John Travolta – handed a trickier hand of cards than most

Actor John Travolta has lost his wife Kelly Preston to breast cancer, as he lost his first love Diana Hyland to the same in 1977.  He does have a challenging and intensely emotional chart. His deeply buried 8th house Aquarius Sun is in opposition to Pluto giving him a strong need to be in control, stemming in part from his sense that his life is often not under control. With three planets, Sun, Venus and Mercury in the 8th he’ll often feel pulled around by forces he does not understand and in which he has no choice.

He also has a wide-ish Water Grand Trine in the water houses of a 12th house Uranus in Cancer trine his 8th house Mercury in Pisces trine a 4th house Saturn in Scorpio – so he swims in emotional affect finding it difficult, despite his Aquarius Sun, to get detachment and distance from what is going on in his life. He will live in his own bubble, at times divorced from reality.

That Grand Trine forms into a lucky kite with Mercury opposition a 2nd house Virgo Moon which will help him to focus his energy into work and money which will ground him. His Sun also trines a 4th house Neptune in Libra so he’ ll have had to sacrifice a fair amount for his family both in childhood and adult life. His 12th house high-tension and unpredictable 12th house Uranus opposes a Capricorn North Node and Chiron and squares onto his Neptune which will foster strange beliefs and a yearning for a spiritual connection which may be partly why he inclined towards Scientology.

His saving grace comes from an exuberantly flamboyant Mars in Sagittarius in the 5th house of entertainment and a light heartedly friendly Jupiter in Gemini in the 11th – both of which help to pull him away from his immensely deep feelings.

He also lost he and Kelly’s teenage son in 2009 who was epileptic and autistic.

His Black Moon Lilith (BML) in his 4th house of family is exactly conjunct Kelly’s Libra Sun which seems prescient. She also had an emphasised Neptune square her Saturn which opposes her Mars – and  was always a committed Scientologist.  That’s somewhat similar to Tom Cruise born three months earlier in 1962 who also has a focal point Neptune in Scorpio.

Travolta has said he is more familiar with death than most so will cope though he’s taking time out to grieve. He will get a boost from his Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct his Pluto in late 2021, but there’ll be a fair amount of emotional turmoil before then with tr Uranus opposing his 4th house Saturn and tr Pluto square his Neptune and conjunct his Chiron next year.

Benjamin Keough – fame casting a dark shadow

Benjamin Keough, grandson of Elvis and son of Lisa Marie Presley has died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, aged 27. He grew up in the overheated atmosphere of the most famous celebrity family of all time with a chaotic mother, who married his musician father for five years, then skipped on unbelievably to Michael Jackson, then a two month marriage to Nicholas Cage and finally a 10 year marriage to a music producer, with whom she is now fighting a custody battle for their twin daughters citing child pornography as a reason for denying spousal support.

Benjamin, born 21 October 1992 7.46am Tampa, Florida, was a Sun Libra with a volatile, highly-strung Mars in Cancer opposition the obsessive Uranus Neptune in Capricorn; with his Mars in a frustrated, angry trine to Mercury Pluto in Scorpio which in turn was in an unyielding and can-be-depressive square to a 4th house Saturn. His wannabe-grand Leo Moon was in an emotionally intense and overly controlled square to Pluto Mercury. He would take everything to heart and tend to be pessimistic or even apocalyptic in his outlook.

None of the family have easy charts. Elvis, 8 January 1935 4.35 am Tupelo, MS, died 1977,  was a Sun Capricorn square Mars in Libra, opposition an 8th house Pluto square Uranus.  His Sun sat on top of Benjamin’s Uranus Neptune opposition Mars – so would be a heavy weight on his grandson’s shoulders. Even more so Elvis’s 8th house Pluto was square Benjamin’s Sun, pulling him deeper into the shadow of the King.

His mother Lisa Marie, has an 8th house Mars Moon in Pisces opposition Pluto Uranus; with a 7th house Sun Aquarius – so emotionally all over the place.  His father, with whom she has kept up friendly relations, Danny Keough, 6 November 1964, Chicago, is a Sun Neptune in Scorpio opposition Jupiter in Taurus; plus a tricky Mars opposition Saturn square Mercury in Scorpio – an odd mix of head-in-the-clouds and rigidly dogmatic.

