Jennifer Lopez’s latest offering has reviewers scratching their heads. “This Is Me … Now: A Love Story review – JLo’s bombastic ode to love and herself” says one. “The bonkers, star-studded musical-biopic-fantasia-mess proves Jennifer Lopez can do whatever she wants,” says another. “JLo’s musical tribute to Ben Affleck was wildly overblown. But this behind-the-scenes documentary is an engrossing insight into their introvert-extrovert romance.”

A self-funded $20 million dollar celebration of the rekindling of her romance with Ben Affleck is stratospherically ego-centric (from her point of view) as well at times evidently as surprisingly self-effacing.

  “It is a film that bristles with the occasionally unbearable tension that exists between her demands as an exhibitionist and his needs as an introvert.” “We’re just two people learning how to compromise,” he says on camera, veering between overwhelming happiness and extreme discomfort. All the more bizarre since the reason for their first split was “the massive amount of scrutiny around our private life.”

  That she is a Leo is hardly surprising though so is he – so clearly they are sun sprites cut from a different cloth.  She was born 24 July 1969 New York, no birth time. Though midday would give her a 10^th house Sun Mercury square Saturn in Taurus on one side and trine a colourfully exuberant Mars (Moon) in Sagittarius sextile Uranus Jupiter in Libra. She has a passionate Venus in social butterfly Gemini square Pluto with possibly a Scorpio Moon conjunct Neptune. Maybe her Sun Saturn are what give her this seemingly desperate need to be in the headlines constantly.

 He was born 15 August 1972 2.53 am Berkeley, California and has a 2/3^rd house Leo Sun in an upbeat trine to Jupiter in Sagittarius. But his Saturn in the 12^th with Pluto and Uranus in his 4^th may be what put the brakes on his attention-grabbing Leo Sun. He also has a Scorpio Moon.

  She is going through a challenging phase with tr Pluto opposition her Leo Sun and then Mercury this year and on till 2026; with tr Neptune Saturn opposition her Uranus Neptune in 2025/26 as well.

  Their relationship chart has a strong Jupiter which always helps to bring mutual support, optimism and smooths round rough edges; plus a passionate Venus square Pluto. But there is also a composite Saturn opposition Neptune which sets up worries, making for a constant fear the connection is not doing well. Pluses and minuses – it will sag a touch this year with tr Neptune hitting on the composite Venus Pluto and tr Uranus colliding with the Saturn Neptune in 2025 – there will be anxieties ahead. Ben Affleck’s Sun/Moon midpoint, his close relationship signifier, will be less than delirious this year with tr Neptune in opposition through into 2025 with this autumn’s Lunar Eclipse rattling it as well.

 Their wedding chart from 16 July 2022 has a Cancer Sun conjunct Procyon (rise and fall) opposition Pluto, inconjunct Saturn, trine Neptune and sextile Uranus North Node – so it was always going to be a complicated whirl. Their composite Jupiter may save them. But if her birth time is circa midday which seems likely then her Sun/Moon midpoint is square her erratic, unpredictable, constantly changing Uranus Jupiter and also catching tr Neptune oppositions come 2025/26.

  I never trust overblown declarations of everlasting love from celebrities. A touch like Hello weddings it can put a blight on what follows.  

Add On: The rapper Sean Combs known as Diddy has been landed with yet another lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault – all of which he hotly denies, though he did pay off a former girlfriend.

 For two years around 1999, he and Jennifer Lopez were an item, breaking up eventually because of his infidelity. She has never alleged any physical abuse during her time with him.

  Born 4 November 1969 New York, he is a determined Scorpio Sun Mercury opposition Saturn in Taurus with a can-be-ruthless Mars on the cusp of Capricorn/Aquarius trine Pluto and Uranus. It would be a stormy and tricky mix with JLo with his Mars opposition her Sun and his Sun opposition her Saturn. Their relationship chart has a controlling/dominating composite Sun Pluto square Mars with an inflammatory Mars square Uranus; plus an unkind, one-sided Mars trine Saturn.  Not a healthy mix.

  He’ll stay bullish over the next two years but will nonetheless be trapped, infuriated and seriously rattled in 2025 and beyond.

  The dizzying bedhopping and entangled romantic liaisons that were standard for rock stars are brought into focus as Pattie Boyd sells heartfelt and revealing letters from Eric Clapton who pursued her while she was married to Beatle George Harrison. Despite being obsessed and desperately in love with Pattie, Clapton was dating her sister Paula while ostensibly in a relationship with aristocrat Alice Ormsby-Gore.

