Former East Germany has seen the first radical right-wing party to come first in a state election since 1933. Fears of a Nazi past being resurrected are misplaced but the success of the anti-immigration AfD party and failure of the present three governing parties is a sobering moment.

 Alternative fur Deutschland was founded on 11 March 2013 in the aftermath of the financial crisis with protests over  Germany’s efforts to bail out poorer countries in the EU. It was seen as an anti-Euro party but turned its focus on migration after the 2015 refugee crisis when Angela Merkel opened the door to more than a million refugees from war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. High inflation and energy costs after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – 55 per cent of Germany’s natural gas supply came from Russia – exacerbated economic issues for ordinary Germans.

 AfD has little hope of forming a government at state level because other parties are unlikely to work with it.

  Germany has been undergoing a massive disruption since Merkel’s exit in late 2021 which coincided with tr Pluto opposition the 10^th house Uranus. Tr Uranus in early Taurus crossing the 8^th house Moon and heading for the 8^th house Pluto. Both of which have astro-echoes to the 1930s when tr Pluto in Cancer was conjunct the 10^th house Uranus and tr Uranus was also in Taurus opening up a dark seam in the German psyche.

   Those two influences have now passed but with tr Pluto conjunct the Germany Mercury in Capricorn for the final time plus the end run of tr Pluto trine the Germany Mars till the end of the year, there will be heated debates and agitated frustration. And there is still the Solar Arc Pluto opposition the 7^th house Neptune in play at the moment causing confusion in relationships with neighbours. The tr Saturn Neptune in Aries will not add much to a spirit of optimism as it opposes the Germany Mars at zero degrees Libra and squares Saturn at one Capricorn for a highly uncertain and anxious 2025/2026.

  The Germany/EU relationship chart will be undergoing massive changes or at least be under immense pressure from now through till 2028 as tr Pluto is conjunct the composite Venus (2023/24), opposition Uranus (2024/25), square Mars (2025/26) and then square the composite Moon till 2028.

  The AfD, 11 March 2013 chart, shows disappointments and successes – with an undermining tr Neptune conjunct the Mars till early 2026 and an upbeat Solar Arc Jupiter square the Pisces Sun exact early in 2025. It has a grandiose yod of Saturn sextile Pluto inconjunct Jupiter – so there may be more highs to come in the near future, though the longer term is more troubled.

 The leader Bjorn Hocke, 1 April 1972, Lunen, Germany, is a rebellious, uncompromising Sun Mercury in Aries opposition Uranus and square an over-confident Jupiter. This October’s Libra Solar Eclipse and next spring’s Aries Solar Eclipse will both shake up his Sun, Mercury – so he’s likely to be talking up a storm. But his Mars Saturn in Gemini opposition Neptune won’t appreciate tr Uranus moving into Gemini, nor at a lesser level the tr Saturn Neptune in Aries – which along with tr Pluto in Aquarius will be adding further challenges.

Please add below. Older posts under News on top bar.

Keir Starmer has hit the ground running or tripping himself up depending on one’s viewpoint. Since politics in the moment is as much about perception as policies, there is a slight sense of a tone-deaf administration picking the wrong fights however sanctimonious the reasons behind their decisions. None is weirder (though admittedly trivial) than the decision to remove from the No 10 study the portrait of Maggie Thatcher, whom Starmer had previously praised and had been commissioned by Gordon Brown, because he found it “unsettling”. It was rehung elsewhere.

  What both Maggie and Starmer share is a prominent Jupiter opposition Pluto = super-confident, power hungry, good leadership material but tending to assume rules don’t apply to them. It also leads to oneupmanship tussles for the upper hand and last word. Maybe he thought she was glaring down at him, trying to outshine his achievements. Their charts in an odd way are fairly similar since she had her Sun and Mars tied into Jupiter Pluto. While Starmer has his Sun tied into Pluto and Jupiter.

