Dictators come in all walks of life and old style orchestral conductors were always renowned for their ferocity when it came to exerting their will and their wishes. A spat this week between Sir John Eliot Gardiner, a highly respected maestro, who reportedly threw a punch at a young singer as they left the stage, has effectively ended his career. Renowned as inspiring, he clearly finds the balance between perfectionism and impatience tricky.  He is not alone. Georg Solti was evidently known as the ‘screaming skull’ by his London orchestral players.

  Gardiner, 20 April 1943, England, has two yods of a final degree Aries Sun sextile Mars and exactly quincunx Neptune; and Mars in Pisces on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Neptune. That is a fascinating battle between musical/creative Neptune and short-fused Mars. To make it worse his Mars is square Uranus, Venus and Saturn which is highly combustible.

 Georg Solti, 21 October 1912 Budapest, Hungary, had an ego-centric Sun Libra on the focal point of a highly-strung opposition of Uranus to Neptune. His Mars in extra-determined Scorpio was quincunx Saturn and possibly in a Water Grand Trine to Pluto trine a Pisces Moon. Much revered by his fans but not a man to cross.

Leonard Bernstein, 25 August 1918 1pm Lawrence, MA, also had Mars in Scorpio trine a super-confident Jupiter Pluto in Cancer and square Neptune Venus in Leo; plus a willful, innovative Virgo Sun opposition Uranus.

 Herbert von Karajan, 5 April 1908 10.30pm Salzburg, Austria like Solti had the Uranus Neptune opposition square his Sun, in his case in Aries. His Mars in last degree Taurus conjunct Venus was on the focal point of a mini Grand Trine of a high-vitality Jupiter trine Saturn.

 Anatol Dorati, 9 April 1906 6am Budapest, was an Aries Sun opposition a Libra Moon with his Mercury in Aries square a Uranus opposition Neptune. His Mars in heavyweight Taurus was trine Uranus and inconjunct his Moon.

  No great conclusions other than noting the prominence of Mars in all the above charts – and the particular contradiction in John Eliot Gardiner’s case between his Mars and his Neptune.

  While in no way wishing to condone bad behaviour I have an edgy feeling that present trends don’t allow for the realities of human nature. A well-behaved, vanilla-temperament is unlikely to exhibit great talent. In show business, as Glenn Close once remarked, it is understood that creative types often walk near the edge psychologically. Or as an old horse dealer I once knew said “the good uns always have a streak up them.”

Add On: Daniel Barenboim, 15 November 1942 11.35 am Buenos Aires, Argentina, hugely respected as a conductor and an outspoken critic of Israeli government policies towards Palestinians has a similarly prominent Mars as above. His Sun and three other planets are in Scorpio including his Mars which is square Pluto and inconjunct Saturn (latter like Solti). Balancing the high vitality of Mars with Saturn and Pluto not easy.   

Veronika Dudarova, born 5 December 1916, Baku Azerbaijan, was the first woman conductor of symphony orchestras in the 20th century – Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and she founded the Symphony Orchestra of Russia. She was ‘distinguished by her indomitable character, willpower, and supreme professionalism.’

  A Sun Sagittarius with a super-intense Mars in Capricorn which was opposition Pluto and inconjunct Saturn and Neptune. Weird who’d have though Mars inconjunct Saturn would be a musical maestro’s astro-signature.

The fog of war combined with the murky waters of spook-dom make it impossible to know whether Putin got payback on Yevgeny Prigozhin for his mutiny by crashing his plane – or thinks he did and YP sensibly skipped out – or indeed whether it was an act of fate.  Time may tell.

  What is clear is that Russia is moving into considerable setbacks late this year and through 2024 into 2025/6. Both the 8 November 1917 and 8 December 1991 charts have Solar Arc Saturn square Mars in 2024 which is amongst other things assassination-prone. Though there won’t be too many generals left to despatch at the rate Putin is trash-canning them.  The 1917 chart also has a major collision of sorts, exact late this year as well.

