French actor Alain Delon the leading screen sex symbol in the 1960s/70s and 80s with a colourful and scandal-prone not-so-private life is finishing his days embroiled in conflict with two of his children. His early years were not auspicious with parents who abandoned him, an education which finished at 14 because of his disruptive behaviour, and an early CV including working in a butcher’s shop, the navy for three years, then waiter, porter, secretary and sales assistant. Only after hooking up with an actress did he land at Cannes Film Festival  aged 21, was offered two contracts and the rest is history. He became one of Europe’s most prominent and successful actors and made a few Hollywood movies, at one point being considered for the lead in Lawrence of Arabia.

  He was born 8 November 1935 3.25 am Sceaux, France with divorced parents who put him into foster care and when the foster parents died he was handed back which evidently did not work out. His chart like his life is both lucky and impossibly difficult with two yods and a Water Grand Trine, formed into a Kite with Mars on his IC being the driving planet – the aggravations of his childhood may have pushed him on but they never left him. Now that I look there is a third, admittedly obscure, yod of his Scorpio Sun sextile North Node inconjunct his Chiron.

 He had a 2^nd house Scorpio Sun which later turned him into an astute businessman with a mega-fortune and it was in a creative Water Grand Trine to his Cancer Midheaven and trine Saturn in Pisces. He had a controlling and influential 10^th house Pluto trine Jupiter in Scorpio also in his 2^nd house. The two yods were Venus sextile Jupiter inconjunct Uranus on the cusp of his 8^th house and Pluto sextile Venus inconjunct Saturn.  

  When he got his first break into movies in 1956 at Cannes tr Uranus in Cancer was conjunct his 10^th house Pluto tugging on one leg of a yod and sextile Venus on the other leg. Not only did it turn his career upside down in a good way it also activated one of his yods, which usually need an unexpected turn of events to produce a new direction. His Solar Arc Midheaven was also conjunct his Pluto and SA Uranus and trined his lucky Jupiter on the other yod – so the planets aligned.

  His love life was a constantly revolving carousel though he said Romy Schnieder, an early romance, was the love of his life. Born 23 September 1938 10.05pm Vienna, her New Moon in Libra was conjunct his Venus and her Venus in Scorpio was conjunct his Sun. She subsequently married and divorced stage director Harry Meyer who hanged himself later and she lost her only son, aged 14, when he fell out the window of her Paris home. Her own death the following year was a possible suicide or overdose.

  There were scandals aplenty for Delon including his bodyguard being found murdered in a rubbish dump with revelations about sex parties involving celebrities and members of the French government, including future president Georges Pompidou. A Corsican crime boss, a friend of Delon, was suspected of involvement in the murder.

 A novelesque life which would not be easy for his children who all appear to be squabbling amongst themselves and over his live-in companion for 18 years. Which sounds par for the course in wealthy families but I am more interested in what comes down the generations psychologically.

Anthony Delon, 30 September 1964 1.41 pm Los Angeles, CA, an actor, is a Sun Libra with a tricky inter-generational 8^th house Moon Mars in Leo and Venus in Leo square Neptune opposition Jupiter. His Chiron is opposition his father’s Neptune and his father’s Sun is conjunct his Neptune – so at least an evasive interface. And he has a boiling reservoir of anger and resentment from those 8^th house planets.

  Anouchka Delon, 25 November 1990 12.36pm Douchy, France, supposedly her father’s favourite, has Mars in her 4^th house opposition Sun Venus Midheaven in Sagittarius so her experience of her father would make her particularly aware of his Mars on his IC – home would be heated. And her father’s driving Mars is square her Uranus Neptune in Capricorn – so not be an easy chemistry.

  Even less so Alain-Fabien Delon, 18 March 1994 2.17 pm Gien, France, who has a 9^th house Pisces Sun trine a 4^th house Pluto with a troublesome Mars Saturn Mercury in Pisces in his 8^th. Like his elder brother he has inherited some of the family’s calamity-prone tendencies. A third brother died of a heroin overdose.

