Tracy Emin, the artist, is in soulful mood on the brink of her first New York exhibition in eight years.  Diagnosed with cancer three years ago she underwent major surgery leaving her without a bladder, lymph nodes, half of her vagina and part of her intestines. In an interview she said ‘I’ve always been alone. I really hope to find a soulmate before the end.’

Known as  the enfant terrible of the Young Brit Art scene, she was born 3 July 1963 at 6.50am London with an unwed mother of Romani traveller descent and a Turkish-Cypriot father who had another family. She left school at 13 and said she was raped at 13. Her work has been analysed in terms of childhood abuse and assault. She later had two traumatic abortions and went through a suicidal phase.

  She  came to public attention in 1997 when her work Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995, a tent appliquéd with names, was shown at Charles Saatchi’s Sensation in London. Two years later she won the Turner Prize with her installation My Bed –  consisting of her own unmade dirty bed with used condoms and blood-stained underwear.

  She has a creative 12^th house Cancer Sun trine Neptune in her 4^th house with an emotionally intense Scorpio Moon also in her 4^th which rules home and childhood. Her Moon squares an 8^th house Saturn which in turn is trine Venus Mercury in Gemini – so not much emotional nurturing.

  Her chaotic and turbulent life will be partly linked to a volatile collection of Uranus Pluto and Mars in Virgo, with assertive Mars in her 3rd. This is offset by a talented, lucky Jupiter in her 10^th which suggests growing respect for her abilities the older she gets. And given that her Jupiter is on the apex of a Yod to Mars sextile Neptune she has the potential to be influential out in society – as long as she keeps her ego and grandiosity under control.

  She does have her Progressed Moon moving through her 7^th house for another year which will make the lack of a partner more poignant. And her Progressed Venus is conjunct her Pluto also over coming months which will make her emotional reactions and yearning more intense. Tr Neptune square her Venus until late this December will being romantic dreams though perhaps also disappointment. Her Solar Arc Venus is opposition her Saturn this year which will also heighten her sense of being cut off from a supportive relationship.

  A different chart to Barbra Streisand but the same dilemma – all the success in the world and what they really want is a meaningful emotional connection.

  It reminds me of a friend, now gone, also with Saturn in the 8^th who was extra keen to find a soulmate and yet everyone she lighted on through dating apps was discarded as not right. She passed away without ever finding what you needed. Not that Saturn in the 8^th is necessarily partnerless – I have known long marriages in individuals who have it but it does seem to give a sense of never quite finding the depth of intimacy they would like.

Add On: Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, born 6 July 1907 8.30am Coycacan, Mexico had a fairly similar chart and an extraordinarily dramatic life with mind boggling health problems. She contracted polio as a young child and then had a bus accident in her late teens, which broke a vertebrae, her pelvis, ribs, legs, feet and a handrail pierced her abdomen and uterus. She had 35 operations in later years and was in constant pain throughout her life.  She married Diego Rivera, another Mexican painter, who supported her talent, who was 20 years older and obese. She was bi-sexual and both had multiple affairs.

 She was a Sun Neptune Jupiter in Cancer opposition a 5^th house Uranus Mars in Capricorn – so volatile, explosive, highly strung, showy, full of initiative but constantly pulled in opposite directions. Her 8^th house Saturn in Pisces was trine a Cancer North Node, sextile Moon MC in Taurus; and Saturn was also square Pluto Venus in Gemini.

   Her 10^th house Moon in Taurus would be the saving of her, bringing a public career that involved a tactile medium and involved a love of all things botanical. Her Venus close to Pluto and square Saturn suggests an emotional life both passionate and cold and inclined to promiscuity. She had affairs with everyone from Josephine Baker to Leon Trotsky.

She died aged 47, perhaps of an accidental overdose though she was in worsening health having had a leg amputated.

300,000 people marched through central London calling for a Gaza ceasefire in a peaceful demonstration apart from what the Met police called “extreme violence from right-wing protesters” who set out to confront the pro-Palestinian marchers. Nine officers were injured and 126 people arrested, the vast majority of them counter-protesters. Serious offences relating to anti-semitic hate crimes were also being investigated, presumably from both the far-right and the Hamas supporters.