  Starmer’s Uranus is conjunct Maggie’s Sun and his Sun Pluto falls in her 10^th – so if she was alive he would be determined to keep her under control. His Libra Moon clashes with her Mars in Libra square Pluto and Jupiter so he would in the flesh have found her overwhelming.  His prominent Neptune (in a Water Grand Trine) is conjunct her Saturn in Scorpio on her Ascendant – which may be a large part of the problem. Sakoian & Acker remark: “The individuals can have an oppressive or depressing influence on each other.”

  Their relationship chart has the signature composite Jupiter opposition Pluto; with the composite Sun conjunct Neptune square Saturn engendering doubt and suspicion; plus a gritty, aggravated composite Saturn trine Mars.

   What is intriguing about Starmer’s chart is the close Jupiter Chiron conjunction opposition Sun Pluto.

Jupiter Chiron can hint at messianic tendencies, the impulse to follow a vision. And it can suggest a wound to a sense of hope, confidence and optimism.

Pluto Chiron suggests the wound centres around power and powerlessness, gives an attraction to danger and darkness which his legal work would certainly fulfil; and can bring a fear of death.

 Sun Chiron can be afraid to shine as a personality.

He was such an odd colourless personality before stepping up – with no birth time but Neptune on a Scorpio Ascendant for a 12 noon birth looks feasible. A self-protective, private, creative though not always realistic Water Grand Trine channeling its energy into that reforming and very, very determined (and power hungry) Sun Pluto (Uranus) opposition Jupiter Chiron. More will no doubt emerge.

I wish Sue Gray would admit to a birth date – September 1957 is all that is known so far.

The marriage between Princess Martha Louise of Norway and Californian shaman Durek Verrett, which no one thought would happen (me included), took place in Norway yesterday with her family in attendance.

  Full details on both from previous post below.  In brief, he has a Scorpio stellium with Sun Venus in his 10^th and Mars Mercury in his 9^th all trine Saturn in Cancer – charming, good at public relations and unbudgeable. His Capricorn Moon is widely opposition Saturn and square Pluto – so not soft and cuddly at an emotional level.

  She has a packed 8^th house with a Sun Pluto conjunction in Virgo close to Venus in Libra which in turn is conjunct Uranus plus a Scorpio Moon.  Her Sun/Moon midpoint, the marriage significator is conjunct her Uranus which will not make for long term stability in relationships.

   Their relationship chart has a needs-space composite Sun Uranus which is trapped in the composite 8^th – and a harsh composite Mars opposition Saturn which usually points to a one sided relationship where one partner has to give up their identity/assertiveness to make it work. That element is being undermined by transiting Neptune in square from early this month on and off through till early 2026.

Which is echoed on the wedding chart – 31 August 2024 2.15pm Geiranger, Norway, which has Mars trine Neptune also being undercut till early 2026. The relationship chart also has tr Neptune Saturn opposition the composite Pluto by 2026 – confused, disappointed and stuck.

  This one is a wait-watch-and-see.

Previous post: October 4 2023

Princess Martha Louise of Norway, whose alternative therapy school taught clairvoyance and communication with angels seems determined to marry her shaman fiance Durek Verrett. This despite the hair-raising stories of his life – imprisoned, bisexual, conspiracy theorist, multiple factual claims about his life that don’t check out as well as comments from previous relationships which describe him as controlling and manipulative. See his wiki page.

  She was born 22 September 1971 5.07 pm Oslo, Norway and has a difficult and challenging chart with a packed 8^th house containing a Virgo Sun, Pluto conjunction conjunct Venus in Libra which in turn is conjunct Uranus with her Scorpio Moon also in her 8^th.

  Her clairvoyant and occult interests will stem from her 8^th house and she will be driven by unconscious forces she does not understand and will not have control over.

Martin Sebastian Moritz in his book Pandora’s Box, The Mysterious 8^th House, points to entanglement as being an 8^th house phenomenon – as well as it being a gateway to another world.

  Her previous husband Ari Behn, 30 September 1972, father of her three children, who committed suicide in 2019, had his Mars in Virgo conjunct Pluto falling in her 8^th as well as his Libra Sun, Mercury, Uranus.

