The third Carolean era begins on a high note with respect for the late Queen and her glorious send off touching the heart of even the most ardent republican. But whether Charles, basking in her glow and without a guiding hand from an experienced and esteemed prime minister as she had, will glide easily into his new role is questionable.

  Massive change is visible on his personal chart with tr Uranus square his 1^st house Pluto until early 2023, which always accompanies a revolution in lifestyle and in his case image as well. And tr Pluto squaring his 10^th house Moon  throughout 2023 and 2024, will bring immense challenges and pressures in his career with power struggles ongoing which always ensue with Pluto around. Perhaps in part due to his intention to slim down the monarchy and institute far-reaching changes. And all at a time of high anxiety for him with Neptune bearing down heavily on his freedom-loving Uranus Jupiter.

 His relationship chart with the UK is chained-together but strained with a composite Saturn opposition Mars square Pluto opposition Mercury likely to cause divisive and hostile arguments which will reverberate through the first three or four years as tr Saturn and tr Uranus wend their way round that Grand Cross. There is affection for him but he’s likely to cause great irritation as well. And confusion through 2023/24.

  His relationship with Liz Truss is distrustful and suspicion-ridden on both sides with a composite Saturn square Neptune; as well as implacably and explosively opposed on certain issues with composite Mars opposition Pluto and Uranus. With  sprinkling of friendliness added to cover a few cracks. But it will get ratchety in January next with tr Uranus square the Saturn with more discord in April and on and off into early 2024. With disappointment and evasions undermining confidence with tr Neptune opposition the composite Sun and Venus in 2023/24.

 Relations with other Royals:-. To be remembered there are always undercurrents in all families which the astrology pinpoints which individuals may not be aware of. And the Royals are more of a pressure cooker tribe than most. Plus some are knocking on in years and despite longevity in both parents there is no saying that certain influences of separation may point to a physical not an emotional experience.

 Charles’ relationship with William which has a complicated push-pull composite Sun, Uranus, Pluto conjunction has been through many changes but is clearly more settled than in the past. There will be moments of uncertainty and worry throughout 2023 with tr Neptune opposition the composite Saturn; and a few rocky moments over New Year as tr Uranus opposes the composite Mars Neptune conjunction. Charles’ vulnerability to being upstaged may be a problem as Will and Kate prove a more photogenic attraction. But it won’t last long.

  Charles gets on well with Princess Anne as long as both can lead their independent lives. Their composite Sun square Moon Uranus  suggests that close confinement would be a mistake. There’ll be a few blips in early 2023 and a business-like coolness throughout the year; with the possibility of a more enthusiastic joint push in 2024/25.

  What intrigues me is his relations with Edward and Sophie, since she has stepped recently into high prominence and seems a capable pair of Royal hands. Charles’ relationship with Edwards will be labouring under considerable confusion in 2023/24 and will be seriously aggravated in 2025/26. With a damper on good feeling with Sophie in 2023 and muddles and disappointments in 2024/25.

  Charles’ relations with Harry always were fraught and bitter with a composite Mars square Uranus Pluto which will make both feel trapped. It has been sagging under disappointing Neptune transits for the past two years and will continue to be so till February 2023. What is crucial ahead will be how both handle tr Pluto conjunct the composite Midheaven, dictating the path ahead for their togetherness. Tr Pluto conjunct the composite MC from late March 2023 on and off till late 2024 could transform their relationship path in a positive way after a long struggle or break it up altogether.

  He’s not overly enamoured of Meghan with aggro and frustration stretching ahead over the next three to four years.

  Prince Andrew is the blot on the landscape that needs bulldozed out of sight permanently. C’s relationship with him was always cool and argumentative/competitive with a composite Moon square Saturn and a Sun Mars conjunction. This year confusion reigns between them; in 2023 a chill will descend and by 2024 there will be a further upheaval. Charles is no fan of Sarah Ferguson, even less so ahead than before.

  Andrew’s personal chart indicates a life-changing fork in the road now with his Yod focal point Uranus at 18 degrees Leo catching the tr Uranus square now until early 2023. Pluto pressures from tr Pluto conjunct his Mars Venus in late Capricorn which is Solar Arc Moon is also conjunct which will make this year and next emotionally anguished and bitter. Plus a good deal of activity around his 8^th house Mercury with his Progressed Mars approaching and exact in 2024, which could detonate a few more unsavoury financial scandals into the open. 2024 will also see tr Uranus opposition his Scorpio Moon which can coincide with a house move – so it may be he moves out of Windsor Park.

