Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, proclaims herself ‘free’ since she moved from the UK in which she felt trapped and claustrophobic, according to a friend. She and Prince Harry are now, plus baby Archie, in Los Angeles, having skipped their multi-million dollar Canadian hideout before the border closed.

I wonder about – various things, which in this time of CV19 obsession is a welcome distraction. First the negative vibes about the UK. Relocating her chart to London puts her Leo Sun and Mercury on the midheaven which would allow her to shine in a public role. Admittedly it also puts her Pluto and Jupiter, Saturn Moon in the 12^th. But that is a mite less-trapped than her birth chart with Pluto in the 4^th and Mars in the 12^th. She’d have more of a chance to glitter in the spotlight in the UK than elsewhere.

Methinks she over-reacted because of her own (clearly little understood) psychology from a trapped, scary childhood with Pluto in her 4^th. Marriages often bring up old unresolved issues. And it would be exacerbated in this instance since her relationship chemistry with Harry is reflected in their composite Moon square Saturn Pluto. What happens with Saturn Pluto in relationship charts is that external circumstances are blamed for what is an inner dynamic in the bond itself.

Harry’s Pluto and Saturn in Scorpio (not conjunct) both fall in her natal 4^th house and square her Sun, Mercury, North Node – so it’s not an easy interface.

Taurean Baby Archie, 6 May 2019 5.26 am London, has Saturn Pluto conjunct his Midheaven in his 10^th house which represents career but also mother – and a Saturn Pluto mother is tough, disciplinarian, controlling, not warm. His hidden 12^th house Venus and Mercury also square his Saturn Pluto, suggesting a lack of nurturing. His Gemini Moon is very sparsely aspected only in an out-of-sign trine to Pluto, so he’ll not be well connected from his feelings and perhaps hyper-sensitive as a result.

Meghan in Los Angeles has an exuberant First House Sun Mercury in Leo so it will bring out her enthusiastic streak. In contrast Prince Harry relocated to Los Angeles has a behind-the-scenes Sun and a deeply buried 8^th house Moon, so he won’t be as outgoing.  It does put his charming Venus on his Ascendant so he will smile prettily but be more private.

Harry and Archie will resonate well with Meghan’s mother Doria since she’s a Sun and Jupiter in Virgo; though she’s also got the tough-minded Saturn in Scorpio square Pluto in her chart. Her relationship with Meghan isn’t entirely seamless Since Doria’s Uranus is conjunct Meghan’s Sun; while Doria’s obsessively conscientious Pluto square Saturn collides with Meghan’s emotionally wayward 5^th house Uranus.

Their relationship chart does have an affectionate composite Sun Venus Mercury conjunction in a steady sextile to Saturn which will help. But there’s an elusive, evasive composite Venus square Neptune; and can-be-troublesome-in-the-long-run composite Jupiter Pluto conjunction.

I wish them well and I was very much in favour of Meghan at the start but there’s a smell of something very self-willed, I-know-better-than-anyone-else about the whole set up which won’t end well. She/they haven’t left themselves much wiggle room for if and when the grand plan all goes wrong. Hollywood and the LA celeb culture can be brutal once the initial gloss wears off.

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In a highly unusual move, Venezuela’s Head of State Nicolas Maduro has been indicted in the USA in a decades-long narco-terrorism and international cocaine trafficking conspiracy in which, prosecutors said, he led a violent drug cartel even as he moved up the political ladder. The State Department announced a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest. He has pushed Venezuela’s economy into meltdown which has forced millions of people to leave.

Maduro, born 23 November 1962 9.03 pm Caracas (birth certificate), has an ego-centric and grandstanding 5^th house Sagittarius Sun and Mercury on the point of a scattered T Square to an 8^th house Jupiter opposition Uranus (Pluto). He’s a risk-taker, lucky and a narcissist. His Neptune Venus in Scorpio is square a flamboyant Mars in Leo on one side and widely square a paranoid Saturn in Aquarius on the other. His Mars, Uranus and Pluto are all in his 2^nd so money will be a driving force.

