Russia is moving into 2023 facing a significant and humiliating failure in Ukraine but the economy is holding up better than expected.  Sanctions against Russian exports, important in the medium and long term, proved ineffective in the short term because high energy prices continued to fill the state’s coffers. Though the population’s assessment of its current situation and its economic expectations have deteriorated sharply in recent months.

  The Russia 8 November 1917 chart had its Scorpio Sun triggered by the November Lunar Eclipse suggesting tensions would escalate, especially since this Eclipse was conjunct the erratic, unstable Uranus square Saturn. Tr Uranus returns to oppose the Russia Sun and square the Saturn in Leo for a final time mid January 2023 to early February. But will continue on to square the Russia Uranus from May 2023 onwards which will be a moment to pause and rethink what lies ahead. Putin first became president in 2000 on the Russia 1917 Uranus Return – so it might be fitting if he exited on the first square. It could also see a restive population rising up to show their displeasure at his dictatorship.

  His 4^th Term chart, 7 May 2018 11.05 am, was always heading for a turbulent possibly terminal phase in 2023. Tr Pluto starts the destabilising square to the Uranus from mid February 2023, on and off till late 2024 – administrations often tumble during this time. Plus there is a Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Mars, exactly in 6 months which is trapped, enraging, unable to proceed, high risk. He will have some luck up his sleeve mid March to early May 2023 as tr Uranus hits the Sun opposition Jupiter, but it could also lead to over confidence tripping him up.

  The Bank of Russia, 13 July 1990, won’t escape the almighty crunch coming as Pluto moves into Aquarius in late March – which is also affecting the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England – since it will square the BoR Mars at zero Taurus; with a devastating Solar Arc Neptune squaring the BoR Pluto late 2023. So there will be massive challenges on the economic front.

  Alexander Lukashenko’s 6^th Term chart as ruler of Belarus, 23 September 2020, is feeling the strain late 2023 and hitting the buffers in 2024 so whatever plans he has for perhaps assisting Putin in a further assault on Ukraine won’t work well.

  Modern Belarus has much the same chart as Ukraine – which is why I really don’t like these modern charts, though the 1918 ones aren’t much better.

  Russia and the USA will continue to be at loggerheads with tr Pluto opposition the composite Mars throughout 2023; and even the much punted entente cordiale with China looks mired in confusion in 2023/24 and worse in 2025.

The winter solstice is here with the Ingress on December 21^st of the Sun into Capricorn, planet of the threshold between the old year and the new. Capricorn is creative given its dual nature of being immersed in the unconscious realm of ideas (the fishy tail) and the earthy realm of material ambition (the mountain-climbing goat). Ingress charts are deemed to give a hint of the theme for the next three months though opinions vary amongst astrologers as to how much illumination they actually throw on upcoming events.

  This Ingress has the Capricorn Sun exactly square a go-ahead Jupiter just into Aries, which should produce an upbeat mood – which hardly fits the prevailing wind. Plus an aggravated Moon opposition a retrograde Mars in Gemini. The irritable push-pull Saturn square is still in place tied into the Nodes.

  Not sure I am any the wiser – anyone who likes to comment, feel free.

  Looking at last year’s Capricorn Ingress set for Kyiv there is an emotionally intense Cancer on on the Ascendant opposition Pluto Venus in Capricorn which might suggest problems with control-freak partners/neighbours but wouldn’t exactly headline invasion. – with Mars in the 5^th and Jupiter in the 8^th as well as Saturn.

  Anyway I put them up as talking points.

The golden ball met the golden boot on the pitch in Doha and although only one could win, both Argentinian Lionel Messi and French Kylian Mbappe put on world class performances. Messi achieved the one title that had eluded him in a long and glorious career as he ponders retirement in the near future. And Mbappe, the tournament’s overall top goal scorer, pulled France out of the doldrums late on with two goals inside 97 seconds to draw even and then managed a hat trick third in penalty time.  

  Messi, considered one of the best players of all time, was born 24 June 1987 8.30pm Rosario, Argentina, is a Sun Cancer opposition Neptune and trine an influential 10^th house Pluto, with an exuberant Mars in Cancer square a family-oriented Jupiter in Aries on his IC. His restless Moon Venus in Gemini in his sporting 5^th house opposes a fiery Saturn Uranus in Sagittarius.

