Martha Stewart, home lifestyle guru, has defied the doomsayers yet again by appearing in a swimsuit photoshoot for Sports Illustrated at 81. She rose to dizzy heights as a  businesswoman, writer, and television personality focusing on home and and hospitality, before ending up in prison for five months in 2004 for securities fraud and obstruction of justice. Once out, against the odds, she staged a comeback campaign and got her business profitable again and returned to daytime television with The Martha Stewart Show.

  She was born 3 August 1941 1.33 pm Jersey City, New Jersey, and is a determined Sun Pluto in Leo with her Sun trine Mars in Aries in her hard-working 6^th house and her Mars is trine an upbeat Sagittarius Moon. She also has the heavyweight and stubborn/enduring Saturn Uranus in Taurus of that period in a creative trine to Neptune North Node in Virgo sextile Mercury in Cancer. Planets in all three Fire signs will give her an attention-seeking and entrepreneurial tilt. Lucky Jupiter in her financial 8^th will give her a Midas touch. A full 9^th house will boost her communication and book-publishing skills.

  When she ended upon the wrong side of the law her Solar Arc Neptune had moved to oppose her Saturn for high uncertainty with tr Neptune in an undermining opposition to her Sun.  But tr Jupiter conjunct her Solar Arc Pluto hinted she was by no means devastated and in the two years following her Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct her Midheaven meant she was back in the public eye and pushing on with good results.

   At the moment she has tr Uranus just over the square to her Midheaven at 18 degrees Leo so her new venture into modelling for primetimers may lead on to other things; with her Solar Arc Uranus just across her Midheaven hinting at changes of direction as well. Financially she’ll have a few anxieties this year with tr Neptune square her 2^nd house Moon; and not all on the relationship front will be plain sailing with tr Uranus conjunct her 7^th house Saturn Uranus in 2024/25. But with her advancing years she may not be so concerned.

She looks good for her ninth decade.

  Her strongest harmonic is her 17^th – with a Sun, Pluto and Venus Jupiter trine, making a success out of good design; and a hard-working and communicative Sun, Saturn, Mercury T Square.

Wales is having a bad month with a damning report on a culture of harassment in the left-wing nationalist political party Plaid Cymru leading to the resignation of the leader. Then last night false social media rumours blaming police for the deaths of two teenagers in a crash in Cardiff triggered a riot.  Fireworks and missiles were thrown at police and cars set on fire by scores of masked youths with at least 12 police officers being injured.

   Unemployment may be partly the problem with economic inactivity in Wales, being the second highest of the UK nations and regions at nearly 25%, though the main cause is long-term sickness and disability, not lack of jobs.

   Modern devolved Wales, 31 July 1998, is a New Moon in Scorpio with a tough Saturn trine Pluto, and and attention-seeking Mars opposition Neptune square Venus. It does have tr Pluto conjunct the Neptune exactly now and through 2024 which is confused and devastating; with an explosive, volcanic Solar Arc Mars opposition the Uranus this year – hence this outburst of social violence. Tr Saturn is also in a blocked square to the Pluto and tr Neptune in a financially disappointing conjunction to the Jupiter this year into early 2024 which will lower Welsh self-confidence. Where the drive for radical transformation – or revolution – comes will be towards the end of the decade with tr Pluto opposition the Sun and then conjunct the Uranus.

 Cardiff was granted city status on 28 October 1905 – and although there were many historical precedents of previous Royal charters – this chart will have similarities to what went before. There are hints of rising anger from Solar Arc Mars moving to oppose the Mercury, exact in 2024. And with tr Pluto square the Solar Arc Uranus exactly now which is moving to oppose the Scorpio Sun, there is a hint of an upsurge of rebelliousness and a need for radical change.

  Plaid Cymru, 5 August 1925, holds four of 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, 13 of 60 seats in the Senedd, and 202 of 1,231 principal local authority councillors. A Leo Sun and North Node square Saturn in Scorpio; with Mars Neptune also in Leo and a pushily confident Pluto opposition Jupiter – it is very Fixed, thus enduring though lacking in adaptability. It is in a highly strung year with tr Neptune conjunct the Uranus and may face more revelations from this June onwards as tr Uranus squares the Neptune and then Mars in 2024.

