The regional Catalonia parliament voted for independence at 3.26pm today as the Madrid government prepares to impose direct rule. The Spanish PM Rajoy has the constitution on his side but the Catalan push for more control over their affairs has been catastrophically mishandled. Sending in heavy-handed authorities, police and others, will only inflame the situation, stirring up old wounds from the past and memories of Franco’s fascist dictatorship. The Catalans are a passionate, proud, resourceful and very stubborn people with their own language and culture; and while many would not wish a split, their backs will be well and truly up now.

The Independence Declaration vote has Sun Jupiter Mercury in Scorpio in the 9^th, so intended to send a clear message, not just to Madrid but to the wider world. Though with the Fire Grand Trine in place focussed onto the 9^th house Jupiter Sun, there’s an unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky feel about it. High ideals, lacking in common sense. The Node in the 7^th points to lack of co-operation, sliding back into a 1^st house South Node, demanding freedom from ties. Saturn in the 11^th, perhaps lacking friends and clear plans ahead. A hidden 12^th house Pluto and Aquarius Moon in aspect to an 8^th house Venus and Mars, points to a bubbling cauldron of anger and resentment, but they may find difficulty in translating their vision into real consequences.

The Catalans will need more than this impetus to get the autonomy they want. Both Spain charts, 1479 and 1975 are facing setbacks and challenges over the next three years, so this is only the beginning of a collision that could have been averted with some sensible negotiation which is what Carles Puigdemont requested but wasn’t forthcoming. [See posts Oct 1 and 14 2017.]

Another deeply depressing sexual abuse story trying to break in the media is from former child star Corey Feldman. In 2008 he and his fellow child actor Corey Haim openly described the abuse they suffered at the hands of rich and powerful men in Hollywood in the 1980s, to zero response. Haim then died in 2010, a consequence of two decades of drug use. In 2014 Feldman repeated his story on Barbara Walters’ chat show and was accused of shaming an entire industry. He says he will not name names since he’s at risk but the murmurs in LA are that one of the offender’s name is known and likely to be revealed.

Feldman born 16 July 1971 7.59am Encino, California; Corey Haim 23 December 1971.

Feldman has a 12^th house Sun Cancer sextile Pluto in Virgo and trine Jupiter in Scorpio in his 4th, so he’s fairly private at one level. Though with a Taurus Moon on his MC he was always designed for a public career. He has Mars in Aquarius conjunct his Descendant and North Node opposition Mercury on a Leo Ascendant – good at delivering a blunt and angry message. He’s on his Jupiter Return in 2018 with tr Jupiter moving through his 4^th, so with luck he might get some peace. Though his career, which is music at the moment, looks stop-start.

Corey Haim had a truly difficult chart with Pluto in Libra opposition Mars in late Pisces squaring onto a Capricorn Sun – huge anger issues, frustration, internal angst, at risk of being dominated. He also had a bleak Air Grand Trine of Venus in Aquarius trine Saturn trine Pluto, formed into a Kite by the Pluto opposition Mars, exacerbating his rage. He finally succumbed in 2010 when tr Pluto was wending its way round his stressed T Square of Mars, Sun, Pluto, with tr Uranus also in hard aspect.

Hollywood, 1 February 1867, is certainly getting a shake up. On its Jupiter and Nodal Return this year, it also has its Aquarius Sun rattled by this year and next February’s Lunar Eclipses; and its T Square of Venus in Aquarius opposition a late Leo Node square Neptune was buffeted by the August Solar Eclipse and by the uncertain, panicky Solar Arc Saturn opposition Neptune this year. The Hollywood chart has a ruthless/cruel Mars square Pluto. The Nodal Return is usually a significant turning point on the road, when a radical reassessment is needed. Tr Jupiter on its return in Scorpio, will help women speak out and also shines a light on the cesspit underneath all the glitter and glamour.

The fashion business have belatedly started to take action against the photographer Terry Richardson over allegations of sexual abuse of models, some very young, which appears to have been an open secret for years. Naturally he denies everything though his personal website evidently contains hardcore images.