His most recent term of office (after a heavily disputed election) kicked off on 9 January 2019 at 11.10 am Caracas, which puts Saturn, Sun and Pluto in Capricorn in the 10^th with Sun Pluto square Uranus – tough-going and prone to rolling crises. There’s also an ‘unlucky’ Mars in aggressive Aries square Saturn; plus an over hopeful Jupiter square Neptune. This year the Sun has moved by Solar Arc to close the conjunction to Pluto to exact which will create blocks and high tension. Then by 2022/23 tr Pluto squares the Term Uranus for peak instability.

Venezuela, 5 July 1811 3pm Caracas is in a car-crash year with Solar Arc Mars opposition Saturn, exact late 2020; with an undermining and devastating tr Neptune conjunct Pluto and a financial bubble-bursting square to Jupiter also throughout this year into 2021.

Trump’s relationship chart with Maduro is particularly hair-raising with a power-struggling and hostile composite Mars Pluto in a one-upmanship trine to Jupiter. Tr Pluto is in a confusing, calamitous and disruptive square to the composite Neptune now and then square Uranus running on till late 2022.

Prince Charles has mid symptoms of coronavirus and is in good spirits, it has been announced.

He does look on edge at the moment with his Progressed Moon exactly conjunct his energetic 5^th house Mars, so as a workaholic he may not be taking to his enforced isolation and idleness with any enthusiasm. The triple conjunction of Pluto, Saturn and Jupiter in Capricorn has been moving through his 6^th house of health and work; and with tr Saturn now in Aquarius, still in his 6^th till early next year, squaring his Moon until April 6^th and again mid June to early July, he will be running into blocks to his career perhaps because of low energy. He was already keeping out of sight up in Balmoral and will presumably stay there for the foreseeable future.

He should bounce back with more exuberance come early July when tr Pluto squares his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint. Though worryingly he has his Progressed Mars opposing his 1^st house Pluto in effect all this year, which will be frustrating and trapped; and his Solar Arc Pluto will oppose his 10^th house Moon, exact in the autumn of 2021, which will put considerable pressure on him.

Given his temperament, he may not be overly pleased at Prince William stepping more into the spotlight. Their relationship which has improved in recent times may be sagging touch from late April as tr Neptune opposes the composite Pluto.

The July Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn will affect Camilla’s chart more obviously with her Moon, Venus, Mercury in Cancer in aspect; and tr Pluto opposing her Sun throughout this year posing her major challenges.

The Queen looks rattled and insecure from this Sunday to mid April with tr Uranus conjunct her Mars/Node midpoint; and more so from 6^th April to mid June with tr Saturn square her Mars/Pluto midpoint. The July Lunar Eclipse is in opposition to her Pluto in Cancer in her 6^th. Aspects to 6^th house planets don’t necessarily mean personal health issues, though it can, but they can also indicate concerns about others – and in her case her subjects.

May they all sail through in good spirits.

Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York, is emerging as a key figure in the fight against coronavirus who can’t and won’t be silenced by Trump. New York State had 25,665 cases, with at least 157 deaths, which accounts for nearly 7 percent of global cases. He said the situation was escalating faster than expected, with new cases doubling every three days and projects they may need 140,000 hospital beds with at present only 53,000 available. Up to 40,000 intensive-care beds could be needed and he scoffed at the 400 ventilators sent in by federal authorities when they need 30,000. He said that New York was a harbinger for the rest of the country. “Look at us today,” he warned. “Where we are today, you will be in four weeks or five weeks or six weeks. We are your future.”

Born 6 December 1957 in New York, he’s a serious Sun Saturn in Sagittarius in an innovative trine to Uranus; with an uber-determined Mars in Scorpio in an excitable square to Uranus, so he likes to live on an adrenaline rush. His Mercury in practical Capricorn is in a persuasive trine to Pluto. He has planets in all three Air signs though not in aspect – a restless and communicative Gemini Moon, a tolerant and people-friendly Venus in Aquarius and Jupiter in fair-minded Libra. His healing Neptune is coincidentally conjunct a Scorpio North Node, tying him into the mood of the moment.

