As the Middle East stands on the brink of a new order after Israel’s onslaught on the Lebanon it is worth considering what has shifted in the power game. The attack on Hezbollah strikes at the heart of Iran’s influence in the region and also undermines Bashar Assad in Syria who relied on Hezbollah’s fighters to prop up his regime.

  Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Khameini, born 17 July 1939, took over on 6 August 1989. His personal chart has been under massive strain last year and this with tr Pluto grinding its way in hard aspect round his Pluto (Moon)opposition Mars in Aquarius square Saturn in Taurus T square which will have taken its toll on his already failing health. That T square has also moved by Solar Arc to exactly aspect his Sun with SA Saturn conjunct. Double jeopardy.

His Leadership chart is also showing the strain of recent events with the Solar Arc Neptune Saturn in hard aspect to the Sun square Pluto, eroding his grip.

 Likewise for different reasons Bashar Assad, 11 September 1965, who took over the throne on 17 July 2000, is facing a high-risk, undermining time ahead. His personal chart has tr Saturn opposing his Sun, Pluto, Uranus in Virgo into early next year – and more significantly his Solar Arc Sun is in a panicky, confused conjunction to his Neptune now and over coming months; a trapped, high-risk Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Mars exactly now with a disruptive SA Uranus conjunct Mars in place  before the end of this year. A perfect storm.

  His Term chart has the Solar Arc Neptune square the Saturn exactly now for grave uncertainty; and disappointment follows. With jolts and disruptions later next year with SA Sun opposition the Uranus. And tr Uranus conjunct the Saturn at 28 Taurus from June 2025 onwards into 2026.

 Uranus reaching 28 degrees in Taurus shows up as critical in several charts and will be a time to watch since it also catches Israel’s 10^th house Mars at 28 degrees Leo. So there may be/is likely to be another round of mayhem then.

  It shows up on the Qatar country chart and the Qatar/UAE relationship.

 The other critical degree will be Uranus at 23 Taurus which is conjunct the Israel Sun late this December to mid March 2025. And also rattles the Mars in Leo on Mohammed bin Salman’s chart. He is uncertain at the moment with his Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the Neptune now and especially edgy as tr Neptune Saturn move into Aries before mid 2025 to square his Neptune and SA Saturn.

 If there is a region wide conflict Egypt will undoubtedly be dragged in as well. President Al Sisi looks less than enamoured of Netanyahu in that late December to mid March patch and is on high alert with disruptions right through till mid 2025.

  Too many charts – and two much shifting on the chessboard.  Thoughts to keep in mind. ‘Over the long run, the death and destruction in Lebanon caused by Israeli air strikes is likely to create a new generation of Hezbollah soldiers. Some 60 per cent of Hamas fighters are thought to be orphans from previous conflicts.’ ‘Lebanon’s weak caretaker government may well be incapable of moving into any vacuum left by Hezbollah, in which case Israel could have a failed state on its borders.’

Regional chaos could come with Turkey and Yemen also involved.   

 If Kamala Harris wins, her Mars Midheaven line runs through the Middle East.

Kris Kristofferson, the award-winning country singer and actor, has died aged 88. Among his song writing credits are “Me and Bobby McGee”, “For the Good Times”, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, and “Help Me Make It Through the Night”, all of which were hits for other artists. Along with fellow country artists Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash he was a key creative force in the outlaw country music movement that favoured independent songwriting and producing. He starred with Barbra Streisand in the 1976 remake of A Star is Born to great success as well more recently in the Blade trilogy of Marvel blockbusters.

 He was born 22 June 1938 3.30pm Brownsville, Texas into a military family and initially hoped to become a writer. He won a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford and graduated with a B.Phil. degree in English literature. Under pressure from his family he  joined the U.S. Army, becoming a helicopter pilot and continuing his musical interests at the same time.  When he left the forces to pursue a musical career his family disowned him.

  He married three times and has eight children.

