In the midst of hurricanes, epic floods and earthquakes, it’s hardly a time to celebrate. But the autumn equinox today on September 22^nd was traditionally (in the northern hemisphere) a time to lay out a spread, raise a glass and give thanks for the harvest safely brought in. The Sun for the past four weeks has been moving through Virgo – an energy which excels at conscientious work – talented at sifting the wheat from the chaff, picking the grapes from the vines, sorting the apples and filling the stores.

The Libra ingress on September 22 marks the descent down into winter, when growth dies back, and the earth becomes bare. In Greek mythology, Demeter was the goddess of the harvest. Scorched earth was her revenge for Pluto stealing her daughter Persephone. But during the bleak months on the surface, Persephone was enjoying life with her lover/husband in the warmth and wealth of his underground layer.

The Celtic Wicca festival stresses the need to appreciate what has succeeded and reflect on what has not grown to fruition. So a staging post in the year as the Sun enters Libra, the sign of relationships, justice and balance. Time to chew over options, revision plans, make wise decisions and honour the darkness as the nights close in.

Ryanair, the Irish-based budget airline which has made a success out of treating passengers like milk cows have landed themselves in a shedload of trouble by cancelling hundreds of flights summarily, costing over 300,000 agitated travellers and holiday makers money and gross inconvenience. The excuse is a muddle in pilots’ rotas but industry insiders say it’s more to do with Ryanair working conditions leading to an exit of pilots. They’ll be forced to foot a bill of £18 million in compensation.

Michael O’Leary, the loud-mouthed chairman, is concerned about the effect of Brexit with the possibility of EU countries withdrawing permission for UK planes to land; and saying he’d have to move his business entirely onto the continent.

Ryanair, 5 July 1985, is seriously stuck this year with tr Pluto opposing Mars, returning exact from mid October ( though perhaps exactyl now into October if a 12 am start time). With a nervy tr Neptune square Uranus in 2017/18; also  major upheaval and disruptions from tr Uranus opposition Pluto through 2018; and a panicky tr Saturn conjunct Neptune over this New Year. There will be a massive jolt of insecurity in 2019 with Solar Arc Uranus opposition Mars, so he could be right.

Born 20 March 1961, Dublin, he’s either a final degree Pisces Sun or Aries; with his Mercury in Pisces in an intensely-opinionated opposition to Pluto and an argumentative trine to an excitable Mars in Cancer. He looks to be facing a sharp-reality check this December with the discouraging tr Saturn square his Sun; will be jolted and jangled through 2018; and looks seriously panicked by 2019 with his Solar Arc Neptune opposition his Mars.

John Kelly looked pained and despondent during Trump’s ‘I may start World War 111’ UN speech, even more dejected than he had at the Charlottesville ‘both sides are to blame’ speech. One reporter said he looked as if he were living through ‘an existential crisis.’

He’s certainly at an all-time low exactly now with a confusingly uncertain and debilitating tr Neptune opposition his Saturn now until early October, and returning in January 2018. Plus tr Pluto opposition his Sun/Saturn midpoint this month till late October, which is a discouraging slog and can feel like imprisonment. From September 28^th tr Saturn will square his Mars for two weeks which is highly irritable, prone to setbacks and missteps. That last one coincides with tr Saturn opposition Trump’s Gemini Sun so there may be more downers. Indeed that also coincides with tr Saturn square the USA Neptune, so it will be a time of high anxiety.

Kelly, 11 May 1950, is a stalwart Sun Taurus square Pluto and trine Saturn Mars in Virgo, but even his legendary endurance and phlegm may have its sticking point. Evidently he doesn’t care whether he stays or not which gives him a degree of leverage in his role as Trump’s Chief of Staff.

Kelly’s Mars does square Trump’s Sun and Moon so it was always going to be a tetchy partnership. But Kelly’s Sun is conjunct Trump’s MC, so he does have a contribution to make – if Trump will listen.

