Emma Jung, the long-suffering wife of psycho-analyst Carl, is the subject of a biography – finally, after all her years as the neglected one, forced to suffer his infidelities and the humiliation of the menage a trois he set up with his ‘muse’ Toni Wolff.

Born 30 March 1882 10.45pm Schaffhausen, she was the second richest heiress in Switzerland, which was of great assistance to a young professional struggling to make his name. Her early married life she spent at Burgholzi, an asylum for the insane and through all the years that followed she kept the domestic ship afloat since she loved him and wanted to keep the family of five children together.

She had an Aries Sun and Venus in the 5^th (her nickname was Sunny) square an intense Mars in Cancer in the 8^th; with a powerful Jupiter Pluto on her Descendant which was what she attracted as a partner. And given that her Node fell on her Ascendant she would have problems forming a strong identity of her own. Jupiter Pluto squared her Leo Moon, so she’d be possessive and inclined to look on the bright side. Uranus on her Midheaven certainly designed her for a life out of the ordinary and she herself was a therapist.

Her relationship chart with Carl Jung (26 July 1875 7.26pm Kesswil, Switz) had an affectionate Venus Sun conjunction in the 5^th house of children; sextile an expansive Jupiter in the 7^th house of relationships – so enough positive to keep the flame alight. But there was also an unkind (cruel) composite Saturn opposition Mars square Moon; and a disappointing 4^th house Neptune. On the synastry there are Saturn Moon crossovers which leads to coldness and longevity.

Carl Jung did have a Leo Sun Uranus in his 7^th with Uranus square his Taurus Moon – so he was never likely to settle to 24/7 domesticity.

Toni Wolff, another wealthy Swiss and initially Jung’s patient, also subsumed her life to his, publishing little herself, but was pivotal in helping him to define and refine his ideas. She had Neptune Pluto in the 10^th opposition a 4^th house Mars Jupiter squaring onto a 7^th house Pisces Moon – emotionally sensitive and fragile, dependent, other worldly.

Her Mars Jupiter was conjunct Carl Jung’s midheaven she would help his career; and her Virgo Sun Venus Mercury Uranus fell in his 8^th so she would tap into his deeper layers.

Her relationship with Emma was not surprisingly difficult with a buried-anger Mars in the 12^th square Saturn conjunct Sun – teeth gritted. The composite Moon conjunct Neptune and Pluto was in the 8^th – so there would be a vast reservoir of resentment that went unspoken.

Being married to a great man comes at a price.

Matilda Rapaport, an extreme skier, has been killed in an avalanche in the Andes, having already survived another avalanche two years ago in Alaska. Freeriding skiers go onto natural (usually precipitous mountain) terrain without any obvious route down, often in unpredictable weather conditions.

Born 30 Jan 1986 in Sweden into a skiing family, she married an Alpine slalom skier three months ago.

She had a charming Aquarius Sun Venus Mercury in an intense square to Pluto in Scorpio, trine Saturn in Sagittarius so used to hardship, and sensible as well as determined. She also had Mars in even more determined Scorpio, widely conjunct Saturn and square Jupiter in Aquarius, making her attracted to danger and adventure.  There’s also that odd mid Aquarius emphasis on her chart which often shows with athletes and sportspeople.

Tr Neptune was conjunct her Solar Arc Sun when she died; with Solar Arc Pluto conjunct her Saturn; and tr Pluto exactly conjunct her Sun/Uranus which Ebertin describes as ‘tragic experiences’.

She would always know the risks of her sport were off the Richter scale, but sad all the same.

Dubai has been lurching from one crisis to the next since the crash of 2009, with falling oil prices recently hitting any recovery badly. There have been several major fires in their shiny high-rise blocks since 2012, six this year so far;  and last week a plane crash landed at the airport, which isn’t only a bad omen, it also costs around $1 million per minute that the airport is closed.

There are two charts for Dubai – 8 January 1820 and 9 June 1833. Earlier charts are usually better and the 1820 chart has a 17 degree Capricorn Sun and Libra Moon; and Saturn Pluto in last decan of Pisces trine Mars in Cancer and square Uranus Neptune Mercury in Sagittarius.

