Anthony Hopkins looks set for another triumph with Netflix’s The Two Popes receiving rave reviews. He plays Pope Benedict, wracked with doubt on the edge of retirement with Jonathan Pryce as the other lead playing his greatest critic and future successor Pope Francis. It launches later this month and is based on a play by New Zealander Anthony McCarten who wrote the screenplays for Bohemian Rhapsody and Darkest Hour. Rotten Tomatoes have given it 90%.

Anthony Hopkins, 31 December 1937 9.15 am Port Talbot, Wales, has had an astonishingly long and illustrious career, starting on the stage and thence onto film and television with highly praised performances in Silence of the Lambs, Remains of the Day, more recently Thor and Westworld.

He has a hidden and creative collection of Sun, Mercury, Venus in Capricorn in his 12^th trine an innovative Uranus in the 3^rd and sextile Mars in Pisces. Plus a superstar Neptune in the 8^th in an artistic opposition to Saturn squaring onto a Sagittarius Moon. Plus an intense Pluto in the 7^th trine Saturn.

He had a tough childhood and was deemed stupid at school and has recently been diagnosed as a high functioning Aspergers. He’s been married three times with a daughter from whom he is estranged. Emotionally he doesn’t have an easy temperament with a focal point Moon onto Saturn and Neptune and an overly controlling Pluto in the 7^th. His daughter whom he abandoned as a toddler with her mother was born in 1968 so has the Uranus Pluto conjunction in Virgo colliding with his Neptune, Moon and Saturn; and her Saturn in Aries squares his Pluto. A difficult crossover.

He’s now 82 and with tr Saturn aiming to move across his Ascendant from January 2020 he will want to start winding down his workload. He does have an enthusiastic and lucky tr Uranus square his Jupiter over the New Year and through January, so despite the tr Saturn conjunct Pluto on his Ascendant he’ll be feeling good for a while anyway.

Jonathan Pryce 1 June 1947, is a Sun Gemini trine Neptune sextile Saturn Pluto in Leo so an interesting mix of complications – flexible and dreamy as well as tough-minded and ambitious. He’s also got a charming Moon Jupiter in Scorpio opposition Venus Mars in Taurus, which will anchor him down. He’s got an upbeat tr Pluto sextile his Jupiter as of now; and his Progressed Sun is square his Jupiter either now or next year, so in a buoyant phase.

There are yowls of protest as Boris Johnson has blocked the publication of a report on alleged illicit Russian activities in Britain before the election. The inquiry by the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee is believed to have looked at claims of Moscow’s attempts to influence the Brexit campaign and Russian money going into UK institutions including sizeable donations made to the Conservative Party. Dominic Grieve, the committee’s chairman said the decision to delay publication was “jaw-dropping”. His outrage has been echoed by other high-level former public officials.

Grieve, 24 May 1956, is a barrister, former Attorney General, fervent Remainer and now an independent having been de-whipped in the recent political massacre by Johnson. He’s a Sun Gemini opposition Saturn in late Scorpio which in turn is in a formidably stubborn T Square of Jupiter Pluto in Leo opposition Mars. He’s no fan of Boris’s with his Gemini Sun conjunct BJ’s Mars and square BJ’s Saturn and Uranus Pluto and his Saturn square BJ’s Mars.

Boris is known to have been cosy with at least one wealthy Russian oligarch, ditto Cameron and Osborne – and questions have been raised about Dominic Cummings who spent three years in Russia in the 1990s.

Relocating Boris’s chart to Moscow does put his sociable Sun Venus on the Descendant, with a comfortable Jupiter in the 4^th opposition an evasive Neptune in the 10^th, and a party-going Mars in the 5^th. Nothing definitive but Russia will hold some charms for him.

Boris has as much decency and respect for rules and protocols as Trump.

Lindsay Hoyle is reckoned a safe pair of hands as the new Speaker of the House of Commons as it enters one of the most decisive times in its long history. After the pyrotechnics of John Bercow everyone is sighing with relief. Hoyle, 10 June 1957, is a known quantity having been a deputy speaker since 2010 and having a long background in politics.

He’s an amiable Sun Gemini square Jupiter in Virgo with a steady and practical Mercury in Taurus in an intense square to Pluto and sextile Mars – so he’s capable of delivering his opinions with force when necessary.

