UK social unrest in the form of violent rioting is expected to continue as far-right groups show no sign of pulling back after the stabbing and death of three children at Southport. Misleading social media blamed immigrants and Nigel Farage is doing little to calm tempers.
Tommy Robinson, 27 November 1982, is chief rouble-rouser, a defiant, rebellious Sun Uranus in Sagittarius, with an unpleasant, ruthless Saturn Pluto in Libra square Mars in Capricorn. Mark Collett, 3 October 1980, is another far-right leader with Saturn, Sun and Pluto spread out through Libra, and a volatile Mars Uranus in Scorpio square Venus, sextile Jupiter.
Two things struck me about the UK chart vis a vis the above. The yod of Uranus sextile Jupiter inconjunct Pluto is being activated this year and next by tr Pluto opposition the Jupiter (often accompanying sporting success as per the Olympics) and tr Pluto trine the Uranus on the other leg of the yod bringing upheavals and disruptions (and a change of government). The unsettled mood will become more so in 2026, maybe even before in 2025, as tr Uranus into Gemini is trine the UK Uranus and by 2026 is in a full blown, table-turning square the UK focal point Pluto. And that does not take into account the Solar Arc Uranus moving through the UK 8th exactly conjunct the deeply buried Mars now and staying on the same degree till September 2025 which will detonate subterranean forces of anger and aggravation (and a fight for control).
Tommy Robinson’s Sun Uranus in Sagittarius is square the UK Pluto so he will be keen to upset the status quo.
Mark Collett, a neo-Nazi sympathizer, has his Saturn in Libra conjunct the UK’s Uranus, which could suggest a dislike of tolerance. But what is intriguing is that his Uranus Mars in Scorpio, and Tommy Robinson’s Jupiter in Scorpio, as well as the original blackshirt, Oswald Moseley, 16 November 1896, with his Scorpio Sun, Uranus, Saturn at almost the same degree – all clash with the UK 11th house Saturn.
The 11th house represents the legislature and House of Commons, but more significantly the country’s long term hopes, wishes and ideals. The UK’s Solar Arc North Node is exactly square the 11th house UK Saturn now – so in one sense there is an ongoing fight for the country’s soul and identity ahead. Tr Uranus is in a jolting square to the UK Saturn for a final time late this December to mid March and elbowing Robinson and particularly Collett’s charts at the same time. All pointing to mounting concerns about the UK’s future path as a society.
There are, of course, periodic phases of disruptions so this is nothing new though it feels shocking.
Looking back to Uranus in Sagittarius squaring the UK Pluto in 1982 when there was also a war-associated Saturn Pluto in place – the Falklands War was running and the Israeli ambassador was shot in London which provoked the 1982 Lebanon War. In terms of local internal UK unrest, Welsh workers bombed a water HQ. The Northern Ireland troubles were wreaking havoc with Hyde Park and Regents Park bombings by the Provisional IRA. On Greenham Common the Women’s Peace Camp was making their presence felt.
Roll back one to Uranus in early Virgo opposition the UK Pluto from mid 1962 to mid 1963:
There were race riots in the Midlands. In London a crowd assaults the rally of the right-wing Union Movement of Sir Oswald Mosley. 70,000 protesters arrive in London, having marched 50 miles (80 km) from Aldermaston to demonstrate against nuclear weapons. The Bristol Omnibus Company refuse to employ Black or Asian bus crews and a boycott of them lasts for 4 months.
Unruly and violent or otherwise demonstrations are clearly not a new thing. But it could get bumpy ahead – as well as confusing as the 2025/26 tr Neptune Saturn in Aries oppose the UK Uranus on one leg of the yod.
All of which suggests a major fate-driven transition onto a new track, not settling until 2026 is out of the way. Yod transitions tend to come from outside events, not willed decisions.
Israel’s deadly strike against the Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh in Teheran and a top Hezbollah leader in Beirut has world leaders holding their breath for what comes next. Their deaths coincide with the swearing in of the new Iranian prime minister Massoud Pezeshkian two days ago, replacing Ebrahim Raisi who was killed in a helicopter crash.
