Month: August 2023

The Moon’s Nodes carry a theme that is echoed throughout a birth chart as if they encapsulated the fundamentals of the personality – its learning lessons and possibilities. The theory is well enough known of the South Node representing the pull from the past into what is comfortable and familiar – the line of least resistance. The North Node is the unfamiliar, the challenge that must be met in order to develop as a personality. What is not always recognized is how often individuals never rise to the test and exit this lifetime in much the same way they entered, clinging in to their South Node.

  The house position will be important as well as the sign so the North Node will be lived out in the life arena ruled by that house. Remember also that the signs and indeed houses have a spectrum of meaning, positive and negative,

   Although there probably is a need to find a way of integrating the South Node energies in evolved form as well as activating the unfamiliar North Node, it should not take precedence. Many/most don’t ever make the effort to move away from the South Node. Celebrities and politicians are not a good guide for most people struggling to lead a productive life – and many of them don’t reach out for the transformation involved which is why examples below may look negative. But it is instructive to see the groupings.

  On a personal note I recollect Howard Sasportas saying he was offended when he read Martin Shulman’s book on Nodes since he said ‘nasty things’ about his South Node (in Scorpio) – and I must admit I winced when I first read it – Capricorn South Node – and it took me a while to get over my defensiveness to grasp that much of what he said made sense. It may be the Second Nodal Return at age 37 which is the pivotal one for reaching out for the North Node.

ARIES North Node and North Node in 1^st house  – needs to learn to build up a strong individual identity, be independent or take the lead and not be constantly trying to please others by sliding back into the Libra South Node. Rupert Murdoch certainly has developed his leadership traits though perhaps his obsession with finding another half even at 90 can be laid down to his regressive tendencies.

TAURUS North Node and North Node in 2^nd house – one of the trickier Nodes which tends to bring a turbulent and tumultuous life with much intensity of feeling. Can smile sweetly but be plotting and planning behind the scenes. Dislikes taking advice. Tendency to be vengeful and lash back at perceived threats. Pulling away from the Scorpio South Node’s inclination to become embroiled in sexual or financial entanglements and reaching out for Taurus’s earthy stability is the way to go.   Schulman remarks ”will make much growth when able to see the actions of others as reflections of own subconscious.”   Sinead O’Connor, Prince Harry, Stephen King, Clarence Thomas all live out differing versions of this Node. King Charles may have overcome much of the storminess by developing his love of gardening and nature.

Gemini North Node and North Node in 3^rd house – needing to pull away from wildness, constant rush, irresponsibility and free spiritedness of the Sagittarius South Node, and learn to listen to others. “Bull in a china shop” Schulman calls it. Donald Trump, Bashar Assad, Mark Zuckerburg, Harold Shipman (serial killing doctor).  Needing to understand that communication is a two way process. Interacting with others is a challenge.

Cancer North Node and North Node in 4^th house – their Achilles Heel is pride, an obsession with status, extravagance, an overly materialistic outlook, resistance to advice, opportunistic, unable to admit when wrong (Capricorn South Node). Learning to give to others rather than taking.  Boris Johnson, Rudi Giuliani. Michelle Obama is one who has transitioned into the feeding hands.

Leo North Node and North Node in the 5^th house – no shortage of those in showbusiness. Tom Cruise, Jerry Springer, Meghan Markle. Can be a dreamer, head-in the-clouds type, leadership potential though tendency to be overly scattered and at times not good at moderation. Needs to learn to stand alone.

Virgo North Node and North Node in the 6^th house – need to learn not to allow suffering to drain strength and avoid sliding back into Piscean daydreaming and escapism. A life of service will bring fulfilment where playing the victim won’t. Interestingly physicist Stephen Hawking and actor Michael Fox, with incapacitating Lou Gehrig’s disease and Parkinson’s respectively have this Node, as does UK former politician Jonathan Aitken who had tuberculosis which left him an inpatient for three years from 4 to 7. And Joe Biden has not had his sorrows to seek on the family front.

