Marjorie

Sir Alexander Fleming, the Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the antibiotic penicillin which was described as the “single greatest victory ever achieved over disease”, was born on 6 August 1881 at 2am Darvel, Scotland. He was knighted for his scientific achievements and was named in Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century.

  He had a Leo Sun square a 10^th house Saturn Neptune conjunction in Taurus – Saturn Neptune being known for healing and health in one of its effects (around now until 2027 in Aries). Even more serendipitous he had Jupiter in Taurus conjunct Algol on one side and Chiron on the other (both within a degree) – a healing victory over death. His Jupiter was also in a confident conjunction to an unshakeably determined Pluto Mars conjunction. Plus he had an innovative Uranus trine Neptune Saturn.

 His discovery came on 28 September 1928 when, with delightful astrological precision, Neptune had just moved into Virgo, sign of health.

  At that point his Mars Pluto conjunction was by Solar Arc crossing his Ascendant as was tr Pluto for a momentous break and a life-changing moment. Tr Neptune was square his Mars. Tr Jupiter in Taurus was moving through his 10th/11^th about to cross his four Taurus planets.

Saturn Neptune in the past:  Medical advances are highlighted under Saturn–Neptune, with Louis Pasteur helping to discover the anthrax vaccine in 1881, the year of Fleming’s birth.

  But it also has a dual face coinciding at times with major outbreaks of sickness. 1021 – an epidemic of St Vitus Dance (chorea) in Europe 1 when Saturn and Neptune were in Aquarius.  The plague that devastated Europe and Asia during the 1340s also Saturn–Neptune conjunction in Aquarius of 1344, and the Uranus–Pluto conjunction at the same time. The outbreak of bubonic plague in London in 1665 and the Great Fire of London a year later both took place when Saturn and Neptune were together in Capricorn.  In 1846 in Aquarius, widespread famine in Ireland followed the failure of the potato crop. During the 1917 and 1918 conjunction in Leo, there were massive casualties in the First World War, especially at Passchendaele, and the Spanish ‘flu epidemic of 1918 killed 20 million in Europe, the United States and India. By the conjunction of the late 1980s in Capricorn, the AIDS virus was running amok, causing countless deaths in Africa, Europe and the United States.

Sarah, the last of the Morlok quadruplets, who entertained audiences with her three sisters as a child but grew up with a nightmare father, has died aged 95. Her mother was expecting twins and went into labour a month early, delivering four identical girls born from a single egg which was considered a medical miracle at that time.

 The family were given free housing, medical support and milk, with copious donations of money and knitted clothes. Their father despite being dubbed “Jolly Carl” by newspapers was a Nazi sympathiser and an extreme authoritarian whose mother had been mentally disturbed. He refused to let his daughters mix with other children, banned them from having boyfriends and sexually abused them. He had two of them — Helen and Wilma — surgically circumcised. He was “one of the worst fathers on earth” according to Audrey Clare Farley, who revealed their true story in a 2023 book entitled Girls and Their Monsters.

 Three of the girls developed mental problems and were given electroconvulsive therapy. In their 20s they took part in a study of schizophrenia to determine whether their illness was caused by nature or nurture. Only Sarah recovered sufficiently to lead an independent life in which she married (not very happily) and had three children. Two sisters died at 72/73 and the third at 85.

 The quads were born on 19 May 1930 between 10.25am and 10.35am in Lansing, Michigan. They had a 10^th house Sun Mercury conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol in Taurus square Neptune, with Chiron and North Node also in Taurus in the 10^th. They had Pluto in the 12^th in a tough opposition to Saturn square an explosive Mars Uranus in Aries – describing a dominating, ruthless, autocratic and damaging father.  Their Moon was in Aquarius in the 7^th trine Venus Jupiter and sextile Uranus Mars pointing to a marginally better relationship with their mother though she was complicit.

Their midpoints are truly difficult with a violent Uranus opposition Saturn/Pluto; a tormented Neptune opposition their destructive (abuse) Mars/Saturn; and a neurotic Neptune = Uranus/Pluto.

