Cristiano Ronaldo – life in the sporting pressure cooker

Football is getting its shoelaces in a tangle what with the Qatari debacle in the vagina-shaped stadium (go read Marina Hyde, Guardian) and now the greatest footballer of all time Cristiano Ronaldo falling out with Manchester United. He gave an unsanctioned interview to Piers Morgan on Talk TV slating the manager Erik Ten Hag, the owners, the club’s infrastructure and former United figures. If lawyers find it violated the terms of his contract it could end his £500,000 a week deal seven months early without compensation, which would leave him free to sign for another club when the transfer window opens in January.

He first signed with Manchester United in 2003, aged 18, winning the FA Cup in his first season, followed by three consecutive Premier League titles, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup. He then moved to Real Madrid and Juventus before returning to Manchester United in 2021. He will captain Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar.

  Born 5 February 1985 10.20 am Funchal, Portugal, Ronaldo is a Sun Aquarius opposition a Leo Moon and square an intense Taurus North Node. He also has a ramped up Venus Mars in Aries inconjunct Pluto which has, no doubt, pushed him into superhuman efforts but won’t make relationships with authority figures easy.

 Manchester United, 24 April 1902, is a half-good fit with him since the MU Jupiter is conjunct his Sun carrying him to greater glory. But the MU Taurus Sun is also opposition hi Pluto for a running power struggle. Erik Ten Hag, 2 February 1970, has his Jupiter conjunct Ronaldo’s Pluto and his Pluto opposition Ronaldo’s Mars Venus so it was never going to be a harmonious fit.

  The relationship chart between Man United and Ronaldo is friendly and business-like with a composite Sun Venus square Saturn – but tr Neptune is chipping away at the foundations of trust over the coming year.

 Ronaldo ahead looks jolted and jangled over the coming three months, then facing a run of catastrophes at the same time as being on the receiving end of copious amount of money as tr Pluto is conjunct his Jupiter from February 2023 and these two entirely contradictory influences run on through 2024 as well.

  His spirits will pick up from late January 223 as Jupiter moves across his Ascendant so another lucrative transfer looks likely. 2026 looks to be the time when he decide to hang up his boots and refocus his career and life.

Nancy Pelosi – an iconic stature in US politics

As Nancy Pelosi steps down as Democratic party leader after legislative triumphs spanning four presidencies, she is earning plaudits as a legendary figure with monumental achievements including Obama’s Affordable Care Act. She is renowned as a bare-knuckle, ruthlessly effective politician and one who was able to draw together disparate factions in the party with an iron will.

  She was born 26 March 1940 at 3.10pm Baltimore, with a congressman father but came to politics late after having five children within six years with her banker husband. After 2018 she became Donald Trump’s biggest problem fiercely opposing his views. It is thought her retiral was partly motivated by the recent attack on her 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, assaulted in their San Francisco home, and hospitalised with a fractured skull.

  She has an intense and determined 8th house pro-active Aries Sun trine Pluto; with her Pluto in an unyielding a square to Saturn. She also had an ambitious and enduring Mars Venus Uranus in Taurus conjunct her Midheaven. A real heavyweight personality. She also has Mercury in Pisces in her 7th opposition Neptune, sextile/trine her Taurus planets which may have allowed her to soft-pedal at times to get agreement since the rest of her chart suggests a bulldozing approach. She also has a Scorpio Moon. A definite presence.

Trump – refusing to go quietly

Never one to take a hint, Trump has brushed aside Republican pleas to stand down, ignored the implications of Murdoch pulling the plug on support and turned a blind eye to major donors disappearing. Even Ivanka has ducked.

  Maybe it would have been too big a climbdown for his fragile ego to hand the baton elsewhere. Maybe he is deluded enough to imagine being a candidate will stave off legal jeopardy as he faces a mountain of suits. What is certain is exactly now he is feeling cornered and scared with a dead-halt and totally-trapped Solar Arc Mars within minutes of a degree in square to his Pluto.

  The Bid chart of 15 November 2022 circa 9pm Palm Beach may not be much of a help – if the Trump and Clinton bid charts for 2016 are anything to go by. You’d have been hard pushed to make much sense of either vis a vis the result.

