Caveat emptor (buyer beware) must be ringing through many Republican politicians’ heads. The electorate may be forgiven for their disinterest in anything beyond the dollar in their pocket. But senators and congresspersons don’t have that excuse for their wholehearted support for Trump, knowing full well his – ahem – idiosyncrasies and his mental deterioration from last time round.

 Now that he has gone full tonto (= crazy) with appointments that might seem extreme in a black comedy more than a few will be regretting their choice.

 What follows are jumbled astro-thoughts since it is not clear whether Trump will get a carte blanche to appoint whatever deplorable he fancies.

Matt Gaetz for one in as Attorney General, previously described as a person of moral turpitude, who was on the hook for sex trafficking,  allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and other alleged ethical breaches. Born 7 May 1982, he is a Sun Taurus with Venus in Aries in an ‘enthusiastic’ opposition to Mars and a stubborn Saturn Pluto in Libra. Tr Saturn Neptune opposing his Mars from this April onwards into 2026 will present him with failure and setbacks. His relationship chart with Trump has a high tension, prone to outbursts composite Sun square Saturn Uranus T with a bitterly resentful, dominating Mars Pluto conjunction square Mercury.

  Like several of the relationship charts with Trump 2026 is showing up as flashing-red-light time.

 Pete Hegseth, alarming the generals in (possibly) as Defence Secretary  is also facing an explosive 2026 with Trump.  Ditto Tulsi Gabbard, pro-Russian seemingly by inclination in as Intelligence will find relations with Trump stormy in 2025 and worse in 2026.

 Ditto Robert F Kennedy Jnr, and Susie Wiles, and John Thune, and the 1853 Republican Party – all show up 2026 as a year of panicky failure vis a vis Trump.

 The Inauguration chart would certainly back that up with a blocked Solar Sun moving to conjunct the Pluto and a sagging popularity with SA Saturn conjunct the Venus. Not terminal but highly stressed and stuck.

  When former UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was once asked what was the greatest challenge for a statesman, he replied: ‘Events, dear boy, events’. It may be off-the-wall internal policies or outside happenings but as with the UK political scene it may be that – stretching a point – what has been voted in recently under Pluto in Capricorn belonged to an old era and was not designed to make it across the transition into what lies ahead.

  Interesting times.

Add On: More straws in the wind.

Donald Trump Jnr – Tr Neptune will make a disappointing square to his Jupiter throughout 2025 undermining some high hopes. Tr Uranus will upend his Saturn in Virgo by square from July 2025 onwards into 2026 for an uncomfortable jolt. Again 2026 shows up with Neptunian slumps as it squares his Venus at the same time as his SA Uranus is conjunct his Venus – an emotional upset of considerable proportions.

 His relationship with his father is on a slide throughout 2025 with tr Neptune tr Saturn opposition their composite Mercury from April onwards and then conjunct the composite Sun at 1 degree Aries.

 Donald Jnr’s relationship with Vance is also spiralling downwards as tr Neptune Saturn moves into Aries from April 2025 onwards as it opposes their composite Mars, is conjunct the Jupiter and then opposes the Saturn right through till 2027.

 RFK’s relationship with Don Jnr is notably unhappy and disappointing with tr Neptune opposition the composite Mars throughout 2025 and then opposition the Saturn in 2026/27.

 J.D.Vance has his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Uranus for an almighty upheaval, exact early 2025 which may be his elevation to VP. But with tr Saturn Neptune square his SA Midheaven at 0/1 degrees Cancer in 2025/26 it won’t all be a glorious success. 2026 will bring dented hopes though 2027 could suggest an uptick – which could bring him more prominence.

Add On: Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, would mean oversight of agencies like the CIA, FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA), with a budget of $70 bn. The nomination has raised questions over Gabbard’s lack of experience in intelligence as well as accusations that she has in the past amplified Russia propaganda. Formerly a Democrat. She will require Senate confirmation to take up the role.

 Born 12 April 1981 she has a fearsome chart with Sun, Mars, Venus in Aries opposition Pluto and trine Neptune – not a lady who understands nuances, tolerance or compromise.  She has a Leo Moon conjunct her North Node both of which tie into Trump’s 12^th house Pluto – no doubt attracting her to his subversive power drive. Though it is an odd match with her aggressive Sun Mars Venus in Aries opposition Pluto square his Saturn Venus in Cancer.

