New Zealand reeling from the onslaught of Cyclone Gabrielle is facing fresh storm warnings as there is grave concern for those swept away by flood waters, with fatalities likely to rise.  Chris Hipkins, the new Prime Minister, described it as an event on the scale of the Christchurch earthquake in 2011.

 The recent Scorpio Solar Eclipse which fell opposite the NZ Uranus in Taurus (and Pluto), when located to Gisborne, NZ, had Mars in Gemini on the Ascendant so flagging it up as a potential crisis location. Double trouble from that.

  In addition the New Zealand chart is in the midst of a gruelling run of tr Pluto conjunct the Capricorn Sun in 2021/22 and then conjunct the NZ Mars till late 2023; and square Pluto 2023/24 – forced change, huge frustrations, high-risk – and it will continue after mid decade with tr Pluto square the NZ Uranus and then Saturn.

  At the moment also the NZ Saturn has moved by Solar Arc to square the NZ 4^th house Mars.

  It always did look like a time of heightened risk from natural disasters.

 Chris Hipkins, the Jacinda Ardern replacement, born 5 September 1978, is a serious Sun Saturn in Virgo in a socially-progressive and sometimes indecisive square to Neptune with a ferociously determined and courageous Mars Pluto conjunct in Libra – quite a mix of soft and hard. Better than most at coping in crisis situations.

  He’ll be pushing confidently ahead this year and next with tr Pluto opposing his Jupiter but will be slipping, sliding and tripping over problems as he goes.   

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Resurrecting dinosaurs is rarely a good idea in showbusiness but John Cleese appears undaunted as he sets sail on reviving the iconic and very un-pc ‘Fawlty Towers’ comedy series. He is using none of the original cast bar himself since Manuel, Andrew Sachs, has died and Prunella Scales, the long suffering wife, has dementia – and is transplanting it from coastal England to the Caribbean.

  Cleese, 27 October 1939 3.15am Weston Super Mare, is a talented man who has had a troubled relationship life. He performed in the Footlights when at Cambridge University, co-founded the surreal Monty Python shows, co-wrote and starred in Fawlty Towers which became a staggering success despite only running for 12 episodes and went on to write and act in movies A Fish Called Wanda, and Fierce Creatures as well as other notable films. He also had a highly publicised divorce from his second American wife, which was so expensive he went on an Alimony Tour to raise money for it. He blamed his mother for his emotional problems.

  He has a Scorpio Sun conjunct the North Node opposition an 8^th house Saturn square Pluto; with his Saturn conjunct an Aries Moon, also in his 8^th. It is a bleak chart where emotional relationships are concerned with lurking self-doubts, a fear of intimacy and a defensive need to over-control.  He also has a volatile Venus and Mercury in Scorpio opposition Uranus in his 9^th square Mars in Aquarius – overly blunt, irascible, stubborn, quite a bulldozer. Plus a confident Jupiter in Aries in his 7^th trine Pluto; and an inspired Neptune trine Uranus. A complicated and difficult man.

  He’s not in an easy patch with tr Uranus rattling up his Mars and Venus, Uranus T square now and through this year which will lead to outbursts and irritability. Plus a real drag from not only tr Pluto square his 8^th house Saturn all this year; but also his Solar Arc Pluto opposition his Saturn and his Solar Arc Sun in square to his Saturn. He will have tr Pluto sextile his Jupiter for mild uplift.

  His strongest harmonic is his 13^th – sometimes described as breakthrough-genius. It was also comedian Peter Sellers’ most notable.

In a semi-surprise resignation Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, has called it a day as pressures on her mounted. Independence was no closer as a dream, there are problems with health, education and other areas under SNP government oversight, and she inexplicably landed herself in a mire over the housing of a trans rapist in a woman’s prison. She says the reasons for her leaving were nothing immediate but had built up over time. She has been at the top since 2014 and in politics for three decades.

   Tr Pluto has been opposing her Cancer Sun since 2021 and then opposing her Sun/Mars midpoint and aiming to oppose her Mars from late next month. Which is a punishing run of deeply frustrating, trapped energies, running on till late 2024. Tr Saturn is just over the opposition to her Leo Midheaven last month with tr Uranus aiming to square her MC from this July onwards so this was always going to be a time of career setbacks followed by a significant change of direction.  And with tr Neptune opposing her Pluto from mid March this year a diminution of her power and influence.

  Her first swearing in chart from 20 November 2014 has two downbeat and separating Saturnine Solar Arc aspects at the moment – of SA Saturn conjunct Venus and square Neptune; and SA Mercury conjunct Saturn. She was certainly a force to be reckoned with. But her last Term chart, 13 May 2021 9am had a lacklustre Neptune at the Midheaven with a hidden 12^th house Mars inconjunct an equally hidden 8^th house Saturn which hinted at setbacks and blocked progress.

