Pluto has been grinding its way inexorably through Capricorn since 2008, pulling down old structures – in the Capricorn-ruled arenas of finance and government – razing the old status quo to ashes, with the hope of rebuilding better on the far side.

Then Pluto moves into Aquarius in 2024 staying till 2044. Past experience associates this phase with an upsurge of more significant rebellions than usual and a flowering of inventions.

Previous Pluto in Aquarius phases:

1778 -1797: The USA had declared independence in 1776 so the Brits were in retreat, though elsewhere were fighting the French, Spanish, Dutch and Indians in different spats. The French Revolution of 1793 had a dramatic effect and not just in France, though this was partially due to Pluto being opposition Uranus. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing having got under way during Pluto in Capricorn. James Watts’ improved steam engine revolutionised production.

Aquarius is scientific, so no surprises there were major advances in chemistry. And, with blissful syncronicity, William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus, which rules Aquarius. Explorers, another Aquarian strength, were also out and about with Captains James Cook and William Bligh leading the way to ‘new’ lands.

It was a productive period for philosophical and social thinkers – Emmanuel Kant and Thomas Paine (Rights of Man); with cultural highpoints from Mozart and Scottish poet Robert Burns, who later established a global footprint.

1532 – 1552: Henry V111 declared himself head of the Church in 1531 and was excommunicated in 1533 by the Pope. The RC versus Protestant schism got under way in earnest, which led to centuries of conflict.

1287 – 1307: Welsh Rebellion against the English. Edward 1 of England put John Balliol on Scottish throne with William Wallace rebellion following.

1041 – 1061: Macbeth succeeds to throne of Scotland. Great schism between the Western RC church and Eastern Orthodox churches.

796 – 816: Charlemagne becomes Holy Roman Emperor in 800. He unites most of Western Europe, laying the foundations for modern France and Germany. He dies just as Pluto is about to exit Aquarius.

551 – 572: the Prophet Muhammed is born.

So world-changing events during Pluto in Aquarius.

This next time round tr Pluto in Aquarius will march in time to Neptune in Aries (2025 to 2038) and initially to Uranus in Gemini (2025 to 2033) – so early on there’ll be a Uranus trine Pluto sextile Neptune after the mid 2020s – innovative and creative. Of the earlier historical happenings which might repeat, we can expect more advances in science and exploration (outer space/bottom of the sea/under Arctic ice?). For the rest – the US and France will have come full circle back to their first Pluto Return or the immediate aftermath, so significant shifts/adjustments, epochal events in both countries. Sometimes empires that rise on one Pluto cycle, fall on the next.

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Violence erupted from a 100,000 strong crowd in India when a controversial Indian guru was sentenced to 20 years in prison for rape. 38 died and over 200 were injured as the supporters of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, known as ‘the guru of bling’, voiced their disapproval. He denies charges of murder in two cases due to be heard next month and has been accused of forcing 400 followers to undergo castration to “get closer to god”. He is leader of a sect, which claims to have 60 million followers around the world. In addition to spiritual guidance, and some admittedly constructive charitable and social welfare work, he performs at rock concerts, acts in films and even has his own line of food products.

Born 15 August 1967, he is unsurprisingly a Sun conjunct Jupiter Leo with Mercury also in Leo. His Sun Jupiter squares a showbizzy conjunction of Mars Neptune in Scorpio. And he has a challenging Yod of Venus sextile Mars inconjunct Saturn in Aries, which requires maturity and self-discipline to operate well, otherwise it self-destructs.

His 10^th Harmonic is exceptionally marked – the wheel of fortune bringing material abundance but also containing the seed of the rise and fall, the good and the bad.

   

 

Can you spot a potential killer from a chart? Or even a lack of moral conscience? It’s an astrological conundrum to which there isn’t always an easy answer.

Niels Hogel, a German nurse, serving a life sentence for murdering two patients is now a suspect in at least 84 other murder cases. The two identified victims received lethal drug doses at units where he worked.