Benjamin at present did look more neurotic, anxious and discouraged than usual with tr Neptune square his Sun/Saturn midpoint and opposition his Mars/Pluto; as well as the disruptive tr Uranus opposition his Sun/Pluto and tr Saturn conjunct his Saturn/Neptune – not on their own enough to tip the balance but added into his high-wire temperament did obviously become too much.

Glee TV – misery as well as merriment

 

Glee TV, which brought the sadly departed Naya Rivera to fame, has picked up chatter about the bad vibes surrounding the mega-successful show, with two previous deaths of cast members. Cory Monteith died of an accidental heroin and alcohol overdose in 2013 and Mark Selling suicided after being arrested in 2018 for child porn offences having already been accused on sexual battery charges. Recently Lea Michele was called out for bad behaviour on set and apologised; and had a strained relationship with Naya.  All sounds like tinsel town on steroids – or just more of the same old same old.

Glee was an American musical comedy-drama television series aired by Fox network from 2009 to 2015 with a young ensemble cast, which won multiple awards and sold many million singles and albums on the back of its success.

The pilot was aired 19 May 2009 (no time) which puts a Mercury Sun in Taurus conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol square Neptune, Chiron, Jupiter in Aquarius. The better side of Jupiter Neptune is a love of music and art, an abundance of good feelings, though it can suggest being easily seduced, overly impressionable – it’s not damaging, just not grounded. Neptune in hard aspect to Mercury Sun is good for music and Jupiter for luck and an over-the-top-quality.

Apart from Algol, the chart itself isn’t too scary. Though the 5th Harmonic is brutal linking Mars Saturn to Mercury Pluto to Neptune Jupiter. 5H can be sensationalist, indulgent, irresponsible. The 10th Harmonic, which suggests a rise and then fall in fortune, is even more so with a deadly Mars Pluto Saturn linked to Neptune – and that is perverse as well as ruinous. The final season was announced after Cory Monteith’s death.

Mark Salling post January 31 2018

Actor/singer Mark Salling, best known for Glee, committed suicide while facing sentencing for gross child pornography charges which would likely have sent him to jail for seven years.

Born 17 August 1982 Dallas Texas, he was a Sun Leo trine Neptune, sextile Pluto Saturn in Libra – creative, flamboyant and hard. He also had an exuberantly determined Mars Jupiter in Scorpio square his Venus in Leo and maybe a Leo Moon; with his Venus (Moon) trine Uranus. Venus square Mars can be insensitive to the needs of partners and he had faced two sexual assault charges previously. Mars in Scorpio can be sexually obsessed and vengeful.  It’s not an especially brutal chart but much will depend on houses which we don’t know without a birth time.

He was brought up in a strictly religious home, home-schooled in the early stages. These kinds of inclinations almost always stem from early damage and dysfunction in relation to the primary caregiver.

His midpoints show illusions and delusions with his Sun square his Neptune/Pluto midpoint and his Pluto conjunct his Sun/Neptune – so a huge amount of inner confusion. And tr Uranus had been on the opposition to his Sun/Neptune from early December through this month.

Child pornography, while it appears less heinous than actual abuse, is not a victimless crime. Either he was stuck in a repetition compulsion from his own inner fantasies; or he lacked empathy which can be a Neptunian failing.

Cory Monteith post 14 July 2013:

Cory Monteith, the Canadian actor best known for Glee, who had a drug and substance abuse problem since his teens has been found dead. Born 11 May 1982 in Calgary, Canada, he was a Sun Taurus inconjunct Saturn Pluto so bleak, strained. His Venus in Aries opposed Mars and Saturn and squared onto a Cancer North Node – so again emotionally out of kilter, rather tortured; and a sharp-witted though highly strung Mercury in Gemini opposition Uranus. Plus Mars square Neptune Moon (Sagittarius or Capricorn) so more emotional confusion and aggravation. His parents divorced when he was 7.

