Angela Merkel did say she would not stand for a fourth term in the German elections due in September 2017, but has since backtracked from that, hinting she may.

Islamist attacks on German soil and the increasing burden of incoming immigrants is causing internal dissension though she gives no indication she’ll drop her open door policy.

Her Sun Uranus in Cancer is conjunct the Germany 10^th house Uranus – and all three planets are getting a severe shaking up from a tr Uranus square, in her case from late March and in Germany’s from late April. So both their destinies are in for a fairly radical shift.

Her relationship chart with Germany is very complex – with a confident Jupiter Pluto trine Venus, so success and popularity. But there’s also a Cardinal Grand Cross of composite Sun opposition Mercury square Neptune opposition Uranus. That configuration has already been under strain in 2016 and it will escalate through 2017 with tr Pluto back to square the composite Sun in January, and square Mercury from March, so huge challenges and bitter debates. With tr Uranus square Neptune in February and then square Uranus in April causing disruptions and rifts. And tr Saturn square the composite Moon three times through the year, bringing separation, coolness and a sense of loss.

This may not all be down to immigration, since the Eurozone financial problems which have disappeared off the headlines may be back in a major way with Italy struggling, Greece unsolved, France sagging badly etc etc.

UK PM Theresa May has a track record of being suspicious of an overly close relationship with China, on security grounds. So no surprises she put the brakes on approving the £18 billion Hinkley Point nuclear plant project which was designed to have one third Chinese money invested in it.

Given that her Libra Sun is almost exactly conjunct the China Sun, she might have been expected to be more on their wavelength. But her Uranus falls exactly on their Descendant; her Mars in Pisces opposition their Saturn and her Saturn is conjunct their MC – all of which adds up to a gritty, bad-tempered, divisive interface where her obsessive caution puts a damper on their ambitions.

The relationship chart between them has a hostile, power-struggling Jupiter opposition Mars square Pluto; and highly-strung, distrusting Saturn Neptune square Uranus. Especially from the start of 2017 there are all manner of upheavals, jolts, tensions erupting into the open. And those run on until the end of her term.

Philip K Dick was a science fiction writer whose vision for an automated future is coming scarily true. Best known for the film Blade Runner, based on his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, he had 11 movies made from his 44 novels and 100 short stories. Despite this he lived in near poverty throughout his career.

Born 16 Dec 1928 12.15pm Chicago, he arrived prematurely, losing a twin sister at birth, and was nearly starved to death himself. He was brought up by his depressive mother after his parents divorced, was ill as a child and damaged by amphetamines fed to him for asthma, which arguably led (along with an unsettled childhood and volatile mother) to ongoing psychosis in his adult life. He drank, pill popped, attempted suicide several times, ended up in psychiatric hospitals, married five times and died in 1982.

Out of what psychiatrists deemed to be schizophrenia came a stream of creativity. His paranoia brought visions of talking bluebottles, caterpillar double-agents, extra-terrestrial ants and protective spiders – and an uncanny presentiment of things to come. He was buried beside his twin sister, where his name had been engraved on the tombstone since her death in readiness, which sounds like a story from Scott Peck’s People of the Lie.

His chart is full of quincunxes (inconjuncts) which would produce strains, stresses and a sense of never fitting in. He did have a strong communication 9^th house with a Sun Mercury Saturn in Sagittarius there with Sun Mercury trine a 1^st house Jupiter and trine Neptune which was probably what saved him. So a Fire Earth Grand Trine, giving him talent and drive, formed into a Kite with Sun Mercury opposition Mars in Cancer in the 4th.

He had a maverick Uranus on his Aries Ascendant sextile Venus in Aquarius inconjunct Neptune in the 6^th – certainly creative, though also indicating fragile health. His Aquarius Moon was inconjunct Pluto in his 4th which with a wide-ish sextile from Moon to Saturn, produced another influential, though also potentially self-destructive, Yod with Pluto as focal point. He had a third Yod from Neptune sextile Mars inconjunct Venus, which can be indulgent though can also lead to a strong sense of social purpose.

His Sun Mercury opposed a 4^th house Mars in excitable Cancer with Mars square Uranus – so an explosive personality stemming in part from an aggravated home life and relationship to his tough, ex-marine father and his over-hasty entrance into life at birth (Uranus Asc). His Mars was, to some extent, saved from implosion by being on the focal point of a trine of Neptune to Jupiter, allowing him to channel his anger into fantasies and dreams. He had another mini-Grand Trine of Venus trine North Node in Gemini, sextile Asc Uranus.

His creative, though also manic and unstable, 7^th Harmonic (septiles) is extraordinarily strong; as was his ‘genius’ 13H; and leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H.

What a complicated chart with a Grand Trine, two mini-Grand Trines, 3 Yods and one volcanic square – and a complicated life to go with it. Talent, vision and huge challenges.

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.