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The long drawn out struggle to appoint a new leader for the defeated Tory Party is a needless exercise in the view of some who see yet another change coming up a year or so ahead. The cartoonists are having a field day sticking a head on the  skeletal remains of the Conservative Party.  

 The Tory chart, 9 May 1912, which is the one which works best against events, is facing stormy seas with repeated upheavals, disruptions and perhaps outright revolutions over the next three years.  By late 2025 the Solar Arc Uranus will conjunct the Party Saturn suggesting a move against the old guard and the old ways. With a rebellious, status-quo upsetting tr Pluto conjunct the Uranus through 2025/26. 2028 to 2030 look to be terminally blocked and confused with the Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Mars Neptune so recovery won’t be swift.

 Whichever of the two candidates left standing, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, make it through to the blue rosette the result is unlikely to be greeted with delight. The 2^nd November announcement falls on the exact, infuriated, frustrated Mars opposition Pluto.

  Kemi Badenoch, 2 January 1989, London, no birth time, is a Sun Capricorn trine an enthusiastic Jupiter Mars in Virgo with a Cancer Moon. Over the announcement she has tr Neptune opposition her Saturn which will be uncertain. And the tr Mars opposition tr Pluto is hitting her Solar Arc Mars which would not normally be helpful but since her Mars conjuncts her Jupiter it may not be as blocked. November see tr Pluto square her Jupiter/Neptune midpoint which usually means plans don’t work out. Her December looks much more upbeat and successful. Though 2025 won’t be her favourite year with undermining setbacks.

Robert Jenrick, 9 January 1982, Wolverhampton, no birth time, is another Sun Capricorn, born the same day as the Princess of Wales, with his Sun square Mars and Saturn and widely square Pluto and opposition a Cancer Moon. The Libra Solar Eclipse was conjunct his Mars and next March’s Eclipse will be in opposition so he will be revved up and on fighting form. Tr Jupiter is trine his Sun/North Node over the announcement which will boost his spirits, though it is a minor influence. Tr Pluto is square his Mercury/Node and Jupiter/Saturn also through November; with tr Neptune opposition his Uranus/North Node, none of which look too jubilant. He’ll be on better form through patches of 2025 with tr Pluto square his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint.

 The usual election mish mash.

  Badenoch would be a better fit with the Tory Party, less so with the UK. Jenrick would be a dominating force within the Tory Party and marginally resented in the UK.  

King Charles’ welcoming event at the Australian parliament was disrupted by Aboriginal senator Lidia Thorpe who went on an anti-colonial rant before being ushered out. She has a track record of stunts and angry outbursts, giving a Black Power salute as she prepared to take her oath for the start of a new post-election parliament.

 Charles ignored her tirade which is not unusual for a Royal visit but what is interesting is the astrology. She was born 18 August 1973 less than two weeks before Thomas Tuchel (see below) and has the same intimidating Mars in Taurus on the focal point of a formidable yod to Pluto sextile Neptune. Her Mars is also in an argumentative trine to Mercury in attention-seeking Leo trine Neptune, in a demanding and super-confident Fire Grand Trine, formed into a Kite by Mercury opposition Jupiter – so not short of self-belief or luck.

  Her ramped-up Mars is conjunct Charles’ 10^th house Moon and North Node and opposition his 4^th house Mercury so his position will trigger her anger.  She also has a confident Jupiter trine Pluto, a tough-minded Pluto square Saturn; and Saturn on the focal point of another yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Jupiter. Her emphasized Saturn sits on top of Charles’ Uranus opposition Jupiter for a high-tension and enthusiasm-deflating connection.

  Their relationship chart has a volatile, short-fused composite Mars opposition Uranus being triggered at the moment by tr Uranus in square; and the composite Sun caught the recent Solar Eclipse. A hot button moment.

 There has been concern that Charles’ cancer treatment would make an onerous foreign trip too taxing. He does have his Solar Arc Saturn exactly (to within one minute of a degree) conjunct his 4^th house Sun so the pressure is on.  Tr Pluto has one more square to his Moon this December before finishing a punishing too year challenge which will put pressure on him.  There will be ups and downs next year and some setbacks but with tr Jupiter moving through his 11^th his optimism will stay high.

