Dying with Dignity is creeping back up the agenda in the UK with the late Diana Rigg making an impassioned case to legalise assisted dying in a message recorded shortly before her “truly awful” and “dehumanising” death from cancer three years ago. TV presenter Esther Rantzen has now added her backing saying she has joined the Swiss assisted-dying facility Dignitas as an option as her terminal cancer proceeds.

  There are now several other European countries and ten states in the US, as well as Canada where assisted suicide is allowed under certain circumstances.

  There are two astrological themes tying many of these charts together. One is Algol  which appears prominently in the Dignitas chart, 17 May 1998 Zurich, with a Mars Sun in Taurus conjunct Algol. Despite the Algol’s malevolent reputation as the Blinking Eye of the Demon, linked with evil, suffering, pain, death, intoxication, and tragedy it does have another  purpose. Which is to force us to face suffering and horror and not brush it aside. Death is the ultimate fear, which Dignitas tackles head on.

 Ludwig Minelli, 5 December 1932, the human rights lawyer who founded Dignitas has his Chiron conjunct Algol.

 Esther Rantzen, 22 June 1940 1.50 pm Berkhamstead, England, has her 8^th house Uranus conjunct Algol which makes sense of wishing a clean exit. The 8^th house being the chart area of death and transformation.  She also has a Jupiter Saturn conjunction in Taurus in her 8^th house with Jupiter wishing for an easy transition as opposed to Saturn which fears the opposite.

  The other theme is Aquarius. Esther Rantzen has a heavily aspected Moon in Aquarius (opposition Pluto square Jupiter). Ludwig Minelli has Saturn in Aquarius. Dignitas has Neptune (Moon) and Uranus in Aquarius.

  Much of the early and later legislation from 1997 in Oregon onwards was under the shadow of Uranus in Aquarius and later in the European countries – Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium – with Neptune in Aquarius as well.

  Maybe it is a hint of more to come with Pluto adding its heft to the Aquarius momentum. Aquarius being scientific and anti-the biology is keen to take control of natural processes and intervene where necessary. Its emotional detachment may allow for a reasoned debate about the ultimate taboo and lay down better ground rules. In addition Uranus in Taurus is now in orb of a conjunction with Algol over the next three years adding to the groundswell of opinion.

Add On:  Canada’s MAID (medical assistance in dying) legislation was first passed on 17 June 2016 with Sun Venus in late Gemini conjunct Betelgeuse; and a last decan Moon Mars in Scorpio. At that point on the Canada chart the Sec. Progressed Mercury, Saturn, Sun and Mars were all passing through the Canada 8^th as was tr Saturn and tr Mars Moon.

EXIT one of the oldest and largest organisations for living wills and physician-assisted suicide was founded on 3 April 1982 in Zurich. “Its work is dedicated to the cause of human self-determination. Options offered by EXIT include living wills, legal counsel, and – if need be – safe and dignified end-of-life care. The number of members of EXIT Deutsche Schweiz is currently over 160,000 and rising. The affiliated francophone organisation, EXIT (Romandie) in Geneva counts around 35,000 members.”

  That chart has no connection to Algol but it does have a Sun opposition both Mars and Saturn which last two planets are associated with death. There is also a wide yod onto Chiron.

Sharon Stone, best known as the femme fatale in Basic Instinct  is having a moment, bring presented with a Global Citizen of The Year award from the UN for her activism work and her latest exhibition of abstract paintings being well received.

  She took up painting after a serious stroke in 2001 which effectively ground her life to a halt. Her marriage broke down and she said: ‘I lost everything. I lost all my money. I lost custody of my child. I lost my career. I lost all those things that you feel are your real identity and your life. I never really got most of it back, but I’ve reached a point where I’m OK with it, where I really do recognize that I’m enough.’

  She was given a one per cent chance of making it through alive after she suffered a nine-day bleed on her brain and still ‘needs’ eight hours of sleep a night so she doesn’t have seizures. Because of that her on-screen career has been limited since.

 She was born 10 March 1958 5.55pm Meadville Junction, Pennsylvania, into what she has described as ‘a broken family.’ She has a 7^th house Pisces Sun and Mercury square a 4^th house Saturn in Sagittarius giving her low self-esteem. She said in an interview ‘I grew up believing that taking care of everybody else was what I was supposed to do. ‘It took me a long time to understand that I had a life of my own and that I didn’t have to fix it for everybody else, and that it was OK for me to receive care, for me to be enough as a disabled person. I feel proud of myself and proud of my accomplishments — from surviving to helping others survive.’

