Russell Brand, the controversialist and comedian, morphed into political activist, has been mouthing off about lack of transparency in government about coronavirus. After a chequered career on radio, stage and TV marked by scandals over promiscuity, drugs and his bad behaviour, he has taken up arms in recent years about wealth inequality, addiction, corporate capitalism, climate change, and media bias.

  He was born on 4^th June 1975 at midnight according to his biography though it isn’t clear whether start or finish of the 4^th. Either time leaves the chart axis and planetary positions much the same and both with an Aries Moon.  It gives a Gemini Sun on the cusp of the performing 5^th house opposition a creative 10^th house Neptune and trine an 8^th house Pluto.

 He was born the same day as Angelina Jolie so has her ferociously difficult and angry Pluto opposition Mars Moon Jupiter widely square Saturn in Cancer. Like Jolie he had a messy childhood with his parents splitting when he was a baby and his mother was ill for a period when he was young. He was abused at school – diagnosed ADHD and bi-polar, had drug problems and self-harmed. Which is similar to Jolie’s experience and reactions.  

  However difficult the astrology was, there are quite a cluster of go-getters born around then – Marissa Mayer (Yahoo etc) May 30; Mel Brown May 29; Jamie Oliver May 27; Shilpa Shetty June 8. What probably makes a difference apart from the obsessive, make-or-break determination of the Mars opposition Pluto, is the Sun opposition Neptune trine Pluto. Neptune and Pluto carry associations of megalomania or at a mundane level soaring ambition and that plus a pro-active Jupiter in Aries would make a difference.

  In Brand’s case his 8^th house Pluto would make him feel held back by circumstances beyond his control but it also, if handled well, gives him an ability to influence the masses. The two central oppositions in his chart of Sun Neptune and Pluto Mars form a (misnamed) Mystic Rectangle which is difficult to balance. A hard Mars Pluto aspect, he shares with David Icke and others who are driven to tilt against the establishment as a way of expressing their deep-seated anger, stemming from father and authority issues. Uranus in the 9^th will give him a leaning towards alternative ideas or rebel movements. Money will be an issue for him with strong 2^nd and 8^th house emphasis.

  The Eclipses last year and this will be prompting him to re-evaluate his direction and with tr Pluto aiming to square his Uranus from early 2022 to late 2023, he’ll be heading into another major life’s transition which may involve a significant emotional event. His Solar Arc Sun will conjunct his Venus next year which coincides with tr Pluto opposition his Venus so his relationships could get steamy. If his birth time is accurate tr Saturn is also disappearing into his lower profile First Quadrant for several years so whether by choice or not he will be less visible if not instantly then over time.   

Flashy showmanship in court gave F. Lee Bailey, the celebrity criminal lawyer, an infamous reputation for bamboozling juries into reasonable doubt which allowed many to walk free including  O.J. Simpson, the army commander at the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, Dr Sam Sheppard (The Fugitive) and the Torso Murderer (later convicted of another killing). He failed in his defence of Patty Hearst and the Boston Strangler.

  His New York Times obituary said: “He was a riveting courtroom performer, a stocky badger-like man with a cleft chin, intimidating blue eyes —. He had the ventriloquist’s trick of directing questions at the witness box but throwing his points at the jury box. He had an actor’s voice, by turns bullying, cajoling, sarcastic or sympathetic, searching for seams of doubt. Under his reductions, a prosecutor’s “fact” could be whittled down to a probability, then to a mere possibility or just a silly idea.”

  He flew warplanes, sailed yachts, wrote books, touted himself on television, was profiled in countless newspapers, ran a detective agency, married four times, carried a gun, courted trouble and was finally disbarred in 2001 for misappropriating millions from a drug-trafficker client.

  He was born on the 10 June 1933 at 2am (from memory) in Waltham, Massachusetts, just days after Joan Collins, the actress. His communicative Gemini Sun in his 3rd house was revved up by a square to a super-confident and risk-taking 6^th house Mars Jupiter in Virgo. His Mars sextile Pluto, attracting him to danger and the darker side of humanity, was in a tricky fated Yod inconjunct Saturn in Aquarius. His Saturn was also trine his Sun. Despite his devil-may-care reputation he was obviously a hard-worker.