  Pattie eventually split from Harrison after reportedly finding him in bed with bandmate Ringo Starr’s then-wife Maureen. Before going on to marry Clapton she had a fling with Rolling Stone Ronnie Woods whose first wife, Krissy Findlay, had dated Clapton, married Wood, then had an affair with Harrison.

 She stayed married to Clapton for 10 years until his infidelity broke them up as his mistress got pregnant.  All too exhausting. Though both Boyd and Clapton are now seemingly in long term established relationships with other partners since 1991 and 1998 respectively.

  Pattie Boyd was born 17 March 1944 4am Taunton, England and became a model and photographer. She inspired Harrison’s songs “I Need You”, “If I Needed Someone”, “Something” and “For You Blue”, and Clapton’s songs “Layla”, “Bell Bottom Blues” and “Wonderful Tonight”.

  She has a 3^rd house Sun Mercury in creative Pisces, a sign suited to photography, at home with images rather than words. Her Pisces Sun Mercury is square a troubled and angry Mars Saturn in Gemini hinting at a tough childhood with divorced parents. Most noticeably she had a powerful and confident Jupiter Pluto in Leo in her 8^th, perhaps a hint of why she attracted successful men.

  She was probably better suited to Harrison, 24 February 1943 11.42pm Liverpool, for all his infidelity since his Jupiter in Cancer fell in her 7^th and his Venus in Pisces was conjunct her Sun. His Pisces Sun was conjunct her Venus. But his erratic, unpredictable Saturn Uranus in the 8^th square a fun-loving Pisces Sun in his 5^th would not make for a settled emotional life.

 Clapton, 30 March 1945 8.45pm Ripley, England, also has Uranus in his 8^th for a changeable emotional life and erratic temperament, especially since it forms a volatile square to his 5^th house Mars. His hard-working Aries Sun in his 6^th opposes Neptune and forms a talented Half Grand Sextile to Uranus and an influential/controlling 10^th house Pluto. His marriage to Boyd was marred by his infidelities and domestic violence. In a  1999 interview with The Sunday Times, he admitted to raping and abusing her while they were married and he was a “full-blown” alcoholic who felt entitled to sex.

  Both Harrison and Claton had intense Scorpio Moons and both had dominating Pluto in their 10^th.  In both relationship charts there were Mars Pluto combinations, leading to anger issues and resentment.

  It is interesting that all three have 8^th house planets emphasizing Martin Mortiz’s point –

  “The eighth house is associated with entanglements, power games, boundary crossings, or dealing with taboos.”

And despite it all she was bemoaning recently that there are no ”’proper men’ around nowadays. She clearly liked it rough and stormy.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, is under attack from a variety of angles – accused of being under the control of “Islamists” by going soft on pro-Palestinian marchers; renaming the underground lines at a cost of £6.3 million – Suffragette, Windrush, Lioness, Mildmay, Weaver and Liberty lines –  which is a ‘multicoloured nod to the capital’s diversity and some obscure elements of history’.  And is now facing questions about spending £117,000-a-year on a ‘night tsar’ in charge of rejuvenating night culture in the city, who has been jetting around the world as London’s nightlife declined.

 Khan, a former MP and lawyer, from a Pakistan immigrant family was born in London 8 October 1970 and is an independent-minded Sun Uranus in Libra with a ferociously determined Mars Pluto conjunction in Virgo and an equally determined Saturn in Taurus opposition Venus Neptune in Scorpio. He probably has an Earth Grand Trine of Mars Pluto trine Saturn trine his Capricorn Moon. His work ethic will be strong.

  He’ll sag a touch through March with tr Neptune opposition his Pluto and be jolted and jangled by and jangled by tr Uranus conjunct his Saturn in April and opposition his Venus in May across the next Mayoral election, as well as his SA Pluto being opposition his Saturn – which could suggest a less than happy phase for him. Though tr Jupiter also in Taurus close to tr Uranus could save the day for him.

 The chart for his first swearing in 7 May 2016 hints at considerable setbacks later this year into 2025 which may or may not be connected to the results of the forthcoming election.

Geroge Galloway is not exactly connected but he is standing in the Rochdale byelection waving the Palestine flag for all he is worth in the hope of rallying support from the Muslims who are a substantial chunk of the electorate.  Born 16 August 1954 6am Dundee, he was a Labour MP ousted for his criticism of the Iraq War, who went independent, and has had an on off ‘colourful’ career in politics since, is pro-Corbyn and blames the Ukraine invasion on NATO.  A flamboyant, ultra-determined, attention-grabbing Sun Pluto in Leo on his Ascendant is trine Mars in Sagittarius; and his lucky Jupiter Uranus in Cancer is in a can-be-fanatical square to Neptune.

