Old enmities are uncoiling from hibernation as the French threaten to cut electricity cables to the Channel island of Jersey in the midst of an escalating post-Brexit dispute over fishing rights. It ironically coincides with the 200^th anniversary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte who finished his days exiled and imprisoned on St Helena after losing the Battle of Waterloo to the English.

  Napoleon is a contradictory figure, shunned by previous French presidents but not by Macron. On the one hand Napoleon is revered as a brilliant military general, who saved the French Revolution and laid the foundations of the modern French state – equality before the law, property rights, religious toleration, modern secular education, sound finances, a rational and efficient local administration, an end to rural banditry, the encouragement of science and the arts, the abolition of feudalism and the greatest codification of laws since the fall of the Roman Empire.

  On the downside he was an authoritarian strongman, who reinstated slavery after it had been abolished since he saw a massive slave empire in the Caribbean as good for the greater glory of France and the French economy.

 Born 15 August 1769 11am (birth time unverified) Ajaccio, France, he had a Sun Leo in an expansive square to Jupiter in Scorpio. But what dominates his chart is an Earth Grand Trine of a revolutionary Pluto trine Uranus trine Neptune Mars in Virgo which would give him practical skills, a good business head and a ruthless edge. It was formed into two Kites (and a three-quarter Grand Sextile) with Uranus opposition Jupiter and Pluto opposition Venus so he had undoubted talents and would be exceptionally resourceful with organizational skills.

 The Anglo-Franco squabbles have been ongoing for centuries through a rolling series of continental wars, starting with the 1066 Norman invasion of England. Taking the present-day France 1792 and UK 1801 charts it’s easy to see why there is such aggravation between the two countries. France has a Fixed T Square of Uranus opposition Pluto square Mars in Scorpio which clashes mightily with the UK’s Fixed planets. In the relationship chart  there is a composite fight-to-the-death, implacably-hostile Mars Pluto conjunction square the Sun; and an evasive Mercury Neptune.

   If anything tensions are likely to rise through 2022/23/24 with tr Saturn conjunct the Mars Pluto and square Sun in 2022; and tr Uranus square the Mars, Pluto and opposition Sun between 2022 and 2024. With a disconcerting tr Neptune square Saturn to add to the confusion.

  Even the old England 973 and France 843 charts in relation have much the same vibe with a composite Mars Pluto tied into Neptune, Uranus and Saturn.

  The UK looks marginally less aggravated but still agitated with the EU through 2022/2023 as well. The post-Brexit divorce rancour will run on.

Bill and Melinda Gates, one of the world’s richest couples with a fortune of $130billion, are getting divorced after 27 years of marriage and three children.

  He was born 28 October 1955 at 10pm in Seattle, WA and has an intense and private 4^th house Scorpio Sun and a cool though obsessive Venus Saturn in Scorpio; with his pro-active Aries Moon on his Midheaven opposition a 4^th house Mars which wouldn’t make for an altogether peaceful home life. He has an inventive, innovative, not-always-cooperative Uranus in his 1^st square his Sun Neptune; and a super-confident and successful 2^nd house financial Jupiter Pluto in Leo square a determined and obsessive Saturn in Scorpio conjunct Venus.

  She was born 15 August 1964, no time unfortunately, and has a Leo Sun conjunct his Jupiter Pluto; her enthusiastic Venus Mars in Cancer squaring his Moon opposition Mars; and her Moon may be conjunct his Saturn if she was an early morning birth. She has said he finds the work/home balance difficult to manage – which is partly to do with his 4th house Saturn.

  Their relationship chart has major pluses and minuses – a half Grand Sextile of composite Jupiter opposition Saturn sextile/trine Pluto Venus and Neptune. It would have highs and lows and be built to last though clearly not for ever. There is also a volatile, no-compromise composite Uranus Mars conjunction so they would go through heated patches.

   Divorce announcements always come at the end of sometimes years of stress or hidden separations. Bill Gates’ Sun/Moon midpoint, his marriage significator, at 21 degrees Capricorn has had the tr Uranus square tr Pluto hammering at it since 2016 and more so since 2018 so it’s been a long period of inner turmoil. At the moment he has tr Saturn moving through his 7^th house since late last year which is often a separation marker and more so tr Pluto now on his Descendant about to move through his 7^th.

  Melinda’s Sun/Moon and houses aren’t known without a birth time but she may have been going through an equally stressed phase through the last few years. At the moment she looks both energised with tr Pluto trine her Jupiter this year and undermined with a panicky Solar Arc Neptune opposition her Mars and her Progressed Mars square her Neptune; plus an anxious Neptune transit to her Mars/Pluto midpoint.