   The relationship chart reflects the pluses and minuses with a tough, cold-hearted, workmanlike composite Sun trine Pluto and square Saturn; and a dominating Mars square Pluto. With a veneer of superficial good feeling from Jupiter (Moon) trine Venus.

Several of the relationship charts of his Cabinet picks point to minor setbacks in the months immediately after the Inauguration  – which may be the confirmation hearings? Or something else?

  She looks relatively upbeat vis a vis Trump at various points in 2025 with some hitches and glitches as well. But again 2026 looks ominous both on her relationship chart with Trump and her own personal chart with tr Neptune Saturn opposition her Jupiter Saturn conjunction in Libra.

Please add below. Older posts under news on top bar or in search.

Timothy West, one of Britain’s most respected and versatile actors, has died at the age of 90. Renowned for his Shakespearean performances on stage as well as a wide range of television roles, in recent years he had success with his wife of six decades Prunella Scales filming Great Canal Journeys, despite her advancing Alzheimers.

  He was born 20 October 1934 6pm (from memory) Bradford, England, into an acting family and had a hard-working, enthusiastic Libra Sun conjunct Jupiter in his 6^th house; with Mars and Neptune both in his performing/entertaining 5^th house and a well-organized Saturn in his 10th. He did have a tricky Sun opposition Uranus square Pluto (in the 4^th on this birth time) so he would be restless and fairly controlling. He also had a yod of Mars sextile Jupiter inconjunct his 11^th house Aries Moon. Such a Moon would make him emotionally hyper-sensitive and in his younger days disorganized – he was suited to a career with a public audience. (Actor John Nettles also has the Moon on the focal point of a yod).

  He is survived by his wife, Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, and three children.

 Prunella Scales, 22 June 1932, 10 pm (unverified) Abinger, England, is a Sun Cancer with an Aquarius Moon which is an an easy-going opposition to Jupiter. She would balance out his workaholic/serious Saturn in the 10^th tendencies. Her Mars in Gemini sat in his Ascendant so it would be a dynamic relationship with a few heated moments.

  Their relationship chart had a supportive/successful Pluto sextile Jupiter; though there was a hint of hardship and a power imbalance from a composite Mars Pluto conjunction. Saturn was on the focal point of a yod to Mercury sextile Mars hinting that self-control, self-discipline and maturity were needed to make it work.

 Their Wedding chart from 26 October 1963 had an ethereal composite Venus Neptune conjunction, suited to a creative partnership. But most significantly it had two yods from Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Jupiter and Jupiter sextile Saturn inconjunct Pluto – a union that altered each other’s lifepath dramatically bringing Jupiterian bounty and influence.

Tr Pluto is square Timothy West’s Uranus exactly now with tr Pluto moving to oppose his Solar Arc Uranus this coming week.  

    Life is moving on as the planets cut ties with the past.

Frank Auerbach, known for his encrusted canvases, a Holocaust orphan, who lived a monkish, solitary life in Camden, London has died aged 93. Seven days a week, 10 hours a day, for decades, he painted and said “I’ve certainly never been lonely by myself. I’m far more likely to be lonely in the company of people who haven’t understood.” He said he had no choice in his career. “If I hadn’t become a painter I would die.”

 He was born 29 April 1931 in Berlin and was sent by his parents to England in 1939 and educated at a Jewish-Quaker school. He never saw them again.

  Art was everything to him, “not a craft, but a philosophical inquiry”.

 One reviewer said ‘All his work was abstracted reality, with the energy of the artist written across the surface in broad, thick swathes of paint, often applied straight from the tubes. His colours were dramatic and the works were often displayed in glass cases, heightening the impression that they were sculpture. One had the desire to touch a painting by Auerbach, as much as look at it.’

 He was a Sun Mercury in Taurus square Mars in Leo giving him a stubborn determination, artistic talent and despite his self-chosen isolation a capacity to attract attention. He also had a confident Jupiter Pluto in Cancer in the tough and inventive generational opposition to Saturn square Uranus and an independent-minded North Node in Aries.

