Turkey and President Erdogan are facing a crucial election either this May or June with his popularity plummeting in the face of runaway inflation. Officially it is recorded at 85.5% though outside analysts reckon it is nearer 180%.  The blame is laid firmly at Erdogan’s feet, since he controls the Central Bank and his “unorthodox” understanding of monetary policy has kept interest rates artificially low favouring the “big funders” of his AKP party in construction and real estate, who reap more profit from cheaper loans. In the past, Erdogan won elections by flooding the economy with cheap money and this time round he is clamping down on opposition voices and drafting controversial media laws that criminalise “disinformation”.

  Commentators say the long-term prospects for his autocratic, over-centralised government will be dim if the polls remain low and its economic policies do not change.

  The Turkey 29 October 1923 8.30pm Ankara chart shows no real sign of a radical change this year (start time being accurate). If anything there is more drift with tr Neptune square the Solar Arc Midheaven and a financially restrictive tr Pluto moving into the 8^th house of international trade and investment. If the election is June then tr Uranus will square the Turkey Neptune for a highly-strung, nervy mood – and possibly fanatical outbursts.  There will be some financial movement with tr Uranus opposing the speculative 5^th house Venus this year (late April/early May) and Jupiter in 2024, which could indicate magic-money-tree spending. But it runs alongside a deprived Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the 4^th house Saturn suggesting a domestic population living through tough conditions around mid 2024.

 Erdogan’s relationship chart with Turkey is very locked together and resentfully so with overtones of cruelty and unfairness with a composite Mars Saturn square Pluto. Mutual enthusiasm will be at a low ebb in early May and later in the year with tr Saturn opposition the composite Jupiter; with some upheavals and disruptions after mid March.  It is 2024/2025 which will see the bond under the greatest pressure as tr Pluto is square the Saturn and then opposition the Pluto.

 His own chart, 26 February 1954 Istanbul, is downbeat and jangled this year with tr Saturn conjunct his Pisces Sun and tr Uranus square his Pluto – which might suggest separation and a significant change. But it isn’t definitive.  

The French are infamous for their rudeness especially the Parisians but they seem to have take offence at one of their own claiming her nationality was an excuse for spraying insults in all directions. Actress Eva Green is in court in an overblown luvvie spat about a failed sci-fi movie with both sides blaming the other for the production’s demise. She claimed in High Court yesterday that her ‘Frenchness’ was to blame for abusive messages she sent branding the film bosses ‘weak and stupid’ and the crew ‘s****y peasants from Hampshire.’ She referred to the director as ‘evil’, a ‘devious sociopath’, ‘a liar and a mad man’ and ‘pure vomit’; and the production manager Terry Bird ‘a f****** moron’ and described the men as ‘total a***holes’. She claimed that being in ‘a B S**ty movie’ would have ruined her career.

 Born 5 July 1980 10.35 am, Paris (Astrodatabank, birth certificate) she is a Sun Cancer square an 8^th house Aries Moon opposition Pluto – intense, controlling, highly emotional. More pointedly, her Mercury in Cancer is sextile both Saturn and Mars in Virgo, square Pluto, trine Uranus and inconjunct Neptune – so she will tend to emphasize her points with vigour. Mercury square Pluto can become obsessed and bitter. Uranus in her 3^rd is outspoken, given to blurting out comments without thinking first.

  She does have charming Venus in her 10^th but it seems to have been swept aside in the heat of the furnace. In the past she has worked with directors like Bertolucci, Tim Burton, Ridley Scott and has been nominated for various roles. You would think by this time she’d have learned that a screaming cuckoo’s nest of chaos is the norm for movie making.

  When this movie fell to bits tr Pluto was opposing her Mercury, tr Neptune opposing her Saturn and tr Saturn was beginning to move through her 6^th house. Troubled times – and becoming known as a troublesome (and foul mouthed) diva is not always a career-friendly move.

   Her fortunes are mixed ahead with a a financially successful Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct Pluto in 18 months from now; but a raft of Neptunian sinkers as well for the next two years and a dramatic change of career direction come 2025 as Uranus moves across her Midheaven.

  France itself has an intense 8^th house nit-picky Mercury in Virgo sextile a can-be-toxic Mars in Scorpio, inconjunct Pluto and semi-sextile Uranus – so fairly stressed on the communication front as well.

Steven Spielberg’s latest film, the autobiographical drama The Fabelmans, has been garnished with several Oscar nominations but has still flopped commercially, making back barely half its $40 million budget at the box office so far. His previous film West Side Story also did not make its costs back.  Where once Spielberg prided himself on knowing what audiences wanted, he is deemed either to have lost his touch or is aiming to be a filmmaker for critics and the elite, rather than ‘ordinary’ people.  

