James I of England, the first Stuart king of England, and James VI of Scotland, has had a less than glowing reputation, deemed as odd and effeminate and has been underplayed in comparison to Elizabeth 1 and Charles I. A new biography paints a different picture of an assured intellectual who promoted peace in Europe and colonial expansion in America.

 He was born in 1566 to Mary, Queen of Scots, great-grandson of Henry VIII’s elder sister, Margaret Tudor, and crowned in 1567, a “cradle king” at only 13 months old, after the murder of his father, Lord Darnley, and the forced abdication of his mother, whom he never saw again. Three of his four regents died in office and a 1582 coup, saw the powerful Earl of Gowrie kidnap the 16-year-old king during a hunting trip and hold him captive for 10 months.

  Despite his homosexual inclinations, he dutifully married Anne of Denmark and had seven children, three of whom reached adulthood, with his second son, Charles I, as heir. James succeeded to the English throne as King James I of England on the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603.

  He had a 10th house Cancer Sun square a 1^st house Jupiter – creative, caring and confident. He also had an inventive, though nervy 10^th house Neptune opposition Uranus in the 4^th which latter points to a turbulent childhood. His Neptune Uranus opposition squared onto a 7^th house Pluto in Pisces which would mark him out potentially as a radical thinker, though one whose ideas would often be before their time. And that Pluto may well be the reason for the hostility he raised in critics after his death who tarred his image.  It would also have made him highly-strung and mentally stressed.

  He also had a hard-edged Mars Saturn conjunction in Leo in his 12^th square Venus South Node in Taurus, a pointer to his damaging and fearful childhood.

  In his later years, he suffered from arthritis, gout and kidney stones, lost his teeth and drank heavily.  He died during a bout of malaria which brought on a stroke and a violent attack of dysentery.

He was widely mourned, having retained the affection of his people, who had enjoyed uninterrupted peace and comparatively low taxation during his era. He was succeeded by his son Charles 1 who was beheaded 24 years later aged 49 after losing the English Civil War.

Tough times then for a monarch – and on the medical front.

Actress Patricia Routledge,  a British treasure of screen and stage, with an extraordinary range, has died. Best known for  playing the social-climbing battleaxe Hyacinth Bucket in classic TV sitcom Keeping Up Appearances (“an absolute monster and I enjoyed playing her enormously.”) she also starred in Alan Bennett’s TV monologues, and in BBC One’s amateur sleuth Hetty Wainthropp. A Tony Award for best lead actress in a musical on Broadway in New York for Darling of the Day in 1968 was followed by Richard III and Henry V at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

 Her “defining quality’ wrote on critic was ‘her ability to see the humanity in a variety of eccentrics and outsiders.”

  Her intimidating reputation went before her, with one critic noting that with her brusque, often rude, manner with others, she was “doing her very best to qualify as a grande dame”. She explained that she hated timewasters.

 She was born 17 February 1929 12.30 am in Birkenhead, England, with a gentlemen’s outfitter father and a northern puritan upbringing. After university and an English degree she trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She never married but admitted to several relationships.

   She had a maverick Aquarius Sun opposition a creative 10^th house Neptune squaring onto a 7^th house Taurus Moon conjunct Algol. Her 7^th house Moon would crave a partner though a focal point Moon often finds it more reassuring to have broader attention from the public than a one-to-one dependency. Sun square Moon is also initially problematic when it comes to making a firm decision about relationships. Ditto a commitment resistant Neptune. In addition she had a freedom-loving Uranus widely conjunct Venus in her performing and romantic 5^th house.

  Her Venus was square Pluto giving her a passionate intensity. As did an 8^th house Mars opposition Saturn in a different way, giving her an understanding of deep seated anger which she used to great effect in the grotesque characters she often played.

 Her 6^th house Jupiter in Taurus flagged up her enthusiasm for work though unaspected apart from a tine to Neptune it would make her less gregarious, self-contained and more aware of the seriousness of life.