  The sins of the father visited on the children and he carried the burden of what went before him as well.  A strikingly beautiful face and talent running alongside or maybe emerging from emotional damage.

The Epstein Files have been released and are being absorbed with most media outlets saying there are no new bombshell revelations though the reputational damage for Prince Andrew is stacking up.

  Bill Clinton also has a starring role and both he and Hillary are moving into a heavy-stress two years ahead whether over this predicament or for other reasons.

  Bill Clinton, 19 August 1948 8.51am Hope, AR, has his Solar Arc Sun square his Pluto now for a major road block in his life. Tr Uranus will conjunct his 8^th house Taurus Moon from mid March for an emotional upset. Then tr Pluto will start to square his Saturn in Leo from April on and off till January 2026 which will be a discouraging slog. Plus a disruptive, upsetting tr Uranus square his 26 Leo Sun from this July which will produce a jolting change and that repeats into 2025.

    His relationship with Hillary will have fractious moments in March and will be undermined by tr Neptune opposition the composite Sun Mercury from May onwards into 2025.

  His relationship chart with Epstein – who does appear to have left damaging ripples behind even after his exit – hints at more anxiety and worry to come this year.

  Hillary, 26 October 1947 6.45pm Chicago, IL, has her Solar Arc Pluto conjunct her Sun in effect now and through most of 2024 which is logjammed, exacerbated by her SA Mars following close behind making 2024/25 miserable, tormented and trapped.

 Her relationship with Epstein was always a tug of war with both fighting for the upper hand and is aggravated this year.

  Hill and Bill’s relationship was never overly close, being more designed for business than cosy togetherness. The relationship chart has a composite Sun square Uranus hinting at a need for space for two independent types. Bill’s Leo Sun is square Hill’s 4^th house Saturn and his Saturn is square her Sun. His Taurus Moon is conjunct her North Node and square her Saturn Mars Pluto. Her Pisces Moon is square his Uranus.

 Epstein must have had quite a grip on Bill Clinton with his Pluto conjunct BC’s Sun and square BC’s Moon; and his indulgent Jupiter in Taurus falling in BC’s house house of sexuality and money. EP’s South Node in Leo was conjunct BC’s Pluto and Ep’s Aquarius Sun was opposition BC’s wannabe-important Saturn. Both had/have a can-be-promiscuous Venus Mars conjunction.

Sigh, the rich and famous at play.

A bomb attack in Iran at a ceremony to mark the death of former Revolutionary Guards leader Qassem Soleimani, assassinated by the US in 2020, has left 103 dead and many injured. To date no one has claimed responsibility. It is thought Islamic State (ISIS) are likely to have been behind it. The group claimed the 2022 attack on a Shia shrine in which 13 worshippers were shot dead. Before that a simultaneous attack on the Iranian parliament and the shrine of the late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, killed 17 people in 2017.

  Following from the Iran post below 31 December 2023, the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei in power since 1989 is the most powerful political authority, head of state, commander-in-chief of its armed forces, and makes the final decisions on the main policies of the government in many fields such as economy, the environment, foreign policy, and national planning. He controls the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, as well as the military and media.

 His birthdate is questionable perhaps because of calendar issues. I have always worked on 17 July 1939 which has a fearsome Mars at zero Aquarius opposition Pluto (Moon) at zero Leo square Saturn at zero Taurus opposition North Node in Scorpio.  If accurate then it is under poleaxing pressure from tr Pluto hard aspects last year and through 2024 – he is known to have health issues so it may not all be external threats which are putting him under pressure.

  An alternative date offered is 19 April 1939 which has a late Aries Sun square Pluto and Mars in Capricorn in an Earth Grand Trine to Uranus and Neptune. It equally is under challenging influences from tr Pluto opposition Pluto and SA Saturn conjunct the Sun in 2025.