  It saw the return of Tommy Robinson, the ‘opportunistic hero of the far right’, founder of the anti-Islamic English Defence League, who was on the front line, ringing with  chants of “England till I die” and “we want our country back with much waving of Union Jacks and the St George’s flag. But he departed before the Cenotaph and before he could be arrested.

 Robinson, 27 November 1982, returned to prominence a week after his return to Twitter/X from which he had previously been banned for five years. He founded the EDL on 27 June 2009 and along the way of his activist career he has been jailed six times, found guilty of libelling a fifteen-year-old Syrian refugee and convicted of prejudicing the trial of an alleged child-grooming gang. The catalyst for EDL was discovering Islamists were recruiting men from his home town to fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan. He is pro-Trump, praised by the Proud Boys and has a following among anti-Islam groups in Germany and Denmark.

  He’s a rebellious and outspoken Sun, Uranus, Mercury, Venus in Sagittarius with a tough-minded and angry Mars in Capricorn square Saturn Pluto in Libra.  His Uranus Sun are square the UK’s Pluto so upending the established order will be a trigger for him. Though he is nowhere as determined as Oswald Moseley, who found the British Fascist Party in 1932 who was a Sun, Uranus, Saturn in Scorpio.

 The English Defence League, 27 June 2009, has a controlling patriotic Cancer Sun opposition Pluto square a rebellious Uranus; with a crusading North Node in Aquarius; a passionate and doggedly obstinate Venus Mars in Taurus (like Hitler) – and a Jupiter Neptune Chiron conjunction in Aquarius. What it shares with the British Fascist Party, 1 October 1932, is a Jupiter Neptune conjunction which Liz Greene describes as messianic – on a divine mission to save. The EDL Pluto is square the UK’s Uranus – so again a clash of values with the EDL trying to impose theirs. Though they won’t be making much if any headway once Neptune moves into Aries and even before then their expectations will be disappointed.

The multi-talented Hannah Waddingham is on a roll, co-hosting this year’s Eurovision and recently Prince William’s Earthshot in Singapore and will be a constant presence in M&S and Baileys’ Christmas ad campaigns on TV. She is already laden with awards for Ted Lasso and has a substantial career as a stage actress and musical star on London’s West End and New York’s Broadway. She was described by one critic as the “Joanna Lumley of musical theatre”.

  She was born 28 July 1974 6am London with an opera singer mother and musical grandparents and grew up around the theatre.

  Her 12^th house Leo Sun is conjunct her Leo Ascendant trine Neptune and sextile Pluto making her an entertainer with an ambitious streak. She is lucky with Jupiter in Pisces in her 8^th, her gift from her ancestors. A 4^th house Uranus will keep her on the move domestically, despite her settled 4^th house Scorpio Moon. She’ll always have an ambivalence about staying in one place for long. Her Venus in Cancer conjunct Saturn gives her a sophisticated air though it won’t make finding romantic support easy, especially since both square Pluto. She’s used to emotional hardship.

 This year her Solar Arc Jupiter is square her Sun for a confidence boost. The recent Solar Eclipse was exactly opposition her Midheaven and conjunct her Uranus, which to all outward appearances seems to have brought all good news.

 Next year she will star in Tom Cruise’s next Mission Impossible – which may come with a caution warning given her Solar Arc Saturn square her Mars in 2024 which is accident prone.  His movies tend to be high on adrenaline rush and cliff edge stunts.

  Ahed Tamimi, the young Palestinian activist has been arrested accused of inciting violence and terrorist activities because of a post on Instagram which her parents say was hacked.  She gained worldwide fame in 2017 after a video of her slapping an Israeli soldier went viral on social media. She later said the soldiers had shot her cousin in the head just before the video was taken. After being released from prison, she wrote a book and crisscrossed Europe and the Middle East, campaigning against Israeli occupation. See previous post January 3 2018 below.