He looks jubilant at the moment with his Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Jupiter and tr Pluto square his Jupiter/Node mid this November to mid December. But from early 2020 onwards he looks exceptionally fraught with a trapped, frustrating tr Pluto opposition his Mars from late January, off and on till late 2021; and an undermining tr Neptune square his Sun from late March, again repeating into 2021 when tr Neptune opposes his Jupiter – so a slipping, sliding and aggravating two or three years ahead. There’ll also be additional catastrophes from July 2020 onwards into 2021 as tr Uranus squares his Mars/Pluto midpoint.

He was elected at 8.22pm on 4^th November which puts an indecisive Neptune on the Midheaven in an over hopeful square to Jupiter. But what is more worrisome is an argumentative and blocked 4^th house Mars square Saturn Pluto on the Descendant – suggesting a scary mood and extreme difficulty getting agreement in the House.

All of which is mirrored in the original Simon de Montfort Parliament chart of 20 January 1265 JC. Tr Neptune is in an undermining square to the Pluto in 2020/21 as well as in a debilitating square to the Solar Arc Saturn Mars from this year through next. With major upsets and high tension this year from Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Saturn and moving on in 18 months’ time to make an even more explosive conjunction to the Mars. By 2022 the Solar Arc Mars Saturn will start to oppose the Pluto for three years of deadlock thereafter. None of which look like business-as-it-used-to-be for some considerable time ahead.

Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Speaker in Congress, is juggling an astonishing portfolio as she heads for her eightieth birthday next March. Spearheading the impeachment inquiry against Trump she’s also casting an anxious eye over the left-wing Democratic candidates, pointing out their liberal policies won’t win over swing voters in the Midwest states needed to defeat Trump.

Born 26 March 1940 she’s an upfront and pro-active Sun and Jupiter in Aries with a formidably stubborn and enduring collection of Saturn, Uranus, Venus, Mars spread out through Taurus; plus an intense Scorpio Moon.

She has more downers than uppers ahead with tr Saturn opposition her Progressed Mars and square Jupiter late November; and conjunct her Jupiter/Node midpoint in early November; plus a sinker of tr Neptune square her Saturn/Pluto midpoint mid this November till mid December. She will have some wins late November to late December and again in late April. But 2020/21 look disheartening with career losses and plans not working out from late March through till July 2020 and on till late 2021.

Her Speaker’s term chart, 3 January 2019 2.50pm, is a really tough push with the Sun conjunct Saturn and Pluto; and an over hopeful Jupiter square Neptune in the 10^th.

But she is doing sterling work and with her Mars (conjunct Algol) sitting on Trump’s midheaven along with her Uranus Venus, she does have the wherewithal to do him damage.

George Galloway, a headline-grabbing politician of various hues and dubious associations has pledged to fight Tom Watson, Deputy Labour leader in the general election. GG’s CV is littered with controversies, largely centred around his Middle Eastern alliances and charity. Although tossed out of the Labour Party for bringing the party into disrepute he’s a staunch supporter of Corbyn. Watson, elected on a separate ticket, belongs to a more centrist Labour Party than his Comrade leader.

Galloway, 16 August 1954 6 am Dundee, Scotland, is an upfront and controlling Sun Pluto in Leo on his Ascendant in a ruthless trine to Mars in outspoken Sagittarius. He’s also got a lucky, adventurous Jupiter Uranus in a can-be-fanatical square to Neptune in his 3^rd, making him a slippery communicator.

He’s got Solar Arc Neptune conjunct his Mars at the moment and over coming months which isn’t usually successful. As well as a droopy tr Neptune conjunct his Moon mid November to mid December as well as a high-tension tr Uranus opposition his Saturn. And across 2019/2020 he has tr Pluto in a confusing square to his Neptune.

Tom Watson, 8 January 1967 Liverpool, has been fighting a rearguard action against the Labour hard-left battalion who have been taking over the party since Corbyn took over. And he has recently as well egregiously blotted his copybook with his tragically miscalculated support for the fantasist Nick who made wild allegations about a VIP political paedophile ring.

