India and Pakistan share the same start date after the bloody partition in the late 1940s though with different times for their state’s foundation.

 But both have Mars at zero degrees Cancer which will be rattled by tr Saturn and Neptune late this month to the end of February, which suggests a setback, flare up and high anxiety. In India’s case with a 2^nd house Mars there may be financial implications  with confusion about which is the best direction to take and what friends are trustworthy with Saturn Neptune moving through their 11^th house.

 For Pakistan it may be even more significant with their Mars falling close to their late Gemini Midheaven and tr Saturn already closing in on the square to their MC and opposition their Ascendant; followed by tr Neptune in their 7^th square the Mars till late February. Relations with neighbours may be confused and tense; with certain of their ambitions being thwarted. The massive Karachi shopping centre fire today with many dead may be a forerunner to what follows.

   Late 2025 was nerve stretched for both with the Solar Arc Neptune opposition the Uranus – again likely to be financial for India and pointing to internal or domestic confusion in Pakistan.

 India has tr Uranus moving across the zero degrees Gemini Ascendant from late April onwards suggesting they will take an independent line thereafter and will suit themselves no matter anyone else’s reaction.  
  Both countries will get a surge of confidence through mid 2026 from SA Jupiter opposition their Mercury.

 Narenda Modi, India PM started his 3^rd term on 9 June 2024 7.30pm which has the same ruthless streak with a Mars square Pluto echoing his natal chart and his first term. There will be lucky breaks through this year from late June onwards. Though, start time being accurate, he will run into disappointments in 2027 with tr Neptune opposition the Midheaven.

 Relations with Russia look most stressed ahead.

A group of Buddhist monks are over halfway along a 2,300-mile Walk for Peace from Texas to Washington DC, seeking to raise awareness of “peace, loving kindness and compassion”.  There are 18 monks, two of whom are following a Buddhist practice of never lying down during the three-month journey. One was injured in a car accident, had a leg amputated and is continuing by wheelchair. They stop at the capitol of each state they pass through, frequently drawing crowds of thousands of people, while their social media has attracted more than a million followers.

 They set off on 26 October 2025 at 9.30am in Fort Worth, Texas and aim to finish towards the end of February. With an ultra-determined Mars, Mercury in Scorpio on the Ascendant there will be no doubting their persistence in the face of difficulties. The Scorpio planets are in a creative, empathetic, self-contained Water Grand Trine to Jupiter in Cancer in the international and campaigning 9^th house trine a hoping-for-a-better-society Saturn Neptune conjunction in late Pisces and Scheat. Jupiter is in a confident opposition to Pluto giving a hint of facing up to authorities.

 The Scorpio Sun is in a stubbornly resolute square to Pluto; and the eternally optimistic Sagittarius Moon was square the swampy, end-of-an-era Saturn Neptune in Pisces and Scheat as the walk began. There is also a yod of Sun sextile a late Sagittarius Moon inconjunct Uranus marking the desire to upset the status quo. Such an apex Uranus can act as a catalyst for change. The yod is shifting as the Progressed Moon is tightening the aspects as the late February finish approaches with the transiting Saturn Neptune conjunction in Aries also coming together.

 What is intriguing is an assembly in late February of ‘nurturing’ Ceres, ‘wounded healer’ Chiron and Eris, planet of chaos and discord at 23/24 degrees Aries. It would be too much to hope that Ceres and Chiron manage to quell Eris but one can always hope.  See previous post: Eris – conflict and catalyst, 12th November 2025.

And https://www.neptunecafe.com/newsscope

Hugh Laurie is on top career form with two hit series on TV this week. He makes a surprise return as the ‘worst man in the world’ arms’ dealer Roper in the Night Manager 2 and as the nuclear inspector in Tehran on Apple TV. By any reckoning he has had the most extraordinary and varied career starting with the hapless Bertie Wooster alongside Stephen Fry,  the idiot Prince in Blackadder, onto a straight role as the grumpy genius Dr House which made him the highest earning television actor for several years with multiple awards to boot and an endless stream of films since.