  Although the court papers evidently claim the marriage is ‘irretrievably broken’ that may just be a divorce lawyer phrase to indicate that the decision has been taken.

  An unusual silence hangs over the White House despite the monumentally ambitious stimulus plans. Compared to what went before, the hush is almost unnerving.

  Joe Biden does have tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter on and off this year and tr Pluto trine his Sun/Jupiter midpoint extending through next year as well. So he will have good luck on his side. Though he won’t miss tr Saturn square tr Uranus crashing into his Mars in Scorpio – this month and in particular next month in June, repeating on and off into early 2022 which will produce jolts and insecurity. This May the Lunar Eclipse and in December the Solar Eclipse will also rattle up his Uranus Saturn in Gemini for more jangles and tension.

  Where he looks more panicked and facing major crises or catastrophes is April 2022 on and off till late 2023, when tr Neptune opposes his Mars/Pluto midpoint. That is also when tr Neptune opposes the Mars in Virgo on his Chief of Staff Ron Klain’s chart. Evidently Klain is doing a good deal of the heavy lifting at the moment. Born 8 August 1961, four days after Barack Obama, he has the same Sun Uranus in Leo and tough, disciplined Mars trine Saturn. But he’s running into trouble through 2022/23.

  2022/23 is also when the Biden Term chart runs into serious headaches with that explosive and problematic Saturn Sun square Mars Uranus moving to exact by Solar Arc; and tr Pluto will also by then be starting the challenging and pressured conjunction to the Term Aquarius Sun.

Add On:  Kamala Harris has the same uplift as Joe Biden with tr Pluto trine her Jupiter in Taurus until late this November and tr Jupiter is moving through her 10^th till March 2023 which is generally successful. But also like him she runs into more obvious problems from next year onwards when she picks up the challenging tr Pluto square her Libra Sun and her Aries Moon and conjunct her Sun/Moon midpoint, on and off till late 2023. The latter could suggest marital tensions but in a politician it can also point to a popularity dent. But one way and another she’ll be under huge pressure. Plus tr Neptune will square her Ascendant and oppose her Sun/Mars midpoint from April 2022 onwards till late 2023 – which suggests an undermining of her image, low vitality and failed-plans. During this period tr Uranus will make a high-anxiety opposition to her Neptune.

  Late 2023 sees a discouraging Solar Arc Saturn opposition her Sun and from April 2024 onwards for two years she picks up another Neptunian sinker to her Sun/Saturn midpoint.

  Her Progressed Moon will move through her 12^th house from the middle of this year to mid 2023 which is usually a time of endings, inward looking and not too upbeat. Then she’ll experience some uplift as it moves across her Ascendant and that coincides with tr Saturn being conjunct her Midheaven in March 2023 and starting her career peak of eight years thereafter with heavier responsibilities.

  To be remember no one occupies these positions of staggering responsibility and prominence without running into problem after problem so some of the above is to be expected.  But she will be getting ground down hard with those Pluto transits to her Sun and Moon.  

Polls are indicating a lessening in support for Boris Johnson and the Conservatives days before a raft of council and mayoral elections, a key parliamentary byelection in Hartlepool and elections to the Welsh Senedd and the Scottish parliament. The sleaze and dishonesty allegations are beginning to bite though Johnson is still seen as a more effective leader than Keir Starmer because of the vaccine roll out.

   Caveat – polls almost invariably get it wrong. But Starmer’s dull persona and no visible-policy strategy is doing Labour no favours even in the face of gross impropriety in No 10.

  Born 2 September 1962 Starmer has a self-protective Water Grand Trine of Mars trine Neptune trine Jupiter in Pisces, formed into a Kite by Jupiter opposition an influential and innovative Sun Pluto Uranus in Virgo – so he doesn’t lack talent. But his Neptune is on the focal point of a Fixed T Square to a Saturn opposition North Node. He will have a vision for a better society but too much Neptune can blunt the edge of decisiveness needed to push ambitions ahead.

  His Neptune is catching the highly-strung opposition from tr Uranus over this election and will be jittered and jangled all year with tr Saturn in square as well. Over this week he has tr Neptune opposition his Mercury/Pluto midpoint as well which will be undermining, leaving him lost for effective arguments.