  Her 5^th house Venus in Aquarius opposes Uranus and squares onto a Jupiter, North Node Neptune in Scorpio in her 2^nd house – which will have led to a roller coaster emotional life held together by an optimistic streak.  Her Jupiter Neptune may be what attracted her to Tibetan Buddhism as she searched for a guru to give her answers and to her activist work for AIDs and African health charities.

  Although her 7^th house Sun is designed for a close relationship, her Sun/Moon midpoint sits exactly on her Mars in Capricorn, leading her to attract argumentative partners so her liaisons tended to be short-lived.

  When she was felled by the stroke in 2001 tr Saturn was conjunct her Midheaven and opposition tr Pluto on her IC – so what should have been the start of a successful phase with tr Saturn at her peak turned into the exact opposite. Her Solar Arc Sun was also conjunct her 8^th house South Node in Taurus. What is interesting about that is the effect on her Scorpio North Node which hints that a complete transformation in life is needed – burning bridges and not looking back – before fulfilment comes. It won’t be as dramatic for most individuals with a Scorpio North node but she is certainly a stark example of it as its most extreme.

  Her humanitarian 9^th harmonic is strongly aspected, as is her rise-and-fall 10H, her seeking-and-searching 7H, and her victim/healer 12H.

Keith Richards, “the world’s most elegantly wasted human being”, guitarist, vocalist and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones for six decades with Mick Jagger, is unbelievably 80 years old tomorrow.  No one thought he would survive this long with his track record for drug and alcohol intake. But he says he gave up cigarettes four years ago; cocaine went in 2006 and heroin he hasn’t touched in four decades. He said in an interview “I still like a drink occasionally – because I’m not going to heaven any time soon – but apart from that, I’m trying to enjoy being straight. It’s a unique experience for me.” 

   He was born 18 December 1943 at 6am (from memory) in Dartford, England and met Jagger at primary school, getting together later as music-mad teenagers. Their partnership has stayed firm despite odd rifts. “The thing with Mick and me is that people only hear about the squabbles, and they forget there’s like 15 years between one squabble and another,” says Richards. “We’re sewn together at the hip. And now and again, you know, we try to break the stitches. But we love each other.”  His varied and prolific love life attracted as much attention as his raucous lifestyle but he has been married now for 39 years to Patti Hansen, a former model, and has several children and grandchildren.

   He has a 2^nd house Sagittarius Sun opposition an 8^th house Saturn – grandparents were an important part of his childhood which fits the 8^th house, one of them teaching him the guitar and the other side being civic leaders. His Sun is also in a lucky trine to a far-travelled Jupiter in Leo in his 9^th. His Virgo Moon sits on his Midheaven, suiting him for a public career and it squares a Mars Uranus conjunction in his 7^th giving him unpredictable mood swings, a legacy from his mother. His 12^th house seductive Venus in Scorpio squares Pluto North Node in Leo.

  Mick Jagger’s Moon is in Richard’s 7^th house for a good partnership as is Patti Hansen’s Moon. And Richard’s Sun falls in Jagger’s 7^th. They were made for each other despite odd blips where they joust and upstage the other. Jagger’s ego-centric, flamboyant Sun, Jupiter, Pluto, Mercury in Leo will grate from time to time. Their relationship chart has a good deal of friendly affection from a composite Sun Venus conjunction but also a power-couple Jupiter Pluto conjunction which last can occasionally turn into a tussle for the upper hand at a personality level. But Jagger’s Venus in Virgo sits in Richard’s 10^th close to his Midheaven and Moon – so many more pluses than minuses in their togetherness.

  Richards creative 5^th harmonic is most notable, with his making-a-mark 17H and global-presence 22h also well aspected.

Prince Harry’s win against the Mirror Group newspapers over phone hacking has sent shock waves round the tabloid press. He is regarded as a man on a mission with other cases aimed at different media groups still to come. The damages were small compared to what was asked and he was only proved correct in half of the 33 instances his lawyers produced. Lame claims dismissed include some when he was 12 before he even had a mobile phone, and others where the information came from Palace briefings. See

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-harry-claims-phone-hacking-case-mirror-newspapers-0fk20lpvm

  But the legal costs could be huge for the media groups and it could lead to more restrictions. The red tops undoubtedly acted badly and hacking Milly Dowler, a murder victim’s phone was the final straw in 2011 which closed down Murdoch’s News of the World and led to the Leveson Inquiry.  