 His troubled relationship with Harry shows no immediate signs of easing with tr Saturn hitting the aggravated composite Mars square Pluto Uranus early in 2025 and the two Solar Eclipses, Libra and Aries in effect over the next year will trigger the composite Saturn in their relationship chart which hardly looks encouraging and good feelings will be further eroded as tr Neptune Saturn in Aries squares the composite Jupiter into 2026.

Chris Hoy former track cyclist, is an 11-time world champion and a six-time Olympic champion, endowed not only with sporting talent but also a likeable personality, articulate, intelligent and humble. At the young age of 48 he has written a heartbreaking though surprisingly upbeat book about his terminal cancer diagnosis. All That Matters: My Toughest Race Yet to be published on November 7.

 He discovered last year that his primary prostate cancer has metastasised to his bones with a diagnosis of two to four years before it kills him. He remains glowingly positive about where he is. “As unnatural as it feels, this is nature. You know, we were all born and we all die, and this is just part of the process.” Part of his approach is attributed to sports psychology teachings about getting events into perspective from a higher level. Though with his wife just diagnosed with aggressive multiple sclerosis and two young children it is an experience that would stun most.

  He was born 23 March 1976 2pm Edinburgh and has a pro-active Aries Sun in his philosophical 9^th house opposition Pluto square Mars opposition Moon, so he is not short of determination, courage and initiative. Jupiter in Aries in his 10^th will give him confidence and luck.

 His Pluto is catching the recent Libra Solar Eclipse and the one next March in Aries, which will bring forced changes and the tr Saturn Neptune in Aries square his Mars and conjunct his Sun in 2025/26 will slow him down.

Over his diagnosis last year his Progressed Mars was conjunct his Saturn for a life-changing setback.

  Tr Pluto square his Jupiter this month will give him a lift over the publication of his book which he hopes will be of help to others.

North Korea is acting provocatively towards the south blowing up a connecting road and making balloon rubbish drops across the border with the present South Korean leader taking a less relaxed view than his predecessor about their troublesome neighbour. Concern is also being voiced about Kim Jong Un’s military support for Putin in Ukraine sending weapons and troops.

 Kim Jong Un’s Leadership chart, which is the one verified date, 29 December 2011 11.57am P’yonggang, does suggest a hint of bullish confidence from tr Pluto square Jupiter running till late December. But alongside that runs setbacks and glitches. Tr Neptune Saturn into Aries conjunct the Uranus from just before mid 2025 on into 2026 will be highly strung and on edge with the likelihood of eruptions. Common sense will be in short supply with the possibility of reckless actions as tr Uranus squares the Neptune again from just before mid 2025 onwards and then squares the Moon into 2026.

  Tr Neptune Saturn in Aries will move to square the Leadership Sun Pluto conjunction in Capricorn between 2026 and 2027/28 which will be monumentally blocked and undermined.

 The North Korea country chart, 9 September 1948 5.27 pm P’yonggang, will be on high alert and acting erratically when tr Uranus squares the Saturn in Leo June 2025 into 2026; and worse will be completely trapped and frustrated by tr Pluto square the Mars from March 2025, on and off till late 2026 – with an even more destructive Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Mars in late 2026 into 2027.

 South Korea, founded on 15 August 1948 seems less troubled.

 Relations between North Korea and Russia flag up the same high-tension alert as Uranus reaches 28 degrees Taurus from mid 2025 into 2026 with tr Uranus opposition the composite Neptune. It is essentially an unstable connection between the two countries which will be made worse as tr Neptune Saturn start to erode the Pluto opposition Uranus from 2026 onwards.

South Korea is a rich, highly educated and sophisticated democracy, engaged with the world at large. The North is a Cold War dictatorship and economic failure whose only asset is its armed forces (including its nuclear arsenal).

Plagiarized from wiki: South Korea. Its massive investment in education has taken the country from mass illiteracy to a major international technological powerhouse. The country’s national economy benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentages of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree

The country has one of the world’s highest-educated labor forces among OECD countries. The country is well known for its highly feverish outlook on education, where its national obsession with education has been called “education fever.” This obsession with education has catapulted the resource-poor nation consistently atop the global education rankings.

South Korea has a universal health care system. According to the Health Care Index ranking, it has the world’s best healthcare system as of 2021. Life expectancy has been rising rapidly and South Korea ranked 6th in the world for life expectancy at 83.5 years in 2023. Though it also has a high suicide rate.