  He does not look overly hopeful in March into early April with a failure-strewn tr Neptune square his Mars, but that does not pick up until the election is over. Depending on the accuracy of his birth time he may have his SA MC nearing a conjunction to his Jupiter which will give him a boost if not now then in the next year or so.

 In many ways Rochdale is emblematic of the total dysfunction of UK politics. The Labour and Green parties have ditched their candidates, the Conservative is on a long-planned family holiday, the Lib Dem remains, but pulled out of the most high-profile political event, a local BBC radio debate. ‘The most energetic campaigning last week came instead from the political fringe: George Galloway, serial byelection winner and founder of the Workers Party of Britain, and Simon Danczuk, the town’s former Labour MP who was suspended by the party for sexting a 17-year-old girl and is now standing for Reform UK.’

  “We don’t deserve this,” said a voter. “This town does not deserve to be this short of anybody decent to vote for.”

  Rochdale itself has an uncomfortable reputation having been Cyril Smith’s constituency when he was an MP for two decades, outed as a serial child sex abuser only after his death. More recently it was the focus of outrage after the failures of the police to protect teenage victims of grooming gangs emerged.

 The town which has an ancient history was incorporated in 1856 and given a coat of arms on 20 February 1857 – which gives it Uranus in last decan Taurus so now on its Second Uranus Return.

It must sit on some very odd ley lines

ADD ON:  Lee Anderson who accused Sadiq Khan of being under the sway of “Islamists” was described by the Daily Mail as “not one of life’s diplomats. A brash ex-Nottinghamshire miner, the Tory MP for Ashfield wades into sensitive debates with all the subtlety of a flying mallet.” However clumsy his words there appears to be a good deal of support for what he was trying to express –  that pro-Palestinian demonstrators are spreading hate and division freely in demonstrations.

  Born January 1967 he is a Sun Mercury in Capricorn in an argumentative square to Mars; with Uranus Pluto in Virgo trine Virgo and opposition Saturn in Pisces. Mouthy and excitable.

  He was never going to get on with Sadiq Khan no matter what the point at issue since SK’s Sun Uranus clashes with LA’s Mars. And SK’s Mars Pluto is conjunct LA’s Uranus Pluto and opposition his Saturn. Their relationship chart has a power-struggling (for the upper hand) Jupiter Pluto conjunction tied into a distrustful yod and an explosive Mars Uranus conjunction plus an evasive Sun Neptune. Not a happy twosome.

  I am as critical as any about successive Israeli government policies of ill-treatment of Palestinians which have stoked up trouble. That does not mean I appreciate the anti-Semitic hatred that is displayed by a thuggish element of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Nor am I anything but condemnatory about fundamentalist religious efforts to impose Sharia law, tramp over women’s and gay rights or facilitate the abuse of children. The UK has always been appallingly lax about saying THIS WILL NOT DO. They pussy foot around trying not to upset the sensibilities of those with different values and in the end devalue the culture of the country. The German newspaper Bild’s list of suggestions for immigrants see 3^rd December 2023 post was not far off the mark.

  The French (who admittedly are racist) are also admirably firm about upholding the secular values of their country.  They recently tossed an immigrant who had been resident for some decades back to his birth country because he ranted against the values of France. And it did not go through expensive years of appeal courts. Decision and off he went.

  Bitter unhealable divisions, conspiracy theories, loss of faith in leaders and the emergence of down-the-rabbit-holers issuing messianic calls to their gullible followers make for a a feverish and scary atmosphere.

  In the USA an increasingly unhinged Trump soars ever onwards. In the UK the latest byelection in Rochdale which should have been a shoe-in for Keir Starmer has ended up a toxic mess with the Labour candidate ousted because of anti-Semitic remarks, creating a vacuum for George Galloway who has made Gaza his rallying cry. The House of Commons this week collapsed into shambles with fears that MPs are at risk of their lives if their vote upsets fanatics.

 UK’s failed PM Liz Truss is in the US murmuring about the dark, deep state while cosying up to MAGA election deniers. And Richard Tice of the UK Reform party, climbing into double digits in the polls, proclaims at the party conference: “The sun shines on the righteous. And we are the righteous. We are the reformers.” Hallelujah.

