Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican treasurer and the Church’s third most powerful official, has been found guilty of sexual offences in Australia. He abused two choir boys in the rooms of a Melbourne cathedral in 1996, a jury found; he pled not guilty. He will face sentencing hearings this week and has lodged an appeal.

He was born three days after billionaire Robert Kraft caught in a Florida prostitution bust (see post below 23 February) on 8 June 1941 and has the same Gemini Sun square Mars in Pisces in his case with Mars opposition Neptune, forming an ego-centric and scattered T Square.

Pell’s Sun is on the same degree as the Vatican’s Gemini Sun so he’s a good fit; with the Vatican’s indulgent Jupiter in Taurus conjunct his Uranus.

Tr Neptune is in a panicky-failure conjunction to his Mars exactly now, moving on to an undermining square to his and the Vatican Gemini Sun in March and again into January 2020.

Pope Francis’s Saturn in Pisces is exactly square Pell and the Vatican’s Sun so he will be critical but apparently incapable of making a credible dent in the abusive-priest problem.

See post on Pope Francis February 7 2019

Odd how similar charts always seem to turn up together.

Geniuses rarely make for amiable human beings and Leo Tolstoy, whose towering achievements in writing War and Peace and Anna Karenina, which remain two of the world’s best-known novels, was no exception. His wife’s diaries published a few years back tell of a cruel and difficult man, indifferent to his family, endlessly critical, who forced his wife to breastfeed all 13 of their children despite the agony it caused her.

Despite being suicidal (and homicidal) at times, she helped him with his novels, copying out War and Peace several times. Indeed it has been said she was pivotal to his success as a novelist. She wrote: “If he had one iota of the psychological understanding which fills his books, he would have understood the pain and despair I was going through. I am to gratify his pleasure and nurse his child, I am a piece of household furniture.”  She loved his talent and loathed the man.

When he married aged 34, he presented his 16 year old bride with his diaries, recording his multiple past sexual liaisons with prostitutes and servants.

Born 9 September 1828 GC 10.52 pm(unverified) Tula, Russia, he had a New Moon and Mercury in Virgo in his 4^th house, so was a communicator though also self-sufficient with all of Virgo’s nit-picky tendencies at home.  He also had ambitious and argumentative Mars conjunct Neptune in his 7^th house of marriage which was trine his Sun and more significantly square a control-freak 10^th house Pluto, suggesting a need to dominate and possibly also a need to undermine a marriage partner to whom he was not fully committed. He would be driven by anger and frustration. His Venus was conjunct a cold Saturn both in wannabe-important Leo and both in an unyielding, bleak trine to Pluto. Venus combined with Saturn Pluto can have leanings to perversion, which would be amplified by his Uranus in the 8^th, giving him a need for sexual experimentation.  His Uranus was also in a can-be-domineering and autocratic opposition to Saturn and Venus. A very complicated man emotionally. His mother died when he was two and his father at nine and he was brought up by relatives.

Sophia Tolstoya 22 August 1844 JC (OS) Moscow, was also a Sun Virgo, in her case conjunct Mars, with a Taurus Moon. Her Uranus Jupiter were conjunct his 10^th house Pluto so her vitality would be instrumental in helping in his career. Though her Saturn was in his 8^th conjunct his Uranus. Her Venus in Cancer was conjunct his Saturn. So they blocked each other out emotionally and sexually.

Their relationship chart was eye-blinkingly difficult with a cruel-treatment composite Mars opposition Saturn square Venus opposition Neptune – very one sided, with one partner being used as a doormat plus all the uncommitted Neptunian stuff plus an insensitive Mars Venus. There was also a Yod of composite Sun sextile Node inconjunct Pluto – suggesting a transformative and important relationship which changed both of their lives irrevocably.

There were no choices in those days for women but it sounds like the narcissist trap – too exciting to leave, too bad to stay.

