For light relief or maybe more depressing black comedy about the state of British politics  – Nadine Dorries, erstwhile Culture Secretary and devoted fan of Boris Johnson issues her political memoir. In it she points to a shadowy sinister cabal (Gove, Cummings  and the scheming “Dr No”, a Government insider so brutish, that he once butchered a rabbit dear to a former partner in revenge) that has controlled the Tory Party for ever. It was them she insists who brought her idol down. As opposed to his lies and incompetence.  

 An associate of Michael Gove remarked crisply that Dorries  writes best-selling fiction. Though the quality of her literary outpourings since 2014 in the fantasy sphere appears questionable. The Telegraph described one as a “misery novel” “told in vacuous language”. Reviewer Christopher Howse said The Four Streets was “the worst novel I’ve read in 10 years.”

  Having established herself as ‘an author’ Boris Johnson then made her Culture Secretary. One Tory MP reacted to the news of her appointment by telling the FT: “Nadine bleeding Dorries. Was whoever decided that on LSD at the time?”

  The FT today after a lunch interview remarked: “Dorries blurs fact and fiction so easily, I’m not even sure she notices. Her defensiveness, acquired through fire, seems to stop her questioning herself.” Along the way of mozzarella and grilled vegetables she remarked: “ I’m actually smarter than these guys in No 10. All they had to do was work with me.”

 Born 21 May 1957 Liverpool, she has BJ’s Sun Venus in Gemini though at the start not the finish of the chatty sign. With her Sun in a controlling square to Pluto in late Leo. What marks her chart out as singular is a Yod of Mercury in Taurus sextile Mars in Cancer inconjunct Saturn in Sagittarius – and a Sun inconjunct Neptune, with Neptune in a can-be-fanatical/unrealistic square to Uranus. An uneasy self-righteousness will be an ever present companion as she tilts at windmills. Her afflicted Neptune will create more than a few problems distinguishing reality from fantasy.

 Her relationship chart with Michael Gove is hostile with a composite Mars Pluto conjunction. Her relationship with Boris is a flurry of flowery passionate enthusiasm with a composite Sun, Venus, Mars plus an irrevocably-tied-together-by-fate for good-or-for-ill yod – Venus Mars sextile Uranus inconjunct Saturn. Saturnine yods require maturity to give of their best and if mishandled can be self-defeating.

  They will crumble into history together as of little consequence.

  How could they make her Culture Secretary??

  “All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”  T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

  A timely new biography of T E Lawrence (of Arabia) comes from transglobe explorer Ranulph Fiennes who in his army days fought in Oman and shares Lawrence’s taste for devil-may-care adventure.

Lawrence led the Arab revolt against the Turks in the desert as part of the Allies’ World War One strategy to occupy the Ottoman empire and keep the Germans busy. By 1918 he was one of the most celebrated figures in all the Middle East and the Turks had put a price on his head of £15,000 (about £1.3 million today). Ultimately he was betrayed by the politicians, his dream of independence for the Arabs crushed as the Middle East was carved up into French, British and Russian spheres of influence after the war.

 He was born 16 August 1888, maybe 4.16 am (rectified) in Wales, as one of five illegitimate children to a father who inherited a baronetcy. After Oxford he went travelling, became an archaeologist with an interest in the Middle East and on the outbreak of war was seconded into British intelligence headquartered in Cairo.

  From unlikely beginnings he developed into one the greatest generals in history in history as he created a new form of hybrid warfare, with modern weapons operating alongside irregular forces. His strategies were followed in the Churchill’s guerrilla operations in World War II; the Viet Cong used his tactics during the Vietnam War and they were influential when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 using a combination of air strikes and Arab tribesmen on the ground.

  Late in the war he was captured, tortured, beaten and almost certainly raped by the Turks. A year later the war ended and with peace his vision for the Middle East was crushed. He returned home seeking anonymity, joined the RAF under an assumed name, and after his famous identity was exposed, moved to another army unit where he died aged 46 in a motorcycle accident.

  His book Seven Pillars of Wisdom written after the way was praised by Churchill – “It ranks with the greatest books ever written in the English language. As a narrative of war and adventure it is unsurpassable.”