  His 10^th house Leo Moon designed him for a public career but it is his intense 8^th house which is the eye-opener with Mercury in Gemini plus a passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars conjunction in Gemini conjunct a Cancer Sun all there. He had Saturn in his 5^th house giving him organizational skills in the entertainment business which was in a creative opposition to Neptune and square a confident and successful Jupiter in his 2^nd house.

  His Uranus on his Ascendant would not make it easy for a conventional cooperative relationship to run smoothly and with his Sun/Moon midpoint opposition his Pluto he’d be constantly pushed and pulled between wanting closeness and wanting freedom. But his third marriage lasted for nearly forty years so he clearly found a partner who could cope.

  He once said he would like Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on the Wire” opener on his tombstone.

Like a bird on the wire

Like a drunk in a midnight choir

I have tried in my way to be free

Parkrun, a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) event for runners, walkers and volunteers that takes place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 22 countries across five continents is celebrating its 20 anniversary this week. It started in London on 2 October 2004 and grew into a global phenomenon with many millions of runners registered.

 It was founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt, 12 August 1960 (Company check), who was born in Zimbabwe, grew up in South Africa, was made a ward of the state aged five and lived at boarding schools. He has said that the personal challenges he experienced, including bullying during childhood, and the way exercise and activity have helped him deal with them, were influential in motivating him in creating parkrun and its inclusive approach to sport.

 Parkrun has an exuberant, high-energy Mars Jupiter Mercury all conjunct a Libra Sun. With two wide-ish yods of Saturn in Cancer sextile Jupiter Mars inconjunct Uranus in Pisces (on the cusp of the sporting 5^th assuming a 9am start) – and a Taurus Moon sextile Saturn inconjunct an influential Pluto.

  Paul Sinton-Hewitt is an unconventional Sun Uranus in Leo in a confident trine to Jupiter in adventurous Sagittarius. With a charming Pluto Venus in Virgo in a tough-minded trine to Saturn sextile a compassionate Neptune – and more significantly Neptune sextile Saturn inconjunct Mars in Gemini giving him giving him the hyper-energy that would suit constant activity and exercise. His Pluto square his Mars adds a layer of trauma from his childhood spurring his determination on.

And the world holds its breath.  Hezbollah is decapitated of its leadership, Hamas effectively weakened if not destroyed. Will Iran retaliate as its proxies are knocked off the chessboard, though it has shown no sign of wanting a direct confrontation?

 From an Israeli point of view neutralizing Hamas and Hezbollah who were attacking across their borders makes survival sense. What doesn’t is the lack of an end game which has to be political and has to include Palestinian statehood. With Gaza effectively destroyed and settlers forcibly taking over land in the West Bank illegally without sanction from the Netanyahu government, there seems precious little sign of movement on that front.

 This latest move is an “emphatic slap in the face for the Biden administration, which believed it had an assurance from Netanyahu that he backed the temporary truce.”

 A brief run over the Hezbollah chart (covered in past posts), 16 February 1985 with a 27 degree Aquarius Sun exactly square Saturn it is suffering a major jolt exactly now from tr Uranus in hard aspect. But it has a confident, determined Pluto square Jupiter – catching an enthusiasm-denting tr Saturn square the Solar Arc Pluto now, but revving up energy from February 2025 onwards as tr Pluto is conjunct the Jupiter through till late 2026 and beyond. It may be down but may not be out altogether in coming years.

 Hassan Nasrullah, 31 August 1960, (wiki) a Sun Pluto Mercury in Virgo had his Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Uranus approaching which is accident/disaster prone; with an undermining tr Neptune opposition his focal point Venus exactly now. He has a couple of Jupiterian midpoints in action now which may point to a martyr’s death – not that it would have been predicted but it makes sense. Had he survived 2025 would have been very high risk.  

Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal chart has an over-excitable, over-reactive tr Uranus square his Mars in Leo from today till late October and again in spring 2025 alongside a panicky-failure tr Neptune opposition his Sun/Mars and Mercury/Saturn midpoints from this October 10^th to early February – so his triumphalist mood won’t last. This December looks high-risk and nerve-stretched for him.