 Born 11 June 1959 in London, tentative time 4.30pm, he’s a multi-tasking Sun Gemini with an entertaining stellium in Leo starting with a passionately enthusiastic Mars Venus conjunction then Uranus Moon. He also has a tough-minded and ambitious Pluto in Virgo trine Saturn sextile Neptune. His Neptune is square Venus Mars which will be helpful in the entertainment business. His Jupiter in money-magnet Scorpio is in a pushily confident square to his Pluto. His actor’s 15th Harmonic is very strong.

  He’s heading for more success as Jupiter heads for his 10th house after mid 2026 (birth time being accurate). Though he’ll be making significant changes in his life with tr Uranus square his Pluto and tr Neptune square his Saturn from May/June this hear onwards. And tr Pluto opposition his Venus this year and Mars in 2027/28 which will ramp up his emotional intensity.

 As anxieties soar about the state of the globe, the entertainment world amuses and distracts with the latest hit Heated Rivalry about two gay Canadian hockey players. Based on a best-selling trilogy of novels by Canadian Rachel Reid, a lifelong hockey fan who worried about homophobia in the sport, it has created a storm in its television adaptation.

 Described as “balls-to-the-wall erotic programming. While not hardcore porn, the show does go well beyond suggestion, with plenty of full nudity, extended sex scenes, depictions of oral and penetrative intercourse as well as mutual masturbation — all presented with top-rate production values, idealized perfect male bodies and storylines that leave plenty of room for romance and even affectionate dialogue.”

  One viewer comments “Is it just me or does “Heated Rivalry” feel like it’s really just gay porn for straight women?”

  The fan audience is evidently mainly women. A withering review in The Guardian says the show “is content to exploit gay culture without understanding it in a meaningful way. There is a weird kind of fetish in these works that de-sexes gay men just enough to make them palatable, like pets for young women.”

  I am trying very hard not to sound like Mary Whitehouse, who campaigned against social liberalism and the permissive society on media in the 1960/70s. But there is a ???? something about the no-lines-that-can’t-be crossed approach nowadays which is unnerving especially for television coming in to family homes.

 The western societal/cultural swing away from a repressive approach to sexuality, at least on the surface, was in part a result of Freud’s writings in the early 20^th century which laid the groundwork for Kinsey’s reports on sexuality circa 1950; and was then blasted into fast-forward by the 1960s revolutionary Uranus Pluto in Virgo with homosexuality being legalised in the UK; and women’s liberation and the pill taking the brakes off the old ways.

 As ever the pendulum has swung too far the other way nowadays with concerns about children being exposed to online pornography from as young as nine which has been linked to low self-esteem and harmful views of sex and relationships.

 Looking across recent raunchy rom-coms there are some similarities.

 Rachel Reid, 2 September 1980, author of Heated Rivalry is a Sun Jupiter in Virgo with Venus in Cancer square Pluto and Mars in Scorpio.

E.L.James’ author of Fifty Shades of Grey, an erotic BDSM novel plus movies, 7 March 1963, is a Sun Jupiter in Pisces with Venus in Aquarius opposition Mars in Leo.

 Mars in hard aspect to Venus is one common trait which is shared in the publication date of the Heated Rivalry novel published 25 March 2019, with Venus in Aquarius square Mars in Taurus.

  Mars Venus does have a negative side hinting at sexual gratification split off from emotional feelings which can lead to sensitive individuals getting hurt, and even lead to abusive behaviour. 

  In these examples Mars is also in a Fixed sign – as it is in Jilly Cooper’s chart, 21 February 1937, whose novel Rivals was recently aired in a TV adaptation with its rampant sexuality at full throttle.  She had Mars in Scorpio sextile Neptune inconjunct Venus.  

  Mars rules testosterone and in Fixed signs is at its most covetous/greedy.

  It is the splitting of emotional connection from the sex which is the issue – in chakra terms the heart from the primitive base.

 No great conclusions though interesting to see if the Fire Air emphasis ahead makes a difference – Pluto in Aquarius trine Uranus in Gemini sextile Neptune in Aries.

