Eliud Kipchoge, the Kenyan distance runner, has become the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours, beating the mark by 20 seconds. His triumph this morning in Vienna this morning won’t be recognised as the official world record because it was not in open competition and he used a team of rotating pacemakers. He currently holds the world record at 2 hours 1.39 minutes. He said, “Now I’ve done it, I am expecting more people to do it after me.” He compared the feat to being the first man on the moon in the build-up to the event and said he had made history just as Britain’s Sir Roger Bannister did in running the first sub four-minute mile in 1954. After Bannister the four-minute mile became the standard, being achieved to date by 1400 runners and the present record is 3.43.
Kipchoge, 5 November 1984, was brought up by a single mother, ran two miles every day to school but didn’t take up running seriously until his late teens.
He has a Scorpio Sun conjunct Saturn with Pluto and Mercury at either end of Scorpio as well – not short of determination, for sure. His Mars in disciplined and ambitious Capricorn is sextile his Saturn for more grit. Plus three planets in sporting Sagittarius and a fiery Aries Moon.
There are good things happening in the universe away from the political mayhem.
Howls of outrage have greeted Peter Handke’s Nobel Literature Prize for 2019. The Austrian novelist and playwright of Slovenian heritage is a highly controversial figure for his support for the Serbs during the 1990s Yugoslav war and his friendship with former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic. Handke once denied the Serbian massacre at Srebrenica and publicly suggested that Sarajevo’s Muslims had massacred themselves and blamed the Serbs, and denied the Srebrenica genocide.
In 1999 Salman Rushdie named him the runner-up for “International moron of the year” in the Guardian, for his “impassioned apologias for the genocidal regime of Slobodan Milošević”. (The winner was actor Charlton Heston, for being a gun lobbyist.)
The Swedish Academy which oversees the award said he had been recognised for “an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience”. Doesn’t sound an enticing read though he is evidently a talented writer.
Born 6 December 1942 6.45 am Griffen, Austria, he has an upfront and enthusiastic Sun, Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius in his 1st house with his Sun opposition a downbeat Saturn in Gemini. His Saturn Uranus on his Descendant trine a creative 10th house Neptune, and sextile an opinionated and influential 9th house Pluto. His has Jupiter in patriotic Cancer deeply buried in his 8th which would give him a connection to his roots. His mother who suicided when he was 30 came from Slovenia. His Jupiter is trine a bitter, emotionally intense and vengeful Moon Mars in Scorpio in his 12th.
Milosevic, whose funeral he attended, after he died during his War Crimes trial in The Hague, 20 August 1941 10 pm Pozarevac, Serbia, did have Jupiter in Gemini which fell in Handke’s 7th; and Milosevic’s Sun and three other planets in Leo plus his Mars in Aries would chime with Handke’s fiery Sagittarius emphasis. Though in reality it would have been a gritty partnership with Milosevic’s Saturn in Taurus opposition Handke’s Mars.
The composite was intensely emotional and warped with a composite Mars opposition Pluto square Venus which – with hindsight – would suggest revelling in brutality, death and hatred. If that energy had ever turned inwards they’d have killed each other.
On Handke’s personal chart his Solar Arc Midheaven is exactly conjunct his Sun at the moment; with tr Jupiter just over his Sun and other Sag planets. Into 2020 tr Pluto will trine his Midheaven and oppose his Jupiter so the criticism may not do him much damage.
You would have thought after the sex scandal last year which deleted the 2018 Literature prize at the time, they’d have been more sensible.
“This has been a burden on my life for several years” tweets Coleen Rooney, wife of footballing bad-boy Wayne. Nope, not his straying, drinking etc or even the world meltdown but a friend she suspected of giving stories to the press, gleaned from her private Instagram account. She set a trap over five months blocking all but one friend from her account and then planting false stories to see if they appeared. She then announced it was Rebekah Vardy’s Instagram account that was the guilty one. Leading to a raft of WAGatha Christie jokes. Vardy, another footballer’s wife, has denied the allegation saying several people had access to her account and promised to set up a forensic investigation to track down the culprit. She has cut short her Dubai holiday because of the crisis.