The ultimate power in Iran lies with the Supreme Leader, but the swearing in chart may indicate events on the ground. 30 July 2024 at 1pm Teheran. That gives a showy 10th house Sun and Venus in Leo but with a deeply buried Uranus (Algol) plus an exact Moon Mars conjunction and Jupiter in the 8th. Pluto is conjunct the IC trine Moon Mars which suggests grumbling discontent amongst the population, all kept well under wraps. There’s not much indication of ructions on this chart. 2026/27 look the high stress years from his personal chart, 29 September 1954. (These dates are from wiki so not always reliable.)
Hamas is struggling with its ruthless Mars Pluto conjunction moving by Solar Arc to close the conjunction to the Sun and then Saturn from 2025 to 2027, which could see the end of them, at least in their present form. Tr Saturn is adding discouragement exactly now and throughout 2025. 2025 also has SA Mars conjunct Sun which will be a significant setback, with worse by 2027.
Ismail Haniyeh, 29 January 1962, reckoned more moderate than Sinwar, had been trying to broker a peace deal in Qatar. A Sun, Saturn, Venus in Aquarius square Neptune (Moon) in Scorpio, he was on the receiving end of the destructive tr Pluto conjunct his Mars/Saturn midpoint exactly now.
Yahya Sinwar, 29 October 1962, the Hamas leader inside Gaza, an unpleasant Sun Neptune in Scorpio square Mars in Leo opposition Saturn, is looking rattled at the moment and emotionally knocked off balance.
Hezbollah’s reaction to the death of one of their leaders is key, more so even than Iran who have shown reluctance at being drawn into a full blown conflict with Israel. Hezbollah 16 February 1985, has an Aquarius Sun square Saturn in Scorpio, both at 27 degrees, being shaken severely by tr Uranus from next week, August 9 to late September and again next spring. Hezbollah’s relationship with Israel has a composite Sun catching this October’s Solar Eclipse exactly in opposition which points to a crisis. With more disruptions late December to mid March 2025 when tr Uranus is conjunct the composite Venus at the same time as tr Uranus is conjunct the Israel’s 8th house Sun.
And on it goes. But this August/September does look unsettled in the extreme.
See also previous posts:
Iran Israel – tit for tat, fear of what next ++ Iranian leaders. 14th April 2024
Israel v Iran – an escalating crisis ++ possible USA involvement? 2nd April 2024
Huw Edwards, one of the nation’s most admired broadcasters, who announced the death of Queen Elizabeth 11 and fronted coverage of Charles’ Coronation as well as elections is now facing a prison sentence for pleading guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material of the most serious kind. He stepped down last year with mental health problems facing allegations involving a teenager and sex photos which were not deemed criminal but certainly inappropriate.
Born 18 August 1961 Bridgend, Wales, no birth time, he is married (now separated) with five children and was an active church goer.
Two things stand out in his chart – one is a flamboyant, attention-seeking and willful collections of Sun, Uranus, North Node and Mercury in Leo inconjunct Jupiter Saturn conjunct in Capricorn. The other is a Scorpio Moon maybe conjunct Neptune trine Venus in Cancer sextile Pluto.
His Leo planets would tend him towards arrogance and a chart-dominating quincunx suggests an unease within his personality which he was never able to resolve. He’d be constantly shifting and adjusting and never finding inner peace. Jupiter Saturn can also carry, for a few, a tendency to fly too high and then find themselves cut down as Saturn, who punishes transgressions steps in to take a scythe Jupiter’s vainglory.
His intensely passionate Scorpio Moon conjunct Neptune trine Venus would send him chasing fantasies – not necessarily in the direction of children, (though houses might add to the story) but he would certainly be emotionally unrealistic and never satisfied.
At the moment the explosive tr Uranus Algol of July/August are squaring his Sun, Uranus and North Node – so shaking up his position on a pedestal. With tr Pluto in a trapped trine to his Mars at the moment and again late year.
His Solar Arc Pluto is also in a devastating conjunction to his Neptune exactly now.
