The surreal and shocking tale of the “silent twins” June and Jennifer Gibbons is now the subject of a series of podcasts. Intelligent, creative and well-read, with ambitions to become authors, they started life with a speech impediment and were then relentlessly and racially abused and bullied at school, withdrew into themselves and became electively mute. A teenage crush gone wrong pulled them into a vortex of alcohol and drugs, then petty pilfering and arson of empty buildings, as a result of which they were extraordinarily deemed psychopathic and sent to Broadmoor for the Criminally Insane, housed with serial killers, chatted up creepily by Jimmy Savile. There they stayed for 11 years until moved to a low-security institution at which point June died.

  They operated within their own shut-off, slight sinister world where they appeared to be resentful and jealous of each other, yet acted in unison.

 They were born 11 April 1963 in Aden, Yemen with Windrush Caribbean immigrant parents. Their chart with no birth time is not too illuminating apart from one configuration which caught my eye – Mercury in Taurus opposition Black Moon square Mars, which could be interpreted as having a bearing on their angry silence as far as the outside world is concerned.  

  I confess to knowing next to nothing about the Black Moon so this is a fishing expedition for feedback. It purportedly indicates the dark side or shadow and what is taboo – which would certainly fit where these poor girls ended up. Their Mercury was also trine Uranus Pluto.  When they were sent to Broadmoor in 1982 tr Pluto was square their North Node and tr Saturn opposed their Aries Sun.

A skip round other charts:

Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper and Thomas Hamilton, the Dunblane shooter had Black Moon on their Ascendant. Jimmy Savile may have had his Black Moon conjunct his Moon, Ted Bundy certainly did and Hug Hefner had his Black Moon opposite His Moon.

  I have no idea whether any of this is relevant and the Gibbons twins were not either evil or criminal, just muddled teenagers who had withdrawn into themselves.

Add ON: Marjorie Wallace in her book gives 8.10am as the birth time with twins being born ten minutes apart.  This puts Mercury in the 12^th square a 3^rd house Mars and a 3^rd house North Node – which makes sense given the 3^rd house rules communication – in general and with siblings, so rivalry and competition and a 12^th house Mercury is fairly inward looking.

  I have seen a stressed 3^rd house in an individual where it badly affected their ego structure – not self-esteem so much as ego in the clinical sense as that which allows us to interface with the outside world.

Hugh Hefner, a headline-grabber in the days before #metoo when Playboy bunnies and the bon vivant lifestyle that went with them were regarded as acceptable entertainment has been cut down to size six years after his death by his third wife, Crystal Harris, in a tell-all memoir. She was 26 when they married and he 86. She claims he was emotionally abusive and is scathing about his sexual prowess, relating tales of him demanding multiple women on his bed at the same time. She wrote:

‘This wasn’t about making love. It was about power and control and leverage. It was a performance.” His second wife Kimberley Conrad has stepped in to defend his memory suggesting the memoir was about making a quick buck and that Harris had made her choices willingly at the time.

  Hefner, born 9 April 1926 4.20pm Chicago, Illinois, had a 7^th house Aries Sun square a controlling, possessive 10^th house Pluto in Cancer; with an exuberantly sociable 5^th house Mars Jupiter in Aquarius opposition Neptune square Saturn in Scorpio. His 6^th house Pisces Moon and Venus were both in a seductive, possessive trine to Pluto. Last but not least he had a needs-space Uranus on his Descendant. Not built for fidelity.

 What intrigues me is his attitude to the women in his life firstly his mother from whom he borrowed money start his Playboy empire, then three wives and an endless stream of blonde bunny clones.

 A 10^th house Pluto suggests a smothering, controlling mother which in adult life would make him a control-freak as a defensive reaction. Pluto in the 10^th can be influential career-wise but particularly in Cancer is problematic. His Pluto was square his Sun, trine his Pisces Moon and inconjunct his Mars. Pluto in the 10^th at its most negative can produce sexual predators. Fred West, the UK serial killer of girls, had it.

 His Pisces Moon was sensitive when it came to choosing wives since his first Millie had her Pisces Sun close by and wives 2 and 3 (born 24 years apart) both had Jupiter in Pisces conjunct his Moon.