 His next film is said to be a semi-remake of the Steve McQueen crime film Bullitt, with Bradley Cooper starring which does not sound as if it would generate Jurassic Park queues round the block.

  He was born 18 December 1946 6.16 pm Cincinnati, Ohio, with a hard working Sagittarius Sun conjunct Mars in his 6^th, an entertaining and can-be-frivolous Moon, Jupiter, Venus in Scorpio and Mercury in Sagittarius in his performing 5^th; and a heavyweight Saturn Pluto in Leo in his financial 2^nd house.

  At the moment and since 2020 he’s been soaked in Neptunian influences. First tr Neptune started to move across his Midheaven and then across his 10^th house of career to stay for many years. It could be said to favour the movie business but is often not ego-supportive in terms of personal glory though can be creative and healing. His Solar Arc Neptune was conjunct his Sun in 2022 and tr Neptune then squares his Sun in 2023/4, before moving on to square his Mars in 2025. So the next three years look a touch lacklustre.

  Where his Solar Returns indicate a return to great success wouldn’t be till 2027 when he has cleared Neptune off his Sun and Mars. Though by that time tr Pluto is on the cusp of his 8^th which might suggest darker subjects or restrictions in his life.

  It’s a tough business to stay consistently at the top.

Anti-Swedish sentiment in Turkey after the burning of a copy of the Koran and an effigy of Turkish president Erdoğan hanging next to Stockholm’s city hall could result in a veto for Sweden’s proposed membership of NATO which needs ratified by all 30 existing members. It could mean Finland having to go it alone. Finland has Europe’s largest border with Russia at 1,340km in length and is desperate to wrap up the application process. Sweden could count on bilateral security guarantees from the likes of the US and UK even without membership and has Finland as a buffer state to Russia.

  There will be much to play for between Erdogan’s election in May and the July NATO Vilnius summit. The NATO chart itself, 24 August 1949 11.42am will be in for a turbulent few weeks with long term implications for its direction and control from mid March to early April this year as tr Uranus squares the 10^th house Pluto. The Solar Arc Midheaven is also square the Mars exactly within the next six months. On its own that could bring a shock and a setback but since the NATO Mars opposes Jupiter and the SA MC squares the Jupiter  by 2026 it could also be part and parcel of an expansion.

 2023 is downbeat and serious for NATO with tr Saturn in Pisces opposing the Virgo Sun and Moon. Where it looks more stressed perhaps because of an over confident and unwise push is in 2026 when the SA Sun is square Pluto and the SProgressed Mars is conjunct the Moon.

  The Finland/NATO relationship chart will have a bumpy ride up to this July summit but looks confident across it. Sweden and NATO have a more stressed interface this year and next; with a problematic year in 2025/26 when the NATO/Russia relationship chart is also sagging badly.

 Turkey will continue to be at daggers drawn with Sweden across this July and more so in 2024 to 2026.

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, will be upfront and centre stage at the Coronation on May 6^th, which he says is already giving him nightmares. His spiritual though highly strung Mercury opposition Uranus square Neptune (Moon) in Scorpio will be under considerable pressure from tr Pluto opposition his Uranus and square his Neptune – so not an easy time for clear thinking or clear speaking.

  If reports are true, he may also have the added challenge of trying to act as mediator between Prince Harry and the Royals, especially Prince William, since Charles seems to think a Harry absence would be more distracting than his presence – not a view I imagine shared by many.

  Welby purportedly gets on well with Prince Harry, though I’m not sure if that isn’t wishful thinking. Welby’s Neptune is conjunct Harry’s opinionated Pluto so he could soften him down but Welby’s Uranus is also square Harry’s Pluto and in Harry’s 7^th. Plus Welby’s Mars Saturn in Scorpio falls in Harry’s 10^th opposition Harry’s Moon which is pretty severe and not exactly sympatico.

 At the Coronation Harry’s Pluto is catching the conjunction to his Solar Arc Sun and both in square to transiting Pluto so it will be a loaded time for him with a downbeat tr Saturn exactly opposition his 8^th house Mercury. Tr Pluto is also square his Venus/Saturn midpoint leaving him feeling unloved and unappreciated. And tr Neptune will have been square Harry’s Solar Arc Midheaven from the middle of this February to mid March which will be dithering and undermining.