  Nothing much to conclude apart from Wales being blighted by the same unrest as everyone else.  

Astrologically New Zealand was always in for a rough ride through the pandemic and in the aftermath. And recent indications are of a ‘stalled economy’ with diminishing activity in the manufacturing industry. The economy is shrinking, with speculation a recession may be approaching though GDP is rising, and unemployment remains close to record lows, at about 3.3%. Compared to elsewhere the statistics don’t look too alarming but local pain and panic are real.

  The New Zealand country chart, 17 January 1853, has a surprisingly tricky Sun Mars in Capricorn square Pluto and Uranus. That is being put under massive pressure not only by tr Pluto conjunct the Mars and square the Pluto this year and next bringing considerable frustration and panic but by Solar Arc Saturn square the Mars this year for a significant setback and opposition the Pluto in 2024, into 2025 which suggests deprivation and hardship.

  Tough times ahead all of which will lead to a disruptive tr Pluto square the Uranus in 2026/27 which in other countries might suggest a coup or a revolt but is more likely to be radical changes, either volunteered or forced by circumstances.

  This is the decade to test New Zealand’s resilience and it will be a different country when it emerges into the next decade.

  The Bank of New Zealand, 1 August 1934, will be forced/prompted to make sweeping changes when tr Uranus squares their Leo Sun within a few days and running on and off into early 2024; with further tensions and upheavals in 2024 with tr Uranus square the Saturn. At the same time in 2024/25 tr Pluto square the NZ Bank Uranus will demand a reversal of previous policies in an effort to cope with a rapidly changing and turbulent situation.

  Chris Hipkins’ government, 25 January 2023, is facing a testing three years ahead with tr Pluto moving to close the conjunction to the Aquarius Sun.  His own chart indicates a confident push this year and next; but he’s also running into a major setback by late 2024.

Be nice to think of one spot in paradise that is happy, contented and thriving. I’m open to suggestions.

Henry Kissinger one of the most influential, controversial and polarizing diplomats of the 20th century, is 100 this week. With his own philosophical take on history, he insisted on portraying himself as a realist, while burnishing his celebrity as a world figure.  Seymour Hersh portrayed him as an unhinged paranoiac; Christopher Hitchens thought he should be prosecuted as a war criminal.

  He was National Security Advisor and Secretary of State to two American presidents in an era when great powers were masters. He was prominent in US foreign policy between 1969 and 1977, pioneering the policy of détente with the Soviet Union, opening relations with China, engaging in shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East to end the Yom Kippur War; and negotiating the end of US involvement in the Vietnam War.

   He won the Nobel Prize in 1973 four years after he and Nixon began a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia, dropping more bombs on Cambodia than it had in the entire Pacific theatre during the Second World War, killing an estimated hundred thousand civilians. It hastened the rise of Pol Pot, and irrevocably ravaged large tracts of countryside.

  He was also associated with U.S. involvement in the 1973 Chilean military coup, a “green light” to Argentina’s military junta for their Dirty War and offered U.S. support for Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War despite a genocide being perpetrated by Pakistan. All under the banner of realpolitik.

  He was born 27 May 1923 5.30am Furth, Germany and escaped Nazi Germany with his family in 1938. What is surprising about his chart is firstly a 12^th house Sun Mercury in Gemini – the Gemini is understandable and I suppose the 12^th house power-behind-the-throne works, but he gives an impression of being attention-seeking. Mind you so does Tony Blair, another 12^th house Sun. In Kissinger’s case his Sun, Mercury are not well integrated with his other planets giving him an independent bent with considerable self-pride.

  The other is a prominent Uranus in his career 10^th. He certainly trod an unconventional path in his working life but he lacks the revolutionary, radical zeal of a true Uranian. His Uranus is in a Water Grand Trine to Pluto trine Jupiter in Scorpio – which can be healing and creative but tends also to wrap the individual within his own bubble of reality which can be divorced from what is going on outside.  His Uranus is also on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Saturn sextile Neptune which would make him rebellious, wilful, disruptive and a catalyst for change, for good or for ill.