  Durek Verrett, 17 November 1974 11.25 am Sacramento, California, a 10^th house Sun, Venus in Scorpio with his ambitious Mars in Scorpio conjunct his Midheaven from the 9^th, has his Pluto, Uranus, Mercury, Mars all falling in her 8^th.  Such subterranean connections will feel fated and meant but can also be trapping, conflict-ridden and obsessive.

  Her relationship chart with Durek echoes the 8^th house theme with the composite Pluto, Mercury, Uranus and Sun as well as Venus all deeply buried there. There is a 10^th house Moon Neptune which will be soaked up by their spiritual therapy interests. But what is damaging and destructive is a composite Mars opposition Saturn square Pluto. Mars Saturn is unkind, can be cruel and suggests a relationship where one partner has to grit their teeth and suppress their identity and needs to make it work. And that is before it locks onto the 8^th house Pluto. Tr Neptune will be chiselling away at the Mars opposition Saturn in 2023/24 and opposing the Pluto in 2025/26.

  I never thought it was workable though 8^th house individuals can be exceedingly stubborn and impervious to advice, argument or evidence.

The famously fractured sibling duo of Liam and Noel Gallagher have finally shelved their fifteen year grievance and decided on an Oasis Reunion tour next summer which has sent the ticket booking websites into meltdown.

 Liam, 21 September 1972 12.58pm Burnage, England, with a reputation for being loutish and rudely outspoken has a high-octane and argumentative Sun, Mercury Mars conjunction in Virgo on his Midheaven in a can-be-destructive square to Saturn in Gemini on the cusp of his 8^th; and square an expansive Jupiter on the other side –  prone to mood swings of high and low, volatility and excess. His Mercury is in a dogmatic conjunction to a controlling 10^th house Pluto. His Pisces Moon in his 3^rd house of siblings is square Neptune on his Ascendant – both explosive and soggy.

 Noel, 29 May 1967, Manchester, no birth time, is a Gemini Sun trine Mars in Libra; with his Mercury in Gemini square Uranus Pluto in Virgo which will be highly-strung with a tendency towards erupting in frustration and impatience. He is not as outrageous or as volatile as his brother but his Uranus Pluto is conjunct Liam’s Mars and widely his Sun – so a tinderbox chemistry.  Plus just as bad, Noel’s Mars is conjunct Liam’s Uranus which will be a no-compromise, high-irritability interface.

  Their relationship chart has a friendly composite Sun, Venus, Mercury but there is also an overly-excitable Mars Uranus conjunction, making cooperation between two intransigent types tricky.

  The concert tour starts on July 4 2025 with a Sun Jupiter conjunction – and for both them, the financial compensation will be huge. Liam has tr Jupiter moving through his 8^th house of business finances and Noel has his Solar Arc Sun probably opposition his Jupiter as the money rolls in this year; as well as a confident tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter through 2024/25.

 But it will be a fairly high-wire exercise keeping the relationship on an even keel with tr Uranus opposition the composite Neptune this year and right through 2025 and a challenging tr Pluto opposition the composite Venus and Sun. Their togetherness may well fall apart by 2026 as tr Saturn Neptune then oppose their composite Mars Uranus.

 Liam has tr Neptune opposition his Sun this year and tr Neptune Saturn moving through his family 4^th house opposition his 10^th house Pluto over the concerts- which feels very confused and stuck.  Certainly pressured.  

  The first concert starts with Mars Midheaven on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Saturn Neptune – which looks fantastically high energy, likely to spill over into aggravation; with another yod from an intense Scorpio Moon sextile MC Mars inconjunct Saturn Neptune.

  Heaven help us if an Oasis Reunion concert is a marker for Saturn Neptune.

History tends to put a shine on politicians and only decades later does the often startling truth emerge. It now appears that Herbert Asquith, UK prime minister from 1908 to 1916 took a young socialite lover whom he cavorted with in passionate weekly trysts in the back of the official prime-ministerial car. He also shared vital military secrets and coded documents with her as World War 1 broke out, compromising national security. Until recently it was written off as a fleeting dalliance but letters have emerged as Robert Harris researched a new novel which makes it clear the reality was. The state limo was “totally sealed, like a bedroom on wheels, with blinds on the windows and only a push-button intercom to speak to the driver.”