  Andrew’s relationship with William has never been good with a mistrustful and exasperated composite Saturn, Neptune, Mars conjunction. It is forcibly pulling apart at the seams through 2023/24 with tr Pluto square the composite Sun; tr Neptune undermining the Venus Pluto, and then tr Uranus elbowing the Saturn, Neptune, Mars conjunction in 2025/26– it looks unlikely he’d keep any doors open for a come back.

Add On: Charles’ bro-romance with French President Emmanuel Macron forged at last year’s climate change conference may make France the surprise choice for his first state visit ahead of a Commonwealth trip. The Foreign Office is understood to be keen to utilise the diplomatic power of the monarchy to build bridges with major European neighbours post-Brexit.  Charles and Macron have a friendly link with Macron’s Sagittarius Sun conjunct C’s Jupiter and Macron’s Venus conjunct C’s Mars. Both have Saturn in Virgo and Moon in Taurus; and Macron’s Pluto is conjunct C’s Venus for a shared passion in environmentalism. There will be scratchy moments as well but overall they are singing off the same hymn sheet. Though whether that falls foul of Truss’s hardline policies against the EU remains to be seen.

  A bombshell revelation from – yet another – Royal book, this one by Angela Levin, suggests that Andrew lobbied his mother to forbid Charles’s proposed marriage to Camilla. ‘A senior insider told me, he had a treacherous request. “He tried to persuade the Queen to block Charles marrying Camilla by being quite poisonous, mean, unhelpful and very nasty about Camilla.” His claims included that she was insufficiently aristocratic and that she was not to be trusted. The same individual went on to say that “when Diana was alive, through her friendship with Andrew’s wife Sarah, [Duchess of York] she plotted with Andrew to try to push Prince Charles aside so Prince Andrew could become Regent to Prince William, who was then a teenager.’

“Andrew lobbied very hard with the hope that Charles would not become king when his mother died, and that William would wear the crown. His behaviour was very, very negative and extremely unpleasant to Queen [Elizabeth], who disagreed. I was told it was one of the rare occasions he didn’t get his way. Nonetheless, he was apparently very angry that he couldn’t rule the country in some way. He remained so hostile to Camilla’s emergence and acceptance that it’s doubtful it has ever been forgiven.”

  If a smidgeon of that is true it is mind-boggling. It certainly spotlights Charles and Andrew’s composite highly competitive Sun Mars conjunction in their relationship chart. Around that time tr Saturn in Cancer was opposing the composite Sun Mars. And Saturn was also casting a freeze on the Queen and Andrew’s relationship in hard aspect to the delusional Sun opposition Moon Neptune on their composite chart – bringing a reality check. Pity the Queen never quite woke up to his true colours.

   Around this time Camilla was not invited to a Royal family Windsor do but Andrew turned up with his special guests – Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Nuff said.

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     Liz Truss hot-footing it to the USA has made the surprising admission that a UK-US trade deal, seen as one of the biggest prizes of Brexit, essential to boost UK growth, is not likely in the next few years. The Northern Ireland Protocol is one stumbling block with some Democrats warning there can be no trade deal unless the matter is resolved.

  A leaked 2018 UK government document assumed a US trade deal might boost Britain’s gross domestic product by 0.2 per cent in the long term, and deals with India, Australia, Gulf States  and south-east Asia might add a further total of 0.1-0.4 per cent to GDP over the long term. compared with official forecasts suggesting that Brexit would cut GDP by 4 per cent in the long term.

  What is astrologically striking is that Liz Truss’s relationship with Joe Biden which has a volatile, not to say explosive, Mars Uranus conjunction is flaring up into open discord at exactly the time when the USA/UK relationship chart is due for a major jolt.

 Truss’s Mars in Taurus was never going to sit comfortably with Biden’s Scorpio Mars Mercury; nor was her evasive, disorganised Neptune opposing his Saturn going to make for a shared agenda or mutual trust. Plus her controlling Pluto falls in his 10^th tempting her to micromanage his decisions; while her Sun is conjunct his Pluto making him think he’s top dog and in control. Last but not least her overloaded and rigid Saturn in Cancer is conjunct his Jupiter, so she’ll dampen his enthusiasm and then some. Not soulmates for sure.