Their father Carl, born 8 September 1888 Germany, was a Sun Virgo with the late 19^th century Neptune Pluto in Gemini which can be psychologically off-the-wall opposition a can-be-fanatical, might-makes-right Mars Jupiter in Scorpio which opposed the sisters’ Taurus Sun and Mercury.

 Their mother Sadie, 8 March 1899, a highly-strung Sun Pisces square Neptune Pluto opposition Uranus and Saturn in Sagittarius was none too stable herself. Her Mars in Cancer was conjunct her daughters’ Pluto so she sparked a good deal of anger from them for not protecting them.

 What an unholy mess and a tragedy.  

ADD ON: The Dionne Quintuplets, born 28 May 1934 3.56am Callander, ON Canada, were born prematurely and when months old their custody was signed over to the Red Cross and then the Crown but that did not stop them being exploited as a tourist attraction. Their mother was accused of physically abusing them and their father of sexual abuse. Only one quintuplet is alive today. Two died in their 20s/30s, one in 2001 and the fourth died on July 28, 2025, at the age of 91.

 There are strong similarities in the charts with the quads, with a Sun square Neptune; and a ferocious Mars Algol opposition a Scorpio Moon square Saturn; with the opposition forming the driving rod of a Water Grand Trine of Moon trine Pluto trine Scheat. Plus Pluto square Uranus Venus in Aries.

 Poor kids what a disaster.

Sarah, Duchess of York, has been given an excoriating trouncing in Andrew Lownie’s book with endless tales of obscenely profligate spending with a guilt-free disregard for her inability to pay, debts racking up – and worse supposedly charitable ventures not paying out to the needy whose cause her public appearances were supposedly promoting.

  She was born 15 October 1959 in London with a go-ahead Sun Mars conjunction in Libra, a sign known for its extravagant tendencies. She also has a Venus Pluto conjunction which can appear sociable but has a manipulative, indulgent side; which is in a rules-don’t-apply-to-me square to Jupiter.  Plus a less than straightforward Mercury Neptune conjunction in Scorpio. Her Aries Moon is trine Jupiter and square Saturn.

 She says – from memory –  her birth time was 9.03am. That would give her a Scorpio Ascendant which does not fit with her usually gaudy dress sense. It would put bumptious Jupiter in her 1^st and her Moon in the 5^th which feels OK; and her influential Pluto Venus sits on the midheaven. But it puts cautious Saturn in her financial 2^nd which is questionable.

 ADB has another source suggesting 3am which would give her a Virgo Ascendant and put her Sun Mars and Mercury Neptune in her 2^nd which makes more sense – and a troubled Uranus and Pluto Venus in the 12^th which equally could ring true. On that birth time her Progressed Moon would be just into her 12^th conjunct her Uranus at the moment which does sound feasible.

  Either way her Saturn in Capricorn is being assailed by tr Neptune Saturn in Aries in square = high uncertainty running into 2026; when tr Saturn will conjunct her Moon and over the next couple of years tr Neptune will also conjunct her Moon – undermining circumstances around home and family matters. Tr Uranus will also square her Pluto in 2026/27 which will bring a significant upheaval. Her Solar Arc Saturn is opposing her Venus now and for the rest of this year. Tr Uranus will oppose her Jupiter from this month which might bring a hint of relief.

 She is recovering from cancer which won’t improve her spirits.

 The mystery always was her live-in-while-divorced arrangement with Andrew. Her Sun Mars Neptune Mercury fall in his domestic/family 4^th house and her Venus in his financial 2^nd – so she would give him a fantasy of a family life while she had access to his money and contacts – and the title would also be a money spinner. Their relationship chart has an enthusiastic, opportunistic composite Mars Jupiter and widely Sun conjunction with chained-together Saturn trine Pluto and a needs-space Uranus trine Sun and square Uranus. Their together not-together relationship clearly suits both of them.

 Queen Elizabeth was less enamoured but no doubt felt trapped since Sarah would presumably have seemed a more attractive option than Koo Stark. Their relationship chart had a strained but anchored composite Sun inconjunct Mars sextile South Node. Prince Philip certainly got riled by her which with a composite Sun Mars square Uranus was not surprising.