  His 10^th house Uranus is also conjunct his South Node, which might suggest an unhealthy need to become an authority figure, achieve great things and put on a display, rather than attend to what is going on inside him emotionally.

  His Mars in Gemini is also not heavily aspected bar a trine to his Libra Moon and a wide square to Uranus – it would make him uncompromising and constantly on the go.

  An interesting chart even if his legacy is more than questionable.

 His global-influencer 22^nd harmonic reflects the brutality of his involvements with a Saturn opposition Mars square Pluto.  His leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H is also marked by violence/military leanings.

Sinn Féin has further established itself as Northern Ireland’s largest party, beating projections to take 144 of the 462 council seats in local elections and securing control of six of the 11 councils. The DUP was beaten into second place though is reckoned not to be down and out. It has been boycotting the  power-sharing government and assembly at Stormont for more than a year with  objections to the Brexit customs border in the Irish Sea and says the Windsor framework, agreed earlier this year to streamline trading rules, does not go far enough.

  The election results do not indicate backing for a referendum on a united Ireland within a decade. Candidates backing Irish reunification won 40.5 per cent of the vote versus 53.1 per cent for those wanting to remain British.

  Sinn Fein, 28 November 1905, has the upbeat and successful tr Pluto trine its Jupiter exactly now and returning next year, though tr Saturn square the Jupiter opposition Sun will damp enthusiasm slightly this year.  2024 looks high tension and unsettled, with discouraging progress in 2025 then a lucky break for positive change by 2026.

  Michelle O’Neill, the leader, 10 January 1977, is on a fortunate roll from this late June on and off into 2024 with tr Uranus conjunct her Jupiter – and in for a considerable challenge in 2024/25 with high confidence and difficulties.

  The DUP, 30 September 1971, is in a minor shambles with a disappointing tr Saturn square its Neptune Jupiter and Saturn this year as well as a stubbornly argumentative tr Pluto tr Mercury; with a disempowering tr Neptune opposition its Pluto in 2024, and a confused Neptune Saturn opposition Mercury in 2025, with an undermining tr Neptune square its Sun by 2027.  Not in a good run.

Their leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, 7 December 1962, is gloomy and jangled this year, confused and devastated in 2024, and jolted in 2025 – so none too happy either.

  The Northern Ireland chart, 7 December 1922 3.28pm, if the start time is accurate, is facing the heavily pressured tr Pluto conjunct its Midheaven this year and next. This suggests a slow grinding change of direction and the realisation of a change of status as well, sometimes with a loss of reputation and prestige. Tr Uranus has already been square the 18 degree Neptune in Leo at the start of this month which did hint at momentous changes ahead.  There will be emotional eruptions and arguments, maybe shocks, in 2024 with tr Uranus opposition the Venus and square the Mars into 2025. Even more than the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland will be a country searching for a direction.  

Rock star with drug habit isn’t news but Matt Willis of Busted has exposed the toll addiction takes on family life in a heart-wrenching documentary with his wife Emma Willis, presenter of The Voice.

 Surviving a messy childhood with parents divorcing when he was three, a ‘heated’ stepfather, separation from his elder brother, he smoked weed and drank from 13, was hyperactive and generally a problem child. He formed the band and by 18 was signing a six-figure contract. By 22, he was a cocaine and alcohol addict. He had several stints at rehab, joined the Church of Scientology and left when they deemed his partner of three years Emma a “Suppressive Person”. He married her in 2008 three days after he left yet another rehab, stayed sober, had three children and then relapsed after eight years as the band got back together.

  Born 8 May 1983, no birth time, he has a Sun in Taurus conjunct Mercury Mars which are conjunct Algol; with the tough-conditions, unyielding and can-be-prone-to-depression Pluto Saturn conjunction in Libra. Plus Venus North Node in Gemini opposition Neptune square a Pisces Moon.  It all adds up – with an indulgent collection of Taurus which is prone to the temptations of the flesh, never mind Algol. Plus a touch of the glooms from Saturn Pluto. And his only Water sign being a super-sensitive focal point Moon tied into Neptune.