  Matthew Syed in The Times remarks today: “Psychologists tell us that conspiracies tend to emerge when people cannot face up to empirical reality.” “Blaming shadowy forces isn’t just convenient for these political chancers; it is a comforting distraction for the rest of us, too — the bread and circuses of the social media age.”

  I’ve been trying to work out whether the mental disintegration and chaos is down specific USA and/or UK astrology or is a global phenomenon triggered by Pluto moving into Aquarius and the dying days of Neptune in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus before shifting on. Though Russia/Ukraine and the Middle East powder keg would suggest otherwise. 

 It sparked a thought about psychological transitions which are not a smooth process from yesterday to tomorrow. The old ego shell/mindset needs to be dismantled and thrown away before a new interface with sanity emerges. Pluto at work deconstructing and reconstructing. Without the old certainties there is fear, vulnerability, a risk of collapse into madness before new solid ground emerges in future.

 “The world has always gone through periods of madness so as to advance a bit on the road to reason.” Hermann Broch

  The USA is in meltdown about the possibility of the increasingly deranged and demented Trump being voted in by his deluded fan club. The UK in 2022 went through three prime ministers, four chancellors of the exchequer, three home secretaries, three health secretaries and five education secretaries. Plus a catalogue of abysmal failures by various public bodies. And Queen Elizabeth 11 died who had been a beacon of stability for so long.

   The old certainties are gone. Reasoned argument is drowned out by too much divisive noise megaphoned by social media.

  On the UK chart, the four Fixed planets forming a wide Grand Cross have been under assault from transiting Uranus for several years, culminating this spring to early 2025 in a square to the 11^th house Saturn, ruling the legislature. It was always going to be a few years which shook the UK to its foundations.  Plus tr Uranus moving through the 8^th house until 2027 which apart from financial effects was going to cause psychological disturbance/change at a deep level. Not to mention Solar Arc Uranus also moving through the UK 8^th for the past five years and aiming to collide with the UK 8^th house Mars on the same degree this July/August and exact in mid 2025. That may bring a financial shock of considerable proportions or a major accident, but at a deeper level will jolt the national psyche, possibly bringing up more anger and rancour before it moves on.

 And last but not least Pluto in Aquarius will trine the UK Uranus at one degree Libra for an upheaval (and enlightenment?) and make a confident opposition to the UK Jupiter at one degree Leo this year and next with a disruptive (and liberating) tr Uranus square the UK Pluto in 2025. And a Progressed Moon through a season of endings in the 12^th until October 2025.  

  None of this solves any problems but it does make it obvious that the UK is undergoing a seismic change which was not going to happen without collateral damage.

  The USA lacking a settled start time is trickier to compare. Though the Pluto Return of the past two/three years would bring to the surface a fanatical intensity. The Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the USA Mars this July which will produce a collision-like setback is still to show its hand. Running on in 2025 ther SA Saturn will square the US Neptune – which will bring uncertainty and confusion. The Solar Arc Sun will also square the US Mars by 2026 and oppose the US Neptune in 2027 – so whatever that USA Mars square Neptune represents will be brought sharply into focus for several years from 2024 to 2027. And Neptune into Aries (along with Saturn) will start to square the US Venus and Jupiter through till late 2027 which is likely to be financially disappointing and enthusiasm/confidence-denting.

  All countries will react differently to the celestial transitions between 2023 and 2026 and it may be that it is both global and particular.

Previous Pluto into an Air sign Libra in 1971/72 oversaw the Munich massacre when Israeli athletes at the Olympics were murdered by the Arab terrorist group Black September. The Troubles started in Northern Ireland with Bloody Sunday with the seemingly intractable Roman Catholic v Protestant, Republican v Unionist schism.  The seeds of Watergate were sown and the UK joined the EEC.  

Air rules ideas, ideologies and communication. Pluto clearly stoked up intense and fanatical differences of viewpoint with, in certain cases, a violent outcome.

“You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness.” Thomas Sankara

“In a mad world, only the mad are sane.”  Akira Kurosawa

“The world of men is dreaming, it has gone mad in its sleep, and a snake is strangling it, but it can’t wake up.” D. H. Lawrence

“Genocide is not just a murderous madness; it is, more deeply, a politics that promises a utopia beyond politics – one people, one land, one truth, the end of difference. Since genocide is a form of political utopia, it remains an enduring temptation in any multiethnic and multicultural society in crisis.” Michael Ignatieff

[PS This is not what I started to write, really intending to focus on the Rochdale byelection but that is only a symptom of a larger malaise.]