  Where his leadership chart bucks up will be from mid this August to late November with tr Pluto conjunct the Jupiter but he was elected at a rotten time with a restrictive Mars Saturn conjunction in the 8^th which comes to exact across mid 2022 which doesn’t sound encouraging. 2022 looks an exceptionally tough year for his leadership with one upbeat Jupiter probably not making enough headway against a raft of negative influences.

  I’m never that convinced by political party charts but for what its worth the Labour Party 27 February 1900 chart looks upbeat at the same time as Starmer’s leadership chart – mid August to late November, though that’s only one ray of sunshine amidst a run of pressured and swampy transits for the next two years.

  The Labour Party 12 February 1906 chart does have an upbeat tr Pluto trine the Jupiter from February 2022 on and off to late 2023 which will bring a modicum of success in the midst of considerable setbacks.

  Boris Johnson’s relationship chart with the Conservative Party, 10 May 1912 chart, is running out of enthusiasm from 2022 onwards so he may not deliver what they expect.

  2023/24 look highly disruptive years for both the LP and the Tory Party charts with hard tr Uranus aspects to the Sun Venus and Sun Saturn respectively. So both parties may be sent back to the drawing board for a redesign as the next election approaches in May 2024 if it sticks to schedule.  

  Now that I think about it, that’s when tr Uranus will square the UK’s 11^th house Saturn which rules the legislature for even more upheavals, tensions and forced change.  

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Josh Duggar, eldest son of the TV reality-show procreation-heavy Duggar family of “19 kids and counting” has been charged with receiving and possessing child pornography. He has plead not guilty. A conviction could land him with 20 years in prison and gargantuan fines. His trial is due for July. The show was cancelled in 2015 after he was accused of molesting multiple young girls, including several of his own sisters, though a TV sequel continued.

   Josh’s wife, Anna, is expecting their seventh child in the autumn.

  Josh Duggar, 3 March 1988, Arkansas, is a Sun Pisces trine Pluto with the highly-strung, can-be-chaotic Uranus, Saturn, Neptune conjunction in Capricorn with Mars in the middle of it. He’ll be a loose cannon and reckless. His Mercury squares Pluto for a tendency to be stubborn, clinging onto ideas which don’t stand up to evidence. And he has a frivolous, indulgent Jupiter Venus in Aries which is trine Uranus, Saturn and Mars – emotionally changeable. His Virgo Moon sits across from his Pisces Sun hinting at an ambivalence between his parents.

  What always struck me about this ultra-religious, highly conservative, only-in-America Duggar phenomenon was the chemistry between the parents Jim Bob and Michelle. Their relationship chart has a volcanic and volatile composite Pluto, Uranus, Mars, Mercury possibly square Moon with Pluto Uranus opposition Saturn – and that is not all sweetness and light.

Pop, 18 July 1965, is a lost-in-his-own-world Sun Cancer in a Water Grand Trine to Neptune and Saturn (Moon) in Pisces with Saturn (Moon) opposition Uranus Pluto square Jupiter – not always in tune with reality and overly confident. Mom, 13 September 1966, has possibly six planets spread out through highly-strung Virgo, ranging from (Moon), Venus, Pluto, Uranus, Sun to Mercury. Admittedly her Jupiter is conjunct Jim Bob’s Sun but that apart they are both scattergun, insecure, agitated personalities.

  The five children who came after Josh also have either the triple conjunction in Capricorn or the high-tension Uranus Neptune which must have made for a tinderbox atmosphere domestically.       

The first of this year’s Eclipses is the Total Lunar Eclipse on 26 May at 5 degrees Sagittarius/Gemini. The Full Moon is in an expansive square to Jupiter in Pisces with the Sun trine Saturn which combines high hopes and over-confidence with stability. However the stressed and contradictory Saturn square Uranus is still in place as is an evasive, dithery Neptune square Mercury; and there’s a ruthless, destructive, trapped and enraged Mars opposition Pluto – so it won’t all be singing and dancing.

  The Solar Eclipse following on 10 June at 19 degrees Gemini is conjunct Mercury and square Neptune so confusion and indecision will still be creating problems. But it is in the positive 5 North Saros Series, which can bring sudden flashes of insight – hunches, visions, prophetic dreams with a strongly creative flavour (Bernadette Brady: the Eagle and the Lark.) Saturn square Uranus is still a constant and the frustratingly deadlocked Mars opposition Pluto has moved closer so there will still be considerable obstacles to overcome and risky situations.

While there are still ifs and buts, this is the first reasonably positive Eclipse for eighteen months and the upcoming December one is even more joyous and upbeat.