  All of this translates in the relationship chart into a tussle-for-the-upper-hand composite Jupiter square Pluto; a defensive, chilly Sun square Saturn; and a combustible Mars conjunct Uranus at 15 degrees Leo. Tr Uranus will light the touch paper to detonate the composite incendiary Mars Uranus this December to mid January and again in February to mid March.

  The USA/UK relationship chart has an emphasised Pluto at 15 degrees Aquarius which is on the focal point to a Yod inconjunct Jupiter sextile Neptune giving rise to an at-times illusory togetherness but one in which power and status plays a key role. The Pluto is also trine the composite Sun trine North Node, which doubles its effect, giving rise to a locked-together connection that has undertones of resentment and constant game playing. The UK/USA composite Pluto will catch the transiting Uranus square in December/January and February/March 2023 which will require a significant diplomatic reset; with aggravations continuing in 2024/25 with tr Pluto trine the composite Mars.

ADD ON: UK economy in summary. Tr Uranus is opposition the UK 2^nd house Neptune now till mid October and repeating in the spring of 2023 = high anxiety about personal finances. Tr Uranus is also square the 5^th house Venus ruling stock markets, speculation and new projects for jolts and jangles this year and early next. It’ll be early 2025 before tr Uranus is clear of hard aspects to the UK’s Fixed planets which is making this such a turbulent, uncertain period of rapid change. And 2025 also when there is an economic super-whammy of the wrong variety as the Solar Arc Uranus is conjunct the 8^th house Mars. Once that clears, from 2026 onward tr Uranus is out of the UK 8^th house and the stormy seas should calm down slightly.

  This was never going to be an easy phase – several annis horribilis years.

Watched by a goodly chunk of the world’s population on television the Queen’s funeral was a breath taking and  sumptuous display of military pomp, which, as ever, ran with flawless precision. The pallbearers of the Queen’s Company, 1^st Battalion Grenadier Guards, recalled at short notice from active service in Iraq, had the nerve-wracking task of manoeuvring the coffin off and on catafalques, up and down steps and in and out of the hearse four times without stumbling. The floral bouquet, state crown and orb and sceptre balanced on top never wobbled.

  Lessons were learned from previous Royal funeral mishaps – in 1936 George V’s bejewelled Maltese Cross, containing some of the biggest jewels in the Crown, fell off into the gutter from the coffin top during his funeral procession. It was deemed a bad omen, with his son, Edward VIII abdicating not long after which caused a constitutional crisis.  Since then the Royal symbols have been anchored on. He was buried on 28 February 1936 with an accident-prone Mars Saturn conjunction in Pisces in a hopeful opposition Neptune square Jupiter, which latter two sometimes accompany scandals and instability.

  The sailors pulling the coffin on the gun carriage on ropes stems from Queen Victoria’s funeral in 1901 when panicking horses reared up and threatened to topple the coffin. Sailors on foot took over and the tradition has stuck. Her funeral on 2 February 1901 was a scrambled affair since no one knew what the protocol was and she insisted on being buried in a white dress with her wedding veil. At her request a dressing gown of her late husband Albert who had died 40 years earlier, was placed by her side, along with a plaster cast of his hand, while a lock of John Brown’s hair, along with a picture of him, was placed in her left hand concealed from the view of the family by a carefully positioned bunch of flowers.

  On her funeral day there was an exact disruptive Uranus opposition Pluto in an excitable and aggravated square to Mars. No wonder the horses were skittish.

  Queen Elizabeth’s funeral chart had a dreamy though not always practical Sun opposition Neptune, but that was anchored by an Earth Grand Trine of a Virgo Sun trine Uranus trine Pluto – arguably allowing Neptune to give vent to its cinematic talents without getting in the way of the organisation which ran like clockwork.

 My personal observations having watched the entire day was of admiration for the logistics and spectacle of it all – even if the Windsor last leg was a touch too much. Inside, the religious service was less noteworthy. The prelates, as ever, had uninspiring voices, flat delivery and were glued to the words on the page in front of them. When will they ever learn they are broadcasting to billions? Taking voice production lessons and practising oratory might add to the gravitas of the occasion. The choral music was top notch.  

 Baroness Scotland, secretary-general of the Commonwealth, was presumably there at the Queen’s request to indicate her love of the Commonwealth but given the corruption allegations against her was regrettable – she’s a Sun Mars Pluto in Leo conjunction, which is formidably determined and ruthless. Liz Truss up second was also less than rousing. Seating Joe Biden way back in the stalls was a mistake.