Their relationship chart does have a friendly composite Sun Venus though that is in a can-be-disappointing trine to Neptune; with an argumentative composite Mercury square Mars. But what cements it together is a composite Saturn Pluto – chained-together and resenting it and that is usually difficult to split away from. Though there’ll be a decided dip in their interaction in the second week of November with tr Saturn conjunct the composite Jupiter and opposition Uranus.

Poor man, out of the apolitical military where he shone, into the least enviable job in the US, where no doubt duty will anchor him until it all gets too much.

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On the New Moon following the August Solar Eclipse, an earthquake in Mexico has killed over 200 including 20 children with 30 missing when their school collapsed.

The August Eclipse 28 days back when located to Mexico City put the Eclipsed New Moon on the midheaven, making it a location likely to experience significant events. Fairly frequently the next New Moon acts as a trigger.

Mexico is prone to earthquakes with an even stronger one earlier this month which killed 90. (See post September 8 2017) The transiting North Node was then, and still is, exactly conjunct the Mexico Mars in Leo which was rattled by the Eclipse.

Mexico, 15 September 1810 11pm Dolores Hidalgo is picking up tr Saturn square its Virgo Sun within days as it mourns its losses and clears away the damage to the capital city, perhaps also anticipating aftershocks. Tr Saturn is also exactly square the Solar Arc Mars now, which is within a degree of the opposition to its Sun – all of which points to a high-tension, high-risk, accident-prone phase running on through the next year.

There was an even stronger Mexico quake on 19 September 1985, which killed 5000 people and caused nearly $4 billion USD in damage. At that point tr Saturn in Scorpio was opposition the Mexico Neptune and square the Mexico Mars exactly; with tr Uranus square the Mexico Pluto. The previous Eclipses had been in May. The Solar in Taurus opposition Saturn did impact on the Mexico Mars; as did the November Scorpio Solar eclipse. The May Lunar eclipse had Mars on the MC located to Mexico and by the September quake tr Mars had moved a quarter zodiac and was square the Moon and both were in hard aspect to the Eclipse Mars MC. Both it and the November Lunar were in Scorpio/Taurus in hard aspect to the Mexico Uranus. So not exactly the same as this one but certainly a surplus of collision-prone Mars aspects and Uranian disruptions and collapses.

Catapulted to success in Mad Men in 2007, Jon Hamm (Don Draper) had a whirling dervish dash through 8 years of awards, adulation, an avalanche of publicity and a relentless work schedule. When it finished two years ago he signed into rehab for alcoholism and his marriage broke up. It took its toll.

Born 10 March 1971 in St Louis, Missouri, he was brought up by his divorced mother from aged two, was handed at 10 years old to his trucking company, hard-socialising father when she died, and was farmed out to friends’ mothers in his teenage years.

His Sun Mercury in filmic Pisces certainly fits him for the movie business; but they oppose Pluto and square Mars in Sagittarius, a legacy from his dominating and angry father, so he’ll have stored a good deal of angst and frustration inside. His Moon, most likely, in Virgo squares Neptune Jupiter, which coupled with Mars Pluto would make him a candidate for an addiction, needing to find an escape from his inner turmoil.

When he broke into the big time in 2007, tr Uranus was conjunct his Sun, giving him the change of lifestyle he’d dreamed about. But in three years following tr Uranus was opposed by tr Saturn in Virgo squaring onto Pluto in Sagittarius, all in hard aspect to and putting enormous pressure on his highly-strung Mutable T square.

His Sun/Moon midpoint, the marriage significator is in early degree Gemini, so it would pick up the tr Neptune square and possibly tr Saturn opposition around the time of his split with his long-time partner in 2015.

During his high-pressure years in Mad Men he developed vitiligo, which is an auto-immune disease but is often triggered by stress. In a recent interview he said he was falling to bits this year with joint problems, torn ligaments, bad eyesight. At the moment tr Saturn has moved a quarter zodiac to again impact on his Mutable T Square – in an accident prone conjunction to his Mars and Square Pluto and Mercury. Happily that discouraging set of transits will disappear late this December. The next three or four years look mixed, with some success and some disappointments. His next soaring triumph will come in about five years’ time.

