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Leaving a legacy that dominates a culture for decades is a rare talent. Nearly fifty years after his death the genius of J.R.R.Tolkien is still capturing attention with a new Amazon TV series The Rings of Power out.

  Tolkien’s achievement in The Lord of the Rings was to create a mythology, a high fantasy world with a detailed history for Middle-earth, a complete language for his elves and a set of archetypes for a whole range of fantastical creatures. His books went on to generate a vast sub-culture of fans for other-worldly mediaeval fiction, films and video games and inspired later writers.

 Tolkien was born 3 January 1892 10 pm Bloemfontein, South Africa, and moved to England when he was three after his father died. His mother died when he was 12 and he was put under the guardianship of a Roman Catholic priest. WW1 interrupted his studies and he returned from the front line with trench fever, which cut short his military career. He became a philologist and professor of Anglo Saxon at Oxford. Along with serious academic writings, he started work on The Lord of the Rings and eventually became successful and almost a cult figure.

  He had a serious Capricorn Sun in his entertaining 5^th house which was sextile Mars in Scorpio and, if the birth time is accurate, that was inconjunct the Midheaven and widely inconjunct Pluto Neptune in Gemini.  His prominent Neptune Pluto in the 9^th house which rules higher education and publishing fits an academic and a fantasy writer – and his Neptune Pluto was in a communicative Air Grand Trine to Venus in Aquarius and Saturn in Libra.  

  His Jupiter and Moon in Pisces were square his Pluto Neptune giving him confidence and an active imagination. Jupiter trine his Mars gave him vitality and an appetite for adventure.

  His 4^th house Mercury in Capricorn gave him an interest in his roots and lineage and no doubt spurred on his interest in creating a mythology for England. His Mercury was sextile Uranus and inconjunct Neptune Pluto, channelling even more energy through that iconic and supernaturally-inclined combination.

  Not surprisingly his leaving-a-legacy for history 17^th harmonic is strong; as was his writer’s 21H; and even more so his global reputation 22^nd harmonic.

  A fascinating man.  

Twenty five years on the memory of Princess Diana burns brightly and still raises strong reactions. She died on 31 August 1997 in Paris, causing worldwide shock and an outpouring of grief in the UK. 2 billion people watched her funeral on television.

  She died two days before an 18 North Solar Eclipse in the same Saros cycle as the previous one which oversaw the death of the Queen’s uncle, Earl Mountbatten, killed by an IRA bomb while holidaying in Ireland. This Saros cycle usually accompanies illness or accidents and is given to obsessive worry. Eclipses repeat in the same cycle every 18.5 years approximately and this one has particular relevance for the Royal Family.  It was the closest to the birth of Lady Diana Spencer in 1961.

  Eclipses marked her life as she was married two days before an eclipse on 31 July 1981, a service watched by a global audience of 700 million people. This cycle, not seen as a luck-bringer, puts pressure on personal relationships, with the caution that hasty decisions are not wise since information is distorted and possibly false. Tiredness or health problems are also associated with it.

  Prince William, the eldest son and heir to the throne in succession to his father, was born on the day of a solar eclipse in June 1982. This series is challenging in effect, dealing with separations or the ending of a union, although the long-term outcome is hopeful.

  Born 1 July 1961 7.45pm (memory) Sandringham, England, Diana had a charming and people-oriented 7^th house Cancer Sun and Mercury so was adept at making everyone she met feel special; and in trine to Neptune would give her a healing presence. Her 5^th house Venus would also give her a radiant and entertaining glow. She needed a stabilising partner in life but she would be conflicted and contradictory emotionally. Her yearning for Watery togetherness sat uneasily with a maverick Aquarius Moon in a freedom-loving opposition to Uranus square Venus conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol. And she had an angry, argumentative 9^th house Mars Pluto in Virgo. On the one hand this gave her the ability to spread a message to a wide audience about the tragedy of AIDS and landmines, dark subjects the public would otherwise have turned away from. But it would also give her considerable inner turmoil, resentment and hostility.