  Lawrence had a Sun in Leo square Jupiter in Scorpio, with Mercury Saturn also in Leo square Mars in Scorpio – flamboyant and attention-seeking, confident, keen to be taken as a person of importance, used to hardship, utterly determined. His Venus in Virgo and possibly Sagittarius Moon were in hard aspect to Neptune Pluto in Gemini, which was the signature conjunction of the era. Emotionally overwrought – passionate, idealistic and unrealistic, a visionary.

  When World War 1 ended and his dreams for the Middle East died, tr Uranus in Aquarius was opposition his Leo Sun with tr Saturn conjunct his Sun for a rupture with the past. Tr Saturn moved soon after to square his Neptune Pluto for an uncertain aftermath of anxiety, betrayal and coping with war trauma.

  His global superstar 22^nd harmonic is outstanding as is his leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H.

Ranulph Fiennes, 7 March 1944 12.30 pm Windsor, England, like Lawrence has his North Node in the leadership sign of Leo. Fiennes’ Moon Jupiter in Leo are also conjunct Lawrence’s Sun. Both have hard Mars Saturn aspects, suiting them for military life and hardship. Though Fiennes has an explorer’s Pisces sun.

The dedication to Seven Pillars of Wisdom:

I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky in stars
To earn you freedom, the seven
Pillared worthy house,
That your eyes might be
Shining for me
When I came

PICS: Cloud Hills in Dorset a woodsman’s cottage where he spent his final anonymous years after WW1. Now under National Trust care.

The Beatles have crowned their generation-spanning influence with one last offering, a reworked demo made by John Lennon which never made it to a finished song before now. It is described as a McCartney production tour de force in which he and Ringo Starr pay homage to the late Lennon and Harrison with one “last Beatles song.”

  What is striking looking at all four charts is how fixed they are, maybe not surprising for a quartet of enduring success.

John Lennon, 9 October 1940 6.30 pm Liverpool,  was a relationship-oriented Sun Libra conjunct his Descendant; with an emotionally possessive Moon opposition Pluto and Chiron in his performing 5^th and the heavyweight Taurus triple conjunction of the era of Saturn, Jupiter close together and Uranus. Uranus was also trine Neptune for creativity. He was born on a Jupiter Saturn conjunction, made his debut in a pop band on the next Jupiter Saturn conjunction and was shot on the following one in 1981.

Ringo Starr, 7 July 1940 12.05 am Liverpool,  is a Cancer Sun on the cusp of his performing 5^th house; with a megaton Mars Pluto Moon in Leo also in his 5^th and  Jupiter Saturn in Taurus with Uranus in Taurus trine Neptune.

 Paul McCartney, 18 June 1942 2pm Liverpool, is a Sun Gemini conjunct Jupiter and square Neptune, with Mercury, Saturn and Uranus also in Gemini, a sign much favoured by pop stars. Like Ringo he has a fiendishly determined Mars Pluto conjunction in Leo with his Leo Moon in an amiable square to Venus in Taurus.  A mix of easy going and incredibly stubborn.

 George Harrison, 24 February 1943 11.42pm Liverpool, had a Sun Pisces in his entertaining 5^th house on the focal point of a yod to Neptune sextile Pluto; with his Sun square Saturn Uranus; and his Mercury opposition Pluto in Leo square a Scorpio Moon. Plus an exuberant Mars opposition Jupiter. An individual not entirely comfortable in his own skin. He died of cancer in 2001.

  As with all groups of musical brothers stuck together for long periods of time there would be disagreements and irritations, especially given the proliferation of obstinate fixed signs.

 Ringo looks to have been closest to John Lennon and he has an intense, not easy bond with McCartney, superficially friendly with undercurrents of a power struggle.  

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Royal mania has hit Spain with the coming of age of Princess Leonor, heir to the throne. Banners with her photograph decorated lampposts and official buildings were festooned with bunting as she pledged her allegiance to the constitution though the ceremony was boycotted by republican government ministers and Catalan and Basque nationalist MPs. She will automatically become head of state in the event of her father King Felipe’s absence.

 Born 31 October 2005 1.46am Madrid, Spain, she went to school in Wales, took the international baccalaureate and began three years of military training in August. Princess of Asturias in the army becomes Cadet Borbón.

