Jessica Chastain, the ever-busy American actress – past successes include Zero Dark Thirty, Interstellar, The Martian, The Tree of Life, Zookeeper’s Wife – has seven up and coming projects, including in the X-Men film series and playing Tammy Wynette in a biopic, as well as running her own production company, which promotes diversity in film. She is reticent about her private life and childhood having been brought up poor by a single mother until her stepfather turned up; though after her sister’s suicide from drug abuse she is vocal about mental health issues, as well as gender and racial equality.

Born 24 March 1977 10.44 pm Carmichael, California (astro com) she has a pro-active Sun Aries as well as Mercury and Venus in Aries in her performing 5^th house; with an entrepreneurial, inspirational Fire Grand Trine of Saturn in Leo trine Neptune trine Mercury, with Mercury opposition Pluto – confident and intense. She has an easy-going Jupiter Moon in her 7^th opposition her secretive Scorpio Ascendant.

She married this year in June to her long time boyfriend Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo, an Italian sports-fashion executive which fits with her having tr Saturn now moving through her first quadrant, often when there is more focus on a personal life. She’s clearly not cutting back on her work schedule but may be less high-profile for a while.

If his birthdate of 10 Nov 1982 is accurate, then he’s an ultra-charming Sun Venus Jupiter in Scorpio, ideal for his career, though an odd mix with an Aries. His Mars squares her Sun, Mercury and her Saturn squares his Mercury Sun which is also less than ideal. Their relationship chart has a passionate composite Venus Mars conjunction; a power-couple and idealistic Jupiter trine Neptune, sextile Pluto; with a possessive and transformational Pluto square the composite Sun Mercury and probably Moon.

The wedding chart hints at too much work, not enough warmth.

A “manipulative” fantasist has been jailed for ten years for falsely claiming she was raped or sexually assaulted by 15 different men over three years in a bid to make her girlfriend jealous. Her lies resulted in one innocent man serving two years in prison and cost the police more than £250,000 and about 6,400 hours of work. A judge warned that her “grotesque” string of lies would increase the likelihood of guilty men going free and prevent real victims from reporting such crimes.

Jemma Beale, 29 December 1991, is a Sun Capricorn close to the highly-strung conjunction of Uranus and Neptune, in a confident trine to Jupiter in Virgo; with Jupiter in a can-be-opportunistic square to Mars Mercury; with a possessive Venus Pluto in Scorpio. Her Saturn, bringer of decency and rules, is unaspected. Bil Tierney says of a such a Saturn: ‘indifferent or unconcerned about processes outside of its own singular sphere of operation; self-discipline may be markedly lacking as well as caution; one’s conscience may be less applied; no set guidelines for living or abiding by few inner laws; without the benefits of the normal brakes and controls of an aspected Saturn.”

One harmonic which stands is the victim/healer 12H. She sought to make herself a victim, falsely, with brutal unconcern for the real sacrificial victims of her lies, the men she accused and slandered. Not surprisingly her 12H pulls together Mars Pluto opposition Sun square Jupiter – making her feel powerful by destroying others. Her 10^th Harmonic is also notably aspected which contains the seed of good and bad, the rise and fall – it has a shielded-from-reality Water Grand Trine; with the delusional Neptune Pluto tied in.

Prison might force her to develop a better sense of discipline.

“Brexit is England’s biggest policy blunder since George III fumbled away the American colonies,” pronounced a Nobel economist at a Geneva gathering of money wonks. Given how accurate economists’ predictions have been in the past that might be taken with a pinch of salt. [More and more I read strident opinions and think ‘what do they know?’]

But interesting to see whether the astrology bears it out. When the American colonies broke free in the extended struggle before and after 1776, on the England 11 May 973 AD chart, tr Pluto in Aquarius was trine the England North Node and tr Neptune conjunct the North Node. Tr Pluto aspects to the North Node do appear to have a significant effect – the English Civil War a century earlier had a similar tr Pluto trine Node (see post August 17 2017) – a key moment in destiny.

