Month: June 2021

The mystery of Elizabeth Short’s brutal and macabre murder in 1947 has continued to fascinate reporters and writers through the decades since, all with different theories based on flimsy evidence but held onto as “unmistakable truths” about what became known as the Black Dahlia murder. Alleged culprits range from a demented surgeon, to a lowlife serial killer burned in a fire years later, as well as George Hodel, a notorious surgeon who ran in Hollywood social circles with Man Ray, John Huston, Orson Welles who all became embroiled in wild speculation as well.

  Her death has become “an inexhaustible social phenomenon” as a French reviewer put it recently on the publication of yet another book on the subject which definitively pointed away from the Hollywood circle. But the likelihood is it will never be solved.

  Astrology will never prove one way or another about guilt of a crime though there are usually astrological crossovers between victim and perpetrator.

  She was born 29 July 1924 Boston, Massachusetts, no birth time sadly, with her father abandoning the family after the 1929 crash and faking his suicide, though he reappeared years later. She was an entertaining and adventurous Leo Sun trine Jupiter but with a stressed Mars in Pisces trine Venus, Moon, Pluto in Cancer and inconjunct her Sun. This led her into a string of relationships with difficult men. Two things stand out for me – one is her ‘leadership’ North Node in Leo conjunct Neptune, inconjunct Uranus, sextile Saturn and trine her Chiron. There’s no indication that she had the talent or resources of character to make a career for herself – though anything is possible if she had lived – but it does suggest an ability to capture the spirit of the age with her Node tied into Neptune and designed to send fantasies swirling.

 She was killed sometime around midnight on 15 January 1947 in Los Angeles when a Scorpio Moon was closely conjunct Chiron and the destructive Saturn Pluto in Leo was highlighted in aspected to Uranus, Neptune and Venus.

   The Hollywood chart itself, 1 February 1887, was under stress at that juncture with tr Pluto opposition the Sun exactly and tr Neptune in a highly strung conjunction to the Uranus. Which may have been for other reasons but would also help to stoke up conspiracy theories about which celebrities might have been involved.

  There are too many charts to cover but to take two. Orson Welles’s South Node was exactly conjunct her North Node and Neptune so her capacity to hit the zeitgeist would pull him back into his more primitive instincts. Their relationship chart was competitive and would spark arguments with a composite Sun square Mars but there was nothing much affecting it around the time of her death.

  John Huston, the film director, 5 August 1906 Nevada, Missouri, rectified by Starkman to 2.18 pm, was a Sun, North Node and Mars as well as Mercury in Leo. His Sun was conjunct her Mars so she would spark up a fiery reaction in him and her Pluto (Moon) in Cancer was conjunct his Neptune for a confusing and almost surreal connection.  Their relationship chart was a complex mix of attraction from Sun Venus, needing space from an opposition to Uranus and inclined to explode with a square to Mars. Tr Pluto was conjunct the composite Venus when she died.

  He certainly had strong and not all positive astro-connections to her but that proves very little. His relationship chart with his daughter Angelica Huston was ten times worse with a composite Mars Pluto inconjunct Saturn etc etc and she lives to tell the tale.

  I met John Huston briefly years ago and he still sticks in mind as an aggressively unpleasant and sadistic personality who loved to crush people, especially women (i.e. me) under foot. It was quite unnecessary in a fleeting social setting and one in which he knew I would hardly hurl a coffee pot at him. He was what was known long ago as ‘a man’s man’ – big game shooting, heavy drinking, womanising. His autobiography described his fifth wife as ‘a crocodile’ – and good on her. Talented as a film director but a lesser human being.

Alcoholics Anonymous has been around for 86 years with a membership of around 2 million globally which for a self-support group is not bad going. June 10 1935 is celebrated as the day of its anniversary which has a perfect T Square for its role in treating alcoholism with a focal point wounded- healer Chiron square Neptune in health-oriented Virgo opposition Saturn in Pisces. Saturn Neptune is also associated with the drive to create a better society. The Gemini Sun is also conjunct Chiron and square Saturn and Neptune. Neptune is further strengthened in effect being the driving planet of a Kite from a healing Water Grand Trine of Jupiter, trine Mercury trine Saturn. Healing and a religious undertone.

  Bob Smith, one of the co-founders, 8 August 1979, has his Neptune conjunct Chiron square his Leo Sun. The other co-founder Bill W Wilson, 26 November 1895 has his Neptune trine his Chiron; and a T Square of his Sagittarius Sun opposition Pluto square his North Node tying him into the cultural shifts of the time.

  What’s also intriguing is the AlAnon chart has its Pluto conjunct the South Node in Cancer, suggesting a compulsive pull back into the past which has to be overcome. The Capricorn North Node individual produces an initial tendency to act in an immature way, constantly seeking crutches and creating self-inflicted illnesses. Letting go is their essential learning lesson of life.   