  She has a determined and confident Scorpio Sun conjunct Jupiter in the quick-witted 3^rd house so she’ll communicate well. Her Sun is square a creative, hope-for-a-better-society Neptune opposition Saturn in Leo which in turn squares onto Mars in determined Taurus on her Midheaven. Very Fixed, stubborn and enduring. Her Libra Moon is trine/sextile Neptune and Saturn but otherwise unintegrated. Her persuasive, seductive Venus Pluto in Sagittarius in her 4^th will tie her to family. Her 7^th house Uranus hints at an unconventional relationship life and choices ahead and given her independent Aries North Node as well she may take time to settle down.

  Her childhood won’t have been a cakewalk with Mars square Saturn since discipline would be instilled early on and require considerable sacrifices.

 Her parents are not the easiest of matches with her mother Queen Letizia’s Sun Mars in Virgo sitting on top of King Felipe’s Pluto opposition Mars with Letizia’s Saturn in square. That is a teeth-gritting, monarchical scenario of stiff upper lip and suppress your needs for the sake of appearances.

 Leonor will have proved a challenging child for both with her Saturn in Leo opposition her father’s Aquarius Sun and her Mars in Taurus square his Aquarius Moon. And Leonor’s Pluto Venus in Sagittarius is square her mother’s Sun Mars in Virgo and opposition her mother’s Saturn for quite a clash.

  Leonor’s Scorpio Sun should resonate for Spain, 22 November 1975, since it has a Scorpio Sun and Mercury though the Spain Uranus in Scorpio is also conjunct her Sun which could suggest differing agendas. But despite the aggravations and political obstacles the relationship chart between herself and Spain has a composite Sun, Venus, Pluto conjunction which will create an emotionally intense bond.

  She has the feel of an individual who will make a considerable difference one way or another and instigate far reaching changes though there will be major pressures in the 2030s as tr Pluto starts to square that composite Sun, Venus, Pluto.

Robert de Niro defending himself over allegations he was verbally abusive to a former aide rather proved her point when he shouted at her across the courtroom as his temper got the better of him.

  Born 17 August 1943 3am New York, he has a robust chart, essential for a mammothly successful career as one of the most influential actors of his generation, known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese. But it almost certainly does not make him an easy-going, light-and-peace personality.

  He has a Leo Sun conjunct North Node square a heavyweight Mars in Taurus, the latter tending to have a slow fuse but can be volcanic when it blows. He also has a super-confident Jupiter Pluto in Leo on the focal point of a mini Grand Trine of Uranus to Neptune giving him the self-assurance and determination to get what he wants. Sitting side by side with all that bountiful self-belief is a super-sensitive Pisces Moon opposition Mercury Venus and widely square Saturn.  And admittedly Leo has a vulnerable underside behind all the strutting bravado which can get prickly when criticised.

  In addition his Mars sits on his Moon/Pluto midpoint which will make him irritable, excitable and prone to outbursts.

  I make no comments about the case itself since it is a swamp of claims and counter claims. The assistant wants $12m in damages for emotional distress and reputational harm while he sued her previously alleging she stole from him.

  His Sun square Mars is being seriously rattled by tr Uranus square his Sun next year which will bring a mood of explosive insecurity. And uncertainty and worry will come before then from tr Neptune square his Saturn just after the middle of this month till late December. His Solar Arc Mars is also inconjunct his Moon exactly now which won’t calm his prickly defensiveness.

  Who would be a celebrity?  The price of fame is very high.

The shambles at the heart of Boris Johnson’s No 10 sojourn is being laid bare in excruciating detail at the covid inquiry. Back into the limelight today sharpening his quill to give evidence is the poisonous Dominic Cummings. His selection by BJ to being the in-charge-of-everything Svengali was an astrological mystery since everything in the other’s chart is at cross purposes.

BJ’s windmill-in-a-hurricane Mutable T Square of Uranus Pluto opposition Saturn square Mars in Gemini collides head on with  Cummings’ Mutable T Square. DC’s Saturn in Gemini is conjunct Boris’s focal point Mars with DC’s Sun Neptune opposition Boris’s Mars; and square his Uranus with Cummings Pluto trine Boris’s Mars. Cummings’ Mars in Pisces is conjunct Boris’s Saturn and opposition his Uranus Pluto – and that is some heap of aggravation and potential for resentment. A destructive/ self-destructive Mars Saturn feste.