  Both Eclipses will rattle up the USA chart since the Lunar Eclipse is opposition the USA Uranus and the June Solar Eclipse is conjunct the US Mars in Gemini which could bring heated arguments and rash actions – either internally or in foreign relations.  The second one will also impact Donald Trump’s chart in a major way so crises are to be expected there. 

  Boris Johnson will also be in the line of fire with the Lunar Eclipse opposing his focal point Mars and rattling that volcanic T square of his; and the June Solar hitting on his Mercury in Gemini forcing him to rethink his ideas and probably making him even more scattered than usual.   The June Solar Eclipse is also opposition his Term Sagittarius Sun which is another challenging and high-stress marker. And opposition the UK Mercury – so the jitterbug mood will roll on.

Rudy Giuliani’s home and office have been searched as part of an FBI probe into his dealings with Ukraine and alleged failure to register as a foreign agent. During the Trump term he led an effort to find incriminating information about Hunter Biden in Ukraine. His lawyer called the searches, which were signed off at a senior DoJ level, “legal thuggery” and Giuliani has referred to the investigation as “political persecution”. Hunter Biden is facing an unrelated criminal tax probe from the US Justice Department.

  This latest move does not imply criminality or impending charges for Giuliani, but it signals a ramping up of the case into him; and is part a continuing push to investigate possible wrongdoing involving former members of the Trump inner circle before and during his time in office.

  Giuliani will be blustering and bull** itting his way through this year and next, irritably from late this May through June and again in 2022 when he’ll ramp up his attack-defence with smears and innuendos.  This late May’s Lunar Eclipse and December’s Solar Eclipse will both rattle his Sun Uranus in Gemini for a series of rolling crises and his relationship chart with Trump is explosive at the moment, again late year and more so after mid 2022. But his chart doesn’t show anything too unnerving until 2023 when tr Neptune squares his Saturn.

  Trump’s greater concern will almost certainly be Allen Weisselberg, the long-time Trump Organization CFO, whom prosecutors are reportedly trying to flip. He knows more about Trump family’s finances than anyone else and has been around since Fred Trump’s time. In 2018 he was granted limited immunity for testifying against Michael Cohen.

Born 15 August 1947, he has six planets in Leo including the Sun, Venus, Saturn, Pluto, Moon and Mercury with a square to Jupiter in Scorpio and the Sun square a North Node in Taurus. Fixed in the extreme and enduring. His Saturn Pluto is in for a pummelling from tr Saturn in opposition and tr Uranus in square in May and June, again late year into 2022, which will test his ability to stand firm, indeed will upend his life. The upcoming June Solar Eclipse in Gemini will conjunct his Uranus for a further dose of shaking and 2022 sees his Nodal Return triggering his acquisitive Taurus North Node. This year and next he will have moments of frustration and fear with failed-plans in 2022/23.  His relationship with Trump is panicked now and on and off into 2022 with upheavals, disruptions, a shift in the balance of power between them; and serious aggravations and anger in 2022/23. 

See previous posts on Weisselberg: 24 August 2018 and 1 March 2019.

  Trump himself is now at the start of a two year flounder with tr Neptune square his Moon and his Sun which runs until January 2023. Plus this June’s Gemini Eclipse is rattling up both his Sun and Moon for ongoing crises. His hidden 12^th house Pluto is being hauled this way and that by a stuck tr Saturn in opposition and a disruptive tr Uranus in square till early 2022. His Solar Arc Saturn is conjunct his financial 2^nd house Neptune, exact in four months though possibly triggering earlier, which suggests a money meltdown giving him considerable concern.  His midpoint transits point to catastrophes, alarm, emotional hurt and from mid August to late November bitter rage leading to wild accusations and smears. Tr Pluto is also opposition his Venus and Venus/Saturn midpoint this year for deep gloom. Then in 18 months he has Solar Arc Mars square his Pluto which will block his progress totally as he faces an insurmountable calamity.

Trump junior also looks seriously rattled August through this November and his relationship chart with his father is in an agitated, dread-filled year with more insecurity in 2022.

  Eric Trump will run into his nadir 2022 to 2024 as tr Pluto squares his Mars and then his Pluto – a stripping away of power and influence, leaving him feeling trapped and without options.  

PS: Is it too much to hope that we might be seeing the disintegration of the fortunes of the wild-child Gemini political disasters we’ve seen over the past few years? Even Boris who seemed to be weathering the storm is on a perilous banana skin.

The French flair for the melodramatic is accelerating with ex-army generals doom-mongering about an approaching civil war with Islamists and half threatening a coup; and levels of national debt overtaking Italy to make France the EU’s biggest borrower.