 He took over on 6 August 1989 during the triple conjunction in Capricorn with a Leo Sun square Pluto in Scorpio. That chart is under duress from an undermining SA Neptune opposition the Sun now, SA Saturn square the Pluto in 2025 and SA Saturn opposition the Sun in 2026.

 Ebrahim Raisi, the president in place till 2025, is seen as a possible successor to the Ayatollah when he finally goes. His Term chart looks rattled this coming May by a high-risk situation. And his personal chart, 14 December 1960, has a panicky, undermining SA Neptune opposition his Mars at the moment with an up down few months ahead with luck breaks and upsets.

 Hassan Nasrullah, 31 August 1960, leader of Hezbollah since around 16 February 1992 when the previous chief was killed, is a Sun, Mercury, Pluto in Virgo trine Saturn in Capricorn sextile Neptune.  He looks fairly hemmed in through this year and frustrated, with possibilities of violence from April onward extending through 2025. 2026/27 look his most testing times.

  His leadership chart, assuming 16 February 1992, is showing high tension now to mid March with some lucky breaks and more disruptions from May peaking in July 2024 and on at which point tr Uranus will square the 26 Aquarius Sun. That July period is also when Nasrallah’s relationship chart with Netanyahu is severely rattled.

  All  manner of ifs and buts and iffy data but does back up other hints from elsewhere.

Kristin Scott Thomas, renowned for  Four Weddings and a Funeral and The English Patient and more recently playing the steely Diana Taverner in Mick Herron’s Slow Horses co-starring Gary Oldman, has made her directorial debut with “North Star.” Partly inspired by the death of her father and then her stepfather during her childhood, it has premiered at the Toronto Festival and is due on screens this year.

  She was born 24 May 1960 in Redruth, with a navy pilot father who died in an air crash when she was five, and her stepfather, also a navy pilot, died in a “terrifyingly similar” crash when she was 11. She was educated at private boarding school, worked in a department store and then as an au pair in Paris where she studied acting. Her career has been constant though low key as she prefers, with dozens of films in French and one in Romanian, as well as English.

 What is intriguing about her chart is that it is riddled with quincunxes (150 degree angles). She has a yod of Neptune sextile Jupiter inconjunct a Gemini Sun and Mercury. Another yod comes from Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Mars in Aries. Another wide-ish yod of Uranus sextile Mercury is inconjunct Saturn in Capricorn. Mars sextile Sun Mercury inconjunct Neptune.  So Sun, Mars, Saturn and Neptune are all yod focal planets which will have created the need for a massive amount of adjustment in her early adult life to find a track that suited her and to manage the contradictions in her temperament.

 She said recently in an FT interview: “I suppose I’ve always been quite pro-conflict. I think a lot of people have found me very difficult. Especially when I was a much angrier younger woman.” That would be her Mars in Aries veering around trying to find a balance. And a yod Sun wobbling between ego-centricity and low self-esteem.

  Her Chiron at 2 degrees Pisces is being nurtured by her Solar Arc Jupiter in an exact conjunction at the moment. The festival reviews of North Star were not overwhelmingly positive but perhaps making the movie in itself helped to heal her childhood loss.

 Quincunxes are connected to the 12^th harmonic and hers, not surprisingly, is strongly aspected with a Jupiter opposition Uranus square Mars and a Sun opposition Saturn square Venus. Creative with a life marked by sacrifice. The victim/healer.

For previous post on quincunxes see in Search – 22 August 2023

Hamas’s deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri has been killed in a blast in Lebanon’s capital Beirut where he lived, an event celebrated in Israel though greeted with trepidation internationally lest it sets off a reaction from Hezbollah, also based in Lebanon.

