Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, has been attempting to limit expectations of his abilities, saying he can deliver price and financial stability, but not lasting prosperity or solve broader societal challenges.

Born 16 March 1965, Ottawa, Canada, he has a surprisingly scattered chart with a Pisces Sun and Venus, with Saturn also in early Pisces and Uranus, Pluto, Moon, Mars in Virgo; plus a high-finance Jupiter in Taurus opposition Neptune – so a chart made up almost entirely of oppositions, very see-saw. He is sagging this year and will continue to face losses and disappointments with tr Neptune opposition his Uranus Pluto in 2017/18 and next year opposition his Mars for a sense of outright failure. He’ll buck up in 2019/2020 with tr Pluto trine his Jupiter and beyond and by that time will almost certainly have moved onto pastures new. He’ll stay bullish before then through the Brexit negotiations but will be wrestling with unsolvable problems.

The Bank of England, 27 July 1694 10am JC London, looks to be undergoing a fair upheaval in 2018 with tr Uranus square the Pluto from mid year onwards; with some sobering moments this October, running into gloom this New Year and beyond as tr Saturn meets a Return this November, then squares Mars and opposes the BoE Venus, repeating later in 2018 as well. There’ll be a more upbeat phase in 2020/21 with tr Uranus square the Jupiter.

Hugh Hefner of the silk pyjamas and Barbie-doll filled Playboy mansions has died. His son described him as ‘a media and cultural pioneer and a leading voice behind some of the most significant social and cultural movements of our time in advocating free speech, civil rights and sexual freedom.’ Others saw him as ‘louche purveyor of corrupting smut’; and a dirty old man who reduced women to fetish objects. For good or ill he was immensely influential in promoting the sexual revolution from the 1950s onwards when his Playboy magazine became a global best-seller every month. Alongside nudes he published interviews with Martin Luther King Jr, Beatle John Lennon, and Fidel Castro; with contributions by Norman Mailer, Kingsley Amis, Kurt Vonnegut, James Baldwin, Vladimir Nabokov, Margaret Atwood and Ray Bradbury.

Born 9 April 1926 4.20pm Chicago, he was a pro-active Sun Aries trine Neptune and square an influential, controlling 10^th house Pluto; and his Sun was also sextile an enthusiastic Jupiter and Mars in broad-minded Aquarius in the publicity-attracting 5^th. He had a very complex chart and not altogether a happy one, despite living every teenage boys’ dream. He said he never found his soulmate, despite three marriages and endless flings. He had a needs-space and constant-relationship-change 7^th house Uranus in a self-protective Water Grand trine to Saturn in obsessive Scorpio trine a Cancer North Node. His Saturn was further emphasised being on the point of a T Square to Neptune opposition Jupiter (Mars) – not good at sharing, co-operating or intimacy. His sensitive Pisces Moon was trine his Pluto, so he would be possessive but always on his own terms.

His 7^th Harmonic was strong – a perfectionist and a seeking soul. Can be cold, self-centred, attracted to alcohol/ drugs and occultism. As was his 11H – a difficult number to live up to. Can be idealistic and inspired; also fanatical, greedy, self-indulgent.

If there was one word that described his life it was satiated, nauseating levels of gratification of the most superficial kind. Certainly influential, and more complicated than nude centre-spreads might suggest, but empty inside. Oddly enough, or maybe not, he had no Earth planets. Mainly Water Fire which is excitable, good for the entertainment business. But Earth was his missing element, so he gorged on the most negative aspect of it.

Lady Lucan, estranged wife of the elusive and infamous murder fugitive Lord Lucan, has died alone, having not seen her three children and sister since the 1980s. Born 3 May 1937, she was badly damaged by her loveless marriage to an inveterate gambler, who tried to have her sectioned as insane. She fought for custody of the children but then refused to speak to them when they queried her version of the night when Lucan killed the nanny Sandra Rivett and brutally attacked her. After his disappearance she lived for decades mired in the past.

She was a stubborn Sun Uranus in Taurus trine Neptune, probably square an Aquarius Moon, so not well-designed for the role of a submissive wife, though she admitted she only married him when she was 26 because she thought she’d missed the boat. She had a Fire/Water mixed element Grand Trine of self-reliant Saturn in Aries trine Mars in Sagittarius trine Pluto which would attract her to high-risk situations. Plus a pushily-confident Pluto opposition Jupiter square Venus in Aries, giving her a taste for money and status.

