Cary Grant, one of Hollywood’s golden agers, is about to be introduced to a new generation 37 years after his death, with an ITVX series ‘Archie’ about his life.  A handsome, suave, debonair, light-hearted actor with a sense of comic timing, he was everyone’s idea of a polished gentleman. But his beginnings in extreme poverty in England, with an institutionalized mother he thought was dead and a father who abandoned him, throw his later life into stark relief. He once said: “I have something to confess. You see, I’ve always been someone else.  I made up Cary Grant as I went along.”

  After joining a vaudeville troupe in his teens which toured in the USA, he relocated permanently, made many acclaimed films, worked with Hitchcock, married five times, including to heiress Barbara Hutton, and when he finally belatedly had a child in his early sixties with actress Dyan Cannon, he retired from acting to focus on bringing up his daughter, giving her the childhood he never had – and exploiting his shrewd business abilities with Faberge and MGM Grand Hotels.  

  He frequently called his daughter Jennifer his “best production”. He said of fatherhood: “My life changed the day Jennifer was born. I don’t think my films will last very long once I’m gone. But another human being. That’s what’s important.”

  He was born 18 January 1904 1.07am (from biography?) Bristol, England, And had a Capricorn Sun conjunct Mercury and Chiron as well as a zero degree Aquarius Moon – with his Moon widely conjunct Saturn in the 4^th.  That is quite a collection of an ambitious Capricorn Sun entangled with emotional wounds from childhood with Chiron’s sense of being an outsider, an enduring sense of isolation and low-self-esteem, both damaged and chosen.

  He also had a strong ‘influencer’ Pluto in the 8^th tied into a Mutable T Square in opposition to Venus and Uranus square Jupiter in his performing 5^th house which also rules children. His 4^th house Mars trine his Pluto, gave him unshakeable determination.

  His daughter Jennifer, 26 February 1966 7.41 pm Burbank, CA, has her Pisces Sun falling in her father’s 5^th house and her Chiron is closely conjunct his 5^th house Jupiter – so through her he could live out a fulfilled childhood at last.  Her Jupiter is conjunct his Pluto, so each would boost the other’s morale.  It wouldn’t always be the easiest mix since she was of the Uranus Pluto opposition Saturn generation with Mars Mercury thrown into a complicated mix and that clashed with his Uranus opposition Pluto. And his determined Mars in Aquarius squared her Taurus Moon opposition Neptune for a few clashes. But it was a tied-together bond with their relationship chart having a composition Jupiter opposition Uranus square Pluto North Node; with a sugary-sweet Venus trine Jupiter sextile Mars to cover over the rougher edges.

 Earlier in his Hollywood days Grant lived in a beach house with Randolph Scott, 23 January 1898, for 12 years which led to rumours of a homosexual liaison though his daughter thought not. They would certainly be friendly with Scott’s Venus in Capricorn and early Aquarius Sun sitting comfortably with Grant’s Capricorn Sun and Aquarius Moon. But the relationship chart looks turbulent and competitive.

  His relationship with the much-married Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, though short-lived as a marriage, continued for years after as a friendship. Born 14 November 1912 2.25 pm New York, she had a tricky chart with an 8^th house Sun Mars in Scorpio and Pluto on her IC – not custom built for cooperation for sure. Her Uranus was conjunct his Moon Sun so not destined to be stable.  But their relationship chart had an affectionate and close composite Sun Venus opposition Pluto – so there was a lasting connection.

His chart relocated to Los Angeles does move his Sun Moon onto the Descendant but it isn’t as successful as I might have expected – not in the way that Sean Connery’s relocated chart from Edinburgh to LA is, putting his Pluto Jupiter on his midheaven. Grant’s chart relocated to New York does have influential Pluto in his 10th and his New Moon in his performing 5th house which might have seemed a more bountiful location for him. But that is assuming his birth time is accurate.

Into Elon Musk’s twitter chaos steps his arch-rival Mark Zuckerburg intent on launching a tweeting challenger in the form of ‘Threads’ this Thursday. Described as a ‘text-based conversation app… where communities come together’, it is linked to Instagram, which has 500 million daily users worldwide. Experts say it could be the biggest threat that Musk has faced so far. It has been nicknamed the ‘Twitter-killer.’

  Just what we need – more social media shriek-arenas.

  The launch chart, if it sticks to this Thursday, is reasonably OK in effectiveness terms with a half Grand Sextile from Mercury opposition Pluto (= fanatical and divisive discussion and disinformation) and that ties in by sextile/trine to Uranus and Neptune. There’s also a steady Sun trine Saturn sextile a money-making Jupiter in Taurus; plus an excitable, mouthy Venus Mars in Taurus square Uranus.