 Al-Souri, 19 August 1966 was a Sun Leo square Neptune in Scorpio opposition a North Node in Taurus – Neptune in its chillingly-cold guise tied into a plotting-and-planning Taurus North Node. Just as tellingly he had a Water Grand Trine of Jupiter Mars in Cancer trine Saturn in Pisces trine Neptune in Scorpio formed into a Kite by Saturn opposition the revolutionary Pluto Uranus.  The Water Grand Trine would detach him from other views of reality than his own and with Uranus Pluto as the driving planet he’d be the ultimate destabiliser and destroyer of the status quo.

  His chart is not as obviously cruel as that of the present leader Yahya Sinwar, believed to be living in a tunnel under Gaza city, born 29 October 1962. He has a destructive, militant Mars North Node in Leo opposition Saturn in Aquarius square Sun Neptune (Moon) in Scorpio. Mars Saturn in traditional astrology had assassination as one of its associations. Add a perverse Neptune into the mix as well as  Scorpio and the potential for wreaking havoc is all there.

  Ismail Haniyeh, political Hamas leader, who lives in some style in Qatar, 29 January 1962 is a Sun, Venus, Saturn Jupiter in Aquarius square Neptune in Scorpio with a Leo North Node.

 Having trawled through several of the Hamas leadership charts as well as Hezbollah, what is striking is the difference between them and the ISIS charts which were slanted towards Pisces either in planets or North Node – driven by a vision so cosmic it became chillingly inhumane. ISIS (remnants thereof) insist their organization is very different from Hamas whose aims are localised to Palestine. ISIS dreamt of a global caliphate.

  This present crop of Hamas militants have smatterings of patriotic Cancer and flamboyant, attention-grabbing Leo. With North Nodes in turbulent, constant-strife Taurus or in leadership Leo. Plus afflicted Mars which drives the anger, cruelty and urge to destroy.

  The Hezbollah chart, 16 February 1985 has an Aquarius Sun square a Taurus North Node opposition Saturn in Scorpio.  The Hamas chart, 14 December 1987, has an explosive mix of fiery Sagittarius planets including the Sun, Uranus, Saturn and a brutal Mars Saturn in Scorpio.

   Not sure whether this is illuminating or not.

  Yahya Sinwar certainly looks an unpleasant type. If he survives, he will be under maximum pressure in 2026 and on with tr Pluto square his Sun and opposition his Saturn with nothing improving in the years following. The Hamas chart, 14 December 1987, also indicates the years 2026/27 will be when it runs into a terminal halt.    

 Khaled Mashaal, 28 May 1956, one of the Hamas leadership in exile in the Arab world, is a Sun Gemini with a formidable Mars at 26 degrees Aquarius opposition Jupiter Pluto (26 Leo) square Saturn (28 Scorpio) – so he will be on red alert during this coming July period of Mars Uranus Algol and on into 2025.

The fallacy that history means progress.

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. ” ― Michael Crichton.

 “A generation which ignores history has no past – and no future.”   Robert A. Heinlein

Tom Wilkinson and John Pilger, two much respected figures in their respective arenas have died.

  Tom Wilkinson, a stalwart of British theatre and screen who broke into the big time with The Full Monty was remembered with fondness and respect by George Clooney and all who had worked with him in movies such as Michael Clayton, Sense and Sensibility, Shakespeare in Love, The Patriot, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Batman Begins, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Denial.

  He was born 5 February 1948 in Leeds he grew up in poverty, partly in Canada, with his overworked father dying at 50 leaving nothing but debts behind him. His early career on the stage and screen provided constant work but only at 49 did he gain prominence outside the UK. What was heart-warming was that he took a percentage of the Full Monty’s profits in lieu of pay which gave him financial security for the rest of his life.

  He had an Aquarius Sun opposition Saturn Pluto in Leo describing the life of hardship led by his father and giving him a determined and depressive streak. Luckily he also had an upbeat Jupiter and Moon in Sagittarius in an adventurous opposition to Uranus square a creative and charming Venus in Pisces which would not only help to lift his optimism it would also soften the harder edges of Sun Saturn Pluto. When the Full Monty was released in 1997 tr Jupiter in Aquarius was conjunct his Sun.