  What is clear from this one is the entertainment value with Venus Mercury Sun in the 5th trine an over-hopeful Jupiter Neptune conjunct the Midheaven from the 9th.

 From a previous post: “His Solar Arc Pluto is moving to square his Saturn, exact in April/May 2023 which won’t have him leaping for joy either. If his birth time is accurate by the 2024 election he has Uranus just putting a toe into his 10th with tr Neptune on the cusp of his 8th and tr Pluto on the cusp of his 6th – so his life will be facing a major transition on several fronts. He does have Jupiter moving through his 10th from May 2024 which can be successful or it can be a period of grandstanding. But he looks in shock in October 2024 with tr Uranus square his Mars; and down in the dumps over the Inauguration.”

Ivanka, 30 October 1981, has said she loves her father but chooses to prioritize her family and private life this time round, though Jared attended the Trump announcement. She, along with her brothers and father, is in the line of fire of a civil fraud lawsuit involved in the family real-estate business, for falsely inflating his net worth by billions in order to enrich himself and secure favourable loans. The lawsuit seeks to bar all four Trumps from serving as executives in New York, and to prohibit the Trump Organization from acquiring any commercial real estate or receiving loans from New York-based entities for five years. Though the New York suit is not a criminal prosecution, a referral to federal prosecutors threatens further serious legal peril for Trump and his three adult children.

  Ivanka’s Scorpio Sun was conjunct the recent Solar Eclipse for a shake up and the 2023/2024 Eclipses will catch her Pluto, Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn in Libra conjunction. Jupiter Pluto is successful but can bring conflict with authorities because of a laws-don’t-apply-to-me approach.

  Her 2023 will be littered with obstacles and disappointments, though she’ll forge ahead nonetheless. 2024 looks most fraught when her Saturn gets rattled by a Solar Eclipse, usually a time of chickens coming home to roost with a restrictive and high-tension Solar Arc Saturn conjunct her Uranus as well.

  The relationship between Ivanka and her father was always fraught and unkind, demanding one of them play the victim and sacrifice their identity to keep the connection running. There will be more separation in 2023 with tr Saturn opposition the composite Sun Mars and Saturn; with a fair few hiccups between now and next spring as well.

  Melania having clearly decided which side her bread was buttered on is playing the dutiful wife. With her Sun and three other planets in Taurus and Jupiter in Scorpio as well as a Capricorn Moon, financial security will be key to her peace of mind. The recent Solar Eclipse was conjunct her Jupiter and opposition her Sun – over optimism will be a problem although the Eclipse will have presented her with a chance to get out of a rut. She’ll be pushing vigorously ahead in 2023/24 with tr Pluto square her Jupiter. Though her relationship with Donald will sag through 2023 as plans fail to succeed.

See previous Post: 11 November 2022, DeSantis and Trump.    

Petula Clark – not winding down

Petula Clark still going strong at 90 on stage singing her heart out in the musical Mary Poppins.

  Born 15 November 1932 at 5am (unverified) in Epsom, England, she started her showbusiness career as a child entertainer on radio during the war and lived with her grandparents in Wales with no electricity or running water. She is of the stalwart Saturn in Capricorn opposition Pluto Depression generation which is square an inventive Uranus opposition Venus. Overflowing with initiative from her Cardinal Grand Cross she will have been relentlessly restless and always keen to start a new project.

  Her enduring Scorpio Sun is trine Pluto. She also had the luck to be born with Jupiter and Neptune Mars in Virgo which has produced a fair few notables from 1932/33 including Joan Collins. Her Virgo planets square a changeable Gemini Moon which suit her to a life of constant variety and change. An 8th house Moon indicating grandparent nurturing would suggest the birth time might be about right.

  She has been married for over 60 years to a music business publicist though they seem to have drifted apart and she has admitted her guilt at leaving her three children as she travelled constantly for work.

A cheering example to all of us moving through our prime years .

Dominic Raab – not a wilting variety Pisces

Not lauded for his negotiating skills in Brussels where he was nicknamed The Turnip when discussing terms for Exiting the EU, Dominic Rabb, now Justice Minister, has faced over the years concerns about the way he has treated officials in the departments he headed. All hotly denied and he is litigious.

