Scots comedian Billy Connolly who has stopped touring after contracting Parkinson’s says art is now his life as he opens a new collection of his drawings in Glasgow. Originally a folk singer he moved with great success into stand-up comedy,  touring all over the globe and has performed in several films, notably Mrs Brown with Judi Dench.

Born 24 November 1942 4.30am Glasgow, Scotland, he had an appalling childhood with his mother abandoning the family when he was four, unkind aunts who were forced to act as caretaker parents; and an abusive father after he returned from the war.

He has a charmingly outspoken Sun Venus in Sagittarius in an erratic opposition to Uranus Saturn in Gemini in a talented Half Grand Sextile to Neptune and Pluto in his 10^th – so he would become, as often happens with Pluto in the 10^th, something of a legend. He’s also got the blessing of Jupiter in his 10^th which would help his progress towards success.

He was diagnosed with Parkinsons in 2013 along with prostate cancer though the latter has now cleared. That was when his Solar Arc Midheaven was conjunct his Neptune, making his direction uncertain. Tr Saturn was then moving downwards through his First Quadrant which would pull him back from an overly busy, high profile lifestyle. He’s got tr Neptune moving through his 6^th now along with his Progressed Moon, so he takes it easy living in Florida with his second wife Pamela Stephenson and sketching which he says he finds very liberating.

His creative, ‘seeking soul’ 7^th harmonic is strong. Even more so is his genius/breakthrough 13H which as I recollect Peter Sellers also had. And his super-star 22H is challenging, angry and highly communicative. Not an easy start but he made the most of his abilities.

Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming is out to sparkling reviews which talk of its ‘refreshing candor’ being ‘humbling and affirming’. She writes of her solid family upbringing, her drive to succeed, her miscarriage and pregnancy struggles with IVF; and the early difficulties of marriage to Barack for whom politics was the driving obsession.

Born 17 January 1964 in Chicago, she’s a feisty Sun Capricorn conjunct Mars in Aquarius; with a sensitive Venus in Pisces conjunct Moon in Aquarius/Pisces and widely conjunct Saturn in Aquarius. So she’s fairly Saturnine, practical, cautious and ambitious. What helps to mellow her is an apex Jupiter in pro-active Aries inconjunct Neptune sextile Pluto Uranus. A Jupiterian Yod will give her social influence, which comes through a twist of fate, allowing her to have a beneficial effect on the masses. That twist came in 2009 when Barack was elected and her Solar Arc Sun was opposition Pluto on one leg of the Yod sending her life on a different trajectory.

Their marriage is not the easiest match. He has Uranus in his 7^th so needed an unconventional partner who’d let him be independent. Though he’s also got Pluto in his 7^th which says the opposite. So quite a contradictory mix of possessiveness and free spirit.

Her Sun is conjunct Barack’s Saturn and trine his 8^th house Mars; and her Saturn is conjunct his Ascendant.  She’d find his ambitions blocked her out and he would at times find her restrictive as she prompted him to become more mature and responsible. But her Mars and Sun are also conjunct his Jupiter, so however maddening she found him at times, he’d also inspire and enthuse her.  Her Venus (Moon) in Pisces trines his Venus in Cancer which is lovely and she’d soften his image since her Venus falls in his 1^st.

Their relationship chart repeats the same themes with an affectionate composite Sun opposition Venus but squaring onto duty-bound Saturn. With a mutually-supportive composite Sun trine Jupiter; an adventurous Jupiter opposition Uranus and power-couple Jupiter opposition Pluto. There’s also a potentially volatile Uranus square Mars, so tensions would erupt along the way.

‘Politics is not the art of the possible. It’s the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.’ John Kenneth Galbraith.

A few more random and rambled thoughts on Brexit sparked off by this morning’s papers. Background first, then the astrology.

‘The mass hysteria that now grips our political class, with die-hard Remainers reduced to the same state of apoplectic rage as spittle flecked Brexiteers, united in their theological dismay. Everywhere, you hear cries of heresy and betrayal. Ideology and conviction have triumphed over realism.’ (Jeremy Warner, Telegraph, URL below)).

One cogent explanation for the impasse is offered by Fintan O’Toole in his book: Heroic Failures: Brexit and the Politics of Pain (excerpt URL below). ‘The crucial idea here is the vertiginous fall from “heart of Empire” to “occupied colony”. In the imperial imagination, there are only two states: dominant and submissive, coloniser and colonised.’ So Brexit becomes ‘the imaginary existential struggle between the gallant English Resistance and the Euroreich.’ He quotes  Anthony Barnett (THE LURE OF GREATNESS: England’s Brexit and America’s Trump) –  “Britishness is now Brexitness.”  “Europe “moved on from the second world war and Britain didn’t.”