Lord Lucan Snr, 18 Dec 1934, was a Sun Sagittarius trine Uranus, sextile Saturn in Aquarius; and Sun inconjunct Pluto; with Venus in socially-ambitious Capricorn in an insensitive square to Mars in Libra. It’s a hard, unfeeling chart though not especially brutal. (More below). Her Sun Uranus opposed his Jupiter in Scorpio; and her Venus was trine his Sun – so there was some affection, and attractions to money and social position.

Their relationship chart had a cool composite Sun Mercury Saturn conjunction, with the Sun sextile/trine an explosive Mars opposition Uranus. That volatile Mars Uranus was being exacerbated by tr Saturn in Leo square tr Uranus in Scorpio around the time of the attack in 1975.

Her eldest son, George, now the 8^th Earl, 21 Sept 1967, has a Sun Uranus Pluto in Virgo, with a forced-to-be-self-reliant Saturn in Aries like his mother’ and their relationship chart has a composite Sun Uranus square Neptune, which would make it a highly-strung connection, in which both needed space to breathe.

From a previous 2012 post: The disappearance of Lord Lucan in 1974 after the murder of his children’s nanny became one of the great mysteries of the decade. There’s now evidence that he did – as many thought – flee to a secret life in Africa, helped by his high-flying London gambling buddies.

Born 18 December 1934 he was a Sun Sagittarius with one or perhaps even two Yods in his chart. His Sun was sextile Saturn in Aquarius, both inconjunct Pluto and his Taurus Moon may have been sextile Pluto and inconjunct his Sun. Yods are known as fingers of god in astrology, creating strain and suggesting a fated change of life when they click into place.

A Yod with Pluto as a focal point tends to produce an individual with an over complicated approach to life, very intense, controlling and yet unrelated to others. Bil Tierney remarks that once the Yod is activated – the established conditions operating previously …… are likely to be destroyed or completely abandoned. If his Sun was also a focal point it leads to pride and the abuse of authority. He had Jupiter in money-attracting Scorpio and Venus in snobbish Capricorn.

When the nanny Sandra Rivett was murdered on 18 December 1975 and his then separated wife attacked, his Solar Arc Mars was conjunct his Jupiter and Solar Arc Jupiter was conjunct his Sun; plus tr Jupiter was just passed the opposition to his Solar Arc Pluto. None of those looks violent but they do look massively over confident, pushy – and adventurous. They don’t look like a man overcome with shame for his actions.

Sandra Rivett, 16 Sep 1945, had a difficult chemistry with him since her Saturn in Cancer was conjunct his Pluto so she’d block his controlling approach. Her Pluto was square his Jupiter and her Mars North Node in Cancer was square his Mars in Libra – so quite a clash of temperaments. Their relationship chart had a bleak chained-together composite Sun opposition Saturn square Pluto with an explosive Mars square Uranus. So a volcanic mix.

Lucan’s three children all have charts indicating a less than stable father. George, 21 Sept 1967, who inherited the title after his disappeared father was declared dead, is a Virgo Sun conjunct the unpredictable Uranus Pluto of the time with a have-to-be-self-reliant Saturn in Aries trine Mars. His elder sister Frances, 24 Oct 1964, has a similar echo of unkind treatment with a Mars opposition Saturn square Jupiter and a very emotionally muddled Moon square Uranus Pluto Venus. Camilla, 30 June 1970, is a Sun square Uranus, Mars square Jupiter and Saturn trine Pluto sextile Mars – which encapsulates the erratic, not-there, gambling, cruel father.

(Dave Brown Toon from the Independent, Twitter).

Trump promises devastation for North Korea if it continues down its present belligerent path; while North Korea says he has already declared war by twitter.

China has been edging away from Kim Jong Un, agreeing to more sanctions, and looks to be widening the diplomatic freeze from late October into November/December 2017 with tr Saturn square the composite Mars, Venus, Sun; with even more jolts across the New Year into early 2018.

The country that would suffer as much is South Korea, with the capital Seoul only 60 miles from the border, which would be bombarded in retaliation for any US strikes. South Korea, 15 August 1948, looks in a high-risk few weeks from October 23^rd to early December with tr Pluto square Mars – trapped, frustrated and fearful.

Kim Jong Un’s leadership chart, 29 Dec 2011 11.57am Pyonggang, NK, is pessimistic over the next ten days as the USA 1776 chart looks highly uncertain with tr Saturn square the US Neptune. November goes look aggravated on the NK Leadership chart, on high-tension in late December; and more so into early 2018 with tr Pluto in a dangerous trine to the Mars in January 2018; blocked in Feb with tr Saturn conjunct Sun Pluto. If Kim survives the instability of his Solar Arc Uranus square his Sun Pluto, exact in four months’ time, which might just topple him off his perch; then mid 2018 onwards looks even more agitated.