Bad behaviour comes in many forms – verbal and otherwise. There are grovelling apologies (sort of) this week from a couple of bullies and not so much from another culprit.

On the UK political front Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski, 24 January 1972, was said to have been “repeatedly aggressive, rude and impatient” with parliamentary staff as he struggled with IT issues during the first lockdown.

 And Rob Roberts, former Tory MP, now independent after losing the whip over a sexual harassment claim, 15 October 1979, refuses to resign.

  What’s intriguing about both of them are the similarities in their charts. Both are Air Suns aspecting Pluto and Saturn and both have Mars in a Fire sign. Both have their Mercury tied into Uranus and Mars.

  Kawczynski is an Aquarius Sun in an Air Grand Trine to Pluto trine Saturn; with a short-fused Uranus opposition Mars in Aries square Mercury. Roberts is a controlling Sun Pluto in Libra semi-sextile Saturn; with Mars in Leo in an insensitive square to Venus in Scorpio, an impatient and outspoken square the Mercury and an overly excitable, irritable square to Uranus.

   Chrissy Teigen, US model and tv personality, 30 November 1985 6.10 am Delta, Utah, USA, has another set of astrological pointers. She has expressed a “crushing weight of regret for the things I’ve said in the past” as stories of her trolling a 16 year old celebrity years ago when she was 25 urging them to take their own life. Teigen currently has 13.5 million Twitter followers and 35 million on Instagram.

  She has her Sagittarius Sun conjunct Uranus on one side and Mercury, Saturn in Sagittarius on the other. While Sagittarius is known for delivering truth bombs directly they are not usually malicious. I suspect the problem in her case comes more from a 12^th house Pluto square a 3^rd house Jupiter. A 12^th house Pluto can harbour a raging storm of hidden dark feelings – jealousy, envy, greed etc – and squaring Jupiter makes her over-pushy and careless of social niceties.

  A misplaced or misused Pluto can cause huge problems giving a false sense of superiority and a pervasive urge to rain contempt on other people’s heads.

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Jackie Collins created a new genre of wildly popular romantic (sexual) fiction which sent 500 million books flying off airport stands all over the world. She was ahead of her time in writing strong female characters who fought for what they wanted in the bedroom and in their careers. Her carefully crafted shoulder-padded, over-made-up public image sold her brand. But she never threw off her inferiority complex at being the glamorous actress Joan Collins’ younger sister.

  A new documentary Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story, has been an unexpected hit at the Tribeca film festival. It outlines her early life in London with a showbusiness agent father who favoured Joan, her early failed starlet career and the runaway success of her novels from Hollywood Wives onwards. She even rescued Joan’s career when it was in the doldrums with starring roles in the movie versions of her books The Stud and The Bitch which led to Joan getting the Alexis Colby part in Dynasty.

  She was born 4 October 1937 (from birth records and sister Joan) maybe 3am (early morning), London.  Her first marriage ended because of her husband’s drug addiction and manic depression and he suicided shortly after. Her second husband, a nightclub owner, died of cancer after 18^th years; and her next long engagement also finished with her intended dying of cancer.

  She was a self-sufficient, focused New Moon in Libra with her Moon and widely Sun opposition Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries square Mars in Capricorn. That would dent her self-esteem but also give her the steely determination and self-discipline to achieve financially and in reputation. Her chart is overwhelmingly Earth with her Mars trine Venus in Virgo trine Uranus in Taurus and her Jupiter in Capricorn trine Neptune (Mercury) in Virgo trine Uranus. Her books from my recollection having had to dip into one or two for research were fairly gross in their descriptions of physical sex and were certainly focused on materialistic values. And weren’t exactly great literature to put it mildly.

  Despite the celebrity magazines pushing a sibling rivalry story about her relationship with Joan they did have a close though at times competitive relationship. They were both Air Suns which would help as to some extent would Joan’s earthy Taurus Moon.

   Their relationship chart has an emotionally intense, possessive though also jealous composite Venus, Pluto, Mercury, maybe Moon conjunction. Plus a creative and suspicious Saturn opposition Neptune and a fairly explosive Uranus opposition Mars square Sun. No surprises it blew hot and cold between them through their lives.

  Whatever one thinks about the quality and indeed content of her novels she did have an impact on the culture.   

Naftali Bennett was sworn in last night as the new Israeli prime minister at the head of an unwieldy coalition of right, centre, left and Arab-Israeli replacing Benjamin Netanyahu.

  This is just a memorandum for the future with more details in the previous post of June 3 2021.