 Crystal Harris, No 3 wife, 29 April 1986 had her Taurus Sun in his 8^th opposition her Pluto in his 2^nd (a deep connection and money-oriented). Her Moon in Capricorn may have been conjunct his South Node which sounds feasible. And her North Node is conjunct his Chiron. An intertwined and not altogether healthy bond. Their relationship chart had a composite Sun opposition Neptune square Mars – designed for showbusiness, not ego-supportive, argumentative, disappointing over time when the fantasy wore off. With a power-couple, power-struggling composite Pluto opposition Jupiter square Saturn opposition Node. Chained together, resentful and plotting to get the upper and and last word.

 Kimberley Conrad, No 2 wife, 6 August 1962, has a 5th house sociable Sun Leo opposition Saturn square Neptune in her 8^th; with a pushily confident Jupiter opposition Pluto. His Saturn fell in her 8^th and his Mars was conjunct her Saturn which would create irritations and block intimacy.

  His children in varying degrees have much the same undercurrents as the Trump children- strongly Plutonian relationships with a dominating father.  

  Playboy made Hefner a multi-multi millionaire seems such a throwback nowadays to a sleazy era.

ADD ON:

 His rival in the sleaze publishing business was Bob Guccione, whose adult Penthouse contained more explicit erotic content as well as in-depth reporting of government corruption scandals. Less sociable than Hefner, he went in for conspicuous wealth, ultimately went bankrupt when the porn industry flourished elsewhere and was married four times.

 Born 17 December 1930 2.30am Brooklyn, New York, he has a similarly active Pluto to Hefner. Guccione’s Pluto was in a sexually-ramped-up trine to Moon Venus in Scorpio; conjunct Jupiter opposition Mercury Saturn and square Uranus North Node in Aries. His birth time is from memory so it is possible that his Pluto was conjunct his midheaven from the 9^th.

Add On: More Pluto in the 10^th men from the negative end of the spectrum. Aleister Crowley, Roman Polanski, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway. It makes for influential careers and huge relationship issues.

Jurgen Klopp has startled football fans in announcing he is retiring as Liverpool FC manager after eight and a half years in charge, having won every top-level competition available to him. He says he has run out of energy. Though Manchester City FC manager Pep Guardiola thinks he will be back with another team after he recharges his batteries.

 Klopp, 16 June 1967 7.28 am Stuttgart, Germany, has a friendly 11^th house Gemini Sun inconjunct Neptune and square Uranus Pluto in Virgo. He has a self-reliant, well-organised, good-executive-material Saturn in Aries conjunct his Midheaven in a disciplined opposition to Mars square Mercury in Cancer, which will make him direct in his comments though maybe behind the scenes.  On the surface, he has an upbeat and amiable Jupiter Venus in Leo on his Ascendant.

  He has been drooping under tr Neptune square his Sun through 2022/23 which could well have sapped his energy and motivation. His Progressed Moon has been going through his 4^th since early 2022 which is usually a time to hunker down at home, be introspective and take a chance to reflect on what comes next. From early 202 as well tr Saturn moved into his 8^th house which can feel under-supported and a time when others were relying on his resilience so it can feel draining. He was on a nodal return as well through 2022/23.

 Nothing too drastic pointing to a significant career change but a cumulative build up of various factors. He looks upbeat through this summer with two Jupiter midpoints fired up and they run into early 2025 though he will be fairly disoriented as well into 2025. 2026/27 look to be discouraging years but with tr Saturn heading upwards in his chart I can’t imagine him retiring altogether.

Liverpool FC 3 June 1892 is also a Gemini with Neptune Pluto as well as the Sun there square Saturn in Virgo. It is showing signs of an upheaval and disruption this year and next with tr Pluto square the Uranus and sadness from tr Saturn square the Neptune, Pluto, Sun. The SA Pluto Neptune oppose their Jupiter in 2025 which I couldn’t even begin to interpret but probably not good news.

Plus ca change. Boeing continues on a downhill slide with nuts, bolts, doors and wheels falling off. In 2019 their planes were grounded after the second accident within a few months, both with high mortality.