  Prince William was never a fan and their relationship chart has a chilly composite Moon opposition Saturn square Sun Mercury.

 Both her children understandably look edgy at the moment with Beatrice having her Venus Moon in Cancer opposition Neptune square Mars being undercut by the tr Neptune Saturn hard aspects at the moment and over the next several years.  Eugenie looks deflated exactly now and into 2026.

“The problem with wearing a facade is that sooner or later life shows up with a big pair of scissors.” Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Behind every glorious facade there is always hidden something ugly.” Stanislaw Lem

“People can perfect whatever facade they want, but everyone holds their sins close to their skin.” Jeaniene Frost

There are Sun sign devotees, and I have known a few, who can intuit birthdays and personality characteristics with astonishing accuracy. If astrology were that simple, life would be easier for the aspiring astrologer who instead of focusing on one shining star is forced to juggle with the effect of Rising signs and Moon signs, and is then deluged by a good deal more.

  A well-known astrologer once told me he spent the first two years under an enlightened teacher understanding nothing at all until one day it suddenly clicked into place. Dismantling the astrology chart into its multifarious separate components and doing the hard grind of learning what-means-what in isolation is a bore.  But at the end of it there is an intuitive process that takes over which is able to ‘grasp’ the complexity of the information on offer and form a picture of a multi-faceted and often contradictory personality.  

  At a simple level the Sun relates to identity, father, the yang. The Moon relates to mother, childhood, what nurtures. The rising sign which was on the horizon at the moment of birth is the persona, the face that is first shown to others, the outer image and appearance, behind which the Sun and indeed Moon can sometimes hide.

  Most obviously a Scorpio Ascendant puts up a secretive, determined front, usually wearing dark clothes, which may well sit at odds with the ‘real’ personality who emerges on longer acquaintance.  Clint Eastwood with a Scorpio Ascendant has a restless Gemini Sun and an entertaining Leo Moon = appears forbidding but is communicative and attention-seeking. He is all three.

 Tony Blair with a bright, chatty Gemini Ascendant comes across as flexible and light-hearted which belies his hidden stubborn 12^th house Taurus Sun and his determined, provocative, equally stubborn Aquarius Moon in his career 10^th.  Sorry to bring houses into the equation but it is the way my mind works. That is another layer of building blocks.

Brigitte Macron has a prissy Virgo Ascendant which puts up a sedate, tidily organized front, behind which lie the hidden volcanic depths of an 8^th house fiery Aries Sun and Moon.

 Emmeline Pankhurst, the militant suffragette had a provocative, rebellious Aquarius Ascendant behind which façade there was a hard-working 6^th house Cancer Sun and a 7^th house practical Virgo Moon.

  Every astrologer has their own way of working which may differ but reach the right conclusions by a different route. Or shine a light on a different facet of the personality.  I am rooted to houses amongst other things. And would tend to pay more heed to the house position of the Sun which is dependent on the Ascendant/Rising sign than looking directly at the Rising sign itself in the first instance.

  A Leo Sun is entertaining and attention-seeking but will function differently if it is in the hidden 12^th house with a Virgo Ascendant; or in an even more hidden 8^th house with a Capricorn Ascendant. Its fiery, outgoing temperament will be more subdued. Whereas a 5^th house Leo Sun with an Aries Ascendant will be out there and make its presence felt.

   Giorgia Meloni, the Italian PM, has a showy Leo Ascendant behind which sits a hard-working, earthy 6^th house Capricorn Sun and a home-loving 4^th house Sagittarius Moon.

 The Dalai Lama has a Cancer Ascendant and Sun – so what you see is what you get.

 Queen Elizabeth 11 had a conservative, austere Capricorn Ascendant behind which sat a quick-witted 3^rd house Taurus Sun which always surprised people who met her at close quarters.

  Then just to add complexity to complexity take Benjamin Netanyahu – a lively Sagittarius Ascendant with an 11^th house New Moon in Libra. Taken in isolation that could sound upbeat, morale-boosting and charmingly fair-minded. But his chart is dominated by a can-be-ruthless (brutal) Mars Pluto conjunct in Leo.

