Moby – undone by an idle boast

 

Musician Moby has cancelled the book tour for his memoir after his claim of dating Nathalie Portman when she was 18 and he was in his thirties was disputed by her. She described him as a creepy old man at the time.

Born 11 September 1965 (same day as Bashar Assad, the  Syrian dictator) he had a fractured and sad childhood with his feather dead at two after a drunk driving crash, his mother poor and living in junkies’ squats some of the time and sexually abused by a daycarer. He’s a vegan and animal rights activist and has been fairly celibate for most of his adult life. His name comes from Moby Dick since Herman Melville is supposed to be an ancestor.

He’s a Sun, Pluto, Uranus in Virgo opposition Saturn square North Node in Gemini – a fairly chaotic personality, scattered, highly-strung; with a tricky Mars Neptune in Scorpio trine Saturn and sextile his Virgo planets. Not an easy or a happy chart. His Venus in Libra is in an indulgent trine to Jupiter so will have his lighter-hearted moments.

He is certainly not a good fit with Nathalie Portman whose Gemini Sun is square and her Virgo Moon conjunct his Sun, Pluto and Uranus.

Their relationship chart has a chilly composite Moon opposition Saturn with Saturn in an aggravated trine to Mars and sextile Uranus.  Tr Uranus was square the composite Sun when this storm in a teacup brewed up.

He’s sinking at the moment with tr Neptune opposing his Sun and Pluto and will continue to be at a low ebb through 2020 as well.

Dustin Black & Tom Daley – an Air sign match

 

Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black who two years ago married Olympic diver Tom Daley and had a surrogate baby has been talking of his Mormon childhood and fear of being gay. He was born 19 June 1974 2.32 pm Sacramento, California, with his father leaving his polio-stricken mother early on, his first stepfather being violent and living within a Texas military community – not an easy environment and it made him dumb for several years.

He has an Air Grand Trine of a 9th house campaigning and communicative Gemini Sun trine an Aquarius Moon trine Uranus in Libra in his 1st house; with his Sun opposition a Sagittarius Node, plugging him into the zeitgeist. His Sun is also in an expansive square to Jupiter in Pisces which is counter-balanced by a tough, unyielding Saturn conjunct his midheaven square Pluto. His influential Pluto is further amplified being on the focal point of a mini Grand Trine to a showbizzy Mars in entertaining Leo trine Neptune. Not short of determination or confidence.

On the surface he’s quite like Tom Daley, 21 May 1994, who also (probably) has an Air Sun and Moon – Gemini and Libra. Though it’s not the easiest connection with Daley’s Venus in Cancer being conjunct Black’s Saturn and square his Pluto;  and Daley’s Uranus opposing Black’s Mars – in some ways fairly blocked emotionally and also volatile.

Their relationship chart has a needs-space composite Sun Mars Venus opposition Uranus Moon – so two strong individuals who won’t find it easy to compromise. Plus a chained-together Saturn opposition Pluto. There is a stabilising Jupiter trine Saturn but it’s not the most intuitive of matches.

Jodie Comer & Phoebe Waller-Bridge – talent plus

 

Actress Jodie Comer is flying high at the moment after a BAFTA Best Actress win for playing the psychopathic assassin Villanelle in the first series of BBC America’s Killing Eve, now showing in season two.

She was born 11 March 1983 in Liverpool and started appearing in TV drama from her mid teens onwards, building up to lead roles in Lady Chatterley, Doctor Foster, Rillington Place and The White Princess.

She has a Sun in filmic Pisces trine Pluto sextile a highly-strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn. She also has a Cardinal Grand Square of Venus in Aries opposition Jupiter square Mars in Cancer opposition Uranus Neptune – so highly restless, volatile, spilling over with initiative, inclined to be impulsive and over-reactive.

She swears by the show’s writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who’s also on a roll with an exceptionally popular comedy drama series Fleabag just finished showing as well. Phoebe, 14 July 1985 London, is multi-talented being an actress, playwright and screenplay writer. She has a feisty Sun Mars in Cancer in a hard-working trine to Saturn in conscientious Scorpio with a Moon Venus in Gemini opposition Uranus and trine Jupiter. Quite a split personality with a hard-driving side and an indulgent, light hearted streak.

Phoebe’s Sun Mars are conjunct Jodie’s Uranus Neptune which is a sparky cross over; with Phoebe’s Saturn conjunct Jodie’s Pluto which is helpful for dark joint enterprises, a touch heavy for 24/7 togetherness.

Quentin Tarantino – back in his groove

 

Quentin Tarantino has returned to Pulp Fiction top form according to critics of his latest Once Upon a Time in Hollywood which was premiered at Cannes this week. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw described it as “entirely outrageous, disorientating, irresponsible, and also brilliant”. Leo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt appear to be an inspired pairing as leads in a flamboyant take on 1969 Tinseltown prior to the Manson murders of Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski’s pregnant wife, and others.