  Twitter, 21 March 2006, was always aiming for major problems with a disempowering and undermining tr Neptune square its Pluto this year as well as a stuck Solar Arc Pluto square the Midheaven (assuming 1.02pm start time); with worse approaching when tr Neptune Saturn move into Aries in 2025 to conjunct the Twitter Aries Sun which won’t be good commercially or practically. At the same time the Solar Arc Uranus will conjunct the Twitter Sun for a forced jolting change.

  The two billionaires are both, not surprisingly, strong personalities. Musk’s Pluto is trine and his Mars in Aquarius is square MK’s Taurus Sun for a clash of Titans. MK’s Mars (Moon), Saturn and Pluto in Scorpio make him virtually immoveable.

  Their relationship chart looks rattled at the moment with tr Uranus square the composite Saturn and this year’s Eclipses spotlight the bitter, power-struggling, hostile-dislike composite Mars square Pluto. There will be increasing chill over their chemistry in 2024 as tr Saturn squares the composite Neptune and Sun.

 Add ON: Threads launched according to reports at 12am BST today which puts flashy, ambitious/competitive Mars in Leo on the Midheaven conjunct Venus and square a 7^th house ‘unneighbourly’ and uncooperative Uranus. The Mars is on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Neptune – certainly ambitious and then some, but also headstrong and not always subtle or tactful. Though there is also a well-knit together Cancer Sun in the communicative and international 9^th house trine Saturn sextile Jupiter in Taurus. Plus a fanatical, argumentative Mercury opposition Pluto.

  It’ll have a few jolts and jangles as tr Uranus squares the Venus from this August and then the Mars in 2024/25.

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Cricket – a bat-and-ball game played between two teams – is to the uninitiated a leisurely amble across well-cut grass where gentlemen play for the enjoyment of playing and the win is of secondary importance. Except when it turns into a culture clash between nations. There has been outrage over some obscure misdemeanour by the Australian team in the UK for the Ashes, who have been condemned for going against the spirit of the game by their overly competitive approach. Cries of ‘cheat, cheat, cheat’ regaled the Aussies as they walked through the pavilion. One Australian newspaper responded by dressing England captain Ben Stokes up in a nappy and declaring that the “Poms take whingeing to a new level with ‘cheating’ drivel”.

 The Aussie captain Pat Cummins is being blamed for his out-to-win approach. Born 8 May 1993, he is a tough Sun Taurus opposition Pluto with his Pluto square Saturn in Aquarius so he’s no pussy cat. His Fixed planets do collide with the UK’s 8^th house Mars and sporting 5^th house Venus in Aquarius so he was bound to ruffle a few feathers. He also has a sporting Sagittarius Moon and Mars in flamboyant Leo.

  He does fit more comfortably with the Australian chart and ethos with his Sun conjunct the AU Taurus Moon and his Sag Moon conjunct the AU Venus, Uranus, Jupiter; and his Jupiter in Libra opposition Venus square the AU Sun.

  The relationship chart between Australia and the UK has a competitive, argumentative composite Sun Venus opposition Mars square Jupiter – a high-octane mix of (sometimes) friendly rivalry and oneupmanship jousting. Plus a chained together (and resenting it) Pluto opposition Saturn. And an evasive Sun trine Neptune.

  Even the respective Prime Ministers – Sunak and Albanese  – waded in with opposing takes on the huffing hurricane.

 Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, devoted its front page to the row with the headline: “Our message to the hypocritical, sanctimonious, whinging poms who can’t accept they were beaten fair and square . . . “We’re 2 up, baby!”

Over two pages inside, headlined “The poms always bleating”, the newspaper’s cricket writer, Dean Ritchie said: “The protesting poms can have a two-finger salute — which could also double as the series score. That’s right, it’s two-nil.”

The gathering storm that will blight Israel’s path over the coming years broke on cue as Uranus moves to explode the destructive Israel Saturn/Mars midpoint, heading to conjunct the deeply buried Israel Sun in Taurus from mid August onwards. A  major aerial and ground offensive into the West Bank city of Jenin was launched early today, the biggest military operation in the Palestinian territory in years. 

  The UN spokesman said  “airstrikes were used in the densely populated refugee camp.”  This is part of a year-long spike in violence, resulting in some of the worst bloodshed in that area in nearly two decades.