Japan, which is also on high-alert over the escalating situation, is extremely edgy over this next ten days; and moving through testing and bad-tempered times in November; with January looking like a hard struggle,

The North Korea 9 September 1948 5.25pm, Pyonggang, chart isn’t showing up much (without an accurate start time) in the near future apart from a sudden gear change next April; and shocks from May 2018 onwards, worsening in 2019; and tr Neptune opposing its Virgo Sun from mid 2018 for 18 months, which will be undermining, lacklustre, lacking will-power.

Out of all of that I’m not sure what it tells us about the likelihood of an all-out conflict which would inflict unthinkable damage – though November looks to be ramping up the rhetoric.

Game of Thrones fans were bereft when Jon Snow died, only to be enchanted when a miraculous resurrection occurred – isn’t fantasy wonderful? Now actor Kit Harington announces his engagement to Rose Leslie (who plays Ygritte) whom he met in 2012 when fighting their way through the GoT plot maze.

Born 26 December 1986, London, he’s an ambitious and creative Sun Neptune in Capricorn in a powerful sextile to Pluto. With a seductive Venus in Scorpio trine an exuberant Jupiter Mars in Pisces; and a Libra/Scorpio Moon.

Rose Leslie, 9 Feb 1987, Aberdeen, Scotland, is a Sun Aquarius square his Venus, which will give an affectionate bond, though she’ll not be as emotionally intense or possessive as he is. Her filmic Neptune Venus in Capricorn sits on his Sun Neptune, lending an ethereal note to their relationship. Both have Jupiter in Pisces, square Saturn Uranus in Sagittarius, and both have an Aries North Node – a good many similarities between them so they’ll understand each other. Though with her Mars in Aries and Aquarius Sun, she’s likely to more independent-minded. Her Moon is Gemini or Cancer.

Their relationship chart has a cool, work-oriented composite Venus Saturn; a passionate Venus trine Mars; and an adventurous Jupiter square Uranus.

It won’t be easy for either of them coming out of the hothouse fan-mania of Game of Thrones when it finishes in 2018/19. Both look relatively disappointed though the next two years, though Rose Leslie will forge ahead successfully in 2021/22; and Kit Harington will get another lucky break by 2022 with his Solar Arc Jupiter trine his Uranus.

The mystifying self-destruction of Anthony Weiner, ex-congressman and husband of Hillary Clinton’s closest aide Huma Abedin, reaches closure as he is slapped with nearly two years in the federal penitentiary for sexting a minor. He’d already lost his career in a previous sexting scandal in 2013, when Huma was pregnant; before that he was known ‘for his overweening ambition, his constant presence on cable news, his hard-charging schedule that verged on lunacy’. So a driven  and a narcissist. Huma served him with divorce papers last year and keeps custody of their son.

Born 4 September 1964 in New York, he has his Sun, Uranus, Pluto, Mercury conjunct in Virgo – hyper, highly-strung, rebellious, earthy; with a flamboyant Leo Moon which may square onto an indulgent Jupiter in Taurus in a head-in-the-clouds opposition to Neptune, which sounds about right. Plus a passionately enthusiastic and emotional Venus Mars in Cancer sextile Jupiter – drawn to the good life. His Mercury opposes Saturn which in turn squares Jupiter – so he’s very up and down emotionally and psychologically, from pessimism to optimism.

His early prison months will be tough with his Solar Arc Saturn squaring his Mars, exact in Jan 2018; plus tr Neptune opposing his Sun (exact now) and then his Pluto into early 2018. But he’s also got tr Pluto hitting three of his Jupiter midpoints till late 2018, which will no doubt spur him on.

The oddity was why his wife stood by him after the first scandal. Born 26 July 1976, she’s a Sun Saturn conjunct in Leo square Uranus; with Venus, Mercury, maybe Moon also in Leo, and Jupiter in Taurus (like her husband.) Her Mars in Virgo is conjunct his Sun, Pluto, Uranus, Mercury which is a very odd combo for a marriage leading to simmering resentment and angry clashes – though perhaps two constantly-travelling, workaholics with super-charged careers who only met every other week would soak up that aggravation. The only faintly romantic crossover is her Venus perhaps conjunct his Moon.