“Behind every performance lay enormous preparation: a gathering of facts by his private investigators, hours of legal analysis, all crammed into the encyclopaedic Bailey memory.”

  He was also a status-quo-upsetter with a 4^th house Pluto opposition a 10^th house Capricorn Moon square Uranus in his 1^st. He was designed for a public role as a trailblazer and rebel.

  Oddly enough he had no 9^th house planets which is the legal arena so he was arguably not driven by a thirst for justice but more for a platform to display his verbal skills and cause chaos.

  His can-be-self-defeating 10^th and 16^th Harmonics were strong as was his money-making 9H.

A tornado of a personality for whom winning was the only goal.

Pic: John Matthew Smith.

The shifting sands of Royal favour have thrust Sophie Wessex and Prince Edward into the foreground after the death of Prince Philip and Megxit. But the reasons behind their elevation may tell against them when the Queen hands over. Sophie has become the Queen’s trusted support and Edward was evidently (oddly) Philip’s favourite. Whether they will stay as popular when the next generation steps up is questionable. Charles is notoriously prickly and the younger two Royals, Andrew and Edward, undoubtedly received more of their parents’ attention which will have stoked up more than a hint of sibling animosity.

   Edward’s relationship chart to his father was affectionate, supportive and exceptionally close; with his mother much the same though to a lesser extent. Sophie’s bond with the Queen is supportive, enthusiastic and emotionally close.

  On the other hand Edward’s relationship with his elder brother Charles is edgy, explosive, power-struggling for the upper hand, and will come under immense pressure with considerable upheavals in 2024/25 and on.  Edward’s relationship with Prince William is part friendly and part aggravated with bad feelings underling the polite smiles – and will sag from this year onwards for several years.  Sophie gets on even less well with William, which may not be obvious on the surface, but there is an undertow of hostility – which again may become more obvious in 2024/25.

  Edward and Sophie’s marriage, of all the Royals seemed the oddest match and yet it has been the only one to survive.  They were married on a Uranus square Saturn and their relationship chart is very Saturnine – with a composite Sun Saturn and Venus Saturn conjunction and Saturn square the composite Moon. Saturn puts work first, emphasises duty and gives longevity if cutting down on warmth. The composite Venus is also opposition Uranus Pluto so it will be emotionally changeable.

  But there are reasonable crossovers with her Aquarius Moon chiming with his Aquarius Moon and her Venus in Capricorn trine his Venus in Taurus. Though it will be argumentative since both their Mars oppose the other’s Sun and Moon respectively.

  Their two children see them as very different personalities. Lady Louise (8 Nov 2003 23.32hrs, Surrey) , was born on a Full Moon of a 4^th house Scorpio Sun opposition a 10^th house Taurus Moon. James, Viscount Severn (17 Dec 2007 16.20 hrs Surrey), who is a powerhouse of confidence and probably arrogance and a risk-taker, has his Sagittarius Sun square his Moon. He’ll be one to watch.  Lady Louise has Uranus and Mars in her 7^th as well as a Full Moon and two Yods in her chart so won’t settle easily or quickly into a settled marriage; and will need to carve out her own unique path in life.

Despite strong public disapproval in Japan the Olympics appear to be going ahead for a July 23^rd kick-off without international spectators. The suspicion is that the IOC, arrogant as ever, and the sponsors, have backed the Japanese Government into a corner. Cancelling would cost it is reckoned $17 billion, but that is less than the cost of the economic damage if an infection surge leads to another state of emergency.

  The start date is fraught with a blocked, high-tension Sun opposition Pluto and, in many ways worse, a strained and aggravated Yod from Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Mars in Leo. Though it would have to be said all Olympic charts from the past have had hair-raising aspects and mainly managed to totter through unscathed – with the exception of Munich.

