The mystery of Melania Trump is under scrutiny in a new book ‘The Art of Her Deal’ which suggests her reluctance in moving to DC after Trump’s election was because she was using her leverage to renegotiate her prenup and protect her son Barron’s financial interests.

It makes sense from various astrological pointers. She is a Sun Saturn in Taurus opposition Jupiter in Scorpio, with Mercury Venus also in Taurus trine Pluto so she will be obsessive about material security and money. The other is that tr Pluto in Capricorn was opposing the composite Mars in her relationship chart with Trump suggesting a bitter tussle. Tr Pluto was also squaring his 2^nd house Jupiter, lifting his confidence certainly with a win but also pointing to a financial tug of war. Plus tr Saturn in Sagittarius was conjunct his Moon, opposition his Sun and in hard aspect to his marriage signature Sun/Moon midpoint through late 2016 and 2017 pointing to marital separation.

The book also says she is more like Trump, supports his general outlook and is closer to him than was suggested initially. They are different types since she has a predominantly practical earthy and Fixed chart with a Capricorn Moon as well as a stellium in Taurus and Pluto in Virgo, while he lacks Earth altogether. She has no Water planets and only one Fire – so out of touch with feelings and lacking trust in life, which is why she needs to accumulate security and possessions. They may well complement each other – she’s pragmatic and steady while he’s scattergun and disorganised.

Her Mercury and indulgent Venus in Taurus sit on his Midheaven with her Pluto trine so she’d be attracted to his status for what it could give her. Her Mars in his 10^th will throw her energy behind his ambitions.

Their relationship chart has a controlling composite Sun square Pluto which describes a relationship in which power plays a major role. Initially that might have suggested she was the submissive partner and she is certainly adept at playing the silent, one-step-back half of the duo. But her Pluto squares his Sun and Moon, so she could well have the measure of him and be the subtle string puller.

Her own chart is agitated and in crisis-mode at the moment with tr Uranus conjunct her Saturn/Uranus midpoint; with a mountainous struggle picking up from early July till mid August as tr Pluto opposes her Saturn/Uranus midpoint, opposes her Solar Arc Mars and trines her Mars/Saturn midpoint. And that influence returns late November through this December. In 2021 she has a seriously blocked Solar Arc Sun square Pluto which could even pick up late this year depending on her birth time which isn’t known. And she will be badly affected by the tr Uranus square tr Saturn hitting on her Saturn in 2021 as well, so could be economically damaging for her.

Her relationship chart with Trump is in facing-a-disaster-mode from now till early July, again in October and early 2021. The two Lunar Eclipses this month and next are rattling the composite Saturn Mercury in Gemini and Mars respectively; and the December Solar Eclipse is opposing the composite Venus – so plenty in the way of upsets, chickens coming home to roost, irritability and emotional shocks late year. With a major turnaround from spring 2021 onwards as tr Uranus square tr Saturn hits on their composite Uranus. But without her birth time not showing much more.

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Jessica Mulroney, who is/was Meghan Markle’s best friend, fashion stylist and wedding planner, has become embroiled in an extraordinary spat with a black Instagram influencer which has led to her being dropped from Good Morning America and having her reality TV show cancelled. What’s bizarre is that given Mulroney’s associations she should have been tripping herself over backwards to be supportive of Black Lives Matter, not lashing out with a spiteful response.

What is also odd is the lack of much crossover between Meghan and Jessica’s charts given their long friendship.

Jessica was born 14 March 1980 in Montreal, Canada, and is a Sun Pisces opposition Saturn in Virgo square Neptune – creative, neurotic, scattered; with a flamboyant Mars in Leo in a go-ahead and adventurous conjunction to Jupiter. And the classic fashionista/indulgent/superficial Jupiter trine Venus in Taurus; and a publicity-attracting Mars trine Neptune.

The main connection with Meghan is money and extravagance with Jessica’s Mars Jupiter falling in Meghan’s 2^nd house. Material gain is what drives the relationship and it can be good for joint business ventures. But resentment can arise in a personal relationship about ulterior motives of personal gain on one side or the other.

Their relationship chart is no more illuminating having a needs-space and differing-agenda composite Sun Mercury opposition Uranus; and a confused, suspicious composite Jupiter Saturn square Neptune. (Unless her birthdate is wrong it is v weird.)

Jessica gets on even less well with Prince Harry with her Saturn in a dampening conjunction to his Virgo Sun. Their relationship chart has a seriously aggravated composite Sun trine and composite Venus square a loaded Saturn, Mars, Pluto conjunction, plus an illusory/disappointing composite Sun opposition Neptune. This was never going to last.