Less a storm in a teacup, more a typhoon in a teaspoon – involving two entirely forgettable women. What the Daily Mail described as “ the spat of the decade; two WAGS at war on social media, with millions tuning in”
Coleen Rooney, 3 April 1986, is a feisty Sun Aries square a publicity-loving Mars Neptune and trine a canny Saturn in Sagittarius; She has an emotionally possessive Venus in Taurus opposition Pluto perhaps square an Aquarius Moon.
Rebekah, 17 February 1982, is expecting her third child with her present top-notch footballer husband, having gone through two husbands before and acquired another two children. One of her ex-boyfriends said she ditched him to ‘upgrade’ to seriously wealthy Vardy. She’s a late Sun in Aquarius trine a formidable Pluto Saturn conjunction in Libra with her Saturn conjunct Mars – a stormy lady whose life will have been filled with drama. Her Venus in Capricorn is also square Pluto, Saturn, Mars – so she’ll be emotionally very intense. Her Moon is Sagittarius. By all accounts she had a tough start in life with a poor childhood and abuse.
There’s not much crossover with Coleen, without birth times, except for Rebekah’s Jupiter conjunct Coleen’s Pluto which will lead to a touch of one-upmanship jousting. Their relationship chart has a composite Sun trine Mars and Saturn which wouldn’t foster cosy friendship; and a needs-space composite Sun Venus square Uranus. It’s definitely on a downhill slide with tr Neptune dissolving the foundations through the recent past and 2020.
Coleen looks edgy at the moment, perhaps even obsessed, with her Solar Arc Pluto conjunct her Saturn; but 2020 will bring a definite bounce with her Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct her Sun.
Rebekah on the other hand isn’t in a good place with a significant upset now with Solar Arc Pluto conjunct her Uranus; and Solar Arc Saturn Mars creaking across the square to her Sun for a couple of years; plus tr Pluto square her Saturn and then Pluto at the same time. But she’ll recover some of her mojo after mid 2020 with tr Uranus opposition her Jupiter.
All a nonsense about nothing at all – and nobodies. Worse than the Kardashians.
Turkish airstrikes on Kurdish strongholds in northern Syria began around 4pm on October 9th – this puts the Sun in square to the war-like Saturn Pluto conjunction opposition North Node; and the Sun in an unrealistic inconjunct to Neptune which is turn is in an over-hopeful square to Jupiter. Uranus in Taurus is in an impulsive opposition to Venus Mercury in Scorpio. The late Aquarius Moon is on the Ascendant. Mars in early Libra will head for a high-stress quincunx to Uranus within days and a dangerous, threatening square to Saturn Pluto over the end of the month into early November.
Recep Erdogan, the increasingly autocratic Turkish leader for the past sixteen years, is facing financial and electoral problems which may well be why he decided on a potentially vote-catching attack on the Kurds. The country is going through a currency and debt crisis, high inflation, rising borrowing costs, and rising loan defaults.
The Turkey chart, 29 October 1923 8.30pm Ankara, is labouring through heavy seas from early 2020 to late 2021 with tr Pluto square the 4th house Saturn Mercury, which suggests austerity, hardship, cutbacks and deprivation. There’s also tr Uranus opposition the Scorpio Sun making a final exact and unsettling hit in April 2020. If the start time is accurate then there’s a disappointing and directionless tr Neptune conjunct the Midheaven as well now and into early 2020 and then a wandering few years thereafter with tr Neptune through the 10th. Mid this November to mid December look risky and frustratingly stuck with tr Pluto square the Sun/Mars midpoint. Tr Pluto sextile the Turkey Jupiter in 2020/21 will bring some upbeat news but there’s also an enthusiasm-denting tr Neptune opposition the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint.
Recep Erdogan’s 4th Term chart is running into blockages, obstacles and disruptions with the Solar Arc Sun opposition Pluto, exact in 18 months’ time and an insecure, over-reactive tr Uranus square Mars from mid 2020 on for a year.
New Moons roll round every four weeks so aren’t too interesting. But the Scorpio New Moon on October 28th could be more noteworthy than most. At 4 degrees Scorpio it’s in an exact opposition to Uranus in Taurus bringing a few jolting surprises. And more ominously still there’s an exact accident-prone/violent Mars square Saturn with the shadow of the approaching brutal and ruthless Mars square Pluto also in effect through till early November.