  The Japan country chart, 11 February 1889 10.44 am Tokio, will be discouraged and on edge with tr Saturn exactly square the composite Jupiter and tr Pluto sextile the Japan Mars.

  The IOC, 23 June 1894, Lausanne, Switzerland, has an argumentative Sun Cancer square a pro-active Mars. There’s the signature Pluto Neptune conjunction in Gemini of the time close to Jupiter. That Gemini trio is being rattled at the moment by the recent May Lunar, this June’s Solar and the December Solar eclipses – so is having a bumpy year with the risk of over-confidence or inflexibility attracting problems. The IOC Uranus which is on the focal point of a sort-of Yod to Pluto Neptune sextile Node is also getting a severe shaking up from tr Saturn in square to the Uranus and tr Uranus in opposition this year and next. A change of direction may be indicated.

  Though the president Thomas Bach, 29 December 1943, is Sun Capricorn sextile Saturn Mars in Scorpio, so doesn’t look too easily moved.

Not sure what all this adds up to – except that modern sport has become too embroiled with money and in danger of strangling itself.

Hungary has lost its attempt in the European Court of Justice to reverse the outcome of a vote by MEPs that could lead to a country being stripped of voting rights in Brussels. Red flags have been raised over recent anti-democratic reforms curbing the independence of Hungary’s judiciary, central bank and media. In reality, the risk of losing voting rights is slight since it would take the support of 26 of 27 member states to agree and Poland has pledged support. Though it will still be possible to suspend funding to a member state found to be in breach of fundamental EU values.

   Poland is also in the frame for similar.

  What’s intriguing is the Enlargement chart from 1 May 2004 which welcomed in Hungary, Poland, several other former eastern bloc countries, Malta and Cyprus was always a fraught affair – with a hostile, power-struggling Mars opposition Pluto and an evasive Sun square Neptune. It is in trouble this year and over the next two – with the tr Uranus square tr Saturn in hard aspect to the Taurus Sun and then Neptune in 2022; with tr Neptune square the Pluto and Venus this year into 2022, followed by an even more undermining tr Neptune square Mars in 2022/23.

  The Hungary/EU relationship chart was hit amidships by the late May Lunar Eclipse being conjunct the composite Sun setting up a critical few months ahead. Tr Uranus will be in an explosive, no compromise opposition to the composite Mars from July onwards into 2022.

  The Poland/EU relationship chart looks equally rattled by the Gemini/Sagittarius Eclipses this year and a road blocked tr Pluto square the Mars.

  Much depends in Hungary on the political fate of the authoritarian Viktor Orban. His Third Term chart, 10 May 2018 – only three days after Putin dug in for another six year stint –  has a ruthless, control-freak Mars Pluto in Capricorn square Uranus and trine Sun, which suggests a crisis-ridden administration. There will be acute frustration and aggravation from a blocked tr Pluto conjunct the Mars in 2022/23 as well as bitter arguments and with obvious instability as tr Pluto moves to square the Uranus in 2023/24, with further major road blocks approaching then as well. All with the caveat that there is a helpful Jupiter in there opposition the Term Sun which may get him out of a few tight corners.

   Orban is another populist demagogue Gemini with his Sun in a controlling square to Pluto; and a callously unpleasant Mars in Leo opposition Saturn in Aquarius.  His Neptune in Scorpio is being rattled by the tr Uranus opposition and tr Saturn square this year into next and tr Uranus then proceeds to upend his Fixed planets over the next several years. If his birth time is accurate there may be a total road block in three years as his Solar Arc MC is conjunct his Pluto.

  His relationship with Hungary is sagging badly from 2022 onwards.

   It was too much to hope that Trump having been – more or less – seen off that his Gemini bro-romancers might have been dragged off stage with him. The two Polish leaders are also Gemini, never mind the UK. Sigh.

Hungary see previous post November 17 2020.

