The hotch up in the Middle East has left no one happy with lingering anxieties about future flare ups.

 Egypt, 14 March 1922 10.43pm Cairo, will be directionless this year with uncertainty lingering through 2027 with tr Neptune opposition the MC and Saturn; but it is 2028 that looks explosive and insecure with tr Uranus square their Uranus and opposition Mars; and under considerable pressure and stuck in 2029 with Solar Arc Sun conjunct the 7^th house (friends and enemies) Pluto.

  The relationship chart with Israel looks on high alert and turbulent at the same time with tr Uranus square the Moon, Saturn, Neptune in 2028; which follows a bad-tempered and divisive 2027 with tr Saturn in hard aspect to the composite Sun Mercury opposition Mars square Pluto.

Jordan, 25 May 1946, Amman, is changing course this year and unsettled with a double whammy of tr Uranus conjunct and Solar Arc Uranus square their Gemini Sun. By 2029 there will be heavy challenges with tr Pluto square Pluto and a Uranus Return. Relations with Israel will continue to be an uphill battle with tr Pluto opposition the composite Saturn and Pluto from now till the end of the decade.  And more ructions in the 2030s.

 The other Middle Eastern countries show roughly similarly stresses.

Oman – acutely frustrated and aware of the danger of the situation this year; worried in 2027; blocked in by 2028 with SA Sun conjunct Pluto.  Their relationship with Israel confused and seriously undermined till late 2027 and worsening dramatically around 2031/32.

Qatar – high tension with outbursts of aggravation as both transiting and Solar Arc Uranus hard aspect their Saturn; with a turbulent 2028/29 and completely logjammed and at risk into the start of the 2030s. The relationship with Israel – pressured and discouraging through this year, especially from August inwards, worsening through 2027.

 Saudi Arabia, 15 January 1902 3.45am Riyadh, is also heading for a risky, trapped, frustrated tr Pluto conjunct its Mars in 2029/30; with some ups and downs the year before. Relations with Israel will be chilly in 2027 and more disturbed around 2031 with a divisive tr Uranus square the composite Uranus Sun.

Relations with the UAE will be aggravated and bad-tempered in 2027 with tr Uranus ratcheting up their inherent dislike as it hard aspects their composite  Mars square Pluto.

Bahrain likewise will be struggling to be anything other than uncertain and discouraged in their contacts with Israel through the rest of this decade.

 Noting that looks like settling anytime soon – though some of the above influences on the natal charts may also be internal pressures within those countries.

  Israel is trapped, furious, scared and uncertain at the moment with the Solar Arc Mars square Pluto, tr Neptune square Venus and tr Pluto opposition the Moon. Boxed in every which way and feeling emotionally significantly out of sorts. The Solar Arc Midheaven will conjunct Neptune late 2026/27 for a lack of direction and hopelessness; with optimism dent by SA Neptune conjunct Jupiter in 2027/28; and further signs of a depressed populace and stuck government in 2029 with SA Saturn square the 10^th house Moon.

   Nothing will ease up soon as tr Pluto continues on its inexorable path in opposition to the Israel Moon/Pluto and Moon/Saturn midpoints and then Pluto and Saturn; and well as the Mars midpoint to Moon, Pluto and Saturn from the early 2030s throughout the decade. The Solar Arc Mars will square the Saturn by 2030 for a considerable setback – and on and on into the early 2040s.

  There is a savage irony in a situation that started with widespread support and compassion for the horrors of the holocaust and ended up in “the most intractable conflict of our times.” (James Cameron)  I do not see even a glimmer of light at the end of this tunnel and I am normally good at extracting a sliver of optimism out of even unsolvable problems. My only thought is that the English slaughtered the French on the battlefields of Europe for centuries before declaring peace. One can but hope.

Prince William celebrated his 44^th birthday with a happy snapshot of himself in Welsh Guards uniform with daughter Charlotte.  It will be a less tense and withdrawn year ahead than from his birthday in 2025 when Catherine was still emerging from her illness. But he still has the tail end of tr Neptune square his Sun Moon conjunction which has been running since early 2025. Neptune will continue to square his Cancer Moon exactly now and on and off till early 2028. It can be undermining or confused where family and domestic relations are concerned; and low energy.

  Alongside that he is in his mid-life crisis of Uranus opposition Uranus, running on and off till March 2027 which usually brings a restless urge to fulfil old ambitions which have been pushed to one side – and is a time for reviewing life to see what changes needs to be made to revitalise it.

