Angela Merkel – once more into the breach, once more

   

 

Angela Merkel will be sworn in for her fourth term on March 14th. That gives an exact confident Sun sextile Pluto and trine Jupiter, and square Mars. Mars in turn trines Uranus still in square to Pluto. Saturn squares Venus Mercury. It won’t be without its moments of high stress, risk and argument, more than usually. But it’ll also be lucky and firmly controlling, running at times into resistance and unpopularity with a strong Pluto and Saturn Venus. Much will depend on the start time.

Her own personal chart looks less certain with a jolting tr Uranus opposition her 10th house Saturn from this July onwards; and a confusing (devastating) tr Pluto square her 10th house Neptune in 2019/2020; plus a highly disruptive tr Pluto opposition her 8th house Uranus in 2019/2020 and opposition her Sun in 2020/21. And a panicky-failure Solar Arc Neptune conjunct her Mars in 2020.

What doesn’t help her at the moment is tr Saturn moving through her less successful First Quadrant, now into its nadir for three years. She’ll struggle to find the energy, motivation and luck she had earlier in her political career.

Her relationship with Emmanuel Macron is aggravated at points this year especially September/October and frosty through 2019.

Her faith in the EU (and vice versa) will be tested over the next two years with tr Neptune square the composite Mars; and in a degree of turmoil with tr Uranus square the composite Uranus from July onwards; with a distinct chill in 2019.

Her domestic popularity may continue to worry her. Her relationship chart with Germany looks highly confused from later this month onwards; 2019 will be discouraging; with a complete turnaround in outlook between the two come 2020/2021.

Another exiled Russian ‘poisoned’ in the UK – diplomatic flurries

   

 

Boris Johnson, UK Foreign Secretary, has leapt in with both feet over the seeming poisoning of a Russian living in the UK. Sergei Skripal and his daughter are critically ill in hospital after being found unconscious in Salisbury. He is a former army officer who spied for MI6 and was freed from Russian prison in a spy-swap a few years ago. Counter Terrorism Police have taken over the investigation though have said there is no risk to the general public, so unlike the killing in 2006 of Alexander Litvinenko, a defector and former Russian secret service agent who died from radioactive polonium. Porton Down, the UK’s secret weapons research facility, is trying to establish what the unknown substance in this instance is.

Boris Johnson said he was not pointing fingers at this stage but described Russia as “a malign and disruptive force”. Mr Skripal’s relatives have told the BBC Russian Service that the former spy believed the Russian special services might come after him at any time. His wife, elder brother and his son have died in the past two years, some in mysterious circumstances, the family believe. Russia has denied any involvement.

Sergei Skripal, 23 June 1951, is a Sun Uranus in Cancer with his Uranus on the point of a T Square to Jupiter in Aries opposition Neptune – rebellious, keen to see changes and spearhead reform, not always practical or realistic. His Jupiter is also in a confident trine to Pluto Venus in Leo.

Tr Pluto is opposition his Mars/Pluto midpoint at the moment. And that pairing is also highlighted in his relationship chart with Russia (8 November 1917) which has a composite Uranus opposition Venus square Mars Pluto. That indicates a life or death power struggle with deep hostility on both sides. Tr Uranus is square the composite Pluto Mars at the moment. That chart also has a deeply suspicious and undermining composite Sun Saturn Neptune conjunction. Skripal’s reforming Uranus is conjunct the Russia 1917’s controlling 10th house Pluto, so he would react badly to the authoritarian rule.

The UK/Russia relationship chart also looks set back on its heels and irritable at the moment with tr Saturn exactly opposition the composite Mars. It’ll rumble for a few months. But it’s likely to pater out. During Theresa May’s time as Home Secretary she refused an inquiry into Litvinenko’s death, since it would ‘upset’ diplomatic relations. London is host to a great many Russian criminals and wealthy oligarchs. Though into 2019/2020 relations between the two countries will move through a highly disruptive phase.

Mueller spreads the net – Trump’s spring of crisis

   

 

Hate to be boring but we’re back in the White House, mopping up a few more loose ends.  Given that tensions appear to be rising sharply amongst the charts of the key inmates still resident and on the Trump Administration chart come March/April/May (see posts below), the Mueller Investigation might seem the place to start. The Washington Post reckons Trump himself is under scrutiny on two fronts. His relationship chart with Mueller looks nerve-wracked in April with tr Neptune square the composite Uranus; with violent disruptions starting even earlier from late this month as tr Uranus squares the composite Saturn/Pluto; and more toss-it-in-the-air influences picking up late April into May – tr Uranus square Sun/Pluto which Ebertin describes as separation by force majeure.