The other year end exit was John Pilger, the crusading journalist who drew world attention to human rights abuses in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, East Timor and Biafra, winning awards and often being the catalyst for action. He was revered by many for his courage and criticised by others for his anti-western leanings.  He was sometimes accused of twisting facts to fit his anti-US political prejudices. He also made documentaries on thalidomide and the ill treatment of Australian indigenous people. In recent years he was a vocal supporter of Julian Assange.

  He was born October 9 1939 in Sydney, Australia and worked in Sydney newspapers before moving to London. In his 20s, he became the youngest recipient of the Journalist of the Year award (for his reporting on Vietnam.) He marched with civil rights campaigners from Alabama to Washington following the assassination of Martin Luther King and was in the same room when Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June 1968. He was banned from South Africa in the 1970s for his attempt to expose the reality of apartheid and reported on racism in London.

  A stalwart fighter for his cause even if at times he pushed too far and did not know where the stop button was.

  He was surprisingly a Sun, Venus, Mercury in Libra which should have made him diplomatic. But what drove him on was his Mars in Aquarius opposition Pluto, sextile/trine Jupiter in Aries. Mars Pluto is drawn to crisis-situations, is unafraid of danger and has immense staying power with an underground reservoir of deep, black anger.

  His Mercury in Libra was square his Pluto which would redouble the force of his words and arguments, though clearly he went too far on occasion. His Mercury also opposed Saturn square Pluto opposition Mars which is a daunting combination drawing him into situations of great cruelty and darkness. With his fair-minded Libra planets waving the scales of justice and fairness as he emerged from yet another killing field.

  He did make a difference.

  In the ‘odd couple’ corner there are few humbugs and hypocrites to match Bridget and Christian Zeigler. “Don’t Say Gay” proponent Bridget started Moms for Liberty, a far-right extremist movement supported by high ranking Republicans, which advocates wholesale banning of books in schools, teaching on race and ethnicity, is anti-LGBT and campaigned against covid mask and vaccine mandates  She has now been accused of being involved in a years-long three-way sexual relationship with a woman who is accusing her husband of rape. Only in America!

 Bridget, born 23 July 1982 is a Sun Leo with a formidably angry, determined and pushily confident Saturn, Mars, Pluto in Libra with Mars Pluto conjunct Jupiter. Her Mars Pluto sextile Neptune form a yod inconjunct Chiron and Algol – and that kinda defines her. What a nightmare.

 Christian, 27 May 1983, is a Sun Mars in Gemini with four planets in Sagittarius including his Moon and a yod of Saturn Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Chiron Algol – another wound that won’t heal. Their relationship chart also has a composite yod with Chiron as apex. Plus an opportunistic Mars square Jupiter and a delusional/deceptive Sun opposition Neptune.

  His Saturn Pluto in Libra is conjunct her Mars Pluto Jupiter which is a mind-bendingly difficult interface.

  Their Chironic connections certainly back up Liz Green’s description of the shadow side of the wounded healer  – rage, envy, vindictive spite, self-pity and resentment.

  Another odd couple – in astro-terms – are House of Lord (for the time being) Baroness Michelle Mone and her financier husband Doug Barrowman in the middle of a squall over personal protective equipment in the pandemic for which his company was awarded contracts worth more than £200m through a so-called “VIP lane”. The company is being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and being sued by the Department for Health and Social Care. The couple are proclaiming loudly they are being scapegoated. His wiki entry lists a number of previous questionable business kerfuffles.

  She was born 8 October 1971 4.55pm Glasgow, Scotland and has a heavily Air-oriented chart with an 8^th house five planet stellium in Libra of Pluto, Uranus, Sun, Mercury and Venus with a Moon Saturn Gemini conjunction opposition Jupiter Neptune in Sagittarius plus Mars in Aquarius in her Ascendant.