  Exactly at the moment he looks rattled and edgy with tr Pluto square his Mars/Uranus midpoint and downbeat with tr Pluto opposition his Venus/Saturn midpoint until later this month, returning on and off through 2027.

 Money will be on his mind with his Progressed Moon moving through his 2^nd house for another two years as his father prepares to open up on taxes paid by the Royals.   

 Jupiter through his 8^th from now until August 2027 should oddly enough prove to his advantage financially – and will bring positive emotional changes as well at an underling level.

 His Solar Return has a hard-working 10^th house Sun with an attention-grabbing (and sporting) Pluto in the 5^th which will also bring relations with his children closer. A friendly 11^th house Venus Jupiter means he will not go unsupported by his wider circle of best mates. Moon in the 1^st and Saturn Neptune in the 7^th could hint at a caring initiative.

 Much is being made of a supposed rift between himself and his father over the invitation to Harry, Meghan and family to visit this summer. There may be a ripple or two of tension with his father but nothing untoward in a relationship that is anyway always undergoing constant changes.

  There is nothing to indicate a warming of relations with his brother or indeed Meghan within the foreseeable future stretching years ahead.

Chiron has now dipped a toe in Taurus for the first time in forty years and after a retrograde this autumn and winter, will be there until 2033.

Attaching a meaning to its years is tricky since life is continually churning through highs and lows and it may affect cultural trends rather than actual events. It is possible to look at Chiron in Aries of the recent past since 2018 as one when there was a crisis of self-worth and identity. The culture seemed to emphasis tribal identity as a way of binding people together in an outer cause as a way of giving them a pseudo-identity which goes along with feelings of individual powerlessness.

 Chiron in Taurus tends to undermine all Taurean attributes – a sense of solidity and endurance, safety and security. It could affect attitudes to fitness, health, the body or money. Although it may emphasise an inability to see events symbolically which is Taurus’ feet-on-the-ground approach, it can also be a creative force.

Chiron In Taurus: 19 June 2026 to 17 September 2026, then retrogrades into Aries until 14 April 2027. Thereafter stays in Taurus till 2033.

Previous Chiron in Taurus –

1976/77 to 1984

1927 to 1933

The Solstice Ingress of the Sun into Cancer on Sunday June 21^st occurs with the hoping-for-improvements Saturn Neptune conjunction almost out of orb and the new-era hoping-for-change Uranus trine Pluto sextile Neptune in place. Mars in heavyweight Taurus is sextile Jupiter in late Cancer for an enthusiastic and energetic lift, perhaps from the sporting arena. Though Mars conjunct Algol hints at undercurrents of trouble.

 What is more problematic are two yods – one of Sun sextile the South Node in Virgo inconjunct Pluto and the other Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct the South Node. Pluto is dominating and coercive and the Virgo South Node has problems letting go. Too much game playing and not enough trust can dissolve the best laid plans. Yods tend to produce a sense of paralysis until an outer event turns up to shift a stuck situation onto a better track.

 Located to Washington, it puts Mars and Uranus in the 12^th for a troubled undercurrent, with uneasy friendships and alliances from Saturn Neptune in the 11^th, also hinting at confusion about what comes next. Pluto in the 9^th and three planets in the 3^rd hint at lots of hot air and strong opinions; and a focus on expenses with Sun in the 2^nd.

Located to Teheran it puts the Sun on the Midheaven for prominence and a grandstanding 5th house Pluto.

 Located to London, Pluto in the 6^th for a heavy-slog; North Node in the 1^st needs support and will bring problems about national identity. Mars and Uranus in the 10^th, arguments and erratic progress.

Fathoming the byzantine thinking processes of pro-Trump religious zealots may or may not be aided by reading VP J.D.Vance’s latest book Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith. Described by a Times review as “part rant, part sermon, a contradictory, self-righteous, angry, humourless and slightly sinister mess of a book.”

  With divorced parents and a drug addict mother, he was brought up in part by his grandparents, with his grandmother holding to fervent beliefs, including one that Jesus would save her even if she drove the wrong way up a motorway. Aged 11 he had read the Bible from cover to cover and believed along with other family members that the world would come to an end in 2007 – “at the latest”. The first Harry Potter book was deemed satanic and avoided.

  After an atheistic few years at Ohio State University and Yale Law School, he stumbled into a ‘deeper truth’. A passage from St Paul to the Philippians proved a lightbulb moment: “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” At this point, he was anti-Trump, describing him as “a cynical asshole”; and was baptised a Catholic.