Born 30 December 1976, he’s a Sun Capricorn sextile Uranus and square Pluto – ambitious, innovative, controlling; with Saturn in Leo opposition Venus in Aquarius square Jupiter in Taurus – wants to be important, emotionally cool, superficially charming. His Mars, planet of aggression,  is not especially notable.

In some ways he’s superficially similar astrologically to Harold Shipman, the UK doctor suspected of about 250 deaths. Born 14 January 1946 8.40am Nottingham, England, Shipman was also a Sun Capricorn conjunct Venus opposition Mars Saturn in Cancer square Jupiter in Libra. The Mars Saturn might give a clue to a temperament which could turn cruel, covered over again by Venus Jupiter’s saccharine charm.

Donald Harvey, an American medical orderly despatched around 50 victims, 15 April 1952 5.50am Hamilton, Ohio. He was a Sun Jupiter in Aries trine Pluto and opposition Neptune – pro-active, with high ambition; with Venus Mercury in Aries opposition Saturn square Uranus – emotionally cool and erratic. Plus Mars in Scorpio square Pluto and trine Uranus which might give a clue since he would have a potential for ruthless behaviour.

Michael Swango, 21 October 1954, a doctor who may have been involved in 60 fatal poisonings, is a Sun Neptune in Libra square Mars opposition Uranus Jupiter in Capricorn – highly strung, volatile, disruptive, a risk-taker; with Venus in Scorpio square Pluto and trine Jupiter Uranus – emotionally intense, jealous and able to turn on the charm to order.

Beverley Allitt, 4 Oct 1968 9.15am Corby, England, a nurse convicted of killing four children and harming another 9, is a Sun Libra with Saturn in Aries; a confident Jupiter Pluto in Virgo and Mars also in Virgo but not conjunct. There’s not much that would catch the eye from her chart except for a challenging Yod of Pluto Jupiter sextile Neptune inconjunct Saturn, which usually brings retribution if badly handled.

There is a strong Cardinal element in these charts which gives initiative, ambition, restlessness and a low boredom threshold but that’s nothing pass remarkable.

This is where harmonic charts come in handy which show the less visible aspects between planets. The one which shows up most clearly in all of the above is the 18H – twice 9. The 9^th harmonic is what brings pleasure. Initially it was thought to be a harmonic that was community-minded, fostered inclusiveness and was humanitarian. But it figures strongly in charts of financial fraudsters like Bernie Madoff and Charles Ponzi, so clearly has an immoral, indulgent and irresponsible side as well.

18 in numerology, on which a good deal of the harmonic interpretations are based, can bring material success, but also conflicts and enemies, and has an explosive quality.

In Beverley Allitt’s natal chart her Mars is sparsely aspected. But in her 18H, the Mars squares Saturn, and is trine Sun. Niels Hogel’s 18H has Mars opposition Sun square Pluto, so drawing his sparsely aspected Mars in the natal chart into tighter contact.

Michael Swango, whose natal Mars is firmly tied into Uranus Jupiter Neptune Sun, in his 18H has Mars conjunct Saturn trine Pluto, which has a much more brutal feel.

Kristen Gilbert, a nurse who killed 4 and attempted two more, 13 Nov 1967 5.01pm Falls River, MA, doesn’t have an overly notable Mars natally, but in her 18H it is conjunct Saturn, inconjunct Uranus and square Sun.

Mars Saturn sometimes tied into Pluto appears in the 18H charts of non-medical serial killers Ted Bundy, Thomas Hamilton (Dunblane shootings), Jeffrey Dahmer.

The 18H isn’t necessarily a serial killer identifier since it is strong also in the charts of Jemma Beale, the rape fantasist (see post below) and Joe Arpaio. But it certainly can indicate a cruel, conscience-free  streak.

Many of the above medical killers also have a heavily stressed Mars tied into Saturn, Uranus and Pluto in their healer/victim 12H.

Harmonics is an evolving field, so it’s as well to keep an open mind about the spectrum of meanings that each number represents – and keep checking with examples as they pop up.