Their relationship chart does have a composite Jupiter opposition Neptune square Sun, Mars (Moon), with Jupiter trine Pluto. Soaring ambitions, power-couple wannabees and a sugar-coating of illusions and delusions. The composite Saturn is square Mars, which usually means unkindness or one partner acting solely out of their needs.

Just as everyone sags back punch-drunk from seven months of Trump-mania, he stirs the cauldron and pours boiling oil over already inflammatory situations. His generals have clearly reckoned there’s little point in restraining his acid-rain twitter stream, but he runs the risk of tipping Kim Jong Un into a major miscalculation. What will the military maestros do then?

As a mild diversion he then proceeded to spew bile over NFL players who were protesting about police brutality and other injustices in the oppression of black people in the US. Trump’s campaign-style rhetoric has now given new life to what had been an isolated protest, garnering it more player support and widespread condemnation from sports bosses; though also pleasing his populist base.

At the moment (since late July) he has tr Saturn conjunct his Sagittarius Moon, which will make him feel unloved and under-nurtured; and square his Sun/Moon midpoint which indicates a marital freeze; and in a politician, unpopularity.  Tr Saturn this Wednesday moves to oppose his Gemini Sun until October 13^th, which tends to bring reality checks, setbacks and discouragement. During this same three week patch he also has tr Saturn opposition his Mars/Jupiter midpoints which is no more cheerful – difficulties in making decisions, termination of relationships, letting good opportunities slide. He does look depressed, confused and under pressure till late October with tr Pluto hitting on his Mercury/Saturn, Sun/Pluto and Mars/Neptune midpoints as well.

Regrettably from October 24^th to early December tr Pluto returns to square his Jupiter for the final time which will bring a surge of over-confidence, a ‘might makes right’ forcefulness, and rules-don’t-apply-to-me mindset which could see him stepping even further over the line.

In December 2017/January 2018 tr Uranus will be whipping up a storm as it crashes into his Sun/Mars, Mercury/Pluto and Venus/Saturn midpoints – 1) impulsive, over-excited, overtaxing strength (military call-up?); 2) fanatical, great mental strain; 3) emotional stress, acute loneliness.

There seems little likelihood of him acquiring any self-control at this late stage and with his Solar Arc Mercury approaching the square to his Uranus over coming months he’s likely to become even more incontinent with his scattergun tweet tantrums. And his Solar Arc Uranus is now on the same degree as his Mars, approaching the exact conjunction in eight months’ time, which is intemperate, hot-headed and determined to prove its machismo by wild actions.

His Admin chart pinpoints late Oct/early Nov as one crisis/setback phase with tr Saturn square Mars; even before then from early October to early January 2018 there’s likely to be a run of disappointed hopes with tr Neptune square the Sun/Jupiter midpoint. With Dec/Jan 2018 looking especially fraught as tr Uranus squares the Sun/Pluto. Where it starts to look more cheerful is from late March 2018 onwards with a sudden lucky break and positive change in circumstance.

To watch for this week – on Thursday there’s a Jupiter opposition Uranus, which is one of the signatures of his administration. On the negative side, Uranus is the great disruptor and Jupiter expands everything good and bad. On the positive side it can bring breakthroughs through innovation and an adventuring spirit. But reckless actions tend to be part of its ethos, viz the launching of the Afghanistan War. It is also overly opinionated (self-righteous Jupiter) in pushing its own aggressive beliefs. It can bring out the ‘holy crusader’, who justifies self-serving actions by wrapping them in a confection of morality. Not stable or dependable.

A chastened Angela Merkel is facing months of tough negotiations to form a ruling coalition as her open-door immigrant policy dented her popularity and created a backlash that voted the far-right into government for the first time in decades.

The key factor in her chart is tr Saturn moving below her Ascendant into her 1^st quadrant since January 2016, just after she welcomed 800,000 migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. This is usually when politicians start making misjudgements, slipping on banana skins and facing setbacks. She’s not yet at her lowest ebb, which is 2018 and more so 2019. Lower energy levels and even health problems can crop up though there’s nothing much on the latter showing up. Tr Pluto is also square her midheaven this year and (birth time being spot on) returning in late October into November for a few weeks, which tends to bring career crisis. November looks doubly fraught with tr Saturn conjunct her Mars; though she’ll also have a stroke of luck. Through December she should be moving ahead more confidently. In December/January 2018 tr Uranus returns to square her 8^th house Cancer Sun for the final time with another jolt. With Feb 2018  involving a catastrophe of sorts.

