River Phoenix, a rising talent became a casualty of Hollywood and a cultish upbringing when he overdosed aged 23, 25 years ago next week. What made it all the more tragic was that he had purported to uphold clean living and vegetarianism.

He was born 23 August 1970 12.03 pm Madras Station, Oregon, the eldest child of counter-culture hippy parents who joined the Children of God cult when he was 3. They believed among other things, that sex without boundaries was a form of love (Rose McGowan was also raised in the cult). The family moved from Venezuela to Mexico to Puerto Rico to spread the word of the cult, and Phoenix was sent out as a child to busk to raise money for food. He later said he was sexually abused when he was four years old. He never went to school, even when his parents returned to the USA. Instead, his mother contacted the casting director at Paramount, and he began working at the age of eight. His siblings, Rain, Joaquin, Liberty and Summer followed suit.

His father had an alcohol problem and River felt he had to support the family. By the time he died he had appeared in 24 films and TV shows. A junkie friend said: ‘First, smoke crack or shoot coke directly into a vein for that 90-second, electric brain-bell jangle. Then shoot heroin to get a grip and come down enough to be able to carry on a conversation for a few minutes before you start the cycle again.’ He collapsed outside a nightclub and couldn’t be revived.

He did have an inordinately difficult chart with a heavily afflicted Moon in Taurus in a cold-mother conjunction to Saturn in a neurotic opposition to Neptune and a cruel-treatment square to Mars in Leo in his 10^th. With his Moon also in a bleak trine to Pluto.  His Virgo Sun was sextile Jupiter in Scorpio. Poor mite, what a life. His mother has a good deal to answer for. She was born 31 December 1944 and is a Sun Capricorn opposition Saturn square Neptune; with an opportunistic Mars square Jupiter.  Her emphasised Pluto was conjunct his midheaven so she’d be a controlling force in his life.

When he died there was a horrific Saturn in Aquarius square Mars Pluto in Scorpio which was bouncing off his Mars and Saturn, pulling in his Moon and Neptune. One storm too many.

Philip Green, the retail billionaire, once the darling of Tony Blair and David Cameron, has been named in Parliament as the businessman accused of sexual and racial abuse of staff which the Telegraph were prevented from printing by a legal injunction, having spent five months researching the story. Parliamentary privilege overrides such manoeuvres. He is chairman of Arcadia Group, a retail company that includes Topshop, Topman, Wallis, Evans, Burton, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, and Outfit – and has a long history of controversies including tax avoidance, use of sweat shops and the calamity over the collapse of BHS.

On the latter a Westminster report said that BHS (British Home Stores) was subject to “systematic plunder” by former owners Sir Philip Green, Dominic Chappell and their respective “hangers-on”. It said the “tragedy” of the £571 million hole in the pension fund was the “unacceptable face of capitalism”.

Green, 15 March 1952, was born 4 days before Harvey Weinstein so has the same Sun Pisces and Mars in Scorpio square Pluto.  Mars in Scorpio is tricky enough, making for a dark intensity of desire. In a ruthless, do-or-die determined square to Pluto it doubles up the damage. It’s even more evident for Green since his Sun is trine Mars; and on the apex of an ego-centric Yod to Neptune sextile Pluto. Green also has an intensely passionate Scorpio Moon; and Venus in Aquarius opposition Pluto which can be dictatorial in emotional relationships.

He’s also got an innovative focal point Uranus in Cardinal Cancer square Mercury in Aries opposition Saturn – so a tendency to push against boundaries and can be both a reformer as well as a catalyst for chaos, and autocratic.

His 9^th Harmonic, often strong when money is involved and deemed to show what gives the individual pleasure, is eye-poppingly strong with Jupiter Pluto Uranus conjunction trine Saturn; with an accented Neptune as well.

He looks rattled and confused through 2019 but most of this will slide like water off a duck’s back.  Though the businesses under his chairmanship may find themselves boycotted until they ditch him.

The Conservative Party continues to tear itself apart like a nest of hyenas over Brexit with no end in sight to the blood-letting and vicious in-fighting. The 12 November 1867 Conservative Party chart, which I’ve never found that informative, does have some indications of strain as tr Pluto moves in sextile and trine to the Sun Saturn in Scorpio opposition Pluto over an extended period into the early 2020s.

The 10 May 1912 Conservative chart in contrast does seem more to the point – with tr Pluto opposing the Mars Neptune in Cancer at the moment. That suggests considerable confusion as well as deep bitterness and hostility. And it will continue on through 2019/2020 as tr Pluto squares the Mercury. With the Solar Arc Mars Neptune which seems a key sensitive point square the Uranus from 2018 till 2021, which will bring high anxiety, fanaticism, and in 2021 a mood of great insecurity. Tr Pluto is also trine the Sun Saturn in Taurus 2017 to 2022 which will bring weight to bear for change though only through extreme difficulty.

