Month: March 2022

Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State said yesterday that NATO members have the go-ahead to send fighter jets to Ukraine. “That gets a green-light,” he said in an interview with “Face the Nation” when asked whether the Polish government, a member of NATO, could send fighter planes to Ukraine. And the US is in discussions to “backfill the planes that are handed over” if Poland decides on such a transfer.

  Blinken, born 16 April 1962 with an unverified time of 2.56 am New York, has an extensive background in National Security and State Department having held senior positions over the past two decades under Bush, Clinton and Obama and he worked on Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. He supported the Iraq invasion, supported military intervention in Libya and weapons to Syrian rebels, and voiced support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.

   He has a go-ahead Aries Sun Mercury in an innovative trine to Uranus; with a confident Jupiter in Pisces opposition Pluto  (and Moon) in Virgo. And has a charming, diplomatic Venus in Taurus (maybe in the 3^rd house) opposition Neptune square Saturn in Aquarius – he’s enduring, good executive material, doesn’t give way easily, doesn’t like sharing the driving seat, can be a tower of strength for others, though irritatingly stubborn at times. His Mars in Pisces is sparsely aspected being only quincunx Uranus. An unaspected Mars  tends to be uncompromising and has a non-stop-go approach to life. Though it will be mellowed being in Pisces with his Saturn square Neptune also adding a softening layer.

  He’s not that easy a mix with Joe Biden since his Saturn in Aquarius square Neptune clashes with and at times undercuts Biden’s Mars in Scorpio square Pluto. His Mars also opposes Biden’s 10^th house Neptune and his Pluto squares Biden’s Saturn Uranus. But his Moon may be conjunct Biden’s midheaven and his Sun is close to Biden’s Moon – both of which will help.

  Their relationship chart has a lucky, supportive composite Sun square Jupiter which will smooth a few rough edges; and a close-friendship Venus opposition Pluto. But there’s also a volatile, argumentative composite Mars opposition Uranus in a not-entirely in-agreement square to Neptune and a high-tension square to Saturn on the other side. There will be an underlying ego-clash where one winning will feel like the other losing.  So while it has its good points, it’s a fraught connection. Where it starts to get rocky is after mid 2023 when the Biden Admin chart indicates major trouble brewing.

  If Blinken’s birth time is accurate (and it is only on one Astro-site), then one of his assertive/aggressive Mars lines runs through Ukraine, another through Moscow and a third through Beijing.

  He’s not surprisingly on edge this year with his Fixed T Square of Neptune, Venus and Saturn being jangled by tr Uranus at the moment and into early 2023; and from May 2023 tr Neptune is conjunct his Mars for a sinking sense of failure running into 2024. Though 2023/24 will also bring luck and success – so mixed blessings. That need not necessarily reflect global events. He could, for instance, not stay through the Biden term and disappear into a lucrative private sector job. There are many possible scenarios. And with his Solar Arc Uranus opposing his Sun by late 2023; and the Venus Pluto on his relationship chart with Biden also being turned upside down by tr Uranus in square he could be facing a significant life change.

Shane Warne, the Australian cricketer considered as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport’s history, who lived in the fast lane, has died at the young age of 52 of a heart attack.

 His friend Piers Morgan described him as a “hyperactive Labrador” and a “complete one-off, a blond-haired blokey bundle of restless, mischievous, ferociously competitive, massive-hearted, cigar-chomping, pizza-loving, larrikin fun.” Warne himself admitted he never really grew up, always aiming for fun, drinking vodka Red Bulls, smoking, partying endlessly, while running a multi-million business as an international commentator, entrepreneur and professional poker player – and collector of property and a fleet of expensive cars.

 He retired from international cricket in 2007 after a starry sporting career which was also marked by scandals off field – testing positive for a prohibited substance, accepting money from bookmakers and sexual indiscretions. For all his flaws he appeared to be a loving father to his three children, a caring son to his parents, and a loyal generous friend.

 He died after going on a 14 day ‘extreme’ liquid-only diet in an attempt to crash diet. A friend said he was  ‘a bit all or nothing. It was either white buns with butter and lasagne stuffed in the middle, or he would be having black and green juices.,’ His family reportedly told authorities he was suffering health problems before travelling, including troubles with his asthma and chest pains.