It’s a chart that really needs a birth time to make sense. Though his key midpoints tell a story. His Mars sits on his upbeat, crusading and lucky Sun/Jupiter midpoint. His Jupiter is conjunct his Saturn/Pluto midpoint so bleak conditions bring out the best in him. His Pluto is square his Mars/Saturn which will make him resourceful in crises.

At the moment and through this year and next, tr Pluto is square his Jupiter bringing enthusiasm, confidence and success. Though he’ll run into the buffers next year with Solar Arc Sun square his Mars. But he’s got resilience to spare and is used to shocks and emergencies.

Pic: Pat Arnow.

Alex Salmond, former Scottish First Minister, has been found not guilty on 12 of the sexual assault charges facing him, while another charge was found not proven. His defence barrister said in his summing up “I’m not here to suggest he always behaved well or couldn’t have been a better man on occasions. I’m dealing with whether or not it was established he was guilty of serious, sometimes very serious, criminal charges, which require a “very, very high standard of proof”. They were majority verdicts.

The Times reports that at least another four women have made complaints to detectives in Scotland about Mr Salmond’s alleged behaviour in London, which will be considered by the Metropolitan Police.

There are suggestions that a political conspiracy from within the Scottish National Party lay behind some of the charges, with suggestions that Nicola Sturgeon may be damaged by the fallout. Commentators point to the bitter internal war in the SNP since the lost 2014 independence referendum, with supporters in the fight-on Salmond camp up against supporters of the more cautious Sturgeon. There is talk of Salmond suing the Scottish Government for their handling of the matter before criminal charges were laid.

What an unholy guddle.

Salmond, 31 December 1954 4.30pm Linlithgow, Scotland, is a highly articulate and powerfully charismatic man, an astute politician with a considerable ego, who lead Scotland to near independence, but also suffers from questionable judgement, notably in taking on a talk show with the Putin-backed Russia Today network.

He is facing a whole raft of negative influences this year and for several years following, which he’ll approach with his usual bullish confidence. From late this month and through April tr Neptune is conjunct his 10^th house Mars which usually accompanies a sense of panicky-failure, and that influence repeats in September and next February. His Solar Arc Midheaven is moving to a downbeat opposition to his Saturn, exact within weeks; and even more discouraging and trapped, his Solar Arc Mars moves to square his Pluto, exact in 2021, but in effect within a few months. Tr Saturn is also in hard aspect to his Jupiter Uranus square Neptune this August through to November which will dampen his enthusiasm. Tr Pluto will then oppose his Uranus Jupiter in 2021/22 which will put him into confidence-overdrive, determined to make waves, but his Solar Arc Saturn, already catching the dreary, deprived conjunction from Pluto in 2020/21 will oppose his Jupiter Uranus by 2022 for a dead-halt and setbacks. 2022/23 also sees tr Neptune conjunct his 10^th house Moon, which doesn’t suggest career success or voter popularity; and that latter coincides with Solar Arc Neptune conjunct his Sun. It should be crawl into a bunker and stay there time, except he’s unlikely to go quietly.

Nicola Sturgeon, 19 July 1970 3.16 pm Irvine, Scotland, has bolstered her popularity with her response to Boris’s Brexit and the CV19 crisis. She does have tr Saturn opposing her Cancer Sun and square her Jupiter through the autumn which will be discouraging; and some career losses from late May onwards. But that could be due to myriad reasons.

Her relationship with Salmond who was her mentor, was never as cosy as the red carpet moments. His controlling Pluto is conjunct her Midheaven so he would shape her career but also insist on having total control; and his ambitious Mars opposed her Pluto for what clearly turned into a bitter power struggle.

Their relationship chart has a friendly and affectionate composite Sun Venus conjunction. But also a one-upmanship Jupiter Pluto conjunction – initially that can provide a surge of joint enthusiasm pushing the pair onto success but when it falls apart – as it usually does – the energy turns inwards and creates a tussle for the last word and the upper hand. There’s also an unkind and one-sided composite Saturn square Mars which suggests a partnership where one partner has to sacrifice their needs to prevent arguments; and Mars is also in a volatile and no-compromise square to Uranus. Their friendship has been under immense pressure since the 2014 Referendum with the tr Pluto square tr Uranus hitting on the composite Sun Venus and tr Neptune undermining the Jupiter Pluto.

