“Belligerent, generally drunk, wilfully unprofessional and one of the most brilliant and inimitable figures in the history of music” is how Mark E Smith has been described as news of his death emerged. He formed the group The Fall in 1976, named after Albert Camus’s novel, replacing The Outsiders, an earlier choice. His music was “a brutal mix of clattering rockabilly and garage rock”; “primitive – with intelligent lyrics.” “Rock n’ roll isn’t even music really,” he once said. “It’s a mistreating of instruments to get feelings over.” He was known for his turbulent relationship with his bandmates, with 66 different members over the years. Over the years he produced 32 albums and latterly performed from a wheelchair in October.

Born 5 March 1957 into a working class family, he left school at 16, took a job in a meat factory and studied for an A in English literature in the evenings.

He had his Sun, Venus, Mercury in Pisces with his Sun square Saturn in philosophical Sagittarius. He had a stubbornly determined Mars in Taurus opposition a Scorpio North Node square Pluto in Leo – so would have tremendous staying power and be ultra-resistant to outside influences or anyone trying to control him. His Uranus was square in Neptune which can be oddball and fanatical, which might have been tied into his Moon.

Certainly a one-off and self-destructive in terms of his lifestyle, but he seems to have been intelligent and admired by afficionados of the pop scene.

In an unusually frank warning, the UK’s chief of the general staff, Gen Sir Nicholas Carter, has described Russia as the biggest state-based threat to the UK since the cold war and warned that hostilities could begin a lot sooner than the UK expects. The likelihood of a boots-on-the-ground confrontation is unlikely, but he’s concerned about cyber-attacks and the possibility of Putin pushing against NATO in the Baltic states. He said Russia has used the Syria excursion to test the new weaponry and that the UK was falling behind because of budget cuts, a view which has also been expressed by the US military about the UK. He said the new warfare wouldn’t necessarily involve “something that goes bang” but could involve the exploitation of energy, bribery, corrupt business practices, cyber-attacks, assassinations, fake news, propaganda and military intimidation.

Carter, 11 Feb 1959, Kenya, is a Sun Mercury in Aquarius opposition Uranus; with a tough Pluto square Mars, sextile Neptune and trine Saturn. He looks distinctly unhappy this year and next; and won’t have made himself popular with the PM or with the chancellor, neither of whom are exactly militarily-minded. He serves at the politicians’ pleasure so may find himself out on a limb. Certainly he’s out of sorts with May and Hammond after mid year.

Wars are notoriously tricky to spot even on relationship charts. Both the Russia 1917 and 1991 charts merged with the UK, look edgy this year, perhaps more so in 2019.

NATO looks under extreme pressure from this March onwards for two years, though that could be for various reasons. Again 2019 looks more fraught. The NATO/Russia relationship charts are volatile at the best of times and in a state of great unease and disruption in 2018 to 2021. So anything is possible.

Ursula Le Guin, the fantasy and science fiction writer, who influenced  other great novelists, has died aged 88. Best known for her Earthsea series and The Left Hand of Darkness, she won many awards, despite having to battle against a male-dominated genre and indeed against the literatti who tended to look down on sci-fi. She wrote about cultural interaction in her books, a legacy from her anthropologist father, and was an activist for peace, gender and environmental issues.

Born 21 October 1929 5.31pm, Berkeley, California, she had a 6^th house Libra Sun in a sensible sextile to Saturn on the cusp of the communicative 9^th. That contrasted with her dream-like Neptune in the creative 5^th square Jupiter Moon in Gemini, which drew her to Tolkien, Philip K Dick and Alice in Wonderland and into her visionary world. Her Mercury in Libra was trine Jupiter, giving her the confidence to speak and write what was on her mind.

She also had Pluto on her IC and despite claiming she had a happy and stimulating childhood, there must have been undercurrents that bothered her, especially about the role of women. She once said: “When women speak truly they speak subversively — they can’t help it: if you’re underneath, if you’re kept down, you break out, you subvert. We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains.”

Her creative 5th harmonic was well aspected; even more so her imaginative 7H; and her writers’ 21H.

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Julian Assange has moved from being Ecuador’s shining badge of honour in the fight for freedom to being ‘more than a nuisance’ and an ‘inherited problem’ by the new President. An attempt to get him diplomatic immunity as an Ecuador representative failed and they are now actively seeking a way of getting him out of the tiny London Embassy – with only one bathroom evidently and murmurs that he doesn’t wash too often.

Tr Saturn is sliding down his 1^st house and quadrant, pulling him away from his glory days. Tr Saturn is also aiming to make a jolting square to his Uranus in April and December and thence to oppose his Cancer Sun before the New Year. He will be on edge and more discouraged than before.

Though with a lucky break coming late March for two weeks lifting his hopes and flashes of his old bullish self-confidence through the autumn.

Relocating his chart to Ecuador does put the MC in early Capricorn so it will catch the tr Saturn conjunction, bringing a series of reality-checks through this year.

London was always going to be his nightmare location since it puts his Pluto on his IC, with his Sun in the hidden 12^th; and his enfuriated and trapped Mars in the 8^th. If and when he gets out, if free he certainly won’t be returning with any glee.