  Of the Royals – Camilla looked haunted and under-slept. The Princess of Wales looked supremely elegant, sombre and steely. The Royal children were well-behaved and Charlotte will clearly be a beauty. Charles let his feelings show but came across as dependable in the role. Princess Anne was a stalwart support. Prince Harry looked ill-at-ease but at least he was sat visibly behind Charles and Camilla for one of the services which made him feel less like an unwanted spare. Prince Andrew’s presence was a jarring mistake but probably unavoidable given his closeness to the Queen. Pray god he disappears off stage for ever in the near future. Though it may take a heavy boot behind him since his arrogance is boundless.  Luckily Prince William seriously dislikes him and he’ll straighten Charles’ spine.

Putin’s plans for a rival political and economic bloc to counter US and western interests have taken a hit with both China and India voicing concerns over the Ukraine invasion. Narendra Modi, the Indian PM, told Putin that “today’s era is not an era of war” and is thought to prefer a position of ambiguity where he can be friends with both sides. And Putin acknowledged Xi’s “concerns” about the war in public remarks.

  None of relationship charts between China, India and the two Russia charts, 1917/1991 look encouraging as far as diplomatic warmth is concerned. The China 1912/Russia 1991 chart indicates disappointment, confusion and uncertainty through 2022 and 2023. The China 1912/Russia 1917 composite is devastated in 2023/24, more so in 2025.

  It’s not quite so stark with India though the India/Russia 1917 connection is sagging and evasive in 2023 and completely blocked in 2024/25. Not much entente anywhere to be seen and certainly not cordiale.

 The Russia 8 December 1991 7.45 pm chart is catching the Scorpio Solar Eclipse late this October as it is conjunct the 4^th house Venus, hinting at a domestic crisis and can accompany a feeling of having to make it alone for a while.

  Tr Uranus will oppose the Pluto for a major disruption from mid June onwards, on and off into 2024. That could coincide with considerable domestic unrest and a forced change of direction from the leadership. Before then in late December tr Saturn will square the Russia Pluto for a stuck, gloomy couple of weeks which could be associated with the war. Relations with neighbours will take years to fix with tr Pluto moving on to square the 7^th house Saturn in 2025/6.

 The Russia 8 November 1917 2.12 am chart is showing more obvious turbulence with its Fixed T Square of Uranus in Aquarius opposition Saturn square Sun, Mercury in Scorpio catching the unstable tr Uranus square tr Saturn full on this year plus the Eclipses on the Sun with tr Uranus causing ructions in January 2023 and more from May 2023 onwards.

  It may or may not be relevant but on the Russia 1917 chart the Progressed Mars went retrograde around 2008/09 and stays that way for many years. That usually accompanies a loss of potency and vitality with direct action bringing diminishing returns.  

   The Georgia war broke out at that point and was the first time since the fall of the USSR that the Russian military had been used against an independent state to attain its political objectives. ‘The war in Georgia showed Russia’s assertiveness in revising international relations and undermining the hegemony of the United States.’

   Maybe that’s where it all went wrong as Putin embarked on his wrong-headed campaign to restore Russia’s greatness by forcefully harvesting former satellite states. As with all astrology affecting countries it takes longer to kick in than with individuals.

  The USA’s Progressed Mars went retrograde in 2006 which caused comment and may be a pointer. Though the UK Progressed Mars didn’t when you might have expected it to – so maybe not all that significant.

Add ON: Putin has now threatened the West with nuclear weapons over Ukraine, saying: ‘I’m not bluffing’. And he has announced the mobilisation of 300,000 reservists, the first Russian mobilisation since WW2. Though many analysts are sceptical that a partial mobilisation will have a rapid impact on the battlefield, because it could take several months to train reservists and to create new units with commanders and logistical support, never mind finding adequate equipment.

   His warnings have prompted even China to demand a ceasefire ‘through dialogue and consultation’, while Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Putin should return all occupied land, including Crimea, to its ‘rightful owners’. 

Putin is generally regarded as desperate because of recent losses and the overall failure of his invasion which it is reckoned has cost 70,000 Russian dead or wounded. Unfortunately losing may make it more likely that he will lash out like a cornered cougar.