 Princess Ira von Furstenberg who has died, a niece of Gianni Agnelli of Fiat fame,  glided through a life of obscene wealth, a shining light of European high society, who at 20 had already been married to two of the 20th century’s most notorious playboys, Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe, who invented the resort of Marbella and the Brazilian industrialist Francesco “Baby” Pignatari. The marriages failed and on she sailed the epitome of the jet set.

  Her first marriage at 15 when she married von Hohenlohe, 31 lasted five years after which she opted for the 44-year-old Pignatari. When that marriage she collapsed she gave up on matrimony though she did flirt with the idea of Prince Rainier of Monaco after Grace Kelly died. She went on to become a B movie actress in a string of sex kitten roles which fitted her promiscuous Venus Mars conjunction in Gemini.

  She was born 18 April 1940 5.55pm Rome, Italy with hints of her opulent lifestyle from a Sun Jupiter in Aries inconjunct Neptune. But in complete contrast, the underside of the Midas touch was her Sun conjunct Saturn square a 10^th house Pluto. Both blessed and cursed. Over burdened with the trappings of money with houses in Mayfair, Madrid, Lake Geneva, Rome and Paris but deprived of human reassurance and warmth.

  Her mother Clara Agnelli, 7 April 1920, ran away when the young Ira was 12 with an Italian count, which caused a scandal since adultery was a crime. She had the same astro-mix as her daughter with a feather-bedded Jupiter Neptune conjunction square Mars. But that sat alongside a harsh Uranus trine Pluto trine Mars with Uranus opposition Saturn – making Saturn the driving planet. Her Saturn in Virgo was conjunct her daughter’s Virgo Moon and square Ira’s Venus Mars – not a happy connection.

 The Agnellis are in the news for another reason at the moment with John Elkann, 1 April 1976, the named successor of the Agnelli billions after his grandfather Gianni died two decades back, duking it out in court with his mother Margherita.  Margherita, 26 September 1955 8.14 am Lausanne, is a charming Sun Venus in Libra with a ferociously determined Jupiter Pluto in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio.  But she is well matched by her son John who has an Aries Sun opposition Pluto square Mars – controlling, competitive and not one to give way under any pressure.

  The curse of Succession – the Rothschilds, the Guinness family. Less can be more when it comes to happiness. Rich may be better than poor, but too much filthy lucre and it turns toxic.

Sigmund Freud is deemed the founder of psychoanalysis and catalyst for the century of self and psyche exploration, some might say self-obsession, which followed.  His ideas naturally grew out of the writings of several who went before, however much he discounted their input, but he won the prize for being the standard bearer.  His theories infiltrated everyday culture and language, as well as drama and fiction.

  Not surprisingly he attracted criticism – the Freud bashers, in particular Frederick Crews, Jeffrey Masson, Michel Ornfray etc   – who picked holes in his notion of the oedipal complex (which was overly masculinized and sexualized young infants), penis envy and the death instinct and lambasted the process as not leading to a cure.  But he has withstood the test of time and remains an icon to a highly significant culture shift.

  He was born in 1856 but his psychological work started to bear fruit around the mid 1880s as Pluto moved into Gemini, followed by Neptune; with Uranus moving into Libra.  The Air signs proliferated as a ferment of new thinking got under way.

  Born 6 May 1856 6.30pm Freiberg, Germany, he himself was heavily Taurus with his Sun conjunct an inventive, rebellious Uranus with Mercury and Pluto also in Taurus. He did have his Gemini Moon and Saturn in Gemini in his 8^th which may explain his serious study of sexuality – of interest to his Taurean earthy nature anyway.

   His Chiron in Aquarius places him with others who in Melanie Rhinehart’s words ‘become the vehicle for controversial collective ideas and may suffer for the response they receive.’ With Chiron in Gemini he would be an effective communicator. That plus his leadership/ independent-minded Aries North Node in his 6^th house of work would all contribute to his drive to put  theories of healing out into society.

 Of the Freud bashers only one has a birth time – French philosopher, Michael Ornfray, 1 January 1959 Argentan, France a Capricorn Sun with a Virgo Moon – and perhaps more significantly Mars in Taurus in his 4^th which collides with Freud’s Sun Uranus in Taurus. One might speculate Ornfray’s hostility to his father or father figures in childhood led in part to his tilting at the Freud windmill. I might also argue that his Pluto and Uranus in his 8^th would give him a fear of in depth exploration.