 Born 31 January 2001 in the West Bank, she has Uranus in Aquarius on the focal point of a Fixed T Square to  Mars in ultra-determined Scorpio opposition Saturn in Taurus. Custom built as a trailblazer for change, though also a law unto herself, she was born on Gaza’s Uranus Return.  She also has her idealistic Aquarius Sun conjunct Neptune. Tr Uranus opposed her Mars as this present violence erupted in early October and will square her Uranus through into December and repeating next spring. It’ll be a stormy passage.

  What intrigued me astrologically speaking is her Mars opposition Saturn. Queen Rania (post 7^th November below), also a Palestinian, has her Mars in Leo square Saturn opposition Neptune.  Winnie Mandela, who fought valiantly through her husband’s years in prison against oppression and apartheid, also has Mars in Leo opposition Saturn. She was ultimately corrupted by the brutal treatment she received from the South African authorities.

  Hard Mars Saturn aspects tend to go along with a life filled with acute frustrations and setbacks, often cruel treatment in childhood, and in some individuals can result in a resentful temperament, prone to outbursts of aggression. Unfairness is a key trigger.

  Mars, almost as much as the Sun, is the planet bolstering a strong sense of identity. “I want, I do, I am.” Where Mars is blocked either by harsh parenting or cruel circumstances there is an underlying sense of never being able to assert personal needs leading to a loss of personal autonomy.

 Mars Saturn has connections to the military since in a rigid command structure, personal needs have to be supressed to obey the orders of others. In traditional astrology Mars Saturn was the signature for assassinations and it does have a destructive side, not the least of which is a tendency for broken bones.

  It has its uses since it can induce grit, self-discipline and the ability and courage to keep trucking through challenging and even risky experiences.

  Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist for girls’ education who was shot by the Taliban, 12 July 1997, is another with a Saturn opposition Mars in Libra square her Sun.  

  Not all Mars Saturn types end up crusading against tyrannical rulers though they often go along with domestic dictators. Brigitte Bardot, 28 September 1934 1.15 pm Paris, has a Mars in Leo opposition Saturn in Aquarius, doubly emphasised since her Saturn is the focal point of a yod. Her childhood was prosperous; though she recalled feeling resentful in her early years. Her father demanded that she follow strict behavioural standards and she had few childhood friends. On one occasion when she and her sister accidentally broke a vase,  her father whipped the sisters 20 times and afterwards treated them like “strangers”.  The incident led to Bardot decisively resenting her parents and to her future rebellious lifestyle.

 Robert Downey Jnr, 4 April 1965 1.10pm New York, was introduced to drugs as a six year old by his addict father. He has Saturn opposition Mars (Uranus Pluto) which is a formidably difficult mix. What the boy wanted was a childhood, what he got was a drug habit as the only way to connect to his father.  What he wanted never came into the mix. It took him nearly forty years to get clean.

  Anyone with hard Mars Saturn aspects in their chart or those close do pitch in with thoughts if you feel able.

 Post January 3 2018: 17 year old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi’s trial in Israel will be held in closed court against the objections of her attorney. She is charged with 12 offences over multiple confrontations with soldiers spanning back to April 2016 – incitement to violence, aggravated assault, threatening a soldier, incitement on Facebook and throwing objects at people and property.  After an initial hearing the proceedings will start in March.

On this most recent occasion she was arrested for slapping an Israeli soldier (in full protective battle kit) after he and his colleagues had parked on her family’s land, fired a rubber bullet into her 14 year old cousin’s face and fired tear gas into their house. She is described as ‘a risk’ to Israel, was been held in isolation and denied access to her parents during interrogations.

  She comes from a family who have been engaged in active resistance to Israel’s occupation. From 2013 onwards, they have staged regular demonstrations against the military and the nearby settlers who have taken over their lands and water spring. The protests are met with tear gas, rubber bullets, skunk water and live ammunition. In 2012, Ahed’s father was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. In 2013, her uncle was killed by a tear gas canister shot to the head. In 2014, her mother was almost permanently disabled when she was shot in the leg. In 2015, a video of Ahed preventing her younger brother from being arrested went viral. Her cousins and her older brother have spent time in Israeli prisons.