  I always reckoned learning astrology initially was as much fun as studying chemistry and latin grammar. It needs persistence and hope which will be fulfilled since the end of the journey is a good deal more exciting and insightful than the slog that went before.

  “My course is set for an uncharted sea.” Dante Alighieri

“In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.”  Dante Alighieri

Prince Andrew emerges, as expected, as an unpleasant human being from the Andrew Lownie’s Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York – sex obsessed and boorish, with an prurient, adolescent sense of humour, crassly arrogant, rude to staff and unsurprisingly lonely.

Journalist Petronella Wyatt said he reminded her of Princess Margaret, ‘who thought she was more royal than the Queen. He talked and you had to listen. He ignored all attempts to change the conversation and continued to make inappropriate jokes. He’s the most out of touch royal I’ve ever met and I’ve met lots. He really does believe in the Divine Right of Kings.’

  Boris Johnson after lunching with him said: “‘I’m the last person to be a republican but if I ever have to spend another lunch like that, I soon will be.’

 In 2021, after Meghan Markle was accused of bullying staff, Buckingham Palace braced itself for historic complaints about Prince Andrew’s bullying, profanities and impossible demands.

  It has all been said before but it does seem to be (has to be!) coming to a point of no return when the damage to the monarchy outweighs (or should) any family sentiment.

  Andrew, 19 February 1960 3.38pm London, with a dependent 7^th house Pisces Moon Sun opposition Pluto, has a chart riddled with yods. His obsession with sex is pointed up in his Venus Mars conjunction in Capricorn sextile a Scorpio Moon. His willful, disruptive, intolerant, even lawless behaviour comes from Uranus on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Saturn sextile Mercury – which in other hands might have had a positive outcome as a trailblazer but in any event its catalytic effect will tend to give him the capacity to make irrevocable changes in his environment.  

  His overbearing self-importance comes from a focal point Jupiter in his attention-attracting 5^th house square the North/South Node axis.

 He also has a yod of Moon sextile North Node inconjunct his Midheaven – which should have given him a singular direction in life but seems to have trapped him in a quandary. Perhaps anchored into arrested development by mother issues from his 4^th house Scorpio Moon. His Moon fell exactly conjunct his mother Queen Elizabeth 11’s Midheaven, welding his emotional nurturing to her status.

 Transiting Uranus is square his Sun exactly now as his reputation is trashed even more effectively than before and will continue to rock n’ roll its way across his Sun/Pluto midpoint and then square Pluto into  2026/27 which suggests a phase of significant upheaval. His Solar Arc (focal point) Uranus is also aiming for his IC which also suggests an uprooting/relocation by next year. And both legs of that central yod will be affected by an undermining Solar Arc Neptune conjunct his natal Saturn later this year into 2026; and his Progressed Mars is conjunct his Mercury now – when yods are shaken by aspect it tends to shift life onto a different track . On top of all that tr Saturn Neptune will square his Jupiter across this winter denting his confidence.

  Given that he has zero self-awareness and an inordinate streak of obstinacy, any changes will have to come from outside.  

  Despite the fact that he has the ability to do damage to Charles’ image with Andrew’s Uranus conjunct Chas’s 1^st house Pluto; and is a drain on the Royal purse with Andrew’s Pluto conjunct Chas’s 2^nd house  Saturn, the Andrew Scorpio Moon conjunct Chas’s Scorpio Sun will make for a strong bond however uncomfortable.

 Charles and Anne did make an effort earlier this year to shift the dialogue but clearly to no effect. But there is no doubt that the next generation down are adamant he must go.

  William’s relationship chart with Andrew has a composite Saturn, Neptune, Mars pointing to implacable dislike and that is being triggered as tr Uranus moved into Gemini exactly now and opposes the Saturn, and in 2026/27  the composite Neptune and Mars – so the pressure from his side will escalate.

 One story that emerged from Lownie’s book was a scuffle between Prince Harry and Andrew (which Harry is denying!) but it seems all too likely with their relationship chart having a hostile, toxic Pluto square Jupiter Mars. That do-or-die struggle for the upper hand was being triggered by tr Pluto conjunct the Mars at the time of the alleged punch up in 2013 which would ramp up the heat considerably.  And tr Saturn was also square the Pluto and conjunct Mars around the time of Harry’s wedding which would be explosive as well.