The economically-challenging tr Saturn in Virgo opposition Uranus in Pisces was bouncing off the Dubai Saturn Pluto and Mercury Uranus Neptune in the post-2008 years. Then discouraging tr Saturn in Libra would conjunct the Moon and square the Sun; more recently tr Uranus has been square the Sun, opposition the Moon at some point; and now tr Pluto is conjunct the Sun in 2016/17 and again square the Moon.

So it’s had a long run of difficult influences, especially tr Pluto conjunct the Sun which presages a need for a major rethink and reconstruction in attitudes and lifestyle. Often disasters go along with this, as a kind of external warning.

In the aftermath of tr Pluto challenging the Dubai Sun, will come tr Uranus in an insecure square to Mars in 2018; and then 2021 to 2024 tr Pluto will be in a dreary sextile to Saturn Pluto and finally in a really blocked opposition to Mars. So there’s a fair few bumps on the road to come.

The Rio Olympics starts tonight with even more trepidation than normal. Horror stories abound with sewage and corpse-strewn waters for some events; unsafe and unfinished accommodation and stadiums. And poverty stricken Rio’s crime rate, bad at the best of times, is escalating wildly. A man claiming to be a Russian vice consul (denied by the Russians) shot and killed a robber on the motorway yesterday; a Moroccan boxer is being held on suspicion of sexually assaulting two cleaners; the Chinese say their fencers were robbed; ditto other athletes. The Brazilian President won’t attend since she’s suspended under impeachment charges. And that’s not even getting to the zika virus or doping furore which nearly saw Russian athletes banned altogether.

The Opening Ceremony chart, assuming a 8pm start, has a friendly, expansive 7^th house Moon Jupiter in Virgo trine Pluto – so there should be a warm welcome from the hosts. The problems may all come from the Neptune opposition Node Mercury square Mars Saturn in Sagittarius – a focal point of Mars Saturn is will bring high-level irritation, is accident-prone, has associations to the military and sometimes to killings.

Mercifully the exact Mars Saturn conjunction only occurs three days after the Olympics finishes. But the Moon in transit will make two hard aspects to Mars Saturn, conjunct on the 12^th and square on the 19^th. So the whole event will be conducted on tenterhooks.

The IOC (International Olympics Committee), 23 June 1894 Lausanne, Switzerland, certainly looks nerve-wracked and edgy with tr Saturn square the Solar Arc Uranus throughout, and will face a decidedly sinking post-mortem with tr Saturn square tr Neptune hitting the Pluto and Neptune in the aftermath; with an uphill, discouraging slog through 2017/18.

The UK’s much troubled Child Abuse Inquiry has claimed another scalp with the THIRD chairman resigning. Butler-Sloss and Woolf went after publicity about their establishment links, and the NZ Judge Lowell Goddard has now baled after a Times story about her three month absence in the past year on a £500k a year salary.

Part of the problem (astrologically speaking) is it was first announced – 7 July 2014 circa 4.40pm London – on a Cardinal Grand Cross of Cancer Sun opposition Pluto square Mars opposition Uranus – and that was guaranteed to be followed by rolling crises. Grand Crosses tend to involve firefighting in four different directions at once and that’s without throwing disruptive Uranus and impulsive, argumentative Mars and Pluto into the mix.

It finally got under way on 9 July 2015 at 10am which wasn’t much better on the astrology with a Sun Mars opposition Pluto square North Node and square Uranus Moon in Aries. All of those planets continue to shift by Solar Arc and transit to close to exact aspects over the next three years so it will continue to rock n’ roll its way along – completely stuck at points and turned upside down at others.

Part of the problem may be the extreme resistance in the UK chart to any unearthing of murky secrets. The deeply buried Mars in Taurus in the 8^th is tied into a Fixed T Square, opposition Neptune square Venus (in the 5^th house of children) with Venus in another Fixed T Square opposition Saturn square Neptune.