 

Crypto-currencies like bitcoin and ethereum are soaring, up 800% in the past year and of key interest in the financial industries. Though there are with warning flags about bubble-bursts ahead as well as money-laundering risks.

NB: I know zero about them and struggle to understand quite how they operate. Ordinary shoppers appear not to like them since there’s a 10-minute time lag for confirmation as opposed to instant credit card/paypal. Though nefarious buyers do like them for drug purchases on the Dark Web. You buy them with ordinary currency but since their value fluctuates much like other stock market shares, you can lose as well as gain.

The original bitcoin was launched 3 January 2009 and looks to be making heavy weather of the next three years with tr Pluto trine Saturn, Solar Arc square Pluto and Solar Arc Pluto conjunct Sun.

Litecoin, 7 Oct 2011, looks similarly stressed 2017 to 2020, with a dead-halt in 2021.

Ethereum, 30 July 2015, is up against it in a major way in 2019/2020 – boxed into a corner.

Ripple, 1 July 2013, has a solid chart with a Water Grand Trine of Sun Jupiter in Cancer trine Saturn in Scorpio trine Neptune, with Sun opposition Pluto. It doesn’t have the pressures the others have, though tr Saturn in Capricorn will drag down confidence in 2018/19. But it’s heading for a successful 2021 with Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct the Sun.

   

 

An epic catastrophe, the worst disaster in Texas history, an incredibly unique event, unprecedented floods, all impacts are unknown and beyond anything experienced, the most extreme rainfall ever witnessed – the descriptions of Hurricane Harvey struggle to encompass the scale of the damage wreaked by battering winds followed by two to three feet of rain falling within 24 hours, with more to come. The disaster covers thousands of square miles of Southeast Texas, but worst hit is Houston, the US’s fourth-largest city, which is barely above sea level and sits next to the stormy Gulf of Mexico.

So the Great American Eclipse did – with eerie synchronicity – accompany an immediate disaster (see post August 25 2017). Both the August Lunar and Solar Eclipses were at their highest elevation when located to Texas. Not on the path of the solar eclipse, but catching its strongest effect.

The Texas state chart, 2 March 1836 was always going to be vulnerable to a majorly disruptive event with the Leo Solar Eclipse opposition the Texas Mars Mercury in Aquarius and Uranus, possibly conjunct its Moon as well – so a shocking (Mars) and sudden (Uranus) collision affecting the population (Moon) with significant disruption and destruction. The 12 degree Pisces Sun is also sinking under a tr Neptune conjunction over coming months, as it attempts to cope with the flood damage.

Houston was founded on 28 August 1836 and incorporated on 5 June 1837. The incorporation chart has tr Neptune square the Gemini Sun over the next eighteen months, so again a swampy and confusing phase. The Solar Eclipse was opposition its Mars.

The Houston founded chart has Solar Arc Neptune conjunct its Jupiter in Leo – oceanic Neptune drowning Jupiter’s optimism and flamboyance. The Solar Eclipse was opposition Uranus on this chart, tugging on a Water Grand Trine of Uranus trine Saturn trine Mars, with Uranus opposition Sun – so shaking the central configuration of the chart with damaging consequences.

When Katrina happened in late August 2005 with major loss of life tr Neptune was squaring the New Orleans Neptune Sun in Taurus, which is relatively similar to the Texas and Houston Inc chart at the moment. The eclipses in 2005 were highly stressed. The closest Solar Eclipse in October having Pluto on the IC for New Orleans inconjunct Mars; with a Yod of New Moon sextile Saturn inconjunct Uranus as the US government made a botch of the rescue efforts. The Lunar Eclipse in October had the Full Moon exactly on the Desc/Asc axis for New Orleans; with the Sun sextile Pluto inconjunct Mars. So not the same as the Texas hurricane but the Eclipse planets on the chart angles do check out.