Jennifer Lopez the mega-successful and multi-talented singer, actress, dancer, fashion designer, is now hot dating Alex Rodriguez, the former pro baseball player, once a Madonna squeeze. JLo and A-Rod are both fiery, attention-demanding Leos so it’ll be a tug of war at times as to who gets centre-spotlight.

JLo, 24 July 1969 maybe 1pm, (though even the date is questionable) is on this data a Sun Mercury in flamboyant Leo sextile a lucky, adventurous Jupiter Uranus and in a hard-working square to Saturn in stubborn Taurus. She most likely has an intensely passionate and secretive Scorpio Moon, conjunct Neptune and Mars, so emotionally volatile; with her Venus in social-butterfly Gemini in a passionately jealous square to Pluto. Certainly not shy and retiring or wishy-washy.

A-Rod, 27 July 1975, is a Sun Leo trine Neptune, sextile Pluto – so ambitious with a tinge of greatness about him. His Mars in bulldozer Taurus opposes his Scorpio Node; and he has a Cardinal T Square of Jupiter in pro-active Aries in an exuberant opposition to Uranus square Saturn Mercury in Cancer. He’s got initiative aplenty but that Saturn would put obstacles in his way in his early adult life. As he matures, across his mid-life crisis this year, he should in future years begin to get the benefit of Saturn’s self-discipline and organising abilities. Though around 2020 he  has a few years ahead which will test him to the limits as tr Pluto moves in hard aspect round that T Square. His Moon is Pisces and his Venus is in an idealistically romantic square to Neptune.

Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus Mercury which augurs well. Though it does trine Neptune which could prove problematic once the first shine wears off. Trickier still is a composite Mars square Neptune, so there will be an ego-clash with two ambitious careerists and competition for the limelight. It’ll start to rock n’ roll uneasily through 2018 with tr Uranus square the composite Venus Sun; and tr Neptune undermining the composite Saturn as well.

It’ll be blissful while it lasts.

Bernie Sanders has been pushing for a new Medicare government-run healthcare plan, cutting out private insurance, in which everyone would be covered, although it isn’t clear how the trillions of dollars in new spending would be financed. It’s a European/socialist type scheme which is unlikely to play well in the US and which even countries who’ve been running such a setup for decades are now finding overly expensive.

Sanders, born 8 September 1941 with a speculative time of 12.27 pm New York, came up through old-school socialist activism, had a complicated early emotional life about which he dislikes comment and did not hold down a steady job until he won his first election aged 40. He had a brief first marriage, then a son out of wedlock and has been married to Jane Sanders for thirty years.

He has a 10^th house Virgo Sun in an expansive, idealistic square to Jupiter in Gemini. With Neptune in an innovative, creative trine to Uranus Saturn. His Venus in Libra is trine Jupiter and opposition Mars (Moon) in Aries.

Not having an accurate birth time doesn’t help. But on this one there’s a lack of solidity and substance about him with a 10^th house Sun in hard aspect to Jupiter – good with words certainly; and outspoken with his Mercury in Libra trine Uranus and Saturn. But it’s the Moon Mars opposition Venus which points to a lack of emotional sensitivity and consideration for the other. That stands in contrast to his political views which purport to be caring about poverty and inequality; and Venus Jupiter can be fairly shallow, all surface charm and not much underneath.

The birth time may be out and there’s nothing much on this one that suggests great secrecy about his emotional life which he’s always been keen to keep screened from public view.

He looks disheartened through this autumn with tr Saturn square his Neptune; more so with tr Neptune opposing his Sun in 2018; and blocked in by 2020 with his Solar Arc Pluto opposing Mars.

The worst movie ever made or a masterpiece? The jury is out on Darren Aronofsky’s mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence. A gonzo horror movie, a paranoid nightmare, claustrophobic, panic-inducing, hyperventilating, surrealist cinema that starts out like Polanski’s Repulsion and winds up closer to Apocalypse Now. And some of those descriptions are from reviewers who liked it, unlike audiences who walked out en masse from screenings. According to the star, it’s about the massive biblical theme of the rape and torment of mother earth condensed into a narrative about a house and a couple.