When child abuse started to emerge in the 1980s tr Pluto in Scorpio was opposition that Mars; and in this last round of post-Savile horrors tr Pluto in Capricorn was trine the UK Mars. That has now passed on, but there is all manner of activity around the UK Mars now and in the coming years. Solar Arc Sun square Mars, exact in 2 months; Solar Arc MC square Mars just after mid 2017. Tr Uranus then moves into the UK 8^th, shining a light on hidden places from 2020 for 7 years, along the way crossing the conjunction to Mars in 2021; and Solar Arc Uranus is conjunct Mars in 2024.

So whether this Inquiry collapses altogether or not – though it’s difficult to see how it could disappear – there will be continual eruptions well into next decade.

Although there are murmurings about the Republicans finding a replacement candidate after Trump’s day of disasters with one gaffe tripping up the next, there’s no mechanism unless he first withdraws.

He accepted the nomination at 12.13am on 22 July 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio which put an aggravated Mars in Scorpio in the 8^th trine a Cancer Sun; with maverick Uranus conjunct the Aries Ascendant; a hidden 12^th house Neptune opposition a 6^th house North Node square Saturn in the 8^th – that might suggest health issues and cash shortages, with much behind-the-scenes goings-on. With a dictatorial Pluto in the 10^th (which can backfire) in a confident trine to Jupiter, square Ascendant; and a showy Venus Mercury in Leo in the grandstanding 5^th.

What will be interesting to watch is when Mars moves to conjunct Saturn by August 24^th, with the Sun in square a week later. At the moment the Moon is square Mars and moving to square that Saturn today.

There are two charts for the Republican Party, 20 March 1854 6.30pm Ripon, Wisconsin; and 6 July 1854 Jackson, MI. But I’m not convinced either works especially well on election prediction, tracking back over past wins and losses.

Trump’s relationship with both charts looks inherently negative. With the March chart, there’s a chained-together and resenting-it Saturn Pluto in a panicky opposition to Neptune; and an explosive Uranus square Mars. The July chart is cold, suspicious, again explosive. It looks very agitated at the moment with tr Uranus square the composite Mercury; and in general undermined this year with tr Saturn square tr Neptune hitting on the composite Mars, though nothing exact again till October. There’s nothing that looks like a parting of the ways. Which doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

The March GOP chart looks panicky up to the election though also relieved with tr Uranus square the Jupiter in early November – though that could mean blessed relief they aren’t saddled with him or a win. The July GOP chart is sagging badly at the moment with tr Neptune square the Saturn (returning across the Inauguration); and in a state of upheaval with tr Pluto trine Uranus; with immense pressure through September with tr Pluto opposition the Sun.

UKIP, the UK Independence Party, should be lyrical over the Brexit vote. Instead they appear to be melting down. A popular MEP has been ruled ineligible to stand for the election of leader after Nigel Farage stepped down by the NEC. As a result there have been resignations from the NEC, saying the party’s governing body “is no longer fit for purpose”.

UKIP was kicked off on 3 September 1993 in London giving the chart a 10 degree Virgo Sun and 15 degree Mercury in Virgo. Tr Neptune is in a sinking and sliding opposition to the Sun till early 2017; with a discouraging tr Saturn square both Sun and Mercury through the autumn. And a blocked, intense Solar Arc Pluto square Mercury just to add to the joys of discussions. It looks chaotic ahead with tr Pluto square Mars Jupiter till December and then tr Pluto conjunct Uranus Neptune in 2017/18.

Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Pluto moved into Scorpio in 1984 staying till 1996 so that’s the generation who are in their twenties at the moment. Less flashy than the Pluto in Leo (1940 to 1958) or indeed in Libra (1972 to 1984) generation, they’ll be intense, fixated on sex (either too much or repressing it altogether) – AIDs emerged at this time and child sexual abuse avalanched into the open. They’ll be interested in how power is wielded, angst-ridden about being stuck in situations which they can’t control. Some will have great influence, others will feel stuck or tramped under foot.

