Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group, survived Hurricane Irma, by bunkering down with his staff in the concrete wine cellar of his Necker Island house which was destroyed above his head. He’s now talking to various governments, aid agencies and the media, to mobilise aid efforts and rebuilding plans for the British Virgin Islands and wider Caribbean.

Born 18 July 1950 7am Blackheath, England, he has a 12^th house Cancer Sun conjunct the changeable and unpredictable Fixed star Procyon, which is getting the jolting tr Uranus square this year and into early 2018. He has his Pluto in Leo on his Ascendant which was in direct collision with the August Lunar Eclipse. And his chart, relocated to the Virgin Islands puts that Pluto almost exactly on the IC. That wouldn’t be considered lucky in astrocartography – it will tend to bring intense experiences, sometimes high-risk situations and a sense of constant upheavals and transformations. His Necker House has been destroyed once already by fire in 2011 and had to be totally rebuilt. Plus ca change.

The August Solar eclipse was also conjunct his 1 degree Virgo Moon and opposition his Secondary Progressed Moon – so shocks affecting his home. Plus he has tr Pluto square his Mars at the moment adding to his sense of meeting tremendous force. Tr Uranus is also conjunct his midheaven this year, sending him in new directions.

Video from Sam Branson: https://www.instagram.com/p/BY5oy0_Aj9T/ 

Protests in Togo against the president are continuing with the UN urging that the people’s “legitimate expectations” be heard. Formerly under French rule, the country has had the same ruling family dynasty for fifty years. All West African countries except Togo now have a stipulated two term rule for presidents.

A narrow tropical country of 6 million multi-ethnic and multi-religious peoples, wedged between Ghana on the west, Benin on the east, with a small border with Burkina Faso to the north, it became independent on 27 April 1960. A coup in 1967 put in the present president’s father for 37 years, and Faure Gnassingbe took over on his death in 2005.

Agricultural and minerals are its chief economy and although standards of living are high there’s also widespread poverty; it is under developed and in debt. Wiki travel says it is one of the nicest places in Western Africa. Roads are good, distances small, beaches sandy and white, people friendly, hills and mountains waiting to be explored.

The country chart has great potential with an Earth Grand Trine of Jupiter in Capricorn trine Pluto trine a Taurus Sun which is opposition Neptune MC. A trapped Pluto in the 8^th won’t help nor is too much Neptune, but it still could have great potential. Another Earth Grand Trine of a 12^th house (none too practical) Saturn in Capricorn trine a 4^th house Taurus Moon trine North Node in Virgo could also give it commercial nous if the energy was freed up. Plus a mini-Grand Trine of Moon trine Saturn, sextile Mars in the 2^nd.

At the moment tr Uranus is opposing the Solar Arc Pluto, shaking that Grand Trine/Kite in its progressed position as rebellion mounts and that’ll be around for another year.

There’s not much to suggest President Gnassingbe’s Term chart, 4 May 2005, will keel over instantly; though it’s blocked this year with tr Saturn conjunct the Pluto; heavily discouraged in 2018/19 with tr Pluto opposition Saturn; and in meltdown in 2020 with Solar Arc Neptune conjunct Mars.

Born 6 June 1966, he’s a Sun Mars in Gemini square Uranus Pluto, so a loose cannon and controlling. He looks undermined in 2018/19 but there’s nothing much showing apart from that.

Canadian-born Katherine Ryan is going from strength to strength in her career as a stand-up comic, in ye olden days very much a male domain. Born 30 June 1983 in Sarnia, Canada, she moved to the UK in her 20s, took to open mic as a hobby, built her profile through television panel shows and now has her own Netflix stand-up special. Her act is described as ‘silly, edgy, political and slapstick all at the same time’.

