Guatemala’s most violent volcanic eruption in more than a century has killed at least at least 40 people with many injured and whole villages still remaining unaccounted for. Fuego, about 40km (25 miles) south-west of the capital Guatemala City, spewed rock, gas and ash into the sky.

The January Lunar Eclipse set for Guatemala did have Mars in Sagittarius on the MC; with the Solar Arc Mars and MC on the Guatemala 15 September 1821 8.06am chart being triggered exactly by the same Lunar Eclipse.

The country chart has tr Uranus trine Neptune and trine the Uranus/Neptune midpoint, which combination is often associated with quakes or volcanoes. It’s in a fraught and highly changeable few years with tr Uranus opposing the Jupiter in Aries and trine Uranus through this year into early 2019 as well: and tr Pluto moving to square the MC from 2019 onwards.

The volcano chart does have the explosive Mars square Uranus in a T Square to the North Node. Though the previous 1902 Guatemala Santa Maria volcano didn’t have anything similar. It occurred on Pluto in Gemini opposition Uranus in Sagittarius.

Looking back to the most destructive volcanoes of past centuries: three happened during Uranus in Sagittarius, one Uranus in Virgo and two Uranus in Aries. One had a Neptune square Pluto which brings devastation and is often associated with natural disasters: one a Uranus Neptune; another Uranus Pluto; Uranus Pluto tied into Saturn Neptune.

Uranus in Taurus didn’t oversee any of the major eruptions in historical record. Vesuvius/Pompeii was on a Uranus in Pisces – so Mutability is a generally though not always a factor.

Fox News Channel has now beaten every other network in cable for 23 months straight, based on total day ratings; with CNN’s viewership down 25 percent in primetime and 20 percent down in day time compared 2017.

Fox launched 7 October 1996 6pm New York which puts Jupiter in Capricorn in the 10^th square a 7^th house Libra Sun; with a flamboyant Moon Mars in Leo in the entertaining 5^th. Solar Arc Neptune will oppose its Mars, except in 6 months’ time, which may take the shine off; with a discouraging tr Saturn conjunct the Jupiter till late year and then square the Sun in 2019. Though tr Saturn through the 10^th can be consolidating. Where it looks fairly devastated is by 2020 when tr Pluto will conjunct the Neptune.

CNN, 1 June 1980 5pm New York, is labouring through sticky times with tr Pluto square Pluto and trine Saturn till late 2019; with a blocked Solar Arc Sun square Pluto in fifteen months’ time; and a catastrophic Solar Arc Mars conjunct Pluto by 2021. So its decline doesn’t look like being reversed.  The CNN Saturn does square his Gemini Sun and Sagittarius Moon, so no surprises they point out his flaws and he retaliates with ‘fake news.’

The other ‘fake news’ target is The Washington Post, which has been relentlessly anti-Trump, causing him to attack the owner, Amazon Jeff Bezos.  It launched on 6 December 1877 and is a Sun, Mercury in Sagittarius in a serious square to Saturn in Pisces. The WP Mars in Pisces squares Trump’s Sun and Moon and the WP Pluto is exactly on Trump’s midheaven – so a mighty and angry battle for control.

This year has Solar Arc conjunct Neptune which isn’t great for a business; with tr Neptune square the Sun till late year, ditto. But there will be a moment of jubilation and relief as their Solar Arc Jupiter squares Uranus at some point this year.  Tr Pluto will trine the WP Pluto in 2020/2021 will see them exerting their influence.

MSNBC has been putting on viewers and now stands just below Fox in ratings. Launched 15 July 1996 at 7.15am New York, it has a 12^th house New Moon Mercury in Cancer and a Fire/Water Grand Trine of Saturn in Aries trine Pluto trine Mercury; with Mercury opposition Neptune Uranus. The Cancer fits the American chart and spirit, the Saturn Pluto gives endurance; Uranus Neptune fits new technology.

They’re on a lucky roll this year with Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct Uranus; and their New Moon just across the Ascendant into their 1^st house for more visibility. September/October this year look muddled with plans not working out; 2019/2020 will ramp up the pressure on them with tr Pluto opposing the Sun as well as Moon; and an enthusiasm-dampening tr Saturn conjunct Jupiter just before this December; but they’ve also got more luck and success from tr Pluto conjunct Jupiter/Uranus in 2019/2020. 2020/2021 looks muddled with some chaos, maybe scandals getting in the way.