 Asquith, 12 September 1852 Morley, England, no birth time,  was a Sun Virgo which was sextile/trine Jupiter in Scorpio opposition Saturn in Taurus; with Pluto Uranus in Taurus square his Venus. Male Virgos can be players when it comes to sexual dalliances; and that would be accentuated by Venus Pluto Uranus.

 Venetia Stanley, his mistress, 35 years his junior, who nearly sent him into a breakdown when she skipped off in aristo fashion to marry someone else in 1915, was born 22 August 1887 in London.  Her final degree Leo Sun may have been conjunct his Leo/Virgo Moon and her Neptune Pluto in Gemini sextile his Venus which would bring a mesmerising attraction.

  But it is their relationship chart which shows the romantic sparks most clearly with a passionate and excitable composite Sun, Venus, Mars conjunction sextile Jupiter.    He an ageing politician, father of seven, became besotted, wrote to her three times a day and organised their Friday afternoon automobile liaisons. Surreal but true evidently.

The reputation of the much revered novelist Charles Dickens has taken another dent with the publication of letters from Catherine Dickens, mother of his ten children, to one of her sons. When Dickens left Catherine for a teenage actress, the same age as one of his daughters, in order to prevent any public fallout he claimed that he was leaving a woman who was a cold wife and an uncaring mother. Yet the letters received by their son Plorn after he moved to Australia aged 16, are warm and affectionate, written by someone who clearly misses her child.

  From a 2019 post: Charles Dickens, renowned for his compassion for the poor, the suffering and the downtrodden, whose plight he exposed in his novels, appears to have been a good deal less saintly in his private life than his image suggested. Letters have emerged which tell the tale of how he tried to have his wife, mother of his ten children, committed to a mental asylum when she had lost her looks and he had started a long affair with an actress. The doctor in charge, a friend, refused to certify her and was called a ‘medical donkey’ by Dickens.

Born 7 February 1812 at 7.50pm Portsmouth, England, Dickens was sent to a blacking factory at 12 years old when he father was clapped in debtors prison. Even after the father’s release he was left there.  He became a legal clerk, then a writer who soared to great success in England and the USA. 

  He was a cerebral Sun in Aquarius on the cusp of the hard-working 6^th house trine a successful Jupiter in Gemini in the 10^th. Communicative Mercury, ruler of his 10^th house of career, was in his entertaining 5^th house. He had a bleak Saturn in Capricorn in his 4^th house of childhood in a cruel-treatment square to feisty Mars in Aries in his 7^th. He did have a hard childhood but seems to have been very uncaring about his own children.

  His Sun was square an independent, rebellious Uranus in the 3^rd. His emotionally confused Moon Neptune was in square a passionate Venus Pluto in Pisces on the cusp of his 7^th.

  With intense controlling Pluto and argumentative Mars in his 7^th house of relationships he was guaranteed to run into hostility in marriage.  And his relationship chart with his wife Catherine was truly terrible with a composite Mars Pluto  square Neptune, trine Uranus, sextile Saturn – so volcanic quantities of anger, bitterness and resentment.

 Catherine, 19 May 1815, was a stalwart Sun Taurus sextile/trine a pushily-confident Pluto opposition Jupiter with a volatile Mars square Uranus. Her Saturn was conjunct his Sun which is cold and critical. Certainly not someone to be tramped underfoot.

  His mistress Ellen Ternan, 3 March 1839, didn’t look easy since she was a Sun Uranus in Pisces square Saturn in Sagittarius so would be erratic and highly strung.  But her Venus in Aries fell in his 7^th conjunct his Mars which would help to smooth rough edges. Her Sun Uranus was conjunct his Venus Pluto which would be instant attraction but a fair amount of disruption thereafter. Her Neptune was conjunct his Sun which isn’t ideal though can give a spiritual or self-sacrificial bond. Her Saturn was conjunct his Moon which can block out nurturing feelings – so he couldn’t quite escape his 4^th house Saturn and his deprived childhood.