Watson is a Sun Capricorn square Mars in Libra which has been ground down in 2016/17 by tr Pluto in hard aspect. He’s got a very mixed set of influences – looking discouraged in the run up to the election with tr Saturn conjunct his Sun and square Mars late November and a droopy tr Neptune conjunct his Sun/Node. With an even more confused and undermining Solar Arc Neptune conjunct his Sun and square his Mars right through till 2020. But he’s also got the upbeat tr Pluto square his Mercury/Jupiter across December. And his Solar Arc Jupiter is conjunct his Uranus which is usually a good omen. He’s difficult to decipher in terms of what he actually wants from this election – apart from keeping his seat, of course. But in his heart of hearts he won’t be angling for a Corbyn win.

Dangerous levels of smog have closed schools, brought car rationing and respiratory problems to the many millions who live in Delhi, capital of India. It has always been considered one of the worst polluted cities on the globe, much worse even than Beijing, but is particularly bad this year with readings so high they can’t be recorded. The causes are said to be farmers in neighbouring states burning crop stubble to clear their fields, construction and industrial emissions – all worsened by fireworks set off during the Hindu festival Diwali a week ago. All of which create a lethal cocktail of particulate matter – carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide which has turned the city into “gas chamber”.

The India chart does have Progressed Mars conjunct the Saturn Pluto conjunction in Leo exact as of now and waning gradually into next year. That is very stuck and scary, which won’t all be the smog but that may be symbolic of a general sense of malaise and fear across the country with economic growth forecasts being cut back and border problems with Pakistan, Kashmir and China.

The tr Saturn Pluto will square the India Solar Arc Saturn Pluto through 2020/21 which will be a slog. Though there should be some uplift from tr Jupiter moving into the India business-finances 8^th house from now for a year ahead.

Narendra Modi’s Second Term chart, 30 May 2019 7.04 pm Delhi, always looked very tough going with the deprived/hardship Saturn Pluto in the financial 2^nd house and a stuck Mars in the 8^th house of international finance. Mars in the 8^th can also point to natural/man made disasters. This term chart also has an overly-optimistic, bubble-bursting Jupiter square a ‘foggy’ Neptune in the 4^th which makes sense of present domestic woes.

The cataclysmic failure of the Darien scheme which bankrupted Scotland and led directly to the loss of its independence to England was sealed the day the first settlers, intent on establishing the colony of Caledonia, set foot on the inhospitable terrain between Panama and Colombia in early November 1698. Far from the land of milk and honey they had been promised, it was a mosquito-ridden strip of marshland and rainforest which to this day remains an impenetrable wilderness.

In theory creating a gateway between the Atlantic and the Pacific – more than 200 years before the construction of the Panama Canal – made sense, and would have given Scotland a chance of empire-building. In practice it wiped out a fifth of the country’s wealth and the savings of many Scottish families. It exacerbated an already perilous economic situation in Scotland leading to the decision that union with England in 1707 was the only remedy.

The Darien scheme date plotted against the various Scotland charts indicates the 16^th March 842 JC 4.21pm Edinburgh works best (no idea where the time comes from, presumably rectified). When the Darien scheme launched in 1698 tr Neptune in Aries was in a debilitating conjunction to the Scotland Aries Sun; with the restrictive tr Saturn in Aquarius opposition tr Pluto hitting on the Solar Arc Uranus for a major upset.

When the Act of Union with England came into effect on 1 May 1707 tr Uranus was conjunct the Scotland Solar Arc Sun (and Pluto) for a major shift; with a powerfully confident Jupiter Pluto conjunct the Solar Arc Uranus and square Mars – equal parts of triumphant elation at changed circumstances and major aggravation.

When the Scotland Independence Referendum was held in 2014 the rebellious and disruptive tr Uranus in Aries square tr Pluto in Capricorn was bouncing off the Scotland Mars opposition Saturn Neptune square Uranus in Aries. But that has come and gone with the Union still holding.

What’s coming up in the next two years is Neptunian confusion and indecision with the Solar Arc Neptune conjunct the Scotland Sun; and tr Neptune square the Solar Arc Sun Pluto. There’s nothing much suggesting significant movement on the chart until four years ahead. At that point the Act of Union chart and the Scotland/UK relationship chart do indicate changes but nothing like as major as would suggest an outright split and separation. There’s also disappointment between Scotland and the EU and an undermining of confidence.