The BBC is coming in for flack, having paid his exorbitant salary (with pay rise) over the past year, despite knowing about these charges. His interface with the BBC is Neptunian with his Leo Sun conjunct the BBC Neptune and his Neptune conjunct the BBC Mercury – dream weavers united but not always realistic or straightforward.
His relationship chart with the BBC is odd – a bad-tempered, one-side composite Mars Saturn in a high-tension opposition to Uranus sextile/trine Sun, Mercury and Pluto – very tied together but a simmering cauldron of undercurrents of resentment and disagreement.
It has also given rise to comment that the BBC appear to be rife with predators – Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris amongst past examples. The BBC chart now that I look closely at it, in addition to a Scorpio Sun, Mercury, Jupiter in the entertaining 4th and a stubborn Mars in Aquarius and defiant Uranus in Pisces in the 10th, also has an afflicted Pluto. Its Pluto in Cancer is on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Mars sextile Venus, giving it a tendency to misuse power and presumably block out criticism until a scandal blows up dragging secrets out. The Solar Arc South Node is conjunct its Pluto at the moment -which is obscure enough but a hint that sliding back into old bad behaviour patterns of stonewalling won’t pay off.
Saturn weighs heavily in two headline crime stories. Jeremy Bamber in prison for shooting five members of his family since 1985 could be freed after allegations of police malpractice. He says the incident was a murder-suicide carried out by his sister, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. His girlfriend of the time said he had been planning the killings for more than a year. He has Sun, Saturn conjunct in Capricorn in his 8th.
The other is William Calley, the only US soldier convicted for the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, a Sun Saturn in Gemini who has just died.
Bamber, born 13 January 1961 2.09 pm London, had a packed, intense and deeply secretive 8th house with Mercury, Sun, Saturn and Jupiter there. He also had a living-in-his-own-bubble Water Grand Trine of Mars in Cancer in his 1st trine a charming 10th house Venus in Pisces trine Neptune in Scorpio, formed into a Kite by Venus opposition Pluto North Node in his 4th – making controlling Pluto the driving planet, magnifying his tendency to live in his own reality and be compelled to control his domestic and family environment. More so since his Venus opposition Pluto squared onto an excitable Sagittarius Moon. He also had unsettled Uranus in his family 4th inconjunct his Sun, Saturn, Mercury in Capricorn.
When the shooting occurred his Solar Arc Neptune was conjunct his Moon, his SA Mars was just past the opposition to his 8th house Mercury and tr Pluto was trine his Mars – emotionally undermining, angry, aggravated for a shattering event, whether instigated by him or not.
William Calley, 8 Jun 1943 6.12pm Miami, Florida, became the public face and only scapegoat for a Vietnam War atrocity, in which American troops killed hundreds of unarmed South Vietnamese men, women and children and gang raped some. Initially it was covered up and only after Seymour Hersh, the journalist exposed the details was a court martial held. Calley had an uninspiring background and became a junior officer with minimal vetting. His company sustained heavy losses in the early months of 1968, losing men to sniper fire, land mines and booby traps. Under orders to flush out Viet Cong, he and his men destroyed a village, searching for guerrillas and sympathizers. They shot and bayoneted women, children and elderly men. An Army investigation later concluded that 347 men, women and children had been killed. A Vietnamese estimate placed the death toll at 504.
The WP writes: “Calley polarized Americans who variously deemed him a war criminal or a scapegoat, a mass murderer or an inexperienced officer made to take the fall for the actions of his superiors. Defenders argued that he had been forced into a brutal conflict with an often invisible enemy, then blamed for the horrors of the war.” He was convicted of murdering at least 22 noncombatants and sentenced to life at hard labor. His life sentence was reduced to 20 years, then 10 years. Ultimately he served three years, most of it under house arrest, and disappeared into obscurity thereafter.
He was a Sun Saturn in Gemini on the cusp of the 8th sextile North Node, Moon, Chiron in Leo. His Mars in pro-active Aries was in a can-be-ruthless trine to an intensely emotional Pluto Venus in Leo. His Neptune was in final degree Virgo. When the My Lai massacre occurred on 16 March 1968, tr Uranus was conjunct his Neptune and his SA Uranus square his Neptune – so his nerves would be shredded and his judgement awry.