  There is nothing to suggest an improvement in their fortunes ahead.

 Their start chart, 15 July 1916, with a Sun Saturn in Cancer sextile Mars in Virgo has been under assault from tr Uranus in Aries and then tr Pluto in Capricorn since 2016 right through till recently and no sooner had that lifted than tr Neptune made a panicky-failure opposition to their Mars through 2022/2023 up to early February this year. No sooner has that lifted than tr Pluto starts a two year trawl from this April in hard aspect to their Neptune in Leo square Jupiter which could bring more scandals to light. In 2026/27 tr Saturn Neptune in Aries will undermine the financial Venus Pluto and that runs alongside three unnerving Solar Arcs.

  Nothing that looks like a successful reboot anytime soon.  Though there may be one lucky break in 2025 with the SA Jupiter opposing the Uranus.   

Post: March 13 2019

The EU, China, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand and United Arab Emirates and others have ordered the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 8, while investigators work to find the cause of an Ethio­pian Airlines crash that killed 157 this week. It appears similar to the same Boeing plane crash last October in Indonesia which killed 189 people.

  After Trump consulted with the Boeing CEO U.S. aviation safety officials decided not to issue a temporary ban on the plane. This was later reversed when evidence emerged suggesting similarities to the previous crash.

  Boeing was founded 15 July 1916 in Seattle, Washington has has tr Pluto opposing the Cancer Sun exactly now, and on and off till late 2020. It’s also had the discouraging tr Pluto opposition its Saturn last year and throughout this year as well. So a period of heavy challenges, hardship, deprivation and forced change under significant pressure.

   When the October 2018 crash occurred tr Saturn was opposition the Boeing Pluto Venus in Cancer – which is the chart area that was being heavily stressed in 2008 and the aftermath during the crash by tr Pluto in opposition.

   The Boeing Jupiter in Taurus square Neptune in Leo is being elbowed from mid April for two weeks, and again across the year end which is tricky to evaluate. Tr Uranus conjunct Jupiter should bring luck and relief but with Neptune involved it could burst a false-happiness, over-confidence bubble.

  What’s for sure is that 2021 will see setbacks of a major order as the Solar Arc Saturn opposes the Boeing Jupiter and squares the Neptune; followed in 2022/23 by the panicky-failure tr Neptune opposition the Boeing Mars.

Another gruesome judicial killing in the USA. Alabama has executed hitman Kenneth Smith with nitrogen gas, the first time this method has been used globally, having tried and failed to execute him in 2022 by lethal injection. A journalist who witnessed the execution described to the BBC how he thrashed violently on the gurney for around 25 minutes.

 In recent times the death penalty has been increasingly abolished globally. As of late 2022, 54 countries retain capital punishment, 111 countries have completely abolished it for all crimes, seven have abolished it for ordinary crimes (maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes), and 24 are abolitionist in practice. All EU countries ban it with Belarus being the exception in Europe. Although the majority of nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the world’s population live in countries where the death penalty is retained, such as China, India, the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Japan, and Taiwan.

  Over the millenia there have been grisly methods from crucifixion, to beheading, hanging and latterly the electric chair. By the late 18th century the English legal system – the ‘Bloody Code’ – handed out death sentences for cutting down a tree, stealing from a rabbit warren and being out at night with a blackened face, pickpocketing, forgery and rape. Public executions were banned in 1868, and the abolition of beheading and quartering in 1870.

 Cesare Beccaria, 15 March 1738, widely considered one of the greatest thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment, wrote a treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), which condemned torture and the death penalty. He is deemed the father of modern criminal law and the father of criminal justice. A man before his time as is often the case with a focal point Pluto. His works had a profound influence on the Founding Fathers of the United States though clearly not in this area.

 He had a Pisces Sun conjunct Jupiter with a fearsome Mars North Node in Capricorn opposition Saturn Chiron in Cancer square Pluto.