High Noon stakes all round with Turkey’s five degree Scorpio Sun triggered by the New Moon and Uranus. The USA Sun square Saturn in Libra will be reacting to the Mars square Saturn as Trump’s impeachment and sinking popularity gathers a head of steam. Brexit is aiming for yet another do-or-die moment with the New Moon conjunct the EU’s financial 2nd house Neptune with tr Uranus in a high-strung opposition to their Neptune as economic concerns over a global recession and Germany’s sagging industrial complex grow.
The New Moon at Aleppo, Syria, at present under Turkish bombardment, has the New Moon opposition Uranus exactly across the Ascendant/Descendant axis. Set for Washington it puts Mars exactly on the IC and for the UK Saturn Pluto in the 4th, neither of which are progressive.
The shifting sands of the Middle East just blew up another storm with Trump’s off-the-cuff agreement, against his own advisers and party leaders, allowing Erdogan of Turkey free rein to invade Kurdish-held Northern Syria. Turkey dislikes the Kurds whom they see as terrorists with ambitions to set up their own state which would encroach on Turkish territory. The Kurds backed by the west did the bulk of the work fighting to defeat Isis in Syria, losing 11,000 troops in the grinding battle and is now controlling the camps where ISIS prisoners are held – who might be set free if Turkey invades.
Even Lindsay Graham, normally an avid Trump supporter tweeted in consternation: “This decision to abandon our Kurdish allies and turn Syria over to Russia, Iran, & Turkey will put every radical Islamist on steroids. Shot in the arm to the bad guys. Devastating for the good guys.”
The relationship between Trump and Erdogan is slipping and slithering from late October through November and into early 2020, so the decision may well be reversed. Though unsolvable problems remain – with Turkey understandably keen to shift the 3.5 million Syrian refugees they house back across the border and European countries refusing to take back the 20,000 ISIS foreign nationals held in prison camps; as well as Trump’s campaign promise to bring troops home from endless, unwinnable wars.
Relations between Turkey and Syria are moving into a highly unstable and insecure phase from early 2020 with tr Pluto square the composite Uranus for two years.
Erdogan’s 4th term chart 9 July 2018 4.30pm Ankara, is moving through stuck times this year with tr Saturn opposition the Sun and conjunct Pluto before this New Year; with an explosively insecure and over-reactive tr Uranus square Mars from mid 2020 which may precipitate unwise decisions, running into a deadlock and dead-halt in 2021 with Solar Arc Sun opposition the Pluto exactly.
Syria, 1 January 1944, which has been wrecked by the eight years of civil war with millions displaced and upwards of half a million dead has another trough to negotiate with the highly uncertain Solar Arc Neptune opposition Saturn in late 2020; a destabilising tr Uranus square Pluto mid 2020 to early 2021; and the worrisome tr Neptune square Saturn in 2020/21.
Bashar Assad’s presidency, 17 July 2000, always did look in for its most punishing phase from 2018 as tr Pluto started to oppose the Mars, moving through the opposition to Sun/Mars and finally the Sun in 2021/22 – an extended phase of high-risk and extreme frustration at being trapped. He could topple off his perch altogether in 2021 with Solar Arc Uranus square the Pluto – not set in stone but definitely a very wobbly phase.
The consequences of the Brit-Franco botched carve-up of the Middle East after World War One are still causing maximum aggravation.
Vladimir Putin celebrated his 67 birthday with a macho photoshoot of him hiking in the Siberian mountains. His Solar Return for the year ahead (without a verified birth time) isn’t too remarkable – with a tough Sun trine Saturn Pluto and an over-hopeful Jupiter square Neptune. On his personal chart, he’s still wading through the tail end of the confusing and tough-going tr Pluto square his Neptune and Mercury this year and next, with the added discouragement of tr Saturn adding its tuppence worth of pressure across this New Year.
He does have one explosive and disruptive Solar Arc in 2020 of Solar Arc Uranus square his Mars which suggests significant trouble of a violent nature. But it’s the following year when he’ll face his greatest ands riskiest challenges. His Solar Return for October 2020 and the year thereafter has a completely blocked, enraged, cornered and ruthless with Saturn Pluto square Mars. And his personal chart has an accident/assassination prone Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his Mars.
