Kanye West – out-ranting Trump

    

 

Kanye West managed to upstage Trump in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting where he let fly with wild statements in all directions and was roundly criticised for his over-the-top adulation of the president.

West is in an overly excitable phase at the moment with tr Uranus conjunct his Mars Venus in Taurus, until early 2019, which will send him up like a rocket, bubbling over with enthusiasm. Though that’s running alongside an extended run of undermining Neptune hard aspects to his Mutable T Square of Sun Jupiter in Gemini opposition Neptune in Sagittarius square a Pisces Moon. Too much Mutable can be destabilising and tends to go off like a windmill in a storm.

His Fixed T Square will continue to be jolted and jangled into the early 2020s as tr Uranus opposes his Uranus and then squares his wannabe-important Saturn in Leo.

West’s Mercury in Taurus is conjunct Trump’s midheaven and West’s Sun Jupiter falls in Trump’s 10th so it’s a mutual admiration society. Though it’s not a bro-romance that would survive close contact for too long. Their relationship chart does have a friendly Sun Venus conjunction; an intense Venus square Pluto; and an upbeat Sun sextile Jupiter. But there’s also a volatile Mars sextile Uranus; and a suspicious/doubting Saturn square Neptune perhaps tied into the Moon.

West’s birth time is unverified, but if 8 June 1977 8.45 am Atlanta, Georgia is sound then he has Pluto in the 4th. That might attract him to powerful men; and his Saturn in Leo is desperate to be connected to the greatest etc etc. He’s clearly not stable.  I always thought it was significant that Tony Blair who also has Pluto in the 4th wrecked his career because of his Iraq alliance with GW Bush – he had to be seen playing with the big boys.

Bradley Cooper – lucky in talent, not in love

    

 

Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, the romantic musical A Star is Born, in which he also stars alongside Lady Gaga, has been getting superlative reviews and good box office. He’s had multiple nominations through a glittering and highly-paid career – Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle and American Sniper – with a Tony nomination for his performance as the Elephant Man on Broadway.

His emotional life has been more chequered with a six month marriage to Jennifer Esposito, other media-fodder liaisons, most recently with Russian model Irina Shayk with whom he has a young daughter. Early in his career he suffered from depression and substance abuse and is now teetotal.

Born 5 January 1975 5.09 am Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a stockbroker father, he does have a bleak chart with a Capricorn Sun opposition an 8th house Saturn square a 10th house Pluto. He won’t find relationships or cooperating at an intimate level easy. His Libra Moon is square Venus Mercury in Capricorn which will give him a charming manner, but behind the smiles he’s very defensive. A showbizzy Mars Neptune in Sagittarius sit on his Ascendant square Jupiter in sympathetic Pisces, which latter probably fuels his charity work for cancer and Alzheimers.

Irina Shayk, 6 January 1986 Russia, like him has her Sun and Venus in Capricorn but she’s also got an angst-ridden and intense Pluto, Mars and Moon in Scorpio which won’t sit comfortably with his Libra Moon. Her Uranus is conjunct his Mars so it will be a volatile relationship, a sparky attraction initially then turning argumentative. Her Saturn is conjunct his Sun/Moon midpoint, the committed partnership significator, which sounds like hard work.

Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus in a passionate and possessive square to Pluto; with an explosive composite Mars Uranus conjunction; and a suspicious/doubting Saturn square Neptune. It’s one of these can’t live with them, can’t live without them connections. It’s under a good deal of pressure right through till 2020 with tr Pluto conjunct the composite Venus and then square the Pluto so the ties-that-bind are being seriously stretched.

Tr Pluto is also squaring his natal Moon in 2019/2020 which sounds like major strains in his domestic life. Tr Neptune is already taking the shine off his enthusiasm as it conjuncts his Jupiter and squares his Solar Arc Uranus; then next year squares his natal Mars, with all three influences coinciding in 18 months’ time which does not look easy – panicky, highly-strung, feeling a failure. He’s got tr Saturn moving through his First Quadrant for some years which often coincides with a time when unresolved emotional issues surface and have to be resolved.

His 7th harmonic is very strong which is creative, a seeking soul, and can be finely balanced psychologically.

If this relationship splits it won’t be easy since Plutonic bonds end up in bitter long drawn out tussles.

Princess Eugenie – a successful launch *update

    

 

Princess Eugenie married her Jack at 11.10 am this morning in Windsor in a very attractive dress. This gives an affluent and successful/influential Pluto trine midheaven, sextile Jupiter. Though there’s also a pressured, trapped Sun square Pluto; and a volatile Uranus Mars North Node is tied into Mercury Venus in Scorpio. The day itself was guaranteed to be a strain since it involved such huge amount of organisation and exposure. But the wedding chart also gives a flavour of the marriage to come.

