Russia has backtracked saying it had no intention of targeting Poland as PM Donald Tusk said the Russian drones flying over Polish territory were the closest the country had been to war since then 1940s. Analysts say it not so much a strategically calculated attack as an experiment to see whether Poland and Nato are serious. In the event the response was swift and decisive, with Poland deploying jet fighters, missiles and electronic warfare systems in an unmistakable display of force, and Nato mobilising support aircraft from the United States, Italy and the Netherlands. Recent incursions into Nato airspace have affected Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and even Croatia.

NATO, 24 August 1949 11.42 am Washington, DC, is on alert at the moment with tr Uranus square the Virgo Sun with challenges mounting towards the year end into 2026 with Solar Arc Sun square the Pluto. Ominously the relationship chart between NATO and the Russia 8 December 1991 chart with a hostile Mars Pluto conjunction will be triggered by the upcoming Virgo Solar Eclipse conjunct the Mars exactly and tr Neptune Saturn moving to oppose both Mars and Pluto now and through 2026/27.  With a nerve-stretched tr Uranus square the composite Neptune over the winter and the February Eclipse catching the composite North Node.

 The Poland, 10 November 1918 chart, has its Solar Arc Neptune square Saturn now for a worrisome, uncertain moment; and the Mars in final degree Sagittarius is being squared the the Eclipse and tr Saturn Neptune over the winter as well for more insecurity.  The February 2026 Eclipse is also opposition the Poland Saturn for a time of heavy responsibility.

 Relations between Poland and Russia are edgy now into 2026 and more so towards the end of the decade.

  The risks of geography with troublesome neighbours.

Israel bombs Qatar, alarming Middle Eastern countries – Russia sends drones over Poland outraging NATO and western allies. All of which seems more redolent of the potentially violent March 2025 Aries Solar Eclipse than the upcoming late September low energy late Virgo one. It is a stretch but the March 2025 Solar Eclipse had Mars at 22 degrees Cancer and transiting Mars has now moved a quarter cycle to 22 degrees Libra. On past experience transiting Mars can be a trigger for later events marked up on the original Eclipse chart.

  The bombing of Hamas chiefs in Qatar, has probably killed any chance of saving the remaining hostages held in Gaza. The ceasefire talks with Hamas have been reduced to rubble, which might be what beleaguered Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had actually intended, with a fresh crisis helping his prospects of political survival. The Middle East itself is on the brink of conflict, wrecking the one great diplomatic achievement of Donald Trump’s first term in persuading Israel and Arab states to sign the Abraham Accords.

 The strike seems likely to have destroyed Qatar’s role as a mediator in the conflict. Qatari sources said the USA  promised them last month that Hamas officials would not be targeted on their territory.

What’s next?

  The ominous point (yet another) on the Israel chart is when tr Uranus squares the 10^th house Mars in Leo from 3^rd to 30^th December this year and again mid March to early April 2026. That is explosive, nerve-stretched, insecure and has a tendency to provoke rash over reactions. From mid February 2026 as well tr Pluto will start to oppose the Israel 10^th house Moon on and off till late 2027 which suggests a mutinous electorate.

 The late February 2026 Solar Eclipse also opposes the Israel Mars which could be a conflagration point.

 The Qatar chart 1 September 1971 12 am Doha, has Pluto in late Virgo catching the approaching Virgo Solar Eclipse and tr Neptune Saturn opposition over the winter; plus tr Uranus square the Midheaven and Mercury both at the same degree as the Israel Mars. Relations understandably will be downhill for several years ahead.

 Relationships with several Middle Eastern countries also indicate 2026 as a time of stress and reset/upheaval of relationships. The UAE/Israel relationship chart is showing signs of aggravation now and for the next three years with tr Uranus in hard aspect to the T square of Sun, Mars, Pluto. Relations which are toxic at the best of times are being blown apart. Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia all look in different ways unlikely to be shaking hands anytime soon with Israel.