Libra North Node and North Node in the 7^th – needing to learn how to cooperate by truly understanding another’s needs, caring and relating. Forging a successful one-to-one relationship is the key to their development and overcoming a dislike of being dependent.  Luis Robiales, Kevin Spacey, Emmanuel Macron, Madonna, Sarah Ferguson, Princess Charlene, Raquel Welch (four short-lived marriages), John Cleese, David Koresh (WACO cult leader). Falling back on their impatient, restless Aries South Node, they prefer to lead rather than share and are edgy about having their free expression restricted for the sake of togetherness. Tina Turner found her other half after years of struggle so might be deemed a nodal success.

Scorpio North Node and North Node in the 8^th – Prince Albert (Monaco), Asma Assad (Syria), Patricia Highsmith (crime novelist). A tendency to slide back into Taurus’s indulgence and acquisitiveness for possessions and money. Sexuality and self-control will be issues for some. Transformation comes at quite a price of letting go everything that was once deemed valuable. Unlikely in the case of Albert or Mrs Assad. Wrestling with the darkness in life will be the way to the light.

Sagittarius North Node and North Node in the 9^th –  needing to learn loyalty and commitment, not swing around leaving all options open, and be constantly scattering attention in too many directions.  Travel will bring enlightenment and detachment from the trivia of everyday life. Learning faith and finding a belief system that holds will help. Silvio Berlusconi, Pablo Picasso, Noel Coward, actress Sarah Bernhardt, Bill Cosby.

Capricorn North Node and North Node in the 10^th –  emotional entanglements within the family tend to bring a childish naivety which must be fought against. Taking responsibility and growing up are key issues and not being distracted by the pull of the past.  Yearning for the support of early childhood gets in the way of development. Learning to let go is vital. John F Kennedy, Oprah Winfrey, Dalai Lama, Angela Merkel.  

Aquarius North Node or North Node in the 11^th – learning detachment from the Leo South Node’s ego-centred outlook and pride is crucial. A romantic dreamer can with effort come to realise that friendship offers more than a fleeting passion. Dedicating energy to a cause that benefits humanity is the road to fulfilment. Elvis Presley, Taylor Swift, Elon Musk

PISCES North Node and North Node in the 12^th house – oddly enough both Melanie Trump and Jill Biden as well as  Nicola Sturgeon have a Pisces North Node. Can be self-pitying and feel unappreciated. Tendency to be manipulative, being too stuck in practicalities, learning faith is vital and letting go.

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Royal watchers are perplexed by Prince Andrew’s rehabilitation into the family as he attended a church service along with the Royal tribe.  It is odd for two reasons – one it misjudges public antipathy which is implacably opposed to his resurfacing and therefore risks damaging the monarchy and Charles’ popularity. The other is that William dislikes his uncle as does Kate and it must have taken a hard word to persuade him to do his duty as chauffeur.

  Marina Hyde, as usual, has it nailed. “Sticking a disgraced dimwit in the front seat of your car is not just some random thing that happens of a Sunday morning. This is a planned and choreographed moment, with William as the designated driver.”

   William’s determined 9^th house Pluto opposes Andrew’s Aries Midheaven exactly and squares Andrew’s Venus Mars in Capricorn so he won’t be backward about stating his vehement objections to his uncle’s decisions and inclinations. Their relationship chart has a toxic composite Mars, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter conjunction – suspicious, distrustful, aggravated, all of which is quincunx the composite Sun. Stressed and strained to a remarkable degree – and it is being pummelled by tr Saturn square Mars, Neptune, Saturn from late this August through till January 2024. As well as tr Pluto square the composite Sun at zero Taurus in 2023/24.

