Richard Dawkins, the scientist, pro-atheist and anti-astrology pontificator, has suffered a minor stroke, causing cancellation of a speaking tour.

Born 25 March 1941, he’s a Sun Aries trine Pluto; with a heavyweight Jupiter Saturn in Taurus. His Uranus also in Taurus is in an Earth Grand Trine to Neptune and Mars in Capricorn, formed into a wide Kite by an angry, bulldozer Mars opposition Pluto.

An Earth Grand Trine will ground him in the material realm and a reality he can connect via his five senses; but will limit his imagination.

His Neptune in Virgo trines his Uranus for eureka scientific discoveries; and opposes a surprisingly sensitive Venus and maybe Moon in Pisces.

At the moment his Solar Arc Saturn is opposing his Mars which will bring a major-road-block.  Though I’d imagine he’s had a few warning signal in recent years with his Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Sun two years back; and Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his Pluto just before that.

Antonin Scalia, one of the Supreme Court’s most conservative members has died. With what was a five-four conservative/liberal split, his successor will be of vital importance to both major parties. Obama’s nominee is likely to be filibustered in an attempt to shunt the decision off till after the election in the hope of a Republican victory.

Scalia, 11 March 1936 8.55pm Trenton, New Jersey, was a vocal opponent of abortion, gay rights and gun control; pro-death penalty and supportive of business interests.

He had a grandstanding 5^th house Sun in Pisces trine a controlling Pluto in the legal 9^th conjunct the MC – so influential and attention-grabbing. His Sun was conjunct Saturn; and opposition Neptune square Jupiter in crusading and lawyerly Sagittarius. His Scorpio Moon opposed Uranus in his 7^th so both stubborn and contradictory.

Tr Pluto square tr Uranus had been in hard aspect to his 6^th house Mars in Aries recently, putting pressure on his health. His Solar Arc Pluto was also moving to oppose Mars over the coming year, bringing further challenges.

The Supreme Court was founded on 2 Feb 1790, making it a determined Sun Pluto in Aquarius; with Pluto opposition Jupiter Mars in Leo giving it supreme confidence though not always common sense.

Apart from tr Uranus sextile Pluto from late this month for three weeks which could cause an upheaval, there’s not much showing on the chart until 2017.

Actor Idris Elba is now a fully-fledged A-lister with an enviable track record of good movies and TV – The Wire, Luther, Mandela in Long Walk to Freedom, and most recently Beasts of No Nation which fuelled the recent Oscar diversity furore by being omitted, though it won at Venice and is BAFTA nominated.

Born 6 September 1972 in London, he has a sexy, dynamic Sun Mars in earthy Virgo which is in a hard-edged square to Saturn in Gemini. Custom-built for playing tough guy roles. Quite a few leading men are Virgo – Sean Cponnery, Jeremy Irons, Rufus Sewell

His Venus in late Cancer is trine Neptune, sextiling onto Pluto – charming, creative and controlling. Plus Pluto is also square Jupiter giving him the confidence to push. And his Venus is also quincunx Jupiter – so indulgent.

His Uranus in mid Libra is picking up the tr Pluto square in 2016/17 so a time of enormous change in his life.

Tamara Mellon, co-founder of Jimmy Choo shoes and style queeen of New York always sounded like one of these women who had it all, at least in material terms. The shoe connection sold out for mega-millions and although her most recent fashion business filed for bankruptcy with board/court room battles, she hasn’t been left short personally.

But her life story reads like a Greek tragedy with an abusive, alcoholic mother, a serious drug habit in her twenties and further vicious trust battles with her mother after her father died.

Born 7 July 1967 in London she is – not surprisingly – for a fashion designer with her finger on the pulse of public taste – a Cancer Sun and indeed Moon which square onto a forced-to-be-self-reliant Saturn in Aries. Her Sun is trine Neptune and sextiling onto a midpoint Uranus Pluto in Virgo – so creative and capable of pushing back the boundaries.