  He said this would be his last World Cup though his manager refused to commit himself. With an Aquarius Ascendant he does have tr Saturn moving through his lower profile First Quadrant now and ahead which is when energy and fired-up ambitions tend to sag. So retiring at the top may be the way to go. By late 2020 he was reckoned to be earning over $1 billion a year.

  See previous posts 10 August 2021, 29 August 2020.

  Kylian Mbappé is now reportedly the highest-paid footballer in the world and has been playing internationally for France since he was 18.

  He was born 20 December 1998 1.47am Paris in a council estate into a sporting family. His father, originally from Cameroon, is his agent and a football coach, while his mother, from Algeria and is a former handball player. Two brothers also play.

His birthday is today and he should be celebrating his remarkable hat trick despite France’s defeat. He has a quick-witted 3^rd house Sagittarius Sun with Moon Venus in Capricorn on his IC, hinting at close family relations. His Sun is in a confident, expansive square to Jupiter and in trine to serious, sensible, self-reliant Saturn in Aries. His Libra Ascendant has a go-ahead Mars sitting on it sextile Pluto Mercury in Sagittarius.

  His chart is unlike Messi’s though Mbappe does have an entrepreneurial and self-confident Fire Grand Trine of Sun to Saturn to a leadership Leo North Node so he is capable of following his ‘impossible dream’ and making it real.   

There’s a battle royal going on in Scotland in a bitter gender war as Nicola Sturgeon faces up to J.K.Rowling over changes in legislation. It will allow self-identification for anyone who wishes to change gender without a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. They won’t have to live in their new sex for two years as was stipulated before, with the threshold dropped to 16 years old. They will now be entitled to become legally a man or a woman simply by declaring that this is who they are.

  Former First Minister Jack McConnell said: “we could now see an incentive for predatory male sex offenders to come to Scotland, identify as female, and have access to women’s hospital wards, rape crisis centres and prisons.”

  J.K. Rowling is funding a new crisis centre for women in in Edinburgh to provide counselling and support for women in need. “We believe that women deserve to have certainty that, in using our services, they will not encounter anyone who is male.” This project was sparked off by the chief executive of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre, a trans woman, arguing that women who objected to being counselled by someone who was born a man should “expect to be challenged on your prejudices” as part of their journey towards building “a new relationship with your trauma”.

  The bill is likely to pass in the Scottish Parliament but a recent poll suggested that 68 per cent of voters believe the changes pose a safety risk in women-only spaces.

   Both Sturgeon have Venus in Virgo so share some similar emotional reactions but Rowling’s Leo Sun clashes with Sturgeon’s flamboyant and opinionated Mercury Mars in Leo for an argumentative and competitive interface.  Rowling’s focal point Jupiter also squares Sturgeon’s Pluto for a oneupmanship tussle.

  Their relationship chart has a challenging and fated Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Saturn North Node, which does suggest they are irrevocably tied together for good or for ill. They’ll continue to wrangle through 2023.

  Quite why Sturgeon has launched out to push forward with electorally-unpopular legislation when she is facing mounting problems with harsh criticism of her government’s education record amongst others. Recent polls suggest there is a marginal uptick in support for independence but Sturgeon, although bullish this month, is heading into two years of blockages and setbacks with tr Pluto opposition her Sun/Mars midpoint, then Mars till late 2024. That will be frustrating, trapped and scary.

  J.K. Rowling’s counselling and support centre will be known as Beira’s Place — named after the ancient Scottish goddess of winter — the divine hag.

 China having flipped its draconian lockdown covid policy into a nothing-to-worry-about dismissal is facing unrest from a population traumatized by three years of stringent restrictions. Many are questioning whether the heavy human price in depression and mental problems had been worth it and are demanding compensation. But health experts have warned the country is unprepared for a sharp rise in infections and deaths in a subsequent wave.

  Another woe is Japan overturning six decades of postwar security policy to arm itself to counter China’s rising military aggression. The Japanese government has approved its biggest military buildup since the second world war. The plans reflect growing alarm over a more assertive Chinese military and a North Korean regime that continues to improve its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.

 The China 1 January 1912 chart is only partially through a nerve-wracking and disruptive/rebellious phase of tr Pluto opposition the Neptune and for another year conjunct the China Uranus – which latter often accompanies domestic unrest. It kicked in when Covid descended and certainly fits the devastation of tr Pluto in Neptune.