The Germany 1871 chart is moving into sobering and discouraging times with tr Saturn heading into the irritable/accident-prone conjunction to Mars late this December, then proceeding on to a Saturn Return over Christmas and square Ascendant, opposition MC and conjunct Sun late in 2018. Plus financial pressures from tr Pluto trine the 8^th house Pluto in 2017/2018 with the German economy only buoyed up by the imbalance in the EU. Behind the façade of success is crumbling infrastructure, problems in the car industry, a backward technology sector and an ageing population. By 2019 tr Neptune will square Jupiter which is usually a financial bubble bursting or at least dashed hopes.

The Bundesbank (central bank) chart, 26 July 1957, looks disappointed at the moment with Solar Arc Neptune square Jupiter; significantly jolted in late 2018 by Solar Arc Saturn opposition Uranus; and in a devastating meltdown by 2019/2020 with Solar Arc Pluto conjunct Neptune.

Merkel has undoubtedly been good for Germany with her Jupiter, Sun, Uranus falling in the Germany 10^th, but the love affair is heading into its stormiest few years with the composite Sun opposition Mercury square Neptune opposition Uranus on the relationship being tossed from confusion into rebellion between now and 2020/21.

In many ways Germany looks more out of sorts with the EU than even the UK does, with late 2018 and 2019 putting severe stress on relations.

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Radiantly beautiful, egregiously bad-mannered with an alpine sense of entitlement, Princess Margaret could not have been more different from her sister, the dutiful Queen Elizabeth. She was drawn to high-camp, bohemians from the art, music and literary world, many of whom were avid diary-keepers. They tolerated her grandiosity and bitched about her behind her back. Craig Brown has brought together their reminiscences in ‘Ma’am Darling’. He remarks ‘her rudeness knew no bounds. It was almost as though, early in life, she had contracted a peculiarly royal strain of Tourette syndrome, causing the sufferer to be seized by the unstoppable urge to say the first thing that came into her head, just so long as it was sufficiently unpleasant.’ Cecil Beaton referred to her as “a little pocket monster”. Sir Roy Strong called her “a tiresome, spoilt, idle and irritating, capricious, arrogant and thoughtless woman”. She gave up Group Captain Townsend, Brown concludes, because in marrying a divorced man she would have lost her trappings of wealth and title. And when push came to shove, she valued them more than the love of the group captain. Her marriage to Anthony Armstrong-Jones was a disaster though it produced two admirable children; she had a string of affairs and flings. Heavy smoking and alcohol consumption finally took its toll and she died aged 72 after a sad, wasted life.

Born 21 August 1930 9.22pm Glamis, Scotland, she had a 6^th house Sun conjunct Neptune, which would point to delicate health though it could have made her hard-working which it clearly didn’t. Her sharply-outspoken 3^rd house Mars was square Mercury in Virgo as well as sextile her Sun, and that also suggests an element of competitiveness with siblings. She had a rebellious 1^st house Uranus just below her Aries Ascendant which opposed Venus in her 7^th in Libra squaring on to Jupiter in the 4^th opposition Saturn in her 10^th – so a restless Cardinal Grand Cross, accompanying a life of revolving crises, and a constantly disrupted emotional life. A Venus Saturn square often goes with promiscuity or sex addiction as it is now called, never mind the Uranus. Jupiter Venus is frivolous, indulgent and extravagant. Saturn Uranus is autocratic.

What also stands out is her 5^th house performing and attention-demanding Pluto Moon in Cancer, which would prompt her to insist on centre-stage and clearly lent her an air of contemptuous superiority.

What is odd about her chart is that she could have walked a completely different path. Venus in the 7^th is diplomatic and charming; a 6^th house Sun can be conscientious especially with a dutiful 10^th house Saturn; Neptune in the 6^th can work in the caring professions. Pluto in the 5^th can be creative. Yet she threw away her potential on an endless round of parties.

Two thoughts might be: the Saturn opposition Jupiter which would make her fearful of failure, so she never tried. For some it makes them push themselves harder, but for others they never attempt anything at all. The other is her 3^rd house sibling-rivalry Mars – her life was a reaction against her sister’s executive role and steady temperament. Rather than finding herself, she was driven to be the opposite.

It was often said the tragedy of Princess Margaret’s life was she always had to walk behind the Queen. Hardly a life of penury even if she did on occasion. Otherwise she had it all handed to her on a gilded plate. She had talent, drive, money and opportunity and could have become anything she wanted.