Jessica herself looks unsettled and nerve-jangled now with tr Uranus conjunct her Venus and tr Pluto conjunct her Sun/Uranus midpoint as well as tr Neptune square her Sun/Neptune – so the birth date may well be right. Next year looks littered with failed plans as tr Neptune opposes her Saturn and then moves on to conjunct her Sun in 2022.

Astro-point to watch out for. Meghan and Harry’s relationship chart has a composite North Node at zero degrees Cancer catching this month’s Solar Eclipse exactly. The Lady Colin Campbell reveal-all book is out later this month followed by the semi-authorised ‘Finding Freedom’, both of which will no doubt provoke attention and the usual divisive for and against arguments. They are already wading through thick mud with tr Pluto square their composite Saturn this year and next, followed by tr Pluto square the composite Pluto and worse opposing the composite Moon in 2022/23. Tr Saturn is also square the composite Saturn Pluto and opposition Moon from this July right through until December this year. Not all hearts, flowers and picnics to put it mildly.

Bashar Assad of Syria’s fortunes are running on track with the astrology. It was always puzzling when he was generally deemed to be the victor of the brutal civil war, aided and abetted by Russia and Iran. Yet what his Presidency chart, 17 July 2000, showed was escalating pressure, fear and devastation from 2019 for several years therafter. Tr Pluto has been in a dead-halt opposition to the Mars, then Sun/Mars midpoint and is now aiming to oppose the Cancer Sun (conjunct Procyon, lord of rises and falls) in 2021/22.

In his desperation to stay on top and quell dissension he has almost destroyed the country and its economy. In recent months there has been hyperinflation, mass business closures, food shortages and widespread unemployment. Not only is coronavirus a major threat but there could also be a famine coming. Assad has already started targeting his own wealthy relatives and seizing their assets. His popularity out on the street and amongst the elite is sagging and there are even suggestions he may be ousted altogether.

It Pluto opposing his Administration Sun in 2021/22 could be the turning point – transform or implode – and its difficult to see what options there are for rebooting a destroyed Syria. Though if he does go he’s likely to be replaced by another establishment figure.

His personal chart, 11 September 1965, has a panicky, undermining tr Neptune opposition his Virgo Sun till January next year; but much worse is a catastrophic run of Solar Arcs stretching from 2022 to 2027 which will collide his central configuration of Sun, Uranus, Pluto opposition Saturn in its Solar Arc position with his Mars Neptune in Scorpio. Shocks, collisions, setbacks, high insecurity, violence – it will be the crisis of his life, worse than anything he has lived through over the past decade. Difficult to see how he will come out of it intact. See previous post October 8 2019

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/11/assad-syria-collapse-313276

Cristiano Ronaldo is on track to become football’s first billionaire, about to join golfer Tiger Woods and boxer Floyd Mayweather in the sports super-wealthy club. Ronaldo has been a shrewd marketer of his brand as well stratospherically well-paid for his on-field talent.

He was born 5 February 1985 Funchal, Portugal at 10.20 am according to his mother. This puts his Aquarius Sun and Mercury in the 11^th house; with a serious-about-business Saturn in obsessive Scorpio in his financial 8^th; with his North Node in money-minded Taurus in his 2^nd house. Not a sharer, that’s for sure. If the birth time was a few minutes out it might even put his Pluto in the 8^th as well. His Jupiter in ambitious Capricorn is also inclined towards money and status; and oddly enough Aquarius does appear in the lists of the world’s most wealth.

His Pluto is in a successful and pushily-confident square to his Jupiter. His Sun is square his tenacious and tough-minded Saturn/Pluto midpoint; his Uranus is conjunct his Jupiter/Pluto for a lucky streak; and his Jupiter is conjunct his Mars/Saturn midpoint so he revels in the discipline required to get to and stay at the top. He’ll do even better by 2023 when tr Pluto is conjunct his Jupiter.

Tiger Woods, 30 December 1975 10.50pm Long Beach, California, is a Sun Capricorn on the point of a T Square to a confident and successful Jupiter in Aries opposition Pluto. With his Sun opposition his Mars/Saturn midpoint.

Floyd Mayweather, 24 February 1977 Grand Beach, MI, is a Sun Pisces with a hard-edged Mars opposition Saturn square Uranus; and a talented Half Grand Sextile from Venus opposition Pluto, sextile Neptune sextile Mars. His Jupiter (and Moon) are in indulgent, materialistic Taurus. His Pluto is square his Sun/Jupiter midpoint; his Jupiter is conjunct his Sun/Saturn and square his Sun/Mars; and his Uranus is opposition his Mars/Saturn.