His chart has an oddity in that Saturn and Pluto are 8 degrees apart with the Sun exactly inconjunct the midpoint. His Mars Saturn are 16 degrees apart with Venus exactly opposition their midpoint. And Mercury is 8 degrees in opposition to Uranus.

This year tr Pluto and tr Uranus have been hitting on his Mars/Saturn midpoint so it was an accident waiting to happen. Plus tr Uranus is exactly opposition his Mars/Pluto as well at the moment which is very risky.

Christopher Steele – opting for a life on the high tight-rope

Christopher Steele, the former Brit intelligence officer, author of the controversial ‘dirty’ dossier on Trump’s alleged Russia connections, is back in the firing line. Trump is calling for his extradition since he blames him for instigating the Russia probe – though the Republican Congress report found there were other reasons. A recent court case found Steele’s firm guilty of data breaches with respect to two Russian oligarchs mentioned though they received miniscule amounts and the judge said it had not been Steele’s doing to make the report public. Steele has said he only became embroiled overall because he was alarmed at what he was hearing about Trump and Russia (all hotly denied). As ever it was a standard secret intelligence report based on sources, not hard evidence.

Robert Mueller has broken his silence after the commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence saying: “Russia’s actions were a threat to America’s democracy,” Mueller wrote. “It was critical that they be investigated and understood.” Steele said he was disappointed by the Mueller report. He criticized it for being ‘too narrow’ and failing to follow up on crucial evidence.

What’s a touch disconcerting – or maybe not – is to find that Steele was born, 24 June 1964, two days after Dan Brown (master conspiracy theorist of Da Vinci Code fame) and five days after Boris Johnson – see Ramblers & Mythmakers post 2 July 2020.

Like Brown, Steele has an early Cancer Sun and North Node which was rattled by the June Solar Eclipse setting up a crisis or two in coming months. And he has the scattered, excitable Mutable T Square of Uranus Pluto in Virgo opposition Saturn square Mars in Gemini, plus Venus Mercury also in Gemini. He almost certainly has a Sagittarius Moon. To top it all off he has Jupiter in Taurus opposition Neptune – which can be idealistic, wildly optimistic or overly-impressionable, with a tendency to speculate and be misunderstood by others.

He’s been under high stress since 2016 and on with more stretching ahead till late January 2021 with various Neptune and Pluto hard aspects to midpoints. And the December Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius will oppose his Venus Mercury for an upset or two. But he looks much more upbeat and into a luckier phase from late January 2021 onwards with only a few ripples thereafter – which may be other factors in his life since he clearly has opted for an adrenaline-rush existence.  Exactly now the July Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn is opposition his Progressed Mars and maybe conjunct his Progressed Moon stoking up a scare or angry words.

His relationship chart with Trump with a composite Venus Mars in the firing line of last week’s Lunar Eclipse and a composite Mercury picking up the June Solar Eclipse was always due for an outburst now; with tensions from late this month till the election with tr Saturn opposition the composite Uranus and square Neptune. The December Solar Eclipse will also rattle the composite Sun and confusion will reign through 2021/22.

It may all just be a vindictive flash-in-the-pan from Trump’s gnat-attention-span Twitter brain; and Mueller’s intervention will help Steele. But no doubt Steele will be able to breathe more easily when Trump flits off into the ether. Though he won’t just have Trump to worry about, the threat from the Russian side has been and no doubt will continue to be real.

Brooklyn and Nicola – a match made in Instagram heaven

A glitzy treat is in store for 2021 for any still enamoured of obscenely wealthy displays of opulence as photographer Brooklyn Beckham announces his engagement to billionaire’s daughter actress Nicola Peltz. A UK and a Florida double wedding extravaganza is promised with his parents, former footballer David and fashion designer Victoria, both major tabloid celebrities, wanting to chip in and saying they are  delighted at his choice.

In the present climate I’d ignore it but the relationship chart is interesting.

Brooklyn was born 4 March 1999 7.48pm London and has a hard-working Pisces Sun (sign of the photographer) which is trine a heavyweight and emotionally mega-intense Mars in Scorpio in his financial 2nd – there’ll be nothing of the wimpy Pisces about him when it comes to making cash. His Mars squares onto a 5th house Uranus making him uber-resistant to interference, attracted to an adventurous lifestyle and disliking compromise. Uranus in Aquarius in the 5th could suggest adopted or step-children somewhere along the way.