 Astrologically somewhat similar to India and Pakistan (August 1947) with a Leo Sun conjunct Saturn Pluto.

Maria Callas, the tragic but talented Greek opera singer, is shown in her final days up to her early death at 53 from a heart attack, with flashback memories, in a new biopic starring Angelina Jolie. The film has received mixed reviews, although critics have generally praised its central performance. “Jolie is absolutely spellbinding as Maria Callas, imbuing her with grace and resolve.” “Angelina Jolie dazzles as the opera diva in her finest performance in a decade.”

Steven Knight’s screenplay (of Peaky Blinders renown) ‘hinges on an unusual tragic dynamic: Maria living in seclusion in Paris has outlived her operatic career while her legend has gone ahead into history without her, leaving her alone to weigh the cost of both.’

 Callas’s masochistic romance with shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis is covered (before he abandoned her to marry Jackie Kennedy though he later resumed a clandestine affair.)

  Callas’s date of birth is questionable though 2 December 1923 6am New York looks feasible with a 10^th house Virgo Moon and an 8^th house Pluto. A Sun Jupiter conjunction in Sagittarius would give her a sliver of optimism, enough to balance the destructive effects of a Mars Saturn conjunction in Libra. She was attuned to cruel treatment and would attract herself to less than desirable partners.

  Ari Onassis, 20 January 1906 10am Smyrma, Turkey, a final degree Capricorn Sun trine Jupiter in Taurus – ambitious, lucky, acquisitive; also had a bullying Pluto in Gemini square Mars in Pisces which was in hard aspect to Callas’s Moon. Their relationship chart had a composite Saturn, Mercury, Sun, Mars Venus opposition Pluto – dominating, cruel, passionate.

  Callas’s mother according to reports was ‘pathologically ambitious’ who pushed her into singing very young and worse pressed her to “go out with various men”, mainly Italian and German soldiers, to bring home money and food during the occupation of Greece during World War II. She never forgave her mother for what she perceived as a kind of prostitution forced on her; and eventually cut ties altogether.

 This may have rung a bell with Angelina Jolie, whose upbringing with parents involved in an aggravated split, a pushy stage mother, and highly stressed, druggy and suicidal teenage years also had echoes of deep unhappiness.

 Angelina Jolie, 4 June 1976 9.09 am Los Angeles, is a Sun Gemini opposition Neptune with an intense and afflicted Aries Moon, Mars, Jupiter opposition Pluto.

 Callas’ Chiron is conjunct Angelina’s Jupiter and Moon (Mars Pluto); and Jolie’s Chiron is opposition Callas’s Mars Saturn – so they both hook into the other’s woundedness and ill-treatment.  Jolie’s Neptune is also conjunct Callas’s Sun for a filmic connection.

 With tr Jupiter in Gemini crossing Angelina Jolie’s Sun for several months into early 2025 she will be on a roll of rising confidence; with her career in general heading in a good direction for years to come. Though fraught close relationships will also be the order of the day ahead with tr Pluto moving into her 7^th house.

Movie buffs are puzzled about why the billion-grossing movie Joker in 2019 has turned into a 2024 damp squib sequel for Joker: Folie a Deux. Not that the critics loved the earlier version about the murderous clown afflicted with mental illness with its potential to inspire acts of real-life violence and criticism of its brutal nihilism. This one appears to have cut across ‘the tastes of the core audience of Joker fanboys, including the embittered incel quotient whose preoccupations it channelled’ and ended up pleasing no one.

 This one may lose $200 million though star Joaquin Phoenix and the director/producer Todd Philip both on $20 million and Lady Gaga on $12 million won’t go without.

 Principal photography started on  10 December 2022 with a tricky Sagittarius Sun opposition Mars square Neptune which tr Saturn has been impacting negatively this year. Tr Neptune is also now conjunct the Jupiter, bringing disappointment to high hopes.

Todd Philip, the director, co-writer and producer, of both Jokers is also a Sun Sagittarius in his case square Pluto in final degree Virgo, both of which are catching the undermining tr Neptune hard aspects at the moment.  He will get a lift over the coming year with his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Jupiter so it may not condemn his career for ever.