  Andrew’s relationships with his two daughters Eugenie and Beatrice looks more troubled than usual at the moment and more so in 2026/27.

   The tentacles of Epstein show no signs of losing their grip anytime soon. It is an exceptionally odd phenomenon as his ripples still unsettle the White House and UK monarchy even years after he has departed for warmer climes.

I am pro-monarchy but they do themselves no favours at times. One way and another Andrew has to be shuffled off into oblivion.

ADD ON: Andrew was regarded by the inner circle as Queen Elizabeth 11’s favourite  which may have been partly because Charles in a sense belonged more to the monarchy/country than her as a mother. Or just standard family dysfunction where one child was liked more than others. Or because he was a ‘love child’.

  It was a very Neptunian chemistry so she possibly glossed over his misbehaviour (and she had survived Princess Margaret and various other renegade Royal uncles whose scandals had all been swept under the rug by a more compliant media.) The Queen’s head-in-the-clouds Moon Neptune in Leo was conjunct Andrew’s focal point Uranus so she would not view his rule-breaking in the way others would. Andrew’s Mars Venus in Capricorn fell on QE11’s Ascendant so perhaps his Randy Andy reputation provided light relief from her need to keep up a solid, stolid image. His Pluto fell in her 8^th so he would exert a strong subconscious pull on her.

 Their relationship chart had a composite Moon Neptune opposition Sun which was rife with illusions and delusions. Plus a strong Pluto opposition Mars – bound by chains of power and control.

  In many ways her synastry with Charles was stronger with his Sun conjunct her Midheaven and her Saturn and his Moon exactly conjunct her Taurus Sun. But his Saturn fell in her 8^th for a defensive emotional interface. Their relationship chart had a needs-space, differing-agendas composite Sun square Uranus, trine Saturn – with a fractious Mercury, Mars, Jupiter opposition Pluto.

Singapore is celebrating 60 years as an independent sovereign nation and republic on August 9^th. Highly developed and extremely wealthy, it is a major aviation, financial, and maritime shipping hub.  It ranks highly in key social indicators: education, healthcare, quality of life, personal safety, infrastructure, and housing, with a home-ownership rate of 88 percent. Singaporeans enjoy one of the longest life expectancies, fastest Internet connection speeds, lowest infant mortality rates, and lowest levels of corruption in the world. It has the third highest population density of any country, and multi-racialism is enshrined in the constitution.

  The country chart with its emphasized Jupiter in Gemini in the financial 2^nd house square Saturn opposition Uranus Pluto Venus in Virgo in the 5^th house of speculation marked it out for wealth. With the Jupiter in a dynamic trine to a hard-working Mars in the 6^th. Plus a 4^th house Leo Sun square Neptune.  And a Capricorn Moon on the cusp of the international 9^th house.

 Assuming 12 am is accurate then tr Pluto will conjunct the Midheaven in 2026/27 which suggests a forced change of direction and a challenging phase of many years after that. With tr Saturn Neptune conjunct the Solar Arc Midheaven in 2026/27/28 hinting at a less focused trajectory ahead with growing uncertainty.

 The Solar Arc Saturn will oppose the 7^th house Neptune in 2027 with SA Venus also conjunct the Neptune which suggests concerns about a neighbour.

 Relations with various countries in the environs look edgy in coming years – Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, India.  But the most obvious source of high anxiety will be China – never an ally at the best of times and seriously aggravated between 2027 and 2029 with the composite Mars Pluto catching an opposition from tr Pluto.

 The Singapore Stock Market Index, 31 August 1998 is showing minor stress this year and next with some turmoil towards the end of the decade. The Bank of Singapore, 1 January 1971,  although nervy in 2025/6 will be on a confident roll in 2027 which may subside for a couple of years thereafter.