  Putin’s 4^th Term chart, 7 May 2018 11.05am,  was always brewing up to its most toxic and high-risk exactly now with the Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Mars. What may also be significant is that this chart has a Jupiterian yod which can trip itself up through over confidence and self-aggrandisement. The Jupiter has moved by Solar Arc to catch the tr Uranus opposition exactly at the moment. Which might suggest an over-reach that backfires.

  The Russian economy is in bad shape though it is hardly alone in that but it won’t help Putin’s popularity at home. See previous post 12 April 2023.

  There is nothing too illuminating showing up on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s chart (see post 4 November 2022). There is no date for the start of the Wagner Group though their first involvement was the invasion of Crimea which kicked off on 20 February 2014 – and that chart is badly rattled at the moment with tr Pluto square the Mars, tr Uranus opposition the Saturn and tr Saturn conjunct the Neptune – if that is a Wagner mercenary group chart it looks poleaxed.

Los Angeles is facing the same escalating homeless and addiction problems as San Francisco and feeling the pressure from weather challenges and the Hollywood strike.

  The foundation chart of 4 September 1781 is facing its Pluto Return in 2026/27 and before then will wilt slightly under tr Neptune in Aries hard aspects.  I’m not sure I don’t prefer the incorporation chart of 4 April 1850 which has been labouring under a transformational tr Pluto square the Uranus in recent years and now square Pluto, finishing up late this year. Tr Saturn in Aries in 2026/27 will bring a few hard realities to bear as it is conjunct the LA Inc Mercury, Saturn, Sun, Venus, Uranus and Pluto in the run up to the 2028 Olympics. But the Olympics does launch on its Jupiter Return year which should help when the moment comes.

  Hollywood, 1 February 1887, will be unsettled with tr Uranus square the Venus in 2024 but its greatest test comes as tr Uranus moves into Gemini in 2025 to early 2027 and squares the Mars and opposes the Hollywood Pluto. That looks high-risk and unnerving. Maybe dirt coming out into the open as well as a major upheaval. Plus major setbacks from Solar Arc Saturn square the Mars now as production grinds to a halt; with major blockages into 2024. And ditto ditto with SA Mars conjunct Saturn in 2025. The glitz and glitter will give way to gnashing of teeth.

 The California state chart, 9 September 1850, like LA Inc has Uranus Pluto in late Aries plus Saturn also in Aries. It will continue to rock n’ roll uncomfortably through this year and next as tr Pluto squares its Uranus Pluto and moves on to square the Venus.   California like LA Inc has Jupiter in Virgo which will be on form in the Olympic year.

  LA Inc, California state and Hollywood all have a Leo North Node so they will reassert their supremacy having been churned through the mill for a few years. They won’t be down and out for ever.  

Zimbabwe goes to polls amid a deepening economic crisis with  inflation into three figures and general gloom that the country’s history of disputed and violent elections will continue. Human rights groups say the same factors as before are in place – voter roll irregularities, public media bias, and the use of law enforcement and the courts to hamstring opposition campaigns.

 Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former spy nicknamed ‘the crocodile’ who replaced Mugabe as president after a coup in 2017, has failed to get the economy back on track but points to infrastructure projects and Chinese investment as offering promises for the future.

  The tragedy of Zimbabwe is profound having been turned from the bread basket of southern Africa into an economic basket case with nearly 3.8 million people going hungry this year. After independence in 1980 when Robert Mugabe took over he became increasingly authoritarian and during his time hyperinflation caused the  national currency to be abolished, the country ran out of food and fuel, and a quarter of the population emigrated. In 2000 he repossessed land from white farm owners causing the economy to suffer a major collapse and financial aid from the IMF and World Bank dried up in the face of economic sanctions. He violently crushed the opposition, stole elections, let cronies plunder the country, and threw $800,000 birthday parties for himself while his people starved.