Born 14 August 1965 in New York (two weeks after JK Rowling) he is a Leo Sun Mercury square filmic Neptune and on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine to Mars in Libra trine Jupiter in Gemini – creative and confident to the point of exuberance. But what dominates his chart is Uranus Pluto (and Venus) in Virgo opposition Saturn (Moon) in Pisces squaring onto Jupiter – emotionally all over the place with a sex-addict Venus Saturn; an intense Venus Pluto; and if his Moon is mid Pisces then it is hugely muddled, conjunct Saturn opposition Uranus Pluto Venus and trine Neptune. His father was schizophrenic and a drug-addict and his mother had been an actress.

His accentuated Jupiter certainly brought him fame but its negative side is irresponsibility with all of Jupiter’s over-the-topness. JK Rowling has usefully channelled her Jupiter into a prolific output; and houses will make a difference as to how the energies play out.

Looking at the harmonics. Richardson’s can-be-dominating 5H is brutal and unpleasant linking together Mars Saturn Pluto. With Harvey Weinstein it is his obsessive 11H which ties the same planets together. The line between sex and aggression is always less defined than we imagine.

Steve Bannon, the Breitbart voice of populist, nationalist and racist US, is waging war on the Republican Party. A strategist said “He’s funded by billionaires, he has a shallow, catchy message that appeals to marginally-educated fanatics, and his skill at asymmetric warfare seems formidable.”

It may be that he is channelling the tr Uranus square the USA Mercury opposition Pluto, running till spring 2018, which on past form has spewed up right-wing fanatics like McCarthy and caused deep unease about government. On that theory he may well implode, despite the fear he is creating at the moment. His Uranus is conjunct the USA Mercury and his North Node is conjunct the US Pluto – so he hooks into the uglier side of the country.

He does look upbeat this December/January 2018 with tr Uranus square his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint. But it’s all downhill thereafter with tr Pluto square his Mars/Neptune from February 2018 onwards till late 2019 which usually turns hopes into ashes; plus an enthusiasm and ambition-denting tr Neptune opposition his Sun/Jupiter midpoint from March onwards into early 2019. Thereafter it’s very mixed for him with wild over-confidence running into a brick wall as his Solar Arc Mars opposes his Jupiter and then Solar Arc Pluto is conjunct his Saturn. With similar in 2020 to 2023 as tr Pluto is in a gung ho opposition to his Jupiter/Pluto and then moves onto a catastrophic-disaster square to his Mars/Saturn. His past career is littered with failures and arguments and the leopard doesn’t change his spots.

He’s even falling out with his patron and financier Robert Mercer from late this November with tr Saturn square the composite Mercury, Sun, Mars and in 2018 the composite Venus and Uranus; plus a disappointing and suspicious tr Neptune opposition the composite Saturn. Ditto his relationship with Trump which is heading south from March next year with tr Neptune opposition the composite Sun Saturn.

My handful of 12^th house planets makes me the worst person on the planet for personal marketing. My narcissistic streak is deeply buried, though my communicative 9^th house Moon Uranus does like to be heard. Pulling the contradictions of the chart together into a manageable whole isn’t a quick n’ easy process.

Still my first crime novel is out there, so needs must. There are, naturally, several finished and half-finished novels sitting on ancient hard drives, which petered out as life got in the way or I got lost in the plot maze and in one case when the darkness of the anti-hero swallowed me up. To be honest I’d love to have had a play performed – not to sit through rehearsals and have it shredded line by line by director and actors – just moved seamlessly onto the stage, while I hid away at home.

Why did I write By the Light of a Lie? I’ve always been fascinated by the gap between public image – the glittering façade – and the private reality. In small doses, it’s there in everyone. Who they are out at work or on the social scene aren’t who they are in intimate emotional space. But for some, their entire lives are a lie, a carefully crafted false persona. They know who they are, they just choose to be someone different. For others whose memory has been wiped blank, they have the opposite problem – not two identities, none at all. Which is why astrology is sooo valuable. It nails down the whole person, including the hidden away parts. Not 100% because there is always an unknowable core. But 90% is better than the sliver of a mask you meet at parties.