  William’s relationship with his father is also under pressure from mid this September with tr Saturn dampening enthusiasm as it squares the composite Moon opposition Jupiter; with uncertainty, anxiety and distrust from October through till March 2024. They have not always been on the best of terms until William stepped up to the mark to take on the mantle of duty. But Charles’s 4^th house Neptune in Libra which may cloud his judgement on family matters and make him an easy mark for pressure from the unrepentant Andrew. His Neptune clashes with William’s steely Saturn in Libra.

  Prince Andrew, 19 February 1960 3.38 pm London, has dollops of undeserved Jupiter this year and next (like Trump, sigh) which will keep him pushing ahead with bullish confidence. However those sit side by side with a whole plethora of complications and difficulties. Tr Saturn is hitting his Pisces Sun opposition Pluto throughout this year, noticeably across this autumn and into early 2024, which will be discouraging. Tr Pluto is also in a trapped, frustrating conjunction to his Mars, Venus in Capricorn until late December this year. Tr Neptune is in an undermining square to his Solar Arc Midheaven this year and next as it is made clear he will not resume Royal duties.

 2024 looks disappointing and self-esteem-denting with tr Neptune square his 5^th house ebullient Jupiter with tr Saturn following along behind in 2025. Plus a devastating Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Neptune, exact in mid 2024, which is when tr Uranus starts to oppose his Moon in June, hinting at a house move and relocation and maybe family upheaval – running into 2025. Plus a volcanically irritated and shocking Progressed Mars conjunct his 8^th house Mercury in late 2024. With his Mercury being on one leg of his yod sextile Saturn inconjunct Uranus that will have a powerful effect. And may drag more dirt out into the open from the 8th.

  Not plain sailing ahead for him despite his bluff and bluster.

  King Charles’ relationship with Andrew, which has always been competitive with a composite Sun Mars Mercury in their relationship chart, is moving into a disappointing and bumpy phase from next May 2024 with tr Neptune square the composite Jupiter and tr Uranus square the composite Pluto, running into 2025. Whatever is going on at present with the playing-nice scenario, family togetherness is unlikely to hold from this autumn onwards.

See previous posts: 2 March and 22 January 2023.

Ensuring an Indigenous voice in the Australian parliament appears to be causing an unholy fuss. A referendum on the issue, a requirement before the Constitution is changed, will be held this October on the 14^th, the day before the Libra Solar Eclipse.

 The referendum campaign has been vitriolic and racially charged despite the PM Anthony Albanese’s plea that it was a “once-in-a-generation chance to bring our country together”. The key “no” spokespeople are backed by conservative groups with links to conservative Christian organisations and have been accused by the government of importing “Trump-style” political campaigning to Australia.

   The Eclipsed New Moon is on the focal point of a yod to Neptune sextile Uranus, and is exactly conjunct the Neptune on the Australia Settlement chart of 26 January 1788 5.25am Sydney, AU.  

 A Neptunian yod with religious bigots involved. Who’d have thought?  If the settlement chart is accurate, the Neptune in the 1788 chart is in the 9^th house of spiritual beliefs and heavily aspected so a key part of the early settlers’ mindset. The Virgo Moon is quincunx Pluto and Venus in Aquarius conjunct Saturn is chilly – not sweetness and light. Four planets in Aquarius might have suggested an interest in furthering the great brotherhood/sisterhood of mankind but maybe Pluto and Saturn in Aquarius have tilted it towards its less humanitarian and intolerant side.

  The referendum chart does have an implacably hostile and determined Mars in Scorpio square Pluto and an emotionally bleak Saturn opposition Venus – not exactly overflowing with inclusive compassion.

  The modern Australia chart has not much of note showing apart from the Mars/North Node midpoint being triggered by the Eclipse at the same degree. Since it can either mean collaboration or arguments, there is not a helpful signpost from that.

   Nonetheless there are far reaching changes ongoing in Australia’s direction with Pluto now moving across the 10^th house of the 1901 chart. And major upheavals showing on the settlement chart.  There will be some shifts ahead though referendums are evidently hard to win.  