 She was also born with a Saturn Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn/Aquarius, which for a very few individuals ties them into the spirit of the age and whose lives seem marked out by destiny. Messiahs in their own sphere, they carry the hopes of their era. John Lennon was born in 1940 with Jupiter–Saturn in Taurus and became the unlikely hero of a generation. The Beatles’ debut occurred on the 1960 Jupiter Saturn conjunction in Capricorn, and his death on the conjunction in Libra in 1980.

  Similarly, Diana, born on a waning Jupiter–Saturn conjunction, was married in 1980 during the exact Jupiter–Saturn conjunction but never quite made it to the next one in 2000.

  What appears to happen is their Jupiterian fame pitches them too high into the realm of the gods and Saturn, the grim reaper, comes into play to cut them down to size as mere mortals. Most US presidents in the past 200 years who were inaugurated on a Jupiter Saturn conjunctions were either assassinated, survived an assassination attempt or died while in office.

  When Diana died, most significantly tr Pluto was putting pressure on her natal Mars Pluto conjunction – building up from the previous year, so she would be amped up, feeling trapped and not thinking clearly, driven by her demons. She also had tr Neptune conjunct her Saturn which brings great uncertainty; and an accident-prone tr Uranus opposition her Sun/Mars midpoint. Strangely she also had tr Uranus conjunct her Jupiter which is usually associated with luck and relief from tension though it may also have stoked her high-spirited streak into taking risks.  

 On her astrocartography, the United States would be where her Cancerian sun shone at its brightest. A glittering public career would have been guaranteed and her Jupiter (easy) on the I. C. (home) line runs through New York and down to the Bahamas, both places where she was happy to relax and feel accepted. Her Venus (love, affection, indulgence) on the I. C. (home) line, and the Jupiter ascendant (confidence-bringer) line both run through Egypt, the home of Dodi Al Fayed. Her Sun I. C. line (spiritual home) runs through India where she frequently visited Mother Teresa, and which was also the home of one close friend, an Indian heart doctor, after her separation from Prince Charles. Her Neptune (sacrifice, pity for the suffering) midheaven line runs through Africa, as does her Jupiter ascendant, giving her confidence to raise her land-mine campaign to international notice. Her other Jupiter midheaven and Neptune descendant lines, with much the same meaning, run through the Far East, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, suggesting she had much to do in future in this mine-strewn area before her life was cut short. She had Pluto cross lines (‘parans’) through Paris, northern France, and significantly through the Mediterranean, the scene of sailing holidays a few weeks before her death, hinting that this was not a safe area for her. Jupiter in the midheaven crossing her Venus ascendant also in the Mediterranean zone perhaps distracted her, suggesting as it does glittering acclaim, a glitzy lifestyle and a good deal of lavish indulgence.

Her Sun fell on the UK midheaven so she was a guiding star for her time.

Add On: Penny Thornton wrote to me suggesting a 2.10pm birth time which she resourced from Diana’s personal comment to her that she was born just before a Wimbledon match.

https://www.astrolutely.com/the-princess-of-wales-time-of-birth/

It would give her a charming Libra Ascendant and put her passionate Venus in the 8^th; with her Moon on the cusp of the 5^th house ruling parties and children. A much-travelled Sun in the 9^th’ influential-out-in-society Mars Pluto in the 11^th though also difficult friendships.

 When she died tr Neptune would have been crossing the IC and tr Saturn crossing the Descendant. When she married tr Uranus would have been trine the MC and Solar Arc Pluto sextile the MC – certainly feasible.  

  The high-tension, unsettled and economically challenging Saturn Uranus square which haunted last year has another few months to run. The final exact aspect falls this October and by January 2023 it is out of orb. Though the Eclipse effect will carry resonances of it further ahead.

 Ebertin describes Saturn Uranus as irritability and inhibition, tensions, kicking against limitations on freedom and separations. But also the power to endure and cope; growth of strength through overcoming difficulties and dangerous situations.

  Levels of anxiety are peaking globally at the moment which will come from a mix of Astro-influences, some of which affect individual countries more than others. The shift of Pluto into another sign will be part of the high uncertainty as the celestial tectonic plates prepare for a move. The June 2022 Cancer Ingress chart also had a Mars square Pluto to add to Saturn Uranus, adding another layer of fear and desperation.