In Gaza, they are fearful of the USA’s latest move to slash funding to the UN Relief Agency which brings food aid to Palestinian refugees. Just as VP Mike Pence is in Israel talking blithely about a peace plan. Observers say the situation unfolding now is unprecedented, with the backdrop of a 10-year blockade by Israel. “Nobody has ever taken away their bread and that is precisely due to UNRWA’s presence in all Palestinian camps,” said a senior UN official. They give aid not only to Gaza, but to Palestinian refugees in camps in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan – where five million refugees rely on their basic services, including health and education.

Gaza, 9 November 2017 9am, does have their Neptune Saturn in Leo in the line of fire of the late January Lunar eclipse, as well as the mid-year one, which will bring high anxiety. Tr Neptune is opposing the Virgo Moon through this year, undermining the population; and tr Saturn is in hard aspect to the Venus opposition Pluto, especially marked this February and returning later in the year, bringing anguish and depression.

The USA is the biggest contributor to UNRWA and one might wonder whether UK and indeed EU foreign aid might not be better deployed to those in dire need, instead of sending it into countries who are capable of feeding their own poor.

There are rumblings from the mare’s nest in the White House that Trump is falling out of love with John Kelly, his chief of staff, who recently said POTUS was ‘uninformed’ over the border wall issue. And he won’t be best pleased as senior advisor, Stephen Miller, is being given media credit for pulling Trump back from a deal that would have avoided the government shutdown. Bannon was pushed off the plank because he was labelled as the ‘great manipulator’ and ‘the real president’ which might have been a warning that a similar fate befalls any who dare to steal the narcissist’s thunder.

John Kelly looks untypically confused and uncertain this month with tr Neptune opposing his Saturn and losing hope and confidence in February with tr Neptune squaring his Mars/Jupiter. From mid March onwards he’ll be under assault, trapped, enraged and fuming from tr Pluto opposition his Sun/Mars and that runs on and off till late 2019.

His relationship chart with Trump has a chained-together and resenting it Saturn Pluto conjunction; and though there’s a friendly Sun Venus conjunction that is in an argumentative square to Mars and in a disillusioning trine to Neptune.

Miller, 23 August 1985, is known as a ‘racist nativist’ which in English-speak means anti-immigrant, who previously worked for Jeff Sessions and whose views are lauded by white supremacist Richard Spencer. His relationship chart with Trump appears to be hitting a major hiccup in February and especially March with tr Uranus square the composite Venus, Mercury, Sun; with high-tensions and miscommunications in April. The pressure will mount. From mid year his Virgo Sun and then his Pluto in Scorpio get a Uranian jolt, so he won’t be on a steady trajectory upwards.

The lovely, melancholy Melania appears to be free to make her own rules, with her delayed arrival in DC and now ducking out of the Davos jamboree. From reports, it has been an open secret that they have led separate lives for several years; and she was certainly at daggers drawn with him through the campaign and up until last autumn. At that point tr Saturn was hitting his Sun/Moon midpoint which is usually a significant separating influence. Though their marriage may have effectively ruptured years back. Rumours of him having a present affair; and indeed one with the porn star when she was pregnant with Barron can’t have gone down well. She certainly looks in a rebellious mood through February. But with her Sun, Saturn, Mercury and Venus in Taurus, she’s not one for impulsive decisions.

The upcoming January 31^st Lunar Eclipse will catch the composite Uranus on their relationship chart, which may in part be the present unpleasant publicity with more to come. Her Solar Arc Pluto is opposing her Saturn now and probably for a few months ahead so she will be feeling stuck in a bleak place. It was never a great love match to start with; a heavily Plutonic relationship power and control connection.

Princess Eugenie is to marry her long-time beau Jack Brooksbank in the autumn. He was born 3 May 1986, son of an Eton-educated accountant, and related to Eugenie about six generations back through the Earl of Leicester. He worked his way up through London’s trendy bars and nightclubs, meeting Prince Harry along the way, and now runs a wine merchants business, being a brand ambassador for George Clooney’s tequila.

His Taurus Sun falls in her 8^th for a deep connection, in an affectionate square to her Venus in Aquarius and opposition her Pluto in Scorpio and square her Mars. Both have quite Fixed charts, so there will be the odd stubborn stalemate. But his Venus in social-butterfly Gemini chimes beautifully with her Moon Venus in Aquarius in the 5^th. His Moon in Pisces is possibly conjunct Jupiter making him amiable and his Jupiter trines her midheaven so he’ll be supportive and lucky for her.

There will be some rough edges since his Mercury in Aries squares her 4^th house Saturn, so she may not always let him into the inner secrets of her stressful family. His Mars is also conjunct her 4^th house Uranus, Neptune, Saturn which could set a fire sparks flying at times.

Eugenie suffered more from an unhappy home atmosphere than Beatrice, being two years younger, with her parents splitting when she was six. She has a hard-working Aries Sun Mercury in her 6^th; and Neptune (Uranus) Saturn in Capricorn and Mars all in her 4^th house of home and family.

