Harlan Ellison – “one of the great living American short story writers” – has died. Staggeringly prolific he wrote 1700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic book scripts and essays, mainly in speculative new fiction, which included science fiction. Notorious as a firebrand, he once described himself as “a yapping dog with mean little teeth;” “a street urchin and a clown.”  He was litigious and argumentative and turned his zeal to good use in fighting for civil rights and writers’ right in the internet.

One of his obituaries said his “style was made up of equal parts insight, invective, absurdity, candor, charm, passion and biting wit.”

He was born 27 May 1934 2.20pm Cleveland, Ohio, with his father dying young and he was bullied at school as the only Jewish kid there. He ran away frequently, took odd jobs, spent some time in college and joined the army where he published his first novel and moved to Hollywood in his late 20s. He had four brief marriages, only his fifth in 1986 lasted to his death.

He had some chart. His ever-chatty Gemini Sun was in his 9^th house of publishing and communication in a creative square to Neptune and trine Jupiter in Libra in his 1st, so blessed with confidence, talent and luck. A fearsome Fixed T square of Mars in Taurus in the 8^th opposition a Scorpio Moon square Saturn suggests a turbulent emotional life with deep-seated anger issues and a dislike of cooperation and compromise. Added on to that his influential and controlling Pluto in the 10^th was trine his Moon and square Venus Uranus in Aries in his 7^th – so no surprises that his marital life was in constant churn.

His relationship with his mother looks highly stressed from his chart. One of his favourite remarks was “No one gets out of childhood alive” – and he clearly bore the scars of his troubled upbringing.

His creative 5^th Harmonic was strong; as was his obsessive 11H; and his breaking-with-the-orthodox, genius 13H.

La vieille hostilite between France and England always stood in contrast to the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland from the days of Bonnie Prince Charlie. There’s no indication of any softening of the historic enmity in the flurry of diplomacy from Westminster over the past week trying to shift Macron onto a more amenable stance over Brexit. He’s only following in De Gaulle’s footsteps, who despite being given refuge in London during WW11 and British sacrifice to free Occupied France then vetoed UK membership of the EEC twice in the 1960s. De Gaulle said then: “L’Angleterre, ce n’est plus grand chose.” (England is not much any more. ) The French don’t do apologies for sure and clearly not gratitude either.

The France/UK relationship chart is competitive, power struggling and hostile with a composite Sun square Mars and Pluto with Mars Pluto trine Saturn – not much give in the core chemistry; and a fair amount of duplicity and double-speak with a composite Mercury Neptune conjunction.

The pressure is on this year, with outbursts in 2019 as tensions spill over and disappointment looms, stretching into 2020.

Macron’s UK relationship chart is, pretty similar, if not worse. There’s a composite Mars opposition Pluto Mercury in a Half Grand Sextile to Uranus and Saturn. That’s even more stressed and polarised than the De Gaulle/UK chart.

On the Macron/UK chart tr Saturn is conjunct the composite Sun and Ascendant this year for buckets of cold water; and tr Pluto will square the Uranus from late March 2019, when one of the Brexit staging posts is reached, which will start two years of un bouleversement – profound perturbation, violent disruption. All up in the air.

Macron in his exuberant first year was hopeful of stealing the financial sector from London as a prize for Paris, though there’s not much sign of that working out. And his much-vaunted reforms for internal improvements have only made slow headway. The French economy is stuttering, with lower growth than the UK, industrial production and retail sales are falling, and unemployment creeping up again. The corporate tax rates are amongst the highest in the developed world; and the employment laws some of the most restrictive. In technology, on the IMD World Digital Competitiveness ranking for 2018, France dropped from 22nd to 26th place (the UK went up to 10th).

Punishing the UK for Brexit may make sense pour discourager les autres who might have contemplated baling in future. But the French and other EU economies will be hit, maybe less than the UK’s, but they’re not in such great shape they can view additional losses with equanimity.