  He was born 13 September 1969 Sydney, Australia (no birth time) and had a super-intense and driven Sun Pluto conjunction in Virgo conjunct the South Node square Mars in sporting Sagittarius. A turbo-charged Mars in a Mutable sign makes for a high-wire temperament, extreme restlessness, and a risk of burnout if rest and recharge periods aren’t scheduled in. He also had an adventurous and lucky Uranus Jupiter in Libra probably conjunct a Libra Moon with a flamboyant Venus in Leo.

  If his birth time was around 11 pm, it would put Jupiter on his Midheaven at the moment, oddly common when public figures die. It would put Jupiter in his sporting 5^th and house of children; an uncommitted Neptune on his Descendant and his revved-up Mars in his financial 8^th. It’s feasible.

  He had been slumping under tr Neptune opposition his Sun last year, now opposing the Sun/Pluto midpoint and moving rapidly next month to oppose his Pluto – under-cutting the demons which drove him to keep up an all-or-nothing, frantic lifestyle.

  He hooked up with Liz Hurley, 10 June 1965, for two years before splitting in 2013. She is also hyper-active with her Sun, Mercury, North Node, Jupiter in Gemini square Uranus, Pluto, Mars in Virgo so it was too much to expect that two jitterbugs would survive together long term. His Sun Pluto square Mars collides with her Gemini/Virgo planets for an initially heady mix that would rapidly turn to aggravation. His Venus was square her Neptune and her Venus square his Uranus – so emotional needs would be mismatched as well.

   However their relationship chart does have an affectionate and mutually supportive composite Sun conjunct Venus and Sun conjunct Jupiter, so it survived in later years as a strong friendship.   

Kenneth Branagh, the multi-talented actor and filmmaker is basking in the warmth of the reception for his semi-autobiographical film Belfast which dominated the awards scene last year, earning eight Oscar nominations amongst others. From unlikely beginnings he has had a richly diverse career, being hailed as the “new Laurence Olivier”, ranging from Shakespeare, behind and in front of camera, to Agatha Christie, with a few failures along the way – “Henry V”, “Dead Again”, “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”, “Hamlet”, “Love’s Labour’s Lost”, “Warm Springs”, “Wallander”, “Thor”, “Cinderella” , “Murder on the Orient Express”.

 His obsessively workaholic tendencies did not improve the chances of his first marriage to Emma Thompson but he seems settled now with a film art director.

 He was born 10 December 1960 4.50pm (biography) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, into a working class Protestant family, which moved to England when he was 10 to avoid the Troubles. He acquired a received pronunciation non-accent to avoid being bullied at school and started acting young.  

  The film Belfast was inspired by his early childhood during the Troubles which is reflected in his chart with an unsettled Uranus on his IC just into his 4^th house of home and childhood roots with a high-tension, scary Pluto Moon North Node also in his 4^th. He has a Sagittarius Sun in the workaholic 6^th house which is in an innovative trine to Uranus. His creative and filmic Neptune sits in his performing 5^th house on the focal point of a mini Grand Trine of Pluto in a confident trine to a 7th house Jupiter in Capricorn – he’s practical as well as imaginative. His Jupiter is conjunct Saturn in Capricorn in is 7^th in a hard-edged opposition Mars in Cancer which will make him a hard taskmaster of himself as well as others. 

  He’s also got an intense Venus in Aquarius in the 8^th which isn’t heavily aspected, which will accentuate his obsessive, single-minded streak. It’s his only Air planet which is surprising in a way for someone who has worked in a fairly intellectual arena.

  His get-it-together 5^th harmonic is strong as is his creative 7H. His enduring and influential 11^th and 22^nd harmonic are marked as is his leaving-a-legacy 17H.

  He is a formidable talent who has cut swathes through a chaotic business and coped with the lows as well as the highs.

   He picked up the highly successful tr Jupiter through his 10^th from April 2021 which showered him with awards and it continues on till May 2023. Tr Saturn is also hovering above his Midheaven exactly now starting a decade of a peak as it moves through his upper quadrant. He’ll be working extra hard, consolidating his reputation and not disappearing into retirement any time soon.