 A key turning point came during covid in 2020 which sent him into survivalist mode and he flipped from grace to rage and fury. By 2024 he was Trump’s running mate which prompts him “ to equate Trump’s Republicanism with all that is honest and just and pure and lovely.”  In his list of biblical commandments he avoids any mention of adultery, bearing false witness or coveting thy neighbour’s goods.

  Born 2 August 1984 8.11 am Middletown, Ohio, he has a 12^th house Leo Sun, surprisingly common in politicians despite its liking to stay hidden. His Sun is in a downbeat square to a 3^rd house (= thinking and speaking) Saturn in obsessive Scorpio. Heavyweight Pluto is also in his 3^rd so he will be opinionated and uncompromising in his views. His 4^th house is understandably troubled given his upbringing with an angry, bitter Mars in Scorpio on his IC plus restless Uranus which will make him prone to constant domestic upheavals. His Uranus opposes a 10^th house North Node in Gemini square Mercury in Virgo in his 1^st – hinting at an ambitious career being an escape from an unsettled childhood. A focal point Mercury to a Mutable T Square will make him highly-strung, scattered, disorganised changeable in his views. But if he gets a grip he could become a good communicator.

 He also has Neptune conjunct Jupiter in his performing 5^th house which also rules children.  He will see himself as an idealistic and a visionary but will lack practical realism. Neptune Jupiter can be brought low by scandals.

 In 2020 when he had his conversation back to faith tr Neptune was moving into his 8^th which could bring about a yearning for a connection to another world. Tr Uranus was opposition his Saturn and square his Sun for what was clearly a eureka moment. His Solar Arc Pluto was conjunct his South Node which does not sound like an enlightened moment, quite the reverse.

 He is an angry, bitter man with troubling midpoints. A ruthless Sun square Mars/Pluto. Mars square Saturn/North Node, making anger his release/escape from depression. Saturn conjunct Mars/Pluto uses force to overcome obstacles. Uranus conjunct his Mars/Neptune has a tendency to attract crisis.

  He has clearly been marked by Trump who is never to blame for any failure, as the fall guy for the Iran deal. His astrocartography there is not great, mainly hidden with a good deal of slipping and sliding in 2027.

This year Neptune will square his Jupiter for high hopes brought low. His Solar Arc Neptune will be opposing his Sun and square his Saturn through 2027 which will be highly uncertain and undermining. His fortunes may revive slightly after that with a couple of Jupiterian boosts in early 2028.  But 2029/30 look poleaxing and difficult with tr Pluto opposition his Sun and square his Saturn.  

 The next election is a thought for another day.

 Not much noticeable religiosity shining through his chart.

Andy Burnham won by a surprisingly large margin for Labour in the Makersfield bye-election with Reform firmly put in their place and Restore nowhere. While the SNP lost in Aberdeen South to the Tories, mainly as a vote against Net Zero killing off the oil industry and the Murrell fraud scandal. UK politics continues to stumble along a winding path.

   Burnham, 7 January 1970 Liverpool, England, is a New Moon conjunct Venus in earthy and ambitious Capricorn sextile a softly-softly Mars in Pisces and in a radical, progressive square to Uranus; with Mercury also in Capricorn in a dogmatic trine to Pluto.

  The complicating factor in his chart is Jupiter in Scorpio opposition Saturn in Taurus, which is lucky but also makes him subject to reverses. It brings an unsettled life with constant changes. 

  Tr Pluto will square the Jupiter for the final time from early August to late December 2026, which on its own should bring a surge of confidence leading to success. But it also tugs on the Saturn for anchors dragging.

  It looks a fraught, nerve-stretched time for him behind the scenes with his Uranus/Pluto and Uranus/Neptune midpoints across this summer into August.

  His relationship chart with the UK is upbeat and hopeful with a composite Jupiter trine Sun and Jupiter square Pluto suggesting voter popularity. In contrast to Starmer’s relationship with the UK which has a hostile Mars opposition Pluto and a suspicious, doubting Saturn Neptune conjunct the Sun.  

 Burnham’s relationship with the Labour Parliamentary Party chart of 1906 is friendly and upbeat with a few caveats. His relationship with the grassroots party 1900 Labour chart is less amiable with an undercurrent of dislike, irritation, hinting at a fair amount of turmoil.

 His relationship chart with Keir Starmer indicates a rough ride this year with tr Uranus opposition the Mercury Venus from now on and off to early 2027; and disappointment through 2028. There is a composite yod of Mars sextile Saturn inconjunct Pluto pointing to deep dislike but also a ‘fated’ bond which will irrevocably tie their destinies together for good or for ill.

   2027 for Burnham has hints of a one-step-forward and one-step-backwards path with disappointments in 2028.