 In the UK, the abolition of capital punishment came in stages mainly through the vigorous campaigns since the late 1940s of MP Sydney Silverman, culminating in the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Bill of 8 November 1965. That suspended it for five years and more followed. The last executions were in 1964 though it was not until 1998 that it was finally abolished on the statute for all crimes.   The 1965 Act had a Sun Neptune in Scorpio trine Saturn Chiron in Pisces; with Saturn Chiron opposition Pluto Uranus square Mars.

  Public opinion had been swayed by miscarriages of justice such as Timothy Evans, hanged for killing his wife when Christie the serial killer was guilty. And Derek Bentley executed at 20, who was mentally retarded due to a childhood accident and under the thumb of a younger friend who was the actual shooter of a policeman while he was present. Born 30 June 1933 11.50pm Southwark, he had a Cancer Sun and more significantly an Aquarius North Node inconjunct Mars sextile Pluto. The Aquarius North Node comes into its own while crusading for a cause, which he was not capable of but the injustice of his death did ultimately make a difference. He was hanged on 28 January 1953 when there was a yod of Mars Venus in Pisces inconjunct Pluto sextile Saturn Neptune.  The transiting Pluto was conjunct the UK 11^th house Saturn, ruler of the legislature. A tragic martyr to a good cause.

  Sydney Silverman, 8 October 1895 was a Sun, Mars, Chiron in fair-minded Libra trine Neptune Pluto in Gemini with a determined Saturn, Mercury, Uranus in Scorpio.  His determination won through eventually.

Elizabeth Fry (prison reformer, born 1780):

“Does capital punishment tend to the security of the people? By no means. It hardens the hearts of men, and makes the loss of life appear light to them; and it renders life insecure, inasmuch as the law holds out that property is of greater value than life.”

“It is frequently said by the prisoners of Newgate that the crimes of which they have been guilty are as nothing when compared with the crimes of Government towards themselves: that they have only been thieves but that their governors have been murderers. (1818)

[Two things I don’t get. I don’t agree with the death penalty but if it is to be carried out why is it so difficult to get it right? Vets put down pets every day. People die from overdoses every day. Dignitas manage it. There must be sensible drugs on hand which will do the job painlessly.

  The other is the desire of relatives of the victim to be present at the execution, in some cases crowing over the death of the killer. Does that give them closure? I would doubt it – more likely it would give them nightmares for the rest of their lives.]   

ADD ON: Smith was executed on 25 January 2024 7.53pm, dead by 8.25pm. The execution chart – Alabama has two time zones just to be tricky.

 The Alabama state chart, 14 December 1819, is bleak, tough-minded, tending towards the fanatical and autocratic. There is an unyielding Saturn Chiron Pluto conjunction in Pisces square a Sagittarius Sun, Uranus, Neptune with a Scorpio Moon – not exactly sentimental, or warm and cuddly.

ADD ON: Elizabeth Fry was an English Quaker prison reformer, born 21 May 1780, who did not campaign directly for abolition of the death penalty but was a driving force behind new legislation to improve the treatment of prisoners, especially female inmates, and as such has been called the “Angel of Prisons”. She married at 20 and had eleven children, five sons and six daughters.

   She was certainly a thinker, designed for communicating her views with an Air Grand Trine of a Gemini Sun trine Neptune trine Pluto, formed into a Kite by a serious Sun opposition Saturn in Sagittarius. She also had a North Node in Taurus which she clearly put to good use.

All political careers end in failure, so goes the accepted wisdom, but none more so than Nicola Sturgeon. In her day hailed as a paragon by the press at large (mainly) and protected from criticism by phalanxes of her rabid Nat-trolls, she strode on, a shining example to other lesser leaders. Murmurs in the background about the shocking deterioration in educational standards, policing, NHS etc since the SNP took over were shot down in flames. Then came an investigation (still ongoing) into SNP finances and her husband, CEO of the party, her resignation and now the covid inquiry.

  The Times writes today: “The gulf between the Scottish government’s myth-making and the reality of the country’s Covid experience is so great that it cannot survive even a January-in-Scotland level of sunshine.”