   An Israeli official described the camp as “ a hornets nest”. A ghetto-like area, home to about 11,000 people, it has  long been viewed as a hotbed of what Palestinians see as armed resistance, and Israelis see as terrorism. Hundreds of armed fighters from militant groups including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah are based there, and the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority has next to no presence. The incursion came at a time of growing pressure within Israel for a tough response to a series of attacks on settlers – including a shooting last week that killed four people. It was unclear whether the operation would trigger a wider response from Palestinian factions, drawing in militant groups in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Israel’s far-right government has fanned the flames of vigilante settler violence.

See previous post December 30 2022. “Israel facing a historic moment on its path with a Nodal Return and a liberating Uranus conjunction to its Taurus Sun has turned its face against progress and doubled down on the worst of the past.”

  What effect tr Uranus conjunct the Israel 8^th house Taurus Sun will have immediately is unclear since it is an obdurately stubborn country, seemingly incapable of compromise or change. It would take a massive jolt to get them to see how self-defeating their actions over more than half a century have been. The oppressed Palestinians living under occupation have little to lose – and as with the Brit experience in Northern Ireland when you leave this kind of situation to fester, the hotheads, violent freedom fighters, thugs and gangsters race in to raise the heat.  

  Tr Neptune is square the Israel Uranus opposition Jupiter through 2023/24 to early 2025, which will dent high hopes and bring disappointment, financial and other. Tr Uranus squares the high-risk Mars/Pluto midpoint in 2023/early 24. And tr Uranus continues on to square the Israel Mars come 2025 which will see an escalation of violence and insecurity. There is a dangerous and paralysed Solar Arc Mars square Pluto for Israel 2025/26, moving to square the Saturn by 2028. With a directionless SA Midheaven conjunct Neptune also by 2027. At that point tr Pluto will oppose the Israel 10^th house Moon causing maximum duress not only on the population but also the country’s direction. From 2023 tr Pluto will oppose the Saturn Pluto and eventually oppose the Israel Mars in early 2040s for a dead halt. Pluto in Aquarius will be doing Israel no favours

The Palestine Independence Declaration, 15 November 1988, looks rattled exactly now with tr Uranus opposing the Scorpio Sun, and that runs into early 2024; with losses and high anxiety come tr Neptune Saturn moving into Aries in 2025 when both will conjunct the Mars and square the Saturn.

  The Gaza chart, 9 November 1917, has been badly rattled over the past two or more years with tr Uranus starting to move round its Neptune Saturn opposition Uranus square Scorpio Sun Mercury Fixed T square – with the reverberations extending into 2024. Tr Neptune Saturn in Aries in 2025 will square the Gaza Venus North Node in Cancer opposition Pluto for losses and disappointment.

  What sorted Northern Ireland was the US getting a grip but that is unlikely to happen with a depressing prospect of Palestinians going the way of Tibetans, Yazidis, Uyghurs etc.

Pluto sticks a toe into Aquarius and goodly chunks of the world go up in flames.

Keir Starmer, the strangely charisma-free and policy-light leader of the UK Opposition is flexing his muscles in what insiders describe as a ‘witchhunt’ inside the Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn is already banned from standing at the next election and his compadre John McDonnell fears he may be next to go. Even centrist figures are deemed at risk as he tightens his grip and reportedly aims to close down dissenting or independent voices. Starmer is also expected soon to carry out a shadow cabinet reshuffle.

  The previous post February 17 2023 lays out Starmer’s unhappy path ahead which does not look like a winning formula despite the Tory shambles.

  His relationship charts with both Labour 27 February 1900 and 12 February 1906 are both aggravated to start with. The Labour 1900 has a lacklustre, undermining composite Sun square Neptune and a bitterly, hostile and power-struggling Mars square Pluto.  The 1906 relationship is no better with a fractious, bad-tempered, one-sided Mars square Saturn and again a limp Sun square Neptune. Both have the chilly, separating Saturn transits in hard aspect in 2023/24, with jolts, jangles and significant tensions at the same time.

  Starmer’s relationship with Angela Raynor, his Deputy Leader chosen by the party not him, is less than rapturous this year (in the freezer) and seriously aggravated in 2024/25. He also has a stormy ride with Lisa Nandy in 2024/25 with little that looks like good feeling or joint success in evidence.

 With John McDonnell, there is heavy pressure this year in the midst of devastating confusion – and separation next year if they last that long together in the same boat.

  His Leadership chart, 4 April 2020 10.45 am London, makes more sense as events unravel. There is a mushy, slippery, smokescreening Neptune on the Midheaven; with an aggravated Mars Saturn conjunction tucked out of sight in the 8^th – and a supremely-confident, power-hungry Jupiter Pluto conjunction.

