The Assisted Dying Bill for England and Wales was voted through yesterday in Westminster at around 2.15pm. It would allow terminally ill adults expected to die within six months to seek help to end their own life. There will be hurdles ahead before it becomes law and (I think) it requires two doctors and a judge to sign off on any procedure as a safeguard which could be cumbersome.
If the time is accurate there is a hidden Fire Grand Trine of Sun in the 8th house of death and transformation trine North Node (and Chiron) In the 12th trine Mars in Leo which Mars opposition Pluto. Both the 8th house Sun and ‘driving rod’ Mars Pluto opposition tie in with a profoundly serious, fundamental issue concerning death.
Uranus in the 1st conjunct the ‘destructive’ planet Algol oppose a 7th house Scorpio Moon. Algol features heavily in other dying with dignity campaigns and organisations. See
Taking control of death in terminal illness + Canada & EXIT 19th December 2023.
Dying with dignity – Algol rules 10th May 2023
Algol – light in the heart of darkness ++ additional thoughts 25th March 2024
Greg Wise – an Algol that breeds empathy 24th March 2024
On a personal note I used to be drawn to the notion of death being a spiritual journey which should not be interfered with – but the older I have got the more I see it as a personal choice. Modern medicine prolongs life long after it would have petered out in centuries past. And in more recent times pre-the odious Harold Shipman (the GP who bumped off scores of aged patients) doctors were happy to administer morphine overdoses to speed the process along when too much pain and suffering was involved.
Having had dogs and cats put down over the years when it was ‘their time’ and life had become too much of a struggle (with many tears but knowing it was in their best interest), it seems heartless to force people to hang on grimly to an often bitter and inhumane end.
Mars in Leo gives drive, will-power, dramatic flair and creativity, leadership ability, self-confidence, a competitive nature which can tilt over into egotism and an over bearing streak with a tendency to dominate others. Not surprisingly it fills the ranks of those seeking attention in politics and showbusiness – Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris + George Clooney, Cher, Robert Redford, Harrison Ford, Beyonce, Megan Thee Stallion, Paul McCartney.
In the news today one of their number is Gregg Wallace, presenter of BBC’s Master Chef, who has been sidelined after a slew of allegations about his wildly inappropriate sexual behaviour and jokes. Born 17 October 1964 London, his charming Libra Sun and sensitive Pisces Moon, are clearly not his leading lights, as his brash Mars in Leo in a hard-edged opposition to Saturn and square Jupiter in Taurus opposition Neptune dominate his chart and presumably personality.
He was born 3 days before Kamala Harris and what is interesting is that tr Uranus is exactly conjunct his Jupiter as was the case with her over the election result. On its own that aspect should bring a lucky opportunity – instead it clearly tugged on an uncertain, failure-prone Neptune and Mars opposition Saturn which often brings considerable setbacks. The same happened with Boris Johnson when tr Uranus hit his Jupiter opposition Neptune which brings over-confidence and self-created scandals. Gregg Wallace also has a discouraging tr Saturn opposing his Uranus Venus in Virgo and then Pluto now and in coming weeks. Plus his SA Sun is conjunct his South Node.
Louise Haigh, 22 July 1987, Starmer’s hapless Minister for Transport is another who has just resigned over what sounds like a fairly minor conviction from years back though more may emerge; and she has certainly been impolitic in her approach since taking up high office. She is a Sun Cancer in an overly expansive square to Jupiter opposition Pluto in Scorpio with her Mars also square Pluto. That is way too much pushy self-assurance and brashness. Her Mars is also trine her Saturn which in turn is conjunct a can-be-autocratic conjunction to Uranus. A chaotic loose cannon. Tr Pluto is opposition her Sun now for maximum pressure; with her Solar Arec Mars square her Saturn for a considerable setback.
Emmanuel Macron another with a prominent Mars in Leo is also finding his confident push backfiring and deserves a post to himself along with France, Barnier etc tomorrow.
Anthony Albanese, the Australian PM, 2 March 1963, Sydney, AU, is not in as much trouble immediately, but he has a similar Mars in Leo widely opposition Saturn square Neptune. His Pisces Sun opposition Pluto is a hanger-oner, but his term chart, 23 May 2022, won’t have its troubles to seek through 2025 from February onwards with a failure-ridden tr Neptune conjunct the Mars and worse as the year goes on.