 The upcoming Cardinal Ingress charts from 23 September for Libra and 21 December 2022 for Capricorn will still have the Saturn Uranus stamp but without Mars Pluto and will have the addition of easy-going, lucky Sun Jupiter contacts so should be marginally less stressful. [Caveat: I don’t put much store by Ingress charts which can be so-so in terms of useful information.]

  Eclipse charts tend to make more sense. The previous late April 2022 Taurus Solar Eclipse was in a series which highlighted the unreliability of authority figures. The upcoming late October Solar Eclipse at 2 degrees Scorpio is in a Saros Series hinting at forceful even manic activity intent on taking power – and huge efforts in group activity. Which might, in the UK’s case, be when public tolerance snaps over energy prices and inept government. The tr Uranus opposition the 2^nd house UK Neptune picking up this July, running on exactly now and repeating in early 2023, certainly mirrors the extreme concern over impossibly high living costs.

  The October Solar Eclipse has the almost exact Saturn square Uranus plus two quincunxes of Mars to Pluto and Jupiter to the New Moon – a mix of extreme aggravation and grandstanding on the part of some.

  The October Scorpio Eclipse will have an impact on the Royal Family since the Queen’s Taurus Sun, Prince Charles’ Taurus Moon and Prince William’s Scorpio Midheaven Jupiter (and Prince Harry’s Pluto) will all be in close aspect and triggered by it.  Boris Johnson’s Zero degree Scorpio Moon will also be shaken up.

  The Lunar Eclipse of 8 November at 16 degrees Taurus conjunct Uranus and square Saturn may well be the more powerful of the two. The Mars quincunx Pluto is still in place, along with Saturn square Uranus emphasized by the Lunar Eclipse closely entangled, with a financial-bubble-bursting Jupiter Neptune conjunction.

  It will have a considerable impact on various countries – Ukraine with its 10^th house Pluto catching it and Russia’s Scorpio Sun (with Moscow sitting under part of the Eclipse path). China will get a sobering reality check as its Saturn is elbowed. The EU and UK will catch both the Solar and Lunar Eclipses in its financial houses; and Germany, and Italy will be particularly aware of the Lunar Eclipse.

  No greatly reassuring conclusions except that the April 2022 Solar Eclipse’s focus on unreliable leaders was all too accurate. There will clearly be a few more humps and bumps before we clear this phase.  

Legendary Vietnam photojournalist Tim Page has died. Described as the wildest of the “wigged-out crazies running around Vietnam”, he rode a motorcycle to the front lines, jumped on and off helicopters like a hobo riding a train, went into high-risk situations where other journalists would not venture and kept returning to combat zones despite being injured four times. On one occasion he floated wounded in the South China Sea for hours before being rescued after the ship he was on was strafed. The fourth time a shrapnel wound in the head sent him into rehabilitation for a year.

  What is intriguing and refers back to the Ranulph Fiennes/Black Elk post, July 9 2022, is he had a ‘delusional’ sense of invulnerability that carried him into and through situations of extreme danger.

  The Times obituary remarks: “His fearlessness derived from a karmic belief that he was living on “free time from the gods” after a near-fatal motorcycle accident when he was 16.

“I had seen the tunnel. There was no light at the end and it did not seem scary . . . This was the dawning, the overture to losing a responsible part of my psyche. A liberation happened at that intersection,” he wrote later.

   He was born 25 May 1944 with his biological father killed in the World War 11 (like Fiennes) and he never knew the identity of his birth mother. He was adopted and left home at 17 to travel abroad with no plan in mind, driving overland through Europe and the far east. He taught himself photography and eventually got a staff job with UPI in Saigon.

  He was a Sun Uranus in Gemini trine Neptune and sextile  Mars Pluto in Leo conjunct North Node in Cancer. The Mars Pluto would be essential for a crisis-zone career, giving him courage and grit; Sun Uranus Neptune is creative and a maverick. He was immersed in the Vietnam War drug culture – marijuana, LSD and opium – which also had Neptunian overtones.