Tr Saturn at 5 degrees Pisces at the Coronation is having a dampening effect on Harry and Will’s relationship chart as it forms an edgy, high-tension square to the composite Uranus over the Coronation. It will also undercut the composite Jupiter in the Kate/Harry interface, squashing good feelings. Kate and Meghan’s already troubled bond will have tr Pluto square the composite Sun to contend with, which can usually be a complete-break influence.

Camilla looks highly anxious about Harry over the coronation with tr Neptune opposition their composite Saturn and tr Uranus opposition their composite Neptune, moving on to square the Sun from mid year, rocking the boat and widening the split still further.

  Rolling back a few coronations – George IV’s on 19 July 1821 was memorable since he forbade entry to his estranged wife Queen Caroline because of her wayward ways when Princess of Wales. There was a late Cancer Sun trine Pluto and square Jupiter Saturn in Aries; with Pluto square Uranus Neptune in Capricorn – so more turbulent times even than now.

  There is a syncronous oddity about 5 degrees Mutable for Royal Coronations. George IV’s had the North Node at 5 degrees Pisces. Queen Elizabeth 11 had Jupiter at 5 Gemini. The Hanoverian Monarchy start 1 August 1714 has Pluto at 5 Virgo square North Node at 5 Sagittarius. Charles 1 Coronation in 1626 North Node at 5 Virgo.  Not all of them but an interesting repeating theme.

Priscilla Presley is contesting the will of her late daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, claiming a document which removed her as trustee was never witnessed or notarized and is therefore invalid. If she wins, she will be sole trustee and if she loses, Lisa’s daughter Riley Keough will be in sole charge.

  Lisa Marie who became heir to her father’s fortune when she was nine, never had an easy relationship with her mother and was reportedly abused by one of her mother’s boyfriends when in her teens.

 None of the Presley tribe have/had easy charts. Priscilla’s 8^th house controlling Pluto opposed LisaM’s 7^th house Aquarius Sun, setting up lifelong tensions with mama desperate to keep a grip on LisaM’s image with money being centre foreground as an issue.

 What is an eye-opener is their relationship chart with a competitive composite Sun, Mercury, Mars conjunction with a fated Yod of Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Mars. Neptune Pluto hints at megalomaniac levels of ambition all focused onto a warring Mars.

 Riley Keough, LisaM’s daughter and sister to Benjamin who suicided two years ago, 29 May 1989 8.15 pm Santa Monica, CA, has a charming Sun, Jupiter, Venus in Gemini but also a challenging 8^th house Mars in Cancer trine Pluto and opposition Saturn Neptune (Uranus) in Capricorn.

 Grandma Priscilla’s Pluto falls in her financial 8^th and Pris’s Saturn in Cancer, also in her 8^th conjunct her Mars, trine her Pluto and opposition her Uranus, Neptune, Saturn – not an easy interface with again money a key issue.  Their relationship chart with be stressed and strained, jittered and jangled through this year and into next with transiting Neptune, Saturn and Uranus all tugging and undermining their bond.

 Money and families.  Never a good combination.

Joe Biden has appointed a rottweiler to be in his new Chief of Staff. Described as the worst job in government – relentless, gruelling, thankless – the incumbent can expect the blame when things go badly and get none of the credit when things go well. Dick Cheney, who served Gerald Ford, blamed the job on triggering his first heart attack. The Chief of Staff is head of the executive office of the president, manages the West Wing staff, from policy advisers, to cabinet secretaries, to press officers. Most don’t see out two years never mind a full term.

 Jeffrey Zients, 12 November 1966, a former Facebook executive and government pandemic adviser, has a Scorpio stellium like Joe Biden so they are fairly alike. In his case Sun, Venus, Moon and Neptune are in ultra-determined Scorpio.  He also has a megaton collection of Mars, Pluto, Uranus in Virgo sitting on Joe Biden’s Midheaven. And his confident Jupiter in Leo is conjunct Joe Biden’s opinionated 9^th house Pluto.

  There will be potential for some major head-butting in private and tussles over who has the last word in decisions. The chief of staff and president are not always in lockstep – indeed shouldn’t be since the chief of staff is there to provide an alternative viewpoint.

  Their relationship chart is friendly and tied firmly together with a composite Sun, Venus, Mercury square Pluto – but that will be stress tested by tr Uranus opposing the composite Sun, Venus, Mercury from this August onwards into 2024.  There’s also a lucky, though muddled composite Saturn opposition Neptune square Uranus Jupiter which will be under severe pressure from tr Pluto hard aspects right through till late 2024.

   In some ways it is a better relationship than the departing Ron Klain who was a Sun Uranus in Leo which sat oddly with Biden’s Scorpio planets though they had worked together for years.