   But following on from Gavin Williamson’s departure there is an upsurge of significant criticism of his behaviour. The Guardian says: “Many sources in the MoJ told The Guardian Raab created a “culture of fear” in the department. Sources maintain Raab was “demeaning rather than demanding”, was “very rude and aggressive” and “wasn’t just unprofessional, he was a bully”.

  Born 25 February 1974 he is a Sun Pisces inconjunct Pluto and square Neptune – the Sun Pluto will give him problems with wielding authority and a strong Pluto tends to go in for contempt. He also has a heavyweight Mars in Taurus in a volatile inconjunct to Uranus. With his Uranus in an emotionally cool, ideologically-dogmatic Air Grand Trine to Saturn in Gemini trine Jupiter. His Mars is also square Jupiter and trine Venus in Capricorn – with his Venus inconjunct Saturn. He will be full-on and uneasy within himself at the same time with so many quincunxes.

  He was buoyed up by his Jupiter/North Node midpoint over his new appointment but that runs out in early December to be followed immediately by a job-loss Jupiter/Saturn and considerable disruption through most of December/January; setbacks in February and uncertainty after that.

  His relationship chart with Rishi Sunak at the best of times is immensely strained with a composite Sun, Venus opposition Pluto square Mars and trine Neptune and trine Saturn. And is sagging badly at the moment, blowing up in December into January – which will give Sunak a problem since it calls his judgement seriously into question.

 In Oscar Wilde’s sardonic phrase: ‘To lose one may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness.’

Tiffany Trump snags her billionaire-heir beau

Tiffany Trump married her long-time beau Michael Boulos, a Lebanese-American billionaire heir and business executive with interests in Nigeria on Saturday at Mar-a-Lago in a deliberately flashy display of conspicuous wealth. She is one of the “rich kids of Instagram” frequently including photographs of herself with friends or with descendants of famous parents or grandparents. She is Trump’s second daughter and his only child with Marla Maple. She flirted with the music business and modelling before doing a law degree and has made numerous appearances campaigning for her father.

 Born 13 October 1993 at 12.50pm West Palm Beach,  she is a sociable and confident Sun Jupiter in Libra square the excitable and inventive Uranus Neptune in Capricorn; with a hard-working Virgo Moon conjunct Venus, sextile an influencer Pluto and trine Uranus Neptune. She also has an ultra-determined Mars in Scorpio conjunct Mercury which will give her a penetrating way of putting across her opinions and a tendency to harbour grudges.

  Her husband Michael Boulos, 25 August 1997, is a Sun Virgo square Pluto and sextile Mars in Scorpio so controlling and dogged; with a volatile and independent-minded Uranus and Jupiter square Mars. His Virgo Sun chimes with her Venus though they are not conjunct and his Venus in Libra with her Sun. His self-reliant Saturn opposes her Sun Jupiter so she’ll be more outgoing but it may help to keep her practical though work may get in the way of togetherness and building a home as a couple.

  Their relationship chart has a Half Grand Sextile of the composite Sun opposition Saturn square Jupiter; and sextile Pluto trine Uranus Neptune. Saturn in relationship charts is good for longevity, less so for warmth, but good for business – and Jupiter brings mutual confidence and smooths rough edges. Pluto helps cement them together as long as they continue to share joint ambitions. It may go through an initial dip with tr Neptune opposition the Sun in 2023 but in general is a reasonably solid connection.

  The wedding chart set for 5pm is more questionable with a 7th house Sun, Venus, Mercury opposition Uranus square a 10th house chilly and dutiful Saturn; and trine an unrealistic, castles-in-the-air Jupiter Neptune with a can-be-influential or can-be-destructive Pluto on the Midheaven.  Mind you it was held in a hurricane which can’t have helped. Be interesting to see how the chart plays out.

  Tiffany’s relationship with her father is just as fraught as Ivanka’s with the old man. In Tiffany’s case there is a scary and dominating Mars Pluto in an explosive opposition to Uranus – being around the Donald would be like walking through a minefield.

Crypto currency – the financial wild west

The bewildering alternative universe of crypto currency which makes hedge fund derivatives look sane in comparison has taken a knock with the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX.