  Doug Barrowman, 1 March 1965 Glasgow on the other hand is Water/Earth with his Sun, Saturn, Mercury and Venus in Pisces and Neptune in Scorpio, with Mars, Pluto, Uranus in Virgo and Jupiter in Taurus.

  Opposites attract so they say but it does not always work. Though his Aquarius Moon will help slightly. And there is an affectionate Sun Venus  in their relationship chart which also has two yods – onto Saturn and the other onto Uranus Pluto. Fated to be together through thick and thin. Both are incredibly stubborn. Her Mars in Aquarius won’t budge easy and her five planets including Pluto in the 8^th even less so.  His Mars Pluto conjunction likewise is not one for giving way in a fight.  

 Barrowman’s chart is not dissimilar to Peter Murrell’s the husband of Nicola Sturgeon, 8 December 1964 who also has the formidable Uranus, Mars, Pluto in Virgo. I never quite saw what made that coupling work though both have Aquarius Moons and his eternally-optimistic Jupiter in indulgent Taurus sits in her 7^th house conjunct her Saturn so he would cheer her up. Though given his Jupiter opposes Neptune Venus in Scorpio he would not always be realistic or straightforward.

 Their relationship chart does have an affectionate composite Sun Venus conjunction though also an ego-clashing and not always supportive Mars square Neptune. Plus a yod of Mars sextile Mercury inconjunct Chiron.  A wound that ties them together and drives them on not always sensibly. 

  Interesting to reflect on for the future – Chironic relationship yods.

Add On: Moms for Liberty was founded 1 January 2021 with its Pluto in Capricorn opposition the USA Mercury tapping into the fanatical streak in the American psyche. The Moms’ Pluto was also in a ruthless, bulldozing square to Mars in Aries with Mercury in Capricorn also involved –  angry, bullying, ranting and raving. There was also a Jupiter Saturn conjunction in Aries with its ideological dogma to the fore square Mars Uranus. There is a focal point Neptune in Pisces (can be prone to whacky beliefs) which is square Venus opposition the North Node.  It is running into significant trouble this year which will bring its progress to a halt.

  Aquarius can be tolerant and open-minded or the opposite.

Please add below. Older posts under News on top bar or in SEARCH

Extracting sense out of the Gaza inferno and plotting an astro-timeline forward for Israel and its Middle Eastern neighbours is a depressing if necessary task as a New Year dawns. Netanyahu says there will be no end to the carnage for months ahead with no indication he has a post-war plan, or at least not one he will publicly own. Though his right wing Finance and Defence Minister Bezalel Smotrich favours mass forced immigration of Palestinians to other Arab countries who are unlikely to cooperate.   To date 23,000 Gazans have been killed and 85% forced out of their homes and swathes have been reduced to wasteland with UN agencies warning of disease, malnutrition and famine.

  The US is continuing to supply Israel with weapons and Israel has rejected international pressure for a temporary truce to allow significant humanitarian aid into besieged Gaza. The longer the conflict continues, the greater the likelihood of it spreading out through the Middle East.

 Netanyahu has vowed to take control of the Egypt-Gaza border to eradicate the military threat from Hamas. It is the only crossing into and out of Gaza not currently under Israeli management. It would amount to a de facto re-occupation of the Gaza Strip, something the US and Egypt will oppose.