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My Friend Dahmer, starring Anne Heche, tracks the teenage years of the Milwaukee Monster, Jeffrey Dahmer, whose subsequent career involved the murder and dismemberment of 17 young men from 1978 to 1991.  Adapted from a graphic-novel memoir by John Backderf, one of his former classmates, it portrays a damaged mind in free-fall. Heche plays his mother Joyce, who was depressive, neglectful, addicted to prescription drugs and suffered a nervous breakdown during his childhood.

Dahmer, who was killed in prison in 1994 by another inmate, was born 21 May 1960 4.34 pm Milwaukee, WI and had an 8^th house Sun, Mercury in Gemini square Pluto; with an Aries Moon square Saturn and trine a 10^th house Uranus; and an afflicted Mars in Aries square Jupiter and Saturn in Capricorn and on the focal point of a wide-ish Yod to Pluto sextile Neptune. Neither parent did him any favours and he certainly wasn’t in control of his aggression. His ‘serial killer’ 18^th Harmonic has Mars Saturn conjunct the MC.

Ann Heche, herself is no stranger to a dysfunctional family. Born 25 May 1969 4.51pm Cleveland, Ohio, she describes her mother as having created “a well of disaster in her life”. She was the youngest of five, with her ‘religious’ family constantly on the move, dodging demands for unpaid rent. Her father, a part-time church pianist had a series of secret homosexual relationships and sexually abused Heche for the first 12 years of her life. He died of Aids when she was 13: three months later, her elder brother died in a car accident, believed to be suicide; an elder sister died of brain cancer; a second sister died in infancy; a third, Abigail, she has reconciled with after years of estrangement. Her mother she no longer talks to.

She has an 8^th house Sun Gemini like Dahmer, so there must have been a resonance.  Her Sun Mercury are in a go-ahead opposition to Mars in Sagittarius with her Sun also opposition a filmic Neptune, and trine Uranus Jupiter in late Virgo. Her Virgo Moon in the 12^th is conjunct Pluto, Jupiter Uranus, sextile Neptune and inconjunct Venus. That’s a whole load of complication – and another bucketload of nervy Mutable planets.  The strongly populated and erratic 12^th house suggests a troubled mother during pregnancy with her. And she would have a good many demons to lay to rest.

Her adult life has not surprisingly been a roller coaster with a high, when she appeared to have Hollywood at her feet in the early 2000s with four blockbusters – Donnie Brasco, Volcano, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Wag the Dog. Then she fell in love with Ellen DeGeneres and the roles dried up. She split from DeGeneres after a few years, had a psychotic breakdown; and has worked her way slowly back up; having married actor James Tupper, now dissolved.

She does have Saturn in her 7^th along with Venus, so will find falling in love easy but what follows will be exceptionally hard work. Plus her complicated Moon aspects won’t help her to settle.

She will continue to rise in coming years.

Two charts with similarities though her Mars is much less prominent, but both with disastrous childhoods – yet one turned good and one very bad indeed.

Joshua Boyle, the Canadian held hostage by the Taliban for five years with his wife and their three children produced during their time in captivity, has been released on bail to his parents’ home. Two months after his return to Canada he faced 19 charges, including sexual assault, misleading police and making death threats. His wife Caitlin Coleman said his actions resulted from “the strain and trauma he was forced to endure for so many years;” and he has spent time since in a psychiatric facility being assessed.

It was always an odd story with questions about why they were backpacking through Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan before arriving in northern Afghanistan, when she was pregnant with their first child; her father called Boyle’s actions in taking her were ‘unconscionable’.

Boyle, born 24 August 1983 (net sources, Toronto Star), was evidently obsessed with terrorists and national security.

He’s a Sun Venus in Virgo squaring an adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius with a Pisces Moon.  If that is a T square then a Mutable focal point Jupiter is a wanderer, irresponsible; and a focal point Uranus is erratic, high-wired. His Jupiter Uranus are also in an impulsive trine to Mars in showy Leo. His Mercury in Virgo is square Neptune in Sagittarius, which again, despite the Virgo is impractical. Plus a tough-minded, stubborn Pluto conjunct Saturn in Scorpio.

His 7^th Harmonic is strongly aspected which can be finely balanced mentally – a seeking soul.