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The unintended consequence of Putin’s ill-judged and barbaric attack on Ukraine has been to unify the EU and strengthen NATO. Finland and Sweden, both EU members, are now inclining towards NATO membership in the face of naked aggression from the east. Both are in the EU and already Enhanced Opportunity Partners in NATO. Because of the sophistication of their militaries, the stability of their democratic political systems, they would easily be accepted as full members. Their critical geography is likely to raise red flags with Russia if they were to reverse their non-alignment status.

  Though if Russia was to invade either at the moment, it would also trigger the EU’s mutual defence clause for members who are a “victim of armed aggression on its territory”. The other 27 member states would step in to defend them and engage Russian forces directly. This also extends to other EU eastern countries like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, who are in addition NATO members.

  Finland’s independence chart of 6 December 1917 3pm Helsinki has a Sagittarius Sun which caught last December’s Solar Eclipse challenging them to make key crises decisions and to institute significant changes. Their Saturn at 14 Leo will catch the tr Uranus square from late this April into early May, returning in January 2023, which will bring a series of considerable jolts and tensions into the open  – and tr Uranus then moves on to conjunct the Saturn/Uranus midpoint at 17 degrees from mid June with the same result. These are degrees showing up as critical on several of the related charts so it will be a turbulent time ahead. Into 2023 tr Pluto will conjunct the Finland Venus, on and off till late 2024, bringing an emotionally and financially challenging time.

  The last time there was a Finnish-Russian War, 30 November 1939, Uranus was at 19 Taurus, but there was also Pluto just into Leo about to be squared by Saturn – so not entirely similar.

  The Sweden 7 December 1865 3.30pm Stockholm chart, also has a Sagittarius Sun and Mars, both rattled by the last December Solar Eclipse, covering these months up to May. Their Pluto at 12 Taurus square the Leo Moon at 17 degrees will be rattled and jolted by tr Uranus in hard aspect, starting in a few days with tr Uranus conjunct the Sweden Pluto and in June square the Moon – repeating on into early 2023. The Swedish population are likely to be upset and reactive since the Moon is 4th house. If anything mid 2023 onwards for a year looks even riskier and more violence- or accident-prone.

  Finnish President Sauli Ninisto’s 2^nd Term chart, 1 February 2018, with an Aquarius Sun Venus at 12/18 degrees and North Node at 14 Leo will be shaken up – and in an all-systems-change phase from the middle of this month onwards.

  Swedish PM Magdalena Andersson’s Admin chart, 30 November 2021, has a Sagittarius Sun conjunct Mercury, again in the line of fire from the recent Solar Eclipse; and has a stalwart Mars in Scorpio trine Neptune, sextile Pluto Venus in Capricorn.  That chart picks up a worrisome, high-risk and calamitous tr Neptune square the Mars/Pluto midpoint from March 19^th (now); and another swampy, not-progressive Neptune conjunction to the Saturn/Uranus midpoint from late May onwards. Plus plus – and these less than helpful influences roll on into 2023. She looks in a meltdown panic.

  It isn’t possible to extrapolate exactly what these influences relate to – pandemic recovery, Russia’s psychopath, economic pressures, domestic crime or whatever.  But the likelihood is that the Ukraine situation is likely to drag on.  

There will be clues in the 2022 eclipses about which countries are likely to be in the spotlight of global events. Last November’s Lunar Eclipse, in effect for the six months after, had an explosive, vindictive, military Mars in Scorpio opposition Uranus square Saturn. Mars fell across the Midheaven located to Ukraine; the Full Moon sat conjunct the IC/MC for Moscow.

  Lunar Eclipses are often stronger in effect than the Solars and places where planets sit close to the axis are generally most affected. That Eclipse had a sobering, cautious Saturn in the Midheaven for Beijing and a trapped, paralysed Pluto in the IC for Washington.