In this week’s news as well for other reasons is Cher with her Memoir Part One being released with grim tales of her early abusive marriage to Sonny Bono. Born 20 May 1946 7.25am El Centro, California, she has a late Taurus Sun and Capricorn Moon with a difficult Mars Pluto conjunction in Leo. Mars Pluto when not lived out can attract dominant, if not ruthless partners and experiences. Though it can ultimately mature into a determined personality.
Mars in Leo is all its multi-faceted glory.
Add On: The painter Frank Auerbach (see post 13 November below) was another Mars in Leo square a Taurus Sun Mercury and trine Venus in Aries. The description below from a reviewer may be as much about his Taurus Sun but it also hints of the Mars in Leo’s difficulty with introspection.
“His lack of introspection. Because no one had more to be introspective about. As a child, Auerbach was sent to Britain from Nazi Berlin by his Jewish parents, whom he would never see again. Asked about this experience, he’d offer the following. “I’ve simply moved on.” “Life is too short.” “I’ve done this thing that psychiatrists disapprove of, which is blocking things out.” “There’s just never been a point in my life when I felt I wish I had parents.” “I’m not given to self-analysis.”
JonBenet Ramsey, the miniature beauty queen murdered nearly 30 years ago is back in the news with a Netflix True Crime documentary about her.
On the morning after Christmas the family reported a kidnap and the house was over-run by police setting up for a ransom demand; and when the body was discovered, it was moved by the father, further contaminating any evidence that may have been left. The initial call to the police was deemed odd and rehearsed, as was the ransom note. The parents John, a multi-millionaire business man, and Patsy, now dead, were always under suspicion but never charged. A mentally unstable, serial sex offender confessed in recent years but that has never been corroborated.
JonBenet was born 6 Aug 1990 1.36am Atlanta, Georgia, and had a truly difficult chart, so even before her murder, must have lived with high levels of anxiety, fear and anger. Her 4th house Leo Sun opposed an Aquarius Moon, MC, North Node squaring onto Mars in Taurus opposition Pluto in Scorpio. For her, both parents carried the overly dominating Mars Pluto signature. Her superficially glitzy (fashion conscious) Venus Jupiter in Cancer opposed Saturn hinting at an emotionally cold atmosphere in childhood. Her Saturn was trine Mars and sextile Pluto – bleak, unkind and deprived, trapped. It’s often the case with individuals who exhibit an exterior ‘beauty’ that they are driven by underlying dread and horrors. They put on a façade of pleasing in order to escape punishment or worse. Her highly-strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn in her 8th house hint at a family legacy of potential instability from a previous generation.
Poor little mite had quite a psychological burden to carry from square one.
When she died her Aquarius Moon had moved by Solar Arc to close the square to the Mars Pluto opposition to exact. And her Uranus Neptune conjunction in her 8th had moved by Solar Arc Directions to close the conjunction to exact.
What struck me years ago when I first looked at the charts was how stressed/emotionally conflicted the parents’ relationship chart with each other were. John Ramsey, 7 Dec 1943 12.45am Omaha, Nebraska, is a volatile Sagittarius Sun opposition Uranus Mars in Gemini and widely opposition Saturn in Gemini; with Uranus Mars trine Neptune, sextile Pluto – so quite explosive and controlling. Patsy Ramsey, 29 Dec 1956, who died of ovarian cancer, was a Sun Capricorn trine Pluto on one side and square Mars in Aries on the other; with a Sagittarius Moon conjunct Saturn trine Mars trine Uranus – certainly impulsive and ambitious with a Fire Grand Trine but also probably passive-aggressive.
Their relationship chart had a composite Venus opposition Mars square Pluto probably opposition Moon which is an unpleasant mix of sexuality and power.
No proof of anything, but JonBenet was a lotus growing in a swamp.
Burke, her brother, 27 Jan 1987, is a Sun Aquarius square Pluto with a Capricorn Moon probably conjunct Neptune square Mars in Aries; with Mars trine Saturn Venus (Uranus) in Sagittarius. So he’ll be bubbling with the family tensions and anger as well.
The Netflix producer now says he has backtracked from his initial suspicion of the parents as being responsible. Whether or not this renewed exposure brings any answers is questionable. Though on her posthumous chart her Solar Arc Uranus is exactly conjunct her Moon at the moment.
One way or another, her life always was going to be a tragedy.
Angela Merkel regrets little in her fairly anodyne memoirs, keen to shore up her legacy. Critics say what she left behind was the German economic miracle sagging, the automotive industry struggling and debt at a post-war high. She became too close to Vladimir Putin, causing Germany to become dependent on Russian oil and gas, and allowed one million migrants into Germany in 2015, helping the vote in the UK to exit the EU and bolstering populist parties across the continent.