  Although Aquarius is a sign connected to sex experts and sex obsessives – William Burroughs, Lord Byron, Rabelais, Havelock Ellis, Dr Alex Comfort. Sex up in the head. And with Aquarius’s leaning towards technology the problem of social media porn is unlikely to go away.

New Zealand has been on a long haul post-Covid with a punishing Pluto trail through its domestic 4^th house across its Sun Mars in late Capricorn and square its Pluto which has now finished. Tr Pluto is moving to square the 6^th house Uranus from mid February 2026 to late 2027 which suggests a definite shift out of a rut. It may be turbulent, bringing upheavals and forced change but it will pull away from an extraordinarily difficult past few years.

17 January 1853 12 am Wellington NZ is the chart that works best.  For a country that gives the impression of being a sedate backwater it does have a powerful chart spilling over with initiative and progressive ideas – with a Sun Mars in Capricorn square Pluto in Aries conjunct Uranus. Though it will have had a history of going through periods of constant churn. Its Saturn Uranus conjunction also has the capability of merging old and new and making it stick.

  The present prime minister Christopher Luxon, former CEO of Air New Zealand, who succeeded Jacinda Ardern, is an evangelical Christian, recognised as a social conservative. He has shrunk the civil service, introduced cuts to healthcare expenditure, the three-strikes sentencing law and a pilot military-style boot camp for youth offenders, and enacted billions in tax cuts. In foreign policy, he has increased military spending and Five Eyes cooperation in a general pro-US shift. His coalition partner Winston Peters and David Seymour have openly challenged his authority.

He is a Sun Cancer probably opposition a Capricorn Moon square Jupiter so upbeat and confident; with his Sun in an ambitious trine Neptune sextile Pluto; and a hope-for-a-better-society, though at times indecisive Neptune opposition Saturn.

 He’s in a nerve stretched year with tr Saturn Neptune opposition his Uranus and lacklustre midpoints, running into the buffers by 2027 with Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Pluto.

 His Term chart, 27 November 2023 11.18 am Wellington, NZ, is certainly getting rattled up through this year with tr Uranus opposition the Mars in May and July, returning till early 2027 which suggests high insecurity and arguments.

 Relationship charts with their main trading partners – China, Japan, South Korea, Australia seem OK moving ahead. With Russia not so much – aggravated and disappointed in 2026/27. With the EU also stressed and more so with the UK. So so with the US.

 It has been a truly difficult decade for New Zealand even before covid with tr Uranus in Aries rattling up their Sun Mars and Pluto in 2017/18. Gradually they are aiming for a resurgence which will come after new systems are put in place in 2026/27.

Super-star singer of yesteryear Julio Iglesias is being investigated by Spanish judiciary over sexual assault allegations by two former workers.

  He has been a household name in Spain since the 1960s and was established as a star in the English-speaking entertainment industry with his million selling 1984 album, which included the single “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before“. He also covered “The Air That I Breathe.”

   Born 23 September 1943 11.30 am Madrid, Spain, he was heading for a professional football career but a serious car crash when he was 20 left him unable to walk for two years. In hospital a nurse gave him a guitar which nurtured a love of music. After finishing a law degree he embarked on a singing career.

 He has a showy Jupiter in Leo conjunct the North Node on his Midheaven for confidence and good fortune in his career, along with Venus in Virgo in his 10^th for a charming image. An 11^th house Virgo Sun conjunct Neptune and Mercury is square an 8^th house Saturn in Gemini for a hard-working and defensive streak in his personality. He also has Mars Uranus in his 8^th which suggests subterranean depths of volatile energy. His Venus squares Uranus making him emotionally changeable. A 9^th house Cancer Moon as well as Pluto would give him international influence, strong opinions and point to an early interest in a law career.

 He has been married twice with three children from the first and five from the second. When he had his accident in 1963, his Progressed Moon had just started to move through his 6^th house of health. Tr Pluto squared his 8^th house Uranus for a tremendous upheaval. Tr Uranus through his 10^th changed his life’s direction. Tr Neptune into his 1^st would leave him confused for a while about his identity and image.