So truth, lies and memory are the over-arching themes and since I’m addicted to crime novels, police procedurals and spy thrillers, the twists and turns, clues and the chase, that provided the genre. Characters? My first review (thankfully positive) flagged up how nice it was to have a strong female lead with a man in a supporting role. And why not? Fits with Jupiter in Scorpio’s surprising inclination to push women forward.

There’s a smidgeon of astrology in, more astro-profiling and geopolitical with an eye to the mainstream audience, for whom astrology has to be kept ludicrously simple. I first put finger to keyboard when there was a Sun Jupiter in Leo on the MC square Mars on a late Libra Ascendant; with a Water Grand Trine, focussed kite-wise onto Pluto. And there it is with a Sun Jupiter in Scorpio transiting the 1^st, so cross fingers.

Anyway, the point and purpose of this puff is to say that if you do decide to have a look – amazon kindle or paperback – then I would be eternally grateful, assuming you like it, if would stretch yourself to put a review on amazon, since it all helps. Or even on goodreads. www.marjorieorr.com @ByLightofLie  Blessings.

Jacinda Ardern, who describes herself as a social democrat and a progressive, has been sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand at 11.20 am promising an ‘empathetic’ government. Her term chart picks up the Sun Jupiter conjunction which bodes well for a confident and lucky administration and tags into the good-for-women feel of Jupiter in Scorpio. Though it won’t be easy for her initially.   Ambitious Mars is conjunct the midheaven, with charming, socially-aware Venus close by. The inspirational Fire Grand Trine is all in hidden houses, Saturn in the 12^th trine an 8^th house Node trine a 4^th house Uranus. That suggests difficulty in translating ideas and ideals into action in a practical way. Problems in getting the message across from Neptune in the 3^rd, well-meaning but vague. The disruptive Uranus in the 4^th may relate to the changes upcoming for NZ, see below.

Born 26 July 1980 in Hamilton, NZ, she’s a Sun Leo, getting the uplifting tr Jupiter square at the moment; with a hard-working Saturn in Virgo on the point of a T square to Venus in Gemini opposition Neptune – good with detail, sometimes overly negative or rigid, won’t relax easily. Her Mercury in emotional Cancer squares both Mars and Pluto in Libra so she’ll be sharp at times in her comments; though since it also sextiles Jupiter in Virgo, that’ll soften her message down a touch with positivity. She’s on her Nodal Return at the moment as she reaches NZ’s highest office; in leadership-potential Leo.

Where she hits her stride is by 2019/2020 with Solar Arc Sun conjunct her Jupiter and Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct her Pluto. But before then she’s got a fair run of swampy Neptune transits to midpoints which will find her floundering at times.

She’s certainly picked an ‘interesting‘ time to take the helm. The NZ 17 January 1853 12 am chart indicates the country is going through seismic changes over the next few years. Tr Pluto is continuing the emotionally-intense and conflicted square to the NZ Moon till late 2018; and tr Uranus has one more jolting hit of the square to the NZ Capricorn Sun early in 2018, moving on then to the insecure, disruptive square to the NZ Mars, in a total-upheaval conjunction to the NZ Pluto and in 2019 to conjunct the NZ Uranus for a Uranus Return. So it’ll be a roller-coaster ride. With hints of financial disappointments in 2018/19 from tr Neptune square Jupiter.

Her Leo Sun sits in the NZ 10^th, so good for pushing the country’s ambitions and image ahead; with her Uranus in the NZ 1^st, acting as a catalyst for change.

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“The eternal singer-songwriter of sorrows, traveling through our highs and lows, the twentieth century master of the art song tradition.” Joni Mitchell at her peak was the most influential female singer songwriter of the 20^th century. And this despite a staggeringly difficult life, with isolation in an iron lung as a child for polio, a massive, decades-long drug problem, an insidious incurable disease that kept her a recluse for years and a brain aneurysm in 2015, she’s still here and about to celebrate her 74^th birthday next week.