So he has the same mix as the other two of luck along with the ability to succeed and very hard-driving aspects which push them on through pain, injury, exhaustion and the sacrifice of fun to reach the sporting heights.

I’m never convinced that these guys are good role models. While it may be motivating to see someone succeeding despite coming from a poor background in the case of Ronaldo and Mayweather, it does give ordinary mortals over-inflated expectations of what’s possible. I worked a fair amount in India and used to be continually asked by clients when they were going to earn or win their billion. To which my response was – try to be satisfied with what you achieve, whether it’s ten, fifty or a hundred thousand. But none of them wanted to be a millionaire, it was only ever billionaire. For 99.99% of the population it’s never going to happen. The unattainable makes people feel like a failure which is a shame.

Spike Lee’s latest movie Da 5 Bloods about four African American veterans returning to Vietnam in search of the remains of their team leader, releasing this week on Netflix, couldn’t be more timely. Peter Bradshaw described it as “an explosion of satire and emotional agony about … the fact that black deaths count.” “It’s a rip-roaring adventure yarn, a modern-day remake of The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre and a deeply heartfelt tribute to the black men who risked their lives for their country overseas, only to find their country barely valued theirs once they returned home.”

African-Americans at the time complained they were disproportionately drafted, assigned to combat units and killed in Vietnam. In the early years of the war African-Americans, approximately 11 percent of the civilian population, made up 16.3 percent of draftees and 23 percent of combat troops. Yet few Vietnam War movies reflect their experience.

Spike Lee has been outspoken in his criticism of Trump describing him as Agent Orange and “that Klansman in the Oval office”. He says: He will “go down in history as the worst president of the United States Of America”. “If this guy wins (in 2020), the world is in peril. Not just the United States Of America. The world.”

Spike Lee was born 20 March 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia, his mother a teacher of arts and black literature and his father a jazz musician and composer. He was making films in college and never stopped with his company producing 35 films since 1983, earning multiple awards.

He’s (probably) a final degree Sun Pisces in an expansive opposition to Jupiter in Virgo and trine an innovative Uranus and sextile Mars in argumentative, outspoken Gemini. His Mars is also in a frustrated and do-or-die determined square to Pluto. He’s got a couple of Yods of Sun sextile Mars inconjunct Neptune; and Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Sun Mercury – a unique individual, who uses his outsider status to good effect.

Spike Lee’s Pluto is conjunct Trump’s Mars for an inflammatory chemistry of hostility and dislike; with his Saturn opposition Trump’s Uranus for more tension.

He looks aggravated this year with his Solar Arc Sun Mercury conjunct his Mars, and his Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Uranus. Though that may be more social and political than responses to his career. He’s on a good roll ahead with tr Pluto in a successful trine to his Jupiter from March 2021 through to late 2022 and beyond since tr Pluto moves onto a super-confident opposition to his Sun/Jupiter midpoint in 2022/23 and then forms an influential sextile to his Mercury Sun in 2023/24.

PHOTO CREDIT: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS

Possible Joe Biden VP choices – limited to women – are deemed to be five possibles but won’t be chosen for several more weeks. This is a speed read through what info is available in the near future from the charts, most without birth times.

Of the three showing Jupiterian bounty: Keisha Lance Bottoms, Mayor of Atlanta, 18 January 1970, a Sun Venus in Aquarius, has a lucky-break tr Pluto square her Jupiter/Uranus midpoint from mid August and through till after mid-November.

Stacey Abrams, 9 December 1973, a Sun Neptune Sagittarius, has tr Uranus square her Jupiter in Aquarius from today through to early July, though quite a raft of downbeat influences thereafter into 2021 and beyond.

Kamala Harris, 20 October 1964, a Sun Libra, picks up a lucky-break tr Uranus square her Sun/Jupiter midpoint in early July running to late September and again in early 2021; though she looks very blocked over the election itself.

Susan Rice, 17 November 1964, Sun Neptune in Scorpio, hasn’t much of note showing in either direction. Val Demings, 12 March 1957, a Sun Pisces opposition Jupiter, has been pushing hard against serious resistance and looks in for a setback at the election and trapped through 2021.

Prince Philip is 99 today, locked-down in semi-isolation with the Queen at Windsor. Since his retirement from public life three years ago he has lived mainly at Sandringham, 100 miles away, and this is the longest they have spent together in years.