  Zients’ own chart hints at a slipping and sliding 2023 as tr Neptune is conjunct his Saturn and opposition his Uranus will late year – so not much of a honeymoon. His confidence will get a few boosts and he’s a gritty personality at best, used to tough conditions. He’s got a run of luck through October 2024 and more in 2025 so something will be going well but it may also coincide with a major sigh of relief.  

Jay Leno, the US TV host, comedian and writer, is not slowing down despite two horror accidents one after the other. In November  he suffered second-degree burns over his upper body and part of his face while repairing a 1907 vintage car. Then in mid January he ran his motorcycle down an alley and got snagged by an unflagged clothesline knocking him to the ground with a broken collarbone, two broken ribs and two cracked kneecaps. None of which has stopped him returning to work in La Vegas.

  He was born 28 April 1950 2.03am New Rochelle, NY, and has a Taurus Sun on the cusp of the communicative and busy, busy 3^rd house. He has a confident, self-assured Jupiter in his 1^st house; a maverick Uranus in his performing 5^th, a determinedly hard-working Pluto in his 6^th and Mars in Virgo in his 7^th opposition Venus.

  Over the fire tr Neptune was opposing his Mars exactly which would produce panic. Both tr Uranus and his Progressed Moon are moving through his over-speedy 3^rd house and tugging on his Pluto in his chart area of health and work. The fire also happened when tr Pluto was in a devastating opposition to his Sun/Neptune midpoint.

   It may also be that Pluto moving into his 12^th house with Saturn also there added a hint that slowing down might be advisable, which advice he clearly ignored.  Saturn is now dipping below his Ascendant so in coming years he will be prompted to slow down and step back.

  Former cricketer and TV presenter Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff is also recovering from a crash last December as he filmed for Top Gear. He avoided serious physical injury in the collision, suffered a cut face and a broken rib. It came three years after he narrowly cheated death following a shock 125mph crash.

 He was born 6 December 1977, and is a super-optimistic Sun, Neptune in Sagittarius trine Mars in Leo, sextile Pluto (Moon) in Libra. With his Mars in a needs-risk square to Uranus.  There’s nothing much showing around his Mars at the moment but his Solar Arc Saturn is conjunct his Pluto for a sense of stuckness and blockage as his family pressure him to stand down for a while. Having had a second look tr Pluto is trine his Solar Arc Mars which won’t have helped.

For previous accidents Jeremy Renner etc see post January 3 2023.

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Pope Francis will be facing a momentous decision about his path ahead with Pluto moving to square his Midheaven as it enters Aquarius in late this March. This usually accompanies a significant career change and being Pluto can also involve a tussle for control which will extend into and across 2024. As the traditionalist Pope Benedict dies,  three books have emerged critical of Francis’s liberal stance on homosexuality, communion for divorcees and support for migrants.

  There is talk of Francis resigning though he dismisses it in public. One book is by Archbishop Georg Ganswein, Benedict’s former personal secretary and there was a highly critical open letter circulating anonymously last year which was written by the scandal-prone Australian cardinal George Pell who described Francis’s papacy as “a catastrophe” and a “toxic nightmare”.

 Francis, born 17 December 1936 9 pm Buenos Aires, Argentina, also has tr Neptune square his 6^th house Sagittarius Sun through this year which will lower his energy, already affected by intestinal and knee problems. His Solar Arc Midheaven is fast approaching the conjunction to his Pluto which might indicate a halt in his career- on this birth time in 2024.

  When he was elected in 2013 tr Pluto was just over his Descendant and has been moving through his 7^th house for the years thereafter of intense, often bitter relationship conflicts over a variety of Vatican scandals and theological differences.

  His Election chart, 13 March 2013 7.06pm also shows up undermining Neptune transits to the Pisces Sun exactly now and returning through the year and moving on to square the Mars in 2025 – so a longish phase of confusion and diminishing vigour.

 The Vatican chart, 7 June 1929 11 am Rome, is rattled at the moment though the key shifts look to be coming after great uncertainty in 2024 with tr Neptune square the Saturn, and then 2025 with tr Uranus crossing the Midheaven (assuming the start time is accurate to the minute otherwise the timing may be out slightly).

  Georg Ganswein, the German Archbishop, may be amongst the forefront of the critics and his relationship chart with Francis does indicate bitter debate also from late this March onwards through 2024.  

  The politics of the Vatican are a viper’s nest. If it’s not knee deep in money, sex and power struggles, it is a vicious fight between the upholders of the historical status quo versus the reformers.