  There is no saying whether the allegations are true or not. What is clear is he is in a slump at the moment with tr Neptune opposing his final degree Virgo Sun exactly now till March 2026 and tr Neptune opposition his Neptune Mercury (with tr Saturn adding its blight as well) in coming weeks and month. Thereafter it looks tricky for several years ahead with late 2027/28 flagged up as stressful and worrisome.

  The EU is facing a troubled few years ahead with dashed hopes on the financial front, underhand secrets and dirty dealings exploding into the open, and severe perhaps existential challenges at the end of the decade.

 On the 31 December 1957 11pm Brussels chart, tr Pluto will square the 2^nd house Neptune  through 2026/27 which will bring confusion, indecision and uncertainty – maybe even scandals since the EU Jupiter is conjunct the Neptune.  In 2026 as well the Solar Arc Sun will square Saturn for a discouraging mood and setbacks.

  Tr Uranus will start to square the 12^th house Pluto from June 2026 on and off till April 2027 which will bring an upheaval and make obvious the necessity for radical change both in transparency issues, decision-making and in communication. Tr Uranus continues on in 2027 to oppose the 3^rd house Mars in Sagittarius which will bring jolts, jangles, high insecurity, perhaps disruptions to communications and travel and the likelihood of impulsive over-reactions.

  There will then be tremendous pressures financially and in terms of future direction by 2029/30 with tr Pluto opposition the 11^th house Uranus and square the 8^th house Moon. And an undermining tr Neptune square the Sun in 2029/30.

The Maastricht Treaty chart, 1 November 1993 12 am Brussels, with different aspects is not much smoother ahead with sudden changes of direction due to tr Uranus conjunct the Solar Arc Midheaven from July 2026 into 2027. The Solar Arc Uranus Neptune will square the Mars Pluto and Moon in 2028/29 which will be a life changing crisis. Plus tr Pluto square the Sun in 2028/29.  If it holds together it will be an entirely different entity altogether by 2030.

  The 2004 enlargement 1 May 2004, which brought in largely east European countries –  the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia – and Cyprus, will be under heavy pressure late decade with tr Pluto square the 10 degree Taurus Sun following on from the panic and uncertain tr Neptune square the Saturn just before.

 Both EU charts above show anxiety ahead vis a vis Nato with setbacks, dither and divisions this year on the Maastricht/Nato relationship chart with tr Saturn Neptune opposition the Sun Pluto and tr Uranus opposition the Saturn Neptune. The 1957 EU/Nato relationship will be under considerable pressure and challenges for change with tr Pluto square the Sun this year and next.

 What is striking is that USA relations with both EU charts are in essence cemented together and though showing some strain increasing towards late decade, they will not be as bad as the EU/Trump chemistry.  He will be displaying his standard histrionics towards Europe this year and on. 

 Jerome Powell, head of the US Federal Reserve,  has said the criminal investigation into him is a pretext. “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president.” Trump has repeatedly attacked Powell, calling him a “stubborn mule” and a “numbskull” for declining to cut borrowing costs more aggressively and has repeatedly said he would “love” to fire him.

 Powell said: “Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats,” he said. “I will continue to do the job the Senate confirmed me to do.”

 Powell born 4 February 1953, is a steady Sun Mercury in Aquarius opposition Pluto. He has a yod onto a focal point Mars in Pisces inconjunct Saturn Neptune sextile Pluto – with his Mars sitting on the cusp of Trump’s financial 8^th house – which makes sense as Powell’s assertiveness hits Trump at a deep level psychologically by disagreeing with him and in the pocket book. Powell’s Jupiter in Taurus is square Trump’s hidden 12^th house Pluto for another tussle for the upper hand and last word. With Powell’s Sun North Node also opposition Trump’s Pluto. So he will trigger all of Trump’s vengeful rage and tendency towards underhand tactics.