Anti-government demonstrators in Northern Syria have burnt the face of Bashar Assad on billboards, calling for his overthrow, in protests against living conditions and corruption.  It is the biggest insurrection in living memory from a people more than 90 per cent of whom live in poverty. The war-shattered economy hit record lows last week with the currency trading at 15,500 Syrian pounds (SYP) to one US dollar. When the 2011 protests that led to the war broke out, it had been trading at 47 to the dollar. ‘While the demonstrations have not yet reached key government-held areas such as Aleppo, Homs and Damascus — where Assad would probably act against dissent much more harshly — anti-regime sentiments have been shared online in recent days.’

   Nothing is ever a sure fire certainty but 2025 would look like a nadir for Assad. I had thought he might depart when tr Puto opposed the Mars and Cancer Sun of his Presidency chart, (17 July 2000) between 2018 to 2021 but he hung on grimly. Several charts, however, all point to two years hence being a time of major disruption.   His Presidency chart has a destabilizing Solar Arc Sun opposition Uranus in 2025 and even before then tr Saturn will square the Jupiter opposition Pluto, denting his administration’s confidence this year and next. Late 2024 his unpopularity will peak with a devastating meltdown in 2026.

His personal chart, 11 September 1965, has Solar Arc Sun conjunct his Neptune in 2025 miring him in a swamp. Before then he has a trapped, high-risk Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Mars in 2024 and an extended run of ruin and desolation up to 2027. With tr Saturn running into his Second Saturn Return in 2024 and opposing his Uranus, Pluto, Sun and then squaring his Jupiter in 2025 – bringing him down to face a hard reality.  

 The Syrian Civil War started on 15 March 2011 and that chart with its revolutionary/rebellious Uranus square Pluto in Capricorn has the Solar Arc Mars conjunct the Uranus in 2025 – which may not be pretty, since it sounds explosive but it may shift the situation on from the present unhealthy stagnation. The war effectively started with tr Pluto conjunct the Sun on the Syria country chart which is a classic civil war signature.

 The Syria chart, 1 January 1944 12 am Damascus, is already labouring under an undermining and directionless Solar Arc MC conjunct the Neptune, exactly earlier this year as an earthquake struck. And does seem poised for change. One leg of the natal yod of Mars Uranus sextile Pluto inconjunct a Capricorn Sun has moved by Solar Arc to find the SA Uranus Mars conjunct the Syria Jupiter this year and next – which could suggest relief of sorts or even luck. Though the population look downbeat in 2025 with Solar Arc Saturn opposition the Moon.

  Tr Uranus into Gemini will start to rattle up the yod  in 2026/27 as it is conjunct the Mars Uranus; with tr Pluto opposition the Pluto in 2028/29 pulling away from the past.

Snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory, Luis Robiales, the Spanish football chief, has managed to drown out the celebrations of the victory at the Women’s World Cup final by acting the bully in forcibly kissing winning player Jennifer Hermoso and then doubling down on refusals to apologise. FIFA has suspended him though the internal Spanish association have not (to date), even in the face of general condemnation and resignations within the sport and government ministers demanding his resignation.

  As he celebrated at the final whistle Robiales grabbed his crotch, with Queen Letizia of Spain and her 16-year-old daughter standing nearby, for which he later apologised.

  It is being called Spain’s #MeToo moment though the hashtag has become #SeAcabó = “it’s over”. 

 The Spain 22 November 1975 12.45pm chart is certainly in a Plutonic, maybe transformational, moment. The Scorpio Sun has Solar Arc Pluto conjunct exactly now and the Solar Arc North Node is square the Spain Pluto. With Pluto involved it will be a bitter and prolonged wrangle for the upper hand which appears to be playing out.