  Born 31 January 2001 she’s a Sun Neptune in Aquarius; with an astonishingly formidable and aggrieved Saturn in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio square Uranus. She won’t budge easily.   Her Fixed Saturn, Mars, Uranus collide with Israel’s equally Fixed Taurus Sun square Mars in Leo. So it’s an inflammatory and unyielding relationship on both sides. The relationship chart has a bitterly hostile and struggle-to-the-death composite Mars Pluto opposition Sun square Saturn and they don’t get bleaker or more aggravated than that. Chained-together by circumstances and resenting it.

The cartoonists are having a field day with Home Secretary Suella Braverman who has deliberately defied No 10 by attacking the police over the pro-Palestinian rallies and her claims that for the homeless rough sleeping is sometimes a “lifestyle choice”. Getting rid of her is not an easy option for Rishi Sunak since she represents the hard right of the party who would not be pleased. And she might well appreciate being fired and dissociating herself from a government destined to be defeated, allowing her to take over next year as a “clean break” leader.

  Born 3 April 1980 she is an upfront, pro-active Sun Aries (like Priti Patel) in a controlling opposition to Pluto. On top of that she has a prominent Mars in Leo conjunct North Node square Uranus and square Venus.

  Interpretations for Mars Uranus squares run from self-willed, through obstinate, intolerant, argumentative, reckless, risk-taking, erratic and impatient about overthrowing the established order. Great for high-risk, solo adventurers for whom constant adrenaline rushes are vital, less so for a reliable team mate.

  This weekend’s Mars Uranus opposition will have her rattled up though it is not quite exact on her chart. On second thoughts, her Solar Arc Sun may well be exactly square her Mars at the moment if she was an early to mid morning baby and that will detonate her Semtex qualities.

  Her Term chart as Home Secretary is the same as Rishi Sunak’s PMship – 25 October 2022. Both are in the midst of a panicky phase with the smell of failure creating havoc. Tr Neptune square the Mars has been running through October staying in place until Friday 17^th next week and returns December 27 to early February. So an administration in trouble. Which does not mean it has to collapse but morale will be at an all-time low.

  Her relationship chart with Rishi Sunak is sagging badly, has been sagging badly for some time and will continue to do so for months ahead whether she is reshuffled or not.

  Braverman’s intemperate language over migrants and the homeless has run slap bang into the middle of the impossibly entangled Israel-Palestine mess which is peculiarly ill-suited to snappy soundbyte rallying cries from politicians or anyone else. Some of the free-Palestine demonstrators appear to have no understanding of who/what Hamas are. And equally the pro-Israel lobby refuse to consider the backstory and context.   All of which land in the midst of the Remembrance Day solemn memorials, important in the country’s history and especially dear to the hearts of the Tory Party, plus a discredited Met police – and it is a recipe for disaster.  

Portugal has lost its Socialist prime minister Antonio Costa, in power since 2015, as he resigns amid a corruption investigation linked to his government’s handling of lithium and hydrogen projects. He denies the allegations and said he would dissolve parliament after the November 29^th vote on the 2024 budget. It aims to scrap tax breaks for well-off foreigners, cut income tax for others, increase social benefits for the poorest and increase public investment to spur economic growth.

Antonio Costa, 17 July 1961, is a Sun Cancer opposition Saturn with his Sun conjunct Procyon, the fixed star which can carry the individual to great heights and then have them crashing down. He has an ultra-determined, can-be-ruthless Pluto Mars conjunction in Virgo which has moved by Solar Arc to cross his Neptune in the past three years, worsening the devastation over the next two years. Whatever happens with this investigation it won’t be his shining hour.  

 His third term chart, 30 March 2022 has a ratchety, prone-to-setbacks Mars Saturn conjunction with Mars square Uranus – and Saturn catching the disruptive tr Uranus square exactly now. This term also started on the prone-to-scandals Jupiter Neptune conjunction.

 His original First Term chart, 26 November 2015, has a bulldozing and over-controlling feel with Uranus opposition Mars square Pluto. The Solar Arc Mars is exactly opposition the Uranus now for an almighty jolt, ending his premiership with shocking suddenness. Tr Saturn has also been square the Sun through this year.