She has her Sun in a feisty conjunction to Mars in Cancer, which is a sign that has a nose for what the public wants; and she has a quirky, adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius, which is a comedian’s sign. Her Mercury in chatty Gemini is conjunct the Node, opposition Neptune and trine Saturn Pluto in Libra – so intuitive as well as hard-hitting with a keen sense of the bleaker side of life. She has a talented Half Grand Sextile from Mercury opposition Neptune, sextile Saturn Pluto sextile Venus in Leo so she can mix her pungent comments with light-hearted entertainment and fun.

She’s certainly moving into a period of fast-moving change with her Solar Arc Uranus Jupiter crossing the conjunction to her Sun between 2017 and 2021, which all looks good if unsettled. And a marginally more challenging Solar Arc Saturn Pluto conjunct her Jupiter Uranus between 2019 and 2022.

Actor Keanu Reeves – Point Break and the Matrix movie series – is moving back into the spotlight after a few lean years. His latest movie is Replicas which he co-produced and stars in. Born 2 September 1964 5.41am Beirut Lebanon to an English mother and Chinese Hawaiian father, he had a peripatetic childhood through his mother’s four subsequent marriages after his father abandoned the family when he was three, living in Australia, New York and Toronto.

He has a 12^th house Virgo Sun, Mercury, Uranus, Pluto, with Pluto Uranus conjunct his Ascendant – so definitely a rebel but also quite retiring, preferring to stay off the fame circuit. His Sun Mercury oppose Saturn in Pisces in the hard-working 6^th so he will have a downbeat side to his personality. Balancing that he has a friendly and enthusiastic 11^th house Cancer Moon Mars Venus; with his Moon trine Neptune, sextile Pluto – well tuned into public taste. Jupiter in indulgent Taurus in the 9^th points to an interest in travel and alternative cultures. It’s an exclusively Water Earth chart giving him great inner strength and determination to withstand calamities, as well as a serious, self-protective streak.

Although always regarded as an enduring bankable star, his career ground to a halt in 2008 after a flop blockbuster, The Day the Earth Stood Still. He said in an interview: ” I call that The Day my Career Stood Still. I kind of went to Studio Movie Jail.” What’s interesting astrologically is that was when tr Saturn crossed his Ascendant and disappeared into his low-profile first quadrant, often a less successful time. As tr Saturn neared the end of this seven year phase he got his mojo back in John Wicks; and now with tr Saturn crossing into his 2^nd quadrant, he should be making faster progress. He looks confident in 2017/18 though with some Neptunian dips this year and a few Plutonic frustrations in 2018/19.  2020/2021 will be outstandingly successful as tr Pluto trines his Jupiter.

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Pierre Berge, the business partner and lover for many years of fashion designer Yves St Laurent, has died.

Born 14 November 1930 10.30am on Ile d’Oleron, France, he met YSL when he was 28 and for four decades his commercial talents made them both fabulously rich. The relationship was always fraught since YSL was manic-depressive and had a drink problem. Berge rescued Yves from National Service where he suffered a nervous breakdown, sued Dior, his previous employer who refused to take him back, and with the money set up an independent ready-to-wear boutique – and they never looked back. The romantic relationship broke up but they remained close and just before Yves’ death they contracted a civil partnership.

Berge was a determined Sun Mercury in Scorpio trine a super-confident Jupiter Pluto in Cancer (the favourite fashion sign); even better he had an entrepreneurial, inspirational Fire Grand Trine of Mars in flamboyant Leo trine Venus in colourful Sagittarius trine Uranus in Aries. He had Mars, Moon, Neptune in the 8^th house of joint business finances, so good at handling money, if not always straightforward about his dealings.

Yves St Laurent was born 1 August 1936 7.45pm Oran, Algeria. He had his Sun, Venus and Mercury in entertaining Leo, though his truly difficult Mars Pluto in Cancer opposed a Capricorn Moon, so he would be subject to rages. It would have been a high-octane relationship since Berge’s Jupiter Pluto was conjunct YSL’s angst-ridden Mars Pluto. But Berge would infuse him with confidence and was strong enough to withstand his storms of creative and emotional fury. Berge’s Moon Neptune fell in YSL’s 7^th for a supportive, sympathetic partnership; with Berge’s Venus conjunct YSL’s MC giving him PR skills and an outlet for his artistic talent; and Berge’s Mars was conjunct YSL’s Sun so he’d motivate YSL, no doubt through endless arguments.