Tarantino was born 27 March 1963 in Texas with no birth time sadly since it’s a chart that really needs the anchor of an axis. He’s a fiery Sun Mercury in Aries trine Mars in entertaining Leo; and a Taurus Moon. With a creative Neptune square Saturn in Aquarius; and his Sun Mercury inconjunct Uranus Pluto; with Venus in Aquarius opposition Uranus. Not a man who looks very settled in his own skin.

There isn’t the violence portrayed in his movies much reflected in his chart so it must be down to houses. Although I suppose a Taurus Moon square Mars and trine Pluto Uranus would give him a leaning in that direction.

His creative 5th Harmonic is strong, confident and inclined towards violent subjects with a Sun, Mars, Saturn Grand Trine; and his even more creative 7th Harmonic is similarly inclined. He does have a marked super-star 22H as well.

Suranne Jones – suited to dark roles

Suranne Jones who plays ‘Gentleman Jack’ Anne Lister in the BBC drama has a penchant for dark roles. She was much commended for her portrayal of the betrayed Doctor Foster and before that as a murdereress in Unforgiven, as well as doing a five year run of the detective series Scott & Bailey.

Born 27 August 1978 in Manchester she has an eye-brow raising chart with a downbeat, overly conscientious exact Sun Saturn conjunction in Virgo and an exact ultra-determined and intense Mars Pluto conjunction in Libra with Venus close by. She was brought up Roman Catholic and acquired a phobia because of fear of the stigmata and was bullied at school.

Her Mercury in entertaining Leo is trine Neptune and sextile Mars, Pluto and Venus, which will give her a powerful charisma as well as deep frustrations and fears.

Next year looks a touch sticky with her Sun Saturn moving by Solar Arc to sit on top of her Mars Pluto. Though she’s already been through the mill in recent years with tr Pluto square tr Uranus also hitting on her Mars, Pluto, Venus.

Although her chart is fairly dissimilar to Anne Lister (see post 20th May) the latter’s hard-edged Mars Saturn in Aries will ring enough bells to give her an understanding of the character, who was also an outsider at school.

Nigel Farage – counting his chickens

 

Nigel Farage is understandably ebullient about the Brexit Party in the UK taking first place in the European elections and getting voluble about repeating the trouncing of other parties at a General Election. Though standing back it’s obvious that the UK is no clearer about what it wants with the Lib Dems and Greens combined (mainly Remainers/pro second voters) easing ahead of no-deal Brexiters as results are counted. And Scotland indicating a resounding no to Brexit. The Tories and Labour both paid the penalty of fence sitting.

In Europe itself the far-right didn’t make as much headway as the doom and gloom merchants had expected; and although the two traditional left and right blocs lost, the pro-EU parties held ground with Greens and Liberals making gains.

Farage, 3 April 1964 Farnborough, England 4.30pm (from memory) doesn’t have anything too startling showing on his chart apart from tr Jupiter opposition his Solar Arc Jupiter which is upbeat but very mild.

Where he starts to sag badly is from mid August to late September and again February 2020 tr Neptune conjunct his Mars/Saturn which Ebertin describes as ‘waning powers, a grievous loss’ – which may be the campaign finance question rearing their head or another of his shoot-himself-in-the-foot moments to which he’s prone. Then into 2020 from April onwards, he picks up more Neptune and that runs on in various forms until 2023 which all looks swampy. Late this August to early November he does have a bullishly confident tr Pluto square his Sun/Jupiter midpoint though that can also bring tangles with authority over rules transgressions.

We don’t seem to have budged an inch in three years.

Cher – another Taurus who just keeps trucking

Cher is still going strong after six decades at the top with an extravagant career behind her of top selling albums and singles, multiple awards for movie and Broadway performances and visibility as a fashion icon. Most recently she was in the Mamma Mia, Her We Go Again film and released a successful Abba album on the back of it. She’s got a handful of projects on the go for the next two years.

Born 20 May 1946 7.25 am El Centro, California, she had a fractured childhood with a not-very-successful actress mother who married several times and Cher ran away to Los Angeles at 16 determined on becoming famous.

She has an 11th house Sun and Mercury in earthy and enduring Taurus with a Capricorn Moon.  Two things stand out in her chart – one is a ferociously determined Mars Pluto in Leo on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine to an adventurous Uranus trine Jupiter; and the other is an emphasised Jupiter on the point of a Cardinal T Square to the Moon opposition Saturn.

A father with gambling and drug problems left his Mars Pluto mark although he disappeared early on, which provided a drive to make money. And her less than nurturing Moon Saturn mother provided the initiative to create success and security for herself.

She’s in a tough year with tr Pluto opposing her Saturn and into 2020 will suffer a setback from Solar Arc Sun conjunct her 2nd house Pluto so it may be financial. But she doesn’t look like giving up anytime soon.

Her creative 5th and 7th harmonics are strong as are her influencer 17H and 22H.

No 10 the revolving door – who next?

 

The day that we thought would never come – Theresa May’s departure is finally settled, amidst tears, a few compliments and more brickbats for a failed term as prime minister. The timeline for the leadership contest appears to be: kick off June 10 with handfuls of candidates who are whittled down by Tory parliamentary MP votes to two or four, who are then put forward to the membership, who should produce a winner before the summer recess so circa mid-July.