Doreen Virtue, a hugely lucrative brand name in the angel and tarot cards publishing market had an epiphany at a church service in 2017, saw Jesus and gave up the New Age in favour of religious teachings.

She was born 29 April 1958 1am? Burbank, California, into a Christian Scientist family, had clairvoyant experiences from childhood, speaking to spirits; and has been married and divorced four times.

She has a Taurus Sun opposition Neptune conjunct her Scorpio MC square Uranus in her 7^th.  Uranus Neptune can be fairly fanatical in beliefs which are not always conventional. Uranus in the 7^th is a pointer to multiple relationships. Her 8^th house Pluto and Virgo Moon would put her in touch with the realms beyond surface reality.

Neptune in the 9^th conjunct Midheaven makes sense of a psychic/spiritual career. She’s also got an entrepreneurial Fire Grand Trine of Pluto in the hidden 8^th trine Saturn in can-be-religious Sagittarius trine Mercury in Aries, with Mercury opposition Jupiter in the 9th, forming  into a talented Kite.  So all that heavyweight Saturn Pluto fiery energy is being pushed into publishing (9^th) and communication (3^rd). She’s also got an ambitious-for-money Mars in her 2^nd house of personal finances opposition Pluto in the business chart area. Her chart is a curious mix of deeply hidden and materialistic.

When she had her revelation on 7 January 2017, there was a strong Jupiter opposition Uranus square an exact Sun Pluto conjunction which would be both uplifting and heavily pressured. She was coming up to her Second Saturn Return which is a challenging time. More significantly her Solar Arc Pluto was just over the conjunction to her 9^th house Jupiter which could have prompted an outpouring of belief; with tr Jupiter moving through her religious 9^th about to conjunct both. And tr Saturn was conjunct her Solar Arc Jupiter pointing her in a more serious and/or conventional direction. Though she is continuing to market – with religious tracts and cards.

She’ll have more major changes to negotiate in 2020 with tr Uranus conjunct her Sun and square her Uranus.

Her birth time is questionable or at least not accurate to the minute so there may have been transits to the axis as well at the time.

The new BBC Scotland channel launches tonight at 7pm with plans for a nightly news hour and Question Time style series, a raft of new documentaries and hundreds of hours of newly-commissioned shows, including drama. It will have an initial budget of £32m with a plan for 50% original content and 50% repeats in a channel that reflects modern Scotland.

The Director of Programmes says it isn’t about numbers (audience) but success over time. Although it’ll be difficult to justify it if the numbers aren’t there long term.

The chart has a hard-working, low key 6^th house Pisces Sun, with a creative though overly-hopeful, indecisive and scattered T Square onto a focal point Neptune and Mercury in Pisces. Venus Pluto in the 5^th will help with the drama output; though an explosive and frustrated Uranus Mars in the financial/emotional 8^th does suggest a fair few problems ahead. With Pluto square Uranus indicating rolling changes (crises).

It’s an ambitious project with plenty of goodwill behind it, but it may take a fair while before it settles into a confident run.

Billionaire Robert Kraft, owner of NFL New England Patriots and long-time buddy of Donald Trump has been caught in a prostitution bust as part of a human-trafficking sting operation. Also nabbed were a former Citigroup president, a president of a Florida Boys and Girls Club, and three former law enforcement officers. Kraft was named on on a list of 25 men facing charges of soliciting prostitution at a Jupiter, Florida massage parlour called Orchids of Asia. The spa was among 10 closed by authorities after a months-long investigation found women there were in “sexual servitude”.

What a very weird story. With his money you’d think he’d have better protection and more sense. Though his lawyers are firmly denying any illegal activity on his part.

Born 5 June 1941 7.14 pm Brookline, Massachusetts, he has a partnership-oriented 7^th house Gemini Sun in a feisty square to Mars in Pisces. His Jupiter in Gemini is conjunct his Descendant giving him social charm and confidence and is in an upbeat sextile to Pluto. An imaginative sand philanthropic Neptune on his midheaven is in an innovative trine to Uranus Saturn in money-minded Taurus. His Libra Moon in the friendly 11^th is trine Venus in social-butterfly Gemini.