 Hamas, 14 December 1987, is certainly done for with the Solar Arc Mars Pluto crossing its Sun Saturn conjunction, now and over the next two years which looks like annihilation but the mess left behind won’t sort quickly. Even the Arab countries disliked them but the Netanyahu response has won few friends.

“For what can war, but endless war, still breed?” John Milton

“An endless war against terrorism can tend to inflate the terrorists, because being at war is attractive to some angry, unemployed, disaffected youth.” Mary Robinson

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Sun Tzu

“War does not determine who is right – only who is left.” Bertrand Russell

Is France the canary in the coal mine for European democracies including the UK? Facing unmanageable state debt, overburdened with welfare and state sector spending with a population unwilling to grasp the nettle and vote for cutbacks, the runaway train hurtles ever faster towards the buffers.

  William Hague, ever a sane voice in a political storm, points to the years before the 1789 French Revolution when ministers knew they were presiding over an unsustainable situation and attempted to save the French state from eventual bankruptcy. All of them were thwarted by the vested interests of their day: tax-exempt nobles and churches, restrictive trade guilds and regional parlements. Plus ca change. ‘Today’s vested interests are trade unions and political parties who refuse to take any responsibility.’

‘The UK, France and Germany are in a strikingly similar position  – established governing parties are on a road to disaster, facing defeat at the hands of populist parties that are untested, more divisive, with less sense of financial responsibility and a weaker commitment to defending the continent.’

With markets breathing down its neck and debt spreads widening, France is facing economic meltdown unless it can pass an austerity budget to rein in the Eurozone’s worst deficit.

  To remedy this, another commentator pointed out, the Left says “take it from the rich and big business, the Right and centre say slash state spending to ‘slim down the mammoth’, and the National Rally says the culprits are immigration and the EU”. “Each has its magic solution, which generally entails not asking the average French person to make any effort whatsoever.”

  There is not much to add to the previous France post:  France – in the eye of the storm, 27th August 2025.

  The Revolutionary France chart of 1789 is certainly under water with Eclipses plus Scheat plus tr Neptune Saturn all assaulting its last degree Virgo Sun.  

France 5^th Republic chart, 28 September 1958 6pm is equally at a critical point with the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the North Node almost exactly now. With a great deal of insecurity and aggravation from tr Uranus conjunct the Mars and next year square the Pluto into 2027; with major confusion and dented hopes as tr Pluto squares the over hopeful Neptune Jupiter in 2026/27. And tr Saturn Neptune oppose the Libra Sun in 2026/27.  If anything it gets worse towards the end of the decade with Solar Arc Saturn square Mars and opposition Pluto.

   Emmanuel Macron may not survive much longer politically though he insists he is not giving in and his departure will solve very little. His original Presidency chart of 14 May 2017 11.25am is in an unstable three years with the Solar Arc Pluto square the Uranus in 2024 when an ill judged snap election gave him even more problems. SA Pluto moves into to a divisive, inflammatory square to Mercury by 2026 as the same time as the Solar Arc MC is conjunct the Presidency Uranus – all wobbling on a cliff edge.

 His relationship chart with France certainly indicates 2026 as the year when it all blows up with tr Saturn Neptune opposition the composite Mars Uranus.

 Tomorrow  September 10^th sees a general strike amusingly entitled Block Everything – the French as ever turning their face against reality and obdurately refusing to accept the need for change.

Boris Johnson, never far from centre of attention was recently alarmingly touted as maybe returning to frontline politics with the Tories, then for a touch of alternative slapstick a possible double-act with Farage was suggested. In response the Guardian has delivered a tranche of stories about him using his tax-payer funded private office to profit from contacts he gained in office. A major data leak from his private office points to him lobbying senior Saudi officials for a firm he co-chairs and meeting with Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, after which he received more than £200,000 from a hedge fund.

  He’s certainly got problems up and coming with tr Pluto trine his 8^th house Mars for the final time later this month to early December; as tr Uranus is conjunct his Mars for the first time and that jolts and jangles into 2026. Plus a discouraging tr Saturn square his Venus Sun in the second half of this September, repeating late January 2026. Over the winter as well tr Uranus will square his Sun/Moon midpoint which can either indicate upheavals in his marriage or in his public reputation. If his birth time is exactly accurate then his Solar Arc Midheaven is conjunct his Pluto for a major obstacle to progress exactly now.