  The Israel chart has nothing of cheer through this year. The Tr Uranus conjunct the 8^th house Taurus Sun which just preceded the deadly and brutal Hamas October attack is back in May and again late December into March 2025 which will bring  considerable disruption. There will be explosive disasters even earlier from mid March onwards as tr Uranus collides with two Mars midpoints and they repeat on and off till late year. From mid April onwards, on and off till late 2025 the Israel Sun/Neptune point catches the tr Pluto opposition, which Ebertin describes as “a tragic deception or illusion, emotional and physical suffering” and usually accompanies a sense of devastation and confusion. Plus a sprinkling of undermining Neptune transits  to the Israel Jupiter and Uranus and several midpoints. High risk and intransigence will continue from mid 2025 with tr Uranus square the Israel Mars into 2026.  By which time tr Pluto is in a meltdown opposition to the Israel 10^th house Moon in 2026/27.  By 2027 the Solar Arc Midheaven is conjunct the Israel 12^th house Neptune for indecision and confusion about what comes next.

 Hamas may well be defeated by 2026/27 but they will have achieved at least one aim in provoking Israel into an over-the-top retaliation that loses them all international respect. The other aim presumably would be to widen the conflict out to include other Middle Eastern countries. And there are worrisome reverberations across quite a few related charts.

  26 degrees Taurus with Uranus Mars and Algol in July 2024 sparks off Egypt’s General Al Sisi’s 26 degree Scorpio Sun square his 26 degree Pluto in Leo – though his chart is also on high alert now to mid March as well. He is actively engaged with Saudi Arabia and Qatar in trying to forge a peace plan. Netanyahu also has Mars at 26 Leo. Hezbollah’s Sun square Saturn are both 27 degree fixed so catching the aspects in August 2024.

 Netanyahu’s relationship charts with Al Sisi, Saudi’s MbS and Qatar’s Sheik Tamin are all aggravated and unsettled from March/April onwards.

  Israel’s relationship chart with the Iran 1906 country chart also points to a high alert in July/August 2024.  Relations with the UK will be at a standoff with similar though different tussles with the EU. Only the US is ambling along with its head in the clouds as tr Pluto is trine the composite Jupiter Neptune.

 The October 2023 Solar Eclipse in a Saros series of immense power and anger was certainly on point. The two solar eclipses in 2024 are less hair-raising, though the October one hints at sorrow over a completion.  Though whether that relates to this impossible deadlock is not clear.

 What is clear from the astrology, is that, like it or not, even Israel’s deeply embedded 8^th house Taurus Sun square Mars in Leo with Saturn Pluto and Moon in Leo will be forced to shift attitudes in the coming decade and a half. Tr Pluto will oppose the Moon in 2026/27, then the Moon/Pluto midpoint in 2029, followed by oppositions to the Pluto, Saturn and finally Mars by 2041; with tr Pluto square the Sun in 2038/39. That is a poleaxing amount of pressure and grinding down.

  There has always been an eerily 8^th house feel about this eternal agony stretching back for decades. From Moritz’s book Pandora’s Box –  “The eighth house is associated with entanglements – power games, boundary crossings or dealing with taboos. It is almost impossible to differentiate between good and evil, black and white, hero and villain. Things are muddled and mixed up.” Abuser and abused, victim and perpetrator.

 To add a dash of fatedness, the Israel/Hezbollah relationship chart has three yods – Mars sextile Mercury inconjunct Neptune, Uranus Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Mercury and Jupiter sextile South Node Neptune inconjunct Mars.  As with all relationship yods there is something of the catalyst  about their coming together since they prompt accelerated change. And they tie one to the other for good or for ill. Hezbollah would seem (dates being accurate) to be a crucial factor in Israel’s destiny.

“Through me you go into a city of weeping; through me you go into eternal pain; through me you go amongst the lost people”  Dante Alighieri, The Inferno

“Through me is the way to the city of woe.

Through me is the way to sorrow eternal.

Through me is the way to the lost below.

Abandon all hope, you who enter.” Dante Alighieri, Inferno

“At grief so deep the tongue must wag in vain; the language of our sense and memory lacks the vocabulary of such pain.” Dante Alighieri, Inferno

Add On: Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of the UN’s refugee agency for Palestinians, describes it as “a war of all the superlatives”, adding that “the level of destruction is just staggering”. Over half of Gaza’s hospitals are no longer working.