  Both his first and last term charts do appear to work reasonably well against events – Uranus Mars was clearly his signature. He started on it and has been cut down by it.

  The election is scheduled for 10 March 2024 when – a Mars in Aquarius square Uranus is in place. It will continue to edgy, uncompromising mood.

Portugal, 25 April 1974 5.15 pm Lisbon, has an 8^th house Taurus Sun which caught the recent Lunar Eclipse exactly so a crisis was always due. The Solar Arc Mars square Pluto is also catching the present tr Uranus opposition Mars for jolts and shocks.  Tr Neptune Saturn moving into Aries from 2025 will not make the two years after that a walk in the park  as it squares the Portugal Saturn Mars in Cancer and opposes the Pluto – uncertain, panicky, muddled; with tr Pluto waiting in the wings to square the Taurus Sun in 2026/27 – it’ll be a long haul and a transformed country when it emerges out of all of that.

Add On: President Marcelo de Sousa, 12 December 1948, has been in the position since 9 March 2016. He is a Sun Sagittarius as befits an academic, with his Sun trine Pluto and opposition Uranus. He has suffered various ailments in recent years and does look downbeat at the moment with his Solar Arc Sun opposition his Saturn.  His Presidency is moving into an unsettled, potentially disruptive time so may not last through 2024 and certainly 2025.

Worth watching out for is the following New Moon to a Solar Eclipse which often sparks up significant events. The Scorpio New Moon this coming Monday will be ramped up by the explosive Mars in Scorpio opposition Uranus and follow the powerful,  angry and forceful Libra Solar Eclipse of 14^th October.

  This New Moon will be primarily focused on Israel/Gaza since it falls with the New Moon Mars on the Midheaven there opposition a disruptive Uranus in the 4^th.

  But there does seem on a different level to be more mayhem than usual in various countries – the Myanamar rebellion against the illegitimate military government has scored notable victories; the Portuguese government has collapsed due to corruption allegations; the UK is in political chaos with the Home Secretary jousting with the police and prime minister; in the US the political circus gets more bizarre with Trump trials garnishing his credentials, the GOP hopefuls tearing out each other’s throats metaphorically; and Joe Biden abseiling down the polls and getting dragged into his family’s dubious China dealings during his VP-ship. Sigh, oh for the days of peace and boredom.

[From today’s Times: – ‘Think dear Uncle Joe’s angelic? Think again’

While attention is on Donald Trump’s corruption trial, evidence suggests the incumbent is no stranger to a ‘dodgy deal’

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/think-dear-uncle-joe-biden-angelic-think-again-comment-qvk6nxtbf

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Patrick Dempsey, formerly McDreamy of Gray’s Anatomy, has been named by the celeb magazine People as their sexiest man alive for the year. An accolade which has been handed to all the top male movie stars since Mel Gibson in 1985 onwards.

 Dempsey, born 13 January 1966 11.45am Lewiston, Maine, is smiling winsomely at the fuss, but clearly happy to have arrived at the top of the pile. In addition to acting he is also a racing car driver which as I recollect did not go down well with producer Shonda Rhimes on Gray’s Anatomy which he finally left in 2015.

  He is a Sun Capricorn on his Midheaven with charming and ambitious Venus Mars in Aquarius in his 10^th also, suiting him for a public career. His Mars is in a showbusiness square to Neptune and an exuberant trine to Jupiter in Gemini and a Libra Moon. So an Air Grand Trine plus a Capricorn Sun trine Uranus Pluto in Virgo in his sporting 5^th house – air and earth, a calming mix despite Uranus Pluto’s disruptive tendencies.  

 He was married initially to his manager and acting coach, Rocky Parker, whom he met when he was 18 and she was 44 which ended five years later in a messy divorce with her claiming abuse, which allegations she later withdrew. He has been married to beauty and hair care entrepreneur Jillian Fink since 1999 with three children.

  He does have Neptune in his 7^th so won’t always find close relationships easy and his present marriage nearly split a few years back.