  Emma was born 18 March 1976, a former model, presenter of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother and latterly The Voice. Her Pisces Sun will chime with his Pisces Moon though it squares with his evasive Neptune. Her Sun is in a pro-active square Mars in Gemini which also hooks into his central T Square – so she will chivvy him along. Her Sun is also trine a workmanlike and conscientious Saturn. Her upbeat Jupiter in Aries opposes his Saturn Pluto so she will boost his morale when he sags. Her Moon is either late Libra or Scorpio.

  Their relationship chart has a possessive, tied-together composite Sun Mercury opposition Pluto, which is the driving rod of a Kite from Pluto trine Jupiter trine Mars  – so a complicated but advantageous relationship – Jupiter Pluto gives them influence and maybe money, Jupiter Mars exuberance and energy, Mars Pluto the capacity to stay the course in the face of risk and anger. There is also a composite Mars square Saturn which suggests one partner in the duo has to sacrifice part of themselves to make it work. There is an unfairness written into the bond which may well fit Emma’s pattern with her Sun square Mars, trine Saturn. It also pops up in their Wedding chart from 2008 with a Mars Saturn conjunction – as well as a rolling-crises Uranus square Pluto hinting at the constantly changing scenario ahead.

  There is some trepidation about him rejoining the band again soon for another tour.  She looks confident enough this year but is facing disappointment and some panic in 2024 with tr Neptune conjunct her Sun and square her Mars.  He looks jolted and jangled with tr Uranus conjunct his Mars Mercury from this August and the ongoing slog of tr Pluto square his Saturn Pluto runs on till late 2024.

Addiction not easy to crack especially going back into the same environment.

Martin Amis, the novelist wunderkind of the 1970s/80s – ‘the Mick Jagger of fiction’ – son of the equally celebrated Kingsley Amis has died aged 73, ironically at the same age as his father and of the same cancer that carried off his best friend Christopher Hitchens a decade ago. He was above all else a wordsmith with a supreme talent for illuminating the underbelly of society in bleak, black comedy.

  He was born 25 August 1949, no birth time, and had a fractured upbringing with his parents divorcing, school hopping round 14 establishments before his stepmother Elizabeth Jane Howard got him into a crammer and thence to success at Oxford, into literary journalism and an award winning first novel when he was 24.  He became a writer-celebrity with multiple romantic liaisons like his father, vast advances for his novels which were rarely earned and a glitzy lifestyle. But the darkness was always there underneath. A reviewer wrote: ” He may have been rich and famous but his mental address remained Desolation Row.”

 In the 1990s he discovered a cousin, whom he had grown up with, had been one of serial rapist and killer Fred West’s victims 20 years before which seemed to confirm his unquiet view of life.  He discovered a daughter he never knew he had, whose mother had suicided years before; and his sister drank herself to death.

  He had a serious Virgo Sun conjunct Saturn with Mercury and Moon also in Virgo – a Virgo emphasis is often seen in writers’ charts, giving attention to words, detail and often having a critical view of life. He also had an adventurous Mars in Cancer opposition Jupiter in money-magnet Capricorn squaring onto a North Node in Aries.

His writer’s 21^st harmonic is strong and revolutionary, as if he wanted to change society. His two creative harmonics the 5^th and 7^th are also heavily aspected and tied into the Node (and the zeitgeist).

 His father Kingsley Amis, 16 October 1922 was a bird of a different feather, with a Libra Sun Mercury and Jupiter square Mars in Capricorn. He was equally skilled with words but had a lighter outlook on life.

The ongoing stalemate between Hungary and the EU shows no signs of abating with Viktor Orban voting to block EU aid to Ukraine and arguing against Russian sanctions while the EU since 2022 has withheld billions of euros in recovery funds because of government interference in judicial independence and lax anti-corruption safeguards.

 At present 78 percent of Hungary’s exports go to EU countries, and 71 percent of imports come from EU member states. Landlocked Hungary is dependent on Russian gas and oil supplies, though that is decreasing and despite their pro-Putin stance they have been paying some of the highest prices for Russian gas. Hungary has the highest inflation rate in the EU and recently their credit rating was downgraded to just one level above junk status.