  His Sun was square his Neptune/Pluto midpoint which points in two directions – one is a craving for alcohol/drugs. The other is a leaning towards psychic, supernatural and occult beliefs which he obviously utilised to boost his fearlessness.

  Ranulph Fiennes has his Uranus square his Neptune/Pluto midpoint which gives supernatural experiences.

  When Page had his teenage near-death experience tr Neptune was square his Pluto for a devastating and other-worldly event. Tr Pluto was conjunct his Solar Arc Jupiter which would give him a sense of supreme power – there was nothing he could not overcome.

  Mind magic sometimes works.

There’s nothing like good news to keep you cheerful. Luckily the astrology is the bearer of better tidings than scientists who have said there is a one in six chance of a major volcanic eruption this century which could cause abrupt climate change and the collapse of civilisations with millions of lives in danger.

The Mount Tambora eruption of 10 April 1815 in present-day Indonesia was the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded human history. The ash from the eruption column dispersed around the world and lowered global temperatures in an event known as the Year Without a Summer in 1816, bringing extreme weather and harvest failures around the world.

  In 1815/16 there was the classic natural-disaster aspect of Neptune (in Sagittarius) square Pluto (in Pisces), a rare occurrence. The next Neptune Pluto square does not occur until the early 2060s.

  The Vesuvius volcano, 24 August 79 AD, was one of Europe’s deadliest, and it also happened when there was an approaching Neptune (in Taurus) square Pluto (in Aquarius). Though it did not have the global effect of Tambora.

Huaynaputina, 19 February 1600, the largest eruption ever recorded in South America had a significant impact on Earth’s climate, causing a volcanic winter: temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere decreased; cold waves hit parts of Europe, Asia and the Americas; and the climate disruption may have played a role in the onset of the Little Ice Age. Floods, famines, and social upheavals resulted.

  It happened when there was a Pluto Uranus conjunction in Aries trine Neptune in Leo.

  Uranus Neptune aspects are also often around over natural disasters, like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

  The effects of the Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines, 15 June 1991, were felt worldwide as it ejected more particulate into the stratosphere than any eruption since Krakatoa in 1883. Over the following months, there was a global layer of sulfuric acid haze, global temperatures dropped by about 0.5 °C in the years 1991–1993, and ozone depletion temporarily saw a substantial increase. It happened on the Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn sextile Pluto.

Similar aspects were in place for the Ambrym eruption circa 50 AD, reckoned the third largest volcanic explosions in recent geological history. Pluto was sitting on the midpoint of a Uranus trine Neptune then.

 Krakatoa, 27 August 1883, Indonesia, caused a volcanic winter with Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures down by 0.4 °C in the aftermath.  Sulfur dioxide gas ejected into the stratosphere darkened the sky worldwide for years afterwards and produced spectacular red sunsets reflected in paintings of the time. Ships as far away as South Africa rocked as tsunamis hit them, and smaller waves were recorded on tidal gauges as far away as the English Channel. It happened on a Neptune in Taurus trine Uranus in Virgo.

  The next Uranus Neptune aspects are 2038 to 2042 with Uranus  in late Cancer/Leo square Neptune in late Aries/Taurus. Pluto in 2043 will move into Pisces.

  In summary, Neptune Pluto hard aspects or Uranus Neptune tend to be around for major major disasters. But there is nothing imminent. Mind you they did say in the coming century – even I don’t worry that far ahead.

Katherine, the Duchess of Kent, once a highlight of Wimbledon Trophy day, who disappeared into obscurity after she gave up her HRH title and stepped back from public life 20 years ago, has revealed she taught music at a Yorkshire primary school for thirteen years.

  There had been speculation she was a recluse, suffering from agoraphobia, given her earlier bouts with depression after an abortion in 1975 because of rubella and having a stillborn son two years later. But clearly not. She just wanted a quiet life out of the spotlight.

  Music always been her passion and she also gave piano lessons in a rented studio flat near her official residence at Kensington Palace, served as the president of the Royal Northern College of Music, and was the director of National Foundation for Youth Music from 1999 to 2007. At the primary school she was known as Mrs Kent and no one noticed.