Jennifer Lawrence, 15 August 1990 8.17pm Louisville, Kentucky, has found her niche in dystopian movies like Hunger Games or playing deeply troubled women. She grew up tough and hyper-active, unsettled until she found acting. She’s a Sun Leo in square to a fearsomely angry, bulldozer Mars in Taurus opposition Pluto. With a practical, business-like Earth Grand Trine of Saturn in Capricorn trine Mars trine Mercury in Virgo, focussed into a Kite, making influential and controlling Pluto her driving planet. So well-designed for cult movies which are ahead of their time. Her lighter-hearted Gemini Moon is in her performing 5^th house, with charmingly frivolous Venus Jupiter in her 6^th for good working relationships.

Darren Aronofsky, 12 February 1969 9.30am New York, has an award-strewn cv with horror, sci-fi and surrealist movies – Pi, Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, Noah – and some flops. He also has a forceful chart. His Aquarius Sun squares onto ultra-determined Mars in Scorpio in a showbizzy conjunction to Neptune. His tuned-into-public-taste Sagittarius Moon is on the focal point of a T square to Node Venus in Aries opposition a lucky, adventurous, risk-taking Uranus Jupiter in Libra. And he has a fated, ‘finger of god’ Yod of Mars sextile Pluto inconjunct Saturn, which brings with it a heavy karma, requiring maturity and self-discipline if it is not to self-destruct.

They’ve been together as a couple for year and with his Air Sun and Fire Moon and her Fire Sun and Air Moon, there should be quite a connection. But it won’t be easy since both are stubborn with clashing Fixed planets so neither will give way easily. Their relationship chart does have a Yod from a Neptune MC sextile Pluto inconjunct the Sun – so it is an encounter that will transform both their lives, though it won’t be remotely peaceful.

The irrepressible Judi Dench is getting laudatory reviews for her latest Queen Victoria portrayal – Victoria & Abdul – about the elderly monarch’s dalliance in the final fifteen years of her reign with an Indian clerk raised to a status which raised courtier’s eyebrows. Her Highland ghillie John Brown had died four years before Abdul Karim arrived.

Judi Dench has had a prolific, successful and enduring career on stage and in television but is best known for playing Victoria in Mrs Brown, Elizabeth 1 in Shakespeare in Love, and M in several Bonds.

Born 9 December 1934 with a speculative time of 7.55pm (astrotheme) she’s a bubbly, colourful, outspoken Sun Venus in Sagittarius. Though it’s not an easy chart with three Yods onto focal points of Pluto, Saturn and Mars (see post December 31 2016) so she’s more troubled than she appears. Though on this birth time she has a 4^th house Jupiter which would provide a bedrock of domestic security to keep her afloat.

Queen Victoria, 24 May 1819 4.15am London, had Mars and North Node in Aries, which sits exactly on Judi Dench’s Midheaven, with Victoria’s Venus, Mercury, New Moon in Gemini also in Judi’s 10^th –  good for a career boost. With Victoria’s Aquarius MC conjunct Judi’s North Node and Moon –  quite a connection.

Queen Elizabeth 1, 7 September 1533 JC, 3 pm London, is also well-linked, with Elizabeth’s MC conjunct Judi’s Jupiter, and Elizabeth’s Pluto conjunct Judi’s North Node, and Elizabeth’s Jupiter in Sagittarius conjunct Judi’s Sun and Venus.

Both composite charts are strongly Saturnine, which suggests a positive business relationship.

There’s no birthdate for Abdul Karim except 1863. That would give him, like John Brown, Jupiter in Libra which chimes well with Victoria’s 10^th house Jupiter in Aquarius and her Gemini New Moon. Abdul’s Sagittarius North Node was in Victoria’s 7^th, as was John Brown’s Sagittarius Sun – so good companions.

The astrological chemistry rolls on down through the centuries.