 Viktor Orban in place as prime minister continually since 2010 is popular at home despite his stance on ‘illiberal democracy’. He is ‘the lodestar for the American and global alt-right. He helped to create Donald Trump, and counts Vladimir Putin if not as a friend, then as a useful ally. He loathes everything about the European Union, while soaking up its money.’

  ‘His greatest success has been in controlling the message. Huge amounts of state money are thrown at Facebook. All but a few mainstream newspapers and TV stations are in the hands of the government. “He is a world leader in informational autocracy – an ideological vote-winning machine.” He’s Gemini.

A commentator says: ‘If the continued cancelation of EU funds proves untenable, Hungary’s voting rights could potentially be withdrawn. Many in Hungary fear that this will push the country into a situation where the government has no choice but to leave the Union, which would likely lead to its ouster and possibly an uprising.’

  Hungary joined the EU on 1 May 2004, along with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, when there was a Mars in Gemini opposition Pluto in place, hinting that some might find the ties irksomely controlling. The Hungary 23 October 1989 12pm Budapest chart for modern Hungary has a control-freak Pluto in the 10^th which suggests it will always attract dictatorial rulers and the ‘enlargement’ Sun opposes the 10^th house Pluto setting up an inevitable struggle for the upper hand. Tr Saturn was also conjunct the Hungary 7^th house Jupiter dampening its normally upbeat approach to neighbours. And bountiful Jupiter in the 8^th hinted that money was a clear motive.

  The EU chart itself plotted against the Hungary chart puts the EU Pluto in Hungary’s 8^th so it would always feel like a one-sided arrangement with too few choices open to Hungary.  The EU Neptune is conjunct the Hungary Midheaven inducing confusion about direction.  The relationship chart with the EU describes an over-hopeful, evasive connection, with a love-hate, push pull feel. This year enthusiasm will be at a low ebb but it will be 2026/27 before there is a risk of a terminal separation.

  The Hungary chart itself has tr Pluto square the zero degree Scorpio Sun this year and next; and won’t appreciate the entry of Neptune into Aries in 2025 alongside Saturn which will square the Hungary Uranus and in following years the Hungary Saturn and Neptune. So the latter part of this decade will be confused and uncertain.

Viktor Orban, 31 May 1963,  a controlling chaotic and constantly changing Sun square Pluto Uranus with a hard-edged Mars in loud-mouthed Leo opposition Saturn, will be rattled from this August onwards as tr Uranus squares his Saturn – but his troubles mount exponentially in 2024 as tr Uranus rattles his accident-prone, disastrous-setback Mars/Saturn midpoint and tr Saturn blocks his Sun square Pluto.

  2024 also looks more than unsettled on his recent 16 May 2022 Term chart and his initial PM chart for the start of this run on 29 May 2010.  Both of these charts will be jangled and disrupted by transiting Uranus hard aspects. So political upsets form him first in 2024 before possibilities of a major rift with the EU after Uranus moves into Gemini from 2026 onwards.

Is San Francisco a bellwether for the USA? The Deep South and Midwest would wince at the notion that the city which fostered the Free Speech Movement, the Black Panthers, the fight for gay liberation was in any way representative of their great country. But astrologically they are pretty much twinned, San Francisco having been founded 29 June 1776 just before the USA.

  There is concern at the moment about the ‘doom loop’ San Francisco finds itself in with a crisis of homelessness, drug abuse and sensationalised crime. Drug cartels have flooded in fentanyl which has killed twice as many as Covid-19 in recent times.  The raging epidemic has seen a distribution of reversal kits to libraries, entertainment venues, churches and schools.

  The Bay Area is home to four of the 10 most valuable companies in the world — Apple, Alphabet, Nvidia and Meta — who co-exist with staggeringly high levels of homelessness, five times greater than the national average. There is stark racial inequality with more than 40 per cent of the homeless being black or mixed race, with the financial gulf between white and black having expanded to the largest in the country.