 One could argue that the physicality of his paintings stemmed from his Taurus Sun. But other Taurus painters had different styles – Turner, Gainsborough, Rossetti, Salvador Dali, Braque, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Joseph Beuys.

  An early and seminal influence was painter David Bomberg, an upbeat Sagittarius whose Jupiter in Aquarius connected with Auerbach’s Sun and Mars. He ‘impressed upon Auerbach the seriousness of the artist’s vocation, a necessary respect for tradition and an obligation to be true to the world as he saw it.”

 His global name 22^nd harmonic and leaving-a-legacy 17H are strong but most notable is his creative ‘seeking soul’ 7^th harmonic with a stressed yod of Saturn sextile Mars inconjunct an influential Pluto.  

One of my favourite painters.

Add On: Added above. Self portrait from 2020 and Julia his wife 2021.

Despite the drift away from institutionalised religion it continues to fascinate with Robert Harris’s spellbinding Conclave about the election of a new pope now out as a movie with Ralph Fiennes starring.

 Reviews are good – “A self-contained and intricate story that uses God’s representatives on Earth to show us at our most human, filled with jealousy, betrayal, forever jostling for power.”  

“What Conclave suggests – is that the church is a business now and the spirituality that will draw clergy in has been usurped by the more political traps of pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust and sloth.”

   Pope Francis has attempted to duck those accusations but has seemingly made few inroads into the problems that have always tainted the Vatican.

  Born 17 December 1936 9pm Buenos Aires, Argentina, he has a hope-for-a-better-society Neptune opposition Saturn square his optimistic Sagittarius Sun which in turn is conjunct an upbeat Jupiter. His innovative, reforming Uranus prompting him to make a break with the past is in his 10^th house.

  His election chart, 13 March 2013 7.06pm Rome,  has a charmingly sympathetic and hard working 6^th house Sun Venus in Pisces. Though a mutinous 4^th house Pluto and a disruptive, explosive Mars Uranus on the Descendant suggested the road ahead would not be smooth for internal relationships.

 There are also two yods on his Election chart – one onto Jupiter inconjunct Saturn sextile Pluto which does suggest a capacity for having a positive influence out in the society; the other onto Saturn inconjunct Uranus sextile Jupiter which hints at the need for a strong backbone.

  Tr Neptune Saturn moving into Aries from just before mid year in 2025 will be undermining and problematic for his time as Pope.

  His views on astrology stick close to the internal rule book, despite the Vatican itself being replete with astrological artefacts from days gone by when all Popes had their own astrologer. All forms of divination are to be rejected. With that torturous double think so beloved of those of fixed beliefs he suggests consulting a horoscope will cause you to sink whereas a strong faith in Jesus will allow you to walk on water like St Peter.  

“Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers.”

Tertullian reminds us, “Nothing of God costs money.” Astrologers charge fees so are inherently immoral.

  One Catholic website writes: “Imagine the kind of wishy-washy deity in which astrologists and their fans believe.”

  Trying to unravel the above – starting at the end – “Nothing of God costs money.” Surely a bad joke given the churches rapacious appetite for such.  Ditto the Vatican’s power hungry reach. One reason the priest classes so disliked astrology was that it took power away from them.

  Walking on water is a weirder supernatural belief than anything put forward by astrology.

  Since on their theory God created the universe what is wrong with the notion that he is OK with David Attenborough studying nature and astrologers studying the parallels between planetary movements and events on earth?

 The Roman emperors used bread and circuses to placate the peasant/plebeian classes. Religious leaders use other inducements to subdue their congregations into submission and leave the entitled priest cohort in charge.

As a footnote:

Novelist Robert Harris, 7 March 1957, is also like the Pope a Sun, Venus in Pisces; with an inventive, inspired Uranus square Neptune. His Mars (Moon) South Node in Taurus square Pluto will draw him to explore the darker side of humanity across a range of novels focused on the Second World War and then Ancient Rome.

Actress Susan Sarandon, 35 years into a prolifically successful career, has found herself backlisted for remarks made last year at a pro-Palestinian rally. She later apologized but was dropped by her agent and reckons she’ll never be employed in a big budget Hollywood movie again.

 Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of what she said, her astrology shows up an unwelcome turning point in her life.