  It is a contentious area with concern about SLAPP litigations (strategic legal actions against public participation) which aim to prevent investigations and discussions about matters of public interest. The government defines them as “an abuse of the legal process, where the primary objective is to harass, intimidate and financially and psychologically exhaust one’s opponent via improper means”.

  Hacked Off, a campaign group founded on the back of the furore on 5 July 2011, which numbers Hugh Grant amongst their front line members has been accused of being a “secretive pressure group … of wealthy and powerful individuals and celebrities … which has successfully campaigned for state control of the media”.

  Finding a balance in the middle of this minefield is not easy.

 Hacked Off does look cheered by this win with its Jupiter in Taurus exactly on its Jupiter return. It has a Sun Venus in self-protective Cancer opposition Pluto square Saturn opposition Uranus – so is both revolutionary and controlling. Keen to upset the status quo, break the old mould and be in charge.

  IPSO, the press standards body, 8 September 2014, is making plaintive noises about the risks of landing more restrictions on the media. They have a Virgo Sun and Venus opposition Neptune Moon which isn’t too robust; with a maybe downtrodden Saturn Mars in Scorpio which is being rattled up through next year.

 The Mirror Group is only one outfit in Harry’s crosshairs and is suffering all the woes anyway of a falling market for newspapers.  It is sagging badly in 2025/26.

 Piers Morgan who went off on a typical whing-ding at the court result is insisting only one of Harry’s claims were during his tenure as editor and were not the result of hacking and he was not called as a witness despite which the judge deemed him to be in the know and Leveson had previously made a few scathing comments about his ‘unpersuasive’ testimony.

  Although his past beef has been with Meghan Markle for treating him as a useful media leg up until she met Harry and then ghosted him, he looks more aggrieved with Harry ahead.  Morgan, 30 March 1965, is a pro-active, resilient Sun Venus in Aries with a volcanic Mars, Uranus, Pluto in Virgo opposition Saturn (Moon) in Pisces. His stormy Mars Uranus Pluto falls in Harry’s 8^th close to Harry’s Mercury and square Harry’s Uranus Mars in Sagittarius so it is a combustible mix. Their relationship chart is pretty locked together and worsening through 2024, more so in 2025/26.  

Prince Harry looks mildly cheered by this result with tr Jupiter trine his Mercury and his Solar Arc square his 9^th house (legal maters) Saturn this year. But in general he’s not looking great ahead with several mountains to climb of setbacks etc over the next two years which may not be all media court cases.

  The tabloids did this to themselves but there are principles above and beyond amoral gutter journalists and spoilt celebrities who only want PR puffs printed about them. Or in Harry’s case want the freedom to trash others himself but not keen to be on the receiving end.   

Cher in a black leather corset and sparkly trousers was showing no sign of her 77 years as she strutted her stuff and sang with gusto at the Royal Variety Show (to be shown on TV this weekend) alongside the inimitable Hannah Waddingham.

  Given her fractured start in life it is astonishing Cher is still raving it up on and off stage, with a forty years younger boyfriend in tow.

  Born 20 May 1946 7.25am El Centro, California, her mother married several times, leaving her in an orphanage at one point and living in poverty on many occasions. She rose to fame at nineteen as one half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher before launching a successful six-decade-long solo career. Best known for her top-ten singles “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down” as well as “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves“, and “Half-Breed“, she became the female solo artist with the most number-one singles in US history at the time after her divorce.

  She has an 11^th house Taurus Sun widely trine a 7^th house Capricorn Moon which in turn opposes Saturn in Cancer  in her first – the latter a legacy from her less-than-nurturing mother. Though since her Moon Saturn opposition square onto Jupiter in the 4^th she would be ambivalent about her childhood, regretful one moment and accentuating the positive at other times. But with Chiron in her 4^th the wound would never completely heal. A do-or-die- determined Mars Pluto conjunction in Leo in her financial 2^nd gave her a driving determination never to be poor again.

  Her latest beau, music producer Alexander Edwards, 21 September 1986, is at a simple level not a bad fit since she is a Taurus Sun with a Capricorn Moon and he is a Virgo Sun with a Taurus Moon. But his ambitious Mars in Capricorn is conjunct her Sun and opposition her Saturn which will create a definite imbalance and rough edges of irritation. And his charming though manipulative Venus Pluto in Scorpio square her Mars Pluto which will also give rise to aggravation.