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Virginia Woolf, long appreciated in high literary circles and hailed as a feminist activist, is becoming appreciated by a younger audience with recent adaptations of her work, including a movie of her novel Night and Day. It is released this week starring Haley Bennett, Timothy Spall, Jennifer Saunders, Jack Whitehall and Lily Allen, and focuses on a female astronomer trying to gain admission to the University of Cambridge to read maths and battling academia’s anti-women attitudes (women students were being refused degrees in those days even if they were admitted). As she confronts the patriarchal expectations of Edwardian society, she realises her intellectual ambitions are only possible as a married woman.

 Born 25 January 1882 12.15pm London, she grew up in a literary and artistic household with a free run of her father’s library, so was better educated than most girls of the time.  As an adult she became part of the upmarket bohemian, intellectual Bloomsbury Group and married Leonard Woolf, a writer, publisher, civil servant and Labour supporter.  All of her life she suffered mood swings and depression; and ultimately took her life during World War 11, drowning herself in a river. Although she married Woolf, she had many affairs with women to whom she was more attracted than men.

  She had an ambitious, career-oriented Sun Aquarius on her Midheaven in a downbeat square to Saturn in determined Taurus and trine Pluto in late Taurus – so quite a driven, battened down temperament with problems of self-worth. Her Aries Moon was square Venus in Capricorn and sextile an upfront and wordy Mars in Gemini in her 1^st. She had a stellium in Taurus including a Jupiter Neptune conjunction trine Uranus as well as Pluto.  Her Pluto was also in an intensely emotionally trine to Venus.

 What a complicated personality. On the masculine side Sun Saturn Pluto – unyielding, dominating, not supportive. On the feminine side the Moon Venus, referred to by astrologer Richard Idemon as the ‘poisoned apple’, a mother’s love mixed in with sexuality, heightened by Pluto Venus. And an eye-catching idealistic, visionary, impressionable Jupiter Neptune conjunction in an innovative trine to Uranus. Her Jupiter conjunct Chiron marked her out as one who would inspire and teach others.

 When she died on 28 March 1941, having become increasingly obsessed with death since the start of the war in 1939, she was hearing voices and felt she was sliding towards another breakdown. She was on her exact Jupiter Return, with tr Jupiter also exactly conjunct her Chiron, no doubt longing for peace, as a build up of darker influences wore her down – tr Pluto was close to challenging opposition to her Sun and in an unrelentingly gloomy square to her Saturn; tr Saturn was conjunct her Neptune increasing her uncertainty; and her Solar Arc Mars was bearing down on her Pluto in a square which must have made her feel her life had come to a halt and she couldn’t see a way through.

  Her creative 5^th and 7^th harmonics were heavily aspected, though troubled especially her 7H. Her writer’s 21^st harmonic was notable, influential and tortured. Her leaving-a-legacy-for-history also marked her out as a fighter for women’s freedom against oppression.

The Sagrada Familia, Barcelona’s iconic landmark, was celebrated by Pope Leo on the 100^th anniversary of the architect Antoni Gaudi’s death. A manically ambitious project it is the tallest church in the world and still not complete.

 Gaudi’s weird and wonderful designs adorn many houses in the Catalan capital but none stranger than the cathedral. “Like a babbling visionary speaking in tongues, Gaudí jumbled the grammar of architecture into the strange glossolalia of his dreams. He translated stone and ceramic, wrought iron, stained glass and wood into fairytale confections that have an almost hallucinatory force.”

  His inspiration came from a sickly childhood where he sat and watched nature – beetles, shell spirals, the shapes of trees and animal skeletons, undulating waves, animal skeletons were his models. He was also a committed Catalan nationalist and believed architecture could mirror nature and also social ideologies. His refusal to follow architectural conventions was in part an act of defiance.

 He was born 25 June 1852 9.30 am Reus, Spain into a family of coppersmiths which also informed his designs. In his late 20s, having been rejected over a marriage proposal, he took to celibacy and moved way from society into an obsession with Roman Catholicism. His spiritual fervour sent him on extended fasts which were damaging to his health; and when he was knocked down in a street accident aged 74, he was so shabbily dressed he was thought to be a vagrant.

  The apse crypt of the cathedral was begun on 19 March 1882 although Gaudi did not come into the project until a year later at which point he changed the design radically. When he died in 1926, the basilica was between 15 and 25 percent complete and work continued with a hiatus during the Spanish Civil War.