Their relationship chart had a mutually supportive composite Sun, Jupiter, Mercury (Venus) conjunction, so a successful combination for both.

The Cassini spacecraft is coming up to its grand finale as it circles nearer Saturn than ever before, diving through the gap between the rings and planet itself, before it runs out of fuel and self-destructs by entering into Saturn’s atmosphere.

It was launched on a lander from Cape Canaveral on 15 October 1997 at 8.43am, which gives it a 12^th house Sun Mercury in Libra opposition Saturn Moon in Aries, with Neptune Uranus in the 3^rd. It’s a productive chart with an inspirational Fire Grand Trine of Saturn Moon in Aries trine Mars (Venus Pluto) in Sagittarius) trine a Leo Midheaven, formed into a Kite by MC opposition Jupiter in scientific Aquarius.

As it nears the end of its mission with one final flourish tr Jupiter is conjunct the Sun Mercury; with tr Pluto square Saturn and tr Saturn approaching the conjunction to the Solar Arc Pluto. A success, then extinction.

All the signs are that Bashar Assad is winning the war in Syria against insurgents, with the assistance of Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement. Many western countries have ceased calling for him to step down. He was cautious in a recent televised address, saying that after six-and-a-half years of civil war, the “battle continues”, but his forces have pushed to retake territory almost to the border and he is starting to look forward to reconstruction.

In the light of this, it’s curious that his Presidency chart seems under the most devastating and destructive pressures from early 2018 onwards as tr Pluto opposes the Mars, moving across the opposition to Sun/Mars midpoint and then the Sun in 2020/2021.

His own personal chart, 11 September 1965, has a run of swampy, undermining transits of Neptune conjunct his Saturn this year and then opposing his Uranus, Pluto and finally Sun up to late 2020. Thereafter there’ll be a major collision as his Solar Arc Sun, Pluto, Uranus move across the conjunction to his Mars Neptune through from 2022 for several years. Nothing that looks too settled.

A birth time for the Duchess of Cambridge has been kindly supplied by Nathalie Delahaye, obtained by her from close friends some years ago for their wedding. See: http://www.astro.com/astrology/aa_article170904_e.htm

9 January 1982 7pm Reading, UK gives her a Leo Ascendant which fits with a fashion-conscious image and colourful dress sense for Royal occasions. It gives her a late 5^th house party – and children-loving, ambitious Capricorn Sun almost exactly opposite a family-oriented Cancer Moon in the friendly 11^th – so a real Full Moon baby, which suggests she had parents of very different temperaments, almost incompatible. That opposition squares onto Saturn Pluto in Libra adding a bleaker note – rigid, overly-controlled, low self-esteem never feeling she comes up to expectation, especially since Saturn squares both her Sun and Moon.

What’s strange is her 3^rd house of siblings with Mars Saturn Pluto there, suggesting not altogether easy relationships. Yet she has a 4^th house Jupiter in Scorpio, so she’s aware she came from a secure, well-heeled family and will attract the same in adult life. Her Neptune is in her 5^th which often indicates musical or artistic talent and also sensitive children. There could be confusion around children, lack of commitment or a Neptunian air of mystique about them.

Her 6^th house Venus Mercury in Aquarius squares her MC and Jupiter, forming a Fixed T Square – making her fairly stubborn and not good at taking in feedback, though a good long-term planner, emotionally uncompromising, ultimately good at public relations.