  He was sworn in probably at 9.02pm on 13^th June . This gives an almost exact, lacklustre, indecisive Gemini Sun square Neptune; an exact contradictory, can-be-autocratic, doesn’t-practise-what-it-preaches Uranus square Saturn and a ruthless, but road-blocked and frustrated Mars (Moon) opposition Pluto. It may not last for long and will certainly limp and lurch along.

  Bennett for all his macho reputation as ex-special forces and pro-settler right winger isn’t the control-freaky power figure that Netanyahu was for the country. Netanyahu’s Pluto falls in Israeli’s 10^th in contrast to Bennett’s Moon being there. But Bennett will be a disturbing influence perhaps economically or with behind-the-scenes manoeuvring since his aggravated Saturn Mars falls in the Israel 8^th and his Pluto and Uranus in Israel’s 12^th.

  Netanyahu won’t go down without a fight given tr Pluto conjunct his Jupiter till late this November which will pump up his confidence and determination.   

Sarah Palin has popped her head above the parapet to announce she may run against Lisa Murkowksi, the Republican senator for Alaska since 2002, a Trump critic who voted for his impeachment. Others have said they’ll throw their hats into the ring as well.

  Palin has faded from view after a flurry of several years of Tea Party political activity, reality TV shows, radio and a best-selling book in the wake of her failed 2008 VP run. She endorsed Trump in 2016 and divorced her husband in 2019.  

  Born 11 February 1964 Sandpoint, Idaho, maybe 9.44pm, a month after Jeff Bezos, she’s an abrasive, chilly Sun, Mars, Saturn in Aquarius square an unrealistic, slippery or can-be-delusional Neptune; with Moon Mercury also in Aquarius. And a grandiose Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Jupiter.

   She’s facing an extraordinarily difficult four years ahead with Neptunian confidence-dents to midpoints this year; then an agitated, nerve-stretched tr Uranus opposition to her Neptune in 2022, alongside tr Saturn moving across her Aquarius Sun, Mars, Saturn into 2023 as well. Then in 2023/24 she catches the tr Uranus square her Sun, Mars, Saturn which will be explosive, insecure and high tension. Plus in 2024 another disappointing Neptune hard aspect to one of her Jupiter midpoints across the election.

  I’d doubt she’s going anywhere politically.

Murkowski looks confident enough through this year and next, with tr Pluto conjunct her Sun/Jupiter midpoint till December 2022; with another Jupiterian uplift around the midterms as well as a couple of sinkers. She may be OK.

Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark and an online auction winner are aiming to go into space for 11 minutes on July 20th on the first crewed flight of New Shepard, a spacecraft system designed to take ticket holders on brief joy rides to space. The fully autonomous suborbital rocket is unlike Moon craft since it won’t circle the earth or float in space. It will go 62 miles above Earth, at 17,000 miles per hour, and will hit three times the speed of sound until the rocket expends most of its fuel. The crew capsule will then separate from the rocket and hover momentarily until it hurtles back down toward the ground.

  It’s lower risk than an orbital flight where re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere has to withstand 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit and 4.5 Gs of force. This won’t be as hot or as fast but clearly there are dangers. Earth’s atmosphere is not survivable above altitudes of 50,000 feet without a spacesuit, and Bezos will be traveling up to 350,000 feet. But the capsule will be pressurized, with access to oxygen if the cabin loses pressure. There are also safety features to help the capsule land gently even if a couple of its parachutes fail to deploy. One of Virgin Galactic’s suborbital space planes broke apart in 2014 killing one of the pilots.

  Bezos, 12 January 1964, no verified birth time, is an ambitious Sun Mars in Capricorn with his Sun trine Pluto and sextile Neptune as well as widely square Jupiter in pro-active Aries. He’s also got a Yod of Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Jupiter giving him super-confidence and more than a hint of arrogance or at least overly grandiose ambitions.

  Obviously nerves will be stretched if the trip goes ahead even though the Blue Origin craft have tested safely for a decade and that tension will reflect on the individual charts. What might give me pause for concern in his case is tr Pluto conjunct his Sun/Mars midpoint which is brutal, ruthless, accident-prone, damaging; and tr Saturn approaching less than a degree away from an exact conjunction to his Mars/Saturn midpoint which is also accident-prone.

His brother Mark, 17 May 1968 (net sources) a Sun Taurus trine Uranus Pluto and opposition Neptune, also, not surprisingly, looks stressed, over such a landmark experience, no matter how eagerly he anticipates it. His midpoints are nervy and aggravated.

Edward de Bono, a self-styled genius who invented the term lateral thinking, has died. His 60 plus books and relentless stream of out-of-the-box ideas brought riches and withering criticism. One reviewer said he had “the great salesman’s gift of being fluent in the international language of gibberish. If his life and career teach us anything, it is that no one ever lost money blowing his own trumpet.” Another commentator rejected lateral thinking as “founded on nifty puzzles, a storehouse of anecdotes, an abundance of imperial generalities and no end of clunking analogies and neologisms”.