His charming and upfront Venus in Aries in his 7th is in a seductive and passionate trine to Pluto and opposition a sociable Libra Moon in his 1st; with Pluto also in a confident and persuasive trine to Mercury and Jupiter in Aries.  He also has Saturn in Taurus in his 7th, suggestive of an older partner and a marriage requiring hard work.  His Saturn is in a creative/neurotic square to Neptune.

He does have his Solar Arc Sun conjunct his Descendant in 2021 putting him in the frame of mind for a committed relationship; and his Progressed Moon is moving through his ambitious 10th house for another year. Though he has a fair amount of family and domestic turmoil from the Saturn Pluto conjunction moving through his 4th until late 2021.

Nicola Peltz, 9 January 1995 New York is the daughter of a financier and is a highly-strung and ambitious Sun Capricorn conjunct Uranus Neptune with a Mutable T Square of a disciplined Mars in Virgo opposition Saturn square a fashion-biz, glamour-type Jupiter Venus in Sagittarius. Her Moon is Aries/Taurus – maybe square Uranus Neptune or square Mars. So she’ll be quite a jitterbug emotionally though used to putting up with difficult circumstances with Mars Saturn.

The synastry isn’t that great though a Capricorn and a Pisces Sun is a relatively common match and they both have their Venus in a Fire sign so will like a splash of pzazz in their social and romantic lives. Her Sun, Uranus, Neptune fall in his 4th so their home life will be a constant drama; and her placatory Venus Jupiter is conjunct his Pluto for a sizzle of passion and power-couple ambitions; though she’ll need to suppress a need for choice since her Mars and Saturn both square his Pluto which will be aggravating.

The same combination of great and not so great are writ large in the relationship chart. There’s a an affectionate composite Sun conjunct Venus with Jupiter conjunct a lucky, adventurous Uranus Jupiter – plenty of good feelings and indulgent circumstances. And all of this is tied into a successful, easy-flowing Half Grand Sextile – but that is formed from a one-sided Mars opposition Saturn, which suggests a relationship in which one partner has to forego choices to make it work. That opposition is sextile Pluto and sextile Uranus Jupiter Venus – so quite a combination.  Will be fascinating to see how it operates in action.

Her father Nelson Peltz, 24 June 1942, does look fond of Brooklyn with a composite friendly Sun Venus in their relationship chart. David Beckham, Brooklyn’s dad also looks pleased with the new family member. Mother Victoria will put on a good act but seems less enchanted by the match. Her Aries Sun will not sit easily with Nicola’s Sun Uranus Neptune in square.

Naya Rivera – a family in mourning

Naya Rivera, the former Glee star, is missing presumed dead after she went swimming from a boat on Lake Piru north of Los Angeles leaving her four year old son asleep on board. The lake is known for hazardous conditions including whirlpools and there have been several deaths in recent years.

She was born 12 January 1987 1.56 pm Santa Monica, California to a fashion model mother, started acting when she was 4 and had also released albums.

She had a 8th house Capricorn Sun and Mercury with Neptune also in the 8th – so she would be intense with the ability to project an aura. Her restless Gemini Moon opposed a 7th house Uranus and Saturn in Sagittarius, not making it easy for her to settle in committed relationships. Her marriage to actor Ryan Dorsey, father of her son Josey, was tumultuous and short-lived though they shared custody when they split. Her lucky Jupiter in filmic/musical Pisces was in her career 10th house square her Saturn Uranus and widely square her Moon, so she would have had a chance at real success.

Her Saturn was exactly opposition her Chiron natally and her BML at 1 degree Cancer was caught head-on by the June Solar Eclipse.  Her Solar Return for this year was very blocked with the Sun, Saturn, Pluto, Mercury conjunction in the 8th as well as Jupiter.