  His 4^th term chart has tr Pluto conjunct the Mars now till early December which will increase his fear and impotent frustration to def con levels. The relationship chart with the USA will heat up from early December through to early January with increasing bitterness and hostility. January also sees further eruptions of tension.  The EU and UK look rattled at the moment and again in early 2023. NATO is on alert with hints of an upheaval this November and again in March 2023.

  This October’s Scorpio Solar Eclipse is in a Saros Series that Bernadette Brady connects to Mars Pluto – ‘It is about being forceful and taking power. It has a manic flavour about it with great force or strength manifesting in the relationship area.’

  The Russia 1991 chart’s 4^th house Venus catches it exactly – which could point to nationalistic fervour – love of the homeland etc.

Prince Harry had the most downbeat birthday of his life on Thursday with sadness about the loss of his grandmother bearing down on him. Perhaps also a heavy realisation is dawning of what he’s lost in stepping away from his Royal duties. The monarchical machine is not one to buck lightly and has expertly minimised Harry and Meghan’s presence at a time the other young Royals are growing in visibility. Given their addiction to the publicity on which their brand depends that must jar.

   His personal chart for the next few years hints at a troubled soul lost in a wilderness he does not know how to exit. There is a punishing list of negatives. His Solar Arc Sun is conjunct his Pluto exactly now for a bleak, stuck few months with the October Solar Eclipse conjunct both, setting him up for a full-scale crisis. He also has his Solar Arc Uranus square his Venus for an emotional upset, exact now as well as his Solar Arc Moon opposition his Neptune for undermining family circumstances. Plus tr Uranus opposition his Midheaven, exact again mid October onwards for a few weeks and again in early 2023 – for an upset to both career and home life. Uranus then continues through his 4^th house for five years ahead which will be unsettled on the domestic front.

  Tr Neptune is opposing his Virgo Sun this year which runs into January 2023 – undermining and indecisive.  

  Late this December tr Saturn will square his 4^th house Moon for a sense of separation from family and tr Uranus will conjunct his Moon from mid June 2023 into 2024 – which will be even more disruptive on the home and family front.  

  Plus tr Saturn is continuing its downward slide through his 1^st quadrant which is a low-profile time and neither ambitious or successful and can bring up financial shortages. It is also a time when unresolved psychological issues surface and have to be tackled. And he has a couple of less than upbeat Solar Arcs in late 2024, one  Saturnine block and the other a radical change of future plans. Plus several less than wonderful midpoints – to be truthful fairly calamitous ones.  All too exhausting to contemplate. I do feel sorry for him.

  His Solar Return for this coming year has at least got the merit of an Earth Grand Trine of Sun trine Moon trine Pluto which will give a modicum of stability though it does focus onto Neptune in the 11^th in opposition to the Sun, so dithery, undecided Neptune will be the driving planet in the chart area of future plans. Uranus on the Ascendant suggests a sudden far-reaching change in his image. Pluto in the 10^th can be tricky since it suggests a forced change in career path, which can involve a long period of searching and seeking before a sense of purpose is gained. It can hint at a fork in the road, with a need to leave the past behind and while in a few instances Pluto may bring more influence, it can also accompany loss of reputation.

 Relocating his chart to California puts his Moon in the hidden 8^th and his Sun in the hidden 12^th which would be fine if he were following his inclination to disappear down a rabbit hole for several years until he got his head together. But unfortunately he’s being prodded by wife and necessity to get out there and be a mover and shaker. California does not bring out the best of his talents.

  For all the seamless togetherness he and Meghan display as a couple, there are massive stresses and strains on their relationship chart. Projecting all the internal tension between them out onto their respective families will only go so far; and essentially anyway it is a relationship that needs space with a composite Sun square Uranus. Tr Pluto will continue to bear down heavily on the chained-together composite Moon square Pluto Saturn until late 2023. Tr Pluto in 2023/2024 will heighten emotional reactions as it trines the Mars Venus and will conjunct their composite Midheaven – the latter again hinting at the need for a change of direction. Tr Neptune in 2024/25 will oppose the composite Mars Venus for disappointment and a sense of failure either in projects or their togetherness; with major ruptures come 2026/2027 when tr Uranus opposes the Uranus and squares the Sun.