  Zimbabwe became independent on 17 April 1980 at 10pm Harare  after a civil war with an Aries Sun opposition a 10^th house Pluto which was trine/sextile an 8^th house Mars North Node in Leo. No surprises that Africa acquired yet another dictatorial form of governance. Despatch one bully and their successor is no better. The pressures on the Zimbabwe chart will continue with tr Pluto square the Sun this year and move into explosive territory with tr Uranus opposition Uranus and square the Mars in 2024.

 Mnangagwa’s birth date was iffy though with a Virgo Sun conjunct the Zimbabwe Saturn. His Term chart, 24 November 2017 11.42am Harare, gave every indication of being a ruthless, control-freak and violent administration with an 8^th house Mars opposition Uranus square Pluto.

 His nearest contender Nelson Chimisa, 2 February 1976, is a friendly Sun Venus in Aquarius square Uranus and trine Pluto, sextile Neptune. He has a sprinkling of Jupiter but is in a trapped, frustrating year with tr Pluto opposition his Mars.  

  What intrigues me more than the present mess is Zimbabwe’s long history with human settlements there half a million years ago. Around the 10^th Century trade developed with Arab merchants on the Indian Ocean coast leading to the flowering of the Shona civilisation that dominated during the 13th to 15th centuries, which built great fortresses whose ruins are still in evidence. They traded gold, ivory, and copper for cloth and glass.  European explorers arrived, mainly Portuguese initially, which eventually began a series of wars which left the empire in near collapse in the early 17th century though the invaders were eventually repelled.  By the late 19^th century Cecil Rhodes and the Brits arrived, developed agriculture, stayed for 100 years and left.

  With such a substantial history behind it Zimbabwe exhibits a fairly typical trajectory of rise and fall, empires and civilizations blossoming and then crumbling into the dust. Sometimes Pluto Returns can plot the gradual switchovers. Pluto was in Libra when this recent independence took place in 1980 which has undoubtedly coincided with a slump. There was one in the 10^th Century as trade boomed and the following one in the 13th Century saw the start of the peak in terms of architecture, culture and wealth. Sometimes it is one Pluto Return and sometime two which alters the path upwards or downwards.

A quincunx, when two planets are 150 degrees apart, is an awkward customer. It pulls together by aspect two inherently different and contradictory elements and modalities. For example Aries with Virgo or Scorpio – a Cardinal Fire trying to make friends with a Mutable Earth or a Fixed Water. The two ends basically don’t understand one another and don’t see how to cooperate.

  Occurring in a birth chart, the individual will be a constant shifting from one to the other end of the quincunx internally, which increases strain and feels unstable. In order to reduce tension there will be a tendency to separate out the nature of the planets and live one without regard to the other and vice versa. For example, Moon inconjunct Saturn will be nurturing then lurch into cold rigidity/overwork. Moon Uranus sometimes caring and sometimes abandoning.

   Where a square strives to find a solution, there is more difficulty in containing the contradiction of a quincunx so life may be divided to allow different arenas to live out the separate energies. But that way the individual never feels completely whole and is constantly cutting off part of themselves to honour one planet or the other.

  In a relationship a quincunx between the respective suns can suggest a coming together of two individuals who don’t understand the other’s basic nature and aspirations – for example a Gemini with a Taurus, flyaway Air with steady Earth. It’s not that opposites don’t attract and sometimes a complementary match does work, viz. the late Queen Elizabeth (Taurus) and Prince Philip (Gemini) but they will probably operate in different spheres.

  The quincunx belongs to the 12^th harmonic which in numerology is the victim/healer number – being sacrificed to another persons’ plans or the victim of circumstances. This may be a consequence of living out only one end of the quincunx and ‘handing over’ so to speak to ANother the energies of the other end. There can be a problem of low self-esteem or irritation at having to constantly make compromises which don’t bring fulfilment.  

  Café Astrology says: “Quincunxes show areas of weakness, in terms of low self-esteem, that others find easy to prey upon. The individual, by not accepting the areas of life represented by the planets in quincunx, leaves himself or herself open to being taken advantage of.”