It is possible that Trump may fire Mueller and the latter certainly looks very deflated from early May onwards, as if his plans have collapsed, with tr Neptune opposition his Mars. He’ll cheer up from July and will have a much better 2019/2020.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House Press Secretary will be in the middle of whatever melee ensures. She looks pushed to the brink through this month with tr Uranus opposition her Mars/Saturn midpoint, at the end of her nervous tether; with a hint of a break for a few days late April into May; then back in catastrophe-mode from mid May, on and off into early 2019 with tr Uranus opposition her Mars/Pluto midpoint. She has tr Uranus square her Venus also late April/early May with Solar Arc Neptune opposing her Venus in Cancer this year – so emotionally very upsetting.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross was doing the TV rounds after Trump’s shock steel trade tariff announcement; though there seems to be some flip-flopping going on. Their relationship looks to be gently sagging from now onwards with tr Neptune opposing the composite Sun through into 2019.

Roger Bannister – running for fun

 

 

A bygone era of gifted amateur athletes died with Roger Bannister this week. The first man to break the four-minute mile in 1954, while working as a junior doctor and only training part-time, it shot him to instant celebrity. He gave up competitive running a few months later and became an acclaimed neurologist. He once said that athletes should not get too hung up if they enjoy a few drinks or even the odd cigarette and that “you don’t have to make your life boring to be a good runner”. He later said that he deplored the “narrow professionalism” of sport in the modern age.

Born 23 March 1929, he was a Sun Uranus in Aries squaring onto a disciplined Saturn in Capricorn opposition Mars in Cancer; with a Grand Trine of Saturn trine Venus in Taurus trine Neptune in final degree Leo. Neptune often occurs strongly aspected in sportsmen’s charts, as does that odd mid Aquarius degree where his Sun/Saturn sat.

When he cracked the world record and fulfilled his dream tr Neptune was opposition his Jupiter/Uranus midpoint, which can either lead to disappointment or good fortune. And he always modestly put his world-breaking feat down to luck.

Those were the days athletes competed for fun and didn’t fuss too much. C B Fry equalled the world record for the long jump, between puffs on a cigar.

Italy elections – a Eurosceptic rout

   

 

The Eurosceptics have swung the Italian election, where immigration and the economy were the two key issues in addition to political corruption. The two parties garnering most votes campaigned on a radical overhaul of the EU’s legally binding restrictions on public spending and low taxes. The result is being compared with Brexit and the election of Donald Trump in the US; although there is no intention of leaving the EU or euro, merely subverting the EU’s fiscal policies. Germany and other northern Europeans will fiercely resist any such demands. Berlusconi and Matteo Renzi’s parties were thrashed. There will now be a protracted period of agreeing a coalition.

Since 2013 more than 600,000 migrants have travelled from Libya: unemployment is currently at 11%, with youth unemployment running above 50 per cent in one region; and 18 million people are at risk of poverty. Italy is the EU’s third largest economy but its GDP is still six per cent below its pre-Lehman peak in 2007.

The relationship charts between Italy 17 March 1861 and Italy Republic 10 June 1946 4pm Rome give no indication of an outright split. But there are signs of major tensions brewing. The EU/Italy46 looks devastated right now with tr Pluto square the composite Neptune and that runs on and off till late 2019; with bad tempered ructions in 2019 and a few uncomfortable shocks.

The EU/Italy 1861 looks more agitated this year, jolted, jangled and prone to outbursts.

It’s a tough haul ahead on the Italy 1946 chart with pressures and disappointments mounting from 2018 right through till 2021. So no easy way out of their trough. And that coincides with major pressures on the EU’s chart with Solar Arc Pluto conjunct their 2nd house Neptune in late 2019, plus tr Neptune square their Saturn at the same time for a period of great uncertainty.

Generation X – dark horses who avoid the limelight

   

 

Generation X, who are so dubbed following on from the baby boomers, were born (with varying dates) from roughly 1960 to 1977.

Sociologists described them as alienated youth, the “latchkey generation”, who had less adult supervision because of increasing divorce rates and working mothers. They were sometimes characterized as slackers, cynical and disaffected, into grunge and hip hop. In midlife, they appear to have become active, happy, and achieving a work–life balance. ‘Independent, resourceful, self-managing, adaptable, cynical, pragmatic, sceptical of authority.’ They are also credited with being the greatest entrepreneurial generation in U.S. history; and are deemed to be a “dark horse demographic” which “doesn’t seek the limelight”.

Astrology doesn’t lump together such a wide span of years into one astro-generation. Pluto was in Virgo from 1958 to 1972; Neptune in Scorpio 1958 to 1971. Uranus in Virgo 1962 till 1969 and then in Libra for seven years.

The 1960s batch would be very different from the 1970s, especially the mid-1960s when the revolutionary, inventive and erratic Uranus Pluto conjunction was around, at times in the tough-minded opposition Saturn in Pisces. Pluto in Libra from 1972 is a different energy, putting more focus and pressure on relationships.