   

 

Trump’s U-turn on Afghanistan, sending more troops into America’s longest running war, not only broke a campaign promise, it also threw a hand grenade into relations with Pakistan, which could provoke a blowback. He quite rightly called Pakistan out for playing to both sides by supporting NATO and at the same time harbouring Taliban terrorists. But he also asked for India’s help, which according to commentators would put the wind up Pakistan, whose greatest fear is India with whom it has already waged three wars. An Indo-US-Afghan pact would put Indian troops on two sides of Pakistan’s borders, which could well spark another conflict between the two nuclear nations.

Taking the USA/Afghan war first: It started on 7 October 2001 at 4.25pm on an Air Grand Trine of Sun trine Uranus trine Moon Saturn, formed into a Kite by the war-like Saturn Moon opposition Pluto. And an opportunistic Jupiter opposition Mars.

The Vietnam War also started in 1965 with a Pluto opposition Saturn and finished ignominiously when tr Saturn had moved to square Pluto, with tr Neptune undermining the central planets by square.

There’s a relatively similar set of aspects to the Afghan war chart with tr Neptune square Moon Saturn and Pluto in 2017/18 and the Saturn Pluto conjunction in 2019. Nothing that looks like spectacular success.

Relocating Trump’s chart to Kabul does put his Jupiter on the midheaven, so there’s a degree of hope. But it also puts his Pluto and Mars in the 8^th which looks very trapped.

The story going around is that in order to persuade him, HR McMaster showed him a photograph of mini-skirted girls in Kabul in the 1970s, when Afghanistan was moving towards a liberal and westernised lifestyle; with an attempt at an elected parliament, freedom of speech, a largely secular legal system and political parties. That was all wiped away as the country descended into the horror of the Soviet invasion, then the Bush/Blair fiasco, with the Mujahideen and then Taliban taking advantage of the chaos.

The more likely reason for his change of heart is someone floated Afghanistan’s mineral wealth under his nose – gold, silver, platinum, iron ore, uranium, zinc, tantalum, bauxite, coal, copper, natural gas and lithium for batteries – though experts say that extracting it is a pipe dream, given the lack of paved roads and rail links needed, pervasive corruption and a messy bureaucracy, never mind the insurgencies.

Since Trump’s Jupiter natally is in his financial 2^nd house that might make sense of the glint in his eye when he considers Kabul.

The Afghanistan country chart, 19 August 1919 12 am Kabul, was given a jolt by this August’s Leo Eclipse conjunct its Leo Sun opposition Uranus square Taurus Moon opposition North Node. It will soldier on with some events of explosive insecurity early September to early October this year, and again in early 2018. With some relief and luck in 2019; but it’ll be the mid 2020s before there is any significant shift. Relations with the USA look to be slogging on in a discouraged fashion in 2018/19 with increasing divergence. So 2019 may well be an exit point for the USA, as costs in money and lives mount up.

Relations between the USA and Pakistan are sagging badly in 2017/18 with tr Neptune opposition the composite Jupiter Saturn; upset in 2018 with tr Uranus square the composite Sun, and more so in 2019 as tr Uranus opposes the composite Pluto and is conjunct the composite Moon. So tensions will escalate.

The India/Pakistan chart will be aggravated around late December this year and across 2018; more so in 2019/2020 with feelings running very high as tr Pluto opposes the composite Moon.

The theory is that Pakistan’s fall-back is an alliance with China but that relationship looks under even more serious stress in 2019/2020 and isn’t exactly supportive before then. China is already in a border dispute with India (see post July 7 2017) – so the whole situation could turn exceptionally messy.

 

 

Mavis Wanczyk, a Massachusetts nurse, has won the $758 million Powerball. She was born 23 April 1964, Southbridge, Massachusetts with a rectified time of 6.10am by Isaac Starkman (rectified birth times are always a guesstimate to be treated with caution.)

This makes her a Sun Jupiter Mercury in Taurus trine Uranus Pluto in Virgo, so she clearly has the potential to be lucky, though it hasn’t appeared in spectacular fashion before now. The only thing that does show up of note at the moment is that her Pluto has moved by Solar Arc to oppose her Jupiter Sun at the moment – which certainly suggests a mega event. Taurus is the sign of acquisition and possessions, Pluto is super-powered especially in aspect to Jupiter. And this year into early 2018 she has tr Uranus conjunct her Mars/Jupiter midpoint which will also bring luck, high confidence and an urge to be free.