  The Spain chart does have a Cancer Moon square Venus Pluto opposition Jupiter. That would certainly indicate intense emotional involvements where women/mother are concerned. Females will be seen as sexualised (Venus) and possessive (thereby needing to be kept under control). Jupiter Pluto tends to the over confident, pushing aside social niceties to grab what is desired. The Sun is also quincunx Mars hinting at problems handling anger and assertion in a modulated way. And Saturn in Leo square Uranus which can be autocratic.

  Robiales, 23 August 1977, is a Sun Leo/Virgo with Saturn in wannabe-important Leo and Mars in Gemini. His North Node conjunct Pluto is in Libra which hints at a difficulty in understanding what others want in close relationships.  It is not an especially alarming chart though the angles will make a difference. Where a birth time is missing it is often worth looking at the midpoints since they can round out some of the missing pieces.   His Venus is conjunct his unkind Mars/Saturn midpoint and his Uranus squares his Venus/Saturn midpoint – both of which suggest coldness and lack of sensitivity in romance to put it at its mildest.

  He picked the wrong target for his exuberant caveman kiss. Jennifer Hermoso, 9 May 1990, is a stalwart and unbudgeable Sun Taurus opposition a Scorpio Moon and Pluto; with her Sun trine Saturn in Capricorn as well as Neptune (Uranus) in Capricorn; and a formidable Water Grand Trine of Jupiter trine Pluto trine Mars in Pisces, formed into a Kite by Jupiter opposition Uranus and Neptune.    

    Robiales has tr Neptune square his Mars in Gemini late November/December this year for a sense of sinking failure and undermined masculinity.

  Jennifer Hermoso intriguingly has her central Jupiter opposition Uranus having moved to trigger her Aquarius North Node – putting her in a position to spearhead a cause.

There will be more to Spain’s SA Pluto conjunct Sun than this spat so worth watching for what else is ongoing.

 Helen Mirren is the unlikely choice to play Golda Meir, Israel’s ‘Grandmother’, who was prime minister during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Reviews have been “mixed or average” in what is described as a passable history lesson in biopic form. Mirren had to undergo a dramatic physical transformation including a fake nose, other facial prosthetics and a fat suit in order to portray the chain-smoking Golda Meir, Israel’s only female prime minister who was the original Iron Lady.

  Helen Mirren was born 26 July 1945 2am London, with a working class English mother who was the 13^th of 14 children and an exiled Russian father from an aristocratic family. She started acting at school, went into the Royal Shakespeare Company aged 20 and has never looked back. Her award-strewn career has covered stage, screen and television with highlights in The Long Good Friday, Prime Suspect (TV), Fast & Furious and playing Queen Elizabeth 1 as well as 11 in different productions.

  She has a quick-witted, outspoken and determined Sun Pluto conjunction in Leo in her 3^rd house and an Aquarius Moon on her Midheaven, suiting her for a career in the public eye. Her creative Neptune sits on the cusp of her performing 5^th house trine a 12^th house Mars. She also has Uranus Venus in Gemini conjunct her Ascendant from the 12^th. Her Moon is quincunx Saturn.  Although she has Jupiter in her 4^th house of home and family she was always better designed for a a busy, varied, working life. At 78 she is still looking fabulous and sprightly with no indication that her career will wind down anytime soon.

 Golda Meir, 14 May 1898 11.58 pm Kiev, Ukraine, moved with her family to the USA when she was eight and then emigrated to Palestine in 1921 with her husband, steadily moving up the political chain to become one of the signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. She became Prime Minister in 1969, and travelled widely to promote her vision of peace in the Middle East. The outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 caught the nation off guard and inflicted severe early losses on the Israelis. It damaged her reputation and she resigned the following year. She died in 1978 of cancer.

  She had a Taurus Sun conjunct the Israel Taurus Sun on her IC, tying her into her roots and her Sun opposed Chiron on her Scorpio Midheaven. Not an easy life but one in which she clearly tried to act as a healer/helper in her career. She had the signature Neptune Pluto conjunction of her generation in Gemini conjunct Venus all in her 5th house so she would appreciate being in the spotlight with an audience. Though with Saturn opposition Pluto and Venus and trine Mars she obviously sacrificed a good deal to build her career.