His Solar Arc Saturn was exactly square his Mars, triggering his ruthless streak, with tr Saturn just over the conjunction to his Mars – both of which point to a high-risk and volatile phase of his life. And notably tr Jupiter was conjunct his Midheaven and his SA Pluto sending his confidence and desire for power into overdrive.
No great conclusions except that a strong Saturn is supposed to bring benefits in the latter stages of life which does not seem to have happened.
Guilt always clings to Saturn – retribution for wrongs committed. There is a Saturnine rule about sticking to the straight and narrow since transgressions will be found out – Saturn ruling laws and ethics in society.
Sun Saturn suggests a father who dumps guilt on his son because of his own failings. So the son is hyper-sensitive to any suggestion of not coming up to expectations. And with an 8th house Sun that is compounded by intergenerational pressures.
Feeling guilty does not prove any wrong doing but it may be has a tendency to attract situations where accusations will be made, accurate or not. Which in both Bamber and Calley may have been compounded by having Chiron conjunct their respective Midheavens – which emphasizes their sense of failure in not coming up to parental expectations. Calley was swayed by his superiors which does not exonerate him but he may have been more suggestible than most. Bamber who knows?
NB. All militaries have had their shameful episodes- Brits in Kenya, India and elsewhere. The French in Algeria. Germany, Belgium etc etc. But My Lai did, like Abu Ghraib, undermine the American tendency to project a holier-than-though image.
Add On: The My Lai massacre occurred on 16 March 1968 near Quang-Ngai, Vietnam, when tr Pluto was exactly square the USA Mars and tr Saturn in Aries was square the US Sun. A sobering moment.
Hugh Clowers Thompson was an army aviator who went in with colleagues and stopped the massacre, rescuing some who were left alive, and was initially given a medal but then vilified when he blew the army cover up and tried to get the truth into the open. He was eventually recognized by Bill Clinton with the Soldier’s Medal in 1998. He suffered PTSD and alcoholism in later years.
Born 15 April 1943 in Atlanta, Georgia, he was a Sun Aries square Jupiter in Cancer and sextile Mars in uncompromising Aquarius; with a Fixed T Square of Chiron, North Node, maybe Moon in Leo opposition Mars square Venus in Taurus. With a pulled together, influential Pluto on the focal point of a Neptune trine Uranus Saturn. Very determined when he got going.
When he stumbled into the My Lai massacre his Solar Arc Pluto was opposition his Mars, with tr Jupiter conjunct his SA Pluto giving him the courage to stand up to authorities.
Captain Ernest Medina, 27 August 1936, whom Thompson saw shoot unarmed civilians, was eventually put on trial but cleared along with many others involved, leaving Calley the only one punished. Medina, a Sun Virgo, had a prominent Jupiter on the focal point of a T square and trine his Mars – he was unfairly lucky, where Calley with his strong Saturn became the fall guy.
Add On 2: The judge has lifted restriction on naming the Southport killer who is 17 year old Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, born 7 August 2006, Cardiff Wales. He has extraordinarily enough – in the way of coincidences – an exact Sun Saturn conjunction opposition Neptune.
ADD ON 3: Yet another Sun Saturn conjunction is preoccupying the tabloids as a wealthy footballer’s former mistress and mother of two of his children has been criticised in court for treating him like an “open-ended chequebook”.
Lauryn Goodman, 18 January 1991, in court to claim money for her children is revealed after her daughter’s birth to have demanded a £33,000 lump sum to install air conditioning in her Sussex residence, a new car worth £70,000 every four years, and a £31,200 astroturf football pitch since she hoped her daughter could become a Lioness. The judge criticised her for not having a “good track record of telling the truth”.
She shares a Sun Saturn in Capricorn conjunction with Jeremy Bamber though of a more recent vintage. Her Sun Saturn on Capricorn is trine a determined Mars in Taurus widely opposition Pluto.
Richard Burton, the actor, husband of Liz Taylor, 10 November 1925, was another Sun Saturn in his case in Scorpio which was in a Water Grand Trine to Uranus and Pluto, formed into a Kite by Pluto opposition Jupiter.