  Her creative 5^th and 7^th harmonics were notable – as was her break-through genius 13H; her leaving-a-legacy 17H and her superstar 22H.

Manchester is yet again shaken by a traumatic incident after a terrorist attack on a synagogue by Jihad al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent, wearing what appeared to be an explosive vest armed with a knife. Two victims were killed, one by friendly fire from the police, who also shot the attacker.

 The city does appear to be a magnet for violent events – with the Ariana Grande concert attack by Islamic extremists on 22 May 2017 which killed 22 people and injured 1,017. An IRA bombing in 15 June 1996 in which 212 were injured after a 1,500-kilogram lorry bomb was detonated, the biggest bomb in Great Britain since the WW11. And the Manchester United football team Munich plane crash of 6 February 1958.

 There are two charts for the city which has an ancient history. One is 14 May 1301 JC Royal Charter, which does have a hard-edged, high-risk, brutal Saturn Mars in Leo opposition Pluto.

   And the City Charter of 29 March 1853 which has an Aries Sun plus a rebellious Uranus Pluto conjunct in Taurus; and a Gemini North Node opposition Jupiter square Mars in Pisces – which last does seem sensitive to events. At the moment the Solar Arc Sun is forming a Mutable Grand Square opposition Mars and square the Jupiter opposition South Node.  In 2017 for the Arena concert bombing, tr Saturn in Sagittarius opposition Mars in Gemini was also rattling that Mutable T square. In 1996 the Solar Arc Uranus in last decan Virgo was triggering the Mars square Jupiter.

 The earlier chart of 1301; had a nerve stretched tr Uranus opposition Neptune in 2017. In 1996 the tr Pluto opposition tr Mars was sitting across the 1301 Sun; with a Solar Arc Sun opposition Neptune. The 1958 plane crash was also a highly Neptunian event.

 Both charts appear to work well enough. The Mars square Jupiter on the 1853 chart on the face of it does not seem overly violent. But Sakoian & Acker describe it as destructive, providing a drive to use collective power and social sanction for self-aggrandizement and gratification of passions. They associate it with people who glorify war and go on holy crusades, can be fanatical.

  City and even town charts do work well if the dates can be found.

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Another USA government shutdown has started with the prospect (at the minimum) of lay-offs – 750,000 federal employees expected to be placed on enforced leave, with pay withheld until they return to work, essential workers like military and border agents may be forced to work without pay, parks will be closed, rubbish pile up and there is likely to be disruption at airports.

 Though Trump has posted online that Republicans should use it to “clear out dead wood” and see which “Democrat Agencies” to cut with the possibility of permanent job losses. In a shutdown, the White House and Office of Management and Budget have full control over which arms of the executive branch will stay running

  J.D. Vance is spouting nonsense about Democrats holding out about funding for illegal aliens when US law bars undocumented immigrants from receiving the health care benefits and the Democrats have not called for changes to that.

 Democrats are motivated by grassroots anger over expiring healthcare subsidies. Though Marc Thiessen in the Washington Post writes this is less about Obamacare and more about the  American Rescue Plan, brought in as a temporary covid emergency plan, which he argues was inflationary and should not continue. At the time evidently former Clinton treasury secretary Lawrence H. Summers cautioned against it because it would “set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation.” And Obama economic adviser Jason Furman said he didn’t know of “any economist that was recommending something [that] size.” [I am not familiar enough with the detail to know what weight to put on any of the arguments.]

  The last shut-down under the first Trump administration lasted a record 34 days, starting 20 January 2018.

 There is not much to add to previous thoughts on the USA and Inauguration charts. The USA 4 July 1776 chart has the Solar Arc Saturn exactly square Neptune at the moment for high uncertainty and paralysis with the Solar Arc Sun square the Mars for a collision-type event in six months and SA Sun in a lacklustre discouraging opposition to Neptune exact by mid 2026 but trailing on in effect to early 2027. That will see the end of this two year plus process of a disruptive existential crisis starting in early 2025 as the USA Sun square Saturn by Solar Arc collided with the USA Mars square Neptune.