 The upcoming 30 April 2022 Solar Eclipse is at 10 Taurus conjunct Uranus; with a Pluto trine Taurus North Node sextile Jupiter Venus in Pisces; and the North Node opposition South Node square Saturn in Aquarius.  Its geographical signatures aren’t that interesting. Although the Uranus at 14 degrees Taurus is pointed up as a disruptive degree on various of the eastern European and other associated charts. It will create sudden crises in Russia as it hits key planets on the 1990 (Pluto Venus) and Russia 1917 (Scorpio Sun) charts. See post below Russia feeling the cold wind.

 The 16 May 2022 Total Lunar Eclipse looks a good deal more powerful. It has a 25 degree Scorpio Moon opposition Taurus Sun and North Node square Saturn and the Full Moon is in a Half Grand Sextile to Pluto sextile Mars Neptune – cold, unpleasant, forceful and duplicitous. Located to Kyiv, Ukraine puts Saturn exactly (to the minute of a degree) conjunct the  Midheaven, which suggest adjusting to a hard reality under the can-be-domineering Saturn in Aquarius. Beijing has the Sun in the Midheaven suggesting it may enter the fray more visibly. Iran has has the aggressive Mars on the Midheaven.

  The 25 October 2022 Solar Eclipse at 2 Scorpio conjunct Venus is riddled with strained quincunxes of Pluto inconjunct Mars; Mercury to Neptune and Jupiter to New Moon – nothing will fit together easily. Ukraine has an unsettled Uranus on the IC with Pluto just below the Ascendant; Washington, DC for both the late Eclipses like last year has Pluto Saturn in the IC suggesting an inability to make progress or get a grip.

  The 8 November 2022 Lunar Eclipse at 16 Taurus conjunct Uranus squares onto Saturn which is the final hit of the irritable, high-tension theme of 2021/22 which Andre Barbault related (amongst other things) to authoritarian power.  It puts the assertive/aggressive Mars on the Ascendant for Beijing, and a resolute, unyielding Pluto Saturn on the Ascendant for Moscow; and Pluto Ascendant for Ukraine.  

  To summarise from a blizzard of charts and figures – it doesn’t look to be easing up for eastern Europe and eastwards; with China stepping more into centre frame.  

The Russian attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest, caused fears of a Fukushima-style meltdown. Flames were eventually doused but it sent shivers of fear through Europe, with President Zelensky accusing Putin of resorting to ‘nuclear terror’.

 The Fukushima disaster on 11 March 2011 2.46pm occurred as a result of an earthquake and tsunami which shut off emergency generators at the nuclear plant allowing the core to overheat, which led to three nuclear meltdowns, three hydrogen explosions, and the release of radioactive contamination. Tens of thousands of local residents were evacuated but there seems to have been little health damage in the aftermath.

  It occurred with an afflicted Pluto on the point of a T Square to a Jupiter in Aries opposition Saturn; with Uranus square the North Node which was widely conjunct Pluto.

  The midpoints were stark with Uranus and the North Node in exact aspect to the accident-prone Mars/Saturn midpoint and Pluto conjunct the high-tension, can-be-violent Saturn/Uranus midpoint.

  The worst nuclear accident ever was at Chernobyl 26 April 1986 1.23am Priputni, Ukraine, when an equipment failure led to an open-air reactor core fire, releasing airborne radioactive contamination for about nine days over parts of the USSR and Western Europe. 70% of fallout landed in Belarus. According to wiki, health effects to the general population are uncertain. The most robust studies predict 4,000 fatalities in the three most contaminated former Soviet states, to about 9,000 to 16,000 fatalities for the whole of Europe. Nuclear clean-up is scheduled for completion in 2065.

  It occurred with an emphasized/afflicted Pluto in Scorpio opposition a Taurus Sun and Aries North Node, sextile/trine Neptune. Again the midpoints are stark with Saturn conjunct the destructive Mars/Pluto midpoint and Uranus conjunct the neurotic Saturn/Neptune midpoint.

  Of these two accident charts, the similarities lie in the over powering strength of Pluto conjunct either the North or South Node.  

 The Hiroshima bomb, 6 August 1945 8.15am, along with the Nagasaki bomb three days later, was the only war-time deliberate use in armed conflict, resulting in around 400,000 deaths  immediately and in the months afterwards, though there is surprisingly little evidence of long term effects in birth defects etc.