  Born 4 October 1946 2.25 pm New York, she has a dreamy, sympathetic and intense Sun Neptune in Libra in her 8^th house with an emotional Capricorn Moon conjunct her Ascendant. Her opinionated 9^th house has Mercury in Libra and an enthusiastic Jupiter Mars in strong-minded Scorpio which is square a stubborn Saturn Pluto in Leo in her 7^th. Not a lady who does things by halves or gives way easily.

She is in the midst of a perfect storm on the astro front with tr Saturn now moving through the nadir of her low profile First Quadrant, not usually a successful time career wise. Plus tr Pluto conjunct her Ascendant for a wrecking ball moment image-wise. Tr Uranus has been opposing her Midheaven for another forced change of direction. And on top of all of that the recent Libra Eclipse and the March 2025 Aries Eclipse are in hard aspect to her Sun Neptune bringing an existential crisis of sorts.

  One bright spark on the horizon is her Solar Arc Pluto moving to conjunct her Jupiter, exact in early 2025. She won’t bounce back to previous heights but will get a morale boost.

The momentous rift between England’s King Henry V111 and Rome in 1534 is an integral part of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, first televised a decade ago and now dramatising a much praised follow up – Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. Focusing on his adviser Thomas Cromwell, a Putney blacksmith’s boy risen to high office, closely involved in the break with the Vatican, the latest BBC offering covers the final stages of Cromwell’s life before his execution.

 Henry’s decision stemmed in part from his desire to be  Supreme Head of the Church of England, with the power and revenues that would bring and remove external allegiance; partly the influence of the reformers at court, including Cromwell and Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer (a Sun Cancer opposition Uranus Saturn).  But the principle reason was the crisis over the succession to the throne with his then wife the Spanish Katherine of Aragon having only produced one son who died young. Declaring his marriage had never taken place, freed him to marry Anne Boleyn. 

 Henry V111, born 28 June 1491 JC 8.45 am London, was a Sun Cancer with an Aries Moon.  With an over-hopeful and reckless Jupiter in Gemini opposition Neptune square Mars in Virgo; and an intensely stubborn Mercury opposition Saturn square Pluto.

 When the split came in 1534 he was on a Saturn Half Return and more crucially a Uranus half return marking his midlife crisis.  His Progressed Mars was square his natal Uranus and transiting Uranus. And his Solar Arc Mars was square his Saturn and his Mercury with tr Saturn square his SA Mars as well.  A high-stakes moment with tempers rising sharply.

 That was also reflected in the England 11 May 973 JC chart with the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Mars and square the Pluto for an explosive and epoch-making parting of the ways.

  What is intriguing is that the late Hilary Mantel, twice a Booker winner, born 6 July 1952, has her Sun in Cancer exactly at the same degree as Henry V111, though in her case it is conjunct a freethinking, unconventional Uranus and a charming Venus. Her Mercury in Leo is also close to Henry’s Mercury in Leo with her Mars in Scorpio square. Her (maybe) Sagittarius Moon may be conjunct Henry’s Neptune and hooking into his Mutable T square. Small wonders she was drawn to write so movingly about his court.

 There is no birthdate for Thomas Cromwell, sadly, apart from 1485. Though sticking a finger in the middle of 1485 would give him a Jupiter in Sagittarius conjunct Henry’s North Node which could have been a support to Henry’s spiritual path.  And Cromwell’s Uranus in Sagittarius square his North/South Node axis would rattle up Henry’s impulsive Mutable T square – Cromwell’s reforming instincts propelled Henry into action.

Actor Damien Lewis, a serious Sun Aquarius square Saturn with a Virgo Moon plays Henry in this adaptation, not an intuitive casting at first glance but he pulls it off. Lewis’s Jupiter Neptune in Sagittarius is conjunct henry’s North Node and his Mercury in Aquarius keys into Henry’s Saturn opposition Mercury Pluto T square – enough connections to key into the spirit of Henry.

 Mark Rylance, 18 January 1960, who plays Cromwell, a Sun Capricorn with a Virgo Moon, has his North Node conjunct Cromwell’s South Node and his Jupiter in Sagittarius conjunct Cromwell’s Uranus. A link across the centuries.

“To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now.” Samuel Beckett

  The panicky uncertainty of this time of celestial transition was in place before recent US election results with many/most stumbling through a fog of unknowing with rising levels of anxiety. How to cope when it is not clear what the future holds is often more difficult that facing up to reality-based hardship.