  There are various Iran charts and both the Islamic Republic April 1979 and 1906 charts in relation to Israel show continued upheavals and ructions throughout 2025 and beyond.

 Israel is of course due for the final transiting Uranus conjunction to its 8^th house Taurus Sun late this December to mid March 2025 which will bring another almighty jolt with an insecure, jarring tr Uranus square their Mars from June 2025 into 2026. Followed by grinding Pluto transits opposing its 10^th house Sun and into the next decade Saturn and Pluto. The chances of relaxing back into peace and security may be further away than ever.

 The Israel/USA relationship chart is labouring this year and early next with tr Saturn square the composite Sun Uranus – distanced with tensions erupting. But it is tr Neptune Saturn moving into Aries which will cause the most notable erosion as it opposes the over-hopeful composite Jupiter Neptune and proceeds to square the composite Mercury, Venus in the two years after.

 “The end is in the beginning and yet you go on.” Samuel Beckett, Endgame.

“Use your head, can’t you, use your head, you’re on earth, there’s no cure for that!” Samuel Beckett, Endgame

“I love order. It’s my dream. A world where all would be silent and still, and each thing in its last place, under the last dust.”  Samuel Beckett, Endgame.

“All life long, the same questions, the same answers.” Samuel Beckett, Endgame

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Maggie Smith has died, the actress who more than any epitomized British acting at its best across seven decades on stage, on screen in films and on television.  She was born 28 December 1934 and ‘made her acting debut in 1952 and was still working six decades later having moved from aspiring star to national treasure.’

  She was modest about her achievements, stating simply that “One went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act, and one’s still acting.” But had a reputation for being supercilious and spiky which she played to perfection as the Dowager Countess in Downtown Abbey.

  International fame came early with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and she revelled in moving seemingly effortlessly from Shakespeare on stage to Harry Potter latterly, collecting numerous awards as she went.

  She had a creative and ambitious Capricorn Sun Mercury in a go-ahead square to Mars in Libra. Her Venus in Capricorn was trine Neptune and sextile Jupiter in Scorpio, giving her charm, luck, optimism. Her Pluto in Cancer was in a rebellious square to Uranus and inconjunct Saturn putting steel in her spine. 

  I must look out a piece from some years before about great stars dying as Neptune exits a sign.

Found it – from 2011.  

Neptune the planet of spirituality and creativity is about to leave Aquarius where it has been since the late 1990s and move into Pisces from April this year.

  What someone brought to my attention recently was that as Neptune changes sign (every 15 years or so) there is an event (or events) of great poignancy as an iconic female figure dies, some of them going suddenly – Princess Diana, Grace Kelly, Nathalie Wood, Sharon Tate, Judy Garland in previous transitional times of Neptune leaving a sign.

  Looking back the list is quite remarkable with women who changed the world dying during this period as well as the writers and great movie stars.

1901: Neptune leaving Gemini – Queen Victoria dies.

1915: Neptune leaving Cancer – Mary Baker Eddy and Emily Davidson (suffragette who suicided by horse at the Derby). Florence Nightingale also died with Neptune in late Cancer (1911)

1929: Neptune leaving Leo – Emmeline Pankhurst (the great suffragette), Ellen Terry, Isadora Duncan.

1943 – Neptune leaving Virgo – aviator Amy Johnson, writer Beatrix Potter.

1957 – Neptune leaving Libra – Laura Wilder (Little House on the Prairie), scientist Irene Curie

1968/69 – Neptune leaving Scorpio – Helen Keller, Enid Blyton, Dorothy Parker, Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Little Mo, Sonja Henie, Gypsy Rose Lee, Sharon Tate.

1983 – Neptune leaving Sagittarius – Nathalie Wood, Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), Anna Freud, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Gloria Swanson, Ethel Merman, Lillian Hellman, Indira Gandhi.

1998 – Neptune leaving Capricorn – Princess Diana, Mother Theresa, Ella Fitzgerald, Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Evelyn Laye, Dorothy Lamour, Claudette Colbert, Margeurite Duras, Patricia Highsmith, Mary Leakey.

