Like flies stuck in what Matthew Parris memorably described as a tar pit, UK politicians are making a total horlicks of the Brexit negotiations. Paralysed by an inability to agree amongst themselves, they and the whole farrago are arousing amused contempt in Brussels, where the overlords just sit back and say NON every so often. Businesses are already baling out in all directions to Ireland, the Netherlands, Eastern Europe.  Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament chief negotiator said there would have to be a definitive plan by this October, to be ratified by the leaving date of March 2019; and it would take the full two year transition period thereafter to work out trading details which could well drag on for decades.

The dates fit a scenario on the UK chart with a major financial shock, high anxiety provoking hasty misplaced decisions in 2021 with tr Uranus conjunct the 8^th house Mars; followed by several very rough years culminating in panics, confusion and more financial shocks in 2023/2024 with Solar Arc Sun square the 2^nd house Neptune, Solar Arc MC square Neptune and Solar Arc Uranus conjunct Mars.

The 29 March 2019 leaving date occurs on the bleak Saturn Pluto conjunction in last decan Capricorn; with an aggravated Pluto trine Mars; and a head-in-the-clouds, over-hopeful Jupiter square Neptune. The end of the transition, presumably late March 2021, has tr Saturn in Aquarius square the UK 8^th house (business finances) Mars; in a teeth-gritted trine to Mars and a jolting square to Uranus, so again not wealth-generating influences.

The UK joining the EEC chart, 1 January 1973 12 am, is muddled and panicky in 2018/2019 with a considerable upheaval from February 2019 till late 2020 with tr Pluto square the Uranus.

The UK/EU relationship chart reflects much the same muddle, disappointment and trudge through thick mud till late 2019.

The problem from an astrological point of view is that it isn’t a total divorce, more a rearrangement of agreements (if they ever happen).  The relationship chart is a fairly controlling one so stepping back to renegotiate was never going to be easy with Pluto in the 8^th square a 12^th Uranus and a 4^th house Sun.

The Theresa May government chart, 9 June 2017 12.35pm London is sagging (further?) in the early months of 2019 pre-the cut off date with tr Saturn square Jupiter and conjunct Pluto; and hitting the skids from May 2019 onwards as tr Neptune squares the Sun and Moon. It may not mean finito but it’s certainly not an uproarious success. At that point the Solar Arc Moon is opposing the UK 11th house Saturn  so the populace are going to be mightily out of sorts with politicians and the legislature.

Jacinda Ardern, PM of New Zealand, had her first baby today at 4.45pm in Auckland.  Her daughter is a last gasp Gemini Sun only a few hours away from being a Cancer. She has a 10^th house Libra Moon so may well consider following her mother’s footsteps into some kind of public career. Though she’ll be rebellious and quite a maverick with Uranus in her performing 5^th house square Venus North Node in Leo opposition Mars in Aquarius. She’ll be stubborn, very much a law-unto-herself romantically as well as in whatever way she chooses to present herself.

Her Moon squares Saturn, indicative of an overly dutiful mother, and also trines Mars, so there will be some tantrums. Her Pluto opposes Mercury in Cancer for an intense and forceful way of expressing herself. Neptune is in her 4^th in a self-protective, healing Water Grand Trine to Jupiter in Scorpio and Mercury, formed into a Kite by Mercury opposition Pluto making Pluto in her financial 2^nd the driving planet. She will be talented, lucky and influential. Though Neptune in her 4^th suggests she’ll feel her identity is very wrapped up in the family.

Her Gemini Sun chimes with her mother’s Venus in Gemini; her Venus in Leo with her mother’s Leo Sun; and her Jupiter falls on her mother’s Ascendant boosting her image. Though the crossover Moon aspects are less great with baby’s Libra Moon conjunct her mother’s Mars Pluto; and baby’s Saturn conjunct her mother’s ambitious Capricorn Moon.

Their relationship chart is affectionate with a composite Sun, Venus, Mercury in a practical trine to Saturn; though there’s an aggravated composite Mars Pluto sextile Uranus Neptune. Fitting a young baby into a high-powered political schedule won’t be easy and will leave its mark.