He looks on edge and insecure at the moment, though there’s some relief showing up into March; but thereafter it’s a bumpy year with panic and uncertainty extending into and worsening 2020.

His what-brings-pleasure 9^th Harmonic is strongly aspected.  And even more so is his rise-and-fall 10^th Harmonic.

Charles Dickens, renowned for his compassion for the poor, the suffering and the downtrodden, whose plight he exposed in his novels, appears to have been a good deal less saintly in his private life than his image suggested. Letters have emerged which tell the tale of how he tried to have his wife, mother of his ten children, committed to a mental asylum when she had lost her looks and he had started a long affair with an actress. The doctor in charge, a friend, refused to certify her and was called a ‘medical donkey’ by Dickens.

Born 7 February 1812 at 7.50pm Portsmouth, England, Dickens was sent to a blacking factory at 12 years old when he father was sent to debtors prison. Even after the father’s release he was left there.  He became a legal clerk, then a writer who soared to great success in England and the USA.

He was a cerebral Sun in Aquarius on the cusp of the hard-working 6^th house trine a successful Jupiter in Gemini in the 10^th. Communicative Mercury, ruler of his 10^th house of career, was in his entertaining 5^th house. He had a bleak Saturn in Capricorn in his 4^th house of childhood in a cruel-treatment square to feisty Mars in Aries in his 7^th. He did have a hard childhood which in turn seems to have made him uncaring about his own children.

His Sun was square an independent, rebellious Uranus in the 3^rd. His emotionally confused Moon Neptune was in square a passionate Venus Pluto in Pisces on the cusp of his 7^th.

With intense controlling Pluto and argumentative Mars in his 7^th house of relationships he was guaranteed to run into hostility in marriage.  And his relationship chart with his wife Catherine was truly terrible with a composite Mars Pluto trine Uranus, sextile Saturn in their relationship chart – so volcanic quantities of anger, bitterness and resentment.

Catherine, 19 May 1815, was a stalwart Sun Taurus sextile/trine a pushily-confident Pluto opposition Jupiter with a volatile Mars square Uranus. Her Saturn was conjunct his Sun which is cold and critical. Certainly not someone to be tramped underfoot. She’d give as good as she got.

His mistress Ellen Ternan, 3 March 1839, didn’t look easy either since she was a Sun Uranus in Pisces square Saturn in Sagittarius so would be erratic and highly strung.  But her Venus in Aries fell in his 7^th conjunct his Mars which would help to smooth rough edges. Her Sun Uranus was conjunct his Venus Pluto which would be instant attraction but a fair amount of upheaval thereafter. Her Neptune was conjunct his Sun which isn’t ideal though can give a spiritual or self-sacrificial bond. Her Saturn was conjunct his Moon which can block out nurturing feelings – so he couldn’t quite escape his 4^th house Saturn and his deprived childhood.

The Mueller Investigation looks to be coming to an end though according to those in the know is unlikely to bring closure but it may provide pointers – “a road map” – to further investigations by Congress and additional criminal proceedings by other prosecutors. Thus the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end.

Mueller, 7 August 1944, a controlled Sun Pluto in Leo, does have a sigh-of-relief tr Uranus trine his Jupiter from mid April for a few weeks and again across the New Year. So he’ll be pleased to lay down some of his burden. And at the moment till late March he has similar from tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter/Uranus midpoint, and that repeats till late 2020. However he’s also got the undermining tr Neptune opposition his Mars in Virgo in March and that repeats late in the year. So half boosted and half deflated.

His relationship chart with Trump looks edgy, jangled and discouraging at the moment; insecure from July and in a state of upheaval come 2020. So the repercussions will presumably roll on.

His relationship chart with William Barr, the new Attorney General, who has the job of deciding how much to make public, looks highly pressured and blocked from April onwards; and unsettled July to September; worse in 2020/21.