Poland see February 22 2021

An improbable coalition of far-right, secular centre and Arab-Israeli have formed with the intention of outing Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israel’s longest serving prime minister, after four elections in two years failed to form a government. It will need parliamentary backing to take office and Netanyahu is throwing his considerable political skills and weight into blocking it.  If it goes ahead Naftali Bennett, pro-settler, a religious nationalist and against a Palestinian state, will serve as prime minister until 2023. If it holds together that long, he will be replaced for the remaining two years by Yair Lapid, a centrist and standard-bearer for secular Israelis.

   Netanyahu is certainly sagging through this year with tr Neptune opposition his Virgo Midheaven and tr Saturn still crawling through his low-profile First Quadrant – so not his shining hour.  But he still has tr Pluto conjunct his Jupiter aiming for a final exact aspect mid August to late November which will give him a lift. So who knows what he’ll get up to as he faces corruption charges ahead. His Solar Return from this October looks high-risk, trapped and threatening as well as directionless.  Tr Pluto square his Libra Sun in 2022/23 will also put him under considerable pressure. The composite Sun of his relationship chart with Israel at 10 degrees Leo certainly looks to indicate a relationship at separation point this year.

   Naftali Bennett, 25 March 1972, a controlling and super-confident Aries Sun opposition Pluto square Jupiter, was born only four days before the much criticised UK Home Secretary Priti Patel.  He also has his Mars in bulldozer Taurus in a hard-edged, angry conjunction to Saturn opposition Neptune.

 Yair Lapid, 5 November 1963, is a Sun, Mercury, Neptune in Scorpio square Saturn in Aquarius – with Mars in Sagittarius square Pluto Uranus.  He’s equally determined though in a different way. His prospects are changeable to put it mildly in 2021/22 with the tr Uranus square tr Saturn hitting on his Scorpio planets and his natal Saturn.

  There’s also a new president in for a seven year term, Isaac Herzog, 22 September 1960, son of a former president and grandson of Ireland’s first chief rabbi, before becoming chief rabbi of Palestine, and then Israel. He is seen as less conservative.

  All of this is internal Israeli minutiae and will no doubt end up in churning political chaos ahead. What struck me as significant given that all of them will likely be involved in the fate of Israel over next few years, no matter what their role. Their charts all reflect to a great degree the upheavals and disruptions on the Israel country chart up to and across the middle of this decade.

   Herzog in particular looks undermined in 2024 with tr Neptune opposition his Virgo Sun; in a state of high anxiety in 2025 with Solar Arc Neptune conjunct his Saturn; and totally trapped and in a high-risk situation in 2026/27 with his Solar Arc Mars and Sun hitting his Pluto.

  Bennett will be facing a collision in 2024/25 with his Solar Arc Sun conjunct his Mars just as tr Uranus squares his Mars; and tr Pluto and tr Uranus will tug at his Saturn in Gemini opposition Neptune for three years after that, never mind tr Neptune conjunct his Sun in 2026.

  Lapid, will be jolted and jarred up to and across mid decade as well with his Solar Arc Uranus Pluto crossing his Scorpio planets.

  So whatever happens, the face of Israeli politics will be changing radically though that will be in the context of a country undergoing massive changes as tr Uranus moves across in hard aspect to the Israel Pluto, Saturn, Mars in Leo in the 10^th until mid decade, never mind tr Uranus conjunct its Taurus Sun in 2023/24.

   See previous post May 11 2021.    

‘Hating Peter Tatchell’ is a new netflix film about the Australian-born LGBTQ+ and human rights activist, who over half a century has charged headlong into battle without regard for his safety, protesting against homophobia, apartheid and the death penalty. He says: ‘I’ve been violently assaulted over 300 times, had 50 attacks on my flat, been the victim of half a dozen murder plots and received tens of thousands of hate messages and death threats over the last five decades, mostly from homophobes and far-right extremists.’