  This coming year as well tr Neptune in hard aspect to the China Mercury opposition Pluto will bring confusion, mixed messages, suspicion and perhaps an undermining of power and influence. Late April into early May will bring a disaster or two, perhaps with military associations. With some financial setbacks in January and a generally disappointing year. Though the major upsets won’t turn up till 2024 when tr Uranus hits the financial Venus opposition Mars – and beyond that 2026 when Solar Arc Pluto squares Neptune which could – in part – be a catastrophic natural disaster.

  The China/Japan relationship chart is winding up tension as tr Pluto moves into Aquarius from late March 2023, on and off till late 2025 as tr Pluto is conjunct the Sun and Venus – intense reactions on both sides and an undermining of trust.

  The Bank of China chart, 1 December 1948, will be radically changing policy to keep step with changing circumstances early in 2023 and maybe to react to a sudden event from mid March for two weeks. But its major headache starts to kick in through 2024, worsening dramatically in 2025/26 as tr Saturn Neptune into Aries starts to square the Mars Jupiter and Solar Arc Neptune unhelpfully adds its losses when it is conjunct Mars Jupiter.

  Xi Jinping’s 3^rd Term, 23 October 2022, which has a control-freak 10^th house Pluto square Sun Venus is under unrelenting pressure and heading for a challenging and stuck 2023. He will react with confidence and be rewarded with some luck when tr Pluto sextiles the Jupiter late March to mid June; but on the whole the year is one of failure.

 Japan, 11 February 1889 10.44am Tokyo, is not looking too upbeat this year either with tr Neptune conjunct their Mars, which may or may not be connected to their truculent neighbours. There will certainly be a sense of turbulence and disruption from Solar Arc Uranus square the Pluto, exact in 15 months though active probably before then, which will unsettle the normal Japanese stoicism.

Tr Neptune into Aries in 2025/26 does seem to bring with it a degree of further havoc which is all too exhausting to contemplate.

Financial woes and worries not surprisingly are the standout astro-signatures for the UK in the first half of 2023. Uranus will square the speculative 5^th house Venus (Venus rules money) mid March to early April 2023 before proceeding to oppose the UK 2^nd house Neptune late April to mid May which will be nerve-stretched.

  There will be one spark of good news through February as tr Uranus is conjunct the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint with an improvement in morale (a sporting success maybe?).

  Tr Saturn will conjunct the UK Pluto over the end of March, repeating till late year, which usually suggests blockages and a downbeat mood. And there is a frustratingly trapped and scary tr Pluto square the Mars/Node midpoint all this month into January and repeating till late 2023.

  What might offer a hint of cheer is Jupiter moving into Taurus and through the UK financial 8^th house from June 2023 for a year which usually coincides with more money coming in or at the very least the start of beneficial changes.

  From mid August tr Uranus will square the UK 11^th house Saturn in Leo, repeating on and off into early 2025 – which could cause upsets in the legislature with parliament in turmoil. Which may or may not have anything to do with turbulence in the Scotland Act of Union 1707 chart – though it is difficult to see independence as an imminent issue.

  Pluto moving into Aquarius from late March does not strike much directly in the UK chart until 2024. Though it does flag up for King Charles’ Coronation on May 6 2023, four days after Pluto goes retrograde.

It also shows up on the Bank of England chart, 27 July 1694 JC 10am, as tr Pluto in Aquarius will be in a highly pressured and trapped trine to the Mars from late March on and off till late 2024, suggesting there will not be much latitude for progress.

  Like the UK chart the BoE chart hints that the real economic hardship will be 2024/25.

  On the UK chart for 2024/25, tr Pluto will be in a disruptive trine to Uranus and a highly-confused conjunction with the Neptune/Node midpoint. Though it will also oppose the UK Jupiter so there will be a confident push through these two years. But the result appears to be further problems with the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the 8^th house financial Mars in early 2025 which will bring a major economic headache.

  The Bank of England chart will labour through 2023/24 with tr Pluto trine the Mars with tr Neptune square the Saturn adding a further layer of uncertainty in 2024. Like the US Federal Reserve (see previous post USA 2023), the BoE will be knocked back in 2025 with the entry of tr Neptune and Saturn into Aries opposing its Mars.

    Recovery will come eventually since it always does but not until 2026 and beyond.

  The UK/EU relationship chart will have its ups and downs  through this year with tr Uranus square the composite Venus and Mars throughout; as well as tr Saturn in hard aspect to the Pluto square Uranus – so not all sweetness and harmony.