Given that England was the chief voter for Brexit it seems reasonable to see what’s showing on the England chart at the moment. And believe it or not, this particular aspect is repeating though not until 2024/25 when Pluto moves into Aquarius for the first time since the late 1770s; by 2025 tr Neptune will be opposition the England North Node; and by 2026 tr Uranus in Gemini will also be trine the Node. That may well be at the end of a long transition period of separation, but whatever accompanies it there will be a sense of a major shift in the country’s history. By then, both the EU and the UK 1801 charts will have undergone/survived the battering from tr Uranus in Taurus hitting on their central Fixed and mainly financial planets.

The UK 1801 chart has the North Node at 14 Aries, so has already undergone an assault from tr Pluto square and tr Uranus conjunct in the run up to and over Brexit, with nothing much ahead.

The Bank of England 27 July 1694 JC 10 am chart, looks discouraged, edgy and stressed as it heads for a Saturn Return later this year; in some upheaval in 2018 although pushing ahead with confidence; devastated in 2019; but into a good phase with great relief in 2020 to 2022 with tr Uranus square Jupiter and Sun/Jupiter. Where it runs into real problems is 2024 with Solar Arc Pluto opposition Saturn and Solar Arc Uranus square the Sun.

The stock market charts aren’t always that great a guide. But for what it’s worth, the FTSE 250, 12 October 1992, looks to be hitting setbacks and panics from late this year through till 2020. The FTSE100 3 January 1984 10am is having similar wobbles late this year, ups and downs in 2018, a depression in 2019 but nothing too cataclysmic in the mid 2020s.

Who would know? Economies have a lag before the real impact shows up. There is certainly quite a financial collision with great insecurity in 2024 on the UK 1801 chart when Solar Arc Uranus is conjunct the 8^th house Mars. But the UK is resilient and some trimming of the City of London’s financial services may be no bad thing, if the energy is redirected into diversifying into other areas, like technology.

A week is a long time in politics and several years can change the landscape altogether, which will undoubtedly be true of the EU, which has its own ruptures, conflicts and economic hazards to face quite apart from Brexit in the years ahead. And if it’s any consolation the 2030s will be more aggravated and financially stressed as tr Pluto moves into mid Aquarius.  The previous time when the UK Fixed planets took a pounding from tr Pluto was when it was in Scorpio 1985/95 and that oversaw a major recession with a fallout from the ERM – which ultimately turned out to be no bad thing.  Life goes on despite the noise from pundits.

Hurricane Harvey, the most powerful weather system to hit the US in almost 12 years, is hurtling towards Texas. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, oil refineries are expected to shut down and the National Guard is being called up, with mandatory evacuations in low-lying areas. It is due to make landfall late on Friday and is likely to bring up to 3ft of rain, 125mph winds and 12ft storm surges. Landfall is predicted for late Friday or early Saturday.

Texas does look rattled this month and next. On the state chart, 2 March 1836, the Mars Mercury in Aquarius caught the opposition from Monday’s Leo Solar Eclipse which tends to bring up intense emotional reactions and shocks; and tr Neptune is reversing towards the undermining conjunction to the Texas Pisces Sun.

Locating the Solar Eclipse to Texas puts the New Moon within one degree conjunct the midheaven and the North Node Mars also conjunct the MC. The 7^th August Lunar Eclipse for Texas again had the Sun Mars straddling the Midheaven opposition Moon IC.

Planets on the angles usually are present when significant events occur in that location.

Competitors swapping insults and curses, whipping huge crowds into a frenzy is all part and parcel of the promotion of major boxing matches. The upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor this weekend had a four-city media tour to bring in the money and seemed even more raucous than usual. Doctors are concerned that McGregor, an Irish mixed martial arts champion fighting in his first professional boxing bout, is overmatched by Floyd Mayweather, considered the best boxer of his generation.

McGregor, 14 July 1988, is a Sun Cancer trine Mars in Aries with Mars square Neptune as well as Saturn Uranus in Sagittarius.

Mayweather, 24 Feb 1977, is a Sun Pisces, with a tough Saturn in Leo opposition Mars in Aquarius square Uranus in Scorpio. Both have Jupiter in Taurus and both have a high-octane Mars.