Though really what was much stronger even than Pluto for the middle chunk of this generation was the triple conjunction in Capricorn – Saturn Uranus Neptune – between 1989 and 1991, with Uranus Neptune being conjunct till 1994. Some of these will be tinged with genius since Uranus Neptune, at best, is inspired; Saturn Uranus brings innovative changes; Saturn Neptune a hope for a better society or creative. But it can also be chaotic, fanatical, paranoid, autocratic. They are the ones who’ll make their mark, for good or for ill. Many of the ISIS foot soldiers are of this batch.

The Pluto in Sagittarius generation (1996 to 2008), just growing up, will be more studious, or open to new ideas if they were born before 2000 when Uranus and Neptune were both in Aquarius. This Pluto saw the rise of Al Quaeda so some will be dogmatic about religion or spiritual ideas. The world (Sagittarius = travel) will be a scarier place for them. They are likely to be opinionated and crusaders for their pet causes, keen on justice and reorganising the legal system as well as education.

Carole Middleton, la grande matriarch, who now has one daughter married to the heir to the throne and the other about-to-be to a mega-rich hedge funder, is rightly or wrongly seen as the family string-puller. Born 31 January 1955, she has a highly determined chart, overflowing with initiative. She has an Aquarius Sun sextile Mars in pro-active Aries with a Taurus Moon; a formidably Fixed Mercury in Aquarius opposition Pluto square Saturn in Scorpio; and a lucky Jupiter Uranus in Cancer square Neptune; plus a Half Grand Sextile from the Mercury opposition Pluto, sextile Neptune sextile Venus in Sagittarius.

Undoubtedly she’s talented with immense endurance but not much flexibility, not one to confront in an argument since she’d never give way. She’s pushily confident with her Sun opposition her Jupiter/Pluto midpoint and her trail-blazing Uranus/Pluto midpoint.

She was in seventh heaven when Kate was married with her Solar Arc Pluto square her Jupiter; but suffered a shock of sorts last year when her Solar Arc Sun was conjunct her Mars, perhaps over the birth of Princess Charlotte, when there was a fuss about her being too first-in-the-queue before Prince Charles. She looks less than lyrical in 2016/17 with undermining midpoints and her Solar Arc Saturn opposition her Jupiter which will damp her enthusiasm; with a confused Solar Arc Pluto conjunct her Neptune at the same time.

Father Michael, 23 June 1949, is a more flexible temperament, used to putting up with difficulties – a quirky Sun Uranus in Cancer, he has Saturn in Virgo sextile his Sun Uranus and square Mars Mercury in Gemini. He’s also got initiative, a capacity for hard-work, but is more understated. He also looks uncertain this year with tr Saturn square tr Neptune hitting his Mars Mercury; with a considerable block coming in late 2017/18 when his Solar Arc Mars is conjunct his Pluto.

Kate with her Sun opposition Cancer Moon square Mars Saturn (Pluto) doesn’t look to have been given leeway for personal choices in her childhood from either parent, which is why she looks ‘too perfect’ and as someone remarked ‘on remote control’. If her birth time of 11.30am is accurate, then she’s very much directed by her mother’s ambitions.

Pippa, being the second child, maybe had fewer expectations placed on her and she’s got an adventurous Jupiter Uranus, a bucket load of Fire and an adaptable Virgo Sun, maybe Moon.

James, the baby of the family, is also fiery with Sun Jupiter Mercury in Aries and Saturn Uranus in Sagittarius; with a Scorpio Moon perhaps conjunct Pluto, with Pluto inconjunct Mars in Gemini; and his Venus in Pisces square Saturn Uranus – so a curiously unsettled mixture, good starter, not such great finisher, emotionally edgy.

Prince William, who clearly regarded a settled family set up with delight, seems to be less close to both Middleton parents this year and going forward. Either the shine has worn off or there are external pressures and circumstances changing.

This isn’t an astrological thought (yet) but I’ve always been fascinated by – a) how difficult it is to get people to change their minds; and b) how ideas flit out into the zeitgeist and remain set in concrete for decades, some of them later proving monumentally wrong.