His wife, Caitlan Coleman, 2 November 1985, Stewartstown, PA (town hall records) is a Sun, Pluto in Scorpio opposition a Taurus North Node square Jupiter in Aquarius – intense, stubborn, determined, overly confident as well as being impressionable to control.  Both would have focal point Jupiters which relies heavily on luck rather than planning or practicality.  She has an adventurous Jupiter trine Mars, sextile Mercury; as well as a possible T Square of a Cancer Moon opposition Neptune square an assertive Mars in Libra. She’s not a shrinking violet, though is an odd mix of pro-active and unrealistic,  pushily-confident and easily trapped.

Her enthusiastic Mars and Mercury hook into her husband’s risk-taking, exuberant Jupiter Uranus; her Venus in Libra is in a passionate conjunction to his Pluto; her Jupiter opposes his Mars suggesting they’d egg each other on into unwise activities. But her Sun, Pluto is in a formidably difficult square to his Mars which was never going to end well.

Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus; but also a delusional, over-hopeful Jupiter Neptune tied into Mars, Mercury and Pluto –head-in-the-clouds optimism along with an underlying streak of darkness that attracted them to danger and risk.

The recovery from such experiences is long and difficult. She had Solar Arc Mars conjunct her Pluto two years back, which may be around the time she was raped by her captors; and that will resonate with her for the next few years as her Solar Arc Mars approaches her Sun. Her Solar Arc Saturn is in a high-anxiety and uncertain conjunction to her Neptune this year.

Pedro Sánchez, a former economics professor and rather dishy, has replaced Rajoy as Spanish PM. He’ll have an uphill battle to push through reforms with only 84 MPs out of 350.

Born 29 February 1972, Madrid, he’s a Sun Pisces opposition a Virgo Moon; with his Sun on the focal point of a Mutable T Square (maybe Grand Cross) to a Saturn opposition Neptune – very Mutable, overly adaptable, tends to get pushed around by the prevailing breeze. His more solidly rooted Mars in Taurus is in an enthusiastic trine to Jupiter, sextile his Sun; with Jupiter square Pluto – ego-centric, confident, pushy on occasion.

He’ll have the odd success this year but generally transits to his midpoints are dire through 2018 and possibly worse in 2029. So he may not last long.

He was sworn in at around 11 am (I think, anyone with an accurate time gratefully received). This gives roughly the same chart as Trump Trade Tariffs (see below|) – an unrealistic Water Grand Trine involving Neptune and an explosive Mars Uranus Node T Square. With, if time roughly accurate, Uranus in the 10^th so a roller-coaster ride.

In Egypt Al-Sisi was also sworn in today for a 2^nd Term, so similar aspects. [I do wish twitter would identify which time zone they put on posts since impossible to work out time.] Earlyish morning so maybe 10am.

Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister has lost a no-confidence vote and is gone with his replacement, Pedro Sanchez, due to be sworn in on Monday.

Rajoy has had two terms in office, the second overseeing an economic recovery and drop in unemployment, but he’s been dogged by the corruption scandals in his party. He was sworn in on 31 October 2016 which has a crisis-ridden and hostile Mars Pluto square Uranus, with tr Pluto now square the Uranus exactly – which is often when administrations tumble or leaders fall off their perch.

He has a formidably bullish and obstinate chart with a Mars (Moon) in Taurus opposition Saturn square Pluto in Leo, which was, I suspect, the reason why he handled the Catalan situation with such unyielding belligerence.  His Aries Sun has had the discouraging tr Saturn square this year, returning exactly within days; and more significantly his control-freaky T Square has moved by Solar Arc to collide with his Neptune square Jupiter Uranus – so throwing him into the worst crisis of his life.

The Spain 22 November 1975 12.45pm chart is labouring through sticky times ahead with a jolting tr Uranus square Saturn picking up from July onwards into 2019 which might suggest ruptured relations with neighbours. With a downbeat series of Saturn transits in 2019 to the Jupiter opposition Venus Pluto square Moon, so not a happy populace, or finances.

Roman Abramovitch, the Russian-Israeli billionaire, close to Putin, has had his UK visa delayed because of the push against Russian money; and is acquiring Israeli citizenship. He is best known in the UK as owner of Chelsea Football Club and his £1bn revamp of Chelsea’s stadium has been put on hold indefinitely which isn’t surprising.