  What is intriguing is the UK/USA relationship chart. It has a fated and stressed composite Yod of Jupiter sextile Saturn inconjunct Pluto – so a power play is always in operation. The focal point Pluto will be elbowed by tr Uranus now till mid January 2023 and February to mid March 2023 – interesting to see what that brings in terms of diplomatic upsets.

  Rishi Sunak’s Prime Ministerial chart, 25 October 2022, is a mix of confidence and disappointment through 2023. Tr Pluto will sextile the PM Jupiter late March to June 2023 for an attempt at an upbeat approach; at the same time as undermining tr Neptune squares the Mars – and that latter continues on into 2023, which usually suggests failure.

  Sorry to be so downbeat – but better to not skip along in Mary Poppins-style and get disappointed. No one ever promised transformation was easy and the UK has had tr Pluto grinding through its 4th house deconstructing old foundations since post-2008 and tr Uranus through its 8th more recently which is another deep existential revolution phase. Both of which are major and will gradually move on in the second half of this decade leaving the UK a changed nation.

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Henry Cavill who soared as Superman for nearly a decade has been dropped from the role after a shake-up at Warner Bros. And just to show troubles don’t come singly, The Witcher sequel he allegedly turned down of to prepare for another Clark Kent outing won’t have him back either.

  He won’t be on the breadline or grounded for ever but from his birth details, he is into a slow-down phase in his career. Born 5 May 1983 2.30am St Helier, Jersey, he met Russell Crowe when he was still at school and has had a luckier-than-usual run of starry roles from The Tudors onwards and was short-listed for James Bond.

  He has a quick-witted, lively and physically robust 3^rd house Sun and Mars Mercury in Taurus with a creative Venus in Gemini in the entertainment 5^th opposition a creative Neptune.

  What marks his chart out as lucky and successful is an adventurous Jupiter Uranus conjunction in Sagittarius on his Midheaven plus an ultra-determined Saturn Pluto conjunction – both of which are under severe pressure at the moment. His Solar Arc Saturn is conjunct his Jupiter Uranus exactly now for an enthusiasm-dampener on the career front; with tr Pluto squaring his Pluto and in 2023/24 his Saturn for a tedious and discouraging slog.

  Tr Saturn is also heading downhill through his lower profile First Quadrant at the moment and for some years ahead so he won’t be cresting on the same waves as before for a while. Though being a regular on the gamer-movie and comic-con circuit he won’t be left idle for ever.   

 The USA’s Pluto Return rolls on until October 2023, heightening some tensions and bitter divisions because of the Mercury opposition but nothing more than in recent years. What is not clear since epochal changes don’t always/usually happen in a blinding flash is the trajectory for the USA in the next historical phase. Pluto Returns often bring a fall from superpower status though occasionally they usher in a revival. Pluto deconstructs and reconstructs. See post 17 October 2020.

  In the immediate future on the USA 4 July 1776 chart there will be high anxiety and a few disastrous setbacks this coming April. But the real mishaps and significant misfortune come when Solar Arc Saturn is conjunct the USA Mars and squares the Neptune which won’t kick in till early through mid 2024.

  What does flag up earlier is Pluto putting a toe into into Aquarius in late March till mid June 2023. That opposes the USA Uranus/Neptune midpoint, described by Ebertin as: “losses, calamities, inability to make a firm stand and at the mercy of circumstances.” Ebertin can be overly dramatic but it looks like a worrisome time.

  Pluto into Aquarius shows up in starker form in Joe Biden’s Term chart and the USA Federal Reserve chart. The Sun was at zero degrees Aquarius for the 2021 Inauguration and that will be under considerable pressure on and off till late 2024. Tr Pluto square Sun usually brings major challenges, can feel blocked or disastrous as old structures are pulled down. The past two years may seem easy in comparison for Biden as Pluto bulldozes on.

  The high-risk nature of Biden’s term of office, indicated by the Sun Saturn Jupiter square Mars Uranus, (20 January 2021 11.48am), when he was inaugurated will come to boiling point with the Solar Arc Saturn closing the explosive square to Mars to exact in 8 months and square Uranus in 10 months, though could be in effect sooner.  By 2024 Solar Arc Saturn will conjunct the Jupiter exactly for a downbeat, enthusiasm-denting time.  

   The US Federal Reserve, 16 November 1914 9am chart, has an 8^th house Neptune at zero degrees Leo which will catch the tr Pluto opposition exactly later March to mid June 2023, and again through 2024. This usually coincides with a sense of devastation and loss, at the very least massive confusion. Late August 2023 tr Uranus opposes the FedRes Scorpio Sun for a jolt and a forced change of direction, continuing into 2024.  By 2025 tr Neptune Saturn in Aries will square the FedRes Saturn Pluto in Cancer which will see more financial worries and grave uncertainty.

