’s series of novels, A Song of Ice and Fire based on the War of the Roses and Ivanhoe. He has written prolifically since an early age, graduating from comics to horror, fantasy and science fiction.

George R Martin was born 20 Sept 1948 9.25pm Bayonne, New Jersey (astro.com). He has a Virgo Sun in the performing/entertaining 5^th house with creative Neptune also there, with his Sun in a confident, optimistic square to Jupiter in Sagittarius in the financial 8th which is in turn trine an Aries Moon. And Venus Pluto in Leo square Mars in Scorpio in the hard-working 6^th. Virgo is a writers’ sign and he’s more showy than some being in the 5^th house. The Mars square Venus Pluto will give him a taste for vengeance, sex and unpleasant deaths – in his fiction at least.

When the show first launched on 17 April 2011 tr Saturn was conjunct his Neptune and tr Neptune was opposition his Saturn – so maybe on tenterhooks since there was no way of knowing whether it would fly or flop. And it did take a couple of years to build an audience.

When GoT launched there was a wonderful collection of planets ranged through Aries, which is the adventuring, fantasy-romantic-dreamer sign – Uranus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Sun; with Mars Mercury in a hard-edged opposition to Saturn squaring onto Pluto. With the North Node in crusading, constant-travel Sagittarius. The Saturn Pluto would give it grit for a long shelf life; Mars Saturn has associations with armies and fighting; Mars Pluto with brutality. The emphasised Pluto would point to a tightly controlled and secretive production machine; as well as to an influential entity. The Sun Jupiter conjunction has been moving closer to exact as the series became more and more successful, culminating in 2019 when the final series is expected to be shown.

There’s a heart-rending struggle going on over baby Charlie Gard, 4 Aug 2016, suffering from a rare genetic condition which has left him unable to see, hear, move, cry or swallow, and reportedly has fits that are difficult to control. London doctors had said that his life support should be switched off because there is no chance of his condition improving. Several appeals from the parents, who have crowd-funded over £1 million for experimental US treatment, through the courts failed. Donald Trump and the Pope then stepped in to say they wanted to help. Now the hospital says it is willing to explore even this untested treatment and is returning to the High Court on Monday.

Doctors can be wrong as they were over the cancer-suffering child whose parents ‘illegally’ took him to Czechoslovakia for proton therapy treatment. His cancer has now disappeared. But it isn’t clear in Charlie Gard’s case whether the possible treatment would just stop any further deterioration, rather than reverse his condition or cure him; and any potential side effects are unknown. A paediatrician wrote: ‘It is always important to ask the fundamental question that often gets forgotten in the emotion – what is in the best interests of the child? Technology can keep human beings alive for a long time but there is more to being alive than a machine inflating your lungs and a tube feeding you into your stomach or veins. Quality of life, dignity and humanity all need to be taken into account. I have seen many children over the years where, in retrospect, all that was actually achieved was prolonging the process of dying.’

There’s nothing much the astrology can say about possible outcomes. He was born with the Sun in Leo on the focal point of a Yod to Neptune sextile Pluto – indeed his Sun is exactly opposition the Neptune/Pluto midpoint, which Ebertin describes as ‘ a sensitive physique, peculiar diseases.’ He was also born at the time of the Saturn square Neptune which can have links with illness. Neptune opposes the North Node and Mercury (maybe Moon) in Virgo squaring onto Saturn and Mars in Sagittarius. His Jupiter in Virgo does trine Pluto and squares the Mars/Pluto midpoint, so he will be a fighter (or his parents on his behalf).

It’s an impossible situation for the parents and indeed doctors. But not improved by either Trump (ironic given what he’s trying to do to Obamacare); or the Pope, who somehow overlooks the fact that left to God Charlie would be dead already.

Press TV was founded by Iranian Broadcasting, whose head is directly appointed by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. It was launched on 8 July 2007 to give a pro-Shia view to western audiences. Criticism of its anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, air-time given to zealots such as KKK David Duke, and to a filmed confession induced under torture, have led to its removal from several western satellites. Part of its remit was to counter Al Jazeera which has a pro-Sunni slant, especially in its Arabic broadcasts.