Renowned chef Joel Robuchon, the outstanding winner in the Michelin  stakes with 31 stars to his credit over a long career, has died. His piece de resistance was mashed potatoes, reputedly 50% butter. Although he started life in the upper echelons of French kitchens he got away from the stuffiness of haute cuisine and also diverted from midget-portion minceur into heartier dishes without the complication of too many flavours. He owned restaurants in cities across the world including Paris, Monaco, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Tokyo and Bangkok, became a TV celebrity, wrote books, ran a cookery school and left his knowledge behind him.

Born 7 April 1945 4.30am Poitiers, France, his Sun was in pro-active Aries in his sharply intelligent 3rd house and his Moon was Aquarius, neither of which sound overly foodie. Though his Moon was in his 1^st conjunct his Ascendant, so he’d come across as nurturing. What marks him out as a super-indulger is his Venus in Taurus on the focal point of a Fixed T Square to Pluto opposition Moon. He loved to treat himself and others to the pleasures of life.

His hard-working Saturn in the 6^th trined a 2^nd house Mars so he’d be a disciplinarian. His Mars was widely opposition a lucky-with-money 8^th house Jupiter squaring onto a risk-taking Uranus – all in Mutable signs, giving him the ability to multi-task and spread his empire and abilities widely.

His get-it-together 5^th harmonic was strong; as was his ‘obsessive dream’ 11H; the genius, breaking-with-the-orthodox 13H; leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H; and the superstar 22H.

It’s an interesting mix of a chart with four Cardinal signs along with a Mutable and a Fixed T Square – loads of initiative, flexibility and sticking power.

Indra Nooyi, one of the foremost women CEOs, is stepping down after 12 years at the head of Pepsi. During her time sales and  shares have shot up, which earned her $31 million last year, and $87 million over the last three years. She spearheaded Pepsi’s transition to a greener, more environmentally aware company.

She was born in Chennai, India, on exactly the same day as Bill Gates – Oct 28 1955. And she has the same ultra-confident and go ahead Jupiter Pluto conjunction in showy Leo in square to an obsessively conscientious and determined Saturn in Scorpio conjunct Venus.  Her Scorpio Sun is conjunct Neptune in late Libra and both square Uranus in Leo – so she’s visionary, a reformer, sometimes rebellious and can be fanatical.  Her Moon is late Pisces where Bill Gates’ Moon is Aries and the houses will be different but both are cut from the same cloth. And both have singleton Moon, on bucket-shaped charts which channel the energy of the entire chart through the Moon, which makes them well-designed for a role interfacing with the public.

They have their Sun = NNode = Mars/Jupiter = Mars/Pluto so what brings them into prominence (NNode) is their personality (Scorpio Sun), their soaring confidence and good luck (Mars/Jup) and a degree of ruthless determination (Mars/Pl).

There’s no indication of where she goes from here – into philanthropy like Gates or another business venture. But with her Solar Arc Jupiter Pluto aiming to conjunct her Sun in just over two years’ time her next project will be huge.

Her get-it-together 5th harmonic, often a strong aspect for successful business  is powerfully aspected. As is her influencer 17H and superstar 22H.

At least 100 are dead and 10,000 have been evacuated on the Indonesian island of Lombok after a 6.9 quake on Sunday. It was far bigger than another quake that hit Lombok last week, killing 16.

The Indonesia 27 December 1949 9.22 am Jakarta chart has a Cardinal Grand Cross of a Capricorn Sun opposition Uranus square Mars opposition Moon, all in early degrees, so catching the tr Saturn hard aspects at the moment.

The July Solar Eclipse located to Lombok had Saturn on the IC. The late July Lunar Eclipse had Saturn exactly on the Descendant. And the upcoming Solar Eclipse of August 11^th has Jupiter on the MC square Sun, Moon, Mercury conjunct the Descendant.  Usually planets on the chart axis indicate significant happenings with eclipses; and Jupiter oddly enough is often marked during disasters.

Saturn was also on the axis, conjunct the MC for Greece for the recent Lunar Eclipse which oversaw a series of wildfires costing many lives. Similarly Laos which suffered a deadly dam burst had Saturn was exactly conjunct the Descendant for the Lunar Eclipse.