   On the cash flow side, the total is not the key figure since France is a resilient economy and has a large economy so the ratios aren’t too alarming – yet. But given that half the debt is held by the rest of the world, if there was a global hiccup it would be exceptionally vulnerable. Plus reforms to the sclerotic state and business bureaucracy are going backwards and vaccine scepticism is another risk factor.

  The Banque of France, central bank, 18 January 1800, is in a bubble-bursting year financially with not only a Solar Arc Neptune conjunct the Jupiter but tr Neptune moving to square the Jupiter from exactly now till January 2023. The Capricorn Sun will be under unrelenting pressure to change or collapse in a conjunction from tr Pluto from early 2022 through till late 2022.  The France country chart, 21 September 1792 3.30 pm Paris, also has warning flags over money from Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Venus through 2022.

  The ex-forces intervention in a right-wing newspaper might sound like something out of Gilbert & Sullivan – “France is in danger – “disintegrating with the Islamists of the hordes of the banlieue [suburbs] who are detaching swathes of the nation and turning them into territory subject to dogmas contrary to our constitution. Failure to act now could see “an explosion and then intervention by our comrades on active service in the dangerous mission of protecting our civilised values and the safety of our compatriots. There is no time to waffle, or tomorrow civil war will put an end to this growing chaos and the dead, for whom you will bear responsibility, will be counted in the thousands.” 

  But there has been a coup in living memory. In the late 1950s political instability over the brutal Algerian war opened the way for Charles de Gaulle to be recalled from retirement and given special presidential powers to govern France in 1959 beginning the Fifth Republic. He granted Algeria independence which led to the 1961 army putsch which failed to topple him, but former soldiers came close to assassinating him the following year in an attack on his car that was the basis for Frederick Forsyth’s novel The Day of the Jackal.

  What is significant is that in 1961 tr Uranus was then in last decan Leo approaching the Uranus Return for the France 1792 chart and rattling the revolutionary T Square of Uranus opposition Pluto square Mars (Midheaven) which is not dissimilar to what’s coming up over the next two or three years. This was always going to be a time when the French fervour for disruption was going to be sparking off. In 1961/2 as well tr Saturn was moving through Aquarius, in hand with Jupiter for the first year. Though there’s not much in the 1958 Fifth Republic chart to suggest an ending. Uncertainty certainly in 2021/22 with tr Neptune square the Saturn and a fair amount of disruption in 2022 as well from tr Uranus square and tr Saturn opposition the Uranus.

  Le Pen has, au naturellement, leapt on the bandwagon though it is thought her support will put many of the middle silent majority, who might well agree with some of the general’s gripes, off.

See previous post: France – not escaping the turbulence February 8 2021

The painter David Hockney is enjoying his lockdown, painting the arrival of spring in Normandy, France. He said on The Andrew Marr Show he was surrounded by “hawthorn blossom … apple blossom, pear blossom, plum blossom, cherry blossom (and) apricot blossom.” And offered advice to those feeling trapped or bored in the lockdown. “If you look at the world and really look at it, it’s very beautiful. Nature is always beautiful, it’s always harmonious. But you’ve really got to look at it. You’ve got to look at it to see colour. You’ve really got to look at it intensely.”

 He is planning to show “one big, long picture like the Bayeux Tapestry which is going to be 88 metres long” depicting the whole year in Normandy, in a show in Paris.

  Born 9 July 1937, he is regarded as one of the most influential of British artists, a significant contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s. Three years ago one of his swimming pool paintings broke the world record for a living artist selling for $90 million in New York.

 He is a Sun Mercury in Cancer trine a determined Mars in Scorpio and sextile an innovative Uranus in Taurus as well as sextile Neptune  His Mars is also in an even more tenacious trine to Pluto. He has a wide Earth Grand Trine of Uranus in an inspirational trine to Neptune trine Jupiter in ambitious Capricorn. His Jupiter is in a pushily-confident opposition to Pluto. His Earth Grand Trine will give him a love of nature and the earth as well as business and practical skills.

  He’s always stuck to his guns about what he’ll do and not do, disregarding his Royal Art College diploma requirements, which later caused them to change their regulations. He’s an inveterate smoker still at 83 which is why France is a better choice than California where he has lived on and off for many years.

  He has – not surprisingly – strong creative 5^th and 7^th harmonics, as well as an enduring11H and a breakthrough-genius, exploring the unorthodox 13H.

Whatever your views of his paintings he’s a delightful free spirit.

Pic: By Connaissance des Arts, CC BY 3.0,