 Powell’s 2^nd Term chart, 23 May 2022 has a panicky Solar Arc Neptune conjunct the Term Mars now as well as an ebullient SA Mars conjunct the Term Jupiter – with tr Uranus moving to square the Gemini Sun as his term comes to an end in May – though evidently he could stay on to 2028 if he wanted.

 The relationship chart between the US Federal Reserve and Trump is showing signs of alarm from late June with tr Uranus square the composite Neptune.

 The US Federal Reserve chart itself, 16 November 1914 9 am, is under worrisome influences this year with tr Neptune in a highly uncertain square to the Saturn Pluto in Cancer until January 2027. With jolt, jangles and shocks from mid June 2026 into 2027 with tr Uranus in a high-insecurity opposition to the composite Mars – when it registers on the Trump/Fed Res relationship as well.

A financial analyst said: “Markets will start to price in greater inflation expectations, inflation risk premium, and term premium if the Fed’s independence comes under further attack. We don’t appear to have hit it yet, but every action is another step closer to it.”

 If nothing else reins Trump in, the markets will.

Away from tawdry politics, meltdown neurosis about the state of the world and flim flam celebrities, there is the inspiring and remarkable tale of Charlie Dalin, a French offshore sailor. Having been diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer, he decided against the odds to compete in and won the Vendée Globe yacht race around the world last year. He took 64 days plus a few hours, beating the previous record by 9 days while taking immunotherapy pills.

It is the world’s toughest solo, non-stop, unassisted round-the-world yacht race, often called the “Everest of the Seas,” rounding the three great capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin, and Cape Horn) and is regarded as a legendary human adventure of endurance. Held every four year, about 40 professional sailors take part with nearly half never finishing, many capsize. One was never found.

 Since finishing last year he has since undergone surgery.

  Born 10 May 1984 4.50pm Harfleur, France, he was brought up by a single mother who worked as a bus driver and a sales assistant and a local sailing club loaned him a boat.

 He has an extraordinarily fixed and enduring chart with an 8^th house Sun Venus in Taurus opposition Mars Saturn in Scorpio with Pluto in Scorpio as well. His 12^th house Virgo Moon is trine a 4^th house Jupiter in Capricorn trine his Venus Sun in an Earth Grand Trine, formed into a Kite by Sun Venus opposition Mars Saturn.  Stubborn to the nth degree in terms of hanging on through thick and thin, disciplined and willing to put up with cruel conditions (Mars Saturn).

   With Mars in Scorpio as a leading planet off the Grand Trine/Kite he will be competitive/ambitious to an extreme degree and it was evidently coming in second in the previous Vendee which pushed him to compete last year, while suffering the debilitating effects of cancer and its treatment.

  His chart also has a focus on Earth with its knack of coping with practicalities.

  His Neptune is conjunct his IC so living beside the sea will be his ideal but it is not strong in his chart.

  His chart reminded me of Chay Blyth, the Scottish lone round-the-world yachtsman, born 14 May 1940, 4.30am Hawick, Scotland. He was also a Sun Taurus in his case conjunct Uranus with Mercury Saturn also in Taurus, plus Neptune in Virgo in his 6^th house and a Capricorn Midheaven.

  I met him years ago and quizzed him about his chart, surprised to see so much Taurus and feet-on-the-ground energy, and asked how he coped. What stuck in mind was he said he had ‘no imagination’ which he thought helped with potential risks. He handled whatever happened and got on with it and did not spend time thinking about the worst that could happen.   

ADD ON: Skipping down a list of women solo sailors there is a smattering of Virgo planets though a less obvious Earth weighting. Pluto appears strongly in most.

Jeanne Socrates – Mars Mercury Neptune in Virgo with a Leo Sun conjunct Pluto.

Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz  was a Sun Pluto in Cancer trine Saturn in Pisces with Mars Mercury also in Cancer. Neptune in Virgo and Uranus in Taurus.

Ellen McArthur also Cancer Sun conjunct Venus square Pluto. Jupiter in Taurus and Mars in Virgo.