  He was a Sun Cancer conjunct a Cancer North Node (tying him into the spirit of the times) trine Jupiter in Scorpio trine Neptune in Pisces in his 7^th house of partnerships.  Cancer is a creative sign with a good sense of design and taste. Neptune in his 7^th hints at a lack of commitment to marriage and close relationships. A Water Grand Trine added to his creativity but would tend to lock him in a bubble of his inner imagination which at times cut him off from reality. His Neptune was also on the focal point of a yod inconjunct a hidden 12^th house Venus sextile a Libra Moon, exacerbating his tendency to live in an ivory tower of his fantasies and dreams.

  His Grand Trine was turned into a talented Kite by Neptune opposition Mars in Virgo on his Ascendant which would give him a yearning for publicity and attention and added to a confident Jupiter would help to keep him moving forward with enough support to fund his projects.   

  His 9^th house which rules religious beliefs had a rebellious and intense Pluto Uranus conjunction in Taurus with Uranus conjunct Saturn. So he would hold inflexible if wayward beliefs.

 The Sagrada Familia was started 19 March 1882 with a New Moon in Pisces (conjunct the unfortunate Scheat) but also sextile an ambitious and enduring, and uber-expansive Jupiter Pluto in Taurus (and Algol). Saturn and Neptune were also in Taurus. A combination of Neptune’s ethereal dreams and down-to-earth, enduring Taurean practicality made it happen,  albeit slowly. When Gaudi took up the reins in November 1883, tr Pluto was just into Gemini on his Midheaven with Saturn conjunct – starting a prodigiously long and difficult project which lasted for the remaining four decades plus of his life.

Oligarchs owning vast tranches of the US media is Orwellian since they control the narrative that inform swathes of the electorate. Larry Ellison owns Paramount and CBS, soon possibly Tik Tok and CNN. Jeff Bezos the Washington Post. Mark Zuckerburg Facebook and Instagram. Lachlan Murdoch Fox News. Musk Twitter/X.

 Ellison, 17 August 1944, a New Moon and Pluto in Leo, with Venus, Mercury, Mars in Virgo square Uranus in Gemini, looks to be going from strength to strength with only a few blips ahead, most notably around the turn of the decade.

CBS, 27 January 1927, will have a few upbeat moments this year with tr Uranus square the Jupiter but will be pressured with tr Pluto conjunct the Sun in 2027/28, alongside an uncertain Solar Arc Neptune conjunct Saturn; followed by a collision-type shock in 2028 from Solar Arc Sun conjunct the Mars.

CNN, 1 June 1980, will also have some lucky breaks this year with tr Uranus square the Jupiter alongside a few ripples of unease from tricky hard aspects to several Solar Arc planets but would seem to be roaring ahead by 2029 with SA Jupiter opposition the Pluto at a time of considerable change with tr Uranus conjunct their Gemini Sun.

 The Washington Post, 6 December 1877, is confused and undermined in 2026/27 with tr Pluto square the Neptune; and in a long drawn out phase of considerable challenges and setbacks from SA Mars square the Pluto in 2024 and moving on to conjunct the Uranus in 2029; with disappointments (financial and other) along the way.

 Jeff Bezos, 12 January 1964, is similarly afflicted by Neptunian and Saturnine woes right through till the turn of the decade – which may be because of his other interests not progressing to plan.

Fox News, 7 October 1996, the Trump cheer-channel, is floundering this year with tr Saturn opposition the Sun and tr Neptune square the Saturn; with more disappointments ahead in 2029/30 financially and otherwise.

 Fox owner Lachlan Murdoch, 8 September 1971 9pm London, UK, will be jangled this year by his Solar Arc Uranus opposition his financial Saturn with tr Uranus continuing to rock his boat in 2027/28 conjunct his Saturn. But his greatest test comes across the turn of the decade into the early 2030s with a tranche of unfavourable Solar Arcs.

 The New York Times, 18 September 1851, is having a high-tension year of change till the end of 2026 with tr Pluto square its Saturn Uranus conjunction; with some uncertainty in 2027; but it will be 2030/31 when it faces its greatest test. The owner, AG Sulzberger, 5 August 1980, will be similarly afflicted around 2031/32.

  Facebook, 4 February 2004, and Twitter, 21 May 2006, both with planets in mid Aquarius will be feeling the winds of change at storm force bellowing at the end of this decade into the early 2030s.

  There do seem to be challenges across the board in four or five years and on. At that point tr Neptune will be in an undermining, directionless square to the USA Cancer Sun and tr Saturn Uranus will be heading for the USA Mars for a period of setbacks and high tension.

George Orwell: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

“The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.”