The two SNP charts, 14 December 1933 and 7 April 1934, are in upheaval over the next two or three years; with hints on both of a major and confident push in 2023.

National Guard troops will be deployed to the three states hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak – New York, Washington state and California. But governors and mayors are tearing their hair out over shortage of medical equipment which has been blithely promised by Trump and his team but  not yet materialised. New York’s Bill de Blasio said supplies could run out within days. He has repeatedly attacked Trump for not invoking the Defense Production Act to force private companies to make more supplies; and has said the city needs three million N-95 masks, 50 million surgical masks, 15,000 ventilators and 25 million sets of gowns, gloves and other protective equipment. “If we don’t get ventilators this week we are going to lose lives we could have saved — I can’t be blunter than that,” he said.

Both the New York state, 26 July 1788, and New York Inc, 1 January 1898, charts are worrisome and not just for this year. NY Inc has the enthusiasm and confidence-denting Solar Arc Saturn opposition Jupiter now and that continues in amplified form in 2021 as Solar Arc Saturn squares the NY Sun; with undermining Neptune transits to midpoints at the moment, more in 2021, and further on till mid decade. So it’ll be a slow recovery. The NY State chart, is jolted and jangled now with Solar Arc Saturn square Uranus; and panicked with tr Neptune opposition Mars plus turbulent transits to midpoints. Though there will be some rays of sunshine breaking through with a couple of Jupiter midpoints holding up enthusiasm in 2020/21. Until there’s another flattening Saturnine down in 2023.

Seattle Inc, 2 December 1869, has the illness and panic-prone tr Neptune square Saturn this year and Solar Arc Neptune square Saturn in 2021; there’ll be some upbeat news in 2021 but alongside more downers.

Washington state, 11 November 1889, has the same pattern of upheavals, disruptions and acute frustrations from 2020 to late 2022; with a few moments of stardust in 2021.

California, 9 September 1850, is in a grimly determined mood in 2020/21 with tr Pluto square the hardship Saturn/Pluto midpoint and unsettled Saturn/Uranus midpoint; with some Neptunian dips as well. They are heading for a difficult 2023/24 when tr Pluto squares the Uranus Pluto, though that could be natural disasters and not a pandemic hangover. Though the economic damage is likely to be felt for a number of years.

Trump’s Administration chart is at its most unstable at the moment with the Solar Arc Pluto having moved to close the square to Uranus to exact; with a discouraging setback and depressed mood from tr Saturn coming to square the Admin Sun from today onwards till early April as it moves into Aquarius, returning mid June till early July; with an emotional shock or a voter revolt in June as well from tr Uranus opposition the Admin Moon; and that repeats late September to late October.

The blustering, bragging loudmouths – Trump and Boris and Brazil’s Bolsonaro – are the least well-equipped to cope with a crisis. All talk of the Churchillian spirit appears to have disappeared down a sink hole. Not only are they faced with actual, hard knock-on-wood reality – a scenario they can’t spin; they are, even worse, being forced to face the unpalatable truth that they aren’t in control which wounds their narcissism.

Anthony Fauci, chief immunologist for the White House – ‘the grandfatherly captain of the virus crisis’ – is letting his frustration show about Trump’s prevarications, delusions, lies and inability to understand the implications of coronavirus. He rolls his eyes in public at misstatements about vaccines and has now given a remarkable interview to a science magazine saying that facts have to be given to the White House several times before they sink in.

Born 24 December 1940, he’s a Sun Capricorn trine Jupiter Saturn in Taurus; with Jupiter Saturn probably opposition a Scorpio Moon and certainly square Pluto in Leo, and Uranus in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio – so absolutely unbudgeable and built for the long haul. His Neptune sits exactly conjunct his Mars/Pluto midpoint which could describe a doctor suited for a deadly crisis to a T.

His brook-no-interference Mars opposition Uranus clashes mightily with Trump’s Midheaven and Mars, so it was never going to be a peaceful connection.