 Their relationship chart does have an exuberant composite Venus trine Jupiter sextile Mars so superficially all good fun. But maybe not forever.

  She’s in a phase where with Neptune moving across her Midheaven she is less driven by ambitions for personal glory; though with Saturn following along behind it is unlikely she will retire from view altogether.

Pic Raph_ph

Venezuela’s Putin-ally president Nicolas Maduro has been threatening to upset the South American applecart by grabbing the oil-rich Essequibo, encompassing two thirds of the landmass of Guyana. It has been disputed territory since the old Spanish-British colonial days but only became heated recently since Guyana unearthed crude oil deposits in 2019. ‘Should current trends persist, Guyana is poised to emerge as one of the foremost per capita oil producers worldwide by 2030. This discovery constitutes the most substantial addition to global oil reserves since the 1970s, bringing a shift in dynamics of the international energy landscape.’

  Not only is Maduro hungry for money, he is also in danger of losing the next election for the first time in years and may reckon an external enemy will mobilise domestic public opinion around him.

  As of yesterday there appears to have been an agreement between Venezuela and Guyana that neither will use force in the dispute, though Maduro has form for reneging on his word. Joe Biden appears eager for a confrontation with Venezuela but in doing so he is potentially setting the stage for another proxy war with Russia.

Nicolas Maduro first took over as president on 19 April 2013 and this last term started 9 January 2019. Both charts look highly unsettled and trapped this year and his initial presidency chart may well grind to a halt in 2024 when the next election is due.

  His own personal chart 23 November 1962 9.03pm Caracas, looks extremely insecure exactly now till mid March 2024 which may well tempt him into taking desperate measures to prop up his position.

 Guyana took independence on 20 May 1966 and looks rattled through this year and the next two with tr Saturn square the Gemini Sun early in 2024 and then opposing the Uranus Pluto. By mid 2024 tr Uranus will collide with the Mars/Neptune midpoint and by 2025 will conjunct the Mars – it could be an explosive and unsettling phase.

 The Venezuela/Guyana relationship chart hints at long drawn out aggravation stretching through into 2026.

Another nonsensical and damaging eruption from the bubbling cauldron of American academia produced the outrageous claim from three US college presidents that wishing genocide on a people might be acceptable depending on context. Sigh. What do these people use for thinking? From unformed, over-heated late teen brains it might be understandable if not supportable but their teachers should know better.

  The First Amendment in the USA on freedom of speech written into the Bill of Rights, ratified on 15 December 1791, was set in stone to differentiate from a restrictive climate on free speech in the UK of the time. There are categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment include obscenity, fraud, child pornography and speech that incites imminent lawless action.

  The Bill of Rights chart has an excitable, argumentative Sagittarius Sun square Mars in Virgo in a Half Grand Sextile with the revolutionary Uranus opposition Pluto in place linked in to an idealistic, over-optimistic Jupiter Neptune in Libra. 

  The Bill of Rights chart triggers the Mars in Gemini in the USA chart which I have always associated with their hair-trigger defence to any interference with their need to say anything and everything they fancy, waving the First Amendment as a fig leaf. The Jupiter Neptune also squares the USA’s intensely argumentative and not always tolerant-of-differing-views Mercury opposition Pluto.

   Claudine Gay, President of Harvard, who has been allowed to stay in position after her performance at Congress, was born 4 August 1970 and is a showboating Sun Mars in Leo sextile Uranus; with a charming, if manipulative, Venus Pluto in Virgo and a hyper-anxious Saturn in Taurus opposition Neptune.

 Elise Stefanik, the Republican congresswoman who mounted a fierce inquisition of the college presidents, though has been accused of hypocrisy since she is a far-right Trump supporter, was born 2 July 1984. She’s a Sun Venus, Mercury in Cancer. Her tough, can-be-vindictive Mars Saturn in Scorpio would clash with Claudine Gay’s Sun Mars in Leo; and Stefanik’s Mercury square Pluto echoes the USA’s demagogic streak.

  Not sure astrology has much to offer in this debate except to wonder if the pendulum swing towards idiocy might be about to reverse.

Two non-astro thoughts strike me.

  One is the inability of people in general and youngsters in particular (who may be forgiven since I recollect being an idiot at that age) to be incapable of complex thinking. Not all of life is like cheerleading a football match, supporting MY team and wishing defeat on YOURs. You are with me or you are against me. What happened to agree to differ? Or the unpalatable reality that both sides of an argument may be wrong and/or there may be right on both sides. It means tolerating uncertainty.