  His personal chart, 2 September 1962, is talented, determined, controlling and not always realistic – with a central Water Grand Trine which can be creative/healing and also lives in its own bubble detached from outer events and that is formed into a hard-driving Kite by a Jupiter opposition Pluto Sun in Virgo. There is a good deal more high-octane fuel in his tank than is obvious from his dull exterior. Not that it will help as he is running into the buffers in 2025/26 in a terminal meltdown, politically speaking. Angela Raynor might benefit in 2025 but Lisa Nandy won’t.

  I can’t see Starmer lasting over the next three years.

Mick Jagger shows no signs of giving in gracefully to old age, now squiring a former ballet dancer half his age with whom he is reportedly now engaged having had a child a few years back with her to add to his seven other children by four other women, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

   Born 26 July 1943 2.30am Dartford, England, he is an unrestrained Sun Leo conjunct a super-confident Jupiter Pluto Mercury all square a determined Mars in Taurus with a Moon also in Taurus trine a 5^th house creative and musical Neptune. His Sun/Moon midpoint is square his Neptune hence his difficulty with commitment in marriage and close relationships. His Saturn is also square his Sun/Moon midpoint suggesting that one-to-one-relationships always involve too much work from his point of view.

  Of the significant relationships in his life none of the ladies had planets in his 7^th house of close partnership which is usually the case for affectionate bonds and there was relatively little Venus flagging up on the relationship charts.

  Jerry Hall, 2 July 1956, had her Saturn in Scorpio opposition his Moon and her Venus conjunct his Saturn plus her Uranus conjunct his Sun Jupiter Pluto – which adds up to a great deal of defensiveness on both sides and differing agendas. His Chiron in late Leo was conjunct her Jupiter Pluto in Leo, which hints at power struggles with both fighting for the spotlight. Her confidence would make him feel vulnerable.  The relationship chart also flagged up ego-clashes.

  Her Chiron opposes his Mercury which could cause anxiety and insecurity about saying the wrong thing. She would feel misunderstood, and perhaps unintelligent.

  Bianca Jagger, 2 May 1945, was a Sun Taurus conjunct his Mars square her Pluto which would be a tough mix with great stubbornness on both sides. Though her Chiron was conjunct his Neptune so she may have brought a spiritual or mystical connection which helped him to trust his instincts and clarify his illusions.

  L’Wren Scott, 28 April 1964, who he was with for several years until her suicide, was another Sun Taurus conjunct Mercury, Jupiter. Like Jerry Hall she had Venus in Gemini conjunct his Saturn.

  Melanie Hamrick, 17 July 1987 (famous birthdays.com), his most recent liaison, if the birth date is accurate, is a Cancer Sun, like Jerry Hall, with a Mars in Leo conjunct his Leo planets square Pluto – so both have do-or-die determined Pluto square Mars which can be dominating or can be submissive  but is not an easy connection, breeding resentment on the underdog side.  Her Chiron is conjunct his Saturn which suggests limitations and restrictions in the relationship with the Saturnine Jagger holding more power. Control can be an issue.

He’s nothing if not larger than life.

The trickiest phase of Joe Biden’s term in office is approaching fast, as questions are being increasingly asked about his health – verbal and physical stumbles, high cholesterol, acid reflux, frequent coughing, osteoarthritis of the foot and spine, and now sleep apnea. Age increases the risk of developing sleep apnea which can lead to cardiovascular disease and other symptoms such as forgetfulness, fatigue and sleepiness as well as sleep deprivation which is one of the strongest causes of cognitive decline. If he stood and won in November 2024, he would be 86 at the end of his second term.

 On his 2^nd Term, chart the Solar Arc Saturn closes the square to Mars exact in three months but in effect before then (and after for a few months) and then square to Uranus in four months. Followed by the Term Solar Arc Sun closing the conjunction to Saturn, exact in six months. All of which is accident-prone and obstacle-strewn, suggestive of setbacks, explosive and unsettling events, which may not be health-related but an indication of internal or external political turbulence.  But a high stress time, for sure.

  His personal chart highlights major confusion this month and through July, returning across the New Year into January, and September, October to late November 2024. Late this November to late December looks disaster-strewn, could be ill health or outer calamities.  March 2024 will be jangled and high stress, even more so July into August 2024.  On the positive side he will rev up his engine confidence-wise from late February 2024 with tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint and that returns late May to mid July, and is in place across the Inauguration – it usually means a hint of success. But at the same time tr Pluto squares his Moon which could suggest a domestic/family or emotional period of crisis and forced change.