One review says: “Few politicians have been more lauded during their careers and more excoriated in retirement than Angela Merkel.” Her chief qualities were caution and discretion which saw her through the financial crisis, the Russian occupation of Crimea and the dependency on Moscow’s gas.
She was born 17 July 1954 5.45pm Hamburg, and spent her first 35 years in the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR). She was a good fit for united Germany with her Jupiter in Cancer conjunct the Germany Midheaven and her Sun Uranus conjunction conjunct the Germany 10th house Uranus.
Her rebellious, unconventional streak from her Sun Uranus conjunction were kept well hidden in her confidential 8th house but she was undoubtedly a trailblazer, certainly in becoming a woman leader and staying for 16 years in power. Her assertive Mars in Sagittarius in her 1st house was in a determined trine to an opinionated 9th house Pluto. Her 10th house Neptune would give her an idealistic slant and soften her tougher inclinations -as well as giving her a talent for evasion and smoke-screening. Her Aquarius Moon sits awkwardly with four Cancer planets though would give her the necessary detachment for a political career.
Her relationship chart with Germany does suggest a successful combination with a composite Jupiter Pluto conjunction trine an enthusiastic Venus Mars. Plus an enlightening (and illusory) composite Sun opposition Mercury square Uranus opposition Neptune.
She became Chancellor in 2005 and resigned Half a Saturn cycle later in December 2021.
At the moment she looks less than upbeat with tr Pluto square her 10th house intense Saturn in Scorpio, with a discouraging SA Pluto conjunct her Saturn in 2025. Her Solar Arc Midheaven will also conjunct her Mars in 2025, hinting at another setback to her reputation.
All political careers end in failure and hers may be weighing heavily on her in retirement.
Keir Starmer’s freefall down the polls with a petition pleading with him to resign doing the opposite does little to foster calm in a UK which had grown weary of revolving premiers amongst the previous administration.
Starmer’s Government chart, 5 July 2024 12.19 pm always looked ominous with Mars Uranus (Algol) in the 8th hinting at turbulence especially on the economic front. Plus a discouraging Saturn in the 6th house of employment and health.
Liz Truss’s ill-fated 45 day premiership, 6 September 2022 12.27pm which ended when she was forced to resign after an internal rebellion, also had Mars in the 8th. According to a political analyst it was the market crisis which tolled her departure. And that may well be the next hurdle for the hapless Starmer/Reeves duo. Since on the UK chart, the 8th house Mars, already heavily stressed will face a major explosion point when the conjunction from Solar Arc Uranus reaches exact in five months.
The UK chart also has an undermining, indecisive Solar Arc Midheaven square its 2nd house Neptune now; tr Uranus square the 11th house Saturn (= hopes for the future and the legislature) for high tensions and divisive arguments late this December to mid March 2025. Plus a panicked tr Neptune Saturn opposition the UK Uranus come mid 2025 into 2026. Nothing that will make it easy for an administration already struggling to gain traction.
If Starmer were to be voted out by an internal rebellion it would not be entirely surprising since his Leadership chart, 4 April 2020 10.45 am London, has an equally punishing Saturn Mars in Aquarius in the 8th – which is being ground down by tr Pluto conjunct the Saturn now and moving in to conjunct the Mars/Saturn and Mars in 2025/26.
His personal chart, 2 September 1962, no time, Southwark, is facing a significant setback around now with his Solar Arc Saturn squaring his Mars on one leg of his Water Grand Trine/Kite – so disaster resonating right round his chart. With a Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Neptune and SA Sun to follow within months which suggests devastating confusion. A staging-post tr Uranus square Uranus from mid 2025 into 2026; and a collision-type shock probably late 2025 from SA Mars conjunct his Sun. With the complete end-of-the-road SA Mars conjunct his Sun Pluto conjunction through 2025.
I never thought he’d see 2026 still in power but his exit stage-left may come before then – not that it would make much difference since there is no messiah in sight across the political landscape.
Rachel Reeves, 13 February 1979, with her fixed Aquarius Sun catching the tr Uranus square now and again in the spring will be stiffening against the changes being presented to her. With tr Pluto opposing her Jupiter giving her an overdose of misplaced confidence through 2025. The UK will not be looking kindly on the results of her policies with tr Neptune Saturn opposing the composite Mars from April 2025 onwards plus other negative indicators.
The Labour Party, 12 February 1906, chart which showed the recent win most clearly looks rattled ahead, stuck in 2025 and panicked and riven by internal arguments by 2026.