There’s little to suggest any real rancour between them. Indeed the relationship chart has a composite friendly Sun Venus. But needs must to keep the fans and the promoters happy. So they’re talking up a storm.

‘The president is alienating the one Republican he needs to advance his agenda — and to save himself from impeachment’. So reads a Vanity Fair headline over the long-simmering tension between Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The New York Times reported that the two men have stopped talking to each other entirely after a “profane” shouting match on August 9. The argument was supposedly about the failure to repeal Obamacare, but it’s thought the more likely bone of contention was that Trump wanted more protection from the Mueller investigation into Russian election interference and financial dealings.

McConnell is a Sun Pisces with a tough, pragmatic Mars Saturn Uranus in Taurus, which sit on Trump’s Taurus midheaven. It’s a shame since it could have been a reasonable partnership with McConnell’s Sun in Trump’s 7^th and MM’s Jupiter in Trump’s 10^th. And MM’s Saturn Mars on Trump’s MC could have given him some discipline and organisation, though since that also squares Trump’s I-am-the-greatest Mars in Leo, it was doomed to fall over.

Their relationship chart has a friendly composite Sun Venus; but where the trouble lies is probably a composite Jupiter Pluto conjunction which inevitably ends up in a power struggle. Tr Uranus has been conjunct the composite Sun and Mercury earlier this year, returning in early September into 2018.

McConnell is persevering to the nth degree and although he’s at full stretch in 2018/19 with tr Pluto trine his Mars Saturn, he’s also got an upbeat tr Pluto square Sun/Jupiter to give him confidence and some successes.

Trump’s relationship charts with the two Republican charts – 28 Feb 1854 and 22 Feb 1856 – both reflect the same ruptures, especially the 1856 one. It has a composite Sun Mercury which tr Uranus is conjunct right through into 2018; and is ploughing through very heavy seas this fall with a great deal of aggravation as tr Saturn opposes the composite Pluto (now) and then squares Mars and is conjunct Neptune; with more downers late December and eruptions in 2018. The 1854 chart also looks dismayed with Trump this fall and fit to walk away into 2018.

This isn’t going to get better. Trump’s Administration chart gets a sharp jolt from tr Uranus square the MC this October and will be in a state of total upheaval from February 2018 onwards as tr Pluto squares the Uranus; then maybe rocking on its perch altogether from mid 2018 as tr Uranus squares the Sun from then into early 2019.

A shoot-off-at-the-mouth Sagittarius temperament is getting a US politician’s newly-wed wife into trouble. Louise Linton, recently spliced to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has been forced to apologize over an Instagram dustup. She posted a look-amn’t-I-wealthy pic with her designer outfit itemised when on an official trip, and when an Oregon woman responded with a critical comment, she let fly with condescending cracks. It’s not her first faux pas by a long way. Her self-published book about Zambia called In Congo’s Shadow was met with a shower of condemnation including #lintonlies, and racked up predominantly negative reviews on Amazon where it currently has a one-star rating.

Born 21 December 1980, Edinburgh, Scotland, she is an actress though with one CS1:NY and one Cold Case appearance plus a zero-rated by Rotten Tomatoes horror movie Cabin Fever amongst her career highlights, she was clearly not a storming success.

She’s a last degree Sun Sagittarius with Mercury Neptune also in Sag as well as her Venus. Her Pluto is in a forceful square to Mars in can-be materialistic Capricorn. Her Moon is probably Gemini. Rather like Trump in reverse.

Mnuchin, 21 December 1962 is also a final degree Sagittarius trine Mars in Leo, so quite a showman himself. His Venus is in Scorpio which doesn’t chime too well with her Venus in Sagittarius or her Gemini Moon.

Their relationship chart has a composite Sun Jupiter so they’ll egg each other on; though the composite Venus is conjunct Neptune, which usually wears the shine off. She’s certainly pretty over-confident at the moment with tr Pluto square her Jupiter/Pluto midpoint. But from late September tr Saturn starts to conjunct her Neptune, then Mercury, then Sun up to December, which will put her flame at a peep. 2019/2020 sees tr Pluto conjunct her Mars, which will feel boxed-in and acutely frustrating.

