Just for fun. The old enmity between England and France stretches back a millennium, with wiki listing 22 wars between the two countries and that was only from 1200 onwards till the early 19^th Century; so not including the Norman invasion of 1066.

The England 11 May 973 JC AD chart probably works best. That has a Taurus Sun Mars square Pluto in Leo which collides mightily with the France 21 September 1792 chart with its Uranus in Leo opposition Pluto in Aquarius square Mars in Scorpio – both fixed, utterly unyielding and vengeful nations. The England 973 AD chart also has Saturn in Gemini which squares the France 1792 Virgo Sun.

That relationship chart is even worse than the France/UK one with a composite Pluto trine Sun and square Neptune; as well as Pluto opposition Saturn square Mars – they don’t come much worse than that. Implacable hostility.

Even the France 10 August 843 chart with its Leo Sun hitting the England Sun Mars and Pluto; and the France Mars in Gemini square Pluto crashing into the England Saturn in Gemini is no better and makes obvious why there were centuries of fighting. That relationship chart has a bitter, power-struggling Mars Pluto sextile Mars, trine Uranus and opposition Neptune.

The surprise is that hostilities ceased on the battlefield at all; and that the UK laid itself on the line in two world wars in the 20^th Century in an alliance with France against invasions from Germany.

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Boris Johnson, erstwhile UK Foreign Secretary has not gone quietly into the night. But instead of amping up his anti-EU rhetoric he’s stirred the pot with comments on burkas. He doesn’t think they should be banned as in Denmark but likened them to letter-boxes and bank-robber gear. This stirred up the usual faux-outrage storm about Islamaphobia and cultural insensitivity and has led to calls from his expulsion from the Tory Party.

Happily Maajid Nawaz, the reformist Muslim has come to his rescue, suggesting the burka deserves to be “ridiculed”. He said: “This is the uniform of medieval patriarchal tyranny. It victim-blames women for their beauty. Where this is enforced it symbolises violent misogyny. I refuse to defend it.”

And an Oxford Imam, Dr Taj Hargey gave him full support in a letter to the Times. “he is justified in reminding everyone that the Wahhabi/Salafi-inspired fad of female facial masking has no Koranic legitimacy. It is, however, a nefarious component of a trendy gateway theology for religious extremism and militant Islam. The burka and niqab are hideous tribal ninja-like garments that are pre-Islamic, non-Koranic and therefore un-Muslim. Although this deliberate identity-concealing contraption is banned at the Kaaba in Mecca it is permitted in Britain, thus precipitating security risks, accelerating vitamin D deficiency, endorsing gender-inequality and inhibiting community cohesion.” He thinks they should be banned.

A Sky News poll, found 60% didn’t find Johnson’s remarks racist and 60% would ban the burka.

In the Westminster cock-fighting arena, it’s muttered darkly, that his intervention was a deliberate act to further his political ambitions and the responses are a proxy attack by Remainers hoping to undermine his credibility.

Born 19 June 1964 2pm New York, he has an extraordinarily Mutable chart with a communicative 9^th house Sun, Venus, Mercury in Gemini, with a volcanic 8^th house Mars in Gemini on the focal point of a T Square to Saturn in Pisces opposition Uranus Pluto in Virgo. He’s vibrant, stimulating and runs on very high levels of nervous tension, tending to scatter his energy and aggression in all directions at once, getting easily bored. He needs periods of rest to re-centre and certainly needs to learn to focus.

He may have miscalculated in the short-term since he’s got tr Neptune square his Sun/Mars midpoint in August which isn’t good for confidence or career (repeating Feb and Nov/Dec 2019); and even worse tr Pluto square his Mars/Saturn midpoint for the final time this September and October which is a full-on catastrophe. And November doesn’t look much better. Basically he’s pretty teeth-gritted right through till early 2020. Though he will recover some of his mojo from April 2019 with tr Pluto trine his Mars/Jupiter midpoint and that runs till late 2020.

His determined Scorpio Moon is picking up the tr Uranus opposition later this autumn and in early 2019; with Solar Arc Uranus conjunct in 2020 – so he will be even more emotional than usual.

His birth time being sound he’ll be moving into a higher-profile phase from early 2019 onwards with a dynamic change in his career in two years’ time after a setback or two with his Solar Arc MC conjunct his Uranus, having opposed his Saturn just before.

He is relatively popular in the UK despite his endless stream of mishaps though it’s an odd mix with his Mars square the UK Pluto with his Saturn conjunct and Uranus Pluto in opposition. So he’ll stir up the nation’s sense of empowerment and cause aggravation in equal measures.  His Jupiter falls in the UK 8th aspecting all four UK Fixed planets so he does have an ability to rouse enthusiasm. Though his delusions of grandeur from his Jupiter opposition Neptune natally could have dire results. His midheaven falls close to the UK’s MC which will give him a sense of being in step with the country’s direction and destiny.

His relationship chart with the UK repeats the adventurous chemistry; with a controlling composite Sun trine Pluto and superficial friendliness from Jupiter sextile Venus. What is significant is a composite Mars opposition Neptune which suggests the ego-ambitions of one runs against the other’s interests. Total honesty is needed otherwise both end up weakened. And here we are.

His Solar Return from mid 2019 is dire with Mars opposition Saturn Pluto Moon; but his Return from birthday 2020 looks very successful.

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.