  Odd examples of his protests: 2003 ambush of Tony Blair’s motorcade in protest at the Iraq war; a bid for an arrest warrant for Henry Kissinger over the indiscriminate bombing of Cambodia in the 1970s; an exposé of the Nazi war criminal Dr Carl Værnet; confronting Hans Eysenck over his advocacy of electric shock aversion therapy to “cure” gay people; his efforts to persuade world health chiefs to stop the persecution HIV/Aids sufferers; and the outing of bishops who colluded with an anti-LGBTQ+ church despite their own homosexuality. He has spoken out against the dictatorships in Franco’s Spain, Pinochet’s Chile and Khomeini’s Iran and his attempted citizen’s arrest in 2001 of Robert Mugabe on charges of torture, saw him beaten unconscious by two bodyguards and left with brain damage. At an appearance at a gay pride march in Moscow recently he was punched by rightwing thugs which left him with permanently blurred vision in his right eye.

  He considers himself lucky in comparison to pro-democracy campaigners in Iran, environmentalists in Russia or political activists in Zimbabwe. “If I was doing what they are doing, I’d be dead.”

  He was born 25 January 1952 at 2.30am Melbourne, Australia, with his parents splitting when he was four. His mother remarried and his stepfather, an evangelical Christian of Prussian heritage beat him regularly. “He was a monster –  I used to think he was an escaped Nazi war criminal.”

  I was intrigued to see what astrologically drove his obsessive need to fly into danger and indulge in David and Goliath battles with the forces of darkness.

  Two things stand out from his chart. One unsurprisingly is a marked Uranus in a Cardinal Grand Cross. It sits in opposition to Mercury square Saturn opposition Jupiter which gives him a yen to become a cloaked crusader in pursuit of social justice. It makes for an impatient, overly restless temperament who revels in causing disruption, a freedom fighter and innovator. Well handled it points to an individual who is a light-bearer for enlightened causes who has a good deal to offer.

  The other is his Aquarius Sun square Mars in vengeful Scorpio, which would make him combative, always spoiling for a fight and likely to attract strong responses.

  He also has an opinionated Pluto in the 9^th giving him entrenched beliefs.

Certainly not designed for a quiet life.

  His raison d’etre for allowing the film to be made was to show people that one person could make a difference. Which he undoubtedly has though at a considerable cost to his health.  Some years back he managed to get himself tied in a knot over the age of consent since he argued many people under 16 started their sex lives without damage, some as young as nine! But it brought the wrath of the lobby against child abuse down on his head and blotted his copybook.  

A mass grave containing the remains of 215 children found at a former residential school set up to forcibly assimilate indigenous people in Canada has shone a spotlight on the ‘cultural genocide’ policies of the early government.  

The Indian Act of 12 April 1876 aimed amongst other things to eliminate First Nations culture in favour of assimilation into Euro-Canadian society. Further amendments led to the establishment of compulsory boarding schools run by the government and RC Church whose aim was to separate the children of indigenous parents from their families. The children were often not allowed to speak their language or to practise their culture, and many were mistreated and abused.

The first such school was opened in 1 December 1883 at the behest of the first prime minister of Canada, John A Macdonald, who had tasked an Irish lawyer, journalist, politician Nicholas Flood Davin to make recommendations. His Report on Industrial Schools for Indians and Half-Breeds led to the creation of a network of such schools which over a hundred years incarcerated around 150,000 children. By the 1930s about 30 percent of Indigenous children were attending residential schools.

  The Indian Act, 12 April 1876 Ottawa, has an innovative Aries Sun trine Uranus but is also ruthless and cruel with a Pluto Mars conjunction and Mars Venus opposition Jupiter Moon square Saturn. Mars in aspect to both Pluto and Saturn does suggest brutality.

  The first Industrial school, 1 December 1883, has hardship and deprivation written all over it – with a Saturn Pluto conjunction in Gemini opposition Sun.

 Nicholas Flood Davin, 13 January 1840, the architect of the scheme, was a Sun Capricorn with an unpleasantly hard-hearted Pluto trine Saturn, sextile Mars – so in tune with the Indian Act.