 Not that the shutdown will last that long since the Democrats are likely to cave but the high anxiety will roll on.

 The USA Federal Reserve. 16 November 1914 9am is not in a good phase with tr Neptune (Saturn) square its Saturn Pluto in Cancer this year till January 2027; a lacklustre, disappointed Solar Arc Neptune conjunct Sun exact in six months; and a high-insecurity tr Uranus square Mars from June 2026 to April 2027. So economic pressures will mount.

 The 2025 Trump Inauguration chart with its afflicted Moon in the 6^th house of health has been pressured as the Progressed Moon squared Mars recently and then moves on to square the Inauguration Pluto by March 2026 – so again a long, heated wrangle with deadlock along the way which will extend in effect after.

 Trump’s personal chart, birth time being accurate, does have his Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct his Pluto exactly now and lingering on for months ahead at a time he does not seem to be winning too many battles – Putin, Netanyahu, his boy Milei on the skids, Epstein lurking in the shadows etc etc. He has tr Pluto opposing his Saturn/Pluto midpoint now till early December which suggests tough conditions and an uphill struggle to make progress. Plus November 9^th to early December and again in April 2026 tr Uranus square his Saturn/Neptune midpoint hinting at stretched nerves, irritability and even illness brought on by underlying panic. This last influence at the same time as tr Uranus squares his Ascendant for an image jolt.  Plus, of course, his Solar Arc Neptune continuing to wend its way over his Moon and opposition his Sun to late 2026 and beyond into early 2027 which won’t improve his clarity of thought or his energy.

 None of this helps to put a date on the end of the shutdown but it is part and parcel of an extended period of muddle and mayhem in the USA.

Conservationist Dame Jane Goodall, a world-leading expert on chimpanzees, has died aged 91. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio said that she “inspired millions to care, to act, and to hope”, and called her a “a true hero for the planet”. Biologist Stephen Jay Gould said her discoveries “revolutionised science” and Roger Fouts, a psychologist who studies the chimp’s linguistic abilities said, “her work is almost comparable with Einstein’s.”

 Born 3 April 1934 11.30pm London, England, she was given a toy chimpanzee as a two year old and later said, “I cannot remember a time when I did not want to go to Africa to study animals.”

  After leaving school with no scientific training, she was offered a holiday at a friend’s home in Kenya from whence she went in search of Louis Leakey, the paleontologist who was trying to prove his controversial, now accepted,, theory that man originated in Africa, and not Europe or Asia. He thought a study of the great apes would yield important insights into the behaviour of early man which set her off on her life’s journey of living amongst chimpanzees living on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Her career spanned more than 60 years and was pivotal in proving the similarities in primate and human behaviour. More recently she switched to become an advocate for the natural world.

  She was married twice, the first time to a wildlife photographer, the second to a member of the Tanzanian government and head of their national parks.

  Her chart reflects a lucky, successful though not easy temperament and life. She had a pro-active (and argumentative) Sun Mars in Aries in her domestic 4^th house with Mars and a 5^th house Uranus in Aries opposition a 10^th house fortunate-career Jupiter squaring an 8^th house Pluto. Restless by nature and a go-getter, lacking fear, with an attraction for adventure and an unorthodox emotional life (Uranus in 5^th) she was keen to explore below the surface with an 8^th house Pluto which also ultimately brought her increasing influence. Pluto on the point of a Cardinal T square can be ahead of its time in insights and meet with resistance though ultimately will be proved right. She also had Saturn Venus in scientific Aquarius in her communication 3rd house as well as a crusading Aquarius North Node.

 Her kindly, spiritual, visionary Neptune in the 9^th in Virgo opposed her Mercury widely square her adventurous and nurturing Sagittarius Moon on her Ascendant.