Born 24 October 1966, Saratov, Russia he is a Sun Scorpio which is getting the tr Uranus opposition at the moment, bringing unexpected and unwelcome surprises. He’s also got his Solar Arc Sun around the square to his Uranus, for more of the same, so quite a jolting upheaval. With his Solar Arc Sun square his Saturn in 2019/2020 for a discouraging setback – and a tranche of disappointing, disastrous and loss-making Neptune transits to three Mars and one Jupiter midpoint till late 2019. Plus a ‘collision’ Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Sun in about a year’s time. So his life will be going through considerable turmoil.

Like the UK he has Jupiter in Leo and Neptune in Scorpio, so he wasn’t a bad fit. Though his Mars in Virgo does oppose the UK Pluto for a bitter power struggle. The relationship chart has a business-like composite Sun Mercury Pluto opposition Saturn, which is quite a locked-together connection. Though this year does look bad-tempered, blocked with some light relief from July onwards.

If the UK tosses out all the Russian money in London, it’ll go broke.

Another Trump shock and awe as he levies tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium from the EU, Canada and Mexico, who are all threatening retaliation. Past experience suggests such protectionism, as in Reagan era, costs jobs in US and pushes US prices up, hurting US consumers, never mind setting off an escalating trade war elsewhere. Even GOP stalwarts are alarmed.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) called it “bad news”.

Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said there is “mounting evidence that these tariffs will harm Americans.”

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) warned that similar policies 90 years ago sparked the Great Depression. He said: “This is dumb. Europe, Canada, and Mexico are not China, and you don’t treat allies the same way you treat opponents. ‘Make America Great Again’ shouldn’t mean ‘Make America 1929 Again.'”

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) “This is a big mistake. These tariffs will raise prices and destroy manufacturing jobs, especially auto jobs, which are one-third of all Tennessee manufacturing jobs. Tariffs are “basically higher taxes on American consumers.”

It was signed to start at midnight last night.

This aptly enough produces a self-protective, though usually divorced-from-reality Water Grand Trine of Jupiter in Scorpio trine Venus in Cancer trine Neptune in the 2^nd, formed into a Kite by Venus opposition a 12^th house Pluto (Moon Saturn) in Capricorn. Plus an explosive Mars on the Aquarius Ascendant opposition North Node in the 7^th square Uranus. So an unholy mix of an act of reckless machismo to shore up self-esteem; and some dubious behind-the-scenes-motives. Neptune in the 2^nd tied into the central configuration is not remotely hard-headed on the cash front, and Saturn in the 12^th isn’t practical.

At the moment Pluto is exactly conjunct the Mars/Saturn midpoint, which is destructive; Saturn is square the Sun/Mars and Uranus/Neptune midpoints which indicates setbacks and loses.  Could all be stoking up economic trouble as tr Saturn opposes the US Jupiter Venus this year and the Sun in 2019 at the same time as a fairly devastating tr Pluto trine the US Neptune picking up.

It’ll also have a damaging effect on steel jobs in the EU, UK and elsewhere.

‘If you had been, say, in a coma or on the international space station since 2014, and you had woken up to today’s pictures of Kim Kardashian West discussing prison reform in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump… well, you’d be forgiven for raising an eyebrow and promptly blasting back in the direction of Mars.’ (Clare Cohen, Telegraph).

To be fair, KK was trying to do something laudable in pleading for a woman prisoner, inside for two decades, for a non-violent first offence in a drugs case. But it was bizarre. Two reality stars meet on the most hallowed of ground .

KK’s Jupiter midheaven in Virgo square Trump’s Sun and Moon so a fair amount of mutual morale boosting there; plus her Pluto is conjunct his 2^nd house Jupiter which will also up the heat, making both feel like part of a power couple. Though her Uranus is square his Mars so it would be explosive if they were trapped in the same space for long. Their relationship chart has a business-like composite Sun, Saturn, Venus so not wonderfully warm but might produce results. Though there are tr Neptune oppositions running so maybe yes, maybe no.

KK is in a phase of her life with tr Saturn moving below her Ascendant, when she’s backing away from her previous high-profile ambitions and rethinking her life for several years. Her Solar Arc Neptune is square her Sun at the moment which will raise her idealism but also bring a few muddles. She’s getting a boost come July with tr Uranus opposition her Mars/Jupiter midpoint; though 2019 looks less wonderful.