  Jeffrey Masson, 28 March 1941, Chicago, in his The Assault on Truth, argues that Freud may have abandoned his seduction theory because he feared that granting the truth of his female patients’ claims (that they had been sexually abused) would hinder the acceptance of his psychoanalytic methods in the heavily patriarchal society in Vienna of the time.  Masson, a Sun Aries has the Jupiter Saturn conjunction in Taurus and Uranus in Taurus all hitting Freud’s 7th house Sun, Uranus, Mercury.

 Frederick Crews, 20 February 1933, Philadelphia, the author and literary critics evidently became obsessed in his Freud-bashing. He is a Sun Pisces with only his Chiron in Taurus which is conjunct Freud’s Uranus Mercury.

  As the New Yorker writes: “Even as writers were discarding the more patently absurd elements of his [Freud’s] theory — penis envy, or the death drive — they continued to pay homage to Freud’s unblinking insight into the human condition. That persona helped Freud to evolve, in the popular imagination, from a scientist into a kind of poet of the mind.”

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/28/why-freud-survives

Freud’s astrocartography indicates the USA is where his ideas would have most traction on the west and east coasts. His creative, build-a-life 5^th harmonic is powerfully aspected; as is his healer 12^th and breakthrough-genius 13H, leaving-a-legacy 17H and global influencer 22H. As is his wheel of fortune 10^th harmonic hinting at the ups and downs of his reputation.

  From an astrological viewpoint it is significant he came to spread the word in the late 19^th century with Pluto Neptune and Uranus all in Air signs.

  It is also worth remembering Ernest Becker, the Pulitzer prize winning author of The Denial of Death.

” The hostility to psycho-analysis in the past, today and in the future, will always be a hostility against admitting that man lives by lying to himself about himself and about his world. * The individual  has to protect himself against the world, and he can do this only as any other animal would; by narrowing down the world, shutting off experience, developing an obliviousness to the terrors of the world and to his own anxieties…..* We don’t want to admit that we are fundamentally dishonest about  reality, that we do not really control our own lives.” 

ADD ON:

His wife Martha Barnays 16 July 1861 7am Hamburg, grand  daughter of the Chief Rabbi of Hamburg, married the atheist Freud after a tempestuous four year engagement and became a model wife and mother despite the entry of her sister Minna into their home with whom Freud seemingly had an affair. Martha was surprisingly independent-minded with a 10^th house Uranus square her Moon, though her controlled 12^th house Leo Sun square Pluto would no doubt curb some of her more rebellious traits. But she would fit his pattern since he had Uranus in his 7^th and would look for an unconventional wife.

 Their relationship chart is a mix of an affectionate composite Sun Venus square a dreamy (unrealistic) Neptune and a teeth-grindingly difficult Moon Pluto square Saturn, trine Mars. Aggravating below the surface.

  Her sister Minna, maybe 18 June 1865, no birth time, was another unconventional, wilful Sun Uranus conjunction in Gemini which was conjunct Sigmund’s 8^th house Saturn which does not sound encouraging. But she also had a seductive Venus Pluto in Taurus which was conjunct his Sun Uranus which would ignite a spark.

 Daughter Anna Freud, 3 December 1895 3.15pm Vienna, Austria, was a Sun Sagittarius opposition Pluto Neptune in Gemini, trine/sextile Jupiter in the 4^th – so she would be mesmerised by her controlling father. Though they would clash since her Mars Uranus in Scorpio opposed his Sun Uranus and his Saturn was conjunct her Moon. It would be a tense and at times  competitive relationship.

   She was evidently at odds with her mother with a scratchy, uncomfortable composite Sun, Mars, Saturn conjunction in their relationship chart.

Accused of keeping two children in a ‘concentration camp-like setting’, two defendants claimed the abuse they inflicted was necessary to teach the children how to properly repent for “sins” and to cast the evil spirits out of their bodies.

  “Mumfluencer” Ruby Franke with a multi-million fanbase on YouTube and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were given 60 years in jail for child cruelty in a case the prosecutor said was the worst he had seen in thirty years.  

  Franke appears to have repented for her actions though Hildebrandt who thinks God communicates directly with her  continues to see herself as the victim. She views the devil, as well as the children, as the perpetrators.

  Franke said she was “led to believe that this world was an evil place filled with cops who control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and lust, husbands who refuse to protect and children who need abuse.”

  Schizoid delusions apart, what it reminded me off was a comment years ago by Ellen Bass who wrote Courage to Heal about abuse survivors. She had spoken at one point to Ralph Underwager, an American minister and vehement supporter of those accused of child abuse, who co-founded the US False Memory movement. She said she thought one crucial difference between them was she thought of babies as innocents entering the world while he saw them as evil, sin-carriers. How a religion that started with Jesus saying ‘suffer little children to come to me’ ended up with a twisted exorcist mindset is beyond me.