Neither she nor William have planets in the other’s 7^th or 1^st houses which would be usual for a marriage. But they do have a strong bond of friendship and have relatively similar charts. His Venus falls in her 10^th so he brings her social status – and an over-complicated everyday schedule. William is a New Moon in Cancer; while she is a Full Moon.  Camilla has her Sun and Moon both in Cancer, while her first husband Andrew Parker Bowles is a Capricorn with a Cancer Sun; and Prince Charles is a Scorpio with a Taurus Moon.  The New Moon tends to be more self sufficient, the Full Moon looking for the Other.

When she married her Solar Arc Sun was sitting on her Descendant; and as she moves through her third pregnancy, her Progressed Moon is going through her 4^th house of home and family until 2021 so her focus will be on her intimate surroundings and those closest to her. What is clear is that she’s in a peculiarly heavy phase with tr Pluto opposing her Moon and conjunct her Sun in 2017/18; as well as being square to her Mars/Pluto and Sun/Moon midpoints; and then tr Pluto will be square her focal point Saturn in 2018/19 – which all looks like a considerable challenge, emotionally and in other ways, and quite a slog since it pulls on all legs of that T Square; with tr Uranus bringing upheavals as it continues to oppose her Pluto into early 2018. So a fairly punishing transformation, not accomplished without a good deal of difficulty and internal conflict. If this time is accurate then she’ll have a sharp change of career direction around 2019 with tr Uranus conjunct her midheaven and afterwards moving through her 10^th, which may be when heavier duties are placed on William.

Almost a third to a half of the population of 1 million Rohingya people have fled Burma into Bangladesh in the face of widespread, burning, killing and rape by Burmese forces and Buddhist youths. The de facto leader, Nobel peace winner Aung San Sui Kyi, is coming in for widespread criticism for her failure to either stop or speak out against the violence. She claims it is ‘fake news’ and the real problem are Rohingya militants. They are a stateless people living in extreme poverty, mainly Muslim but some Hindu, who have been persecuted over decades and refused citizenship. A 2016 UN report described the “devastating cruelty” of Burmese soldiers in a previous crackdown.

Aung San Sui Kyi, 4 January 1948 Yangon with an unverified 12 noon birth time, has a Sun and Uranus in Gemini, with Moon and Neptune in Libra. What stiffens her spine and gave her the endurance to stick out long years of house arrest is a tough-minded Mars in Taurus conjunct Venus, sextile Saturn and square Pluto – that has the capacity to be cruel and ruthless as well as persevering and inordinately stubborn. She looks confident enough in 2017/18 with tr Pluto trine her Jupiter. Where she runs into trouble will be 2019/2020 when tr Uranus is conjunct her Mars and then square her Pluto, which will bring major upheavals and disruptions.

When she was released from house arrest the tr Uranus Jupiter in Pisces was conjunct her Descendant and square her MC, so the birth time may be feasible.

Of the Harmonics which are notable. Her 10^th Harmonic – ‘the seed of the rise and fall’ has a stressed Yod linking Mars and Pluto. The 11^th Harmonic – a difficult number to live up to, can be idealistic but also obsessive, fanatical and unreasonable. It warns against hidden trials, disloyalty and betrayal from others. And her 18^th Harmonic – it gives strength, but also conflicts and enemies, “war & revolution”, which links together Mars, Saturn, Pluto as does her 9H. (See post Aug 29 2017)

Both the Burma charts – 1 April 1937 12 am and 4 January 1948 4.20am Rangoon – are relatively similar. Sun in aspect to Mars; Saturn to Pluto; and Jupiter to Pluto. Martial, bleak, controlling and confident.

The 1937 chart will be hard hit by the tr Saturn Pluto conjunction in 2019 as it clamps down on the Jupiter in Capricorn opposition Pluto, with rebellions from tr Uranus on its Return. The 1948 chart looks financially undermined in 2018 with tr Neptune square the 1^st house Jupiter and a directionless tr Neptune opposition the MC as well. It’s 2^nd house financial Capricorn Sun Mercury will pick up the deprived tr Saturn conjunction by 2019.

The 1948 date and time were supposedly picked by astrologers as auspicious. Heaven knows why. There’s not much to recommend it as a start chart.