Kay Cottee Sun Mercury in Aquarius with Mars in Scorpio square Pluto.

Naomi James, Sun Mars in Pisces inconjunct Pluto; with Saturn in Virgo and Jupiter in Capricorn. Four other planets in Air.  

  The two Trump henchmen, son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Jnr, will be a better guide ahead since neither is likely to be tossed aside as other high-level appointees might be when/if they fall out of favour.  

 Donald Jnr, 31 December 1977, starts a long trail of transiting Neptune undermining his Venus in Capricorn from this June onwards and moving on to square his Sun in 2029/30. None of which looks successful or confident. His Solar Arc Uranus will conjunct his Venus for further upsets this year, emotional and financial.

  Tr Saturn will square his Jupiter and then his Venus Sun from early this February 2026 to January 2027 for another discouraging patch. Tr Uranus is square his Saturn throughout 2026 for tensions and eruptions of impatience. His Solar Arc Sun will oppose his Saturn for a downbeat 2027. Early 2028 he has SA Mars square his Jupiter for an impulsive, over-confident push.

 None of which may mean disaster for him since working at that high level is stressful. But he looks to be hitting the skids by 2029 with an undermining tr Neptune square his Sun and worse tr Pluto opposition his Mars in 2029/30 which will be trapped and frustratingly stuck.

  His relationship with his father is none too upbeat this year with tr Saturn and then Neptune conjunct the composite Sun; with tensions and upheavals from tr Uranus square the composite Uranus. If Trump senior continues to sing and dance, 2030/31 will be worse between them.

Jared Kushner, 10 January 1981, follows roughly the same trajectory as Trump Jnr since his Mars at 8 degrees catches the tr Pluto conjunction throughout 2028/29 which will be completely blocked. And 2029/30 look fraught in terms of money and ambitions.

 Before then, his relationship chart with Trump Snr will be edgy and impatient this year from May onwards with tr Uranus square their composite Saturn at one degree Virgo. Tr Neptune will square their composite Sun throughout 2027 and right through the 2028 election which suggests either that joint ventures are not producing hoped-for results – and/or that Kushner is well out of favour. The election itself has tr Uranus square the composite Uranus upsetting their apple cart. [Though to be noted Kushner has had health problems recently – so any recurrence would obviously affect the above.]

  Of the other two top level wingmen:

 Marco Rubio, 28 May 1971, is having an unstable and chaotic time from now until early 2028 with tr Uranus opposition his Jupiter Neptune in Sagittarius and conjunct his Saturn in late Taurus and Gemini Sun – there could be scandals (Jupiter Neptune) as well as overly optimistic plans being exposed as unrealistic. His relationship with Trump will be mired in confusion with losses and rising worries from exactly now to mid February and again mid August to mid December 2026.

 J.D. Vance, 2 August 1984 8.11am Middletown, Ohio, has more of a mixed bag with some pluses as well as minuses. Tr Uranus is square his Ascendant at the moment as he attempts to alter his image. Tr Neptune (and Saturn) is square his 5^th house Jupiter this year and into next which will deflate his confidence with failed plans; with an uncertain SA Neptune opposition his Saturn in 2027 and a lacklustre SA Neptune opposition his Sun exact in early 2028. His SA Pluto will also upend his 4^th house Uranus this year perhaps hinting at domestic upheavals.

  But by the election in 2028 he has an upbeat Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Jupiter and Solar Arc Midheaven opposition his Jupiter which will restore his self-esteem and morale; with tr Jupiter in Libra propping up his Libra Moon late year and heading to bring success as it is conjunct his Pluto after the Inauguration. Though he won’t enjoy what comes after since tr Pluto opposition his Leo Sun and square his Saturn will make 2029/30 extremely tough going.

  His relationship chart with Trump has not much showing apart from some aggravation at the moment – and birth times being accurate – issues around health and money looming large.

 None of which means Vance would win if he stood in 2028 – much river to flow under the bridge before then – but the fate of Donald Jnr and Kushner might suggest with more certainty that the Trump years are over by 2028 and on.