None of which looks like bringing peace to a fractious nation anytime soon.
Standing back to take a considered view of the UK chart – tr Uranus finishes its shake-up of all the UK Fixed planets from spring 2025 onwards and heads to the end of the 8th house of transformation in 2026 which should stabilise the economic situation thereafter. The SA Uranus crossing the 8th house Mars in 2025 will be a last hurdle though of considerable proportions.
The UK yod of Jupiter sextile Uranus inconjunct Pluto in Pisces is getting hammered all the way with tr Pluto opposition the Jupiter in 2025, which could see social unrest and jousting with authorities. Tr Neptune Saturn opposition the Uranus from mid 2025 into 2026 will be highly strung, nerve-stretched, could see fanatical outbursts and divisive arguments. Then tr Uranus square the focal point Pluto in 2026/27 which will see disruptions, upheavals and a sudden shift onto a new trajectory.
A bruised, battered, tattered but revisioned UK will emerge thereafter. Stirring times though utterly exhausting.
Another day, another exposé of busted Britain with an excoriating report by an all-party parliamentary group on the shortcomings of the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) whose principal role is to protect consumers. ‘A “toxic” culture at the City watchdog has made it easier for fraudsters to prey on consumers.’ The agency’s failings were deemed “incompetent at best, dishonest at worst”. “It comes across as an opaque and unaccountable organisation, slow to act and even slower to admit it has got things wrong and to change – with profoundly defective leadership.”
The chief executive Nikhil Rathi has been linked to the forthcoming job of Cabinet secretary and was a senior civil servant under the last Labour administration, serving under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He was singled out in the report for having a “tin ear” and a “lack of empathy for individuals”.
Although important, the FCA won’t be featuring on most of our radar and is only featured here since the astrology is wonderfully precise.
Founded on 1 April 2013, it has a Uranus, Sun, Venus, Mars conjunction in Aries square Pluto – with the Uranus, Sun and Venus all being rattled by the recent October Libra Solar Eclipse and next March’s Aries Solar Eclipse – and that is some turbulence.
The FCA also has a yod of Saturn sextile Pluto in conjunct Jupiter hinting at an organization which has the capacity to make social improvements but could be brought low by arrogance.
Nikhil Rathi, the Chief Executive, 5 August 1979, has a stellium in Leo with his Sun conjunct an expansive Jupiter trine Neptune sextile Pluto and square an impulsive Uranus; plus Venus, Mercury also in Leo. Attention-seeking and super-ambitious. He is on an exact Saturn Half Return at the moment; and has his Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Sun and his SA Sun square his natal Mars – both coming soon which usually coincide with a shock or a collision of sorts.
Singer Adele has finished her two year residency at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas which earned her a reputed $100 million for her 100 weekend shows and says she intends to take an extended break with no clear plans about what comes next. Though it may include marrying her sports agent fiancée and having another child.
Born 5 May 1988 8.19 am London (biography), she has an expansive and enthusiastic Sun Jupiter in Taurus in a lucky and confident opposition to Pluto squaring onto a stubborn and enduring Mars in Aquarius. She is quite a dynamo. Plus she was born at the time of the triple conjunction of the inspired but can be chaotic Neptune, Saturn, Uranus in Capricorn with her late Sagittarius Moon conjunct Uranus and Saturn giving her a complicated emotional background. Her parents split when she was 2.
At the moment her Solar Arc Neptune is exactly square her Sun which will lower her motivation and energy, bringing confusion and indecision. Tr Pluto is also moving through her 8th since 2021 which tends to bring profound experiences and a heavier tone to life.
Tr Saturn is in her upper quadrant until late 2032 so she’s unlikely to go into permanent retirement, which would not anyway suit her fairly hard-driving temperament. But she will be backwards and forwards with an uncertain tr Neptune Saturn square her Uranus and then Saturn in 2025/26; and her SA Neptune moving to conjunct her Mars in 2027/28 for a slump along with a stuck SA Saturn square her Pluto. So it will be stop start ahead. Tr Jupiter bouncing across her Ascendant after mid 2025 will revive her spirits and confidence, making her more outgoing.
Add On: Concerning weight loss (see Deirdre comment below), what is intriguing is that Alison Moyet, 18 June 1961 9.30am Billericay, England and K.D. Lang, 2 November 1961 2.03AM Edmonton, Canada as well as Adele all have Moon Uranus conjunctions which would not have sprung to mind as a common factor in weight. Except on reflection having a sense of separation from mother/nurturing would bring a need to compensate. Alison Moyet has a particularly afflicted Moon being conjunct Mars as well as Uranus; and K.D. Lang has a Moon, Uranus, Pluto conjunction. Taking away the comfort blanket of food is likely to bring up more than usually strong feelings of deprivation.