What a tragic experience for a young boy though it’ll take time before what happened sinks in.  Josey Hollis was born 17 September 2015 and is a late Sun Virgo; with Mars in late Leo square Saturn in Scorpio, which square in whatever signs is often associated with tragic or violent death, not necessarily his but happening in his life. His Progressed Mars is moving to square that Saturn exactly over the next two years which will maybe when it starts to have an impact on him. He also has a controlled and controlling turbulent T Square of Mercury opposition Uranus square Pluto with his BML exactly square his focal point Pluto. His Chiron is catching the tr Neptune conjunction till the end of this year.

Her ex-husband, 19 July 1983, Ryan Dorsey, is a Sun Cancer square Saturn Pluto in Libra so not a great match for her Capricorn Sun. His Sun opposes his BML and his Chiron opposes his Jupiter – lives touched by fated events. His Mars in Cancer was opposition the Lunar Eclipse of July 5th, three days before the tragedy, which can coincide with a tremendous shock.

Trump – taking a wrecking ball to US justice

 

Trump’s pardon for his old compadre Roger Stone comes as a knee jerk reaction to distract from his calamitous failure to handle the pandemic crisis, with cases and deaths rising again, and – from his viewpoint worse – the Supreme Court indicating that his tax returns should, after delays, be handed over. The Washington Post described Trump’s decision to free Stone as “an unforgivable betrayal of his office”. Even William Barr had described the case in which Stone was convicted of lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering as a “righteous” prosecution.

All of this as tr Uranus has moved for the first time to square Trump’s 12th house Pluto which indicates a time of turmoil, disruption and upheaval. At the same time tr Uranus squares his catastrophic Mars/Saturn midpoint, with both in effect till late September, and repeating again late April/May 2021. His tax returns will almost certainly not be made available before the election but, if and when they are, will expose his dealings with Deutsche Bank, already on the hook for past money-laundering scandals.  Trump’s Solar Arc Saturn will conjunct his 2nd house Neptune exactly later in 2021, which is when he picks up a worrisome Progressed Moon through his 2nd house from mid 2021 for two years plus. So his financial panics are coming, though perhaps not instantly. His timeline below from an earlier May post.

Roger Stone, a long-term buddy and consigliere of Trump and before that an avid Nixon and McCarthy/Roy Cohen fanboy, was born 27 August 1952 with a Virgo Sun and a rules-don’t-apply-to-me, pushily-confident Jupiter in Taurus square Pluto tied into a mean-minded Mars Moon in Scorpio.

For a man released from servitude Stone doesn’t look too  happy ahead with Neptune undermining his confidence up to the election; then a calamitous tr Uranus opposition his Mars/Saturn midpoint over the Inauguration and disappointment through 2021.  His relationship with Trump will be separating rather than drawing closer from later this month and again in late November/December with tr Saturn opposition the composite Sun Mercury.

Trump’s Timeline from May 12th post:

From 5th July he picks up the catastrophic tr Uranus square his Mars/Saturn midpoint, to which Ebertin ascribes accidents, illness or tests of nervous strength. At the same time he has the disruptive tr Uranus square his Pluto. Both keep running till late September, and return in April 2021 – at that point along with a blocked tr Saturn in opposition to both his Pluto and Mars/Saturn for more setbacks and headaches, and those run on and off till early 2022.

July 6 to August 18 he has the discouraging tr Pluto opposition his Saturn, returning late November till late December.

He will get some uplift mid August to late November from tr Pluto trine his Mars/Jupiter midpoint though that’s minor and it won’t outweigh the fraught tr Pluto opposition his Mars/Uranus midpoint running at the same time which will bring a struggle for survival and a real test of nerves, and the other influences.

He’s got an extended run ahead of Neptune transits which tend to lower energy and undermine ego-driven ambitions, and can also indicate underhand and deceptive tactics. He’s nerve-stretched at the moment and not thinking clearly with tr Neptune square his Sun/Uranus midpoint late April to late August. Tr Neptune squares Uranus/Node through September; and opposes his Progressed Moon over the election.

Into 2021 from late March 2021 tr Neptune squares his Moon and then his Sun, on and off till early 2023.

The June Lunar Eclipse this year will be opposition his Uranus for a shake up; and more significantly the December 23 Sagittarius Eclipse will conjunct his Moon and oppose his Sun.