What the above screams is Pluto – dominate or submit, puppetmaster or hapless puppet-on-a-string. The UK 1801 chart doesn’t have an overly strong Pluto except for one key aspect which is the UK Capricorn Sun sits exactly on the megalomaniac and none-too-rational Neptune/Pluto midpoint.

Pluto is much more obvious on the England 11 May 973 AD chart which has a ferocious do-or-die, unyielding Sun Mars Mercury in Taurus square Pluto (trine Jupiter, inconjunct Neptune). And it was England who voted for Brexit not the rest of the UK. So it’s more ‘Englishness is now Brexitness.’  And the England 973/EU relationship chart has a struggle-to-the-death, implacably hostile composite Mars opposition Pluto. And that battle is going to rage for many more years to come.

On the argument that England remains stuck in a World War 11 mentality – in psychological parlance that’s when a complex constellated.  On the UK 1801 chart there are some similarities in mood to the outbreak of WW11. Having just watched Darkest Hour, the excellent film about Churchill’s unexpected elevation to Prime Minister in early 1940 with the country split about Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler, what was clear was how close in the early days it came to total surrender and annihilation.  Until Churchill’s Pluto in Taurus stepped in to achieve the near impossible. (Which I should have known but my history lessons rather glossed over it and fixated on the victory.)

On the UK 1801 chart at the start of WW11 the Solar Arc Saturn had just moved across the conjunction to the UK Sun and Neptune/Pluto midpoint during Chamberlain’s desperate efforts to seek peace. At the same time the Solar Arc Pluto was conjunct the UK 10^th house Moon. Tr Uranus was well into the UK 8^th by that time. And the Progressed Moon was conjunct the UK legislative Saturn when Churchill took over.

At the moment tr Pluto is opposing the 10^th house UK Moon, tr Saturn is aiming to conjunct the Sun this December; the Solar Arc Moon will oppose the UK Saturn soon and tr Uranus is heading for the UK 8^th house. Not that I’m suggesting a war will ensue this time round but it’s perhaps not surprising that similar feelings erupted especially amongst the older generation.

During WW11 on the England 973 chart tr Uranus was conjunct the England Mars Sun during the July 1940 Battle of Britain when the UK came under assault from large scale attacks by the Nazi Germany air force. Tr Jupiter and Saturn in Taurus followed along behind, so it was a punishing time.

None of which is an excuse for the maelstrom of Brexit. I’m an internationalist at heart, though I dislike the way the EU is run both in terms of the Brussels bloat and the economic lopsidedness of North/South inequality. But it’s always easier to handle when there’s some explanation for the madness.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/16/brexit-paranoid-fantasy-fintan-otoole

https://unbound.com/books/brexit/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/11/16/mays-deal-dead-arrival-britain-dump-pragmatism-exchange-revolution/

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Michael Gove, a Euro-sceptic, might step in to replace Dominic Raab if he can renegotiate the deal, otherwise he may leave the Cabinet. Though Barnier says no renegotiation is possible.

Born 26 August 1967, Gove is a Sun, Mercury, Venus in Virgo with Uranus Pluto also in Virgo sextile a tricky, slippery and vengeful Mars Neptune in Scorpio. He’s looking trapped, enraged, stuck and depressed mid December to mid January 2019 and mighty confused at the same time; grumpy over the New Year; facing losses in February and will be spinning like a top at the same time with nervous anxiety. He’ll start to pick up from  April 2019 onwards as tr Uranus starts to trine his Sun and then his Jupiter/Pluto and Jupiter/Uranus, on and off till early 2020.

Another Cabinet possible as a May replacement if she does fold or gets pushed is Jeremy Hunt, 1 November 1966, a charming, smarmy Sun Venus in Scorpio square Jupiter in Leo.  He’s facing a setback late this December and despite a couple of Jupiterian lucky blessings in 2019 is facing a run of crises and catastrophes from February onwards.

Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, 5 December 1969, is a Sagittarius with a hates-failure Jupiter in Libra opposition Saturn in Taurus; and a publicity-attracting Neptune square Mars in determinedly independent Aquarius. He’s feeling undermined and disappointed till late December with tr Neptune square his Sun. However he also has tr Uranus square his Jupiter in December/January 2019 which could give him a lucky break. But he’ll be bumping along a rocky road through 2019 with much discouragement and high tension.

Brexit is a poisoned chalice that no one sensible would want to pick up.