  San Francisco has always been a boom and bust town – first with the gold rush, then silver, earthquakes in 1906 and 1989, plus the AIDS epidemic to the dotcom collapse.

  San Francisco like the USA is undergoing its Pluto Return and while the obvious signs of urban decay are more stark in the Bay area, the wealth gap and racial wealth gap are widening across the nation as a whole.   

  San Fran has the same fervent Mercury in Cancer opposition Pluto which will at times have led it into extremes. Its ultra-progressive streak possibly comes from its uncompromising and disruptive Uranus Mars conjunction in Gemini  – which is not as marked in the USA chart.  San Fran also has a laid-back Sagittarius Moon.

  The SF 29 June 1776 chart works well since the devastating 1906 earthquake occurred when tr Uranus in Capricorn opposition Neptune in Cancer was sitting exactly on top of its Cancer Sun. Equally the 1989 earthquake had tr Saturn Neptune in Capricorn opposition the SF Sun. The Dotcom collapse of 2000 saw tr Neptune opposition SF’s leadership North Node undermining its position – with tr Uranus conjunct and tr Saturn square the Solar Arc Sun.

  What comes next? There will be a resurgent and confident push in 2025 from Solar Arc Pluto square the SF Jupiter but 2026 to 2028 will be unhappy, slipping and sliding years with SA Saturn square Neptune and tr Saturn and then tr Neptune in Aries squaring Jupiter and the Sun. It’ll take a few years for the Golden Gate City to regain its mojo after a few more hitches and glitches to be overcome.

  The situation may be more extreme in San Francisco but to some extent the USA will follow suit with its Venus Jupiter in early Cancer catching the financial bubble-busting tr Neptune squares in 2025 to 2027 – after the Pluto Return subsides. Pluto deconstructs and usually agonisingly slowly starts to reconstruct on the far side,  No phoenix without ashes first.  

Never say never in film land as Johnny Depp makes a comeback from three years in the wilderness after his ugly legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard damaged his reputation. After her allegations of abuse – which he denies – he was dropped from the lucrative Fantastic Beasts franchise and shunned by the major US studios. But France is France and the director and co-star of his latest venture Jeanne du Barry launched at Cannes is Maiwenn. She is the ex-wife of Luc Bresson whom she started dating when she was 15 and he 32, and is fervently anti-#METoo. Critics have been less than rapturous about the movie. But Depp is still smiling having just signed a new $20 million three year deal to be the face of the fragrance Dior Sauvage. Sales evidently skyrocketed after his gruesome libel trials.   

  Born 9 June 1963 8.44am Owensboro, Kentucky, he is a Sun Gemini with a Capricorn Moon and an inflammatory collection of Uranus, Mars, Pluto in Virgo. He has a charming Venus Mercury in Taurus in his 10^th which squares a 7^th house Saturn (= relationships always involve effort). Most notably he has a Yod onto Jupiter inconjunct Neptune sextile Pluto  –  so blessed with luck though his good fortune can be undone by arrogance and over confidence.

 Over the past year plus his Progressed Moon has been moving through his 8^th house as the long run of court cases and counter suits came to an end – leaving him surveying the wreckage of his reputation. That has another ten months to run at the end of which he should/may have acquired a different set of values.

   Jupiter is moving across his 10th from the end of this month to August 2024 for an upbeat career phase, so something will be going right for him. Though there’ll be a few disruptions from tr Uranus square his Saturn from this August onwards and conjunct his 10^th house Venus Mercury in 2024 – so it won’t all be plain sailing.

  Saturn through his 8^th from early 2024 for two plus years will throw him back on his own resources but he will continue to get work for years ahead.

  Maiwenn, 17 April 1976 1.23am Les Lilas, France, is no stranger to emotional drama with her 4^th house Cancer Sun square an 8^th house Saturn and more significantly her Venus in Aries opposition Pluto square Mars in Cancer on the cusp of her 8^th. She claimed both parents physically abused her as a child.

  However her Jupiter is conjunct Depp’s Midheaven with her Sun close by – so she will be good for his career and their shared experiences of difficult childhoods would give them a fellow feeling.