Their relationship chart has a half-friendly, half-evasive composite Sun opposition Venus Neptune; and a sticky collection of an unsupportive, only-one-can-win Mars Neptune trine Uranus sextile Pluto. Their relationship is due a shake-up from the middle of April when tr Uranus squares the composite Pluto, a time when tr Uranus is also conjunct the Jupiter/Saturn midpoint on Fauci’s own chart which often coincides with career losses and sometimes loss of job.

Speaking truth to power carries risks certainly where Captain Chaos in the White House is concerned.

The astrology of past pandemic/plagues is mixed. Finding a start date is tricky so what is below should be taken with a pinch of caution.

Most obvious was the Black Death of 1347-51 when outbreaks of Yersinia pestis Bubonic plague in Europe killed 30%-60% of the population, circa 100 million. It appeared to come from the east. French surgeon Guy de Chauliac suggested the March 1345 Solar Eclipse was to blame. At that point the Solar Eclipse was in late Pisces; with Mars Saturn Jupiter and Neptune in Aquarius. There was also a Uranus Pluto conjunction in Aries which caught the following Total Lunar Eclipse. That is a fairly classic signature with Saturn conjunct Neptune and a disruptive Uranus Pluto.

The Justinian Plague of AD 541/2, one of the deadliest pandemics in history, resulted in the deaths of an estimated 25–100 million people during two centuries of recurrence. It was similar to the Black Death and also came from the east. Neptune in Pisces was opposition Uranus and trine Saturn; with Uranus trine Pluto.

A prominently aspected Neptune occurs in many though not all instances of plagues. It isn’t much in evidence at the moment.

The Antonine Plague AD 165 was brought back from Roman troops returning from the east, thought to be measles or smallpox-related with a 25% mortality rate. Neptune in Scorpio was opposition Pluto and trine Uranus; with Pluto trine Saturn.

Neptune Pluto is devastating, often found alongside natural disasters; Neptune Uranus is highly-strung and anxious; Pluto Saturn is hardship.

The Plague of Athens 430BC, a typhoid-like plague kills up to a third of Athenians. Saturn in Scorpio was square Pluto and square Uranus; with the Uranus Pluto conjunction in Aquarius having occurred two or three years before. Neptune in Aries sextile Pluto.

Great Plague of London 1665. Another bout of the Bubonic plague which wiped out nearly a quarter of all Londoners and was followed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Both Saturn and Neptune were in Capricorn; Uranus in Aquarius was trine Pluto in Gemini.

The Third Plague Pandemic in 1855 another bubonic plague outbreak starting in China and leading to more than 12 million deaths in India and China, with about 10 million killed in India alone. Neptune in Pisces squared Saturn in Gemini. Pluto and Uranus were both in Taurus.

Russian flu 1889-90, spread through the northern hemisphere in four months, claiming one million lives. Neptune was in a devastating conjunction to Pluto in Gemini; Saturn in Leo and Uranus in Libra.

Spanish flu 1918-19, kills at least 50 million people and infects a third of the world’s population. Saturn Neptune conjunct in Leo, Pluto in early Cancer and Uranus in late Aquarius.

Asian flu 1957-58, kills 1-2 million people worldwide. A vaccine is rapidly developed. Neptune in early Scorpio square Uranus, Saturn in Sagittarius and Pluto in late Leo.

SARS 2002-03, a form of coronavirus infects 8,096 people and causes 774 deaths — a mortality rate of almost 10%. The bleak Pluto in Sagittarius opposition Saturn is waning; as is the Uranus Neptune conjunction in Aquarius.

This is all a touch ghoulish but at least there’s hope nowadays of a vaccine appearing sometime and conditions aren’t as terrifying as they must have been during these earlier plagues.

Grim metaphors about war-like conditions and similarities to the devastating 1918 Spanish flu are doing little to keep morale high. Dramatic language may be necessary to force ‘imbeciles’, as one French minister described the irresponsible, to distance and self-isolate but it runs the risk of making a perilous situation sound like an apocalypse.