  His first wife Rocky Parker, 26 February 1940, was, not surprisingly given the age gap, a highly Saturnine connection with her Saturn in Aries square his Sun and his Saturn conjunct her Sun – both have Libra Moons. Their relationship chart was expansive but also power struggling with a sticky yod with Mars on the apex – bound together but not enjoying it.

  His second wife, Jillian Fink, 4 February 1966, is less than three weeks younger than him. So their outer planets are in the same place. She has an Aquarius Sun in a conjunction to his argumentative Mars and like him Venus in Aquarius. Her Moon is probably Leo. Their relationship chart is affectionate and upbeat though with more pressures approaching after 2025.

  He is in a good phase career-wise with Saturn moving through his upper quadrant for several years. And especially now with Jupiter moving across his Taurus Ascendant.

Evil, insanity and scapegoating are a toe-curling trio selected by Liz Greene for a seminar, collected into a reissued book – The Dark of the Soul: Psychopathology in the Horoscope. It sounds like a niche subject of interest only to true crime aficionados but there are insightful thoughts on many standard chart aspects which will ring a bell as well. Plus the fact that psychopaths are not all serial killers. Many operate as senior managers in business and the less murderous variety are to be found in families and amongst friends.

  Psychopaths are 80% male, most suffered childhood abuse and often have a psychopathic parent. Their characteristics – grandiose self-worth, low boredom threshold, cunning, lack of remorse and empathy, parasitic lifestyle, lack self-control, lack of relatedness, don’t accept responsibility.

 Moon aspects to Pluto, Saturn, Uranus don’t come out well. A Pisces Moon opposition Uranus Pluto is highlighted as an indication of Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh’s instability stemming from his relationship with his mother –  a fear of engulfment sits side by side with a fear of abandonment; smothered then abandoned, repeat. He is also marked up by his Jupiter square Neptune giving him messianic tendencies.

Charles Manson is another example of a Moon in hard aspect to Uranus and Pluto. His mother was a prostitute who was imprisoned and he ended up in an orphanage.  Moon Uranus, she remarks, disengages from personal hurt to focus instead on a universal context; while Moon Pluto destroys.  Astro research on violent criminals indicate many have Moon Saturn or Moon Chiron.

   Uranus Chiron Saturn occur with frequency amongst psychopaths.

  The myths behind madness are explored including a comment on Uranian madness reflecting “a cosmic vision of perfection.” Uranus, the god, condemned/rejected his earthily children because of their ugliness. Which I confess I had never considered as an attribute of Uranus before but could be pertinent to the Aquarius shift ahead. Uranus, the castrated god, always being considered as anti-biology.

  The seminars initially took place during the Yugoslavia carnage in the 1990s, a reminder that war and savagery are on a constant loop as is scapegoating the ‘different’ other.

  Scapegoats in mythology were sacred, healing agents for a society to expel sins. In modern examples, the scapegoats whether in a neighbouring people or an individual within a family are made to feel inferior but in reality are seen as a powerful threat to stability.  For countries, fighting battles outside the borders leads to internal cohesion. In families, a child who sees the emperor has no clothes and threatens to disrupt the social glue will be scapegoated.

 Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader, ultimately charged with war crimes was a Sun Leo square Saturn with a Moon Chiron Pluto conjunction. Self-important yet harbouring self-doubts plus unhealable emotional damage from childhood. Both his parents committed suicide in later life so it must have been a depressed atmosphere for him as a child. Barbra Streisand also has a Moon Chiron Pluto so there are positive ways of living it out though it has clearly left its mark on her downbeat approach to life.

 The scapegoat syndrome inclines towards Sun Chiron,  Sun Saturn, Moon Pluto and Moon Neptune. 

  No great conclusions at the end since all these aspects appear in the charts of normal, law-abiding sorts but there is a wealth of astrological insights to be gleaned amongst the mythology and psychology.

“Sun Saturn says I’m not good enough, I’ll do something to make them approve of me.” Sun Chiron says: I’m not good enough and I never will be. They will always hate me whatever I do.”