What strikes me – not that I wish to rain on their happy if windy day –  is that Eugenie has Mars in Aquarius in her birth chart and it squares onto Jack’s Taurus Sun opposition Pluto, which sounds fairly fraught since she’ll be utterly determined and at times quite ornery about getting her way; and he’ll be stubborn and controlling, subtly or otherwise. He does admittedly have five planets in adaptable Mutable signs while she has none but he’ll still dig his heels in.

She’s done what her parents did which was aim for the exact opposite in terms of the elements. She’s a Fire Aries Sun with an Air Aquarius Moon, while he’s an Earth Taurus Sun with a Water Pisces Moon. Her mother has an Air Sun and Fire Moon while her father has a Water Sun and Moon. Chalk and cheese matches. Though Eugenie does have the earthy triple conjunction in Capricorn; and he has Venus in Airy social butterfly Gemini which will help.

Their relationship chart has an ethereal, romantic composite Venus square Neptune, though that can turn out to be over-hopeful when the shine wears off; plus a power-couple composite Jupiter opposition Pluto so they will have ambitions together to make their mark as a twosome of social substance. The downside of that is it can turn into a tussle for the upper hand and the last word. Plus a competitive, argumentative, highly energetic composite Sun square Mars.

There’s an oddity for which I struggle to make an interpretation.  The South Node on their relationship chart is exactly conjunct the midheaven of the wedding chart. The South Node is the line of least resistance, usually seen as negative – that which needs to be struggled away from.

On the synastry, his Jupiter (Moon) in Pisces trines her midheaven so he’ll be supportive in her career/direction in life.

Pluses and minuses and there’s no such thing as a perfect relationship. She was most badly affected of the two siblings by her parents’ split and she’s got an edgy Neptune, Saturn and Mars in her 4th so she’ll never be that settled domestically in her adult home life. He may get tetchy about the sacrifices she feels she has to make for her family, since his Mars in Capricorn, admittedly socially ambitious, is conjunct her Neptune, so he won’t always be overly supportive.

Florida – in the eye of various storms

    

 

Florida took the full brunt of Hurricane Michael, one of the strongest storms to ever hit the US mainland, ranked four on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale and with a storm surge of 9ft (2.7m). Then state governor said it caused ‘unimaginable destruction.’ Entire oceanfront communities were virtually obliterated, an Air Force base suffered “catastrophic” damage and at least six people were killed. A volunteer rescuer said it looked ‘like a bomb dropped.’

It hit land at 2pm near Mexico Beach, Fl on Wednesday October 10th which oddly puts Venus Moon (and Mercury) in Scorpio on the midheaven though it is opposition Uranus and square a 1st house Mars in Aquarius. That follows on from the recent run of eclipses which all had the Node tied into the explosive, disruptive Mars Uranus.

The 11 August Solar Eclipse set for Mexico Beach puts Mars in Aquarius exactly on the Descendant. Planets on the chart axis indicate significant events for that location. And Mars in Aquarius has a decidedly destructive side.

Florida, 3 March 1845, has had a run of horrors in the past two or three years with multiple shootings including Stoneman High School. Tr Neptune has been conjunct the Sun from 2016 onwards (depending on start time of statehood); plus a ‘shocking-collision’ Solar Arc Mars square the Sun. At the moment tr Uranus is square the Solar Arc Saturn which is certainly high tension and associated with breakages. Tr Saturn is square the Florida Uranus Jupiter in Aries once more through till mid-December for a jolts and disappointments in cleaning up the aftermath.  The undermining tr Neptune conjunct Sun will fade from the end of this year.

Ahead tr Pluto squares the Florida Pluto from early 2019 through 2020, which suggest forced change; with another uncertain and painful phase late 2019 into early 2020 with Solar Arc Neptune Venus opposition the Florida Saturn. It will be a slow recovery.

Gary Kurtz – the forgotten Stars Wars genius

    

 

Gary Kurtz, producer and creative partner of George Lucas for the first two Stars Wars movies, has died. They didn’t always see eye to eye but Kurtz contributed significantly to the visuals, story and dialogue especially the concept of ‘the force’ stemming from Kurtz’s religious background. They were expecting only a modest success when Stars Wars launched and were astonished when it turned in three quarters of a billion dollars at the box office and spawned a franchise. Kurtz and Lucas were introduced out of film school by Francis Ford Coppola, and their first joint venture American Graffiti was a success.