Comets in Astrology is a fascinating dive into an under researched topic but not for the faint of heart. The author Rod Chang having been asked eleven years ago where the icy celestial bodies that orbit the Sun known as comets, which appear periodically and erratically in the heavens, fit in with astrology, he decided to find out. There are 4,584 known comets but these are probably probably a very small fraction of the total potential comet population of maybe one trillion. Comets are known for their characteristic tails, which form as they approach the Sun.

  Unsurprisingly in ancient times they were seen as harbingers of disaster. While with endless numbers to play with they could be used to prove almost anything there are remarkable examples of comets appearing in the year of Julius Caesar’s birth and the year of his assassination. The best known – Halley’s comet – first appeared in 684 CE with a three month rainstorm following, plus an earthquake and an outbreak of the Black Death. It reappeared in 1066 which was a history-changing year for England; and again in the years when Mark Twain was born and the year he died.

  Old astrologers interpreted their meaning depending on the zodiac signs the comet passed through, by their shape and by colour.

 More recently French Andre Barbault described them as  messengers bringing information and insights from the outer edges of the solar system. The dark, freezing boundary of the solar system has been compared to the collective unconscious by Melanie Rhinehart and others. Rod Chang describes them as the rebels in the solar system displaying unpredictability and weird behaviour.

 In recent times sightings have been associated with evolutionary scientific, technological and political breakthroughs.  1882 the Great Comet of September was seen, the year when Thomas Edison switched on the first ever electrical generator in New York.

 Halley’s Comet is the only known short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing every 72–80 years, and was sighted in 1986 when the channel tunnel was agreed. Another one, Comet West was visible in 1976 when Steve Jobs and Wozniak sold first Apple computer.

 This highly commendable book is awash with examples from the charts of Steve Jobs, Julian Assange, Agatha Christie. And a plethora of examples from comet case studies of happenings during sighting years of prominent comets – Chernobyl, USSR Foundation, Princess Diana’s death, Edward V11 amongst many others.

 The author writes “I hope my observations can stimulate further research into this relatively unexplored subject.”

 It left me with two questions. One is how to sort through and prioritise amongst the increasing and potentially overwhelming amount of information available nowadays from planets, Fixed stars, centaurs, asteroids and now comets. The second is how am I going to fit it all into a chart. It’ll need a giant projection screen across a blank wall.

 For all my Virgo gripes, this well written and intriguing book is well worth reading as is getting to grips with a well-evidenced addition to the astrologer’s knowledge database.  

www.wessexastrologer.com

Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson are an unlikely romantic duo but are providing a cheering distraction with musings on their new found togetherness.  The 58-year-old Baywatch star and the 73-year-old Academy Award nominee held hands during interviews to promote their new comedy The Naked Gun, a sequel and reboot to the Leslie Nielsen-starring series of police-procedural spoofs.

  He said. ‘It was like I just felt an ease with her, you know, and we discovered a silliness with each other, which was terrific.’

  All of which is reflected in their relationship chart with a composite Sun Jupiter conjunction which will bring a sense of relaxation in each other’s company and is mutually supportive. The Sun Jupiter is in a lively trine to Mars for added zest and maybe trine a Moon opposition Uranus which would bring a sparkle of mischief.

 He was born 7 June 1952 Ballymena, Northern Ireland, no birth time, and she 1 July 1967 4.08am Ladysmith, BC, Canada. He has a Sun, Mercury, Venus in Gemini while she is Cancer – which may sound an odd match but I have seen it work well. His freedom-loving Uranus is conjunct her Sun and his Pluto is in a passionate conjunction to her Venus – so he will need his own space as well as closeness.

 She has an Aries Moon and he a Sagittarius Moon – so they will understand where each other is coming from.

 What is intriguing is their interaction with each other’s Nodes. His Jupiter in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio sits on her Taurus North/Scorpio South Node axis. And her Venus opposition Aquarius Midheaven dovetails with his North Node in Aquarius opposition South Node in Leo.

 Pamela Anderson has been married five times while he has remained unwed since his former wife Natasha Richardson was killed after a skiing accident in 2009.

  Their ‘fated’ North Node connection will have drawn them together and the Jupiter boost in their relationship chart is always a good sign since it softens rough edges and is morale-boosting in both directions. It will offer a strong friendship though need not necessarily translate into a happy-ever-after scenario.