Her Sun is also widely square Mars in Libra. So overflowing with Cardinal signs and initiative, marked by a cold childhood which would induce depression but also sowed the seeds of determination and discipline. A North Node in Taurus hints at a rolling lifetime of financial battles.

Her Venus in flamboyant Leo likes the five-star lifestyle, as does her Jupiter also in Leo.

The first direct detection of gravitational waves is being hailed as ‘one of the most remarkable scientific breakthroughs of our time’ and proof of a prediction made by Albert Einstein a century ago. My knowledge of cosmic physics amounts to zero but the science community is abuzz with talk of astronomy and other fields of science now entering a new era.

Einstein, born 14 March 1879 11.30am Ulm, Germany, had a 10^th house Pisces Sun – Pisces oddly enough being one of the commonest signs amongst scientists and mathematicians. He also had a ‘eureka’ moment, inspired- innovation Uranus trine Neptune. Plus an utterly determined Mars in Capricorn sextile his Sun and trine Pluto in Taurus.

His leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17^th Harmonic is immensely strong with an Earth Grand Trine/Kite focused onto a North Node; and a T square focused onto Jupiter. His 11H is also notable.

It may just be coincidence but on his chart the Solar Arc Jupiter is about to cross the Ascendant, giving his image a considerable boost.

Two notable modern day physicists who have devoted their professional lives to pursuing gravitational waves are Rai Weiss, 29 Sept 1932 and Kip Thorne, 1 June 1940. Thorne also has a Uranus trine Neptune; and Weiss a focal point ‘breakthrough’ Uranus, with his Neptune in minor aspects to Uranus, Pluto and his Sun.

Nobel Prizes to follow.

Popular singer Barry Manilow, a stratospheric success in the 1970s/1980s though not much loved by critics for his sentimental middle-of-the-road schmaltz, has had to cancel singing engagements because of complications from surgery.

Born 17 June 1943 9am Brooklyn, New York, his chart does look very stressed at the moment with the Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Gemini Sun; and Solar Arc Pluto opposition his Mars in Aries. That latter is also picking up the tr Pluto square Mars all this year which is very blocked.

Tr Pluto is also just over the cusp into his 6^th house of health, so not a great time.

Tennis player Andy Murray and his wife Kim Sears had a daughter in the early hours of Sunday morning Feb 7^th in Surrey.

The new arrival will be quite a handful with an Aquarius Sun square Mars in Scorpio, so ultra-determined. Quite a charmer with Pluto Venus Mercury in Capricorn with a late Capricorn Moon also, all trine Jupiter in Virgo possibly on the Midheaven. Confident, sociable and not one to be overlooked even in a high-powered family.

Her mother also has Mars and indeed Pluto in Scorpio and Venus in Capricorn – so they will be reasonably similar.  All three have Saturn in can-be-opinionated Sagittarius – although that could also be serious about sport.

Both parents have Jupiter in Aries with No 1 daughter having Uranus there – so adventures ahead.

She looks close to her mother with a composite affectionate Sun Venus conjunction, though it won’t be without arguments with a stubborn and volatile composite Mars square Uranus.

Her relationship with father has an easy-going/spoilt composite Sun square Jupiter; with an emotionally heated composite Venus opposition Mars.

In the relationship charts of her with both parents there is a composite Saturn Pluto conjunction suggesting ties that chafe from time to time. It’ll certainly change their lifestyle which on a constantly travelling international circuit won’t always be easy with a baby.

Dan Walker, ex-sports presenter, is a new anchor for BBC’s flagship breakfast news and chat show. What has got the media buzzing, and up in arms, is that he is a creationist – believes the earth is between six and ten thousand years old, created by God, and the dinosaur bones were ????

Born 19 March 1977, he’s a New Moon in Pisces with planets in all three Fire signs including Neptune in Sagittarius. His Sun = his Neptune/Pluto midpoint; and his Uranus/Neptune and Saturn/Neptune all aspect his Pluto, Jupiter and Mars.