The wondrous Simone Biles has recovered from her wobbles at the Tokyo Olympics to triumph in Paris with an astonishing display of gymnastic prowess and grace. A commentator said, “What is gymnastics exactly? Performance art? Hard-edge competitive sport? At one point in her balance beam routine Biles did an insane triple backflip (repeat: on a thin, square bar) like a wheel rolling down an incline, one of those moments where she seems to turn the entire event into something else, movements that are strange, liquid, and basically unlike any other human on the planet.”
This is her fifth gold medal and only the start of her “redemption tour” with more events to come in this Olympics.
In 2021 she pulled out of several events in Tokyo three years ago with the ‘twisties’ – a disorientating mental block; and took two years out before returning last year with the Olympics in her sights.
What is all the more extraordinary about this 4ft 8 inches athlete/dancer is her background.
She was born 14 March 1997 6.02am Columbus, Ohio, with a drug and alcohol addicted mother whose four children went into care. Simone and one sibling were rescued by her grandparents, who despite their modest circumstances indulged her drive to succeed. The two other siblings were taken in by other relatives.
She has a 1st house Sun, Mercury, Venus and South Node in Pisces in her 1st house opposition an assertive Mars in Virgo in her 7th. She also has a talented Half Grand Sextile of Pluto opposition a 3rd house Gemini Moon sextile/trine a self-reliant Saturn in Aries and an adventurous, risk-taking, lucky Jupiter Uranus in Aquarius. His Mars is in a publicity-attracting trine to a final degree Neptune in Capricorn.
Pisces will give her grace and fluidity and with Mars added in a dash of zest. Her Half Grand Sextile is intense with Moon Pluto, gritty and persevering/used to tough conditions with Pluto trine Saturn, with a positive-thinking-streak from Jupiter Uranus. It is worth noting that her Mars is retrograde and will stay that way for another 17 years by progression.
When her mental block occurred at Tokyo tr Neptune in Pisces was conjunct her Sun and worse tr Saturn in Aquarius was conjunct her upbeat Jupiter – both undermining the crucial elements of her success.
A good news story.
Her get-it-together 5th harmonic shows immense ambition. Her ultra-determined 16th harmonic is marked. Her global superstar 22nd harmonic emphasises Jupiter and Uranus.
Saturn and Neptune have been a pervasive and often conflicting influence over the past fifteen years plus with Pluto moving through Saturn-ruled Capricorn and Neptune in Pisces doubling up its reality-twisting tendencies. They will come together from mid 2025 in a conjunction in Aries which French astrologer Andre Barbault, envisaged as bringing about a ‘new world civilization’ taking off with a ‘new age of humanity’ – ‘a significant rise in the standard of living of the underprivileged, of a victory over misery won in an unprecedented solidarity.’
Barbault’s soaring rhetoric focuses on the best of Saturn Neptune aided by being central to the Pluto in Aquarius Uranus in Gemini trine. “ We are faced with the possibility of a change such as to make it seem too weak the terms “change” or the same “upheaval” to define the breadth of what could transform the known world.”
While I am not convinced that the promised land is approaching in quite such lyrical terms, it is true that the present hyper-anxiety and gloom will shift in 2025.
Understanding the nature – pluses and minuses – of Saturn and Neptune, both in individual charts and out in the universe can be helpful. The below is a pull together of two old posts.
SATURN
Saturn has had an undeservedly malefic reputation. Death, disaster, failure, depression, delays, lack of self-worth. All gloom, doom and misery.
I’ve always been very grateful for my Saturn – it induces a strong work ethic, instils a sense of discipline over time, is practical, realistic and provides a backbone when the mush threatens to take over. Even better, where Saturn is marked in a chart, it gets easier the older you get. The negative side reigns over the first third of life; it mellows through the middle third; and the final third becomes everything that wasn’t there at the start – warmer, more supportive, consolidated.