Born 27 July 1940 8.47 am Los Angeles, Kurtz had an extraordinarily Fixed chart with a Sun Pluto in Leo square a Taurus Moon and Mars in Leo square an exact Saturn Jupiter conjunction in Taurus and Uranus in Taurus in the 8th – pretty unbudgeable when he made up his mind. After the first two Stars Wars he thought Lucas was more concerned with money and the toy business and less about making quality films.

Kurtz, seemingly known as a gentle soul, had a charming Venus in Gemini in his 10th square Neptune on his Virgo Ascendant. His filmic Neptune was in a creative trine to Uranus, sextile Mercury in Cancer.

Lucas, 14 May 1944 5.40am Modesto, California, has an equally Fixed chart with his Taurus Sun on the Ascendant square Jupiter in Leo; and a 10th house Aquarius Moon opposition Jupiter Pluto in Leo square Venus Mercury in Taurus. So just as stubborn when he’d decided on a course of action. He benefited also from a talented Grand Trine of Neptune trine midheaven trine Uranus, formed into a Kite by MC opposition the North Node. That tied him firmly into the mood of the moment.

Kurtz despite the millions he made from Stars Wars 1 & 11, went bankrupt thereafter and never regained the heights. His Jupiter Saturn perhaps the cause, which can for some, can fly them too high and then do the reverse.

Their relationship chart had a lucky, mutually supportive composite Sun Venus on the point of a T Square to filmic Neptune opposition the composite Moon. So it was a positive partnership for a while. But there was also a power-struggling composite Pluto Mars sextile a tension-erupting Uranus Saturn Venus. When they split in 1983 tr Neptune was undermining their lucky T square; and tr Saturn just into Scorpio was in hard aspect to their Fixed planets, followed shortly after by tr Pluto in Scorpio – so a tough separation.

Democratic poll slide – so so result

    

 

The Democrats who were way ahead in the polls have been sliding backwards. It’s what’s known in polite circles as counter-intuitive since the unseemly fracas around Kavanaugh with crass dismissals of allegations by Trump et al would in normal times have swung the dial the other way; never mind the bombshell expose of the NY Times on Trump’s early financial tap dancing with his father’s money which seems to have sunk without leaving a dent.

There’s too many charts to wade through them all, so I’ll stick to Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, Democrat Minority leaders in Senate and Congress. Nancy Pelosi, 26 March 1940, looks depressed until November 1 with tr Pluto square her Sun/Saturn midpoint; and insecure and over-stretched and irritable with tr Uranus conjunct her Saturn and her Sun/Mars from mid October to November 6th – very over wrought. She does have tr Jupiter trine her Pluto over the result which looks like minor cheer but also a couple of Saturn transits to her Aries Sun and her Jupiter/Neptune midpoint which won’t help lift her spirits.

Chuck Schumer, 23 November 1950, looks equally stressed and disheartened in the run up but again will get a minor boost from tr Jupiter conjunct his Sagittarius Sun from November 8th and tr Jupiter square his Jupiter over the election on the 6th. But these are mild influences, which wouldn’t indicate (without birth times) a resounding landslide.

Barack Obama has tr Jupiter sextile his Jupiter in early November but not much else of note. Hillary Clinton has an undermining tr Neptune opposition her Jupiter/Uranus in November; with a small uptick from tr Jupiter trine her Sun/Uranus over the election though an aggravated tr Pluto opposition her Mars/Uranus as well.

Joe Manchin, the only Democrat to vote for Kavanaugh has a sinking tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Jupiter midpoint so he doesn’t look happy.

Susan Collins equally looks unpopular over the election and under pressure with tr Saturn conjunct her Sun/Venus; and tr Pluto square her Sun/Pluto – and it all looks downhill for her from early 2019 right through till 2022.

Trump has tr Saturn square his Neptune and tr Neptune opposition his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint which look worrisome, uncertain and disappointing as well as deceptive.

Coming from behind is never a bad thing in elections since it pulls some voters out who wouldn’t have bothered if their party looked like a slam dunk; and polls can be miles apart from the result anyway. But it looks like a fair amount of discontentment all round.

Royal wedding – public and family aggro

    

 

Princess Eugenie might be forgiven for wishing she’d eloped except it hardly suits the York family style. On top of aggravation about taxpayer-funded security for a blatantly ostentatious wedding this Friday, there’s now – as to be expected – family tensions erupting with Camilla ducking out (prior engagement) and Prince Philip being undecided whether to share space with the bride’s mother for the first time in decades.

The media appear undecided whether Camilla dislikes Sarah more than Prince Andrew or vice versa. On balance it’s probably Sarah since their relationship chart has a hostile composite Mars Pluto conjunction; and Camilla’s Cancer Sun squares Sarah’s blundering Sun Mars in Libra and Camilla’s Mars in Gemini squares Sarah’s Pluto Venus MC. So an angry tangle. Resentments go back to Andrew and the York’s lack of support when Charles married Camilla.