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Trump is about to back away from his policy of separating children from immigrant parents, not out of sentiment but because the backlash from lawmakers, activists, religious leaders and former first ladies was too great.

His Term chart does have an 8^th house emotionally-damped-down Saturn in an unkind and can-be-downright-cruel square to Mars. The Term Scorpio Moon is exactly square the Mars/Saturn midpoint so women and children will come into the Mars Saturn line of fire. There’s also a focal point Pluto squaring onto Uranus and Jupiter, which is control-freaky, contemptuous of those deemed weaker or inferior (amongst other things).

Trump’s Solar Arc Uranus is now exact exact on the conjunction to his Mars for another explosive scandal – in an endless line so long it’s tricky to keep up.  His Saturn on his birth chart is conjunct his Sun/Mars midpoint and his Pluto conjunct his Mars/Saturn – so it’s a repeating pattern of a) love of the military/shock and awe as long as he’s not actually involved personally; and b) a harsh streak of cruelty in his character as well as a tendency to attract disasters.

What the furore made me think of, and it’s not a good augury for 2019, is the repressive Saturn Pluto conjunction up and coming. It tramps all over weakness and causes hardship and deprivation. A survival of the fittest obstacle course.

Stephen Miller, a senior policy advisor, is deemed to have been the driving force behind the immigration debacle. Born 23 August 1985 4.53pm Santa Monica, CA, he’s a serious control-freak and driven by frankly unbalanced views. He has an 8^th house Mars and Sun with his Sun trine a 12^th house Neptune trine IC, formed into a Kite by IC opposition Pluto MC. His Sun is square his Neptune/Pluto midpoint which may be helpful for psychics and visionaries but not for politicians.

He looks confident enough for a while ahead but tr Uranus opposing his Pluto from July onwards may rock his boat and he’s in some turmoil through 2019 and heading into a lower profile phase from late 2019.

His relationship chart with Trump is being undermined by tr Neptune right through the rest of this year and some of next. Trump hates backing off and since he’s never to blame and will at some point down the road be looking for a scapegoat.

Kevin Spacey will be on show for the first time since allegations of his sexual misbehaviour got him fired from House of Cards and replaced in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World. The Billionaire Boys Club shot mainly in 2016 will go on limited release, presumably to recoup some cash with the Indie distributor Vertical Entertainment claiming the rest of the cast and crew shouldn’t be penalised because of Stacey. They are the company behind Travolta’s Gotti which recently scored a dire 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so not their year.

The Billionaire Boys Club is about a group of wealthy Los Angeles boys in 1980s and their get-rich-quick Ponzi scheme. Spacey’s character, an investor and con-man, ends up murdered, so at least he won’t be cast as the hero.

Principal photography started on December 7 2015 with a nervy, downbeat Sun Saturn conjunction square Neptune which isn’t encouraging. Worse is an explosive and blocked, frustrating, crisis-attracting Mars opposition Uranus square Pluto so progress was never going to be a straight line.

There’s doubt about whether Spacey was born on 26^th July 1959 or early on the 27^th. When the allegations first surfaced last October Uranus was at 26 Aries which might suggest he has a late Aries Moon (from a birth time of circa 8.05pm on the 26th)  with a tr Uranus conjunct Moon describing the  emotional shock of his plummet from grace; and on that time a Solar Arc MC catching the tr Pluto conjunction, which again is often disgrace and a fall from status. But these are guesstimates.

What is certain is that he has Mars Pluto in Virgo in a harsh trine to Saturn trine his Moon, formed into a Kite by Moon opposition Neptune. He evidently had a brutal childhood and all that negative energy has been focussed onto filmic Neptune which would be his saviour. Though it clearly didn’t sort out his predatory behaviour. This birth time would also put lucky, respected Jupiter (which he was for his talent) on his midheaven.

He looks fraught through this year with tr Uranus trine his Pluto and next year his Mars; with an all-systems-change, extremely nervy tr Uranus square his Leo Sun and opposition his Neptune also in 2019. But he also has a confident and successful tr Pluto sextile his Jupiter from early 2019 through 2020 which could suggest a partial recovery though its difficult to see how and I’m not sure if court cases are pending.