  Ruby Franke, 18 January 1982, is a Sun Capricorn square Saturn Pluto in Libra which suggests a bleak upbringing, leaving her attuned to harsh conditions. She has her North Node in Cancer opposition her Sun which should in time bring about a more caring approach to family – but clearly she is not there yet.

 Jodi Hildebrandt, 15 June 1969, was a “life coach” who claimed to cure her clients of ‘distortion’ and live in Truth. She is a Sun Gemini with a formidably confident square to Pluto, South Node, Jupiter and Uranus in Virgo. Her cold Venus Saturn conjunction in Taurus is inconjunct Mars which has an unpleasant feel to it.

 Their relationship chart does have a controlling composite Sun opposition Pluto and Jupiter i initially good as a power couple but only as long as both stay together on the same track. Franke looks as if she could be cowed into submission. Hildebrandt looks more overly dominant. Both their South Nodes are strongly connected to their Sun and other planets – pulling them backwards into unevolved ways of behaving.

  Franke had six children in all with husband Kevin, 9 October 1978, a Sun Pluto conjunct in Libra.

  The oldest two – Chad, 2 February 2005 (net sources) has a Sun Neptune trine Jupiter and a Mars Pluto conjunction  inconjunct Saturn – a mix of an evasive father and extreme fear/cruelty.

  Shari Franke, 3 March 2003 (net sources) has a Pisces Sun square Pluto and Saturn opposition a wide Pluto Mars conjunction – never given choices, badly treated.

  Mars Pluto runs through the children’s charts and the relationship charts of all including Kevin with mom Ruby.  She may have tried to offload responsibility elsewhere for her warped mindset but she will have to own the personal gratification she got from it at some point.  

Astrology as a Therapeutic Art is the latest offering from Greg Bogart on a mission to prove how valuable a tool astrology can be in solving life and relationship problems in therapy and counselling.

  Lucidly written it has helpful explanations of psychological terms as well as astrological explorations of printed charts.  There are a stream of vignettes explaining the problems thrown up by charts and how the astrologer/therapist and client was able to resolve them. Being a fan of agony aunt columns I found them fascinating though their brevity gave a slightly misleading sense of the ease with which solutions were reached.

 Two points struck me. He refers to derivative houses which was a method first used by the old Greek astrologers. For example taking the 7^th house as referring to a spouse of partner. The 10^th house is the 4^th house from the 7^th and therefore refers to the spouse or partner’s family.  The 12th house is the 6th house from the 7th representing partner’s health and workplace. It takes a while to get used to but might have its uses.

  The other is a general ambivalence. When I first started in this field, I saw astrological clients for therapy and the problem as I found it was they tended to regard me as the Delphic Oracle who had all the answers and in some instances as Merlin who could magic up a solution. So it created an imbalance which was not helpful.  I became the all-knowing one and they were the passive listener. Traditional psychotherapy on the other hand sees the process as a journey of unknowing, helping the client to reach out for their own answers.

   Having said that, classical psychoanalysis has its limitations, being lengthy and expensive and not always producing results. Which is why Tony Ryle set up his CAT (Cognitive Analytic Therapy) programme for time-limited therapy of sixteen sessions with a more pro-active approach from the therapist.

  In my experience astrology can be enormously helpful as a catalyst especially for those who are in therapy elsewhere and may be stuck. It can deliver a considerable (almost electrical) jolt of enlightenment which helps the process along.  

  Liz Greene describes the birth chart as a map which is different from walking the road. I’m just not entirely convinced that astrology will be the magic cure which solves all problems.  

  But for all that the book is well worth reading for its clear descriptions of difficult chart aspects and how to approach them.

 A career triggered by calamities has proved super-successful for “romantasy” author Sarah Janet Maas. Her interest in  fantasy took off after the 9/11 attacks as she leant on her fascination for magical fairy tales and folklore to provide her with an escape from real life. Her first book, Throne of Glass, written when she was sixteen in 2002 is an alternate Cinderella in which the heroine is an assassin not a maid — attending the ball not to meet the prince, but to kill him.

  Her books span themes of authoritarianism, loss and grief, trauma, friendship and happily-ever-after epic romance and her teenage escapism has spawned a juggernaut literary empire in which she created her own JRR Tolkien-esque universe populated by sexually charged fairies. She has released more than a dozen books in the past 12 years giving a further boost to Bloomsbury, JK Rowling’s publisher.