There’s also the explosive, disruptive Mars opposition Node square Uranus around for all three eclipses, especially tied into the Lunar.

The heat around Trump Jnr’s 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer is stoking up his father’s twitter mania. Initially the excuse was the encounter was concerned with the adoption of Russian children but is now openly acknowledged as ‘opposition research’ – digging the dirt on Clinton, all legal  – and unbeknownst to senior. Though why he has to disavow what wasn’t criminal appears odd.

Trump Jnr, 31 December 1977, no birth time, is looking edgy and deflated this year, especially from mid October onwards with tr Saturn conjunct his Venus and Sun in Capricorn; and tr Uranus in a jolting trine to his Saturn and in a career-denting square to his Jupiter/Saturn; the latter repeating into early 2019. The pressure mounts in 2019/2020 with a devastating and confused tr Pluto square his Saturn/Neptune from late March; worsening with the addition of a totally-blocked and scary tr Pluto square Sun/Mars joining in by 2020/2021.

Trump Snr’s relationship with Mueller was always ominous with Mueller’s Mars in meticulous Virgo in a disruptive square to Trump’s Uranus Sun and Moon; with Mueller’s determined Sun Pluto well placed to winkle out secrets in Trump’s hidden 12^th. Not that Mueller himself is in the best of shape with tr Neptune opposing his Mars till late 2019.  Their relationship chart looks overwrought this September and October with tr Pluto opposition the composite Sun with panics and insecurity into 2019.

With Jnr, the Mueller relationship is an almighty face-off with Mueller’s Pluto and Sun conjunct Jnr’s Mars in Leo and Mueller’s Saturn opposition Jnr’s Sun Venus. The relationship chart looks very much at cross purposes as the composite Venus, Mercury (and Neptune) square Jupiter Saturn is hit by tr Uranus hard aspects right through till 2020 and beyond. There will be moments of relief followed by more jangling anxiety.

Angela Carter, rated in the top ten of British writers in the 20^th Century, known for her feminist, magical realism short stories, was lauded in a BBC documentary last night.  She gave a macabre Freudian and surrealist twist to fairy-tales, garnering the praise of Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood. And although reckoned a feminist she raged against ‘the self-immolation of women, how women collude and connive with their condition of enslavement.’

Born 7 May 1940 in Eastbourne, England, (no birth time) she had an extraordinary if fairly tortured life. She had a suffocating mother, who over fed her, didn’t allowed to dress herself, or to go to the bathroom alone, which turned her into a pudgy child with a stammer and few friends. Along the way she rebelled, went on a diet, ‘changed from a fat, obliging girl to a skinny, rude girl.’ When university became a prospect her parents said they would move close by, so she escaped into marriage instead. Unfortunately she picked a depressive as a husband, whom she left for a spell in Japan, which radicalized her as she watched the submissive doll-like women there. She picked up two younger boyfriends there and on her return to the UK, aged 31 she met a 19 year old construction worker, had a child and married him. She died of lung cancer aged 51.

She was a Sun Uranus (Moon) in Taurus – a stubborn maverick – all in a creative and inspirational trine to Neptune. Her Jupiter in upfront Aries conjunct Mercury Saturn in Taurus squared Pluto giving her a mix of bullish confidence along with equal quantities of bleak self-doubt. Her passionately enthusiastic Mars Venus was in a publicity-attracting square to Neptune and an exuberant sextile to Jupiter.

A one-off personality who danced to her own tune.

Her 13^th Harmonic was exceptionally strong – breakthrough, genius, exploration, breaking with the orthodox. As was her leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H; and her creative 5H.

Steven Seagal, the actor and martial-arts black belt, has been named by Russia as a “special representative” on US-Russian humanitarian and cultural ties. He is a frequent visitor to Russia, a close friend of Putin whom he described as “a great world leader” and a “brilliant tactician,” has defended him against allegations of election interference, and attended Putin’s recent swearing-in ceremony in May. He became a Russian citizen in 2016. He was credited for facilitating meetings in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings to discuss intelligence sharing issues.