  He has such a raft of negatives it is tricky to see how it will work out. Through 2025 tr Uranus in his 6^th house of health opposes his Sun and Venus for significant change; plus a confused and calamitous midpoint extending through 2026 – which does not suggest clear thinking or resourceful action.

  He is enormously stubborn with a stellium in Scorpio with his Mars Mercury in Scorpio square Pluto and his stubborn Taurus Moon also square Pluto.

 Solar Returns can be less than helpful at times, though accurate at others. But for what they are worth:

His Solar Return from November 2022 to November 2023 has Sun Mercury in the 6^th house of health and work with a nervy Uranus in the 12^th and Saturn on the midheaven which can be restrictive.

SR Nov 2023 to Nov 2024 – a held-back, hidden Sun Mars in the 4^th opposition a change-of-career-direction Uranus on the 10^th square a dependent Moon on the Descendant; with Pluto in the 6^th house of health.

SR Nov 2024 to Nov 2025 – all systems-change Sun opposition Uranus; and a frustratingly stuck and enraging Pluto opposition Mars on the midheaven.

  Even if he did scrape through, he’ll never make it to the end of a second term in any kind of compos mentis shape. The party elders should be exerting pressure except there is no obvious replacement. But there might be if he did the graceful thing and step back.

Actor Alan Arkin who found success early in his career as Captain Yossarian in Catch-22 and more recently won an Oscar as the heroin-snorting grandpa in Little Miss Sunshine, has died.  Once rated America’s best actor by Mike Nichols, he worked constantly through five decades. He also played the deadpan dad and working man, Bill Boggs, in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands and after that he excelled in the film of David Mamet’s play Glengarry Glen Ross.

 He was born 26 March 1934 4.17am New York with a film set designer father who was blacklisted unfairly during the McCarthy era.

 Arkin was a lively Sun Mars in Aries with Mars inconjunct Neptune in his 7^th house of relationships. His Sun was sparsely aspected making him independent and not reliant on others for mirroring. Most notably he had a lucky, adventurous Uranus opposition Jupiter square an influential and controlling Pluto on the cusp of his 6^th house. Secretive, intense, insightful, enigmatic, he would not be the easiest personality to fathom.

  He had a cool Venus Saturn in Aquarius conjunct his Ascendant so would come across as restrained and understated though both of these were trine his 8^th house Jupiter giving him tremendous depth. His Leo Moon suited him for performing  and does trine his Sun Mars though seems relatively disconnected from the major configurations in his chart.

  Maybe it was what made him a consummate character actor, the ability to slough off his real personality to become Another.

Ann Leslie, the formidable leading lady of Fleet Street who for nearly 35 years covered the Balkan wars, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Zimbabwe, China, El Salvador, Iran, the Gulf War, almost every US presidential election since 1975 and five superpower summits, has died. She went to war with heavy make-up and false eyelashes. “Crying” she once said, “is pointless. It just smudges your mascara.”

  Described as “gravel-voiced, courageous and opinionated” she didn’t allow frequent bouts of ill health to stop her hopping on the first helicopter available to a dangerous trouble spot. She also became a familiar figure on television and radio, on Question Time, Stop the Week and Any Questions. She once punched Mohammed Ali for not paying attention and told George W Bush to his face he was “two sandwiches short of a picnic”, which was intended to rile but it merely puzzled him.

  She was born a child of the Raj in Rawalpindi on 28 January 1941, with an oil industry father and a distant mother who sent her off to boarding school in India aged five and thence aged 9 to the UK to another boarding school. Oxford followed which led into newspapers. As a showbusiness correspondent initially she was flashed at by Salvador Dali, dallied with several notables from the entertainment world; James Mason wanted to marry her, and she had to fend off the unwanted attentions of David Niven. Then she moved over as foreign correspondent to roam the world’s hotspots.   

  She had a robust chart and temperament, similar to Dick Cheney’s born two days later, with an Aquarius Sun opposition Pluto square Jupiter Saturn in Taurus.  Her Moon was also in Aquarius. Her Mercury in Aquarius was in an outspoken square to Uranus and sextile Mars so she would not be backwards about stating her views. She also had an Earth Grand Trine of Uranus trine Neptune trine Venus which would keep her grounded and give her a business head.

  An old style trouper – and her appalling childhood did not seem to hold her back, indeed seemed to fuel her determination to push her luck in the face of danger.