  Ellen’s Sun Uranus conjunction in Pisces collided with the composite Pluto Mars in Pisces square Neptune in Charles/Catherine’s relationship chart – the marriage was undoubtedly struggling but she was the catalyst – or arrived at the right juncture – to cause the split.  

Nick Cave, the Australian musician, writer and actor, frontman for the rock band the Bad Seeds, has a new album out and has been talking of the transformative effect that grief and the death of two of his sons brought about. One son died in 2015 in a cliff accident after taking LSD for the first time and the other who was schizophrenic died two years ago.

  Cave’s music is ‘characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety of influences and lyrical obsessions with death, religion, love, and violence’.  He says the losses he has suffered pulled him out of his selfish egotism and made him more religious.

  Born 22 September 1957 12.20pm (?) Warracknabeat, Victoria, Australia, he has a packed 10^th house with a hard-working exact Virgo Sun and Mars conjunction plus a lucky Jupiter in Libra and Neptune Venus in Scorpio. He has a far-travelled and philosophical Moon Mercury in Virgo in his 9^th with Pluto on the cusp in a tough-minded square to Saturn. His South Node in Taurus falls in his 5^th house of children. His wayward 8^th house Uranus opposition Chiron is square his Venus and trine his Saturn.

  His chart is all upper hemisphere focusing his energy towards work and the outside world, though he has had four children from three marriages.

  Neptune in his 10^th suits a musical career and three Virgo planets in his 9^th house will give him an interest in belief systems, religious and otherwise.

 When his son died in 2015 in an accident tr Pluto was sitting on Nick Cave’s Ascendant opposition Mars on his Descendant. Pluto moving through the 1^st house does bring self-knowledge and forced self-awareness over a longish period. At that point his Solar Arc Neptune was square his Sun Mars and Midheaven giving him a tremendous shock.

 When his second son died in 2022 tr Pluto in Capricorn was trine his Sun Mars in Virgo; and tr Neptune was approaching the opposition to his Sun Mars – so an equally undermining event for him.

  He has been very public about the dramatic difference these two losses made to him at a deeply personal level – so it is interesting to see tr Pluto moving through his 1^st – I remember it as one of the most useful transits I ever had.   

  The world looks on in despair and asks is there an end game in all this tit for tat slaughter? Israel kills a Hezbollah commander in the Lebanon. Hezbollah respond with attacks on Israel. Israel ups the ante in response and batters Lebanon.

  There is not much to add to the previous post : Israel and Hezbollah – hope of peace receding fast – 1st August 2024.

  Hezbollah were always going to be taking action in reaction and are a much superior force to Hamas.

 The Hezbollah, 16 February 1985, Beirut chart, with its 27 degree Aquarius Sun in an exact square to Saturn in Scorpio is catching the tr Uranus hard aspect exactly now till late September, and again May 2025 and January to mid March 2026 – so moving through an explosive and disruptive 18 months ahead. Which covers tr Uranus conjunct the Israel Sun at 23 Taurus and square the Israel Mars at 28 Leo from mid 2025 onwards.

  The Hezbollah chart also has Mars at 10 degree Aries in opposition to this October’s Solar Eclipse and conjunct next March’s Aries Solar Eclipse putting it in even more combative gear. Tr Pluto is in a pushily confident square to its Jupiter on and off till early 2026 so is unlikely to back down.

 The Hezbollah/Israel relationship chart has a composite Sun at 10 degrees Aries exactly opposition this October’s Solar Eclipse pin pointing a crisis phase; ditto next March in conjunction. With tragically the composite Chiron of the unhealable wound at 27 Leo, catching the tr Uranus hard aspects exactly now. With indications of more challenges and emotional over-reactions from late this December to mid March 2025.

 That latter juncture (late Dec to mid March 2025) is when tr Uranus will conjunct Israel’s deeply buried 8^th house Taurus Sun which was being triggered when the Hamas attack was brewing in 2023. It was always going to bring a massive upheaval in Israel’s direction, a history-changing influence which won’t subside till early 2026 as tr Uranus clears the square to the Israel Mars. Not that what comes next looks too calm with a long run of tr Pluto opposing the Israel Moon, then Pluto, then Saturn on into the 2030s.