Neptune in Scorpio might account for the grungy musical tastes. Pluto in Virgo would bring a changing attitude to work and health. Especially in the 1960s there were advances made in the area of health with leading-edge Uranus Pluto around. Virgo is also an understated planet, less flamboyant than the Pluto in Leo boomer generation. The X-ers would come of age sexually as AIDs erupted in the 1980s.

They do seem to have matured from disaffected youth to solid citizens; and were the heroes of 9/11 with most of the firefighters and police coming from this generation.

Rick Scott, Florida Governor – heading into a low *update

 

 

Rick Scott, Governor of Florida, was headlined as reversing his long-held support for the NRA in saying under-21s should be barred from owning guns  after the Stoneman Douglas shooting. Though he still voted against any restrictions on assault weapons and is deemed not to have given up much. He can’t stand for Governor re-election this year since he’s term limited and may go for a Senate bid later this month.

Born 1 December 1952 in Bloomington, Illinois, (4.30am?) he served in the navy, took a law degree, co-founded the largest private for-profit health care company in the U.S, from which he was forced to resign as chief executive in a controversy over the company’s business and Medicare billing practices. The company later pled guilty to fourteen felonies. It cost more than $2 billion to settle claims and at the time was the largest fraud settlement in U.S. history; though Scott was never charged. He’s a climate change denier; has an A+ rating from the NRA, and a questionable record on the death penalty and allowing parents to interfere in school curricula (ie. evolution is controversial).

He has a Sun Mercury in Sagittarius in his financial 2nd house opposition a Gemini Moon in his 8th; with Jupiter in money-magnet Taurus in an ‘adventuring’ and can-be opportunistic square to Mars in Aquarius. His Uranus opposes Venus in Capricorn squaring onto a 12th house Saturn Neptune in Libra – which is erratic, autocratic, evasive. On this birth time he also has a controlling and influential 10th house Pluto.

If the birth time is sound, then tr Saturn is heading downward in his chart, moving through his 2nd house, which is generally not a hugely successful time with misjudgements and banana skins around. But even without the birth time, he has a raft of Neptune transits from early April, on and off till December 2019 square his Mars/Saturn, Mars/Neptune and Jupiter/Uranus – none of which look like good news. Plus come April 2019 till late 2020 he has tr Pluto square his Neptune Saturn which will be devastating and highly discouraging. Plus his Solar Arc MC conjunct within six months over the following 12 months. So a definite low.

His relationship with Trump is sagging from May onwards for 18 months with tr Neptune opposition their composite Sun.

White House – more parachutes being prepared

   

 

Two were missed off the White House whirlygig (below) – Gary Cohn and HR McMaster.

Cohn, Trump’s top economic adviser, has been rumoured to be on the brink of leaving for months but stayed to stop the president from imposing steep tariffs. He believes passionately that protectionism is economically backward and won’t lead to increased prosperity. Trump went ahead yesterday with plans for a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminium imports, which tipped the Dow Jones down 500 points.

Cohn, 27 August 1960, looks in an explosively bad mood with tr Uranus square his Sun/Mars now and square his Mars/Pluto within days. His relationship chart with Trump is in upheaval at the moment with tr Pluto opposition the composite Uranus, worsening dramatically from mid March onwards with tr Pluto opposition Mars; and separating with tr Uranus square the composite Sun in April. All of these influences repeating into 2019 so it’s not going to get easier. He looks more upbeat in 2019 so maybe he’ll have flown the coop by that time.

HR McMaster, the National Security Adviser, is also tipped to leave, since he appears not to get on with Trump or Defense Secretary James Mattis. His chemistry with Trump always was fractious with a composite Sun, Mercury, Mars, Uranus. Though a million times worse with James Mattis – their relationship chart has a composite Sun, Mercury, Pluto, Mars square Saturn – and they don’t get much worse than that. It may come to a head with Mattis in April/May as tr Uranus trines the composite Pluto Mars. McMaster and Jared Kushner also have a hate-in with a composite Pluto opposition Mars, which is picking up tr Saturn squares this year; and as of this moment tr Uranus opposition the composite Sun and conjunct Mercury within days.

An additional thought – Trump was described by Politico as the loneliest man in Washington, made more so by the loss of Hope Hicks, one of his longest serving aides. She exited as tr Uranus was square his Venus (conjunct Saturn) for the final time. And that’s a fair description from the astrology. If the Kushners bale back to New York, he’ll be left with ? ? Melania and his two sons. Hmm.  Just had a look – he’s even falling out with Stephen Miller, his far-right policy advisor with tr Uranus square the composite Venus, Mercury, Sun at the moment and through March; and tr Neptune taking the shine off their enthusiasm as it hard aspects their composite Jupiter square Uranus now and later.