Looking back at past successes and failures the 1912 chart does seem to work better. With a tr Pluto trine Solar Arc Jupiter over Maggie Thatcher’s 1979 win. Devastation writ large in 1945 for the shock loss with the Solar Arc Mars Neptune square the Saturn; and tr Saturn opposition Jupiter. In 1997 for Tony Blair’s Labour win there was tr Saturn opposition the Solar Arc Mars Neptune and square Mercury; with oddly enough tr Pluto square the Solar Arc Jupiter of which there is similar in 2020/21 with Solar Arc Jupiter square Pluto – it can be successful but over-confidence can have the opposite effect.

There are some influences showing on the 1867 chart for the above, but 1912 is better.

Jared Kushner is on the hook over his friendship with Mohammed bin Salman. No one, even in Saudi Arabia, believes the killing of Jamal Khashoggi could have been carried out by rogue operatives. MbS is the only player in town since he harnessed all power to himself so the buck stops at his desk. Now that it has escalated to an international crisis with Turkey playing up the tension and outrage for their own ends, it has left the young Saudi Crown Prince a tarnished figure.

Kushner was always in for a poleaxing two years through 2018/19 with tr Pluto conjunct his Capricorn Sun. Since his Sun is square Pluto it is forcing change on someone who hates not being in control. He looks on edge at the moment suffering from shock; further deflated in November and his enthusiasm dampened through December. Where he sinks to an even lower ebb is in March 2019 with tr Neptune square his Mars/Pluto midpoint which is fairly catastrophic and that repeats later in 2019 as well. And he’s heading for a major reversal in 2020 with his Solar Arc Uranus square his Saturn.

What was interesting about him was his relationship chart with Trump which has an exact Yod of Pluto sextile Mars (Neptune) inconjunct Mercury – suggesting a link that would irrevocably change the lives of both for good or ill.

Relations with pa-in-law will be chilly after the midterms; more so in January and two legs of the composite Yod are being undermined and blocked in 2019.

Jared’s relationship with Ivanka is suffering badly with disappointments looming large from late this month till late December; and running on resentment through 2019/2020. Their wedding chart 25 October 2009 is sitting on a tinderbox through 2019 as well; and moving through forced and high-tension changes.

The migrant caravan of largely Hondurans moving north through Mexico towards the USA, fleeing poverty and crime in their own country, has provoked Trump into spieling more nonsense than usual. He insists they are mainly criminals, Middle Easterners and a dastardly plot by the Democrats. None of which appear to be true.

Although it is undeniably true that no country can take in unlimited numbers of migrants, no matter how tragic their plight, so why he feels obliged to embellish the narrative is a mystery.

His chart relocated to that particular region of South America puts his Pluto on the Ascendant which will exacerbate his power-hungry tendencies and survival instincts; and puts his Mars firmly into his 1^st house ramping up his bombastic rhetoric. He’s threatening to cut aid to those countries involved.

Mexico has been landed with the problem though it wasn’t of their making. The USA relationship charts with Honduras and Mexico are deteriorating considerably from spring 2019 for two years. Relations with Guatemala and El Salvador are already under strain and jolting and jangling this November to February 2019.

Mexico, 15 September 1810 11pm Dolores Hidalgo, is being battered by a Solar Arc Mars opposition Sun at the moment and tr Neptune conjunct the Mex Pluto; moving on to square the Sun/Pluto midpoint and then oppose the Virgo Sun in 2021/22 – so in a long debilitating slide.

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Julia Roberts, the film darling of the 1990s with smash hits like Pretty Woman and Nottinghill, has retreated into domesticity and motherhood in recent years, making occasional films and has been persuaded to make the crossover into television like many big names. She said it was watching BBC’s Peaky Blinders that made her realise that grown-up TV had turned a corner into an arena that attracted her.

She’s starring in Homecoming, a new Amazon drama series about a former caseworker forced to revisit her years working with returning soldiers.

She was born 28 October 1967 12.16 am Atlanta, Georgia with theatrical parents who divorced, her mother married an abusive second husband and her father died when she was ten. So a fractured childhood.

She has a 4^th house Scorpio Sun on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine to an exuberant Jupiter in Virgo trine Mars in Capricorn  – she’ll be doubly private with a Scorpio Sun and in the 4^th house which makes her want to be deeply rooted in her own protected space. Her flamboyant Leo Moon squares Neptune; and she has a decidedly difficult Yod of Jupiter sextile Sun inconjunct a forced-to-be-self-reliant Saturn in Aries. It takes real maturity to get the best out of such a Saturn. On top of which her Saturn squares Mars, hinting at her dislike of her step-father and his cruel treatment of her; and leaving her with a fairly short temper.

Her Venus is conjunct Uranus Pluto in Virgo so she’ll be emotionally changeable and then some.

She’s had a chequered relationship life in the past, including one brief marriage to a country singer and has been married to cameraman Danny Moder since 2002. Born 31 January 1969 he’s a Sun Aquarius which isn’t an easy match with Scorpio but his Sun falls in her 7^th house of close relationships; and his Venus in Pisces and Cancer Moon will help to give an emotional connection.