 One of his most quoted treasures was that Marmite could be a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict since the Middle Eastern unleavened bread lacked zinc which makes them irritable and belligerent. Feeding them Marmite would help create peace.

 Although he did have his supporters. Richard Branson called him “an inspiring man with brilliant ideas”. And he wasn’t wrong about education – “Schools waste two-thirds of the talent in society. The universities sterilise the rest,” he said.

  Born 19 May 1933 3am (biography) Valetta, Malta, he was inventive from an early age, took medical degrees in adult life while writing down his gems of wisdom as a second-string activity. His books eventually made him enough money to stop practising and he became rich with homes in London, Norfolk, Venice, Ireland, Malta and the Bahamas.

   He was a Sun Taurus – on this birth time in the financial 2^nd which would make sense; with an innovative, status-quo-upsetting Uranus in the 1^st square Pluto.

  What is intriguing about his not-very-interesting chart is his Neptune, Mars, Jupiter in Virgo which was shared with F Lee Bailey, the flamboyant lawyer and court bamboozler (see post below) and Joan Collins amongst others. Mars Jupiter is spilling over with energy and enthusiasm, is risk-taking, can lead to a might-makes-right approach and produces a campaigning, crusading spirit. Add Neptune into the mix and it becomes publicity-seeking as well as a dream-spinner.  He did have a scientifically inclined Saturn in Aquarius which would add a veneer of respectability to his theories.

 His global-renown 22^nd harmonic was strong; as was his get-it-together 5^th though it had a distinctly unique bent; and his breakthrough/exploration 13H.

Lindsey Buckingham, best known as lead guitarist and singer with Fleetwood Mac through its glory days, has announced a new solo album along with the news that he is divorcing his wife of 21 years Kristin Messner. Amidst tales of rolling melodrama and conflict he and Stevie Nicks, his romantic and musical partner of the time, raised the band to global heights in the 1970s/80s and after a decade’s break he returned in 1997 only to be fired in 2018. Rock n’ roll took its toll and he had open heart surgery in 2019.

  He was born 3 October 1949 1.53 am Palo Alto, California and has a Libra Sun, Mercury and Neptune which sounds easy-going enough. Except that his Sun is in a rebellious square to Uranus. He also has a high-octane, steamroller Mars Pluto in Leo square Venus in Scorpio which will make for super-intense emotional reactions. His 7^th house Aquarius Moon is the exact opposite, making him an odd mix of dependent and emotionally detached. A creature of opposites.

  His singing partnership with Stevie Nicks which was superlatively successful is intriguing astrologically since his megaton Mars Pluto was conjunct her Saturn Pluto in her 5^th which is some combination. With his Jupiter falling in her career 10^th boosting her chances of making it. And her Jupiter falls in his performing 5^th house.

   Although her Gemini Sun fits his Libra Sun and her Venus in Cancer was semi-OK with his watery Venus in Scorpio, it would be a tearing-flesh kind of connection, which eventually became too much to bear.

   His about-to-be-ex-wife Kristin Messner, a former photographer, does have her Pisces Sun and Mercury in his 7^th house which is a good crossover and her Venus in Pisces in his 8^th for a deep connection. Her Jupiter hovers around his IC which would be supportive at a family and domestic level. Though her Uranus conjunct his Sun would bring a few tensions and her Mercury opposition his Mars Pluto some bitter arguments. She has a powerfully determined Yod of Mars sextile Mercury inconjunct her Pluto so she would be a match for him.

  Their relationship chart is a mix of supportive, adventurous, affectionate and strained. The composite Sun, Mercury, Jupiter opposes Mars and trines Uranus which looks fun. The Moon probably conjunct Venus is comforting. But the Yod of Mars sextile Uranus inconjunct Venus would bring emotional tensions.

  Lindsey’s Sun/Moon midpoint at 19 Sagittarius has been catching the transiting Neptune square in the past two years; and Kristin’s Sun/Moon in the last decan of Capricorn will have suffered from the tr Uranus square tr Pluto of the past few years. And their relationship chart has had tr Neptune undermining the Jupiter, Mercury and Mars, as well as tr Pluto square tr Uranus hitting on the Venus in recent years.

  At the moment he has both Pluto and Saturn moving through his 6^th house of health – tr Pluto had just moved in when he had heart surgery in early 2019 – so he will need to be cautious but if all is well then Saturn is heading in the right direction in terms of career for a few years ahead. Jupiter will also bring more money his way through 2022, moving through his 8^th and a good year success-wise in 2024.

Pic: Raph_PH