Alison Moyet has Jupiter in the 6th which has a reputation for indulgence. Adele has her Moon Uranus in her 6th pointing to a link between emotional wellbeing and appetite. K.D. Lang has her South Node and Chiron in her 6th for issues around her body.
Writer Barbara Taylor Bradford, known for a string of best-selling epic novels which spawned sequels and TV adaptations like A Woman of Substance, has died at the age of 91. She had a ferocious work ethic, inspired by her mother who was mourning a son lost before her birth and poured her determination into her daughter.
She was born 10 May 1933, no birth time, Leeds, and later discovered her mother Freda Walker was the illegitimate daughter of a local landowner who employed her mother as a servant and they had three children together. Her grandmother later spent time in workhouses.
Barbara read books avidly – Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Thomas Hardy, and Colette – left school at 15, started life as a journalist, became a fashion and design writer and launched into writing 40 novels after the age of 40 with her first book selling 30 million copies worldwide. She had a long marriage to a Hollywood film producer who produced her work on screen.
She was a charming Sun Venus in Taurus in a persuasive sextile to Pluto and a hard-working, determined square to Saturn in Aquarius. Her Moon was probably Scorpio – and if so her Saturn was doubly emphasised being on the focal point of a Fixed T Square to her Venus Sun opposition Moon; and on the focal point of a wide-ish yod inconjunct Pluto and Jupiter. Which would explain her workaholic tendencies.
Her Mercury in Taurus was trine a publicity-attracting Mars Neptune in Virgo.
What is fascinating is how many showbusiness names came out of 1933 with the glitzy Mars, Neptune, Jupiter in Virgo combo which stayed together for several months – Quincy Jones, Yoko Ono, Michael Caine, Gene Wilder, Willie Nelson, Nina Simone, Joan Rivers, Joan Collins.
[A tragic irony that her story follows one on the plight of Afghani women who are being deprived not only of intellectual and creative sustenance but any chance of doing what she did to make a life for herself out of words.]
As Afghanistan’s benighted, backward-looking Taliban ruler, lays down increasingly draconian edicts restricting women’s lives, there are signs of discord from within the ranks. Some senior figures have openly criticised the policies of the leadership towards women. An official inside the Taliban’s morality ministry told The Telegraph most of the rules it was told to enforce were about “controlling women” and “often don’t even make sense”.
Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader since 2021, has vowed to publicly stone women to death for adultery.
The Taliban has said Afghan women are not allowed to:
Drive a car
Speak in public
Speak loudly inside your house
Travel alone
Own a smartphone
Wear bright clothes
Wear high-heels
Go to high school or university
Sing
Read the Quran aloud in public
Look at men they don’t know
Attend a protest
Go to the gym
Go to the park
Work in the civil service
Ride in a taxi
Go abroad
Show their faces in public
Speak to a male doctor
Play sport.
The Afghanistan, 19 August 1919, 12 am Kabul chart has a hidden 12th house Taurus Moon conjunct Algol and the South Node and square a Leo Sun Mercury which makes sense of a punitive, destructive, primitive attitude to women. There is also a yod of Mars in Cancer sextile Venus inconjunct Uranus hinting at lawless defiance and a contrary and eccentric outlook.
The Afghanistan Islamic State 25 April 1992 chart is ruthless, brutal and also inclined to fanatical views with Mars trine Pluto, sextile Uranus Neptune in Capricorn. With (maybe) an Aquarius Moon (square a stubborn Taurus Sun) sextile Mercury inconjunct Jupiter.
There is no birth date for the present Supreme leader Mullah Akhundzada but he took office on 15 August 2021 after the USA withdrew. This chart is dominated by a strained yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct a Leo Sun. The downside of a Sun on the focal point of a yod is a tendency to abuse power and authority though the drive for absolute domination usually backfires. His term chart has an undeserved dollop of good luck built in with a helpful Jupiter but it will be under massive, perhaps terminal pressure come 2026/27.
The Islamic State 1992 chart is also under significant pressure at the same time with tr Pluto is moving to square the Sun in 2026/27 alongside SA Neptune square the Pluto and SA Uranus square the Pluto.
The Afghanistan 1919 chart is showing disruptions through 2025 with tr Uranus conjunct the Moon, Algol and South Node and square the yod focal point Uranus.
Will be instructive to see which chart most accurately reflects events.