“Where I am, I don’t know, I’ll never know, in the silence you don’t know, you must go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” Samuel Beckett.

  Irish playwright Beckett’s tragi-comic, bleak view of life has a resonance for this time.

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett

  As does Austrian psychologist/philosopher Viktor Frankl’s search for meaning after the Holocaust.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Viktor Frankl

“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.” Viktor Frankl.

  It was always said that those who survived the concentration camps best were the ones with a strong belief system. The content did not matter – marxist, religious or whatever. A belief in a meaning beyond themselves gave them an inner resilience that others lacked.

  Therapists working with trauma survivors echo Frankl’s thinking and say one key response to ‘the shattered self’ of a personality fragmented by destructive life experiences is a determined search for meaning.

  Astrology does not necessarily point to a meaning in terms of a belief system, since it has no moral content or political or philosophical bias. But what it does offer is a context of sorts, some reassurance that life is not just random chaos.

  Both nihilist/minimalist Beckett and Frankl have relatively similar charts. Both are Sun Aries with Moon in Sagittarius. Both have a prominent Uranus opposition Neptune. And both have Jupiter in the 8^th.

 Beckett, 13 April 1906 8.14pm Dublin, Ireland, had a hard working 6^th house Aries Sun trine his Moon and sextile an influential, deep-thinking Pluto in his 8^th. His inspired Neptune in his 9^th house of meaning opposition Uranus formed a Half Grand Sextile linking Saturn in regretful Pisces and a seductively charming Venus in Taurus on his Descendant. Neptune opposition Uranus also squared closely onto his Mercury in Aries. He had another two Half Grand Sextiles from the North/South Node opposition to Sun and Pluto; and Moon opposition Pluto to IC and Sun. Multi-talented and complex.

  He fought for the French Resistance during WW11 and appeared to have conducted a parallel affair alongside a long marriage.

 Frankl, 26 March 1905 5.46pm Vienna, Austria, practised as a neurologist/psychologist before being sent in 1942 to a concentration camp, where his father died of starvation and pneumonia. In 1944, his mother and brother were murdered in the gas chambers and his wife died of typhus. He spent three years in four concentration camps. After the war he worked with patients until his retirement in 1970.

 His Neptune in Cancer on his Midheaven, indicated a healing career and it opposed an unsettled Uranus in his domestic/family 4^th house square an Aries Sun. He also had a Half Grand Sextile from Moon opposition an opinionated 9^th house Pluto linked to Mercury in Aries and Saturn in scientific Aquarius on the cusp of his 6^th house of health.

 Similar elements, different inclination.

 The Uranus opposition Neptune of the early 20^th Century is interesting since it is partly echoed in the 1990s generation with their Uranus Neptune conjunction. It can be inspired, intuitive and insightful, though also escapist, neurotic and prone to fanatical beliefs.

  Jupiter in the 8^th which both Beckett and Frankl had can also point to a compulsive search for understanding in the realms beyond the real world. As did their Sagittarius Moon.

  Both in different ways stressed the need to go on in the face of suffering, uncertainty and the unknown.

  To add anther layer of complexity to the paradoxes of coping with uncertainty are two thoughts from psychoanalyst Erich Fromm.

“The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.” Erich Fromm

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” Erich Fromm.

   In biology there is a vital balance to be struck between structure and change. For stability, same must follow same to build up a viable species. But when outer circumstances change, there must be a ‘creative’ adjustment to allow the species to survive in the new climate. Too much sameness leads ultimately stagnation and extinction.

 Erich Fromm, 23 March 1900 7.30pm Frankfurt um Main, Germany, was another Sun Mercury in Aries with a Sagittarius Moon. His chart is dominated by Uranus opposition Pluto which is essentially revolutionary. Uranus Pluto’s instinct is to upend the status quo and force through change. But too much constant turbulence and turmoil with no stabilizing end-game can be damaging and destructive.

  No solid answers but straws to hang onto in troubled times. Who would have thought Aries was such a philosophical sign?