Their relationship chart has a wide affectionate composite Sun, Mercury, Venus conjunction; with the Sun in an argumentative though also passionate square to Mars. There’s also a power-couple Jupiter opposition Pluto, which could lead to a few one-upmanship games within the relationship. With his Taurus Sun opposition Pluto, he may be the one to exert most control. He gets on well with Prince Andrew, marginally less so with the future mother-in-law, who is all gushing on twitter at the moment but there may be a few ructions there before the wedding. Beatrice, who must be feeling left out, isn’t sure he’s her cup of tea at all.

Actor Nicholas Cage, in the 1990s at the peak of his game, with successes galore and paychecks to go with them, went on a spending spree which spliced through his fortune. At one point he owned 15 residences and made a string of expensive and eccentric purchases – $150k for a pet octopus, shrunken pygmy heads, a dinosaur skull and $450k for a lamborghini. The IRS landed him with a bill for $6.3 million in unpaid taxes and ever since he’s been scrambling for work to keep himself afloat.

Born 7 January 1964 5.30am Los Angeles, to a literary academic father and a dancer/choreographer mother, he’s the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola, has been married and divorced three times (Patricia Arquette, Lisa Marie Presley + one), no doubt totting up hefty alimony settlements as well.

He has Sun Mercury in Capricorn in his 1^st trine the can-be-chaotic Uranus Pluto in Virgo; and Mars in Capricorn in his 2^nd house, along with Venus Saturn in Aquarius. His Libra Moon is in the 10^th as befits a public figure. Both Capricorn and Libra can be extravagant, though not usually to vast excess. His Mars in the 2^nd may have added a touch of compulsion, ditto his Venus. Though his Saturn there might have given him some common sense; though square Neptune might undercut that.

He has Jupiter in upfront, go-ahead Aries on the focal point of a T Square to Mercury opposition a 7^th house North Node in Cancer, so he will relish a comfortable home and was possibly spoiled growing up. I’d almost be inclined to say he had a Yod, though it’s wide, of Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Jupiter, which if mishandled can give delusions of grandeur and lead to fateful consequences. His Jupiter is probably the key to his problems with imposing limits on himself.

His Moon is square Mars for an irritable approach to domestic life and women; that plus a 7^th house Node would indicate that forming long term commitments is a challenge for him.

He’s not moving into an easy time career-wise or financially with tr Saturn now moving below his Sagittarius Ascendant, with losses from mid this year onwards. And tr Pluto is in a trapped conjunction to his Sun/Mars in 2018/2019 before moving on to conjunct his 2^nd house Mars by 2021/22 which looks like meeting-a-brick wall-time where cash is concerned. With his Solar Arc Sun opposing his Pluto in 2021 as well.

What a pity he didn’t have a sensible manager, who doled him out pocket money and stashed the rest away. His 9^th Harmonic, often super-indulgent with money is very marked.

Sarah Ferguson, former spouse of Prince Andrew, has reportedly demanded £45m ($62.5m) from Rupert Murdoch, claiming his now defunct newspaper News of the World wrecked a series of business opportunities for her when she was caught in a sting offering to sell access to Prince Andrew for £500,000. She claims to have lost out on a private equity deal and work on a film project that would have made her millions of pounds; and had planned to make millions working as a celebrity endorser and launching products under the name House of Ferguson, all of which vanished on her ‘international humiliation.’

Words fail me. Even for her, this is a head-twister too far. Such a case, if it isn’t laughed out of court early on, would turn into a media circus taking the spotlight away from a happy-Royal-weddings-year, with her own younger daughter Eugenie aiming up the aisle in the autumn, after Harry/Meghan. With the exception of her close family, she’s been all but exiled from Royal circles and this isn’t going to put her high on anyone’s invitation list.

Born 15 October 1959 9.03am (from memory) London, her impulsive Sun Mars in Libra is taking a rattling from tr Uranus opposition her Mars now, and tr Pluto starting the square to her Sun from March which will drag her through a trapped, frustrating several years ahead as it squares the Sun/Mars midpoint and then her Mars. On top of that, birth time being sound, her Solar Arc MC is conjunct her Neptune later this year with Solar Arc Pluto following along behind, which is devastating and confusing, certainly not a win. Plus tr Saturn is now moving through her belt-tightening 2^nd house, so less successful, cash-strapped and probably psychologically on edge. As if that wasn’t enough, tr Saturn is moving to square her Aries Moon in the 5^th, which may involve froideur with her one of her children, whom she tends to use as comfort blankets.

Even the long-suffering Andrew looks well-fed-up especially from mid year with tr Uranus square their composite Moon. Ditto her children, especially Eugenie, with increasing unease from both her daughters in 2019.

HM Queen looks disappointed and alarmed with her at the moment; with Prince Philip gearing up for a tussle. Camilla loathes her at the best of times as does Charles which never augured well for future inclusion. But now all bets will be off as they harden their stance, which may well exacerbate Charles’ always strained relationship with brother Andrew – this year looks like widening that rift for several years ahead.

Prince Harry looks out of sorts with her as does Meghan this year.

What would we do without our own Dynasty on the doorstep to keep us amused and distracted from dreary, inept politicians?