  Interestingly astrologer David Hamblin says he does not like working with the 12^th harmonic because of its ‘mixed’ nature. The 12th harmonic contains both 3’s (ease) and 4’s (dis-ease).

  12 may also make a conscious sacrifice and it can be creative.

  Being a minor aspect a 2 degree orb is probably in order.

  Even writing about it feels oddly left-footed. A life long task to make it work even more so than Chiron.

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A low key though glitzy celebrity marriage on Saturday between actress and former ballerina Margaret Qualley, daughter of Andie McDowell, and lead singer of the rock band Bleachers, Jack Antonoff, had Taylor Swift as a guest.

  It is a deeply Scorpionic match which won’t come without its tensions and challenges. He was born 31 March 1984 5.55am (rectified) Bergenfield, NJ and is a Sun Aries square a 10^th house Jupiter for success; with a 7th house Pluto, Saturn and 8th house Mars spread out through Scorpio which is a tricky combination even without Aries in the mix. He has spoken publicly about his struggles with depression, anxiety and obsessive–compulsive disorder.

 Margaret Qualley, 23 October 1994, no birth time, Kalispell, MT, has a Scorpio Sun conjunct his Pluto and her Pluto conjunct his 8^th house Mars; and her sociable Venus Jupiter in Scorpio conjunct his Saturn. Her Mars in flamboyant Leo is trine his Sun and square his Saturn. It will certainly feel ‘meant’ at least at the start and will be a close/controlling relationship with heavy undercurrents.

 Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus but with a tumultuous Uranus, Saturn Neptune square Mars so it will be roller coaster and only work where one is prepared to sacrifice a good deal.

  She is clearly attracted to tricky men with her previous liaison being with Shia LeBoeuf which ended when a former girlfriend of his alleged sexual assault and battery.

  Her mother, Andie McDowell, 21 April 1958 6am South Carolina, has had a chequered romantic history with one shortlived and another brief marriage as well as a fling with Dennis Quaid. She has a Taurus Sun conjunct her Ascendant opposition Neptune on her Descendant square Uranus in her 4^th – commitment would not be easy for her and she’d be constantly wanting to move one. She also has an attention-demanding and creative 5^th house Pluto opposition Mars and Chiron square a Taurus Moon which would have a considerable impact on her children.

 Margaret’s Scorpio Sun is conjunct her mother’s Neptune and opposition her mother’s Sun; with Margaret’s Mars conjunct her mother’s Uranus. Not an easy mother-daughter interface which perhaps explains why Margaret is attracted to intense and conflicted men since it is familiar territory for her.

  The wedding chart has a volcanic Mars trine Pluto trine Uranus with a yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Sun;  and a needs-space composite Sun square Uranus. That won’t be easy to keep on an even keel.

  What a pity, I started out with high hopes it would be all hearts and flowers. But alas ….

Katarina Johnson-Thompson has lifted sports fans’ spirits by achieving a heroic gold for GB in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

  What is fascinating is how difficult her basic chart is and how she has found a perfect outlet for high-stress influences.

  She was born 9 January 1993 in Liverpool, England and has a Capricorn stellium of Sun conjunct Neptune Uranus (Mercury) all opposition Mars in Cancer which mercifully squares onto Jupiter in Libra which will take some of the strain off and add a dollop of luck and enthusiasm. She also has a used-to-hardship Saturn in Aquarius opposition Chiron square Pluto. It is an unrelenting and volatile chart – with maybe a yod of Mercury sextile Venus inconjunct a Leo Moon.

  She had an English mother and Bahamian father, spent the first year of her life in Nassau when her parents separated, then returned to live with her mother. She did a sports science degree at university, having already won a heptathlon gold at the Youth Championships when she was 16.

 The heptathlon is a seven event competition, held over two days –  100 metres hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 metres, long jump, javelin throw, 800 metres. Versatility and stamina will be the key requirements.