Spanish flu killed off, on rough estimates, anywhere between 1 and 6 per cent of the global population – perhaps 25 to 50 million people. It was exacerbated and spread by troop movements at the end of World War 1 and killed more in 24 weeks than HIV/AIDS did in 24 years. Curiously it mostly killed young adults it is thought because the older population had built up immunity from a previous flu exposure. It came in three waves – over early 1918, receded through the summer, built up again in the autumn and killed most in the USA over the winter of that year.

In comparison this pandemic – so far – has claimed 13,000 plus lives globally, with 5000 deaths in Italy, though only 100 in South Korea which moved much faster with mass testing, enforced social distancing and contact tracing, because of experience with the 2003 Sars outbreak. The high Italian death rate, in comparison with elsewhere, is partly down to it having a higher proportion of older people, as well as heavy pollution in Lombardy where it started, and political dither before lockdowns were imposed.

When the Spanish flu struck around January 1918 the Saturn Neptune conjunction in Leo was in place with Pluto in early Cancer as it had been since the start of World War 1 in 1914. Saturn Neptune is the classic astrological signature for epidemics and illnesses. But it doesn’t mean it always shows for every epidemic since the early 1950s Saturn Neptune in Libra, while it coincided with one minor flu outbreak, was more notable for the setting up of The Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) by WHO to monitor the evolution of influenza viruses. (See Health and Medicine below.)

This time round there is no Saturn Neptune aspect, though there was the hugely restrictive Saturn Pluto conjunction in place, almost exact for the start of the outbreak. Saturn Pluto in Capricorn is associated more with financial deprivation and hardship than with illness. And one treads warily in saying so but the economic distress caused by coronavirus – so far – far outweighs the health damage.

The next Saturn Neptune conjunction comes due in early 2026 in Aries, with hints from mid 2025 when both are in late Pisces. Pluto then is in early Aquarius. Saturn Neptune has other meanings than illness – it coincides often with the advancement of women’s and workers’ rights.

Odd additional thoughts. It shows up the false economy of shrinking national health services. Germany is faring better than most with a well-resourced health service, testing kits and respirators – it runs a mainly state-funded set-up with mandatory private insurance paying the residue of costs, like France.

The authoritarian regimes have been better at containing the outbreak. Living as I do in France it is fascinating to watch the difference with the UK. The UK PM Boris says plaintively avoid pubs, please stay at home. France doesn’t do plaintive. An edict is issued about a mandatory lockdown. If you emerge you will have a signed form stating your reason. Transgressors are fined and then imprisoned. The UK and the USA are not temperamentally well-designed for having these kind of conditions imposed on them.

Below from my Astrological History of the World.

Saturn Neptune: Health and medicine

The dual face of Saturn–Neptune in providing practical care for the suffering and in the insidious undermining of the body’s health both find a place in world history. An epidemic of St Vitus Dance (chorea) broke out in Europe in 1021 when Saturn and Neptune were together in Aquarius; the disease causes involuntary jerky movements and leads to brain deterioration, and was so called because victims prayed to St Vitus, the patron saint of dance.

The plague that devastated Europe and Asia during the 1340s was marked by the Saturn–Neptune conjunction in Aquarius of 1344, and the Uranus–Pluto conjunction at the same time. The outbreak of bubonic plague in London in 1665 and the Great Fire of London a year later both took place when Saturn and Neptune were together in Capricorn.

In 1846 in Aquarius, widespread famine in Ireland followed the failure of the potato crop. During the 1917 and 1918 conjunction in Leo, there were massive casualties in the First World War, especially at Passchendaele, and the Spanish ‘flu epidemic of 1918 killed 20 million in Europe, the United States and India. By the conjunction of the late 1980s in Capricorn, the AIDS virus was running amok, causing countless deaths in Africa, Europe and the United States.

Medical advances are also highlighted under Saturn–Neptune, with the physicians’ meeting place in Rome, the Schola Medicorum, being set up in AD 17 in Sagittarius; in 1739 in Cancer, the London Foundling Hospital was established; and by 1881 in Taurus, Louis Pasteur had discovered the anthrax vaccine.