Donald Trump’s cosying up to Vladimir Putin, and (jokingly) suggesting he hack into Hillary Clinton’s emails and leak them, is not without context. Trump has had business dealings for years with Russian oligarchs – which if he were forced to release his tax returns would be obvious. And his present campaign manager Paul Manafort, worked with the pro-Russia former Ukraine President. At the Cleveland convention there was a shift in policy, watering down support for Ukraine against the pro-Russia separatist rebels. Needless to say, there are also those within the Republican fold with oil and gas interests in that region.

With Putin’s Jupiter in Taurus (focussed on acquiring money) falling conjunct Trumps’ MC, it’s not surprising that DT sees him as a main chance. But it’s a relationship based on power with a close Sun Pluto conjunction in the composite chart, which would get nasty if Trump stepped out of line. Putin’s Pluto falls in DT’s 12^th conjunct his Mars, so much behind-the-scenes string-pulling on VP’s part; with VP’s aggressive Mars conjunct DT’s Moon and opposition DT’s Sun.

If Trump makes it to President, having a ‘useful idiot’ in the White House would suit Putin’s purpose well.

Trump’s astrocartography puts his war-like Mars MC line through eastern Europe and down through Libya and central Africa. His other aggressive Mars (Descendant) line highlights China and Indonesia as flash-zones for him.

His Pluto MC, where he’ll meet his deepest, darkest and potentially self-destructive issues runs through central Europe (Brussels etc). His relationship chart with the EU is explosive, and hints at widely divergent aims. That chart is under immense strain over the coming few years. The USA/EU relationship chart is sagging badly through 2017, as diplomatic adjustments are made with whoever wins the presidency.

Hillary Clinton’s relationship with the EU also looks highly troubled over the next several years as well; and her relationship with Putin, which is argumentative enough at the best of times, is even more riven by dispute. She’d be a much more difficult nut for Putin to crack.

Jeff Bezos has become the third richest man in the world after strong earnings from Amazon, the company he founded. According to Forbes estimates, his fortune is only surpassed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and that of Zara founder Amancio Ortega.

Bezos, 12 Jan 1964, is an ambitious, business-minded Sun Mars in Capricorn with Jupiter in pro-active Aries.

Bill Gates, 28 Oct 1955 10pm Seattle, WA, is a Sun Scorpio with a pushily confident Jupiter Pluto in Leo square his determined Venus Saturn in Scorpio; an Aries Moon and Mars Mercury Neptune in Libra.

Amancio Ortega, 28 March 1936, has an Aries Sun and Mars with Mars square Pluto in Cancer, but otherwise a much more Mutable chart with planets in Pisces, Sag, Gemini and Virgo.

All have a dose of Cardinal planets giving initiative. All have Jupiter in a Fire sign giving inspiration and confidence.

What intrigues me is that all three have powerful 9^th Harmonic charts. Traditionally there was supposed to be a pure, slightly mystical or humanitarian bent to the 9H. But it turns up again and again in the charts of the moneyed. ‘Follow your bliss’ isn’t always about aiming for nirvana.

There have been vociferous demonstrations in Australia after the transmission of a documentary showing what the Sydney Morning Herald described as ‘the inhumane and abominable treatment of children in juvenile detention in the Northern Territory.’ It described a ‘taxpayer-funded hell-hole’ where children were beaten, kept in solitary confinement in cruelly small spaces for unconscionably extended periods, constrained in barbaric devices, thrown against walls and onto the concrete floor and sprayed with tear gas. The overwhelming majority of the victims are Indigenous. While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people make up less than a third of the NT’s population, they account for 97 per cent of children in detention there.

The Australia 1901 chart has a sporting Mars in the 5^th, though that can be bossy/aggressive where children are concerned. Especially since Mars is on the focal point of a Mutable T Square to Pluto in Gemini opposition an 8^th house Venus Uranus in Sagittarius. Tr Neptune is exactly on the opposition to that Mars at the moment, until early 2017; and tr Saturn is just off the square, returning in a few weeks’ time, and is conjunct the Venus exactly now – so much concern and shock as it is dragged into the open. The Solar Arc Moon is also moving through the 5^th and is picking up the tr Pluto trine this year and next,  bringing pressure to bear on transforming Australia’s attitude to nurturing (Moon). Plus there is a Solar Arc Mars conjunct Saturn, exact in 3 months so in effect now, which certainly points to cruelty.

There may be other ways in which these influences will manifest in coming weeks and months but they certainly look descriptive of this horror.

Please post below ………….

Tom Sutherland, who was held hostage by Hezbollah in Beirut for six and a half years, much of the time with Terry Anderson, has died. He was Dean of Agriculture at the American University there. Born 3 May 1931 at 6am in Falkirk, Scotland, he was kidnapped on 9 June 1985 and released on 18 November 1991, along with Terry Waite, who had gone to negotiate his release and been held himself. Sutherland was badly treated, beaten, spent long periods in solitary confinement and attempted suicide several times during his captivity.

He had Saturn in Capricorn on his midheaven opposition Jupiter Pluto and IC square Uranus North Node (Venus) in Aries – so tough, overflowing with initiative, restless, of that trail-blazing and determined early 1930s generation. He had a 12^th house Sun Mercury in Taurus square Mars in Leo in his 4^th and a Scorpio Moon – stubborn, argumentative, a powerful personality.

When he was captured tr Uranus was on the cusp of his 8^th and tr Saturn was conjunct his Descendant, moving to conjunct his Moon. Tr Pluto was conjunct his Mars/Saturn exactly which is extreme danger. In the brutal years following, tr Pluto in Scorpio was opposition his Taurus Mercury Sun and square his Mars. When he was finally released tr Sun Mars Pluto in Scorpio were on his Descendant sextile his MC; and tr Jupiter moving through his 5^th was conjunct his Solar Arc Jupiter Pluto, moving to trine his MC in the months following.