She’s had a tough four year journey with injuries and lack of form since her last triumph in 2019 in Doha. During this time her Solar Arc Sun, Neptune, Uranus has been crossing her Saturn in Aquarius – bringing together the two key configurations in her chart which always bring a period of crisis.

Nice to have good news for a change.

San Francisco has lost its buzz with tourism down, the homeless and drug addicts on the street increasing as well as hotels and stores closing down or moving out as workers abandon their offices to work from home. The tech sector is also in a retreat with mass layoffs, a bear market for tech stocks, a collapse in initial public offerings, and a sharp drop in venture-capital funding.

  San Francisco was claimed by the Spanish on 2 November 1769 and incorporated 15 April 1850.

  The 1850 chart has a Sun, Uranus, Pluto in late Aries which tr Pluto has been labouring across since the pandemic and won’t clear till late this year. Though that does not indicate it will pull its socks up immediately. The tech surge in the 1990s coincided with the SF 1850 Jupiter being boosted by the Solar Arc Sun, Uranus, Pluto. But there’s nothing coming soon which would suggest a revival with a downbeat tr Saturn opposition the SF Jupiter in 2024. And more Saturn to follow as it moves through Aries in 2026/27.

 It does have a leadership Leo North Node which its SA Neptune deflated a couple of years back – so there will be an underlying urge towards reinvention after a downswing at some point ahead. Uranus into Gemini may help from 2026 onwards.

  The San Fran 2 November 1769 chart is strong, determined and talented with an Earth Grand Trine of Pluto trine Uranus in Taurus trine Neptune in Virgo, formed into a Kite by Uranus opposition Sun Mars in Scorpio – innovative, rebellious and never-say-never. There may be a few upbeat moments in 2025 with tr Uranus opposition the Jupiter. But it will take the rest of this decade until tr Pluto has squared Uranus and opposed the Mars and Sun before the phoenix arises from the ashes.

 Not only San Francisco is suffering from homeless drug addicts on the street. Philadelphia also appears to be in trouble. Maybe part of it is the USA’s Pluto Return painfully dragging to the close of an old era with decay and deterioration showing – plus Neptune in Pisces’s escapist/narcotic tendencies being exacerbated.  Roll on the good times when both Pluto and Neptune move on.

Much excitement amongst football fans about the Women’s World Cup Final in Sydney, Australia tomorrow as England face Spain.

  With a publicity-attracting Mars opposition Neptune across the axis of the start it was always going to be a hyped-event. There’s also an Earth Grand Trine of Pluto trine Uranus (Jupiter) trine Mars Mercury – so it should evoke strong feelings and pack quite a punch. Though that Trine is formed into a Kite with Mars opposition Neptune making Neptune the driving planet – it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.

 Sarina Wiegman, 26 October 1969, The Hague, the highly competent and high-vitality coach, is a Sun Taurus in a determined opposition to Saturn in Taurus; with an even more implacable Mars in Virgo trine Pluto. Her chart certainly suits the Final chart though there is not much of an indication either way from transits of anything that looks like a triumph.

  Other players’ charts are not much more informative.  Millie Bright, 21 August 1993, Chesterfield, Eng, is a formidable Sun Leo opposition Saturn in Aquarius square Pluto in Scorpio with only a couple of downbeat midpoints showing.

  Mary Earps, 7 March 1993 Nottingham, Eng, is a Sun Pisces trine Mars on one side and trine Pluto on the other with a quirky Uranus Neptune square Jupiter opposition Venus. Again short of specifics without a birth time.

 Rachel Daly, 6 December 1991 Harrogate, Eng, a lively  quadruple Sagittarius – Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury square Jupiter. She does have one upbeat transit assuming her birth time is not late in the evening and one less useful.

  Who would know?  Sports prediction is worse than political.

Add On. Jorge Vilda, the Spain coach and Ivana Andres, the captain, are both Cancerians (charts above) and each does have an upbeat Jupiterian midpoint over this weekend so will be feeling cheerful.