   What is always a mystery when monumental lies are exposed is to what degree were they believed by those who spieled out the shining-white marketing guff. Has Trump always lived in never-never land where he creates his own road-runner fantasy of invulnerability? Did Tony Blair not look closely at the nonsense he was spouting about Saddam Hussein being capable of bombing Cyprus? Or do the slick-ass used-car salesman excuses just effortlessly flit into mind as a smokescreen? In which case did they ever face reality square on, with a prayer to their guardian daemon to fish them out of the mire as usual? A life not just walking on water but walking on thin ice and hoping it would hold up?

  Nicola Sturgeon, 19 July 1970 3.16pm Irvine, Scotland, has her Sun in patriotic Cancer conjunct Mars in flashy Leo in the 9^th square Jupiter and trine Neptune, sextile Pluto. An effective and opinionated communicator with a strong 9^th house with expansive dreams from Jupiter and stratospheric ambitions from Neptune Pluto Sun. Not a shrinking violet for sure. She also has a talented Half Grand Sextile from Neptune opposition Saturn sextile Sun and sextile Pluto.

  Two aspects catch my eye. One is the chart-dominating Saturn opposition Neptune which can be creative, working for a better society or neurotic or all three. Individuals with it tend to mistrust others and defensiveness (a Cancer trait anyway) will make them avoid confrontations and therefore go for underhand methods to achieve their aims. Can be cunning and deceitful.

 The other is the Mars square Jupiter. Sakoian & Acker are damning about this aspect – “one of the most destructive because the natives use collective power and even social sanction for self-aggrandizement.”  Can be fanatical about their beliefs, not necessarily honourable or reliable in their dealings, with a tendency to hypocrisy. They will whitewash their real motives and have a tendency to cosmeticize their actions as holier than thou. When in reality it comes down to ego or avarice. Clearly this is Mars Jupiter at its most negative and there will be other ways of living it out.

  The other chart key to significant existential questions is the North Node. Hers is in Pisces in the 4^th house giving at tendency towards pride and the assumption she is superior to others, stemming from a demanding parent, who left the impression that her destiny was to achieve great things. Whereas in truth her spiritual journey is to come off her high horse and solve her emotional problems. Organising for others is a displacement activity when in truth she needs to be putting her own house in order. Sliding back into putting on a performance for others is the pull of her South Node which is the ‘road to nowhere.’  The North Node in Pisces can be manipulative if there is insufficient development with the Virgo the South Node overly active.

  She does seem to operate at the negative, undeveloped end of her chart. What brought her to a grinding halt was tr Pluto opposition her Mars last year and through this year (and her Sun before that). And that Pluto transit would reverberate around all the planets tied into the Sun – Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, Jupiter.

  The harmonics which caught my eye – and are similarly marked for Trump and Tony Blair – are

5^th harmonic = capable, inventive, can be irresponsible, self-indulgent, deceitful.

10^th harmonic = the wheel of fortune, prosperity and abundance, it contains the seed of both rise and fall, of the good and the bad.

15^th harmonic = A magic number, rules magicians, alchemy, black magic, actors and eloquent speakers.

16th harmonic = warns against catastrophes, disappointments, humiliations, accidents. Life as you know it might change completely. Sometimes this is self-inflicted, sometimes it is not.

18^th Harmonic = strength, material success, but also conflicts and enemies, “war & revolution”, fire and explosions.

Blair has strong 5^th, 10th, and 15^th harmonics.

Trump has strong 5H, 10H, 15H, 16H.

  I would hypothesize she started out in life with a belief that she was destined for great things and her messianic mission was so ingrained she could not admit to any shortcomings, possibly even to herself.

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Donald Trump rampages on, giving by all accounts a confused and repetitive as well as bullying 100 minute oration to himself over his New Hampshire win.

 This is only a snippet since the tedium ahead never mind widespread panic and disbelief will keep him centre foreground for the next ten months.

 He is on a roll right now with tr Uranus square his Jupiter North Node midpoint till mid March and then square his Sun/Jupiter North Node until early April. Both of those are lucky and confident. He then has one more milder Jupiter late April to May 10^th. After that his Jupiter has fizzled out – except for tr Jupiter moving across his Midheaven and 10^th house from May this year onwards until June 2025, which is usually successful – though in itself is not anywhere near as strong as the influences he had in 2016.