Their wedding in late June this year attended by the entire Trump dynasty and VP Pence had an ostentatious though high-tension Mars opposition Pluto square Jupiter – which could end up in bitterness at some point.

Angela Merkel is sailing high in the polls as the German election of September 24^th approaches and she seeks her fourth term. Yesterday she said she thought she got better the longer she stayed in office. That’s tempting fortune given the insoluble migrant problem which she partly stoked up, a German economic slowdown, and murmurs about crumbling infrastructure after years of austerity, saving and too little investment, never mind other EU criticism about the north/south imbalance.

The election will be held on a panicky-failure Mars opposition Neptune; though the Fire Grand Trine/Kite onto Jupiter is still in place which will produce a bubble of enthusiasm (which may not last).

Merkel does not look as happy as she had expected over the election with tr Neptune opposition her Solar Arc Jupiter, though that is a mild enough influence. She’ll bounce up confidently from late October and across into the New Year.

Her relationship with Germany has mainly been highly positive all the way through, not surprising given that her Jupiter sits in Germany’s 10^th house, giving the country a successful lift. But relations may be sagging ahead especially from this New Year with her popularity sliding – tr Saturn will oppose the composite Jupiter Pluto from late this December, on and off through 2018; and will be confused and disorientated in 2018/2019. So it looks rocky for her domestic popularity.

What’s key in her chart is tr Saturn moving below her Ascendant through her 1^st quadrant which is when erstwhile successful leaders most often lose their mojo, if they haven’t had the sense to retire. Banana skins become longer and more frequent, as do misjudgements. She’ll be at the lowest ebb of this phase right through her next term (if she’s elected).

And Germany is heading into a less bullish few years. The Bundesbank (Central Bank) looks pressured in 2017/18 and devastated in 2019. The Germany chart has the bubble and enthusiasm-bursting tr Neptune square Jupiter in 2019. The country chart also has tr Pluto square the 7^th house Neptune in 2017/18 which suggests that neighbourly relations are sinking into a swamp – which may be the EU, or bordering countries like Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, France. Merkel’s relationship with the ebullient French President Macron is deteriorating sharply now and through 2018. And her interface with the EU is similarly strained and then thoroughly undermined from mid 2018 into 2019.

She might have been better to stick to her original plan and leave when she was on a high.

A huge brand name in the tarot market has given it up in a conversion to Jesus and has now denounced all her former extremely lucrative books, cards and courses. Doreen Virtue (I confess I had never heard of her) is now pushing a presumably equally money-making line in more religious guidance. From google searches I can’t work out whether her fairyology courses are old or new incarnation but she seems to be punting a Devotional Prayer book hard on her twitter.

Born 29 April 1958 1.13am? Burbank, California, into a Christian Scientist family, she had clairvoyant experiences from childhood, speaking to spirits; and has been married and divorced four times. She’s a Taurus Sun opposition Neptune conjunct her Scorpio MC square Uranus in her 7^th. Uranus Neptune can be fairly fanatical in beliefs which are not always conventional. Uranus in the 7^th is a pointer to multiple relationships.

Neptune in the 9^th conjunct Midheaven makes sense of a psychic/spiritual career. She’s also got an entrepreneurial Fire Grand Trine of Pluto in the hidden 8^th trine Saturn trine Mercury in Aries, with Mercury opposition Jupiter in the 9th, forming it into a Kite. So all that heavyweight Saturn Pluto fiery energy is being pushed into publishing (9^th) and communication (3^rd). She’s also got an ambitious-for-money Mars in her 2^nd house of personal finances opposition Pluto in the business chart area. Her chart is a curious mix of deeply buried pointing to interests in what lies beyond/beneath reality and materialism. So making money out of a psychic/spiritual approach does fit.

I’m not sure when her epiphany/conversion on the road to Damascus occurred. Though her career seems to be moving seamlessly into another success, at least for the next two years, if her birth time is accurate. In 2019, however, she picks up tr Uranus in hard aspect to her Fixed T square of Neptune (MC) opposition Sun square Uranus, which points to another radical shift in her path.

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