  There’s no indication of a hug-and-make-up moment ahead in his relations with his childhood family. There are heavy clouds over his link with William next year and worse in 2024. Much the same with Charles as tr Pluto will conjunct their composite Midheaven in 2023/24 for a power struggle that won’t end well. That may be connected to Harry’s dislike of Camilla which looks like causing more angst in 2023/24.  Anne is looking less than enchanted with him over the next two years as well.

  Living out all his family aggravations and relationship woes in the public gaze will feel like a Truman Show reality-feste, which is why he might have been better to choose a less celebrity-obsessed missus. He could then have disappeared with his millions to keep his head down off the beaten track, in his beloved Africa for instance or even Australia.

Spare thought – their California superstar lifestyle must be stratospherically expensive given the extraordinary number of staff they seem to employ for various projects. They need to pull in mega-millions to keep that ship afloat. If their income dropped it would be a disaster.

George Clooney and Julia Roberts have hooked up for a feel-good movie to which reviewers have given a modulated welcome. Audiences desperate for a light-hearted break from woes and worries may lap it up when it goes on release in next month.

‘The single greatest joy of Ticket to Paradise comes from the unwavering belief that a happy future still is possible.’

‘If you’re in the mood for a great escape, you’ve basically just won the lottery.’

‘While it has little to do with the real world, it’s a seductive slice of make-believe.’

   Though it would have to be said that Clooney, 6 May 1961 2.58am Lexington Manor, KY, is not in the best of times with the Eclipses rattling his Taurus Sun and an emotionally conflicted tr Pluto conjunct his Capricorn Moon earlier this year and again in December; with several setbacks and calamities mid October through till early 2023 from Mars midpoints. Followed by a discouraging slog through 2023/24 from tr Pluto conjunct his Saturn. Tr Uranus is also upending his Sun Mercury in 2023 and then his Progressed Mars is conjunct his Pluto by 2024 for a dead-halt. He will have moments of luck and cheer in January 2023 and more money coming his way but it’ll be 2025 and on before he heaves a sigh of relief and gets his mojo back.  

  Julia Roberts, 28 October 1967 12.16 am Atlanta, GA, is a private 4^th house Sun Scorpio with her Sun on one leg of a spine-straightening Yod, sextile Jupiter in Virgo inconjunct Saturn. Her Saturn is also in a disciplined, hard-edged square to workaholic Mars in Capricorn in her 6^th house. She’s no slouch and not a lady to mess with.  The October Scorpio Solar Eclipse will conjunct her Sun which will find her at a crossroads and having to make significant changes to her life. Jupiter moving cross her Midheaven from March 2023 until May 2024 will see her on a wave of success. Though she’s also got a few humps and bumps through 2023/24; and like Clooney it’ll be 2025 when she gets into full steam ahead gear.

  They make a good working pair with his Jupiter, Moon and Saturn falling in her 7^th and his energising Mars falling on her Ascendant. Her Sun and Mercury fall in his 8^th for a deep-connection conjunct his filmic Neptune with her ambitious Mars sits in his career 10^th. Best of all her Jupiter is conjunct his Pluto for a power-couple dynamic.

  Their relationship chart has a composite optimistic Moon, Jupiter, Neptune which will keep them buoyant; a hard-working Saturn in the 10th and a charming Venus in the 1^st to burnish their image as an amiable couple.

The New  York Times has been evoking squeals of outrage for its provocatively unsympathetic coverage of the Queen’s death, blaming her for the sins of Empire. Within hours after her death the NY Times kicked off its coverage with a Harvard academic saying readers should not ‘romanticise her era’  because the Queen ‘helped obscure a bloody history of de-colonisation whose proportions and legacies have yet to be adequately acknowledged’.

 Another US academic in a tweet said ‘the chief monarch of a thieving, raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.’ And managed to blame the Queen for the post-independence Nigerian civil war.

  It would have to be said that the immediate aftermath of a notable death is always a tricky affair. After Ted Kennedy died and the USA was having a ‘Diana’ moment of profound respect, I pulled the ceiling down on my head by suggesting that the Chappaquiddick affair and the Mary Jo Kopechne death hardly merited the adulation. Equally I remember David Starkey, the historian, valiantly standing at the gates of Buckingham Palace in the hours after Diana’s death making himself unpopular by suggesting she had damaged the monarchy and was hustled off. Even after 9/11 there was disquiet in the US that not everyone in the UK shared their profound grief and insisted on raising questions about the downside of US Middle East policy.