Melania Trump took the extraordinary step of issuing a press statement attacking Mira Ricardel, Deputy National Security Advisor, John Bolton’s assistant, and demanding her resignation. Normally a First Lady sticks the dagger in behind the scenes. The beef appeared to come from Melania’s Africa trip though Mira Ricardel has a long history of falling out with almost everyone and was suspected of leaking as well as being abrasive.

Born 5 July 1960, Ricardel comes, like Melania, from a Yugoslav immigrant family, which probably didn’t help. She has a Cancer Sun Venus opposition Saturn square Uranus – so has a tendency to be autocratic. But what really ramps her up is her Mars in Taurus opposition Neptune, square Uranus, trine Pluto and trine Saturn, sextile Sun Venus – ambitious, hyper-determined, volatile, dislikes interference, ruthless, hard-edged. And she may have a Scorpio Moon.

Ricardel’s afflicted Mars is conjunct Melania’s Saturn which makes for a bad-tempered interface.

Their relationship chart is very unstable with a composite Saturn opposition Uranus Pluto square the composite Sun, opposition North Node and maybe Moon, The composite Mars opposes Neptune for an ego-clash; with the composite Mars opposition Jupiter and widely trine Pluto which makes for a high-energy interface which can spill over into competitiveness.

If Melania is starting to throw her weight around with White House/Cabinet aides she thinks are a problem for Trump then John Kelly looks first on the list through this December/January 2019.

John Bolton can’t have been pleased at the intervention which saw his handpicked assistant depart – and he and Melania look further separated come February 2019.

James Mattis is increasingly at a distance with a freeze picking up late this December through January/February 2019.

Her relationship with Ivanka, never easy at the best of times, will see aggravations mounting from mid this December and tensions erupting in December/January. Melania dislikes Jared even more which will bring increasing criticism from her now and through December, with a definite sinking feeling between them.

Her relationship with Donald looks on edge and explosive/insecure this December/January; with a decided dip with uncertainty and a degree of panic come April 2019 (repeating on and off into 2020).

Melania does  have her Taurus Sun opposition Jupiter in Scorpio picking up the tr Uranus hard aspects now and through 2019 which will boost her confidence, prompting her to take more risks. Perhaps as his troubles mount from now onwards she’ll try to act more openly as a prop and protector. He is, amongst many other things, hopelessly impractical with no Earth signs, while she has four Taurus planets, Pluto in Virgo and probably a Capricorn Moon, so she’s much more grounded and certainly more than capable of standing her ground.

Jacob Rees Mogg is spearheading the Brexiteer attack on Theresa May’s  plan as the wrangling goes on in Cabinet. He’s an MP on the far-right of the Tory Party with an Eton, Oxford University and hedge fund background (he and wife deemed worth £100 million in 2016). A Roman Catholic he’s against abortion even in cases of rape, incest and foetal abnormality. He has said it could take a very long time to reap Brexit benefits, over the next fifty years.

Born 24 May 1969, he has a Gemini Sun opposition Neptune in late Scorpio and Mars in Sagittarius – communicative, scattered, idealistic but not always realistic, impulsive. His Sun opposition Neptune perhaps forming a T Square onto a late Leo/Virgo Moon. Plus a powerhouse Pluto, Jupiter, Uranus in Virgo.

He looks energised at the moment with tr Uranus square his Sun/Jupiter midpoint till early this December and again in February 2019.  December/January 2019 look nerve-stretched and confused. He’ll continue jangled and jittered through late March to mid April 2019 and in full catastrophe-mode in the second half of April. The rest of the year will jolt between confidence in June and high insecurity thereafter. With a car-crash Secondary Progressed Mars opposition his Sun in about 18 months from now.

He will get into top gear will be from February 2020 onwards for two or three years with tr Pluto trine his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint and then trine his Jupiter in 2021/22.

Boris Johnson looks very deflated over late this December, hugely frustrated mid January to mid February 2019, facing failure in February and March, but picking up again in April/May; then sagging badly in the second half of the year.

Matthew Whitaker, Trump’s bizarre pick to replace the ousted Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, effectively putting him in as overseer of the Mueller Investigation, is causing consternation. Not just because his appointment without confirmation may not be constitutional, but because he is in the Washington Post’s description, a crackpot.

He was involved in a company (WPM) that scammed US military veterans out of their life savings, for which fraud they were ordered to pay authorities $26m. During his time on the company’s advisory board, WPM claimed that “DNA evidence collected in 2013 proves that Bigfoot does exist,” had a website selling Bigfoot paraphernalia and planned a celebrity event called “You Have Been Squatched!” They tried to raise money using bitcoin for time-travel research – “relive moments from your past” or “visit your future.” And punted an extra-deep “masculine toilet” for the well-endowed.