  No country will escape unscathed over the next three years so this can’t be seen as a solely USA time of trial. But the outer planet changeover will undoubtedly make its presence felt stateside.

  Joe Biden personally will have his sinking moments mid February to mid March and late November through December 2023 when he will be facing a run of catastrophes with tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Pluto midpoint. He’ll also be knocked sideways July to October by his Mars/Uranus midpoint. And be having a fairly bad-tempered year in general with outbursts as he gets triggered. He’ll have moments of confusion March to June 2023. But it is 2024 when his problems mount. He’ll face them head on with bullish confidence but tr Pluto in an undermining trine to his 10^th house Neptune and an emotionally-conflicted square to his Taurus Moon will be hard to overcome.

  Poor Kamala Harris is still – indeed more so than before – labouring under tr Pluto square her Libra Sun and Aries Moon till late 2023 which is tough going, with the additional weight of her Solar Arc Saturn sitting on top of her Moon and opposition her Sun for nine months into 2023. Nothing easy and 2024 looks hugely uncertain and undermining for her.

Police have seized more than €1 million in cash in sixteen raids as part of an inquiry into alleged corruption in the European Union. The scandal, described as one of the biggest corruption investigations in the history of the European parliament is linked, said sources, to World Cup host Qatar, before a key vote on a deal for fast track travel and visa liberalisation with the Arab emirate.

  Roberta Metsola, president of the European parliament, told a meeting of MEPs in Strasbourg that “malign actors linked to autocratic third countries had allegedly weaponised” a series of entities including unions, NGOs and MEPs in their efforts to undermine democracy”.

  Greek MEP Eva Kaili, one of 14 vice-presidents at the parliament with responsibilities for the Middle East, has not been named but she has been stripped of her position. As a socialist she raised eyebrows by calling Qatar a “front-runner in labour rights” amid concerns over deaths and poor working conditions for construction workers.

  Michiel van Hulten, a former Dutch Socialist MEP, now director of the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International in Brussels, warned that the new scandal “is not an isolated incident”. “Over many decades, the parliament has allowed a culture of impunity to develop, with a combination of lax financial rules and controls and a complete lack of independent — or indeed any — ethics oversight. “In many ways it has become a law unto itself.”

  Doha has rejected any allegations of misconduct.

  The EU chart is slanted towards money which is understandable for what is in large part a trading entity. But an overly-optimistic, slap-happy, none-too-rigorous Jupiter Neptune in the 2^nd house of finances, Venus in the speculative 5^th and a hidden (secret dealings) Pluto in the 8^th trine another hidden planet, the financial 8^th house Moon in Taurus, might suggest there was an opportunity for clandestine financial goings-on and a laxity in oversight.

   The October Scorpio Solar Eclipse was conjunct the EU 2^nd house Neptune to drag underhand activities into the open with tr Uranus squaring the 5^th house Venus exactly now till mid January and returning Feb/March 2023 for financial jolts.  Plus tr Saturn opposing the 12^th house Pluto from late March 2023 on and off throughout the rest of the year which might arguably put a block on behind-the-scenes and out-of-sight trickery. There’s also an undermining Solar Arc Neptune conjunct the EU Sun exactly now – which may have additional causes in the general global mayhem than this scandal but it won’t help morale.

 Eva Kaili, 26 October 1978, Thessaloniki, Greece, is a Sun Scorpio (conjunct the EU’s 2^nd house Neptune) square Jupiter in flamboyant Leo, with Uranus Mercury as well as Venus Mars in Scorpio – an overdose of determined, can-be-acquisitive and can-be-less-than-straightforward Scorpio, whose natural home is the financial 8^th. The October Solar Eclipse was conjunct her Sun for a crisis point; and Uranus was opposition the November Lunar Eclipse turning her life upside down. If she was an early morning birth her Solar Arc Sun is also conjunct her Neptune at the moment for a downward slide.

  Her relationship chart with the EU has a power-couple composite Jupiter Pluto conjunction which can be successful but can also go badly wrong when power and money become the driving issues on one side.  Her relationship chart with Qatar is even more intriguing with a super-successful composite Jupiter, Sun, Pluto, Mercury square Mars – producing a tendency to egg each other on to unwise and overly-ambitious schemes.