He was awarded $35 million in compensation by the US government from assets seized from Iran, who had been helping his captors. He put the money into a charitable foundation.

An Iranian/British citizen, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation is being held in Iran by Revolutionary Guards in what appears to be an effort to strong-arm the UK authorities into diplomatic acquiescence over some deal or other. Her health has deteriorated badly after a spell in solitary confinement and the Foreign Office is, as per usual, dragging its heels. Nazarin Ratcliffe went on holiday to Teheran in April with her two year old daughter, was arrested with no charges and no lawyer, and her daughter handed over to her grandparents and is now being denounced for spying and trying to overturn the government.

Born 16 September 1978 she’s a Sun Virgo square Neptune, with Saturn Mercury in Virgo sextile Venus Uranus in Scorpio – hard-working, communicative, idealistic.  Her ‘victim’ 12th Harmonic is strong. She’ll get some cheer from tr Pluto trine her Mars/Jupiter in September; but it looks a rocky road ahead with tr Neptune square tr Saturn in hard aspect to her Mercury this year; and a risky start to 2017 with tr Uranus opposition her Mars/Pluto.

Another ‘disappeared’ with a much less happy outcome was teen-novelist Helen Bailey, who tragically lost her husband in a swimming accident in 2011 and gained a considerable following with her blog Planet Grief and book When Bad Things Happen in Good Bikinis. Her body was recently recovered from the cesspit of the house she shared with her new partner who reported her missing with her pet daschund, and has been charged with her murder.

Born 22 Aug 1964, she was a Sun Leo opposition Saturn in Pisces square Jupiter in Taurus – so a complicated mix of confidence and self-doubt. She had a passionately enthusiastic and emotionally excitable Venus Mars in Cancer trine Neptune, sextile Pluto Mercury Uranus in Virgo – so talented and highly strung.

Her ‘victim’ 12^th Harmonic was strong.

Tr Pluto had been criss crossing the opposition to her Mars this year, though not at the time of her disappearance, which is aggravating and can attract hostility. Tr Saturn was square her Mercury with tr Pluto in trine, making it an intense and discouraging time.

Actress Honeysuckle Weeks, best known for her role in the long-running Foyle’s War, has been found safe and well after disappearing for a short time, having said she was feeling anxious.

Born 1 Aug 1979 in Cardiff, she’s a charming Sun Mercury Venus in Leo with her Sun also conjunct Jupiter and both trine Neptune – so sociable, enthusiastic, dreamy. She’s also got Saturn in Virgo which has a tendency to overwork and worry in a square to Neptune which is creative but also prone to panics. Her Saturn is being undermined this year by tr Neptune in opposition so she’ll be feeling the general celestial unease more than some. But she should be back to bouncing form by early 2017.

Christine Lagarde, CEO of the IMF, doesn’t have her troubles to seek at the moment. She is to stand trial over a state payout to the French tycoon Bernard Tapie when she served as economy minister under President Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr Tapie was a supporter of Mr Sarkozy and there were allegations this may have played a role in her decision. She denies any wrongdoing, saying she acted in the interest of the state and with respect for the law.

Now an internal watchdog’s report has pronounced that ‘the IMF’s top staff misled their own board, made a series of calamitous misjudgments in Greece, became euphoric cheerleaders for the euro project, ignored warning signs of impending crisis, and collectively failed to grasp an elemental concept of currency theory.’ http://goo.gl/kqVZDE

They punished Greece in order to save the euro and northern European banks – in what ex-finance minister Yanis Varoufakis called an exercise in “fiscal water-boarding”.

In castigating the IMF, the report has laid bare, in searing detail, the gigantic flaw in the eurozone set up.

Born 1 January 1956 1.40pm Paris, she has a formidably powerful and stubborn chart with a 9^th house Capricorn Sun; and Mars Saturn in Scorpio square Moon Pluto in Leo and Jupiter in Virgo. But she does have tr Uranus square her MC again early in 2017; with the tr Saturn square tr Neptune in hard aspect to her Solar Arc Sun at the moment and into 2017; plus a devastating Solar Arc Pluto conjunct her 6^th house Neptune, exact in four months time. And tr Pluto conjunct her MC in 2018/19 (or earlier if her birth time has been rounded up from a couple of minutes earlier) which can destroy reputations and bring down careers.

Native American Chief Bald Eagle, who appeared in the Oscar-winning 1990 film Dances With Wolves, has died aged 97. Born 8 April 1919 in a tepee on the Lakota reservation in South Dakota, he was the grandson of Chief White Bull, who fought in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. He served in the US Army during World War Two, winning the silver star in Italy and being seriously wounded while parachuting into Normandy during D-Day. He then became a drummer and ballroom dancer before setting off for Hollywood where he trained stars including John Wayne in horse and gun handling, and served as Errol Flynn’s stunt double. He appeared in more than 40 films. Off screen he became the face of South Dakota’s Lakota people and was elected as the first Chief of the United Native Nations in 2001, addressing indigenous people worldwide. His last film Neither Wolf Nor Dog premieres this year and the director said: “He was an astonishingly beautiful man. The sparkle from his eyes when he smiled or was being mischievous was a joy to behold.”

He was a Sun Mercury Mars in Aries trine Saturn in Leo so resilient and courageous. He had a Fire Water chart –  definitely effervescent. With a Jupiter Pluto conjunction in Cancer trine Uranus, which Nelson Mandela, born the previous year also had – confident, lucky, designed for times of change. Both had Saturn and Neptune in Leo not conjunct, but the energy was there in fighting for fairness. Both had a crusading Sagittarius North Node.