  The relationship chart does little to clear up the puzzle – there is admittedly a controlling composite Sun Pluto; but there’s also a highly stressed and over-heated Yod of Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Mars Saturn. It looks an exceptionally masochistic connection. The aggravated composite Mars North Node Saturn in Aries was elbowed by this month’s Solar Eclipse in opposition.

  At the time of his appointment Matthew Parris described Cummings as “a brilliant and prosecuting intellect. One of the sharpest tongues in modern political history, and a free spirit who cares not a jot whom he offends or what people think of him. Mr Cummings has a mind which is the very antithesis of Mr Johnson’s: logical, razor-sharp, directed, and ideologically remorseless.”

“That he will fall out with his new master within months is almost certain. That, when he does, the world will know about it in coruscating language, equally so.” “ (BJ) has set his own time bomb ticking. And in Mr Cummings, he has appointed his own literary executioner.”

   All water under the bridge now and Dominic Cummings is facing the same Saturnine slog as Boris over the coming eighteen months. But it does feel like full circle to an unbelievable damaging phase.

 Boris’s throwaway thought to avoid a lockdown by letting old people die to save the economy is a particularly choice titbit from the inquiry given it was probably the oldies who voted him in.

May be stretching a point – but Pluto in Capricorn’s swansong? Exposing the fault lines in government systems.

Boris Johnson is joining GB News as a presenter, programme maker and commentator in the new year, aiming to play a key role in coverage of both the UK and USA elections.  He’s also more imminently facing a tough week image-wise as the covid inquiry promises juicy titbits from the chaos at No 10 as the pandemic hit.

  Despite a column in the Daily Mail he’s diminished considerably in stature and influence since he was ousted with his articles hardly setting the world on fire.

  Neither the DM nor GB News fit with his liberal progressive outlook but he’ll be in the business of earning money and getting a platform so he may not be overly fussy.

 He’s in a Saturnine phase which won’t suit his wing-and-a-prayer approach as tr Saturn is hitting his Mars, Uranus, Saturn and Pluto T Square this year up to March 2024. It’s grow-up-and-get-real time with rolling setbacks but he won’t take it kindly. After that tr Neptune is in an undermining square to his Sun and Venus in Gemini from April 2024 on and off till early 2025.  Tr Pluto is also square his Scorpio Moon throughout 2024 for emotional and domestic challenges.

  What is unquantifiable since his birth time may be marginally out is that both his SA Jupiter and Progressed Mars are sitting on his Midheaven at the moment which should give his career a hefty boost. But if his birth time is out by five or ten minutes that may not hold good in terms of timing.

  His relationship chart with GB News is less than settled this month and again late December to early February as tr Neptune squares the Gemini Sun; with a fair amount of upheaval and disruption from tr Uranus opposition the Pluto over the New Year and January to March 2024. With more tensions later in the year.

  His wife Carrie,  17 March 1988, is having a droopy year with tr Neptune conjunct her Pisces Sun into early 2024. But will recover her confidence and drive in 2024/25 as tr Pluto squares her Jupiter.

  Her relationship chart with Boris, tied together with a fated yod of composite Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Sun North Node, looks to be hitting heavy weather in 2025/26 as tr Pluto opposes the composite Uranus and squares the Saturn. This timing is echoed in his chart with tr Uranus square his Sun/Moon midpoint, his marriage significator. Changes of one sort or another will be afoot.

Ivanka Trump has had her argument that she should not have to testify at her father’s fraud trial rejected. He has been accused of inflating the value of his assets on financial statements and if found guilty will have to pay a fine of at least $250m. Her brothers are also listed as defendants in the case. It is a bench trial with no jury, and the judge is the sole decider.

  This month has been rattling her chart, 30 October 1981, NY,  with the Solar Eclipse conjunct her Pluto Jupiter in Libra and the Lunar Eclipse catching her Scorpio Sun. So the court decision will have had a considerable impact on her. Her Solar Arc Saturn is also conjunct her Uranus over coming months which will ruffle her calm and may clip her wings with Saturnine authority blocking her Uranian independence and defiance.