Camilla’s relationship chart with Andrew has a suspicious, cold and high-tension composite Venus opposition Saturn Neptune square Uranus which is under considerable pressure from 2018 through till the early 2020s. No doubt because as the Wales rise with the Queen retreating in miniscule steps, Andrew’s family will be pushed more into the background. That is also clear from Andrew and Charles’ relationship chart which is exasperated and angry this December and worsening dramatically in 2020/2021/22.

Charles is no fan of Sarah’s with his critical Saturn sitting firmly on her Pluto Venus MC; and their relationship chart has another hostile Mars Pluto plus a cold Sun Saturn Mercury.

All smile for the camera.

See previous posts: September 26 and August 17 2018

Russian spies – short on intelligence

    

 

A degree of black comedy (very black) is emerging from the Sergei Skripal bungled novichok poisoning in Salisbury in March. The two GRU operatives (Russian foreign intelligence, the equivalent of CIA, MI6) have been identified by Bellingcat, a citizen journalist website, and appear to have been equally inefficient about hiding their identities. An irate Putin, according to reports, ticked off the GRU head personally.

One of the Salisbury poisoners, Alexander Mishkin, 13 July 1979, is a military doctor, who was given a Hero of Russia Award for his work in Crimea/Ukraine. He’s a Sun Cancer square Pluto trine Uranus, inconjunct Neptune; with an afflicted Mars in Gemini opposition Neptune, square Saturn North Node, trine Pluto and probably square a Pisces Moon – well-suited to tough conditions, cruelty and acting under orders.   Tr Pluto was exactly opposition his Sun in March when he came across to the UK and will be so again this December.

Anatoliy Chepiga, 5 April 1979, reportedly his partner in crime, is a colonel in the GRU, also highly awarded for his service in the Chechen War (which was very brutal) and in Crimea. He is a pro-active, controlling and ambitious Sun Aries opposition Pluto trine Neptune. His Mars in Pisces is trine Jupiter in Cancer trine Uranus and his Mars is opposition his Saturn/Pluto midpoint described by Ebertin as violence, ruthlessness.

Assuming it’s all true, it’s a humiliation for Putin, whose 4th Term chart, 7 May 2018 11.05 am Moscow, always did look crisis-ridden with Uranus Mercury on the midheaven square Mars Pluto – and that is being rattled this November and February 2019 as tr Uranus returns to its natal position; with considerable pressures, which mounted through this year, continuing and escalating in 2019/2020 as tr Pluto starts to square the Mars/Pluto midpoint for high frustration and rage; much worse in 2021/22 when tr Pluto is conjunct the Mars.

His own personal chart is being shaken at the moment with tr Pluto opposition his Uranus for the final time and in November to mid December squaring his Saturn/Neptune midpoint which is seriously depressive or ill. He also has another year of the confusing/devastating tr Pluto square his Neptune and ditto for the undermining tr Neptune square his Sun/Node midpoint; plus in 2019/2020 tr Pluto road-blocking a couple of his Mars midpoints; and worse in 2020/21 when tr Pluto squares his Mars/Pluto midpoint.  He looks hemmed in every which way. Though it won’t stop him meddling in Eastern Europe.

Peter Dinklage – a talent to overcome all

  

 

Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister in the fabulously successful Game of Thrones now heading for its final season, has had a sterling career with 58 nominations and 12 awards, including three PrimeTime Emmys and a Golden Globe for GOT.

Born 11 June 1969 1.37 am Point Pleasant, New Jersey, he has a powerfully confident and successful chart with a quick-witted 3rd house Gemini Sun in a Mutable Grand Cross opposition MC square a super-charged Pluto, Jupiter, Uranus in Virgo opposition a Pisces North Node on his Ascendant. Jupiter Pluto gives him luck, drive and determination; Jupiter Uranus a willingness to take risks and adventurous; aspecting the Node and his midheaven ties his career into the zeitgeist.

He’s got an outspoken Mercury opposition Mars in lively Sagittarius. And a Venus, Saturn, Moon conjunction in Taurus giving him staying power and stubbornness at holding out for what he wants. He was born with dwarfism and refused in his career, even at the start, to play stereotypical roles.

His latest venture My Dinner with Herve, which he spent several years co-producing and writing as well as starring in, will air on HBO on October 20th .

He’s got a good deal of mileage ahead career-wise with tr Saturn in his upper quadrant for the next seven years keeping the work rolling in; with another major success in the early 2020s when tr Pluto trines his Jupiter.

His actor’s 15th Harmonic is, not surprisingly, well aspected.