 Uranus starting to move round his Mutable T square of Saturn opposition Uranus Pluto square Mars was always going to throw his life into chaos and this is just the beginning now and rolls on for several years.

  Jupiter is moving across his 10^th at the moment into 2026 which ‘might’ be successful though it may also just be bringing him to prominence.

  Carrie, his wife, 17 March 1988, looks less than enamoured by everything going on with tr Saturn Neptune square her Uranus Saturn now and across 2026; plus tr Saturn conjunct her late Pisces Sun over the winter.  Her relationship chart with Boris will be under considerable strain with tr Pluto conjunct the Saturn and square the Uranus throughout 2026.

Lulu, the Scottish singer, with a six decade career behind her has a new memoir out called If Only You Knew. In it she owns up to a secret drinking habit which sent her into rehab in her sixties.

 Born 3 November 1948 1.30am Lennoxstown, Scotland, she shot to fame as a 15 year old from a rough tenement family home with an alcoholic and violent father, onto the international music and film scene, mixing with the Beatles, Elton John and the like. She has been married twice, first to Maurice Gibb and then hairdresser John Frieda.

 She explains how she wanted to be Miss Perfect and kept anything out of sight that might blemish her career. She took to heart her mother’s instruction not to ‘air her dirty linen in public’. She does have a secretive and determined 3^rd house Scorpio Sun and a keep-a-tidy-image Saturn in Virgo close to her Ascendant. In addition she has a 4^th house Sagittarius Moon which has a tendency to be sunny-side-up as far as outsiders (and indeed some insiders) are concerned.

 Hints of a violent father come from a 4^th house Mars trine a 12^th house Pluto – both in hidden houses. Her Moon is sextile a charming Venus in Libra and square Saturn hinting at affection for a disciplinarian mother.

 When she finally realised she needed help around the age of 60 tr Pluto was heading for Capricorn and conjunct her 4^th house Jupiter before opposing her 10^th house Uranus as she turned her life around.

 Her North Node in Taurus also suggests that – with insight and self-awareness – peace eventually comes after a fairly tumultuous life.

  At the moment her Solar Arc Pluto, dragged out of the hidden 12^th house, is conjunct her South Node as she opens up about her problems, rooted in past trauma.

On the merry-go-round of UK politics Zack Polanski is the new face of the Green Party. He already sits on the London Assembly, scrutinising the activities of the London mayor. But he has ambitions to join the four Green MPs in Westminster And to be a threat to both Labour and Reform UK. He wants to offer a different approach with policies that include a wealth tax on billionaires and renationalising water companies.  He has  defended his party’s manifesto proposals, rejecting claims they would blow a £170 billion hole in the public finances, requiring tax rises on scale each year.

He said “We can’t come at this conversation just about the economy – it has to be about our mental health, our wellbeing and physical health of the nation.”

He has labelled his political views as eco-populist, combining environmental politics and populism and says people are unable to consider the climate crisis if they are struggling with day-to-day material concerns such as high rent burden, and high costs of food or heating. He dismisses the argument that wealth tax would drive the rich abroad, pointing out the Duke of Westminster can hardly upsticks and leave. And says “If you’re a farmer – 80% of subsidies go to the wealthiest 20% of landowners.

   He believes that the Gaza war is a genocide and should be treated as such by the UK Government. He advocates the UK’s withdrawal from NATO eventually and instead to establish  organisations that prioritise European defence, democracy, diplomacy and international peace.

  He is gay, vegan and currently lives in London with his partner who works in palliative care.

 Born 2 November 1982 Salford, England, he is a determined and persuasive Sun Venus and Jupiter in Scorpio; with a tough-minded Saturn, Pluto, Mercury in Libra and a publicity attracting Neptune Mars conjunction.

 He is not looking too upbeat ahead with tr Saturn and tr Neptune square his Mars now and through 2026 which will be undermining and discouraging; with confusion and lacklustre influences in 2027.