The marathon that is the Jerry Springer Show is likely to be coming to an end after 27 years. A controversial show of  exploitation and moral panic, ‘a relentless orgy of humanity’s worst impulses’, ‘bear-baiting’ and ‘mob rule’ it lowered the tone of television and arguably set the stage for where we are now, politically and culturally.

Springer, an ex-politician, always had a hankering after a serious reputation but gave in to the forces of commerce and kept it rolling. Born 13 February 1944 11.45pm London, he has a powerful, influential and angry chart so it clearly fed some of his baser instincts. He has a 4^th house Aquarius Sun in a  confident opposition to a lucky 10^th house Jupiter in flamboyant Leo.

More significantly he has Mercury in Aquarius in an Air Grand Trine to Neptune in Libra trine Uranus (Mars) in Gemini in the 8^th, formed into a Kite by Mercury opposition a 10^th house Pluto North Node in Leo – a communicator par excellence in so far as making his voice heard, giving expression to his volcanic, deep-rooted 8^th house Mars Uranus, with his Pluto elevating him to ringmaster.

The show launched 30 September 1991 at 6pm New York (I think) which gives it again a hugely influential Pluto in Scorpio in the 8^th though that can also be seen as dredging up the worst excesses of human behaviour.  With Uranus Neptune in the 10^th it was always going to arouse fanatical feelings and that squares onto Sun Mars in the 7^th in Libra – with angry relationships spilling over into fist fights and worse on and after the show.

It may trail on with reruns and repeats for a couple of years but will come to a dead halt when the Solar Arc Mars conjuncts the Pluto in about three years time.

The successful rapper XXXTentacion has been shot dead aged 20 in Florida. Born 23 January 1998, as Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, to Jamaican parents, he had a train-wreck of a life, stabbing a man when he was six to protect his mother, raised by a grandmother, was in constant fights with pupils at school, sent to juvenile detention for gun possession, swore off crime for music there, but was later arrested for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

He was a rebellious and stubborn Sun Aquarius conjunct Uranus on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine to a bleak Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries trine Pluto (Moon) in Sagittarius; with an exuberant and might-makes-right Mars Jupiter in Aquarius. His musical Neptune was conjunct his Sun on one side and Venus in ambitious Capricorn on the other.

His Solar Arc mini-Grand Trine of Pluto, Sun, Uranus (and Saturn), had moved by Solar Arc to collide with his Mars Jupiter recently and at the moment so ramping up that over-the-top energy.  Often there is a crisis point when configurations progress to merge with other strong aspects in a chart.

His musical 7^th Harmonic was strong; even more so his ‘victim’ 12^th which was neurotic and overly intense. He certainly didn’t help himself but he didn’t have it easy early on.

Actress Heather Locklear, best known for Dynasty, Melrose Place and Spin City, seems to be in trouble after a spate of drink, drug and domestic violence incidents and suicide threats. She’s now undergoing hospital care.

Born 25 September 1961 5.40 pm Los Angeles, with an ex-army father, she has an unaspected 7^th house Libra Sun which is a curious contradiction making her relationship-dependent, yet she acts like an island-under-herself and will be fairly self-centered. But what’s most notable is her Aries Moon opposition Mars in Libra square Saturn Jupiter in Capricorn – emotionally volatile with a short-fuse, constantly frustrated and feeling held back, tending to swing from optimism to pessimism. She does have Neptune in the 8^th, common among well-known film stars, giving an ability to project an aura.

She’s got a tough road ahead with tr Pluto starting to wend round her Saturn, Moon, Mars in coming years.

Her 10^th Harmonic is challenging and marked – it shows the rise and fall, great highs and often self-defeating actions leading to lows.

The Spanish king’s brother-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, today starts a six-year sentence for fraud, tax evasion and embezzlement and siphoning off 6 million euros in public money. His wife Princess Cristina was cleared of helping her husband to evade taxes but will be fined €136,950 for civil liability damages. The royal scandal played an important role in prompting the shock abdication of the former king, Juan Carlos, in 2014 and rocked the popularity of the monarchy.  Cristina now lives in Switzerland with their children and was refused permission by her brother to move to Portugal to be near her husband in a jail near Madrid.