She was born 22 February 1933 8am York, England, and married the Queen’s first cousin the Duke of Kent when she was 28, going on to have three children, and became the first member of the royal family to convert to Roman Catholicism since the passing of the Act of Settlement in 1701.

 She has a see-saw chart with a 12^th house Pisces Sun, North Node, Mercury opposition Neptune, Mars and Jupiter in Virgo in her 6^th house. So her life will have been a balancing act, swinging from one extreme to another. Her friendly Aquarius Moon is conjunct a cool Saturn which in turn is conjunct a friendly, charming Venus. Her 12^th house Pisces Sun, North Node will incline her towards music and also to understanding those suffering mental problems.

   Her independent-minded Uranus in her 1^st house square her 5^th house Pluto will make him more determined to rock the boat and pursue her own course than her ethereal image suggests.

  See-saw personalities tend to need another half to make them feel stable and both she and the Duke of Kent have their respective Suns in each other’s 7^th house which is ideal, though it isn’t close combination with his Saturn conjunct her Sun and her Uranus opposition his Sun.

  Their relationship chart is not easy with a volatile composite Uranus opposition Mars Jupiter square Pluto; and Sun trine Uranus sextile Moon Saturn. But they seem to have got on with their lives without causing great upheavals or attracting undue publicity.  

Serena Williams is bringing her uniquely successful tennis-playing career to a close in order to have another child. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles and been ranked singles world No. 1 five times. Her first baby born with husband Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2017 disrupted her training schedule as she was hospitalised with deep vein thrombosis and suffered post-partum depression. She is one of the world’s highest paid women athletes, earning multi millions a year from equipment and endorsements deals and fashion outlets.

  Born 26 September 1981 6.28pm Saginaw, MI, she has a packed, hard-working 6^th house with a Libra stellium of Sun, Saturn, Jupiter, Pluto and Mercury there. So taking it easy won’t be in her nature. She has flamboyant Mars in Leo in her sporting and entertaining 5^th house in square to a charming and emotionally intense Venus in Scorpio in her 7^th.  Uranus is also in her 7^th house of relationships so she will need space and independence in marriage and an unconventional partner. Her Virgo Moon is square an 8^th house Neptune so she will have an idealised vision of motherhood.

  What is intriguing for such a driven personality is her North Node in Cancer in her 4^th house – which suggests that fulfilling career ambitions is not her true purpose in life. Establishing a happy home life and putting down roots is.

  She has a well-aspected global superstar 22nd Harmonic; a leaving a footprint for future generations 17H; and a particularly strong 9^th Harmonic – which last will either turn her into an even more successful money-making machine or focus her attention on humanitarian efforts where she will have considerable influence.

 She will have good news this coming November and again March but that could refer to any number of events in her life. Her husband Alexis, 24 April 1983, will be going through a high-stress, immensely challenging few years from 2023 to 2026 with tr Pluto square his Saturn in Scorpio and then square his Taurus Sun. That will be discouraging and depressing and may be partially what lies behind a dip in their relationship now up till 2025/6.

   Serena’s Spotify podcast with Meghan Markle has not gone down well with reviews in the UK and Australia calling it anything from ‘a lemon and a dud’ to ‘preposterous’, ‘banal’ and one reviewer pointing out that Meghan was responsible for about 61 per cent of the conversation while the focus of the podcast Serena only got 39 per cent.

  They were born within seven weeks of each other so have similar stelliums in Libra. Despite all the PR gush it is a fairly combustible relationship with MM’s Leo Sun conjunct Serena’s Mars; and MM’s Mars square Serena’s Saturn exactly.

  Their relationship chart has a stressed composite Mars square Pluto which is under strain right through till late 2023 with the composite Moon being undermined as well in 2023/24.

 Meghan’s personal chart has an infuriated and frustrated tr Pluto opposition her Mars/Pluto midpoint exactly now until early this December so she won’t be ecstatic over events in her life.   

Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor, is plummeting in approval ratings as he wrestles with rising energy bills, the threat of recession and a parliamentary inquiry into a €47 million tax scandal from his days as Hamburg Mayor. Under questioning he said 22 times that he could not recall the precise details of the bank scandal. His foreign policy since the Ukraine invasion has been variously criticised at home as too adventurous or too timid.

 He was never going to have an easy time with tr Neptune square his Gemini Sun and Saturn, on and off this year till January 2023. With this November/December being the worst slump of his confidence.

 His Term chart, 8 December 2021 10.55am is equally lacklustre and indecisive with a Sun Mercury square Neptune so he’s never going to cut it.

  His relationship chart with Germany is seriously stressed at the best of times with a composite Saturn opposition Mars (Pluto) square Sun – and that is catching the undermining, scandal-prone tr Neptune square Saturn from May 2023 onwards  with his popularity swamp deepening right through till 2025 and beyond if he survives that long as Chancellor.

  With Germany undergoing seismic changes with tr Uranus conjunct the 8^th house Pluto into early 2023; and facing devastating relationship problems with Solar Arc Pluto opposition the 7^th house Neptune, exact in 18 months, followed by the uncertainty of tr Neptune square the Saturn in 2025, the country needs a competent hand on the tiller. Scholz isn’t it.

  The Neptune Pluto scheduled for very late 2023/2024 could also be accompanied by a disaster, natural or otherwise, which is worrisome given Putin’s high-stakes game of chicken around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.  

Saudi Arabia is sliding back to the bad old days in resuming death sentences for teenagers over political protests despite earlier promises to end the practice. A doctoral student has also been given 34 years for her twitter activity.

  Critics of Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the crown prince, fear he is cracking down on domestic dissent, because of fear of opposition to his rule from within the royal family. Biden’s recent cap-in-hand visit to negotiate for oil as a result of shortages caused by the Ukraine invasion would embolden MBS.

  Born 31 August 1985 in Riyadh, he is a Sun Virgo sextile Pluto trine Neptune so has the hallmarks of megalomaniac ambition; with his Pluto in a super-confident and pushy square to Jupiter opposition Venus; and an obstinate and flamboyant Mars, Mercury in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio.  Tr Saturn hitting on his Mercury, Mars, Saturn this year will give him pause for doubt; and he’ll face a few outbursts, eruptions of tension, upsets and upheaval in 2023, more in 2024 as tr Uranus opposes his Saturn, squares his Mercury, then his Mars. He also have a couple of sinking Neptunian Solar Arcs in 2023/2024 which won’t do much for his morale or his plans.

  In certain respects he fits the Saudi country chart reasonably well since his Jupiter is conjunct the Saudi Mars Mercury so he will be a motivator and encourager of reform. His Pluto is conjunct the Saudi Midheaven and his Saturn falls in the Saudi 10^th, so at best he could steer the country in a sensible direction – if he curbed his control-freak tendencies.

  But his Pluto and South Node in Scorpio are conjunct the Saudi North Node which is a fated and not progressive connection. His Pluto conjunct his South Node will tilt him away from prevailing values and will prompt him to attempt large-scale changes without regard for their effect of people. That pulls against what Saudi Arabia needs to do to develop constructively.

  His relationship chart with Saudi Arabia indicates a ruthless connection with a focal point Pluto square Mars and composite Sun. It is going through a time of disruption and upheaval this year  with tr Uranus opposition the composite Sun, Mars and conjunct the Venus – with 2024 seeing an even greater strain with tr Uranus square the composite Pluto.

   Saudi Arabia, 15 January 1902 3.45am Riyadh, is facing two years of rolling crises in 2023/24 from tr Pluto conjunct the Mars/Saturn midpoint. With a dead-halt in 2025 from Solar Arc Pluto square Saturn and tr Pluto in an infuriating and completely stuck tr Pluto conjunct the Sun/Mars midpoint and conjunct the Mercury.

  The turn of the decade will see the Saudi Scorpio North Node facing its moment of truth with tr Pluto in square and conjunct the Saudi Mars – which could involve giving up past dreams of vast wealth and possessions and starting over.   

Pluto in Capricorn appears to be foisting either completely inept leaders or total thugs onto the huddled masses. All too wearisome.