 The SNP 7 April 1934 chart with its formidably determined Sun Mars in Aries opposition Jupiter square Pluto is being rattled at the moment by Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Pluto exactly now. And is also facing a sobering Saturn Return exactly now. So a key moment in its history. The revved-up push that has been obvious in recent years may well start to fade now that tr Pluto has moved away from the hard aspects to the central configuration.

  What is still intriguing is the Scotland Act of Union chart, 1 May 1707, which will be undergoing quite a shake up from this May/June onwards with the Taurus Sun square Jupiter Pluto being up-ended by tr Uranus in hard aspect.

See previous post February 3 2023.

Nikki Haley is the first Republican out of the starting block, bidding for the party nomination in 2024. A former South Carolina governor, she became ambassador to the UN under Trump and was one of the few to emerge untainted from his administration. After the storming of the US Capitol by mobs of Trump supporters she criticised the then president, saying he had “let us down” and “lost any sort of political viability”. Months later she said she wouldn’t run if he did and now she has flipped again.

  The polls hint that the majority of GOP voters are ready to move on from Trump, believing he is too focused on the past rather than the future. On a hypothetical 10-way ballot, DeSantis led with 39 per cent, Trump on 28 per cent, Pence on 9 per cent, and Haley and Liz Cheney on 4 per cent each. For what it is worth, polls being notoriously iffy even near the due date.

  Born 20 January 197, Lansing, MI, the daughter of Indian Sikh immigrant parents, Nikki Haley married an American National Guardsman and converted to Christianity. She has a (probably) Capricorn Sun (or zero Aquarius) conjunct an Aquarius North Node and trine a steady, practical Saturn also in final degree Taurus. Her Mars in go-ahead Aries is in an excitable opposition to Uranus square Mercury in Capricorn so she will be outspoken.  Plus an enthusiastic Jupiter in Sagittarius in a confident square to Pluto, maybe square a Pisces Moon.

  It’ll be an uphill struggle for the next two years with tr Pluto conjunct her Sun and trine her Saturn; plus a disappointing tr Neptune square her Jupiter from this April into early 2024.

  She’ll have a few lucky breaks this year but more sinkers in 2024 – and tr Pluto will be sitting exactly on her Sun and trine her Saturn over the election itself which does not look too uplifting.

  She made the announcement at (I think) 6.48am this morning which gives a sombre Sun Saturn conjunction and a well-meant but vague Venus Neptune.  She’s likely to be up against a fair range of wannabes. Never say never and nothing is rock solid certain but looks unlikely.    

LeBron James has become the NBA’s leading points scorer of all time, leading to heated discussions about whether he has overtaken Michael Jordan as the best ever basketball player. His six foot nine towering figure has now been at the top for twenty years.

  He was born 30 December 1984 4.04pm Akron, Ohio with a teenage mother and an absent criminal father and was largely brought up by a local football coach. He has an ultra-determined and also highly Neptunian chart with an ambitious and competitive Mars in Pisces conjunct his Midheaven trine Pluto in his sporting 5^th house, sextile Sun and Neptune conjunct in Capricorn in his 7^th house. His Moon is in fiery Aries trine Uranus Mercury in Sagittarius and he has Saturn in obsessive Scorpio in his 5^th square Venus in Aquarius. Plus a financially lucky Jupiter in his 8^th house.

He has taken over from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s former record of leading points. Kareem was born 16 April 1947 6.30pm Harlem, New York and has both his Sun and Mars Mercury in pro-active Aries with his Sun quincunx Jupiter in money-attracting Scorpio; and his Mars Mercury opposition Neptune and trine/sextile a super-determined Midheaven, Saturn and Pluto in his 10th.

  Michael Jordan dominated professional basketball during the 1980s and 1990s and was born 17 February 1963 1.40pm Brooklyn, New York.  He has an Aquarius Sun with lucky, successful Jupiter in Pisces on his Midheaven in a confident opposition to Pluto and square a Sagittarius Moon. His Neptune is also emphasized being in his sporting 5^th house and on the focal point of a T Square to a disciplined and hard-edged Mars in Leo opposition Saturn in Aquarius.

  All three have a resolutely determined Mars which rules competition. Michael Jordan and Lebron James both have a Pisces Midheaven and a Fire sign Moon. Kareem and LeBron have 7^th house Suns and in all three cases their sporting 5^th house is populated.

If anything Lebron James has the stronger global-superstar 22^nd Harmonic but only marginally – all three sparkle.