2011 Neptune out of Aquarius into Pisces 2011/12.

Liz Taylor – March 2011

Amy Winehouse – July 2011

Jane Russell – Feb 2011

Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston Feb 2012

Esther Williams 2013

Since Sun Pluto in Virgo appear to be newsworthy with Eric Adams and Keir Starmer catching the headlines, a quick run-down of other notables. 

Hassan Nasrullah, 31 August 1960, leader of Hezbollah.

Bashar Assad, 11 September 1965, Syrian dictator.

Geert Wilders, 6 September 1963, Dutch neo-fascist politician.

Chris Christie, Republican politician, 6 September 1962. 

Anthony Weiner, 4 September 1964, Democratic politician and convicted sex offender.

Lennox Lewis, boxer, 2 September 1965. 

Charlie Sheen, 3 September 1965, talented but troubled actor. 

Keanu Reeves, 2 September 1962.

Hugh Grant, 9 September 1960

Jack Ma, Chinese entrepreneur.

Keith Raniere, born August 26, 1960, cult leader convicted of human trafficking, sex offenses and fraud, co-founder of NXIVM

  There will be shoals of perfectly nice, ordinary Sun Pluto in Virgos but the above list did surprise me.  

An after thought – since Virgo is the goddess of the harvest, associated with Demeter who waged a vicious battle with Pluto over her daughter, there is a deep-seated conflict between the two energies. Above and below. Feminine v masculine priorities. Worth pondering.

The charismatic New York mayor Eric Adams is facing a federal indictment on bribery and fraud charges bribery and soliciting illegal campaign contributions from Turkish businessmen. In typically ebullient form he has been comparing himself to Job, the biblical figure who must endure various plagues. And relates a tale from his rough childhood where his mother tells him ‘You are going to find yourself in dark places. It’s not a burial, it’s a planting’.

  Full marks for brass neck, zero for competence and integrity. The Washington Post remarks: “The scandal is that, in a city of 8.3 million people, this clown was somehow the best we had to offer.”

 Eric Adams, 1 September 1960, New York, grew up in a rat infested tenement with a single mother, joined a gang then transferred to the police and after rising up the ranks became a politician with a pledge to bring down crime. He is a Sun conjunct Pluto, Mercury in Virgo sextile Neptune and trine Saturn in Capricorn – determined, controlling, used to tough conditions; with Mars in chatty Gemini in an overly confident, can-be-opportunistic opposition to Jupiter square an indulgent Venus in Virgo.

  He took over as Mayor on 1 January 2022 – and if we assume at midnight then the approaching Libra Solar Eclipse is conjunct the Ascendant for an image crisis and the Solar Arc Venus has moved to close the conjunction to Pluto to exact which has overtones of indulgence and financial manipulation.

The New York chart, 1 January 1898,  if a 12 am start also has a Libra Ascendant catching the Solar Eclipse. Notably in addition it has tr Neptune square the Mars Venus in Sagittarius through this year up to early this month, and again on and off through 2025 till January 2026. This will bring disappointment, a sense of failure, a definite enthusiasm-dent. 2025 sees tr Saturn square the NY Neptune and then Mars Venus, again on and off till early 2026 which will bring uncertainty and aggravation.  Plus tr Uranus will be opposing the NY Uranus from mid 2025 – for an important staging post on the city’s path. Stop for a rethink.

  Adams’ relationship chart with New York is locked together and a mix of great affection with overtones of less desirable traits of power and control. There is a composite friendly and indulgent Sun, Venus, Jupiter conjunction; with Jupiter North Node trine Pluto trine Mars. And a yod of Pluto sextile South Node in Taurus inconjunct Saturn – such a yod demands self-discipline and sticking-to-the-rules to work well.  Otherwise it becomes self-defeating. The composite unaspected Uranus will be triggered by the Solar Eclipse in conjunction – liberation and disruption – as they presumably part ways.