 Relocating her chart to Tanzania put her Moon in the 10^th suiting her for a public career; her scientific Saturn Venus in Aquarius moved to her 1^st establishing her image and identity; Neptune was in the influential 8^th and Pluto in her 6^th house of animals.

  She had a marked global-personality 22nd Harmonic; a creative 5H; humanitarian 9H and an enduring 11H.

Patricia Crowther, known as the “high priestess of the Moon Goddess”, and considered the spiritual heir to Gerald Gardner, the founding father of modern Wicca, has died at 97. She made it her mission to dispel myths about witches and their practices. “Witchcraft simply means the craft of the wise people.” She was adamant that modern witchcraft contributed to society through its promotion of women’s equality.

Outside her coven she gave talks, made radio appearances and published books, as well as designing three of the Tarot cards (The Sun, Karma and The World) used for the Tarot of the Old Path set.

  She was born Patricia Dawson in Sheffield on 14 October 1927 with a Breton great-grandmother who had been a herbalist, clairvoyant and fortune teller and lived next door as a child to a palmist who predicted she would develop clairvoyant powers.

She had a Sun conjunct Mars in Libra square Pluto, so not short of determination and courage with an interest in wielding power. Her publicity-attracting Mars sextile Neptune was inconjunct Jupiter and Uranus giving her confidence, a vision for creating a better society as well as a wish to follow an unorthodox path. Her Mercury in Scorpio was trine Pluto for a need to explore below the surface.

 Gerald Gardner, 13 June 1884 Liverpool, no birth time, was a trailblazing Sun Gemini square Uranus. With an intense Mercury Pluto conjunction square Mars; and trine Uranus sextile Venus. His Jupiter was sextile Pluto.

 What they both shared was an ultra-determined Mars square Pluto – which hints at a fearful childhood with a resulting wish to find ways of not being powerless. Both had Mercury Pluto interlinked which is often associated with a) firm views) but also b) digging into the darkness for answers.  Both had notable Uranus for unconventional interests.

Dion Fortune, another Occultist, magician, white witch and writer, 6 December 1890 2.11 am Llandudno, Wales, was a Sun Venus in Sagittarius opposition a 9^th house Pluto Neptune in Gemini square Saturn in Virgo – – Neptune Pluto does have supernatural overtones. She had a wide communicative Air Grand Trine of a Libra Moon trine Jupiter trine Neptune Pluto, giving her the confidence to get her ideas across.  Her Mars in determined Aquarius was trine a 1^st house Uranus emphasizing her road-less-travelled.

  I am not familiar enough with the distinctions between Patricia Crowther/Gardner’s Wicca and Dion Fortune’s Inner Light philosophy handed on by spiritual masters – but I am surprised marginally by the Wicca pair’s formidable and darker Mars Pluto and Mercury Pluto – and Dion Fortune’s lighter Fire Air temperament.  

Julie Andrews, is an amazing 90 today – ‘crisply accented, sweetly tuneful and girlish in her most famous movie musicals, but always with a sense of humour about her angelic image.’

 She won the 1965 Oscar for playing a “practically perfect” English nanny for Walt Disney and mischievously drove around Los Angeles with a “Mary Poppins Was a Junkie” bumper sticker on her car. Her Hollywood nickname was “the nun with the switchblade”.

  Forever associated with The Sound of Music, her childhood during the London blitz was when her extraordinary vocal talent was discovered. At the age of eight, she had an adult larynx, and a clear soprano voice with a four-octave range. She started out in music hall, and did the Royal Variety Performance aged 13, and ended up on Broadway while still a teenager, in The Boy Friend and then in Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady.

 Her second husband director Blake Edwards, expanded her range in movies in the 1970s in The Tamarind Seed, a romantic spy thriller and 10, a sex comedy with Dudley Moore; thence onto Victor/Victoria, a queer musical farce about a singer who masquerades as a man.