  Getting the balance right of respect-for-the-dead versus the truth-of-their-life always wobbles in the early days. Robert Maxwell was lauded to the heavens for 24 hours until it started to creep out that he had been a corrupt monster.

  What intrigues me is the left-wing critics obsession with the Empire which died sixty/seventy years ago, whose atrocities are well publicised in the UK and is given almost no thought by 95% of the UK population, who now accept the UK’s diminished status in the world.  The NY Times aired another academic when Liz Truss became Prime Minister, suggesting she was ‘still in thrall to the Empire’.

   They are living in the same time warp as the Iranians who still treat the UK as ‘the Great Satan’ who caused them grief decades back.

  This isn’t too astrological but I was delighted to find a piece in a Nigerian journalistic website giving a considered response to the ‘painful death’ tweeter: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/opinion/554416-uju-anya-and-the-dangers-of-deliberate-half-education-by-tope-fasua.html

‘The history of the world could as well be written as the history of plunders, from one society to another. Every nation on earth was formed by a group of oppressors, plunderers, enslavers, conquerors, whether from within or without. Before the British – led by the English monarchy – made their foray into the furthest limits of the earth, they too had been raped and plundered by the Romans, the Scandinavians (Huns), the Saxons, the Normans (Normandy, France), and a few more.’

‘The persecuted and oppressed British, who fled the monarchy to the New World or today’s United States of America, what did they do to the owners of the land there? Total decimation, using a combination of diseases and guns. Today, aboriginal Americans are in some places herded into colonies still. They were wiped out with small-pox and bullets for trying to protect their land and sovereignty. It is perhaps the worst ever carnage perpetuated in all of humanity. If [US critics] feels so bad about the English monarchy, their skin should crawl for earning salaries and living in the USA. The USA genocide was carried out mainly by the ‘oppressed’ from Britain.’

  The NY Times also suggested, shock horror, that the funeral would be paid for by the taxpayer – which appears to amount to about five pence a head. And the cost of the Royals annually is less than a quarter of the amount that Americans pay for their President to be transported around the world in Air Force One. And a tenth of the £1.2 billion they pay for ‘operations’ at the White House. It’s not that there are not legitimate questions to be asked about Royal finances, opaqueness over wills, inheritance tax etc but the fixation on the UK’s slide towards bankruptcy while the Royals apparently do a Marie Antoinette is bizarre.

   To drag a miniscule amount of astrology in – the New York Times, 18 September 1851, and the present Editor Joseph Khan,  19 August 1964, both have Mars in Cancer which sits conjunct the UK Midheaven and in opposition to the Capricorn Sun – which is a competitive interface, argumentative and abrasive. In Khan’s case doubly so since his Mars is pumped up to full passion by Venus close by. As a Wall Street Journal reporter in 1997 he wrote a flattering and complimentary pro-Chinese piece about the handover. There is some suspicion he is trying to drum up trade in that part of the world by beating down on the ‘Great Satan’ of the UK which disappeared before he was born.

  The NY Times, labouring as most media with falling circulation, in its case especially after Trump’s exit, is facing substantial problems in the near future. Tr Neptune is undermining the Virgo Sun this year on and off till early 2024, not good for morale or finances. The Solar Arc Saturn is in a discouraging, enthusiasm-squashing conjunction to the Jupiter. Then from March 2023 with Pluto’s entry into Aquarius there follows a monumentally tough four years as tr Pluto squares Pluto, then Saturn and Uranus – pulling painfully away from the past and into a period of intense turmoil and forced change.   

Oceanic Neptune, lord of the boundaryless, ever-changing seas, in hard aspect to the sensitive Moon goes along with a dreamy, imaginative, idealistic and devoted temperament. A yearning for a blissful, seamless connection in relationships induces a tendency to see the best in others and ignore distressing or potentially hurtful realities. Love through a soft-focus lens.

  The characteristic of airbrushing out faults paradoxically goes hand in hand with an openness to undercurrents in the atmosphere and an unwitting psychic ability to tune into and absorb others’ thoughts and feelings – often with an inability to distinguish what is ‘them’ and what is personal. Learning discernment – sorting out fact from fantasy and even more crucially developing healthy boundaries is vital to maintain autonomy and independence.

  Where it stems from is a mother who is unable to maintain her own boundaries so the child does not learn to separate ‘me from thee’ as it develops. In the womb and just after, mother and child are one. But part of the process of healthy development is to build a separate identity in slow stages as the baby turns into a toddler and then a child, pulling away from the initial stage of ecstatic oneness. Or not so ecstatic if the emerging baby is subject to the storms and hurricane’s of mother’s mood swings.