 Adams’ personal chart is showing a massive shock now with his Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Uranus; disappointment and loss from tr Neptune opposition his Venus; and tr Saturn square his Mars, Jupiter, Venus T Square now till early 2026. With panic and uncertainty in 2026 from SA Neptune conjunct his Saturn.  

James Middleton’s book about Ella, his cocker spaniel, who brought him back from the brink of suicidal thoughts in 2017 is, according to reviews, a sweet book about his mental health problems – clinical depression, ADD and dyslexia – and how his pets and family were his lifeline.

 Born 15 April 1987, no birth time, London, he is a Sun Aries trine Saturn Uranus in Sagittarius with two yods – Jupiter North Node in Aries sextile Mars inconjunct Pluto; and Pluto (Moon) in Scorpio sextile Neptune inconjunct Mars in Gemini.  A Pluto apex on a yod will give him extreme reactions especially to his sense of being out of step with those around. Ultimately it can give him a capacity to lead the way with new concepts. A Mars apex can start out as hyper-active and ultimately if well-handled can lead to a hard-working, enterprising lifestyle.

  The Middletons are a tight family which has given Prince William a stability away from the challenges of being a Royal. All three women are fairly tough-minded, resilient and stubborn with marked Saturn Pluto in their charts. Princess Catherine has her Saturn Pluto square her Sun and Moon. Pippa has her Saturn Pluto sextile Moon Venus in Leo; and mother Carole, 31 January 1955, has her Mercury opposition Pluto square Saturn in Scorpio. Father Michael is  cut from a different cloth with a restless and inventive Sun Uranus in Cancer with a yod of Sun Uranus sextile Saturn inconjunct Jupiter – a tendency to be overly confident/enthusiastic but can affect society in positive ways if well handled.

 James is now married to a French financial technology professional with one son Inigo, born just months after dog Ella’s death last year.

Carole has her Mars at 11 Aries in line for the October and next March eclipse as does Princess Catherine with her Mars in Libra – so both will be revved up and argumentative.

Jared Kushner is under scrutiny since his $3bn private equity fund, mainly engorged by the Saudi government’s public investment fund plus monies from the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar, the UAE and Terry Gou, the Foxconn Taiwanese billionaire appears not to be returning any profits to investors. The findings from the Senate finance committee has fuelled suspicions that the Miami-based company, Affinity Partners, may be a foreign influence-buying operation established in anticipation of the former president returning to the White House. It is not only Democrats who have questioned Affinity’s arrangements. James Comer, the Republican chair of the House oversight committee, told CNN last year that Kushner “crossed the line of ethics” regarding Saudi funding for the company.

 Kushner, 10 January 1981 New York, is an ambitious Sun Capricorn square Pluto; with Jupiter Saturn in Libra catching the upcoming Libra Solar Eclipse. Saturn conjunct an eclipse always carries a hint of a reckoning – being forced to take responsibility for past actions. Jupiter as ever flying too high may be part of it.

  He’s in for a Neptunian slump next year with his Solar Arc Mars square his Neptune and his Solar Arc Neptune conjunct his Mars – which usually points to failed plans and panic.

  His relationship with his father-in-law was always tied together in a fated way with a yod of Mercury inconjunct Pluto sextile Mars Neptune. The composite Venus is catching the Libra Solar Eclipse for an emotional upset around now with more disruptions and tensions from mid 2025 onward with tr Uranus square the composite Saturn.

 Kushner’s relationship with Mohammed bin Salman is under heavy pressure exactly now and throughout 2025. 

 MBS’s relationship with Trump himself is rattled, aggravated and on edge now until late December with particular agitation showing through this November – with gloom across the New Year and January.  

 The impression in recent times has been that the Kushners were distancing themselves from Trump – and Ivanka’s relationship with her father, fraught at the best of times, looks to be exploding from mid 2025 onwards. Their composite Sun and Mars will get rattled up by tr Uranus in square and into the following years tr Uranus will square the Saturn and Uranus.