Their relationship has an affectionate and passionate Sun, Venus, Jupiter, Pluto T Square; with a lively and argumentative Mars perhaps trine Moon trine Saturn. It’ll have been through its ups and downs but appears to be holding at the moment.

She’s moving into a hard-working few years ahead, becoming more visible and sociable.

A lost Stanley Kubrick screenplay has come to light in the possession of a schoolchild friend and music composer for five of his movies Gerald Fried. Fried said in an interview that Kubrick, famously known as tight and a control-freak, didn’t pay him for his first score.

Kubrick is known as possibly the greatest and most influential director in cinema history for A Clockwork Orange, Dr Strangelove, 2001: Space Odyssey, The Shining amongst others.

Born 26 July 1928 1.41 pm (unverified) New York, he did badly at school but developed an interest in stills photography and went to work for Look magazine where he was known for his story-telling abilities.  No one expected him to be a director since he was shy and diffident but he gradually moved into making shorts and then full-length films.

He was a Sun Venus in Leo in a confident square to Jupiter in Taurus; and in an inspirational Fire Grand Trine to Saturn in Sagittarius trine Uranus. So he would be an innovator, a risk-taker, attention-demanding and serious about his craft. He also had a determined Mars in Taurus opposition an intense Scorpio Moon square a 10^th house Neptune in Leo – on this birth time, though it may be wrong and it doesn’t look overly likely given his temperament. An associate described him as “a very dark, sort of a glowering type who was very serious”. But anyway it was an emphasised Neptune, suiting him for film and photography, images and fables.

His ‘world-class’ 22^nd Harmonic and influencer 17^th harmonic were both strong though stressed, with undertones of anger and violence. His genius/breakthrough 13H was also well aspected.

To general international alarm Trump has announced he wants to withdraw from a key Cold War nuclear weapons treaty which was signed as a step towards nuclear disarmament or at least containment in 1988. The suspicion several years back was that the Russians were violating it but Obama was ambivalent about rocking the boat.

What lies behind the shock move according to the BBC: “This was a bilateral treaty between Washington and Moscow. China was free to develop and deploy intermediate range nuclear missiles. Some in the Trump administration feel that the INF treaty places them at a growing disadvantage in their developing strategic rivalry with Beijing.”

For ‘some’ read John Bolton, an ultra-hawk, who appears to have sidestepped the State Department and is pushing into very risky territory.

The Nuclear Treaty came into force on 1 June 1988 and does look to be in major trouble now and in 2019/20 with Solar Arc Sun opposition Neptune now; and Solar Arc Pluto opposition the Sun in 2019; and worse Solar Arc Neptune square Pluto in 2020, which is associated with nuclear explosions and devastation.

The USA/Russia 1917 and 1991 relationship charts are taking a nosedive downwards at the moment and again in early 2019 with tr Neptune opposition the composite Sun Saturn on one and the composite Mars on the other. There’ll be heightened aggravation in 2022/23.

Putin and Trump’s relationship chart hints at sharp words being exchanged at the moment and in early 2019; with tensions throughout 2019; and real anger in 2021/22 (heaven help us).

Bolton always known for his rough diplomacy will be at serious odds with Putin in 2019 and since both share a brutal, ruthless Mars trine Pluto it could get ugly.

Pompeo dislikes Bolton and their relationship will worsen considerably from now through 2019. Ditto Mattis, who is, worryingly, supposed to be on the way out, which might well happen given that his Swearing In Chart has tr Uranus square the Sun now until early 2019.

The last grown up to leave had best put out the lights.

The actress Selma Blair – Hellboy, Mothers and Daughters, Mom and Dad – has announced she’s suffering from multiple sclerosis. She’s had symptoms for 15 years of falling, dropping things and foggy memory but was only diagnosed recently.

Born 23 June 1972 8.30am (unverified) New York, she has a friendly 11^th house Cancer Sun opposition Jupiter in her performing 5^th house square Pluto in last degree Virgo – lots of confidence and drive with a tendency to over-control.  She has Mars in Cancer in the 12th opposition North Node in the 6^th house of health square a Taurus midheaven. Her Mars is also trine a Scorpio Moon, sextile Pluto, so she’s emotionally very intense and given to frustrations and fears. Her Venus in Gemini also squares Pluto, which again will accentuate deeper feelings.

Saturn rules her 6^th and tr Saturn is about to join tr Pluto in her 6^th house next year opposing her Mars; and tr Uranus is also in 2019 going to conjunct her midheaven which looks like a change of direction. So it looks a tricky time ahead. MS is a condition where symptoms can come and go, often disappearing for stretches of time.

Exactly now her Secondary Progressed Mars is exactly square her Scorpio Moon for a considerable shock though she’s making the best of it. In typical Scorpio Moon fashion not letting on how much she’s affected emotionally.

Jupiter will move into her 5^th from early 2019 for a year to give her a confidence lift; and then into her 6^th in 2020 which may help.

Her creative 5^th harmonic is strong; even more so her victim/healer 12^th.