  The Moon Neptune type is denied the chance of building robust emotional defences and so is at risk of being overwhelmed by outside influences and other people’s woes and concerns. They lack a tough emotional skin and get easily upset if criticised or rejected. Their need is unconditional love, in giving and receiving, yet they often hold back from commitment since they lack trust in their own judgement and in the less-than-divine partners they come across. Some individuals shut down emotional connections altogether since the world and other people are felt as too threatening.

  Others can give themselves away in a close relationship – dissolving their identity is the price they pay for merging and identifying with their partner and in process they can allow themselves to become victimized.

  While their hypersensitivity does have a serious downside of dependency, self-pity, irresponsibility, escapism, irrational fears and an avoidance of anything unpleasant it also goes along with an intuitive talent for sensing other’s pain which handled well can be of great help.

  Picking famous examples of Moon Neptune is tricky since it is a nebulous trait and one which can have vastly differing outcomes. But one thing jumped out which were individuals who were famous for being in a twosome – Queen Consort Camilla, Brigitte Macron, Yoko Ono – all strong women but ones who are irrevocably tied to a partner. Also Will Smith and Kanye West who always spring to mind attached to AN other.

  Escapist drug problems are another strand with Amy Winehouse, Robert Downey Jnr and the late River Phoenix, who had a hippie Children of God cult mother.

  And the forlorn Marilyn Monroe, who was constantly seeking a stable mother having grown up fostered out and her mother ultimately being diagnosed as a schizophrenic. Not all of which can be attributed to her Moon opposition Neptune but it would play a part.

  Off-the-Richter scale of the negative end of the Neptunian spectrum, which does seem wider than most of the outer planets, is John Gacy, the American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured, and murdered at least 33 young men and boys. He regularly performed at children’s hospitals as “Pogo the Clown” and became known as the Killer Clown.

  He had a Sun Moon Pisces conjunction opposition Neptune. When astrologers were later given his chart as a test without his name attached, they described him as the soul of compassion and goodness. Which just goes to show how Neptune has even managed to airbrush its own reputation. It can be cosmically chilling and unempathic – so spaced out it doesn’t relate to humanness at all.  

   Gacy was close to his mother and two sisters, but endured a difficult relationship with his father, a physically abusive alcoholic who belittled him, calling him “dumb and stupid” and comparing him unfavorably with his sisters.  

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s bombastic right-wing president, is eight percentage points behind in the polls for the October 2 election to Luiz Lula da Silva and swearing he’ll go if he loses despite having previously indicated he wouldn’t admit defeat. Whatever he says, there are fears of a constitutional crisis since he’s likely to react badly if he doesn’t win. If neither candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the vote, a run-off will be held on October 30.

  His chart hints at dire setbacks with a bad-tempered response. His unpleasant Mars in Taurus opposition Saturn square Venus opposition Pluto is being rattled every which way this year and early next by tr Saturn which is exactly conjunct the Venus through this month – a hint of his unloved status. Worse tr Uranus is hammering away at his Mars/Saturn midpoint now till mid October which is catastrophic and moving on to a ‘shocking’ conjunction to his Mars in November  – with more in 2023. Plus an undermining tr Neptune opposition his Saturn/Uranus midpoint over the second run off, if it gets to that which is not cheerful.

  His opponent Lula, jailed in 2018 for corruption and in prison for eighteen months before the charges were annulled, was born 27 October 1945 and has his Scorpio Sun close to the October Solar Eclipse which does indicate a significant turning point for him.  His Solar Arc Mars is approaching a conjunction to his Jupiter which will bring a surge of confidence though it is followed almost immediately by a dampening Solar Arc Saturn conjunct Jupiter so if he gets in there will be a short honeymoon before problems arise.  His Solar Arc Jupiter is conjunct his South Node which could indicate over confidence and he’ll get lucky breaks in December. His chart isn’t showing unalloyed success but is certainly in better shape than Bolsonara’s.

 The Brazil 7 September 1822 4.08 pm Piranga chart is hinting at a change of direction with tr Uranus conjunct the IC and moving into the 4^th (start time being accurate) late this year and into 2023. There’s no real indication of a major outbreak of public unrest.