Neptune can, of course, be spiritual or psychic, but Neptune/Pluto tends towards the pursuit of fantastical ideas; Uranus/Neptune can sometimes lead to peculiar psychic states; and Saturn/Neptune finds it difficult to balance fantasy with reality.

Sarah Palin is also a creationist and her Neptune squares her Sun Mars Saturn, is sextile her Pluto and inconjunct her Jupiter, trine her MC – so heavily aspected. Her Sun aspects two Neptune midpoints; and her Jupiter aspects her Neptune/Pluto.

Chuck Norris is another, 10 March 1940 3am Ryan, OK and he’s a Sun Pisces opposition Neptune, with Neptune trine Uranus. His Jupiter is also = Neptune/Pluto; his Uranus =Jupiter/Neptune and his Neptune= Uranus/Pluto.

Wonder whether they’ll let Dan Walker interview Richard Dawkins?

The recent dip in the stock markets has fuelled fears of another banking crash with Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse suffering falls in share prices, though DB has recovered ground today.

Deutsche Bank, 22 January 1870, survived the 2008 crash unscathed and was always regarded as a bastion of solidity and security. Though it was maybe just better at hiding its pain than some of the others given the astrology it has lived through in recent years – Solar Arc Saturn square Mars, conjunct Jupiter and Pluto.

At the moment tr Uranus is moving to square Uranus for the final time next month; with an undermining Solar Arc Neptune opposition its financial Venus. So the swampy situation in which it finds itself will lead to some major changes. But it still looks all confusion and devastation through 2016/17 with tr Pluto square Neptune. Plus a huge, forced upheaval in 2017/18 from tr Pluto opposition Uranus. So nothing that will settle quickly.

Credit Suisse, 5 July 1856, if anything looks in a worse pickle with a discouraging and indecisive Solar Arc Sun square Neptune this year; and the dead-halt, scary tr Pluto square Mars exact now and around till late 2017.

The EU Central Bank (ECB) 1 June 1998, is feeling the full brunt of the neurotic tr Saturn square tr Neptune this year as it assaults and undermines the 10 degree Gemini Sun through until mid Feb 2017. Not happy and not clear what remedies will work. Dithering.

Joan Bakewell, now aged 83 and still sophisticated, has had a 50 year career in television (Late Night Line Up and on), a constant presence in newspapers, and is now in the House of Lords, giving a voice to the elderly. She’s been twice married and divorced and had a seven year clandestine affair with playwright Harold Pinter in the 1970s, the basis for his play Betrayal.

Born 16 April 1933 10.30pm, Stockport, Eng, she has a charming though freedom loving Aries Sun conjunct Venus Uranus in her 5^th house of entertainment and romance; squaring onto a Pluto opposition Capricorn Moon – so a love life definitely destined to be out of the ordinary.

She’s also of that 1933 group with Jupiter Neptune Mars in Virgo – Joan Collins was born five weeks later with it even more strongly marked since it squared her Sun Venus in Gemini.  In Joan Bakewell’s case, Jupiter is conjunct her MC, ensuring success and a secure reputation as she grew older to become a pillar of the community.

Her relationship chart with Harold Pinter – 10 October 1930 2pm London – is passionate, adventurous, clearly great fun with a composite Venus opposition Mars Jupiter; but there’s also a hint of bleakness and insurmountable obstacles from a composite Saturn opposition Sun Pluto square Uranus. It would be quite a roller coaster ride, going through major upheavals along the way and never destined to make it over the Saturnine hurdle.

Her Capricorn Moon fell in his 1^st and his Venus in Scorpio fell in her 1st so it would be an important relationship for both. His powerhouse Jupiter Pluto Mars in Cancer hooked into her Cardinal T Square, opposing her Moon and squaring her Sun Venus Uranus – so it would sizzle with energy though not always comfortably.

He then went on to marry writer Antonia Fraser.