   Bankman-Fried, a week ago was among the most respected figures in the sector with a $24bn personal fortune and close links with Wall Street and celebrities. He advertised during the US Super Bowl, was a leading donor to the Democratic party and  spent tens of millions of dollars over the past year trying to reshape how Washington and the world think about finance and his crypto exchange. The company he founded FTX, had become an industry-dominating business in just three years, valued at $32 billion as recently as January. It had less than $1bn in easily sellable assets against $9bn in liabilities before it went bankrupt last week. 

 The Washington Post remarked: “Just a few months ago, Bankman-Fried was toasted as crypto’s Warren Buffett; now he’s drawing comparisons to convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes.”

   He was born 6 March 1992 with two Stanford University law academic parents and is a Sun Pisces in a confident, expansive opposition to Jupiter, trine an influential Pluto and sextile Uranus Neptune in Capricorn.  The Uranus Neptune marks him out as a poster-child of his generation – highly-strung, inventive, not always good at listening to advice. He also has a hard-edged, determined and unsentimental Saturn Mars conjunct in Aquarius with Venus nearby.

  His 10th harmonic is the strongest – it refers to the wheel of fortune – what rises high also falls low.

  If his birth date is accurate then the full impact of his failure may not become obvious for a few months or there will be significant repercussions.  From March 2023 onwards he has tr Pluto in Aquarius bearing down on his Mars/Uranus and Mars/Neptune midpoint and his Saturn/Uranus and Saturn/Neptune midpoints. Followed in 2024/25 by his Solar Arc Mars Saturn conjunct his Sun.

 FTX was founded on 8 May 2019 in the Bahamas/Antigua giving it a Taurus Sun which caught the recent Lunar Eclipse. It was trine the tough and can-be-self-destructive Saturn Pluto in Capricorn, which had moved by Solar Arc to close the conjunction this year. There was also an ‘adventurous’, risk-taking Mars opposition Jupiter square an unrealistic/slippery Neptune. Mars Jupiter in hard aspect can be associated with the misuse of others’ money and is being undermined by tr Neptune in square this year and next.

   Pluto in Capricorn started with hedge funders running riot and tripping up and may well be about to finish with the next generation of money magicians falling flat on their face.

Democrat result raises questions for 2024

Joe Biden has been giving every indication of standing again in 2024 which makes the Democrat Mid Term surprise results a victory with a price. A poll before the midterms found that more than half of Democrat and Democrat-leaning voters wanted a different nominee, a figure that rose to 75 per cent among those under 40. Exit polling showed that two thirds of all Americans don’t want him to seek a second term.

  His lucky Sun/Jupiter midpoint stood him in good stead for these elections but runs out early this December. The Solar Eclipse opposition his 5th house Moon appears (as yet) to have had no obvious effect.

  Moving ahead his 2023 will be blighted by tr Pluto square his Sun/Neptune midpoint from mid February 2023 onwards running on and off till late 2024. Ebertin describes this as emotional or physical suffering, or a tragic deception. It could be illness or a devastating scandal and whatever else it accompanies there’ll be a general sense of chaos and lack of clear thinking.

  He does pick up a Jupiterian surge of confidence and success from late February 2024 with tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint which repeats through the year and is exact over the 2025 Inauguration. But it runs alongside a series of disappointing and disaster-prone influences as well. If he did run and get in which isn’t a racing certainty he will run into the buffers in a major way in 2025.

  The Democratic Party chart from 13 May 1792 has a Taurus Sun Mercury square Pluto (Moon) in Aquarius. Tr Uranus will be exactly conjunct the Pluto and square the Sun over the 2025 Inauguration. The previous times there were hard aspects from tr Uranus was in 2001 with Uranus in Aquarius square Saturn in Taurus – over George W Bush’s first term. And before then when Gerald Ford took over from Nixon – both republican presidents.

NB: Can everyone remember this is an astrology forum not a political one. While some background can be illuminating, personal political preferences should be saved for elsewhere.   

GOP – Trump out, DeSantis in ++ Casey DeSantis

For a man who won convincingly in the race for Governor in Florida and is being talked up as the Republican presidential nominee for 2024, Ron DeSantis is not looking overtly happy. Either the lack of a red tsunami is causing him concern or he’s wincing at Trump’s sneers.

  He’s a practical and communicative Sun Virgo in a not-always-realistic and can-be-slippery square to Neptune with an outspoken Aquarius Moon; and a persuasive Venus Uranus in Scorpio with good-for-PR Venus square Jupiter.