 This October’s Libra Solar Eclipse and next March’s Aries one both hit on Israel’s 12^th house Neptune exactly – which suggests confusion and indecision.

 Hassan Nasrallah, 31 August 1960, the Hezbollah leader, an unyielding and ambitious Sun Pluto in Virgo trine Saturn in Capricorn, sextile Neptune, is powering ahead till late this year with some wins in 2025 but probably more losses.  

  The Lebanon 22 November 1943 chart is severely rattled at the moment with the Solar Arc Uranus exactly square the Sun; as well as a disaster-prone/military SA Saturn is square Mars now; with tr Uranus opposition the Sun from mid 2025 onwards into 2026.

 The Lebanon/Israel relationship chart shows the aggravation extending on, intensifying over that end December to March 2025 phase.

  Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State, who has been struggling to rein in Netanyahu and is anyway now in an ambivalent situation with Biden on the way out – looks at the end of his tether and losing on all fronts as the election nears.   

“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” Confucius

“An eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Revenge is barren of itself: it is the dreadful food it feeds on; its delight is murder, and its end is despair.” Friedrich Schiller

The Kamala Harris Donald Trump debate is scheduled for 10 September 2024 in Philadelphia at 9pm. That puts a fight-for-control Pluto in the 10^th and an argumentative, heated Mars in the communication 3^rd; with the Virgo Mercury and Sun in the attention-seeking 5^th house. Although the Sun opposition Saturn will put a damper on proceedings – and in line with everything else about this contradictory, star-crossed election has the Sun also square Jupiter opposition a Sagittarius Moon. A Mutable Grand Square will have a tendency to go off like a windmill in a storm, scattering in all directions – nervy, indecisive, not conducive to rational debate. Indeed, now that I look, there is an out of element yod onto Mercury inconjunct Neptune and Pluto, and square Uranus.   Mercury on the point of a yod will tend to make for intellectual and mental disorganization.  I pity the poor moderator.

  The relationship chart between DT and Kamala is horrific with a bitterly hostile composite Venus, Mars, Sun, Pluto opposition Moon. It is being rattled every which ways right through the election with tr Uranus square the Sun through November and square the Mars and Moon late November through December. With a disruptive tr Pluto opposition the Uranus late November to the end of December. It will be an ill-tempered brawl right up to the wire.

  Kamala Harris, 20 October 1964 9.28 pm Oakland, California, has tr Saturn exactly opposition her 4^th house Pluto at the debate. She comes from a split parental marriage when she was six and her 4^th house Pluto points to a concern about emotional undercurrents especially with a controlling father – so a face to face with DT may activate a few sensitive issues for her.  She will have moved from a muddled tr Neptune square her Mercury/Saturn midpoint in action at the moment though not too visible – except she has done few if any interviews or her speeches would be written for her.

  By the debate she has tr Neptune square her Sun/Saturn midpoint – from September 3^rd to mid October – which may make her uncertainty more visible with lack of energy, bringing an undermining feeling. At the same time tr Neptune is also square her Solar Arc Sun for a minor amount of droop. None of these are hugely major but her joyous wave may be sagging slightly. Her Jupiter in Taurus is probably what has kept her afloat and given her the recent boost. But as it comes round to the next exact aspect in late November to late December it also catches her Mars/Saturn midpoint which is accident prone and subject to setbacks.

 Trump, like Harris, has two of his Mercury midpoints being undercut by Neptune right through. At the debate, he’ll be more muddled and nervy than usual. His Solar Arc Neptune will be exactly conjunct his South Node (close to his Moon) – perhaps bringing his mother/women issues into focus.  Nothing too dramatic. Through October he has tr Uranus square his Mars – a rerun of the influence over his shooting, not that it is likely to repeat, but he will be shaken and insecure, likely to be over-reacting as a result.

  Who knows? Even more of a mish mash than most elections.