 Tr Uranus will conjunct his Midheaven (birth time being accurate) in May for a sudden change of direction and that runs on and off into 2025.

His Progressed Moon is within days of shifting into Scorpio to stay for two and a half years which will intensify his mood and his words giving them a cutting edge with contempt on show. It can be a time of cutting losses, submitting to destiny, accepting limits and accepting endings.

 Mid April to late May, and February 2025 he will be argumentative, foul-tempered and wound up.

  His relationship chart with the Republican 12 October 1853 chart shows uncertainty and confusion through this March and through October till March 2025 – across the election and inauguration. That is when tr Neptune squares the composite Saturn.

  His relationship chart with the USA has a sinking feeling September through to late November with tr Pluto trine the composite Neptune. Though before that there is a tr Uranus square Jupiter through July which will bring relief – though whether because he goes or stays is not clear. That is when tr Uranus squares his Mars which will be explosive, can bring health issues in seniors or extraneous events since Middle East tensions could escalate then which could make a considerable difference.

ADD ON: Stats from Gerald Baker in The Times:

Trump won in both states by energising his committed supporters which gave him a slight majority in each state overall. Lukewarm Republicans and swing voters rejected him.

In New Hampshire, Trump won 74 per cent of registered Republicans to Haley’s 25 per cent. Among the independents who voted, Haley won 58 per cent to Trump’s 39 per cent. This difference is far greater than in the past.

The particular challenge for Trump is that he motivates his opponent’s supporters to go to the polls as much as he motivates his own people. “And in those circumstances the small but critical band of swing voters in the middle matters more than ever. The message of this short primary season for Trump is clear: at least for now, the persuadables are not persuaded.”

Aquarius rules the Monaco Royals may be stretching a point but Pluto will undoubtedly have a noticeable effect on this generation of Prince Albert, sisters, wife and the House of Grimaldi itself.  Albert’s former accountant continues to spill out embarrassing information about the royal finances, upkeep of mistresses, illegitimate children and even the sad Charlene’s overspend. Details continue to seep out into the media with Le Monde being the latest. According to The Times “Albert comes across as a feeble monarch being pushed around by the women in his life, including his two sisters, Princess Stéphanie, 58, and Princess Caroline, 67. Both are said by Palmero to use the crown jewels as personal fashion accessories.”

  See previous posts on Trouble in Paradise 31 July 2023 and 28 March 2022.

  Albert, 14 March 1958 10.47 am Monte Carlo, has a 10^th house Pisces Sun square Saturn in his 7^th with a secretive Mars in Capricorn in his financial 8^th house. Despite his playboy reputation his chart hints of low self esteem and a troubled life. What will catch transiting Pluto in his case is his Jupiter North Node Neptune in early Scorpio square Uranus opposition Venus in Aquarius. Jupiter Neptune certainly points to him being scandal-prone due to his instability and that T square will be under pressure for the rest of this decade.

 His sister Caroline, 23 January 1957 9.27am has a 12^th house Aquarius Sun opposition Uranus  square an 8^th house Neptune Moon in Scorpio. She likewise will be bearing the brunt of tr Pluto in Aquarius for several years ahead.

  Princess Stephanie, 1 February 1965 6.25pm Monte Carlo, has a New Moon in Aquarius square an indulgent Jupiter in Taurus on her midheaven opposition Neptune – like her brother (and Boris Johnson) a tendency to being careless, over hopeful and inclined to trip up through bad judgement. She won’t get the effects of Pluto for a few years but it will turn her life upside down when it comes.  

  The House of Grimaldi which took over rule of Monaco on 8 January 1297 JC has a late Capricorn Sun conjunct Venus in Aquarius with Pluto Mercury in Aquarius. It has been though the grinder over the past three years and will continue to be pounded right through till 2030.

 And Charlene, 25 January 1978 12.35 pm Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, has a Sun Venus in early Aquarius opposition Mars at zero Leo so she will catch the effects now and through till 2027.

  No great conclusions as to why Aquarius is headlined and it wasn’t true of the previous generation but be interesting to watch.

