Ben Shapiro, the American right-wing political commentator, had a well-publicized spat on air with interviewer Andrew Neil last week and stomped off in the huff. He’s not that well known to Brits but in the US he has more than 2 million Twitter followers, 600,000 YouTube subscribers, and his videos rack up millions of views.
Born 15 January 1984 12.57pm Burbank, California, he was a precocious student, becoming the youngest nationally syndicated columnist at 17. His views are the usual toxic and erratic pot-pourri of the conservatives – against abortion even for rape and incest; against gun law reform, off the wall about transgender and same sex marriage, as well as views on racism and Muslims. He was editor-at-large of Breitbart News until he fell out with them in 2016. He wasn’t for Trump.
He has the usual ‘shock jock’ enraged Mars Pluto conjunction in his case in Scorpio sextile an intense 8th house Mercury in Capricorn and Neptune Jupiter in Sagittarius. So he packs a fair punch behind his angry words. His changeable Gemini Moon opposes Uranus and Venus in Sagittarius which will exacerbate his tendency to swing around emotionally. His Moon is also a singleton and conjunct the North Node so he is designed for a public career with an appreciative audience.
His opinionated 9th house Sun is unaspected, making him an independent spirit, an-island-unto-himself type, with high self-esteem and fairly self-centred.
His Mars Pluto is moving by Solar Arc to conjunct his Uranus in late 2022/23 which will be hugely disruptive for him on the relationship front but also in terms of his relationship with the public. He’ll switch tack in 2020/21 with tr Uranus square his midheaven but looks as if he’ll be around in a high-profile capacity for at least another decade. Although 2020/21 will be challenging with tr Pluto conjunct his Sun as well as tr Saturn at the start of 2020.
Andrew Neil, with whom he crossed swords, is a British journalist, former editor of the Sunday Times and an executive on Sky TV, now chairman of the right-wing Spectator magazine, amongst others and presenter of BBC political TV programmes. Born 21 May 1949 9.45am Paisley, Scotland, he’s a stubborn final degree Sun Taurus square Saturn in Leo; with a fearsomely determined Mars in Taurus square Pluto; with his Sun and Venus in Gemini trine a lucky Jupiter in Aquarius. He has stamina and staying power with so many Fixed planets and is a formidable opponent in discussions.
His Mars in Taurus square Pluto clashes with Shapiro’s Saturn in Scorpio so it was never going to be sweetness and light. And Shapiro’s equally trenchant and hostile Mars Pluto squares Neil’s Leo Ascendant which would also raise hackles on both sides.
As Shirley mentioned in a previous comment, it would be good to have a look at Andrew Neil’s chart in a bit more depth. Could you look and see what the next few years might have in store for him as he approaches his 70th birthday please Marjorie?
Marjorie, I’m a bit puzzled by the ‘ enraged shock jock ‘ definition of a Mars Pluto conjunction; one of the most kind and calm people I’ve ever known, and I knew her for over 50 years, had a close Mars Pluto conjunction in Cancer.
Probably because your friend’s conjunction is in the homely sign of Cancer. Shapiro’s is in the intense Scorpio, where both planets feel good. I’m actually quite interested in this conjunction, and especially in Scorpio, because even when I read something good about it, the wording is usually very tame and softish. And at the same time the books and Web sites try to downplay that they see it as bad, but it’s easy to see what they really think. This conjunction happens every two years, so it’s not all that rare. And by knowing how much Pluto stays in a sign, you can calculate how many conjunctions in that sign happened over that period.
Also, don’t forget that a planet is a house ruler.
So in Shapiro’s case, he has
Mars in 6
Pluto in 6
ruler 12 in 6
ruler 7 in 6
ruler 7 conjunct ruler 12
ruler 7 conjunct Mars
ruler 12 conjunct Pluto
That will give you a fuller picture of this configuration in Shapiro’s chart.
Thank you Aleph, but Marjorie’s phrase is, ‘ He has the usual ‘shock jock’ enraged Mars Pluto conjunction… in his case in Scorpio’ etc , which suggests that a Mars Pluto conjunction is usually ‘ shock jock’ and enraged.
Mars Pluto is one of the more difficult aspects in a chart and I guarantee if this person is calm and kind that she’s had an event-strewn life and has attracted intense reactions from others which she won’t have understood. If you don’t ‘own’ Mars Pluto’s anger, need for power and control then it’ll be drawn towards you. It stems from a dominating (and then some) father who left the child with no choice but to submit. If the individual stays in total submission mode all their adult life then they will attract bullies. Its upside is courage, do-or-die determination and a fearless ability to cope well in crises.
Shock jocks who are warped by a toxic hostility to authority figures (father substitutes) which is one of its manifestations very often have Mars Pluto squares. But a conjunction in Scorpio will also do the trick. Not so sure in Cancer its much better. That Pluto in Cancer produced some quite warped people.
Thank you so much Marjorie that is very interesting and enlightening, and explains a great deal.
I re-read some of the material available online yesterday and got the feeling it’s about 90 % bad what they say about this conjunction. Some famous holders are Hillary Clinton, Candace Bergen, George Michael, Douglas MacArthur, Paul McCartney, Alexander Fleming.
*Candice
Thank you for your focus on Ben Shapiro. Ben is promoted & controlled by the American Ultra Conservative Alt-Right.
Hopefully, Shapiro will come to realize he builds more respect & honor with gentle kindness rather than pushing non-stop venom and vitriol.
Andrew Neil isn’t “leftish” at all. He’s a right-wing Tory supporter with a massive ego, who just likes to be seen to demolish anyone at all, regardless, when it actually suits him. Note “when it suits him.” He’s also known to be an out and out liar, so I don’t have much time for him either. Maybe Marjorie could think of taking a look at his chart?
I hope the next few years aren’t too brutal to this Capricorn, when transiting Pluto and Saturn conjuct my Sun and North Node respectively 3 years from now.
John, transiting Pluto and Saturn on your Sun and NN (depending on the house location for you and other luminaries) it sounds like Pushkin’s poem ‘Arise Prophet’…. if you are an artist or writer, this ‘brutality’ may you welcome it for the sake of all beings! You’ll be wholeheartedly in the new collective & symbiotic landscape!
Could have researched Andrew Neil before going there to be destroyed. I simply love how he was there shouting at “leftish” Neil. I’m not British, and know him mainly through his tough exchanges with leftish figures. British obviously come prepared, though, and often manage to detrail him.
I’m capricorn and I’ve fallen out with no end of people but I do have a saturn Mars Conj too so on my soap box. Not proud of it. Some grovelling to do.