  John A Macdonald, 10 January 1885, Glasgow, was another Sun Capricorn conjunct Mars trine Neptune and Pluto respectively with a pushily confident Jupiter square Pluto.  He is credited for his key role in the formation of Canada though heavily criticised for his indigenous peoples’ policies.

My non-astro thoughts:

Outraged disbelief at the Roman Catholic Church for their reprehensible behaviour here and in Ireland and elsewhere and wishing plague and pestilence on them for their hypocrisy.

The early Canadian whites’ attitude isn’t much different from the colonialists in Africa and Australia; and in modern day with the Chinese in Tibet or with indoctrinating the Uighurs, and North Korea. It’s a fascist one-note policy – you’re one of us or you don’t exist. But that has probably been true of most, though not all, civilizations at all times. The invading force wants to put its mark on the territory it has taken over.

   Colonial attitudes are coming under attack, quite rightly for their brutality in some areas. But it is too blinkered to see it all as a ‘privileged white’ issue. Superpowers have good and bad sides – Genghis Khan created his great Mongol Empire on the back of appalling genocides but practised religious tolerance when he was established. Mali in west Africa which became a centre for Islamic learning at its height in the 13^th century ran on widescale slavery.

  It’s too easy to beat ourselves up about historical sins from the recent past but taking a wider perspective indicates it’s as much about the human condition over millenia as anything else.

Add On: The Canada chart describes a tough-minded and adventurous national temperament. The Saturn in Scorpio opposition Pluto in Taurus gives grit, perseverance and endurance though isn’t awash with sentiment. Mars opposing Jupiter hints at a risk-taking mentality; and the Sun Uranus in Cancer in the 4^th give a strong but rebellious sense of identity. The Sun Uranus squares Neptune on the Aries Ascendant softening the national image, wreathing it in a smokescreen of niceness.

   This First Nation atrocity may turn out – as ever – to be a short-lived outrage that gets swept under the carpet after a few judicious words of apology – but two things seem pertinent in the near future. The Lunar and Solar Eclipses are rattling up the Canada Solar Arc Midheaven, Solar Arc Sun Uranus and the natal Venus in Gemini this year and the Eclipses will also impact the Saturn opposition Pluto in 2022 so there is a sense of change in the air, or at least change that will be precipitated by crisis.

  At the same time tr Uranus will conjunct the Canada Pluto opposition Saturn, as indeed will tr Saturn in Aquarius, throughout 2022 which suggests a radical upheaval internally, against a fair amount of resistance and with some deprivation and hardship. Eclipses hitting the Canada Saturn in 2022 can bring chickens home to roost and exact a price for past mistakes.

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Naomi Osaka, the women’s NO 1 tennis champion, four times Grand Slam winner and reigning US and AU Open champion has withdrawn from the French Open after a botched handling of her refusal to attend press conferences. Her reason was that her mental health issues made facing negative media questions damaging. Initially it did sound an overly precious excuse and sent Piers Morgan off on a rant, but it then emerged she has suffered from major depressive bouts.

  She was born 16 October 1997 in Chuo, Japan but moved to New York when she was three, with her Haitian father taking on the role of tennis coach having been inspired by the Williams’ sisters father.

  She is a Sun Libra opposition a self-doubting Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries close to her Aries Moon. Her Sun is also square Neptune and it’s possible her Moon is also conjunct Saturn and square Neptune.  A prominent Neptune is surprisingly common amongst athletes but it can be ultra-sensitive, in particular when tied into Saturn. 

  She also has a super-intense Pluto, Venus, Mars in Sagittarius which will ramp up her emotional temperature and give her acute frustrations. She also has a lucky Uranus Jupiter in Aquarius which sextiles her Pluto, Venus, Mars. A Saturn trine Mars will give her self-discipline but tends to go along with fairly harsh treatment.

  It is a punishing lifestyle at the top in global sport though it does pay. Her last year’s fees were reputed to be $55 million. It requires an obsessive and fairly masochistic drive to keep up with the training schedule and constant travel. And parental pressure, though she does talk fondly of them, won’t help.