He joins a long list of gruesomely unqualified Trump appointments – his adulatory WH doctor in to run the Department of Veterans Affairs; chief scientist at the Agriculture Department who isn’t a scientist; others include  a Mar-a-Lago member, a Car Care manager, a bartender, a cabana attendant, a truck driver and Eric Trump’s wedding planner.

Born 29 October 1969 in Iowa, Whitaker is a Sun Scorpio opposition Saturn in Taurus ; with an opportunistic Mars in money-minded Capricorn square Jupiter Mercury; and Mars also in an ultra- determined and fairly slippery trine to Pluto sextile Neptune.

He has one minor up ahead and everything else suggests a downward trajectory with a blocked Solar Arc Sun square his Pluto now-ish or into 2019; plus some Neptunian sinkers; and worse in 2020.

He’s not a good match with Trump since his Mars opposes Trump’s Saturn Venus and his Pluto squares Trump’s Sun – could be quite a damaging connection.  His relationship chart with Trump is sagging badly in January and bumping uncomfortably along from late March onwards.

Meg Ryan, a glittering success in the 1990s with When Harry met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, has become engaged to her on-off boyfriend heartland-rock musician John Mellencamp.

Both have had fairly complex emotional lives – he married and divorced three times, she married to Denis Quaid, affair with Russell Crowe etc. She’s been with Mellencamp, formerly Johnny Cougar, since 2010 but with separations along the way.

And I’m not remotely surprised from their astrology.

She was born 19 November 1961 10.36 am Fairfield, Connecticut, and has a 10^th house Scorpio Sun with Mercury Neptune and Venus in Scorpio conjunct her midheaven – well designed for a filmic career. Her Sun is conjunct Mars in Sagittarius square an 8^th house Uranus; with Mars also square an 8^th house Pluto – which is a bundle of emotional/psychological contradictions and challenges. She’s also got Saturn in Capricorn conjunct Jupiter in Aquarius both sextile her Sun Mars – disciplined, exuberant, but will be constantly swinging between optimism and doubt. And has an Aries Moon which won’t sit comfortably with all her Scorpio planets.

He was born 7 October 1951 in Indiana, and has his Libra Sun conjunct Neptune on one side and Mercury, Saturn in Libra on the other; with a Capricorn Moon.  She’s Water Fire; and he’s Air Earth, so very chalk and cheese pairing.

What’s fairly volcanic is his Mars falling in her 8^th conjunct her Uranus and square her Mars; and his Venus also in her 8^th conjunct her Pluto and square her Mars; with his Pluto in her 8^th conjunct her North Node and square her Sun. There will be a very deep connection but it looks of the can’t-live-with-them and can’t live-without-them variety.

Their relationship chart has a composite Sun Neptune trine Jupiter (Moon), sextile Pluto and square Uranus with the composite Pluto opposition Jupiter square Saturn. And that’s quite a tangle. Sun Neptune often ends in disappointment; Sun Uranus needs space and hints at no-compromise. Saturn square Pluto can end up feeling chained-together and Jupiter Pluto can end up in one-upmanship battles. It’ll be a rocky ride through the next two years with tr Uranus hitting on the composite Neptune Sun and Uranus and she looks conflicted relationship-wise in 2020.

Not an easy match.

The cultural icon Stan Lee, figurehead and artistic dynamo behind Marvel Comics, has died aged nearly 96. He created along with others The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Black Panther, the X-Men, Ant-Man, Iron Man and Thor. What he did was unique in the market in creating flawed super-heroes. He was the editor-in-chief of Marvel, later its publisher and chairman.

He said: “I used to think what I did was not very important. People are building bridges and engaging in medical research, and here I was doing stories about fictional people who do extraordinary, crazy things and wear costumes. But I suppose I have come to realize that entertainment is not easily dismissed.”

Born 28 December 1922 in New York, he started writing as a child, loved Robin Hood, went into comics early on and never looked back.  His Capricorn Sun was the driving planet of a Kite from a creative Water Grand Trine of Jupiter in Scorpio trine Pluto trine a feisty Mars Uranus in Pisces; with Pluto opposition his Sun – not short of talent, confidence or the courage to take risks. His Mercury in Capricorn was widely opposition Pluto and square Saturn in Libra so he had executive and organisational ability and a serious side.

His creative 5^th and 7^th Harmonics were strong; as was his writer’s 21^st Harmonic and his world-class 22H.

He was married for seventy years until his wife died in 2017; more recently there were stories of elder abuse, until a restraining order was issued earlier this year against his business manager.