Saturn is essentially about structure in earthly terms. It plans, prepares, thinks long term to a feasible goal, then gets foundations laid, builds slowly and securely so its achievements stand the test of time. The end result of its endeavours is not necessarily aesthetic, since it isn’t concerned with cosmetic fripperies, but it is enduring.
Ruling Capricorn, it has the same steady ambition, which is willing to forego instant gratification for long term goals. Like the symbolic mountain goat, it starts in the foothills and works its way up to the peak, along a winding path if necessary.
Saturn restricts, so oversees limits and boundaries which may not feel like fun but are essential, psychologically as well as practically, in life. Neptune dissolves boundaries, Pluto invades across them to grab all the territory, Uranus blows them up, but Saturn stands firm for order, delineation, marked borders. In action, it is like a gardener who prunes plants back, lopping off overgrown branches, to stimulate fresh growth and produce a more manageable shape.
Often called a money-grubbing scrooge, Saturn is concerned with material security and can be less than generous and open-hearted. Again that’s down to its earthly nature and liking for boundaries. ‘Me and mine’ come first.
Not that Saturn is a delight at close quarters in intimate relationships. It can be cold, putting up a defensive wall against any encroachment, tending to put things above feelings, and is better at ‘doing’ than ‘being’.
The myth of Saturn eating his children depicted in a horrific Goya painting is apt, since it ties into his obsessions with time and mortality. Saturn was scared of being overthrown by his sons so he ate them at birth. Deep down he knows he is going to die and his children represent a future that he can never possess, since his is limited by his mortal span. He both loves and loathes the boundaries of his life, so he tries to over-ride them and stop time.
Having Saturnine parents means facing two things – their envy and their ability to induce misplaced guilt on their child. The Saturnine father pushes and pushes his children to be a success, being excessively critical of any failures, making them feel they never achieve enough to satisfy him, so damaging the child’s self-esteem though it can helpfully induce a driving need to be a success. But deep down the father’s fear is that they might outdo him, become more successful and outlive him. It’s difficult to cope with since if the child grown to adult became stratospherically successful, the father would shrivel, feel worthless himself and be consumed with envy. So it’s a no win situation, until the child/adult separates enough to understand it’s the father’s issue, not theirs.
The Saturnine mother on the other hand insinuates into the child a sense that they are responsible for her depression; and their role in life is to look after her and make her happy. She makes a bad, under-nurturing mother but expects her offspring to give her the caring she never gave them.
The mythological Saturn showed his other face at the autumn festivals of the harvest, when the agricultural bounty of the year was brought in and drunken celebrations ensued after the hard work was done. Earthly delights are also his preserve and his reign was seen as one of peace and plenty. Despite the devouring father, he’s associated with the flow of the seasons, especially winter when everything dies back to be reborn in spring.
Capricorn as a sign is unfairly dubbed as the cold, materialistic workaholic, but in fact has a highly creative and (indulgent) side. The old Capricorn symbol was half goat half fish. He operates in two realms – in the watery realm of ideas and visions and then makes them real on dry land. He is the stander on the threshold between the unconscious and the conscious; just as Capricorn stands on the cusp of the year that has past and the year that is about to come. He both mourns and celebrates.
Successful people tend to operate in a Saturnine way. Maggie Thatcher’s career moved to the transits of Saturn – into the Cabinet when tr Saturn moved up across her Descendant into her third quadrant, became PM when tr Saturn moved across her midheaven. Then she ignored its hints in the latter years of her tenure as it moved into her lower-profile first quadrant, when she should have been winding down, but given her temperament couldn’t do it. She was summarily ejected when her Solar Arc Saturn was exactly square her focal point Sun. Saturn can raise to great heights through excessively hard work, but it is a hard taskmaster when lessons are not learned.
Richard Nixon on the other hand was forced to resign facing impeachment charges when tr Saturn was moving through his 10th (supposedly the peak). That was when Saturn’s iron rule ‘you reap what you sow’ came into play, and Nixon’s chickens came home to roost. The god of the harvest knows that only careful preparation at the right time, clearing the ground, sowing seeds, tending to the growing crops, sticking to the rules, will provide the cornucopia. If you don’t put in the sweat and planning and try to bend the rules, it brings retribution.