 Her dysfunctional, unhealthy and aggravated relationship chart with her father with its composite Sun, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Uranus was always going to be at maximum strain this year with tr Saturn opposition the composite Sun through from early this month right till the end of November which is a downbeat, can-be-separating influence. Through October to late November she has a calamitous tr Neptune opposition her Mars/Saturn midpoint on her personal chart. From late November to mid December tr Saturn opposes the composite Mars for a setback and an angry outburst between DT and daughter. With more Saturnine clouds hovering over their connection in 2024 – and worse from 2025 onwards as tr Uranus in Gemini starts to square the composite Sun, Mars, Saturn etc for several years thereafter.

  Her personal chart shows some relief late December into January 2024 with a confident push through 2024 running alongside same as above and failed plans. 2025/26 may be her low ebb with undermining Neptunian Solar Arcs as she hits her mid life crisis with tr Uranus opposition her Uranus.

[No great astro insights pro-tem but she evidently spent her birthday alone because Jared was on a visit to Saudi Arabia – which for some reason makes my antennae twinge. In 2021, he  secured a $2 billion investment from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund despite objections from the fund’s advisers about his investment firm’s inexperience, the possibility of the kingdom bearing most of the investment risk, unsatisfactory due diligence on the firm’s operations and an excessive asset management fee. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman overruled the panel which raised ethical concerns about it being seen seen as kickback for Kushner’s actions in the White House or an attempt to gain favor as Trump seeks another presidential term in 2024. Watch and wait.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/05/jared-kushner-affinity-partners-saudi-arabia. ]

Friends’ star Matthew Perry has died apparently of drowning after a heart attack in a jacuzzi. He has had a long history of drug addiction though had been clean recently. He was a Sun Leo and more significantly a Scorpio Moon opposition Saturn in Taurus which both caught yesterday’s Lunar Eclipse. As did his Progressed Moon as it headed for a Return.

  Details in previous post from October 22 2022.

Behind every comedy there’s often a tragedy. Matthew Perry, the wisecracking Chandler of Friends, the most popular TV show of all time, has revealed all about his relentless addiction problems over decades. It saw him in and out of 15 rehabs and almost killed him in 2018 when his colon burst due to the overuse of opioid drugs, putting him in a coma for two weeks with a 2% survival chance and required a colostomy bag for nine months. During one low point during Friends he was taking 55 tablets of Vicodin each day and his weight dropped to 58kg (9 stone).

 He was born 19 August 1969 4.47am North Adams, Massachusetts, with an actor father and a journalist mother who split before his first birthday. He has an entertaining Leo Sun in his upfront 1st house square a filmic and escapist Neptune in the 4^th; with an intensely emotional Scorpio Moon also in his 4^th opposition a hard-working 10^th house Saturn in Taurus. And Venus in sensitive, self-protective Cancer in his 12^th.

  His childhood does not look to have been emotionally supportive with a Saturn-afflicted Moon, a hidden Venus and missing a strong male role model for a father. His Sun and Neptune are both in hard aspect to the destructive Mars/Saturn midpoint which would create setbacks for him. His Sun/Moon midpoint is conjunct Uranus so finding a stable one-to-one relationship would never be easy for him.

   When Friends launched on 22 September 1994, he said he had been praying fervently to be famous, only later to discover it did not solve any of his problems. At that point tr Pluto was conjunct his 4^th house Neptune which would have a devastating effect before moving to square his Sun the following year as his life changed out of all recognition. Tr Neptune Uranus were also hovering over the opposition to his Venus.

  When he hit rock bottom in June 2018 tr Uranus just into Taurus was conjunct his Midheaven for a sudden change of direction; and tr Pluto in his 6^th house of health was opposing his 12^th house Venus. His Solar Arc Neptune was also hovering on the cusp of his 6^th. His Progressed Moon was conjunct his Sun a month or so after he was hospitalised for an internal rebirth. And his Solar Arc Jupiter was wending its way towards a conjunction with his Neptune in the aftermath as he struggled towards a new life.

   Saturn has made a full cycle since Friends launched in 1994 as his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing  is coming out. It won’t be easy for him but tr Jupiter going through his 10^th at the moment bringing attention and praise will help and tr Saturn moving upwards in his chart for the next decade will give him resilience.

Clearly not enough. Drug addiction takes a terrible toll on health.