 There are a variety off start dates for the Green Party. But 13 June 1985 equally hints at a droopy 2026 into 2027.

  Nigel Farage, 3 April 1964 4.30pm Farnborough, England, who has been riding high recently with Jupiter moving across his 10^th house will have a few emotional upsets, missteps and jolts across the winter with tr Uranus conjunct his Venus. Followed by a definite sense of panic as tr Neptune starts to conjunct his Mars from June 2026 through 2027. There are indication of a changes of career direction after mid 2026 as tr Uranus starts to move across his Midheaven which is not always a negative. But that coincides with a creeping sense of failure and discouragement with his confidence taking a dent into 2027.

 The Reform Party, 23 November 2018, will be on a roller coaster ahead as tr Uranus opposes the Sun Jupiter and then squares the Mars through 2026 – maybe some luck but more likely over confidence causing problems. 2027 looks like a flop.

Graham Linehan, the Irish comedian, arrested by five armed police over an offensive tweet as he returned to the UK to face court charges over an altercation with a teenage transgender activist, has admitted that being embroiled in the debate over transgender issues had “consumed his life”. It has lost him work, made him financially destitute, ended his marriage and has now landed him in the centre of US accusations that the UK is banning free speech.

  What strikes me as curious about the whole scenario is how he has allowed himself to get dragged into the centre of the toxic boiling lava of arguments that have characterised this issue. He claims that transgender activists have been serially abusive to him on social media – and in the case of the teenager involved in the altercation irritatingly in his face with their phone. But getting into confrontations with ranters and ravers only feeds their twisted psychology. He seems to have persuaded himself that he is on ‘holy’ mission which was sparked by objections to a 2013 Father Ted episode featuring a transphobic character. That was when tr Neptune was just into Pisces squaring his Gemini Sun.

 There are two key factors in his chart – one is a deeply buried, stubborn and can-be obsessive 8^th house Mercury in Gemini square Pluto. Mercury square Pluto can become dogmatic and opinionated. Sakoian & Acker remark: Does not mince words. Tells it like it is regardless of how others react. ‘For this reason they must often remain silent to avoid creating controversy. There can also be a desire to shape the ideas of others to conform to their point of view.’ A characteristically strong willpower may be misapplied or used for disruptive purposes – can be destructive.’

  The other is his Saturn in Aries conjunct Aries North Node on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Pluto Uranus sextile Neptune which requires maturity and self-discipline to get the best out of it otherwise it can be self-defeating.

 His Chiron in Aries hints at problems with identity as if deep down he fears he might not exist and so perhaps develops a pseudo-identity and an identification with the ‘Wounded Healer’.

  In 2013 when it all started for him his Solar Arc North Node was conjunct his Sun with SA Saturn having hit his Sun slightly earlier – so his yod hit his Sun and that indicates a significant life crossroads which dragged him into the centre of the culture wars that followed.

 It is not that I don’t think he is on the right side of this argument but he is so over-the-top about it with no tactical sense about how to handle the argument/opposition that there are question marks.

 His Jupiter in Leo is conjunct Alphard = strong passions, favorable for gain, liable to disgrace, legal trouble and judicial sentence. Negatively, this conjunction brings to its natives the possibility of wrong advice, wrong attachments and there is the possibility of disgraceful actions. Legal involvement. The legal involvement might be of such a nature as to bring a judicial sentence to the native. There will be a general lack of self control, not readily apparent. (Astrology King)

   He does have a Jupiterian high up and coming with tr Uranus square his Jupiter January to mid March next year though there is a dollop of muddled, panicky Neptune at the same time.

The Duchess of Kent, a radiantly beautiful, gentle and unassuming member of the Royal Family has died aged 92.

Married to the Duke of Kent she came from a wealthy landowning family which raised a few eyebrows about her lack of Royal blood and went on to have three children. She had a fourth pregnancy aborted after a bad bout of measles and a fifth miscarried sending her into a deep depression. She was a welcome fixture for many years at Wimbledon and had strong associations with the world of music. In her later years, after she stepped down from Royal duties she became a music teacher at a primary school and founded the charity Future Talent to nurture young musical talent in low-income families. She also converted to Roman Catholicism.