Neptune:
Neptune as befits its mysterious nature has had a confused image in astrology. Describing it as slippery and evasive, impractical and low energy, as well as fostering dreams and visions, kindness and compassion, the traditional write-ups miss vital characteristics both positive and negative. Top athletes who need exceptional physical endurance often have strong Neptune aspects to their Suns. Successful businessmen and explorers are often Pisces, which is ruled by Neptune. It can also be inhumanely cruel – viz. the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele was a Pisces Sun trine Neptune. John Gacy, who raped and killed at least 33 teenage boys, was a New Moon in Pisces opposition Neptune.
In mythology Neptune ruled the watery oceans and waged war on Athena, who ruled the land. As an act of aggression he raped Medusa in Athena’s temple, in revenge for which she was banished to the far wilderness. Sacrifice and victimhood falls in Neptune’s realm. The sea can be cruel, certainly cold, changeable, is liable to brew up into monstrous storms, can chip away relentlessly at rocky coastlines until they collapse.
Christianity according to Carl Jung was the iconic symbol for the two thousand year Age of Pisces, ruled by Neptune. Yet Christianity, despite its love and tolerance motif, has at its heart an image of gruesomely bloody torture and the acute physical suffering of a forsaken son. Neptune has a dissolving action so physical dismemberment is part of his lexicon.
Neptune rules religion, associated with endless examples of atrocities, from the Crusades, the Inquisition, the murderous Protestant versus Roman Catholic centuries, more recently Al Quada and fundamentalist Islam. Being obsessed by an all-encompassing Neptunian vision can obliterate everything that is human.
Creativity, which is also one of Neptune’s talents, was born out of Medusa’s beheading when Pegasus, the winged horse, was set free. Again there is a paradox about Neptune – revelling in brutality of the bloodiest variety in order to set free the ideal. An eternal war between the physical world and the spirit. You can’t get one without the other.
Merged with other planets Neptune can be a powerful force and not always for the good. Neptune Pluto is super-ambitious, scandal prone and megalomaniac. Neptune Uranus can be fanatical as well as inspired. Neptune Saturn is associated with epidemics, paranoia, mental instability as well as social reform. Neptune Jupiter rules high-finance, bankers and the like, as well as dodgy gurus. Dualistic to the end.
Where Neptune can move mountains is in the minds and hands of a few who are capable of focusing so much determination and practical application on their vision they can make it real. Together with Saturn and backed up by an inspired Pluto trine Uranus, who knows?
“Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.” T.E. Lawrence.
Thinkers and communicators, chameleons, shape-shifters, adept at adapting, Mutables crave variety and novelty. An overload in Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces tends to bring high nervous tension, quick thinking and hyper-alertness along with restlessness and a tendency to scatter attention in too many directions. Concentration may be lacking, indecision can a problem along with suggestibility, given Mutable’s tendency to bend in the prevailing breeze. Finding ways of calming the mind is crucial. A touch like Mercury on steroids.
Mutable heavy charts were standard through several years in the 1960s with Uranus Pluto in Virgo and Saturn in Pisces with some like J.K.Rowling having Jupiter and North Node in Gemini plus Moon Venus and Mercury in Virgo as well.
Charlie Sheen 3 September 1965, is of the same vintage with Sun Uranus Pluto in Virgo, Saturn in Pisces and Jupiter in Gemini opposition a Sagittarius Sun – he has been open about his struggles with substance abuse and erratic behaviour.
Stephen Fry, 24 August 1957, was part of the Saturn in Sagittarius square Pluto in Virgo year with his Virgo Sun, Mars all tied together plus Mercury in Virgo. He has been open about his struggles with his mental health and in his Bi-polar documentary interviewed another sufferer Carrie Fisher, 21 October 1956, who also has Pluto in Virgo square Saturn in Sagittarius, plus Venus Jupiter in Virgo opposition Mars in Pisces.
It is too simplistic to say that an overdose of Mutable leads to mental imbalance. Richard Dreyfuss, 29 October 1947, whom Fry also interviewed in his bi-polar doc has a staggeringly fixed chart with Mars Saturn Pluto in Leo and Sun, Mercury Venus in Scorpio with a Taurus Moon.