In 1997, botched surgery on her vocal cords more or less ended Andrews’ singing voice and she would rarely sing on screen again. Though indefatigable as ever she starred in The Princess Diaries with voiceovers for the Shrek and Despicable Me films. Most recently she has narrated Netflix’s raunchy regency drama Bridgerton – ‘every consonant of Lady Whistledown’s wicked whispers impeccably articulated.’

 Born 1 October 1935, 6 am Walton-on-Thames England (biography) She is not surprisingly an ice-cool Sun Libra with a hard-working and heavily aspected creative Venus in Virgo conjunct Neptune, sextile Mercury in Scorpio, square Mars, opposition Saturn and trine Uranus. Her Jupiter (Moon) in Scorpio trine Pluto will give her confidence and attract success while her Mars in Sagittarius in her communicative 3^rd  will give her clarity and strength in projecting her voice.

 She also has two yods of Uranus sextile Saturn inconjunct Sun and Sun sextile Mars inconjunct Uranus which would out her on a singular path in life though not without the need for adjustments in how she directed her will and her zanier streak. A definite one off.

 When a botched throat operation in 1997 damaged her vocal chords, for which she sued the hospital – tr Pluto was square her 6^th house Saturn putting immense pressure on her health, with ensuing depression; her Solar Arc Sun was approaching the conjunct in to her 3^rd house Mars for a shocking event; tr Neptune was square her Mercury, undermining her voice. And her Progressed Mars was in a dead-halt, enraging, frustrated opposition to her Pluto as was tr Neptune for a devastating time.  

Emma Watson, Hermione in the Harry Potter films, and more recently in Beauty and the Beast and Little Women, has caused some merriment by taking to the public airwaves to announce she was giving up acting because she disliked the attention it attracted. Shades of Prince Harry.

  She has also been getting skewered by J.K. Rowling for publicly attacking her over trans rights especially in a Bafta speech at a time when “the death, rape and torture threats” were being aimed at Rowling. Despite which  Emma passed on a handwritten note saying ‘I’m so sorry for what you’re going through’. On Twitter X Rowling wrote. “Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames, yet thought a one-line expression of concern from her would reassure me of her fundamental sympathy.”

  Emma Watson, 15 April 1990 6pm Paris. France, has an intense 8^th house Aries Sun trine a Sagittarius Moon on her IC sextile Mars in Aquarius with her Sun square Saturn  – so not short of Fire and a forthright approach. Her equally intense 8^th house Mercury in stubborn Taurus is amped up in opposition to Pluto and square an activist Aquarius North Node so she will be opinionated, dogmatic and sure of her beliefs.

  She is also of the Uranus Neptune in Capricorn generation who can get entangled with ideas and attitudes that are not open to scrutiny. Her Jupiter in her 10^th will bring her luck and career success. Her Jupiter opposing Uranus can be idealistic and well-intentioned but can lead to eccentric viewpoints and be overly blunt.

  J. K. Rowling, 31 July 1965 9.10 pm Bristol, England, has a hard-working 6^th house Leo Sun with a Virgo Moon in her 7^th at the far end of a stellium of Pluto, Uranus, Venus conjunct and Mercury. Her Pluto opposes Saturn in Pisces squaring onto a 4^th house Jupiter. Communicative with all that Virgo, keen on pushing ahead with changes from Uranus Pluto and stubborn with Saturn involved. Her focal point Jupiter will soften the rough edges of the tough experiences aroused by Pluto Saturn. Her Jupiter is also square her Moon for a softer view of mother/women. With an angry 8^th house Mars in Libra trine her Jupiter for passionate action.

  Emma’s obdurate Mercury in Taurus forms one leg of a yod sextile Rowling’s Saturn inconjunct Rowling’s Mars – so she would spark off deep seated reactions. On Emma’s chart, Rowling’s Jupiter is conjunct her Midheaven bringing her success. But Rowling’s intense Mars square’s Emma’s Uranus Neptune for a considerable clash.  Emma’s uncompromising Pluto (opposition Mercury) is conjunct Rowling’s 9^th house Neptune for a divergence of outlooks/philosophies.