 Born 22 February 1933 in York, England, she was a Sun Pisces conjunct North Node opposition Neptune in Virgo; with Mercury also in Pisces opposition Neptune, Mars Jupiter in Virgo. 1933 was a year which produced several notable creative types.  She also had a cool, emotionally-damped down Saturn in Aquarius conjunct Venus and possibly her Aquarius Moon; with her Pluto in a confident sextile to Jupiter and a freedom-loving square to Uranus.

  The Duke of Kent, 9 October 1935 2.05 am London, was cousin to Queen Elizabeth 11. His father, a brother of King George VI, was bisexual and had an affair with Noel Coward. He contracted a marriage to Princess Marina of Greece, and died in a plane crash over Scotland enroute to Iceland on 25 August 1942 during his active WWII service.

  Katherine, Duchess of Kent, was the first commoner to marry into the Royal Family for more than a century which became a matter of contention for her ‘impossibly imperious, improbably grand’ mother-in-law, who subjected her daughter-in-law to ‘remorseless scrutiny’ over her abilities, according to a biographer.  

  Princess Marina, 13 December 1906 Athens, like her son had Saturn in Pisces which would damp the young Duchess’s confidence. Worse she had a ruthless Pluto trine Mars – and a Scorpio Moon, The young Duchess’s chart had Saturn inconjunct Neptune which was pulled into a yod by the Jupiter Neptune in Cancer of Marina’s chart – fated to be tied together for good or ill. And with their relationship chart having a toxic, hostile, dominating composite Pluto opposition Venus square Mars it would be an exceptionally loaded relationship. The mother-in-law from hell.

  The marriage itself by all accounts itself was not always easy though his Venus Neptune in Virgo and Libra Sun all in her 4^th would help – and it mellowed in their latter years. Their relationship chart had a tough composite yod of Sun sextile Saturn inconjunct Sun, fated to be together but hardly warm and spontaneous, all duty and less fun; with a passionate Pluto trine Venus; but also an explosive Mars Jupiter opposition Uranus square Pluto; and composite Venus square Saturn and inconjunct Uranus – all of which adds up to a relationship weighted down by too much control, creating an undercurrent of significant turmoil and unhappiness.

Lovely lady, difficult life.

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Rayner resigns. David Lammy in as deputy prime minister and  justice secretary. Yvette Cooper is the new foreign secretary and Shabana Mahmood becomes home secretary, while Rachel Reeves stays as chancellor.

 This is a speed read.

Lammy, 19 July 1972, London, is a late Sun Cancer with a Scorpio Moon and a flashy and outspoken Mercury Mars in Leo.

 His Pluto in final degree Virgo is catching this month’s Solar Eclipse hinting perhaps at a more powerful position but given that tr Neptune Saturn will oppose his Pluto over the winter it hints at discouraging times ahead. His Jupiter at zero degrees Capricorn is also being undermined by tr Neptune Saturn in square now and into 2026. The next few months do look mired in confusion with greater frustrations in 2026/27.

    His relationship with Starmer equally looks stressed and discontented into and worsening throughout 2026 as they run into considerable setbacks.

 Shabana Mahmood, 17 September 1980,  is a Sun Jupiter Saturn in Virgo square Neptune; and a determined Mars in Scorpio and Uranus in Scorpio square North Node in Leo and Venus.

  The Home Office is a thankless job and no surprises she is running into sinkholes and setbacks in 2026 and worse in 2027. Her Saturn in final degree Virgo is also seriously rattled this month by the eclipse and across the winter by tr Neptune Saturn in opposition.

 Her relationship with Starmer is nerve stretched and high-tension now and through 2026 with tr Uranus opposition the composite Neptune Saturn. And tr Saturn Neptune opposition the composite Pluto.

  Musical chairs at the top won’t make much difference to a government that increasingly looks unable to cope.