However there are risks. Experts recommend that winners keep quiet and don’t take a lump sum, but spread it out over 30 years. She leapt into a press conference immediately and is now sinking under soliciting requests and media attention. She also requested a lump sum which after taxes comes to around $336 million. About a third of lottery winners eventually go bankrupt.

She does have tr Pluto square her Mars in Aries this year and next which will put her under acute pressure till late 2018. Although next year she also has tr Uranus conjunct her Jupiter followed by tr Uranus conjunct her Sun in 2019 which points to major and probably positive changes in her life. Emotionally she’ll be all over the place with tr Saturn square her Moon this November and by 2019 tr Neptune is square her Venus which can be disappointment in love or financial matters. By the mid 2020s her Solar Arc Saturn will be conjunct her Jupiter Sun, for a downturn in her enthusiasm and maybe fortune.

If the rectified birth time is accurate then her Solar Arc Jupiter Sun are just on the cusp of her 2^nd house of personal finances in which they’ll stay for the next two decades which should keep her afloat. Tr Saturn is preparing to go into her 8^th for the next two years which will force her to cope with financial affairs and at times feel lonely. It is a staggeringly large sum of money for someone not used to wealth, will split her away from friends and she hasn’t been well advised up to now.

On her harmonics: She has a has a well-aspected healer’s 12^th harmonic as to be expected from a nurse. Her 13H is especially strong which is associated with upheaval, change and rebirth. Her 19H which brings prosperity though not necessarily happiness is also marked. Though it is her 7^th Harmonic and multiples thereof, 14H and 21H, which are most striking. Usually these aspects are associated with creativity – musicians, painters, writers. David Hamblin says it is the number which contains cosmic secrets and points to man’s fantasies and inspiration and thus has the ability to turn imaginings and visions into reality. Her natal Jupiter trine Pluto gives the same flavour since it known for the ability ‘to turn thoughts into things’. Though seven is a number of transience not permanence. Which doesn’t mean she’ll lose her fortune, merely that the ‘creative act’ which inspired her choice will be difficult to replicate.

     

 

Donald Trump used the cover of the Texas hurricane to pardon former Joe Arpaio, the hardline Arizona lawman, recently convicted of contempt of court in July for defying a judge’s order to stop racially profiling Latinos. And to sign in the bill banning transgenders from enlisting in the armed forces. Arpaio called his own jail while still sheriff a “concentration camp”, serving inmates just two ‘inedible’ meals a day and forcing them to wear pink underwear and socks and old-fashioned black-and-white striped prison jumpsuits. He revived chain gangs and made the inmates live outdoors in sweltering Arizona desert temperatures. He became a national figurehead for the virulent xenophobia that Trump embraced in his presidential campaign, and was at the forefront of the so-called birther movement against Barack Obama.

Arpaio, 14 June 1932, is a Sun Gemini like Trump; with Arpaio’s Mars in obdurate Taurus exactly conjunct Trump’s midheaven, so he threw his raging-bull temperament behind Trump’s ambitions. His Mars squares a flashy Jupiter in Leo and is sextile Pluto, so opportunistic as well as can-be ruthless. With his Sun sitting on the midpoint of Mars and Pluto which adds another level of forcefulness.

He certainly disliked Barack Obama, with his Mars square Obama’s Uranus and his Sun squaring Obama’s Mars.

His relationship chart with Trump has a composite Jupiter Neptune square the Sun and trine Uranus – which suggests alongside the fanaticism of Uranus Neptune a degree of delusion. They don’t look an altogether happy duo moving ahead, especially this October when tr Saturn opposes the composite Sun; and mired in confusion in 2018.