 Gazans fear there will be nothing to return to when the conflict is over. guns finally fall silent and many reckon Israel’s goal is to make the strip uninhabitable.

 One said: “Even if you allow us to go back tomorrow, how are we going to live? They destroy our homes, our investments, our factories, our trees, infrastructure — everything.”

     Rebuilding will cost billions of dollars. An Arab diplomat said oil-rich Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, could help finance Gaza’s post-war construction, but added: “they won’t invest unless they know what the postwar situation looks like. They need to see real hope for a two-state solution, and they are not going to invest if it’s going to be destroyed two or three months later.”

Queen Margrethe, the popular Denmark Queen has surprisingly announced her abdication 52 years after her accession. She pointed to recent back surgery and her advancing years as the reason though there is speculation she was trying to shut down the aftermath of rumours about Crown Prince Frederik’s alleged extra-marital dalliance in a bid to keep his popular wife Princess Mary on board.

  Margrethe’s father died on 14 January 1972 at 7.50pm and she abdicates as tr Uranus is conjunct the Accession Midheaven and tr Saturn is conjunct the Descendant; and the Solar Arc Saturn is moving to oppose the Accession Capricorn Sun. There have been pressures building for several years with tr Pluto conjunct the Accession Sun and SA Neptune also conjunct as well as SA Pluto crossing the IC. So the decision may have been growing or even made a while back .

  Queen Margrethe, 16 April 1940 10.10 am Copenhagen has a successful, confident and idealistic Sun Jupiter conjunction in Aries in her 10^th house along with a communicative Mercury in Pisces and an organized, disciplined Saturn in Taurus. Her  passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars conjunction in Gemini is in her friendly 11^th and her flamboyant (and secretive) Moon Pluto in Leo is in her 1^st.

  She has worked as a scenographer, costume designer, and Tolkien illustrator and is known for her strong archaeological passion.  Despite a number of health issues over the years she continued to chain smoke until last year. She has had osteoarthritis, cervical cancer, spinal stenosis with recent major back surgery and two doses of covid last year.

 Crown Prince Frederik will step up, 26 May 1968 11.50pm, who is popular like his wife and mother though it was thought he had given up his earlier playboy life. He doesn’t have his mother’s lucky, successful, career-oriented chart with a private 4^th house New Moon in Gemini and a chaotic, unsettled 8^th house Uranus Pluto conjunction in Virgo. Plus a tricky Saturnine yod inconjunct Pluto Uranus sextile Neptune which requires maturity and self-discipline to get the best of it otherwise it can be self-defeating.

  He’s not at a phase of his life where he really wants to shoulder heavier responsibilities with tr Saturn still sinking through the middle portion of his First Quadrant.  So it would not be his choice.

Princess Mary, 5 February 1972, Hobart, Australia, an independent-minded Sun Aquarius trine Uranus has won over the Danish public with her dedication to royal duty and her fluency in the language. She will mesh better with the Danish public than her husband.

  The relationship between Denmark and Queen Margrethe is affectionate, friendly and a successful combination with a Sun Venus conjunction and Jupiter Pluto conjunction. Princess Mary also inspires admiration and and enthusiasm with an exuberant composite Sun Venus Mars conjunction opposition Jupiter.

  Prince Frederik less so with a disruptive Uranus Pluto conjunction; a suspicious, doubting Neptune square Saturn; and stuck-together-but-not-by-choice Saturn square Pluto.

  The Denmark country chart, 5 June 1849 12.15.pm Copenhagen, with its Gemini Sun opposition a Sagittarius Moon square Neptune will be feeling sadness as an era passes this year as tr Saturn in Pisces hard aspects the Sun and Moon. The Solar Arc Sun Midheaven is also square the Denmark Neptune for a disappointment now and the SA MC is conjunct the Moon next year for new beginnings.

For details on Frederik and Mary see post December 6 2023. No doubt more anon at handover.