  There are not too many cross overs with Helen Mirren except for the three Gemini planets which both have – and perhaps Mirren’s émigré background suggested a link.

Another day, another UK management failure to add to a growing list. The British Museum has now fessed up that there were thefts and sales from items in the collection having initially ignored a whistleblower.

 It has been a pile-up recently. The Criminal Crime Review Commission left Andrew Malkinson to linger in prison despite knowledge of evidence that could have freed him years earlier. The Post Office computer foul up where no one investigated to find the IT fault, instead sending innocent people to prison, some to suicide or early death – and still the top brass has still not been dealt with for the ‘mistake’ and some victims are still uncompensated. Never mind hospital horrors where whistleblowers get nuked rather than the management admit fault.

  Where did competence and responsibility go?  All the Saturnine virtues of – face facts, take responsibility and earn respect – have slid down the sink hole.  Maybe it is a fantasy that it was in place before, but it does seem monumentally worse. A moral decay – power and status without either capability or integrity.

  The British Museum was founded by an Act of Parliament on 7 June 1753, which puts its Jupiter in the UK 10^th conjunct the Moon – so it is a shining beacon for the UK’s status. And thus its disgrace will be inextricably tied into the UK’s current situation.  The British Museum’s Neptune is also conjunct the UK’s 10^th house Jupiter, which is suggestive of both scandal and deception.

  The UK’s Saturn is being rattled exactly now by the first tr Uranus square which repeats on through 2024 until January 2025 – and the UK Solar Arc Saturn is opposition the Uranus  over the rest of this year. Which does sound like a tug of war between the decaying old and the (hopefully) progressive new. The British Museum’s Solar Arc Mars plays into this as it also is opposing the UK Uranus exactly now.

  The UK has been in a tailspin since Uranus moved into Taurus in 2019 as it has been rattling up the key Fixed planets in the UK chart – Mars in Taurus, Venus in Aquarius, Neptune in Scorpio and finally Saturn in Leo. One effect of Uranus is to be the torchbearer, shining light on hidden places and this will be especially true with a buried 8^th house Mars being constantly triggered throughout this period until 2025 – bringing the rot into the light of day.

  Plus the tail end of tr Pluto through Capricorn and its effect on the UK Capricorn Sun. Deconstruction and decay of the old.

   Like an addict maybe the rock bottom has to be reached before the ascent into recovery begins. 2024 sees tr Pluto trine the UK Uranus which might start a two year process of significant change. Though it may also take the massive jolt of Solar Arc Mars conjunct the UK 8^th house Mars in late 2024 into 2025 to finally get into a better groove.

   Mind you I am not sure it was not ever thus and we are just more aware of it now. But is depressing.

  Dictators come in all walks of life and old style orchestral conductors were always renowned for their ferocity when it came to exerting their will and their wishes. A spat this week between Sir John Eliot Gardiner, a highly respected maestro, who reportedly threw a punch at a young singer as they left the stage, has effectively ended his career. Renowned as inspiring, he clearly finds the balance between perfectionism and impatience tricky.  He is not alone. Georg Solti was evidently known as the ‘screaming skull’ by his London orchestral players.

  Gardiner, 20 April 1943, England, has two yods of a final degree Aries Sun sextile Mars and exactly quincunx Neptune; and Mars in Pisces on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Neptune. That is a fascinating battle between musical/creative Neptune and short-fused Mars. To make it worse his Mars is square Uranus, Venus and Saturn which is highly combustible.

 Georg Solti, 21 October 1912 Budapest, Hungary, had an ego-centric Sun Libra on the focal point of a highly-strung opposition of Uranus to Neptune. His Mars in extra-determined Scorpio was quincunx Saturn and possibly in a Water Grand Trine to Pluto trine a Pisces Moon. Much revered by his fans but not a man to cross.