Urdangarin born 15 January 1968, two weeks before King Felipe, is a Sun Capricorn opposition a Cancer Moon, sextile Neptune. With his Neptune sextile Pluto Uranus in Virgo inconjunct an Aries North Node – ambitious, money-minded, slippery and at odds with the public mood. Even more pointedly he has another Yod of Saturn in Aries sextile Mercury in Aquarius inconjunct Jupiter with Jupiter opposition Mars in Pisces – a Yod apex Jupiter can be undone by over confidence and self-aggrandisement. Mars Jupiter is also opportunistic, having a tendency sometimes to play fast and loose with others’ money.

King Felipe, 30 January 1968 12.45pm Madrid, is a New Moon in Aquarius with the same Neptune sextile Uranus Pluto inconjunct an Aries Node pulling him in to the public eye; and a tough and frustrating Mars in Pisces opposition Pluto (Uranus).

The Infanta Cristina, 13 June 1965 12.30pm Madrid, has a 10^th house Sun, Mercury in Gemini with North Node and Jupiter also in Gemini in the 10^th and Venus in Cancer. Her Gemini planets square onto a tricky Saturn in Pisces in the 7^th opposition Uranus Pluto Mars in Virgo and oppose a Sagittarius Moon. So an incredibly pumped-up, high-wire, explosively scattered Mutable Grand Cross. Saturn in the 7^th hints at a more than usually difficult marriage especially with Saturn also opposing her Sun/Moon midpoint.

Her relationship chart with her husband has a self-protective, high-finance Water Grand Trine of Jupiter trine Neptune trine Saturn with Saturn opposition Venus Uranus and Pluto square Mars, so it was never going to be stable or sensible.

She has a long trail ahead for many years of Neptune hard aspects undermining her as they work round her Mutable planets. He won’t enjoy his prison time despite being in a low-security, high-comfort set up with tr Pluto conjunct his Sun in 2020/21.

Author and journalist Lionel Shriver – We Need to Talk about Kevin – has stirred up a storm by criticising Penguin Random House’s intention to diversify the authors that it published. She argued it would prioritise diversity over quality and mean that a manuscript “written by a gay transgender Caribbean who dropped out of school at seven” would be published “whether or not said manuscript is an incoherent, tedious, meandering and insensible pile of mixed-paper recycling”.

She has form for stepping into controversies arguing recently that cultural appropriation was a passing fad, losing a Swedish publisher because of what they saw as a negative view of immigration, and saying the #metoo campaign would constrain fiction writers from portraying sexually predatory characters. She says she doesn’t like bandwagons but seems adept at starting them rolling.

Born 18 May 1957 in North Carolina, she has a stubborn and enduring Taurus Sun probably in an Earth Grand Trine to Jupiter in Virgo trine a Capricorn Moon, formed into a Kite by Sun opposition a Scorpio North Node which squares onto Pluto in Leo. A focal point Fixed Pluto will make her determined to the nth degree, controlling, disliking interference, with formidable stamina; and as with any heavily aspected Pluto will tend to arouse resistance and bitterness.

Her Mercury in Taurus is opposition Neptune and square Uranus so she has all of Mercury Uranus’s outspoken tendencies plus a marginally fanatical Uranus Neptune; and a focal point Uranus tends to be self-willed, a law unto herself.

She has Germaine Greer’s leaden-footedness when it comes to getting opinions across, which contain a nugget of truth but are put in a way designed to ruffle feathers. Greer also has a Fixed Sun (Aquarius) in hard aspect to Pluto and in hard aspect to a Fixed focal point Uranus as well; and both have North Node in Scorpio, which yearns for respect but finds old behaviour patterns and attitudes difficult to let go. They’re not a million miles apart in temperament.

Lionel Shriver will be battling on through some losses and disappointments at the moment into next year, some exuberantly confident phases and more upsets in 2019. She’s unlikely to be staying quiet.

Pic: Tony Sarowitz.