   

 

The day that shook a nation, with stiff upper lip disintegrating under an avalanche of flowers, teddy bears and tears is being remembered 20 years on. Princes Diana died on 31 August 1997, one day before a Virgo Solar Eclipse in a Saros series which is associated with illness or accidents and is given to obsessive worry. There was an unprecedented outpouring of grief in Britain and around the world. An estimated 2 billion people watched her funeral on television on 7 September.

The novelist Hillary Mantel writes today in a deeply thoughtful piece about the Diana phenomenon: ‘The princess we invented to fill a vacancy had little to do with any actual person.’ ‘She no longer exists as herself, only as what we made of her. Her story is archaic and transpersonal. “It is as if,” said the psychotherapist Warren Colman, “Diana broadcast on an archetypal frequency.” (URL below)

Diana was born 1 July 1961 7.45pm (from memory) Sandringham, England. Her Cancer Sun was exactly conjunct the UK 1801 midheaven, which partly explains her significance for the country. Her lively, mischievous Aquarius Moon fell in the UK 5^th house of entertainment and children; her pleasure-loving and affectionate Venus fell in the UK 8^th house touching a deep chord; with her rebellious Uranus conjunct the UK 11^th house Saturn setting her against the staid establishment.

When she died tr Pluto was in a heavy, destructive square to her Solar Arc Saturn, and oddly tr Jupiter was opposition her Solar Arc Sun, and tr Uranus was exactly conjunct her Jupiter which usually brings relief.

The UK chart was rattled with tr Saturn in Aries exactly square the 10^th house Moon in Cancer, which signifies the ruling classes, as the country mourned their fairy princess and turned against the Queen. Quite unfairly since she was only trying to protect the young princes from the voracious mob’s need to gawp.

It was a seminal moment for the Queen, as tr Saturn squared her dutiful 6^th house North Node in Cancer and tr Uranus was conjunct her Solar Arc MC, as she struggled to cope with the pressures of 24 hour rolling news hyping up the mood, and subjects desperate to be part of the reality show.

Prince Charles looked devastated and discouraged, with tr Pluto conjunct his Solar Arc Neptune, tr Saturn just into his 10^th which often brings chickens home to roost, and tr Uranus exactly on his Descendant.

Prince Harry, as he explained recently, withdrew into himself, with his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his secretive Saturn in Scorpio; tr Neptune exactly on his Ascendant beginning a decade plus of confusion about his identity; and tr Pluto heading to oppose his Solar Arc Moon, burying his feelings.

Prince William grieved his loss with tr Saturn square his Solar Arc Moon exactly, and his Solar Arc Saturn moving to conjunct his Jupiter and midheaven in coming months and the following year, which would bring on depression.

Eclipses are, not surprisingly for times of symbolic importance in the zeitgeist, woven into the royals’ lives. Charles and Diana married two days before the 1 North Leo eclipse of 31 July 1981 in a Saros series not seen as a luck-bringer, putting pressure on personal relationships; hasty decisions are advised against since information is distorted and possibly false; health problems are associated with it. That’s the same series as this August’s Eclipse. The following year Prince William was born on the day of a Cancer solar eclipse. This series is challenging, dealing with separations or the ending of a union.

In the 1 North series which oversaw Diana’s death: On the previous occasion in 1979, just five days before the eclipse Earl Mountbatten, the Queen’s uncle, was killed by an IRA bomb in Ireland. Rolling back one in this series to 1961, the Leo solar eclipse was the closest to the birth of Lady Diana Spencer (in July). Back two cycles in 1925, the eclipse was nearest to Maggie Thatcher’s birth in the October of that year.

Through 2017 and 2018 tr Pluto is opposing the UK’s 10^th house Moon, so again stirring intense emotions and strong reactions.

For all her flaws Diana was an extraordinary figure. Her chart, although not pass remarkable at first glance, at a deeper level reveals hidden abilities. Her super-star 22^nd is exceptionally strong; as is her humanitarian and indulgent 9H. Her leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H is well aspected, as if her healer/victim’s 12H; and her wheel-of-fortune, rise and fall 10H.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/26/the-princess-myth-hilary-mantel-on-diana