 Pluto in Leo was on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine to an attention-grabbing Mars trine Neptune; with Mars in an explosive conjunct to Uranus and Pluto conjunct the Sun. Neptune was on the point of a T square to the North South Node opposition. The midpoints were again stark with the brutal Mars/Pluto and Mars/Saturn midpoints highlighted – as well as Pluto sitting on the Uranus/Neptune midpoint which did point to an immense catastrophe and according to Ebertin ‘the necessity to give in.’ As Japan surrendered as a result.

  There is nothing too similar coming up in the near future of any of the above.  

  I’ve always associated – or read somewhere – that the initial Hiroshima/nuclear bomb is tied into Pluto in Leo which would make sense of the ‘light of a thousand suns.’ Wholesale catastrophes causing widescale deaths and utter devastation – such as earthquakes, tsunamis – often have Pluto Neptune hard aspects or midpoints, with Uranus often thrown in to top up the disruption.

  A small aside – the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004 occurred with the North Node in final degree Aries, as it cycled back to its position on the Chernobyl meltdown. Which it returns to again in mid 2023. It was around previously in September 1967, a time of Vietnam War and race riots in the US. Before that January 1949 when the Communist Party moved into Beijing.

  That is worrisome.  More to add to the general seismic shift in 2023. Though tr Pluto will be sextile from Aquarius and not in hard aspect as it was for Chernobyl.   

The massive cost of disengaging from Russia’s stranglehold over Europe’s gas supplies may be a partial explanation for the hefty financial crunch flagged up on many central bank charts as Pluto moves into Aquarius in 2023.

See post September 11 2021.

 Germany gets 55 per cent of its gas, 45 per cent of its coal and 40 per cent of its oil from Russia. Belgium, France, the Netherlands import less than 10% natural gas; Spain and Portugal none. Italy 40%. Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, 60%, Poland, 80%. Bulgaria all. With reserves in place, most states would likely make it to autumn of 2022 without severe shortages. But the price, already up by 60% on the Ukraine invasion, would go through the roof. Post-COVID-19 economic recoveries will be derailed. It will be far more difficult to run the European economy for several years without Russian gas.

  The much lauded Angela Merkel has seen her legacy tarnished as her softly softly approach to Putin over Nordstrom, closing nuclear power stations and keeping defence costs down has blown up in her face.

  The new chancellor Olaf Scholz has, much to general surprise, transformed German policy in just a week, increasing Germany’s  defence budget by €100 billion, finally meeting Nato’s 2 per cent spending target; and beginning to tackle a revamp of the energy policy.

  The explosive jolt showing on the Germany 1 January 1871 chart from mid June this year as tr Uranus is conjunct the 8^th house financial Pluto (for the first time since 1939) is beginning to make sense. It runs on and off into early 2023. With tr Pluto in a frustrating, trapped trine to the Germany Mars picking up from March 2023 till late 2024.  Like the UK and the EU chart it has tr Uranus bringing a roller coaster economic ride as it moves through the 8^th house for another several years.

  The Bundesbank (Central Bank) 26 July 1957, will hit a crossroads from late this May as tr Uranus  is conjunct its South Node, throwing up, though 2023/24 is when it moves into confused and paralysed state with tr Pluto square the Neptune and tr Uranus in a ‘shocking’ insecure square to the Mars.

  Olaf Scholz was sworn in on 8 December 2021 at 10.55am which puts a redoubtable Mars in Scorpio conjunct the Midheaven sextile Pluto Venus and trine Neptune, so there’s no doubting his determination. But the 2^nd house Neptune square Sun Mercury hints at financial disappointments and indecision. His own personal chart, 14 June 1958, has tr Neptune square the Gemini Sun and Saturn in Sagittarius now, and running till the year end, so a confused, undermining year.

  Relocating Angela Merkel’s chart to Moscow buries her resolute Pluto trine Mars in the ‘trapped’ 8^th and less-assertive 12^th houses; and puts her hopeful Jupiter in the 7^th. The Midheaven of that relocated chart will receive a serious jolt from late May onwards.