He was born 10 June 1921 (with an unverified birth time) in Corfu, Greece, into a European Royal family, his father Prince Andrew having claims to the thrones of Greece and Denmark and his mother, Princess Alice, being a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Having been exiled in the aftermath of WW1 the family settled in France, his older sisters married pro-Nazi Germans, his mother was hospitalised with schizophrenia and his father retired to Monte Carlo. Philip was educated partly in England, then in Gordonstoun, Scotland at a school, whose Jewish founder Kurt Hahn had fled Nazi persecution. After which he went into the British navy and served during World War 11.

Elizabeth fell in love with him when she met him aged 13, he proposed when she was 20 and they married a year later in 1947.

Philip is a feisty, assertive and none-too-patient Sun Mars in Gemini square Saturn in hard-working Virgo. His tendency to speak too abruptly comes also from Mercury conjunct Pluto trine Uranus. Pluto adds intensity and Uranus has a reputation of being outspoken.

In some ways he is not unlike his mother Princess Alice, 25 February 1885, who was a Sun Mars in Pisces opposition Jupiter in Virgo square Pluto in Gemini with Saturn also in Gemini – so highly Mutable and scattered.

Queen Elizabeth is the exact opposite with an incredibly Fixed and enduring chart. She would offer stability and his Venus in Taurus in an affectionate conjunction to her Sun and both sharing Moon Neptune in Leo, there would be resonances. Though it wasn’t always the easiest of matches with his Sun Mars square her Uranus for differing agendas. On the other hand his Sun Mars falls in her 5^th so children will be a strong connection, as well as sport; and he’d liven her up to have fun and play more than she might otherwise.

His father Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark was a Sun Venus in Aquarius, with a stellium in Taurus of Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Pluto and perhaps a Leo Moon – so in many ways Philip’s parents had the same kind of marriage – one partner incredibly Fixed and the other incredibly Mutable.

Philip and the Queen’s relationship chart has a passionate composite Venus trine Pluto and a smoothing-rough-edges Venus trine Jupiter which would bring a strong bond. Though there’s also a bad-tempered, restrictive composite Mars opposition Saturn indicating a one-sided relationship where one partner has to sacrifice a good deal of their identity to make it work.

Their wedding chart was in part delightful with Venus and Jupiter both trine Pluto and sextile Neptune; and the other part quite horrific with a composite Mars Saturn opposition Moon square Sun so considerable amounts of aggravation and resentment ahead.

Philip’s relationship with Princess Anne was always easier than with Charles. Philip’s Leo Moon is conjunct Anne’s Sun and his Jupiter in conjunct her Moon and his Venus falls in her 7^th – good cross overs. With Charles there is a connection with Philip’s Venus conjunct Charles 10^th house Moon but otherwise it’s not so harmonious. Their composite chart has a Sun, Mercury, Saturn, Neptune and a Moon square Mars – so suspicious, undermining and irritable.

Though admittedly it would be an impossible relationship for Philip who had already had to step back and down because of the Queen’s position; and an eldest son, who would assume prime importance would be another sacrifice for him to make.

The toppling of the statue of English merchant, slave trader, Tory Member of Parliament and philanthropist Edward Colston in Bristol is dividing attitudes. There has been pressure since the 1990s to have his statue removed and a museum might have been a better place for it.

Born 2 November 1636 JC in Bristol, he came from a wealthy merchant family, initially traded in wine, fruits and cloth and became involved in the slave trade through his membership of the Royal African Company, which held a monopoly of the English trade in African slaves. He used his wealth to support and endow schools, hospitals, almshouses and churches in Bristol, London and elsewhere and his name is commemorated by several Bristol landmarks, streets, schools.

The Times: “Colston was a leading official of the Royal African Company from 1680 to 1692, when it was responsible for the enslavement and transportation of 84,000 Africans, of whom more than 19,000 died en route to the Caribbean and America. He also invested in the Spanish slave trade and in slave-produced sugar. As Tory MP for Bristol he defended the city’s right to trade in enslaved Africans. At the time slavery was generally condoned in England and Europe by the church, intellectuals and the educated classes. John Locke, the celebrated philosopher of liberty, was a shareholder in the Royal African Company.”

He was a determined Sun Neptune in Scorpio with Pluto Moon in Taurus so not one to budge easily and clearly well-designed for money-making enterprises. His Pluto was in a confident and lucky trine to Jupiter in Virgo. He also had a hard-edged Saturn Mars in Capricorn in a brooks-no-interference and autocratic square to Uranus. Despite his charitable good works he wasn’t exactly dripping in sentiment.

Bristol has been around for aeons though it was given a Royal Charter in 1155 (no date) and then another charter to mark it out as a county on 8 August 1373 JC which gives it a stellium in Leo from a final degree Sun plus Uranus, Mercury, Venus with Mars Moon and Neptune spread out through Aries; and Pluto in Taurus widely square Saturn in Aquarius. At the moment Solar Arc Saturn is opposing its Pluto as protests have risen about the slave-trading money used to improve the city.