A Solar Eclipse opposition a natal Sun usually brings a realisation of not always being right and needing to acquire a fresh perspective. A Solar Eclipse conjunct the Moon brings up the past and tests the foundations of life in a major way. It can bring public image under scrutiny. Robert Jansky says: ‘If society considers you a valuable person it will let you know.

 

Phyllis Schlayfly’s Mrs America – a female throwback

 

A committed anti-feminist who mobilised an army of fellow homemakers fifty years ago to campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment that would have offered women protection from discrimination has been dramatised in a Cate Blanchett FX mini-series – Mrs America. Phyllis Schlafly was no sock-knitting, apple-pie baking, stay-at-home mom, but a frustrated defence and nuclear policy expert, a mother to six children with an unsuccessful bid for Congress under her belt, who fell on the happy notion of using ‘feminine’ issues to further her political ambitions.

She had all the usual hair-raising right wing views – anti-abortion,  anti-same-sex marriage, didn’t think marital rape existed, was anti-arms control with the USSR, against WTO and globalization, criticized a Supreme Court judge for making the casting vote to abolish the death penalty for minors.

She was born 15 August 1924 11.25pm St Louis, Missouri, and had a 4th house Sun, Neptune and leadership North Node all in Leo. Her ambitious 10th house Mars in Pisces was conjunct her Moon; with Uranus in Pisces on the focal point of a wide-ish Yod to Neptune Sun sextile Saturn. Such a Uranian Yod is self-willed and fated to play a trail-blazing role as a catalyst – in this case against rather than for change. But she was definitely a power in the land.

She had Jupiter in the 7th and clearly a supportive marriage. Though what is odd is that her Sun/Moon midpoint which is the marriage significator was square her Mars – so she was hardly the submissive type, more a raging lioness.

Her husband Fred, 30 August 1909, was a Sun and Jupiter in Virgo – and their relationship chart had an argumentative composite Mercury opposition Mars; a needs-space Uranus opposition Venus and an affectionate Sun Venus conjunction.  But nothing that remotely suggests a doormat wife.

She clearly hoisted her flag up the flagpole to see what would fly – and what ensued was a piece of political opportunism which turned her into a hardened ideologue. Trump attended her funeral in 2016.

Rishi Sunak – generous to a fault up to a point

Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor, is the man of the moment, making himself popular (pro tem) by throwing money out of his chopper and spreading largesse far and wide though not always hitting the right targets.  But in the mare’s nest of clashing egos that is Westminster getting more positive coverage than the boss and other rivals for the top seat isn’t always career-friendly.

Sunak, born 12 May 1980, has an Oxford University, Stanford, Goldman Sachs background, and is a stalwart Sun Mercury in Taurus opposition Uranus squaring onto a leadership North Node in Leo; with his Sun in a sensible trine to Saturn in hard-working Virgo. His Saturn is further emphasised being on the point of a T Square to Neptune opposition Venus which can be good for meticulous work but tends to be scattered. He’s also got Jupiter Mars in Virgo – so he fits the Boris Cabinet pattern of multi-Mutable types.

He’s not as confident as he looks at the moment with a panicky, uncertain tr Neptune opposition his Saturn exactly now, and that runs on and off till late 2021. With more confusion and some dithering now and again late year; with failed plans through 2021/22. Not brilliant. Nothing that looks like a move into No 10 (without a birth time).

Both the Tory and left-wing press are sceptical about whether what he’s doing is productive – and the debt will have to be paid somewhere down the line.

His relationship chart with Boris is riddled with suspicion and doubt at the best of times and prone to tensions erupting.  The Eclipses, Solar and Lunar, are triggering various composite planets this year, especially the December Sagittarius one.

Sunak’s relationship with Michael Gove, who might fancy his chances were Boris to depart the scene, is hostile, argumentative and due for a series of upsets before the year is out.

Though his chemistry with Andrew Bailey, head of the Bank of England, is worse with more than a few red lights flashing later this month and late November, as well as stressed in 2021.

He’ll be ploughing through heavy seas with Dominic Cummings from late this August and on for two years – if both are still in situ.