 Gerhard Schröder, former Germany chancellor, even more complicit, sits on the boards of Russia’s state-owned energy companies, Rosneft and Gazprom. He once called Putin a “flawless democrat”; while the  Wall Street Journal called him “a luxury-loving, paid-up, swaggering instrument of Vladimir Putin.”  He signed the signed the original Nord Stream deal to supply Russian gas to Germany just before he departed office in 2005 and then swiftly accepted Gazprom’s nomination to head up the shareholder’s committee of Nord Stream AG. His chart located to Moscow has puts his Aries Sun in the speculative 5^th and Venus in his 4^th, hinting he’d be relaxed about living there (in luxury). The midheaven of his relocated chart is catching the dissolving tr Neptune square at the moment.

  Marine Le Pen, the French far-right candidate, another Putin apologist has Venus on her Midheaven and Jupiter in her 10^th located to Moscow suggesting her career has benefited from her Russia connection.

 Boris Johnson is similarly at ease in the Moscow mood with his sociable Sun Venus in Gemini on his Descendant there, and a relaxed, indulgent Jupiter in his 4^th. However it also puts his Scorpio Moon conjunct his relocated Midheaven and Neptune in his 10^th being rattled from this mid May onwards. He’s coming under increasing pressure to speed up sanctions on his erstwhile buddies, tennis cronies and Tory Party donors amongst the Russia oligarchs.

Belarus, under the thumb of steadfast Putin ally, the authoritarian Alexander Lukashenko, has sent troops into northern Ukraine. Belarus has recently been used as a staging post by Russian forces, but now appears to have moved towards becoming an explicit participant in the war. And has taken steps to open the way for a possible deployment of Russian nuclear weapons from Belarus. The EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said Lukashenko was allowing his country to become a Russian satellite state.

 The modern Belarus chart, 25 August 1991 6pm Minsk has a souped-up Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct Mars now suggesting an overdose of confidence which will rapidly run into a sinkhole of panicky failure from mid May onwards as tr Neptune opposes both the Mars and the Jupiter, suggesting the outcome will be the opposite of what Lukashenko hopes. Mid June has the Belarus Pluto catching the tr Uranus opposition Pluto at 17 degrees Scorpio which echoes through many of the charts so will be a time of significant upheaval.

  Lukashenko took over as president on 20 July 1994 and has been there ever since. That chart is under immense pressure this year with tr Pluto opposition the Cancer Sun and next. From 2023 onwards not only is it looking road-blocked, it will become less stable thereafter.

  Even more obvious is his 6^th term chart, 23 September 2020, (after flawed elections) which looks to be facing gigantic setbacks now or soon; and will be immensely frustrated and trapped August to November this year with tr Pluto square the Mars.

  His personal chart, 30 August 1954, is picking up a catastrophic, high-risk, angry and blocked tr Pluto square the Mars/Pluto midpoint from before mid March onwards and that runs on and off till late 2023. If anything his 2023 looks even worse – devastated, confused, unable to cope.   

Maybe just maybe Pluto in Capricorn is intending to clear the boards of despots before it exits.

“One-in-a-thousand-year” floods are engulfing parts of Australia’s southeast coast. More than 40,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes and another 300,000 warned to prepare to flee. The intense rain storms, which have so far killed nine people with more feared dead, are expected to hit Sydney in the early hours of Wednesday.

  Australia appears to lurch from one climate disaster to the next with recent catastrophic wildfires being unprecedented in their scale and intensity, scorching millions of hectares and killing or displaced an estimated 3 billion animals, and sending vast amounts of carbon dioxide and smoke plumes into the atmosphere.

  At the moment the tr Pluto Mars Venus conjunction are sitting on the Australia Midheaven (on a 1.35pm start time) which is a massive hit.

The December 2021 Total Solar Eclipse had a vengeful Mars on the Descendant for Sydney trine a 10^th house Neptune, sextile Pluto Venus in Capricorn. With the Sagittarius New Moon falling close to the AU Venus and Uranus which would presage a crisis of more than unusually large proportions.

The November 2021 Lunar Eclipse has Neptune closer to the Midheaven for Sydney – as well as the volatile, high-tension, unstable Uranus opposition Mars square Saturn which is being rattled now till late April.

  That late 2021 Lunar Eclipse is affecting more than Ukraine.