On Larry’s example of kids battered by parents, which everyone said couldn’t happen when Dr Jack Kempe in the 1960s first came up with the notion. Only when someone produced X-rays of broken bones – i.e. hard evidence – did people reluctantly start to accept it was a problem. Same with the recovered memory of abuse debate – it had to wait until the neuroscientists came up with brain scans indicating that dissociated memory was possible did the nay-sayers shut up (mainly). Anecdotal and ‘soft’ science evidence isn’t enough to chisel through most people’s ego-bubble.

Ernest Becker’s ground breaking, Pulitzer-prize-winning The Denial of Death talks about the general ‘ hostility against admitting that man lives by lying to himself about himself and about his world.’ ‘The individual has to protect himself against the world, and he can do this only as any other animal would; by narrowing down the world, shutting off experience, developing an obliviousness to the terrors of the world and to his own anxieties…..’ ‘We don’t want to admit that we are fundamentally dishonest about reality, that we do not really control our own lives.”

So allowing in new information isn’t just about expanding our knowledge database, it involves a scary process of partially dismantling our defences (the ego bubble) in order to grow. That is a very Plutonic process. There’s a useful analogy of crustaceans – mini shrimps and lobsters are hard-shelled which protects them, but it also restricts them. When they want to grow, they need to snuck under a rock and cast off their old shell, at which point they are totally vulnerable, grow their body and then grow a new bigger shell.

Psychological change is much the same. Which you can see writ large in Thomas Kuhn’s cogent thoughts on paradigm shifts in science – it isn’t a simple, linear matter of knowing more and adapting old theories to encompass the new insights/facts, it involves a protracted period of turmoil, uncertainty and angst. The old dinosaurs (authority figures) fight to the death to defend the status quo and can destroy upstart trail-blazers who threaten their reputations.

We all have an internal dinosaur, so the ‘transition to a larger mental space’ in Oliver Sack’s words, only comes about ‘through a very painful, even terrifying process of undermining one’s existing beliefs and theories – painful because our mental lives are sustained, consciously or unconsciously, by theories, sometimes invested with the force of ideology or delusion.’

When people feel threatened by change they can go one of three ways – 1) dig in and refuse to budge, clinging with ferocious desperation onto old ways, since they feel their psychic stability is at risk, often regressing to even more primitive attitudes; 2) collapse into chaos; 3) struggle through the chaos to find a foothold in the new.

Very often, in times of psychological instability, there is extreme splitting into a good and bad, an all or nothing view of the world, which is what is going on at the moment politically and in terms of the religious ferment, which the west thought they’d moved on from.

Whether this can be attributed solely to Pluto in Capricorn, with the additional upset from the square to Uranus, isn’t clear. But it certainly is designed to upend authority structures in government and elsewhere, leading to power struggles between the status quo-ers and those who want political and economic change. With the public flag wavers showing the extreme ends of both. Trump became popular amongst the have-nots since he attacks the corrupt old ways (while being just as deficient himself in different ways), as does Corbyn at the other end of the political spectrum. Brexit was a revolt against the EU bureaucracy and their sclerotic machinations as much as anything.

The EU ‘government’ needs to change, as does the broken US political system. The UK democratic government was sidelined in the referendum because the posh boys in No 10 and 11 got it wrong. Everyone knows what they don’t want, but no one seems to have a clear idea of what will replace the outworn systems. In the midst of a swampy phase of not-the-past but not-yet-the-future, the ordinary people are panicky and insecure, splitting into polarised opposites.

Uranus will wane in influence through 2017 and with it some of the impetus for progressive social reform. To be replaced by Saturn conjunct Pluto in 2019 which tends to be repressive, favouring the power-holders. Then the minor triple conjunction comes into play with Jupiter in Capricorn in 2020 which will bring some uplift but will tend to benefit the moneyed rather than the poor.

Final thought on why astrology is not more widely respected. The major problem is that it (as yet) fits into no existing scientific theory of how the world works. Sacks again: ‘A discovery is premature if its implications cannot be connected by a series of simple logical steps to canonical, or generally accepted knowledge.’ So until science catches up, I’m afraid we’re stuck out in the wilderness. Maybe Pluto in Aquarius will help.