In Antwerp a statue of King Leopold the former Belgian monarch and colonial ruler was set on fire in protest at his oppressive rule of Congo and then removed. His rule from 1865 to 1909 involved a reign of terror in the Congo, which he ran as his personal property before it became a Belgian colony. In recent days, his statues in Brussels, Ostend, Ghent and other cities have been defaced, set on fire, covered in paint and daubed with the words “I can’t breathe,” the last words of George Floyd.

King Leopold, 9 April 1835 1.30 am Brussels, had a brutal chart with a control-freak Sun Pluto in Aries in an unyielding opposition to Saturn in a cruel and ruthless square to Mars in Cancer. Not a charmer. His Solar Arc Saturn is now exactly conjunct his Sun for a karmic and long delayed moment of reckoning. For more detail on Leopold and the Congo – and Ben Affleck see post November 25 2019.

J.K. Rowling appears to have tramped on the trans-lobby’s hyper-sensitive corns by suggesting that sex is real and that ‘persons who menstruate’ are actually called women. That brought the howling dervishes around her ears on twitter and elsewhere and she was accused of being an ‘aggressive biological existentialist’. In return she accused her accusers of being misogynist. Martina Navratilova pitched in with support for her, mentioning the importance of defending a level playing field in women’s sport.

Her latest children’s book has been less of a sensation than the Harry Potters leading to suggestions that she’s now out of favour. Not that she’ll worry too much given her reputed £750 million wealth though it may dent her ego.

She was born 31 July 1965 at 9.10pm (rectified from approximate time), Liverpool, England. She is an entertaining Sun Leo in a creative square to Neptune in her 9^th house which rules publishing and communication. With her Sun in a helpful trine to her Midheaven. She also has a stellium in communicative Virgo of Mercury, Venus, Uranus, Pluto and Moon. Her Uranus, Pluto and Moon oppose Saturn squaring onto a lucky, confident and scattered Jupiter in Gemini. Her Moon on the cusp of her 8^th and Mars in her 8^th give her added intensity.

She has tr Uranus on the cusp of her outspoken 3^rd house exactly square her Sun at the moment, and that will be around for almost another year – so expect more blunt opinions. She’s on her Progressed Moon Return so will be rethinking her life and maybe her public relations for the next cycle head. It’ll have a bumpy start with tricky Solar Arcs over the next four or five years – a blocked Solar Arc Pluto square her Sun in 8 months’ time; then Solar Arc Uranus square her Sun in late 2022; followed by Solar Arc Mars square Uranus, Pluto, then Saturn between 2022 and 2025. Tr Neptune will square her Jupiter bringing a few disappointments, perhaps financial or domestic in 2022/23; and tr Neptune will then oppose her Moon in 2023. During this next phase as well tr Saturn will move below her Ascendant into a lower profile few years from 2022 onwards. So time to step back, return to the drawing board and revision.

PS: I’m too old for this trans-terf argument and watch the whole screeching and screaming farrago with disbelief. My hackles go straight up anyway with all the acronymic jargon. Trans exclusionary radical feminist, for heaven’s sake = “a brand of ‘radical feminism’ that is so rooted in sex essentialism and its resulting biologism, it actively campaigns against the existence, equality, and/or inclusion of trans people.”

Not sure what astrology it reflects – or should that be the other way round. Aquarius is androgynous, against the biology, but it hasn’t got into gear yet. And the Terf term evidently popped up in 2008. Doesn’t sound remotely Pluto in Capricorn. Though maybe the Pluto square Uranus from 2012 onwards stirred up support for the marginalised members of society. Though doesn’t feel like the answer. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Add ON: Thinking of this less in terms of present day astro-influences, but more as a generational divide might make sense. Through the 1990s Uranus and Neptune were conjunct, or in orb, and after 1995 Uranus was in Aquarius until 2003 with Neptune belatedly catching up. Uranus Neptune together can be inspired but can also be fanatical and frankly off-the-wall, hanging onto opinions in the face of incontrovertible evidence that they are wrong.

“In terms of awareness and language, there is definitely a generational shift going on,” says Finn Mackay, a sociology lecturer at the University of the West of England and author of a forthcoming book on female masculinities and the gender wars.  “We know that Generation Zers, a marketing term used to define those born roughly between 1995 and 2003, are most likely to use different pronouns like they/them, or to identify as non-binary, and they see these terms as a lot more fluid.”

Uranus in Aquarius it is with a smidgeon of Neptune for good measure.