  It may seem in ghoulish but it sparked a memory of Natasha Richardson’s untimely death after hitting her head in an accident in the snow in Canada. She was born 11 May 1963 5pm London. Relocating her chart to the location where she has her accident near Montreal put her Mars exactly on the Ascendant opposition Saturn on the Descendant. Mars Saturn can be accident prone and that location was clearly red-flagged.

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Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop appears to have gurgled in a southerly direction with the winds of change blowing. A Pluto in Capricorn creature it started with a newsletter in 2008, was incorporated in the UK in 2011 and went stratospheric. As well as promoting bizarre oddities like vagina eggs, coffee enemas and $15,000 sex toys, it stoked fear about “toxins”, seeding distrust in the medical establishment. A new unauthorized biography suggests she ‘paved the way for the conspiratorial, anti-expert, post-truth thinking now embedded in the White House. Both Paltrow and Robert F Kennedy Jr are fans of raw (unpasteurized) milk.

   The biography is none too complimentary portraying Paltrow as “a semi-sociopathic, privileged ice queen who courts people she needs with her charm, only to use and manipulate them for her advantage — and spit them out mercilessly when she’s done.” Though for all her flaws she undoubtedly has her  finger on the zeitgeist. Which might give one hope that sanity may start to prevail in the wellness business as she retreats from it.

 She was born 27 September 1972 5.25pm Los Angeles,  with an actress mother and producer-director father and has a formidably determined and lucky chart. Her 7^th house Libra Sun is conjunct a bulldozer Pluto and Mars in late Virgo all square a 10^th house Jupiter. Her cool Gemini Moon on her IC is conjunct Saturn and opposition a ‘spiritual’ 9^th house Neptune.

6 Air planets including an 8^th house Mercury Uranus conjunction in Libra make her a communicator; and her Venus in fashionable Leo in her 6^th would have inclined her towards pricey health products. But what she lacks in emotional warmth, she makes up for in self-belief. She told Vanity Fair that fame had felt to her “like a predestined thing” – that she had known her “whole life that this was going to happen”.

 When Goop turned into a solid venture post 2008 tr Saturn was rising above her Descendant. Now it has come half cycle to slide below her Ascendant into a lower profile, less successful phase of her life ahead for several years.

 With such a strong 7^th house – Mars, Pluto, Sun – it is hardly surprising she has at points drawn difficult men into her orbit. She found her professional home in Miramax Films, Harvey Weinstein’s production company, starring in Jane Austen’s Emma, followed by Shakespeare in Love, for which she won an Oscar after Weinstein’s lobbying. Though after #metoo exploded she was one of the first to speak out about him.

 Weinstein 19 March 1952 9.45pm New York has a late Pisces Sun with a ferocious and ruthless 1^st house Mars in Scorpio square Pluto on his Midheaven. There was a definite money and career connection between them with his Jupiter falling in her 2^nd house trine his Pluto MC conjunct her 6^th house Venus with both trine her Midheaven. Their relationship chart was awash with Fixed stars with Uranus Alphard opposition Jupiter Chiron square Venus Algol; and composite Moon conjunct Scheat. Pholus North Node were opposite Saturn square Neptune.

  The story for public consumption at the moment is that Paltrow is more content than she’s ever been, cooking “boyfriend breakfasts” for her husband, Brad Falchuk, while awaiting the January 2026 release of Marty Supreme, her first film after a seven-year hiatus. An American sports adventure comedy-drama film with Timothée Chalamet it is about a young man with a dream no one respects, who goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.

 I am not so sure her driving ambition will take kindly to tr Saturn sliding through her less successful First Quadrant for several years ahead with tr Saturn Neptune square her Jupiter and opposing her Mars, Pluto and then Sun from now until 2027. Her cast-iron certainty about her destiny will be going through uncertain times; with further emotional jolts as her Solar Arc Uranus opposes her Moon, on the same degree in six months’ time and extending through 2026.

  What is astrologically striking is her megaton Pluto which prompts her to hand out contemptuous opinions about others and simultaneously attracts corrosive judgements about herself. Not a women to warm to easily.