Leonard Bernstein, 25 August 1918 1pm Lawrence, MA, also had Mars in Scorpio trine a super-confident Jupiter Pluto in Cancer and square Neptune Venus in Leo; plus a willful, innovative Virgo Sun opposition Uranus.

 Herbert von Karajan, 5 April 1908 10.30pm Salzburg, Austria like Solti had the Uranus Neptune opposition square his Sun, in his case in Aries. His Mars in last degree Taurus conjunct Venus was on the focal point of a mini Grand Trine of a high-vitality Jupiter trine Saturn.

 Anatol Dorati, 9 April 1906 6am Budapest, was an Aries Sun opposition a Libra Moon with his Mercury in Aries square a Uranus opposition Neptune. His Mars in heavyweight Taurus was trine Uranus and inconjunct his Moon.

  No great conclusions other than noting the prominence of Mars in all the above charts – and the particular contradiction in John Eliot Gardiner’s case between his Mars and his Neptune.

  While in no way wishing to condone bad behaviour I have an edgy feeling that present trends don’t allow for the realities of human nature. A well-behaved, vanilla-temperament is unlikely to exhibit great talent. In show business, as Glenn Close once remarked, it is understood that creative types often walk near the edge psychologically. Or as an old horse dealer I once knew said “the good uns always have a streak up them.”

Add On: Daniel Barenboim, 15 November 1942 11.35 am Buenos Aires, Argentina, hugely respected as a conductor and an outspoken critic of Israeli government policies towards Palestinians has a similarly prominent Mars as above. His Sun and three other planets are in Scorpio including his Mars which is square Pluto and inconjunct Saturn (latter like Solti). Balancing the high vitality of Mars with Saturn and Pluto not easy.   

Veronika Dudarova, born 5 December 1916, Baku Azerbaijan, was the first woman conductor of symphony orchestras in the 20th century – Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and she founded the Symphony Orchestra of Russia. She was ‘distinguished by her indomitable character, willpower, and supreme professionalism.’

  A Sun Sagittarius with a super-intense Mars in Capricorn which was opposition Pluto and inconjunct Saturn and Neptune. Weird who’d have though Mars inconjunct Saturn would be a musical maestro’s astro-signature.

The fog of war combined with the murky waters of spook-dom make it impossible to know whether Putin got payback on Yevgeny Prigozhin for his mutiny by crashing his plane – or thinks he did and YP sensibly skipped out – or indeed whether it was an act of fate.  Time may tell.

  What is clear is that Russia is moving into considerable setbacks late this year and through 2024 into 2025/6. Both the 8 November 1917 and 8 December 1991 charts have Solar Arc Saturn square Mars in 2024 which is amongst other things assassination-prone. Though there won’t be too many generals left to despatch at the rate Putin is trash-canning them.  The 1917 chart also has a major collision of sorts, exact late this year as well.

  Putin’s 4^th Term chart, 7 May 2018 11.05am,  was always brewing up to its most toxic and high-risk exactly now with the Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Mars. What may also be significant is that this chart has a Jupiterian yod which can trip itself up through over confidence and self-aggrandisement. The Jupiter has moved by Solar Arc to catch the tr Uranus opposition exactly at the moment. Which might suggest an over-reach that backfires.

  The Russian economy is in bad shape though it is hardly alone in that but it won’t help Putin’s popularity at home. See previous post 12 April 2023.

  There is nothing too illuminating showing up on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s chart (see post 4 November 2022). There is no date for the start of the Wagner Group though their first involvement was the invasion of Crimea which kicked off on 20 February 2014 – and that chart is badly rattled at the moment with tr Pluto square the Mars, tr Uranus opposition the Saturn and tr Saturn conjunct the Neptune – if that is a Wagner mercenary group chart it looks poleaxed.