  Another thought before I finish. Life goes in pendulum swings – sometimes it has to get much worse before it triggers an equal and opposite reaction. (Not always mind you viz Tibet etc). One small example was the determined push in the 1990s to bury allegations of child abuse which provoked a flurry of research from the therapy world which up till then had largely ignored the subject. Good came out of bad, which might not have happened without the outrage that the denial lobby created. Sometimes the imperfect status quo needs an almighty dunt in the ribs before it wakens up.

  A point Americans might wish to consider vis a vis their political system.   

“The tears of the world are a constant quality. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh.” Samuel Beckett

“You’re on earth. There’s no cure for that”. Samuel Beckett

“When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves”. Viktor E. Frankl

“Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for. Viktor E. Frankl

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, is profuse in his apologies about not nailing down child abusing barrister John Smyth when his offences became known a decade ago.  His  “horrific” and violent abuse of more than 100 children and young men was covered up within the Church of England for decades, according to the conclusion of a damning report.

Smyth QC, who died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018, was accused of attacking boys at his Winchester home who he had met at a Christian summer camp in Dorset during the 1970s and 1980s. Welby said Smyth had “manipulated Christian truth to justify his evil acts”. Smyth had also worked as a barrister representing morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse whilst he ran the camps for young evangelical Christians.

 Welby, 6 January 1956, himself the product of a ‘messy’ childhood really should have known better. His own chart describes a ‘cruel treatment’ childhood with Saturn Mars in Scorpio square Pluto in Leo conjunct Jupiter in Virgo. He also has a vague, indecisive, spiritual Mercury opposition Uranus square Neptune (Moon) in Scorpio. He looks devastated exactly now with tr Pluto square his focal point Neptune and a shocking tr Uranus opposition his Mars also now with more eruptions and setbacks through 2025.

 The Anglican Church, 3 November 1534 JC, is also at the moment facing both its Pluto Return and its Neptune Return – for which this wretched business is hardly likely to be a trigger event but it does suggest far reaching changes taking place.

 Smyth, 27 June 1941, Calgary, Canada, was a Sun Cancer with a Half Grand Sextile of Mars in Pisces conjunct the South Node opposition Neptune sextile/trine Venus in Cancer and sextile/trine Saturn, Algol, Uranus in Taurus. Probably charismatic with Mars Neptune and Venus with a brutal streak from that Taurus collection. A likely Moon conjunct Pluto also would not help. Mother issues writ large with a Cancer Sun, Moon Pluto and the Black Moon hooked into Saturn, Algol, Uranus. Intriguing that the destructive segment of his chart with Algol, BML etc hooked into Welby’s Mars Saturn in Scorpio.

Across the water, the USA Roman Catholic churches abuse have paid out an estimated $4 billion in compensation to those abused by priests with 28 Catholic dioceses and three religious orders or thereabout so far filing for bankruptcy.

 The Vatican chart, 7 June 1929 11 am Rome, Italy, is not showing as obvious signs as the Anglican Church for a complete renewal. But its 8^th house Uranus in Aries is catching the recent October and next March’s Solar Eclipses – which would suggest financial and a psychological pressure for change. Tr Saturn Neptune in Aries is also poised to move into the Vatican 8^th house of finances from 2026 for several years thereafter, to be joint soon by the SA Saturn which won’t help the money flow.

  The Vatican out-of-element Grand Trine of Saturn trine Neptune trine Venus is also under stress with the outer three planets poised to change sign tugging on all three legs – tr Uranus square the Neptune, tr Neptune conjunct the Saturn and tr Pluto square the Venus in 2025. With tr Uranus conjunct the Midheaven in 2025/26 and square the SA MC also in 2025/26.

  A change of direction will be on the cards, wished for or not, with financial disillusionment part of the package. Which may not all be about a bankrupt North American wing but it surely won’t help.

  Religious institutions will be no less buffeted by the upcoming celestial changes than any other.

  Though I am still puzzled about what it is that links religious beliefs (Neptune?) and sexual offences, especially involving children, and an underlying dislike of women.

Add On: Welby does look to be in meltdown with tr Pluto not only square his Neptune but also in an upending opposition to his Uranus. Interestingly Smyth’s Pluto is conjunct Welby’s Uranus so his underworld activities would have the capability of disrupting Welby’s life.  Tr Uranus is also opposition Welby’s Mars in Scorpio for a massive ego-dent and shock. His perceived steadiness stemming from his immoveably Fixed Mars Saturn in Scorpio square Pluto Jupiter will make it difficult for him to let go. But if he does not resign now it won’t get easier through 2025 with tr Uranus still to square his Pluto and oppose his Saturn.