  Without a birth time there’s precious little on DeSantis’s chart, 14 September 1978, to suggest a triumphant surge at the moment. He has a trapped, frustrated tr Pluto square his Mars till early December alongside a confused Mercury/Neptune and teeth-gritting Mercury/Pluto; with Uranus hitting his career-loss-making Jupiter/Saturn.

  From February 2024, he’ll be raring to go with tr Pluto square his Jupiter though in for a fairly ferocious battle with tr Pluto trine his Mars/Saturn midpoint at the same time, throughout 2025 as well.  2028 will be a high point of success and confidence with his Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct his Sun.

  Trump is throwing a textbook display of narcissistic rage at being blamed for GOP failures in the Mid Terms, is outraged at being dumped by the Murdoch media and has been sneering contemptuously at DeSantis. 

 He has a dead-halt and totally-trapped Solar Arc Mars within minutes of a degree in square to his Pluto so it is exactly on cue. His Solar Arc Pluto is also moving to square his Saturn, exact in April/May 2023 which won’t have him leaping for joy either. If his birth time is accurate, by the 2024 election he has Uranus just putting a toe into his 10th with tr Neptune on the cusp of his 8th and tr Pluto on the cusp of his 6th – so his life will be facing a major transition on several fronts. He does have Jupiter moving through his 10th from May 2024 which can be successful or it can be a period of grandstanding. But he looks in shock in October 2024 with tr Uranus square his Mars; and down in the dumps over the Inauguration.

  His relationship with DeSantis which always was designed for a oneupmanship battle with a composite Jupiter Pluto conjunction is sagging badly understandably through 2023/24.

  For what it is worth – since I don’t rate political party charts much – the Republican Party, 12 October 1853, has a blocked Solar Arc Mars square Pluto now and the recent Solar Eclipse opposition the Pluto in Taurus – as they contemplate their regrets about not dumping Trump and indeed for having packed SCOTUS with right-wing ideologues out of step with the electorate.  There is also a forced-reform Solar Arc Uranus opposition Pluto now. So it does look reasonably OK as a chart for accuracy. 2024 has the Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct the Rep North Node which will help. It is not as obviously upbeat as it was for GWB or Reagan’s inaugurations but doesn’t have any majorly blocked influences either.

  Trump will continue to slide in popularity with the party through 2023 into 2024. There’s a degree of confusion about DeSantis in 2023 but overall he looks a better fit and in good fettle with the GOP over the 2024 election.

ADD ON: Ron DeSantis’ wife Casey, 26 June 1980, mother of his three children, is a former TV presenter, his close confidante on political matters and is rumoured to have ambitions to become the next Kennedy-clone family to inhabit the White House.

  She does have leadership abilities with a Leo North Node and strong, not to say dogmatic opinions with Mercury in Cancer square Pluto and trine Uranus. Her family-oriented Cancer Sun is in a lucky sextile to Jupiter. But what is striking in her chart is a hard-edged Mars Saturn in Virgo square Venus opposition Neptune (Moon) in Sagittarius. Emotionally she’s all over the place – unrealistic at one level and prone to becoming a victim but capable of giving as good as she gets as well, the older she becomes. She’ll be passive-aggressive, gritting her teeth and then letting fly.

  Her synastry with Ron is not all sweetness and light with his Virgo Sun conjunct her Saturn Mars for irritations and eruptions; and his Saturn dampening her enthusiasm as it is conjunct her Jupiter. Plus his Mars makes an argumentative square to her Mercury.

   Their relationship chart works marginally better – with a composite Sun conjunct a supportive and lucky Mercury Jupiter trine Neptune sextile Pluto – high ambition, grandiose hopes and good fortune. Though with the Sun Jupiter square Uranus it only works as long as there is constant outside stimulation and not too much 24/7 togetherness. Jupiter in Gemini at the 2024/25 election/inauguration will give them both a boost.

  Her personal chart looks panicked and undermined through 2023 with tr Neptune opposition her Mars and a Jupiter midpoint. Though she’ll have upbeat phases as well. Late-ish 2025 looks to be her glory time of supreme confidence as her Solar Arc Jupiter is conjunct her Pluto.