Greg Norman, nicknamed ‘The Great White Shark’, formerly Number One ranking golfer in the 1980s/90s, turned entrepreneur, has been under heavy criticism for taking on the role of CEO in the Saudi Arabian funded LIV Golf tour. Human rights groups claim it is sportswashing, a political strategy by Saudi Arabia to distract from its serious human rights abuses. Tiger Woods turned down an offer of around $700 million to join LIV Golf and while some PGA players have defected, others are backing off Saudi-funded golf, concerned about negative feedback. In 2022, a group of September 11 victims’ family members condemned Donald Trump for hosting the LIV Golf tour at his Bedminster Golf Club, New Jersey.

  Greg Norman became CEO on 20 October 2021 when there was an argumentative and ruthless Sun Mars conjunction square Pluto and trine Jupiter in Aquarius – high-octane, suited to sport with Mars Jupiter but destined to attract hostility. Plus the divisive Saturn square Uranus. It could grind to a halt in three or four years time as the Sun Mars square Pluto moves by Solar Arc to close the aspects to exact and cause a gridlock.

  Greg Norman, 10 February 1955, Mount Isa, Australia.  He is a toughie, super-controlling and unbelievably stubborn with an Aquarius Sun Mercury opposition Pluto square Saturn in Scorpio. His Pluto is also in a ruthless trine to Mars in pro-active Aries; and he has an adventurous and lucky Jupiter Uranus square Neptune – a man who thinks big, is a bulldozer and not given to nuances.

   He has no birth time so astrocartography is not available but his chart sits uncomfortably with MBS’s flamboyant Mars Mercury in Leo in a hard-edged (cruel) square to Saturn in obsessive Scorpio – a clash of two ultra-alpha types. His chart overlaid on Saudi Arabia puts his Pluto in the financial 8^th house and his well-organised Saturn in the Saudi 10^th; with his lively Jupiter Uranus on the Saudi Descendant opposition the Saudi Sun Jupiter. He’s a good sporting mix but it isn’t too clear who is using whom or who will have the upper hand.

  His relationship chart with MBS will be edgy, confused with overtones of a tug of war through 2023/24 and sagging through 2024/2025.

  His relationship chart with Saudi Arabia has an entrepreneurial flavour and will hit a few bumps in 2024/25.

 His own personal chart hints at confusion reigning with tr Pluto square his Neptune all year and his Solar Arc Sun opposition his Neptune; with disruption and upheavals from June this year on and off into and through 2024 as tr Uranus squares his Sun, opposes his Saturn and then squares his Pluto.

 No doubt Greg Norman will emerge richer and undented no matter whether it holds up or not. Criticism will be water off a duck’s back with his chart.   

The payoff for Donald Trump saving Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by discounting the 2018 CIA report concluding that MBS had orchestrated the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been – ten guesses – a stream of lucrative post-White House deals.

  The Trump family wealth was sagging after DT lost the 2021 election, with the Capitol January 6^th attack sullying his reputation further. Then his golf courses began hosting tournaments for the controversial, ‘sports-washing’ Saudi fund-backed LIV Golf; and secured an agreement with a Saudi real estate company that plans to build a Trump hotel as part of a $4 billion golf resort in Oman. Son-in-law Jared, mystifyingly handed the Middle Eastern portfolio during Trump’s term despite having zero diplomatic experience, has filled an aching billion dollar void in his family firm’s finances, acquiring $2 billion from a sovereign wealth fund chaired by MBS.

  What is horrifying about this tangled tale is not just that Trump and tribe made a killing out of the presidency, during and after, but that MBS might have fallen from high office altogether had it not been for Trump’s support. Democrats have expressed concern that such business ties could leave them beholden to the crown prince if they return to the White House.

   Trump’s astrocartography relocated to Riyadh puts a slippery Neptune in the 10^th and his Saturn, Venus and Pluto in the 8^th, hinting at secret financial dealings.

  There was always something ‘fated’ and slightly spooky about Trump’s relationship chart with Jared Kushner – it has an exact Mars sextile Pluto inconjunct Mercury which will be rattled up this April. Their fortunes are irrevocably tied together. Trump’s relationship with MBS will be under exceptionally heavy pressure from late this March till late 2024, with a peak of anxiety in late this April.

   It’s unlikely there would be any immediate fallout so interesting to observe and see what comes.

 Kushner will be moving through deeply frustrating, trapped and scary times from this March onwards for two years with a financially disappointing 2024 and a catastrophic 2025.

  Mohammed bin Salman, 31 August 1985, will have his successes this year alongside a few failed plans but is looking increasingly uncertain and edgy into and throughout 2024.

  Irritating that the dirt only emerges well after the event.