Joaquin Phoenix, 28 October 1974 Rio Colorado, Argentina, has a frustrating, infuriated, trapped tr Pluto square his Mars in Scorpio now and moving on to square his Venus and Sun in Scorpio over the next three years, so he will be under great pressure.

Lady Gaga, 28 March 1986 9.53am New York, has her Aries Sun and possibly Solar Arc Midheaven both in Aries catching the recent Solar Eclipse and the one next spring for a crisis of direction.  And won’t appreciate tr Saturn Neptune square her Mars by mid 2025 but overall won’t be dismayed for too long.

  None of which matters a jot except I wonder if it signals a shift in the culture where a mentally ill, murderous anti-hero no longer fits the mood of the moment.   

Mitzi Gaynor, actress, singer and dancer, was best known for South Pacific, the 1958 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical extravaganza which won her a Golden Globe nomination; and There’s No Business Like Showbusiness. She has died aged 93, after a long career performing latterly in nightclubs and on TV specials.

 She was born 4 September 1931 10.35am (unverified) CST, Chicago, Illinois and had a stellium in Virgo with her Sun conjunct Mercury, Venus and Neptune – hard-working, earthy, creative. Her Virgo planets squared a restless Gemini Moon.  The rest of her chart was tied into a high-powered, pro-active Cardinal Grand Cross giving her a surplus of initiative. She would not be short of courage, determination and grit but would have a tendency to attract crises and disruptions in her life.

Thomas Tuchel considered one of the best football managers has been named as the England team coach from 1 January 1925. He is described by one commentator as ‘an impressive, if abrasive, personality with a reputation as an outstanding tactician.’

Born 29 August 1973 Krumbach, Germany, no birth time, he has a singular, complex and determined chart. His Virgo Sun and Mercury are sextile Saturn and trine Mars in earthy Taurus; as well as being square a visionary Neptune. His Pluto is in an unrelenting square to Saturn and a confident trine to Jupiter.

 What marks his chart out in addition are three yods. Neptune sextile Jupiter inconjunct Saturn; Saturn sextile Sun Mercury inconjunct Jupiter; and Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Mars.

 What a complicated mix of opposites.

  His start chart of 1 January 2025 is not too encouraging with a frustrated/trapped Mars opposition Pluto – and an up-and-down Mercury opposition Jupiter square Saturn.

 Tr Neptune Saturn into Aries will give him problems into 2026 as it undermines his Pluto and Saturn but he’ll respond with bullish confidence as tr Pluto is conjunct his Jupiter.  

Plagiariasm is defined as passing someone else’s words or ideas off as one’s own. Effectively stealing. It has long been known in academia and in journalism though there are grey areas in music and the creative arts with arguments over whether ideas or tunes can be copyrightable.  

 On a quick skip through some high profile examples, what is at first sight counter-intuitive are frequent aspects between Mercury and Saturn in the individual charts. Saturn has a reputation for rigour and sticking to the straight and narrow. But here it might have more to do with a lack of confidence or low self esteem in words/ideas/writing so other authors’ work seem a tempting way of appearing brighter and better.

 Journalist Johann Hari, 21 January 1979 was one and he has a Sun Mars in Aquarius opposition Jupiter in Leo so will be temperamentally keen to make a splash – Mars Jupiter can also be opportunistic. His Mercury in Capricorn is trine Saturn North Node in Virgo.

Jayson Blair, 23 March 1976, a NY Times journalist, a desperately ambitious Aries Sun opposition Pluto square Mars; also has Mercury (in Pisces) trine Saturn in Cancer.

Jonah Lehner, 25 June 1981, author/blogger, has his  Cancer Sun conjunct Mercury in late Gemini with both square Jupiter Saturn in Libra.

Stephen Glass, 15 September 1972, a former journalist, has a Virgo Sun, Mars, Mercury square Jupiter on one side and Saturn in Gemini on the other.

Doris Kearns Goodwin, 4 January 1943, author, is a Sun Capricorn with her Mercury in Aquarius opposition Pluto and trine Saturn and Uranus as well as Neptune.

Claudine Gay, 4 August 1970, academic, has a Sun Mars in Leo  with her Mercury in a squine (105 degree) aspect to Saturn – not really instructive.

 My slight impression – in addition to a fair amount of Fire in several charts – is a mix of super-charged ambition combined with worry about weak communication skills is what does the damage. And Saturn as ever always claims its pound of flesh in exposing transgressions.