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Words fail me – almost. Trump has brought a ‘prosperity televangelist’ into the White House as his personal spiritual adviser. Paula White-Cain has alarmed even WH aides with her materialistic ‘if you’re rich it means God loves you’ creed. His Scottish Presbyterian mother must be revolving in her grave. Some theologians see her views as heresy and idolatry. White gave the invocation at Trump’s inauguration, split the scene temporarily while undergoing her second divorce, and came back for his 2020 re-election launch event at which she claimed his opponents were a ‘demonic network’. She recently said in an interview: “He’s in total control. He’s not at all impulsive — he’s so far ahead of everyone, very much a strategic thinker.”

She was born 20 April 1966 in Tupelo, Mississippi, with a tough, poor childhood with her parents divorcing when she was young, her father suiciding, her mother turning alcoholic and being looked after by caregivers who abused her. Her adult history is chequered with three marriages, the most recent to a rock musician; and despite making mega-millions from one church with her second husband, filed for bankruptcy along the way. She writes books and has TV shows.

She is, not surprisingly, an acquisitive Sun and Mars in Taurus with an Aries/Taurus Moon. Her Venus in Pisces opposes the chaotic, unpredictable Uranus Pluto in Virgo for a constantly changing emotional life. Her Saturn in Pisces is in a wobbly up-and-down square to Jupiter in Pisces.

Her Sun Mars Moon fall in Trump’s ‘religious?’ 9^th, and her Neptune is on his IC with her North Node in Taurus on his Midheaven so it is an important connection for him. Her blow-hot-blow-cold Saturn square Jupiter hits his Sun and Moon, so she’ll be morale-boosting at times and dampening at others.

Their relationship chart, however, is an eye-opener with a composite Sun, Saturn, Mercury, Venus (in Taurus) square Jupiter Pluto in Leo perhaps tied into the Moon which suggests a business-like and friendly connection with turbo-charged confidence as a power-couple. There’s also a publicity-attracting Mars square Neptune, though that can go adrift if one gets more attention than the other appreciates.

They are locked together to eternity. Nothing short of an explosion will separate them.

However she does have a jangled and insecure tr Uranus conjunct her Mars late this December to late January 2020; with a major-setback from Solar Arc Mars square Saturn in 2020; as well as a discouraging slog from tr Pluto sextile her Saturn in 2020/21.

Jennifer Aniston has returned to television in the new streaming Apple TV+ drama series of The Morning Show. Reviews have been mixed to put it politely and in some cases damning:- ‘The opening episode is as bad as anything I’ve seen” where a “terrible script, laboured directing, and wooden acting are cruelly exposed.” “The dialogue is clunkier than a misfiring moped.” Oops.

Rotten Tomatoes has it under 60% but the tale of a morning family television show with a #metoo-ed male presenter cast into outer darkness leaving Aniston to carry the can on air with Reese Witherspoon has already been OKed for a second season.

Not that critics are always in step with viewers. On occasion five star reviews coincide with terrible ratings (Succession for example); and vice versa.

Jennifer Aniston 11 February 1969 10.22 pm Los Angeles is at a critical juncture in her life and wading through some heavy seas. She has a fairly stressed chart with two Yods – one an especially tricky Pluto sextile Mars inconjunct Saturn in Aries, and the other Saturn sextile Sun inconjunct Pluto. She’s definitely marked out for a very different lifestyle and is tough. But tr Pluto is square her apex planet Saturn through till late this year and tr Pluto is sextile her Mars and trine her Pluto in 2020/2021, on separate legs of Yods as well as apex Pluto. So there’s a major amount of pressure prompting her to change direction in her life between really 2018 and 2022. Plus at the moment till early next year she has a lacklustre tr Neptune opposition her Solar Arc midheaven. And the tr Saturn conjunct tr Pluto next year in January will be sitting on her Sun/Moon midpoint which will produce a fair amount of inner conflict.

Reese Witherspoon, a formidable Sun Aries opposition Pluto square Mars, isn’t the easiest fit with Aniston. Their relationship chart has a composite Sun opposition Mars square Saturn opposition Neptune – argumentative, one-sided, teeth-gritting.