The only thing that is clear is that the initial in-house phase will be brutal with Mars in Cancer opposition Saturn on June 14th and then Mars opposition Pluto a few days later – high tension, aggravated tempers, ruthless ambition on display.  Then early in July the Cancer Solar Eclipse is conjunct the UK Sun for a mood of heightened tension and a sense of impending crisis.

A quick scan down the top hopefuls – with the usual caveats of nearly all having no birth time so missing information; and also to be remembered, some who appear cheerful/successful may be seeing their best buddy into No 10 and are therefore in line for a good job, rather than winning the poisoned chalice themselves.

Boris tops the public polls, though not amongst his Westminster colleagues who appear to seriously dislike him. Being a front runner isn’t always a good thing or a sign of first past the post. From July 10th onwards he has an exceptionally trapped and frustrated tr Pluto opposition his Mars/Pluto midpoint which doesn’t sound uplifting; with some jitter and jangle before that but nothing too noteworthy, except for tr Uranus trine his Solar Arc midheaven (birth time being accurate) which suggests a change of career direction.

The ones who have a sprinkling of Jupiter are:

Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, surprisingly, looks in bouncing form at the moment into early June, and again in July with transits to two Jupiter midpoints through till September. Seems unlikely but he’s feeling good whatever the result.

Jeremy Hunt has a fair amount of tension and panic but also one mild Pluto transit to a Jupiter midpoint from July 10th onwards plus emotional excitement and change – later in the year from mid August is less confidence-boosting.

Liz Truss has one boost in June.

Penny Mordaunt – had it come a month earlier she’d have been in with a real chance with strong Pluto transits to two Jupiter midpoints and although their shadow will be around, the exact aspect is gone until early next year.

Michael Gove has some lucky break Uranus aspects to two Jupiter midpoints though they are mild and may not balance out other aggravated and trapped influence running at the same time.

Others:

Sajid Javid: Not standing on solid ground, hopes dashed, a Neptunian dip.

Amber Rudd: undermined, confused, stuck.

Andrea Leadsom: overly intense, upset, blocked.

Dominic Raab: Nothing illuminating showing.

Rory Stewart: In general a swampy year and no hints of elevation.

Rocketman – with a jet-fuelled manager ** + Furnish

Elton John’s rise from small-town boy to one of the most iconic figures in pop culture is the subject of the musical fantasy movie about his breakthrough years. Jamie Bell who shot to fame in Billy Elliot plays Elton’s longtime lyricist and writing partner Bernie Taupin. And Bodyguard’s Richard Madden plays Elton’s first manager, John Reid, with whom he had a spectacular falling out years back.

Reid managed Elton for almost 30 years since 1970 and was his lover for five years in the 1970s. Described by Rolling Stone as “small and short fused”, he worked initially for EMI on Tamla Mowtown and managed Queen for three years. He was a veritable dynamo and a tough negotiator as well as a lover of the high life and bad tempered when things didn’t go his way. But he remained loyal even after they split romantically and only parted company in an argument over commission and touring expenses which ended in an unseemly court battle that Elton eventually lost.

Reid, born 9 September 1949 8.35 am Paisley, Scotland, has a 12th house Sun Saturn in Virgo as befits a behind-the-scenes organiser; though with am ambitious and flamboyant 10th house Mars in Leo and an innovative Uranus on his midheaven.

He was a good fit with Elton having his 7th house Aries Moon conjunct Elton’s Sun; and both have their respective Moon’s in the other’s 8th house for a deep (and financial) connection. In both case their Moons were trine the other’s Saturn, – good for business. Elton’s Venus in Aquarius chimes with Reid’s Venus in Libra. So a good many pluses. But there were also difficulties with Elton’s Saturn conjunct Reid’s Mars and Elton’s Mars opposition Reid’s Saturn Sun – so major aggravations and unkindesses.

Their relationship chart has a needs-space though inventive composite Sun Uranus in an adventurous, risk-taking opposition to a frivolously indulgent Venus Jupiter conjunction. That opposition was sextile/trine a stabilising Saturn; though Saturn was also in a destructive square to Mars, so there would always been an underlying current of irritation and anger.

Reid has largely disappeared out of sight in recent years while Elton is playing the longest goodbye tour ever for three years.

Rocketman has had semi-OK reviews as it launches. Pop veteran Mike Batt has hit out with criticism that the film was vengeful and dishonest, a settling of old scores by Elton and his husband David Furnish, especially against John Reid and Elton’s late mother who took Reid’s side in the dispute.

David Furnish, 25 October 1962, is quite an odd match for Elton having a Sun and two other planets in Scorpio. Like Reid he has Mars in Leo in his case opposition Saturn which clashes with Elton’s Saturn Pluto and squares Elton’s Moon – so not the easiest of connections. And Furnish’s Pluto opposes Elton’s Mars. Lot of anger wrapped up in there.

The relationship chart is also not dissimilar to the Reid/Elton one with a needs-space composite Sun opposition Uranus (maybe Moon) and an aggravated, power-struggling Mars square Pluto.

Word on the street is that everything in their garden isn’t too rosy but it’s more difficult to split with children now in the mix.