Seagal was born 10 April 1952 1.54 pm Lansing, Michigan, with Russian paternal grandparents and perhaps Mongol heritage, so he does have a Russia connection. He spent some years in Japan in his twenties studying aikido, then went onto make action movies, mainly direct to video in recent years. His emotional life has been chequered with several marriages, seven children by four mothers and has faced various sexual harassment allegations. He also appears to be Buddhist.

He has a much-travelled 9^th house Sun Jupiter in pro-active Aries opposition Neptune Moon in Libra; with his Sun Jupiter in a confident trine to Pluto – so fairly stratospheric ambitions with Neptune Pluto plus Sun plus Jupiter. His Pluto squares a ruthless, ultra-determined, never-say-die square to Mars in Scorpio. He also has Saturn opposition Mercury Venus in Aries square Uranus making him rebellious, impatient, a self-proclaimed activist, as well as innovative and, if well-handled, a humanitarian spearheading change.

Putin’s Jupiter in Taurus falls in his 10^th, so good for his status, with Putin’s Pluto conjunct his Ascendant and both tied into Seagal’s 4^th house Mars – so he’ll resonate to Putin’s confidence and control. There’s also a cross over between his Moon Neptune Saturn in Libra and Putin’s quartet of planets including his Sun in Libra.

Although it’s reasonable on synastry the relationship chart is fairly erratic with a composite Sun Uranus opposition Mercury Venus square Neptune Saturn – it’ll wobble more than somewhat in 2019. Relocating Seagal’s chart to Moscow puts his Mars in Scorpio on the Ascendant which will bring out his uncompromising and fairly dominating streak.

Seagal will be powering confidently ahead over the next four years though with a few dashed hopes and confusion.

Pic of his book: ‘The Way Of The Shadow Wolves: The Deep State And The Hijacking Of America.’ With a foreword by Joe Arpaio. Amazon reviews run from – ‘trash, absurd, borderline bigoted’ to ‘best book I’ve ever read.’ Corruption in the Deep State? He needs to take a good luck at Russia’s gangster government.

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Will Smith, the superlatively successful actor, has been waxing enthusiastic about his 20 year marriage to Jada, saying they’ve gone beyond being married – they’re now life partners. “There’s no deal breakers.”  Jada then had the celeb mags atwitter with comments that described it as open marriage, which she then tried to row back with a Hollywood witter about trust and allowing partners to be free.

He was born 25 September 1968 1.45 am Phildaelphia (astrotheme), started as a not very successful rapper and shifted into movies, where he has starred in multiple multi-million dollar grossing blockbusters. He’s a Sun Libra with his chart dominated by a not-altogether-easy Yod of Pluto Jupiter sextile Neptune inconjunct Saturn in Aries. Jupiter Pluto will give him confidence but an apex Saturn requires real maturity to make it work. (He shares that configuration with Jim Caviezel (Christ in Gibson’s Passion, born a day later. An another Saturn Yod apex is Pauley Perrette, late of NCIS.) Smith also has a Scorpio Moon.

Jada Smith, 18 September 1971, is a determined Sun Pluto and Moon in Virgo. She has her Pluto and Venus in Libra conjunct Will’s Sun and Uranus so it’s quite an odd mix of possessive and independent. Her Saturn opposition Neptune Jupiter squares his Mars with her Mars in contrary Aquarius square his Moon so it’s a complicated mix, fairly gritty at times.

Their wedding chart, 31 December 1997, has a workmanlike, enduring Sun square Saturn (work comes first); an ethereal and independent-minded Venus conjunct Uranus and Neptune; with a tough Saturn trine Pluto, sextile Mars.

Their relationship chart has a possessive and transformational composite Sun Pluto; with a self-sacrificing (on one side) composite Saturn opposition Mars, and an only-one-can-win Mars Neptune conjunction. Definitely designed for showbiz. Plus a composite Venus (Moon) Uranus which suits a partnership with long separations due to work. Often power couples have Sun Pluto conjunctions, which doesn’t mean they last for ever, but together they make an impact.