Born 7 November 1943 10pm Fort Macleod, Canada, she has her Sun Mercury in Scorpio squaring onto Pluto, which must have given her a sense of being trapped certainly in childhood. Her musical and emotionally sensitive Pisces Moon is on her midheaven opposition Venus in Virgo in a harsh square to Mars Saturn in Gemini in her 12^th. She was always destined to have a tough life with that accentuated Mars Saturn and in a highly strung Mutable T Square. Morgellons Syndrome, the acute skin disease she suffers from is thought to have some psychological or psychogenic component, and be sometimes connected to long-term drug use.

When she had her brain aneurysm in 2015 a Pisces Solar Eclipse was conjunct her Moon MC and opposition Her Venus which would put emotional pressure on her; and her Solar Arc Moon was conjunct her Uranus – so a jolting time. Tr Pluto was also moving through her 6^th house of health.

Tr Jupiter in Scorpio should do her good. Like many old rock n’ rollers the astonishment is she’s still here.

Just for the record, Xi Jinping started his 2^nd Term (which may last for his lifetime) at the closure of the Beijing Congress around 12.30pm on 24 October. The vote for his confirmation came in camera prior to 11 am.

12.30 pm puts Sun Jupiter Mercury conjunct on the Scorpio midheaven which fits for a triumphalist, almost imperial elevation for Xi Jinping. There’s a secretive, controlling Pluto on the Capricorn Ascendant; and the super-confident Fire Grand Trine of Saturn Moon in Sagittarius trine Uranus trine Leo Node is still in place, formed into a Kite by Uranus opposition Sun Jupiter – certainly ambitious and attention-demanding. China has Venus and MC in Scorpio which picks up tr Jupiter through 2018.

An astonishing pronouncement from Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has vowed to return the country to “moderate Islam” and explicitly condemns hardline religious attitudes in place for three decades which were, he said, “not normal”. He blamed the rise of ultra-conservative clerics and the rigid doctrines that have governed the society as a reaction to the Iranian revolution. “We didn’t know how to deal with it. And the problem spread all over the world. Now is the time to get rid of it.”

His economic and social plans are more than ambitious as he attempts to move Saudi Arabia away from dependence on oil and open up opportunities for the young, including women.

Born 31 August 1985 he is a Sun Virgo, with a powerfully confident and socially idealistic Fixed Grand Cross of Pluto opposition North Node square Jupiter in Aquarius opposition Venus in Leo. He’s stubborn, has staying-power, faith in his own abilities and not too much humility. Plus a gritty, disciplined Mars Mercury in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio – not a man for turning.

If the Saudi 15 January 1902 3.45am chart is sound, then his Pluto is conjunct the SA Scorpio MC so he will have the desire and ability to transform the country, albeit in a highly controlling way. Tr Jupiter moving now into Scorpio is conjunct his Pluto now and the SA MC soon. So the timing fits.

Since the surprising thing about Jupiter in Scorpio is the positive benefits it brings for women (see post October 9 2017), the move away from a misogynistic culture, which has spread far beyond the SArabia borders may also be flagged up.

Not all of his plans will work economically with some dashed hopes in 2017/18; and there is a real risk of a backlash from the Wahhabist religious lobby. But tr Jupiter in Scorpio will certainly help him as it moves round his Grand Cross over coming months – if he doesn’t go into Jupiterian overdrive and get carried away by his enthusiasm.

The Saudi chart looks chipper this December and January 2018 with tr Uranus square the Sun Jupiter in Capricorn; but tr Pluto continues to conjunct the Saturn in Capricorn through 2018 so it’ll be an uphill struggle at times. The results should start to show in 2020/2021 with tr Pluto conjunct the Sun Jupiter, which looks like success and a surge of confidence.

Oddly enough, or maybe not, he was born on Saudi Arabia’s Uranus Return, so just the person to breathe new life into the state.