 Welby’s relationship chart with Smyth has a composite Sun at 10 degrees Aries  opposition Neptune suggesting illusion, delusion and ultimately disappointment. Intriguingly it is catching the recent Solar Eclipse and the coming March one – a challenging crisis.

ADD ON: Of interest – Welby was enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury on March 2013 but had sworn the oath a week previously on March 13^th, the day Francis was elected Pope. Both the 13^th and 21^st charts have an explosive Mars Uranus in Aries catching the recent Solar Eclipse and the one next March. More pointedly both have two yods onto Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter on the point of a yod can have an effect on society and its values but over confidence and arrogance can bring the house of cards tumbling down. Perhaps more true in Welby’s case.

Western religion facing a joint crisis.

 Welby’s support for the shamed head of the Post Office, involved in the Horizon scandal which sent innocent workers to prison and on occasion to their death because of a tech glitch, Paula Vennells, 21 February 1959, is all the more mysterious looking at the astrology. Her car-crash Mutable Grand Cross of a Pisces Sun opposition Pluto square Mars opposition Jupiter connects into/collides with Welby’s Fixed Mars Saturn in Scorpio square Pluto Jupiter. Their relationship chart has a differing-agendas composite Sun opposition Uranus. Plus an over-loaded, emotionally over-wrought, love-and-hate composite Venus opposition Mars Pluto. And a yod of composite Saturn sextile Jupiter inconjunct the composite South Node hinting at an association that pulled them back into their less evolved selves.

  What a pile up.

Eddie Redmayne is receiving positive reviews for his performance as the reptilian assassin in a remake of Frederick Forsyth’s best selling The Day of the Jackal. The previous 1973 Fred Zinneman movie based on the book about the attempted assassination of French President Charles De Gaulle had Edward Fox in the lead. This version ‘swaps the French political intrigue — for a modern world of dark-web activity and high-tech communications, all the while retaining its old-school suspense.’

 Scanning across the charts there are odd coincidences. Eddie Redmayne, 6 January 1982 8pm London was born three days before the Princess of Wales and Tory MP Robert Jenrick with a mid degree Capricorn Sun square Mars and also square Saturn Pluto, in Libra.

 Frederick Forsyth, 25 August 1938 has his Venus in mid degree Libra exactly opposition Saturn in Aries. And Jean Bastien-Thiry, 10 October 1927 8.15pm Luneville, France, who was the initial inspiration for the killer in Forsyth’s book had  a mid degree Libra Sun and Mars opposition a mid degree Aries Moon. He was a French Air Force lieutenant-colonel and military air weaponry engineer, who objected to De Gaulle giving Algeria independence and was the last person to be executed by firing squad in France, on 11 March 1963. It happened in great haste despite an appeal about to be heard which might have overturned his death sentence. He evidently refused a blindfold and was clutching a rosary when he was shot within days of tr Jupiter being conjunct his 10^th house Jupiter. And how’s that for a ‘successful’ tr Jupiter through the 10^th?

 The only one missing those mid degree Cardinal signs was De Gaulle, 22 November 1890 4am Lille, France, who had the same Neptune Pluto conjunction in Gemini in his 8^th like Hitler, in his case opposition Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius with a final degree Scorpio Sun.

  Eddie Redmayne has had a steady career with successes on stage and recently notably playing the transgender artist Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl (2015), followed by the Fantastic Beasts film series; and The Good Nurse about a serial killer.

 He has tr Jupiter moving across his 10th now for a successful few months; with his Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his Sun for a major change as well; and his SA Neptune conjunct his Venus, good for film projects; and a revved up Mars in Libra being propelled by the eclipses in Libra/Aries to move into higher gear.   His Air Grand Trine of Mars trine a 10^th house Gemini Moon trine Venus, formed into a Kite by Moon opposition Uranus, will get a bolt of lightning from tr Uranus opposition his Uranus in 2026 and conjunct his 10^th house Moon so his career will be moving into a speeded-up phase.