  Where her sales exploded recently was with the pandemic as women readers were looking for escapist fiction and were introduced to her on Tik Tok and Instagram. Her recent release — House of Flame and Shadow — sold more than 360,000 copies in the US in its first week. To date Bloomsbury has sold more than 40mn copies of her books.

  She was born 5 March 1986 in New York and is a Sun in Pisces with Jupiter and Venus also in Pisces. With her Saturn, Mars, Uranus in Sagittarius in a variety of squares to her Pisces planets; plus a confident and successful Jupiter trine Pluto sextile Neptune.

  She sounds a notch above E.L. James with her sensationalist sleazy Fifty Shades of Grey though they both have Sun and Jupiter in creative, imaginative Pisces and have Venus Mars hard aspects which can create a robustly sexual approach. More blatant with EL James since she has Mars in Leo opposition Venus in Aquarius.  

  When 9/11 happened the transiting Saturn opposition Pluto was square Sarah Maas’s Pisces Sun and hitting on her Sagittarius planets giving her life an almighty jolt; with her Solar Arc Uranus Mars in a panicky, highly strung conjunction to her Neptune sending her off into fantasy land.

  When the pandemic struck in 2020 the transiting Saturn Pluto conjunction in Capricorn was conjunct her SA Mars Uranus; her SA Pluto was conjunct her Saturn and tr Uranus was opposition her Pluto.

  Difficult influences don’t always spell disaster.

‘I dedicate this award to every child in care, or who has been in care and who didn’t survive’ was the heart-wrenching declaration of actress Samantha Morton as she was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship at the weekend.  After unlikely beginnings she has had an award-strewn career with recent credits for The Walking Dead, Harlots, Rillington Place and Fantastic Beasts.

  Born 13 May 1977, no birth time, Nottingham, England, she had eight siblings and after her parents split up when she was two, she lived with her violent alcoholic father. Aged eight, she was placed with several foster families, then in a children’s home, where she was abused. She has managed to rise above it all, explaining ‘I had the most magical, feral childhood as well as some of the horrible stuff happening. When I was little… I would do anything for a laugh. The world is tough enough. We have got to smile and invite the light in.’

  She is a Sun Taurus with a Fire Grand Trine of an enthusiastic Mars Venus in Aries trine Saturn in Leo trine Neptune, formed into a talented Kite by Neptune opposition Jupiter in Gemini – making ever-optimistic and lucky Jupiter the leading planet. Her Jupiter sextile Mars Venus also forms a yod inconjunct Uranus in Scorpio – such a Uranian yod suits her for an unconventional path in life allowing her independent-minded high spirits free rein with at times defiant, wilful acting out.  When she first had her epiphany at 13 that acting was her destiny tr Pluto was conjunct her Solar Arc Uranus triggering her yod into gear.

  Clearly life has not been as easy as she makes it sound with her Venus Mars opposition Pluto hinting at brushes with violence. But her confidence and optimism saw her through.

 Skipping down the Times obituaries today I noticed a Burma Road survivor from World War Two, who stayed alive through four gruelling years of torture and starvation as a Japanese POW, coming home weighing six stone. He died at 104 and it always amazes me how people such as him who suffered such health-damaging experiences manage to hang on to a ripe old age. Jack Jennings, 10 March 1919, was a Sun Pisces but he had Mars and Venus in Aries like Samantha Moreton trine Neptune in Leo with Saturn also in Leo; and a Jupiter Pluto conjunction in Pisces square his Aries planets.  Fire plus Jupiter definitely helps.

Years ago giving an astrology lecture on child abuse while the aftermath of the Fred West horrors were still fresh, one astrologer in the audience pointed out that the West children who survived had strong Jupiters and the one who ended up under the patio didn’t. Jupiter can be a life saver.

  I was touched by Samantha Morton’s dedication to those in care who did not survive. It reminded me of a boy I saw during training on a psychiatric emergency intake ward. He looked 12 but was 17, had been in the care system since birth, bounced around several times with the only foster mother he was attached to committing suicide, and ended up at 14 as a child prostitute in Piccadilly. He was mentally retarded (as known then) and had AIDs. Since this was the 1980s he was going to die. Over the years it has stuck in my mind as the worst thing I ever saw – no choices, no chances, a life of misery, disappointment and abuse and dead before he left his teens. Astrology has no real answers to these kinds of stories and certainly neither does religion.

  But all power to Samantha Morton for reminding the world of those who lacked a safety net either internal or external.