 Their relationship chart has an intertwined Grand Trine (in Air)  of Pluto Sun and Saturn hinting at a relationship sensitive to ideological differences, formed into two Kites by Sun opposition an argumentative Mars and Pluto opposition the composite North Node – which is an almost perfect example of a twosome at loggerheads over a current cultural obsession.

  Apart from a few ripples there is nothing much ahead between them as Emma presumably sinks into obscurity (maybe) and the argument anyway recedes in the rear-view mirror.  

  Emma’s Ascendant in late Virgo did catch the recent Solar Eclipse for an image crisis and need for a rebrand. By next year tr Saturn Neptune will square her 10^th house Jupiter for a confidence dent and career slump.

 J.K.Rowling was also in the line of the September Lunar Eclipse keying up her Uranus Pluto and Saturn; with the Solar Eclipse rattling her Moon – perhaps why she has let fly now.

Nicole Kidman and her husband musician Keith Urban are to split as their marriage heads for the 20 year mark. They have been kept apart recently with her back-to-back filming and his touring schedules; with some speculation about her recent daring roles ‘with some of the kinkiest sex scenes of her career’ perhaps causing problems on home base.

  Their wedding on 25 June 2006 was immediately followed by a stint for him in rehab with alcohol and cocaine problems so was hardly an auspicious start but it had seemed a surprisingly strong match thereafter until this.

 She  was born 20 June 1967 3.15 pm Honolulu (from memory) and he 26 October 1967 12.05 am (unverified) Whangarei, New Zealand.

 She is a final degree Gemini Sun widely square Uranus (Pluto in Virgo) with a showy, charming Jupiter Venus in Leo in Sun; and a hard-edged Mars in Libras opposition Saturn in self-reliant Aries.

 Born only four months apart they have the same outer planet placings; with his Scorpio Sun sitting on her Ascendant square her Jupiter for good feels and a good look for her; and his Cancer Moon trines her Neptune for an idealistic, sympathetic connection.  His passionate Venus in Virgo conjunct Pluto is close to her Pluto which would also give a sizzle of attraction.

 Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus conjunction though that has been upended by tr Uranus in square earlier this year and on into 2026.  There is a cool, too-much-work Moon opposition Saturn; and a Jupiter square Neptune Mars  = over hopeful and not always mutually supportive of each other’s career dreams.

 Her personal chart hints at a career high ahead as transiting Jupiter heads for her midheaven in 2026 into 2027; and a confident push for success as tr Pluto opposes her Jupiter in 2026/27. But she also has a raft of tricky Solar Arcs in 2026/27 which hint at sadness and angst-ridden moments. If her birth time is accurate tr Pluto is heading to cross her IC into her 4^th from 2027/28 onwards pointing to a reorganisation at home.

 He looks relieved in a way with tr Uranus square his Jupiter now and into 2026 though there will be ups and downs with a pressured and challenging tr Pluto square his Sun continuing through 2026 as well as tr Neptune Saturn square his Mars in Capricorn. Plus a collision-type SA Sun conjunct his Mars in 2026 and a confused SA Pluto conjunct his Neptune in 2028 at the same time as SA Jupiter conjunct his Sun. It’ll be a long haul but may end well for him.

 Their wedding chart from 25 June 2006 has a Cancer Sun opposition Pluto which has been under strain in the past two years and more so as the separation takes place through 2026; with emotional upsets from tr Uranus conjunct the Venus. There was also a destructive, self-defeating Mars Saturn conjunction then which was an omen of a one sided match to come.

 Her previous marriage to Tom Cruise lasted ten years and perhaps her choice of partners can in part be attributed to her Sun/Moon midpoint being conjunct her Uranus attracting her to unconventional mates – though the first would be more restrictive than would sit comfortably with her free spirit.