Two polar opposite faces of Aquarius share a birthday today giving a flavour of what might be to come.  One was Lord Byron, known as one of the greatest of English romantic poets and forever synonymous with sexual licence and depravity. In his 30s he joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire and died at 36 leading a campaign during that war.

  The other is the austere, intellectual Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, imprisoned by Mussolini in his late 30s whose 3000 page Prison Notebooks are considered a highly original contribution to 20th-century political theory. He died 9 years after his incarceration.

 Byron, 22 January 1788 2pm London, had an 8^th house Aquarius Sun opposition Uranus Moon in Cancer so was drawn to revolutionary causes as well as to sexual liberty. He also had a 9^th house Pluto in Aquarius in an Air Grand Trine to Jupiter trine Neptune, with Saturn Venus also in Aquarius in his 9^th. And his Moon Uranus opposition Mercury square Neptune – creative, inspired, though none-too-sensible. In his own way he had a vision to communicate through his poetry and was drawn into the Aquarian need to find a worthy cause to devote his life to.

  Gramsci, 22 January 1891 11am Ales, Italy, had a 10^th house Aquarius Sun square Uranus and trine Neptune Pluto in Gemini. With his 8^th house Venus opposition North Node square a serious, workaholic Saturn in Virgo. His revolutionary Uranus  was not only square his Sun and trine his Cancer Moon but on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Mars sextile Neptune Pluto. So his Aquarius activism was amplified.

 Other 22 January types – Franz Alexander, one of the founders of psychosomatic medicine and psychoanalytic criminology.

August Strindberg, Swedish playwright, and author of works on cultural analysis and politics.

Martha Beatrice Webb, an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer; one of the founders of the London School of Economics and played a crucial role in forming the Fabian Society.

  This is just one Aquarius day with another 30/31 having similar examples – intellectual, activist and (is it just me) seemingly lacking a touch in humour?

BYRON QUOTES:

“Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!”

“There is something pagan in me that I cannot shake off. In short, I deny nothing, but doubt everything.”

“Though I love my country, I do not love my countrymen.”

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar:

I love not man the less, but Nature more”

“She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes…”

“Those who will not reason, are bigots, those who cannot, are fools, and those who dare not, are slaves.”

“The thorns which I have reap’d are of the tree

I planted; they have torn me, and I bleed.

I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.”

“Tis strange – but true; for Truth is always strange, Stranger than Fiction”

ADD ON:

Ada Lovelace was the daughter and only legitimate child of  Byron from his short lived marriage. She showed an early gift in mathematics. After marrying and having three children, she met Charles Babbage “the father of computing”, became his assistant and for her work with him is often called “the first programmer.” She had health problems and mood swings which she treated with opium and brandy. Found to have uterine cancer, she died just before her 37th birthday.

 Born 10 December 1815 1pm London she had a Sun Neptune in Sagittarius in her 9^th house trine Mars in Aries and square Pluto in her 12^th. A prominent Neptune is often found in high level mathematicians’ charts. Her upfront Aries Moon on her Ascendant was trine an inventive/inspired 8^th house Uranus Mercury in Sagittarius. She also had a sociable and seductive Jupiter Venus in Scorpio in her 7^th which was blocked by a square to Saturn in Aquarius.

ADD ON: Lady Caroline Lamb with whom Byron had an infamous though surprisingly short affair was the wife of a politician who later became Viscount Melbourne and prime minister (Queen Victoria’s teenage crush). Caroline struggled with mental instability which was not improved by her use of alcohol and laudanum and she died aged 42.

  Born 13 November 1785 4.30 am she had a Sun Mercury in Scorpio trine Uranus – passionate and defiant. With an Air Grand Trine of an 8^th house Mars trine a 4^th house Pluto (Saturn) in Aquarius trine Neptune Venus in Libra, formed into a wide-ish Kite by Neptune opposition Moon Jupiter. A tragic life with equal parts emotional turbulence and good luck.

 Her synastry with Byron was not encouraging with his Aquarius Sun conjunct her Saturn and his Saturn square her Sun. But their relationship chart had an affectionate and sparky composite Sun Venus opposition Mars which would bring an instant (if not long lasting) attraction.