  Me, me, me. It is MY right. Toddlers go through an irritatingly ego-centric stage where tantrums are thrown if the world does not revolve entirely around their whims and needs. They grow out of it as cold reality sinks in. They are one of many.  There are no inalienable rights in a society such as ‘I can say exactly what I want.’   If you want to live in a society you need to accept compromises on individual freedom in order not to tramp all over the rights of other members of that society. It isn’t rocket science.  

  Threatening genocide is no different from issuing fatwas and is not acceptable in a civilized society.

Excitement amongst sky watchers as Betelgeuse, one of the brightest and best-known stars in the constellation of Orion, nearly disappeared a day ago – for seven seconds – eclipsed by an asteroid. Betelgeuse, famous for its bright red tint and unpredictable behaviour,  sits at 28°45′ Gemini has an orb of 2°40′.

 In astrological lore it gives preferment and wealth with the native being obstinate, combative, rash, energetic, and changeable. It has of Mars-Mercury classification. ‘How that serves the person in question depends on how he uses his strength. Nothing happens by halves with this great star. It can end in final ruin with the ever present danger of losses of one fell-swoop.’

This is a good conjunction for popularity. However, there is the danger of domestic or family problems. These natives must exercise caution not to create their own sorrows.

 Notable Sun Betelgeuse individuals are Boris Johnson and Paul McCartney, Errol Flynn, Salman Rushdie and Prince William.

  Helpful info on other planets conjunct Betelgeuse from https://astrologyking.com/betelgeuse-star/

  It should be said that Procyon, the fixed star, at 25 Cancer also has a reputation for falls from high grace but it doesn’t always work that way since I have known people with it who ambled along without tripping up.

ADD ON FROM VF. ‘Quite a few leaders who have risen and then fallen have their Sun on this star – Colonel Gadaffi, Radovan Karadzic, Aung Sun Suu Kiy and Ayman al-Zawahir (the Egyptian leader of Al-Qaida slain by the US to name but a few. Wallis Simpson too, so she and William, Prince of Wales, perhaps aptly share a synastry! King James I of England is a Sun/Betelgeuse royal too.’

  Also Rudi Guiliani who has his Saturn Midheaven conjunct Betelgeuse – and has certainly crashed from his glory days post 9/11 to a bankrupt tarnished idol.  

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The highly respected and much loved astrologer Erin Sullivan has died.  Known as “the astrologer’s astrologer” she had an internationally-acclaimed career consulting, writing and lecturing. She was an integral member for the Centre for Psychological Astrology in London for over a decade, edited the prestigious “Arkana Contemporary Astrology Series” of books and had a wide ranging career teaching and consulting.

  Her Classical Studies background and training in archetypal analytic psychology and cultural studies made her an activist thinker, and promoter of ecology, improving the power of women in the world, human rights and individual freedom.  Her six books include The Astrology Of Midlife And Aging, the best seller The Astrology of Family Dynamics and the recently reissued Where in the World? on astrocartography.

  She was born 9 November 1947 7.21 am Vancouver, Canada and died at 8.50pm on December 11^th in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

 Her chart shows great strength and tenacity with a Scorpio Sun exactly on her Ascendant conjunct Chiron and Mercury in her 12^th which squared onto a powerfully-determined Pluto Mars Saturn conjunction in the communicative, publishing, lecturing 9^th house. Her North Node in Taurus sat in her 7^th opposition her Sun and square her Saturn Mars Pluto.

  A Venus Jupiter conjunction in Sagittarius in her 1^st would lend her a charming and enthusiastic manner, masking some of the undoubted turmoil of her heavy Leo stellium and Sun Chiron conjunction. She also had a soft, intuitive Moon Neptune in Libra in her friendly 11^th house. Her astrological Uranus was in her 8^th house, giving her access to deeper realms of knowledge.

 She had a strongly aspected creative, ‘seeking and searching’ 7^th harmonic; a powerful healer/victim 12H; and a notable leaving-a-legacy -for-history 17H.

  I only met her once at a party I gave when she came with Howard Sasportas and my recollection was she supported him towards the end when he was dying of AIDs. Like her, he had that tumultuous Pluto, Saturn, Mars conjunction in Leo and there was a strong karmic connection between them with his Chiron conjunct her South Node exactly and her Chiron exactly conjunct his South Node. His Moon was conjunct her North Node. See previous post on Howard Sasportas 7 August 2023.