Press TV kicked off when the Sun was in Cancer trine Uranus, and tied into a wide-ish Yod in sextile to Mars in Taurus inconjunct Jupiter; with Saturn Venus opposition Neptune and trine Pluto. A Yod typically gives an outsider mentality, and with Mars involved an overly aggressive and impulsive slant. Saturn Neptune is paranoid, neurotic and will foster conspiracy theories.

The Press TV afflicted Mars in Taurus is interesting since it falls close to the UK 1801 8^th house Mars in Taurus, so there will be a clash of egos and temper. The UK did meddle in Persia’s affairs, militarily and commercially, for several hundred years right through to the Reza Shah’s rule (father and son) in the 20^th Century. The Shah of Iran was deposed by Islamists in 1979 in part because he was seen as a western puppet. The relationship chart between the UK and the 1979 Revolutionary Iran 1979 chart points to a deep-rooted, toxic dislike with a composite Mars square Pluto; and uncompromising differences from Sun square Uranus; with two Yods of Uranus sextile Pluto inconjunct Moon, and Moon sextile Mars inconjunct Uranus – so excessively strained.

Because of Persia/Iran’s troubled past vis a vis the colonial British there remains an implacable hatred for the UK, which hardly matches present circumstances as the UK slides down the food chain in terms of global power. The belief that the UK fostered Wahhabism in order to split the Muslim world sits on a par with Holocaust denial.

The Al Jazeera, 1 Nov 1996 chart, is relatively similar astrologically to Press TV. A Scorpio Sun sits sextile Mars inconjunct Saturn; with Neptune Uranus sextile Saturn inconjunct Mars; and an enraged Mars square Pluto.

The other western-propaganda TV channel, funded by the Russian government, RT (Russia Today TV), was launched 15 September 2005. It is seen as a Soviet style disinformation outlet, is anti-US and the West, peddles anti-Semitic conspiracy theories; and skips over Russian atrocities such as in Chechnya, South Ossettia and Syria.

Again it has an afflicted Mars in Taurus on the focal point of an exact Yod to Jupiter sextile Pluto; with a paranoid Saturn opposition Neptune; and a controlling Sun square Pluto, trine Mars – stressed, pushy, aggressive.

Not sure what any of this proves, but all three propaganda TV charts are relatively similar. Yods most often give a strong sense of mission, perhaps with overtones of God-like powers, since it is known as the Finger of God. They tend to be extremely focussed once they click into gear though always remain outside the mainstream.

China is pushing its luck and territorial outreach to the north east of India on the borders with tiny Bhutan, which has always effectively been under Indian protection. The strategy appears to be to take control of a narrow corridor which would cut India off from part of its northern territories; and assert Chinese domination. China’s presence in the area also gives it possible access to important Indian infrastructure, including a hydro-electric project. China itself has built dams close to the border which establish its rights over the waters of the biggest river in the region, the Brahmaputra. It could turn water into a weapon should conflict arise as it can either turn off the supply or flood the lower States, the first one of which is India.

The Indian view is that China believes it is destined to lead Asia with its economic and political clout and be the only arbiter of peace in the region.

The relationship chart between China and India does look super-tense at the moment with tr Uranus trine the composite Saturn, returning on and off till early 2019; with deteriorating diplomatic relations and much suspicion from tr Neptune opposition the composite Sun now and until late 2018.

Where it looks at its most fraught and dangerous is 2019/2020 when tr Pluto opposes the composite Mars. And that is when India’s chart is on high-alert with tr Pluto opposition its Mars/Saturn midpoint, which could have military implications. Even through 2018 India’s chart looks trapped and uneasy.

China, for all its bluster and cavalier actions in the South Seas and Bhutan with the adventuring Solar Arc Mars square its Jupiter at the moment, is also sagging under Neptunian disappointments this year and until late 2018, perhaps financial ones.  Once clear of those it is certainly gung ho and in a super-confident frame of mind come 2019/2020 with tr Pluto conjunct its Jupiter. The war-like tr Saturn conjunct Pluto is exact in late 2019.

China’s aggressive-towards-neighbours Mars Pluto in the 7^th does fall in India’s 4^th house conjunct India’s Sun, Venus, Saturn, Pluto – so the chemistry between the two countries will always be toxic.