Syria battered by a decade plus of a brutal civil war is facing unthinkable misery in the earthquake zone. The towns of northern Syria have been seized by rebels, barrel-bombed by the Assad regime, overrun by Islamic State, shelled by Kurds and now can’t get aid through, blocked by Russian intransigence and UN incompetence. The bulk of the rescue work in rebel-controlled areas is being carried out by the White Helmets, a volunteer civilian defence force funded by western governments, including Britain, which is using diggers and bulldozers — some donated by construction firms, but lacking the technically sophisticated equipment such as concrete cutters and thermal imaging cameras that are routine in western countries.

  There are two possible charts for Syria both of which work reasonably well using the 2011 start of the civil war as a guide. 1 January 1944 12 am Damascus had tr Pluto conjunct the Capricorn Sun over the start which is a classic civil war splitting apart-influence. Pluto tr Neptune square Venus  and opposition Jupiter; and tr Saturn conjunct the SA Pluto.

 The 6 September 1941 12 am Syria chart had tr Uranus conjunct the Midheaven, tr Saturn conjunct the SA Pluto, tr Pluto conjunct SA Venus and tr Neptune square Saturn and opposition SA Jupiter. So relatively similar and both showed up the cataclysmic effects of the war well.

Bashar Assad’s Presidency, 17 July 2000, has only been kept afloat in recent years by Putin so it will be interesting to see what happens when the Russian leader exits. 2023/2024 look devastating, with losses, failed plans and uncertainty with 2024 being worse than 2023. Though nothing that leaps out as terminal.

  The Syria 1944 chart has the Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct Neptune at the moment which is descriptive enough for a meltdown event, confusion and indecision. There are glimmerings of hope on this chart moving ahead along with a tough two years. The 1941 chart is less sanguine about improvements though does hint at major upheavals and the possibility of major changes approaching.

  Assad’s personal chart, 11 September 1965, hints at a car-crash period in 2025 which might grind him to a halt when his Solar Arc Uranus Pluto is conjunct his Mars and his Solar Arc Sun conjunct his Neptune.

[I visited Syria in the late 1990s and it was poor but a lovely country with lovely people and an extraordinary history going back many thousands of years.]   

Burt Bacharach, the popular musical maestro, has died aged 94. He has been unfairly dubbed as an easy listening composer but leaves behind him an astonishing legacy of 50 Top 40 hits in the UK with more than 1,000 artists having covered his songs – Close To You, I Say A Little Prayer, Do You Know The Way To San Jose, Keep Fallin’ On My Head, The Look of Love, I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself, I Say a Little Prayer, (There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me, Make It Easy on Yourself and I’ll Never Fall in Love Again – as well as songs and scores for movies like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Alfie, What’s New Pussycat? and Casino Royale.

  His partnership with lyricist Hal David put the pair up beside George and Ira Gershwin and his musical liaison with Dionne Warwick established her as a superstar. He was classically trained and effortlessly mixed opera and soul, the style of 20^th century composers like Poulenc and Satie with jazz and bepop to wonderful effect.

He was born 12 May 1928 1.15 am Kansas City, Missouri with a fashion journalist father and a dominating, musical mother who forced him to learn the piano.  Married four times with four children, he had a racy romantic life, moving on from actress Angie Dickinson when she became successful and hooking up with Carole Bayer Sager when his career flagged. Not an easy personality he fell out with Hal David when the hits dried up as well as Dionne Warwick, with years of litigation following their parting.

  He had a Taurus Sun square a 7^th house musical Neptune – Taurus ruling the throat and frequently being associated with singers. He had a disciplined, hard-working and well-organised 10^th house Saturn in a hard-edged square to Mars in Pisces; and in an entrepreneurial Fire Grand Trine to Neptune and a lucky Jupiter in Aries in his financial 2^nd house.

  Her emotional life would be adversely affected by a can’t-make-up-his-mind Sun square an Aquarius Moon and an uncommitted Neptune in his 7^th.  He had two Yods – one of Saturn sextile Moon inconjunct Pluto which would give him a tendency to throw his weight around though would also bring him influence. And a wide yod of Pluto sextile Sun inconjunct Saturn which puts heavy demands on a life and requires real maturity to work well.  

  His relationships with Hal David and Dionne Warwick are a mystery since in both cases the relationship charts suggest major aggravation. With Hal David, a resentful Mars opposition Saturn; and with Dionne Warwick a hostile, power struggling Mars opposition Pluto.  But with Hal David there was a composite Neptune North Node conjunction bringing them together to make music for the masses. And with Dionne Warwick there was a musical composite Sun opposition Neptune and a lucky Uranus Jupiter. Music was what held them together. Though the bond only worked as long as the musical flow ran on successfully.