The Mueller Investigation chart, 17 May 2017 looks to be sagging more than somewhat through April onwards, but that could just be it closing up shop.

William Barr, 23 May 1950, over whom Trump is pouring treacle and honey to keep him sweet (he hopes) is an expansive  Gemini square Jupiter with a hard-working and serious Mars and Saturn in Virgo both trine a practical Mercury in Taurus. He’s trudging through thick mud now till late March; highly-strung and on edge in April and devastated May to mid August with a catastrophic tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Saturn midpoint – and that’s around into 2020 as well. He’s picked up the poisoned chalice and will have to run with it.

For Trump time line see post February 15.

If You Don’t Know Me is a docu-bio-pic about American soul singer, the late Teddy Pendergrass, who had a tumultuous life. He came to fame as lead singer with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, went solo and survived through the gangster-ridden Philadelphia music scene, which saw his manager murdered. He was a larger-than-life, virile personality with a glorious voice and then when he was 32 his life shuddered to a halt after a car crash irreparably damaged his spine and left him quadriplegic. A formidably strong mother and his three children dragged him back from suicide and he continued his solo career from a wheelchair with great success.

Born 26 March 1950 in South Carolina, he was an upfront, pro-active Sun Mercury North Node in Aries in an impulsive opposition to Mars in Libra in a volatile square to Uranus (Moon) in Cancer. Sun Mars Uranus would certainly make him reckless. His Venus in friendly Aquarius was in an indulgent conjunction to Jupiter and a confident opposition to Pluto.

There was surprisingly little happening on his chart at the time of the accident – 18 March 1982 (dates being sound) – when I’d have expected to see major Mars collisions. So presumably it would be the tr Saturn Pluto Mars in Libra hitting his midheaven or Ascendant. The only thing I could find was his Secondary Progressed Mars was exactly conjunct his accident-prone Mars/Saturn midpoint – but that’s fairly obscure and not something I’d have looked for in advance.

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The first three defectors from the Tory Party – Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen, Sarah Wollaston – timed their exit for maximum impact on Theresa May just before PMQ and (yet another) Brussels visit.

Soubry was trenchant in her criticism of Theresa May and her handling of Brexit. “I think she is in a bad place. I don’t mean this in a cruel way, but I think she is absolutely delusional about the situation that she and this country are in. I don’t think she is a bad person. I just don’t think she is awfully good at the job, to be honest. I thought she would be a really good safe pair of hands on the tiller. I think we now know that she had these two pretty ghastly special advisers who basically were the hands on the tiller. Without them she is absolutely all at sea.” Reassuring.

Soubry, 7 December 1956, is a Sun Sagittarius with an adventurous, opportunistic Mars in Aries opposition Jupiter square Mercury in Sagittarius – outspoken, overly-excitable. All the more so since her Mars is on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Pluto, so has lessons to learn about her overly-impulsive approach. She looks generally slumped this year with tr Neptune square her Sun and square her Mars/Pluto till late in the year. A few blips upwards cancelled out by major setbacks; with a generally disheartening outlook towards 2022/23.

Heidi Allen, 18 January 1975, is a late Sun Capricorn in a rebellious square to Uranus in Scorpio; and a tough-minded Saturn square Pluto. Again she’s sagging through this year with an underwhelming, dashed-hopes tr Neptune conjunct her Jupiter plus plus other disappointments.  Nothing much cheerful until 2022 onwards.

Sarah Wollaston, 17 February 1962, is an enthusiastic Sun Jupiter in Aquarius with her Sun conjunct Venus in Pisces and opposition Uranus – charming and rebellious; with a hard-edged Mars Mercury Saturn in Aquarius square Neptune. She looks blocked in at the moment, seriously jangled in June onwards with tr Uranus square her Saturn; with catastrophes in 2020. So not exactly on top of the world either.

Divorce in haste, repent at leisure.