His 4th Term chart, 7 May 2018 11.05 am also indicates – after a disappointment or two with falling popularity mid this November to mid December; and some setbacks through 2020 with tr Saturn conjunct Pluto and Mars and square Uranus – that 2021 is the major horror year for him with tr Pluto conjunct the Term Mars for two years of dangerous and teeth-gritting blockages, followed by tr Pluto in a destabilising square to Uranus in 2022/23 – so his glorious reign is not likely to end well or peacefully.
“A wild force of nature” is the politest description made of rock hell-raiser Ginger Baker now sadly gone, though miraculously he survived to be 80. He was the most gifted, innovative and influential drummer of his generation but also scary, threatening, difficult – “a monster-raging-crazy-loony” in John Lydon’s words. Neil McCormick in the Telegraph obituary writes: “A reputation for personal unpleasantness dogged him. A savagely entertaining 2012 documentary, Beware of Mr Baker, portrayed him as unrepentantly rude, obnoxious, angry, arrogant and prone to explosive violence. His first wife (and the mother of his three children) Elizabeth Finch, once said, “If a plane went down and there was one survivor, it would be Ginger. The devil takes care of his own.”
He struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, quitting heroin 29 times before managing to stay clean. In later years he had a degenerative spine condition and emphysema as well as a heart condition.
He was born 19 August 1939 in London with his RAF father dying in the war when he was four, began playing drums at 15, founded Cream with Eric Clapton and was the first to play explosive drum solos. His hugely talented and self-destructive career is littered with split relationships – professional as well as personal – four marriages – and failed business ventures.
His chart was extraordinarily volatile and complicated. An entertaining Sun Venus in Leo was in a rebellious square to Uranus. Uranus was in an Earth Grand Trine to Mars in Capricorn trine Neptune – attracting him to showbusiness and business though clearly with variable results since he lost millions through fraud, miscalculation or plain waste. His Pluto was in a do-or-die-determined opposition to Mars in a very hard square to Saturn – hence the cruel streak – and perhaps Saturn was opposition a Libra Moon. A Cardinal Grand Cross would give him a life of revolving dramas and crises. And last not but least his Pluto was trine Jupiter in pro-active Aries.
You have to admire the sheer brazen, defiant exuberance of him plus all that talent which rippled down to those who followed after him – even if he was a nightmare to be near.
Prince Harry (and maybe Meghan) are finding out the hard way that provoking a full-on punch-up with the media is NOT a good idea. Retaliation has started with an interview with estranged father Thomas Markle, who has been remarkably quiet recently, in which he says he only published part of the offending letter to correct the wrong impression given by a ‘Meghan friend’ in the People magazine.
It’s not a great relationship between himself and Meghan with his Sun square her Pluto, his Pluto conjunct her Sun; his Uranus square her Venus and his Saturn conjunct her Mars and square her Moon. He wants to control her though he would have been unpredictable and erratic; and irritated her with his overly-rigid and needy behaviour.
Their relationship chart has an argumentative composite Sun, Mars, Mercury conjunction which will be rattled over the next eighteen months with tr Uranus in square with a disappointing tr Neptune opposition Jupiter in early 2020. There’s also a chilly composite Venus Saturn (Moon) conjunction; and a competitive streak running through their chemistry. He wouldn’t appreciate being sidelined.
Prince Harry, I think, has never met him which would suggest resistance from his bride, though he might have been better advised to early on to try to keep control of a clearly tricky situation.
Thomas Markle’s Saturn is opposition Harry’s Jupiter Neptune so he’ll have a dampening effect; with his Mars square Harry’s Uranus which is inflammatory. Their relationship chart has a contradictory and high-tension composite Venus, Uranus, Saturn; an evasive composite Sun square Neptune and fiery sextile to Mars. That relationship will wobble through 2020 and become more aggravating in 2021/22 with tr Pluto square the composite Mars.
Never complain, never explain. Head down, mouth zipped, bland smile and let it all wash over you – and hire decent public relations advisers. Going on the offensive will only get them covered in a ton of manure. Not what the Queen needs what with Brexit and Prince Andrew – just a drama queen fit about not very much from the Sussexes, who use the media, especially Meghan, when it suits them.