But there is no doubt that Mutable is a nervy energy, constantly on mental alert and if the neurons go into overdrive and can’t be calmed down then it could lead to mental stress. Tennis player, Andy Murray, 15 May 1987, is a classic example of a high stress Mutable type with Moon, Saturn, Uranus in Sagittarius opposition Mars in Gemini and Mercury also in Gemini – luckily his Taurus Sun will help ground him.
Writer Edna O’Brien, whose early novels so outraged her native Ireland they were banned, moved ultimately from outcast to icon as her work was celebrated even in her homeland. She has died aged 93.
Her early novels focused on love and the lot of young women in an unforgiving world and her views on sex were much quoted. “The explorer in woman is as deep and as true as in man”, she once said. “Woman’s longing to stray is more persistent because man’s possibilities are so much wider. … Man is able to mollify his restlessness with other activities, hunting, shooting, fishing. With women it is all poured into the sexual aspect”. She wrote about freethinking, sensual young women who dare to break society’s conventions, to “craven” women who did not dare to make the leap and, later, she wrote about female victims of male violence in war time.
She was born 15 December 1930 10.30pm (from memory) Tuam, Ireland with a drunk, violent father and overly religious mother, and as a baby was deemed too ugly to be seen. She moved from an unhappy childhood into a bad marriage from which she finally escaped to exile in England where she developed into a glamorous international literary star. But Ireland remained her touchstone – “a land of shame, a land of murder and a land of strange sacrificial women.”
She had a 4th house Sagittarius Sun giving her the urge to travel yet stay firmly rooted at the same time. A super-confident Jupiter Pluto in Cancer would help lift her out of the unhappiness of her childhood, as would three planets in inspirational Fire signs – Sun trine an 12th house Mars in Leo trine an Aries North Node (and Uranus) in her 8th house. Her rebellious Uranus was deeply buried yet powerful, squaring onto Jupiter opposition Saturn Mercury in Capricorn helping her to lob a hand grenade into repressive Irish attitudes to sexuality and the status of women. She was a trailblazer for the changes which came later.
Her intensely determined Scorpio Moon in her communicative 3rd house was sparsely aspected with only a sextile to Neptune on her Ascendant. Though it was square her Mars/Pluto midpoint, hinting at the damaging relationship with her mother. Her Chiron in the 9th is described by Melanie Rhinehart as ‘wounded by God’ and often appears where a religious upbringing had a lifelong effect. Neptune on the Ascendant can give a mesmerizing appearance which she certainly had in adult life.
Her seductive and sensual Venus in Scorpio was square her Mars and trine her Jupiter Pluto so she more than made up for her austere childhood in romantic escapades and fun.
Her global influencer 22nd harmonic was strong, as was her writers 21st and leaving-a-legacy 17th. Her victim/healer 12th harmonic hinted at finding an outlet through communication. Her get-it-together 5th harmonic which builds a substantial life was the strongest. It can also indicate – always on-the-go, inventive, freedom-loving, fast-thinking – sometimes sensationalistic, self-indulgent, “the player”.
Fixed signs dominated in July’s disruptions and with Pluto moving into Aquarius there will be a culture shift ahead from the restless, go-getting Pluto in Cardinal Capricorn years since 2008.
Fixed energy can be enduring, steadfast, unchanging but also inordinately stubborn and inflexible. It was most notable in the case of Queen Elizabeth 11 with a Fixed T Square dominating her chart of Moon Neptune in Leo opposition Mars Jupiter in Aquarius square a Saturn Midheaven in Scorpio. Never was a chart better designed to plough the same (and often excruciatingly boring) furrow for decade after decade. Joe Biden also comes to mind with four planets in Scorpio with Mars square Pluto and a Taurus Moon, good for the long haul but obdurate when it came to accepting that change is inevitable.
An old astro-axiom comes to mind that in a hopeless situation, Cardinal will up-sticks and be off elsewhere to start again. Mutable will bend in the breeze and sigh regretfully as they adapt to new and unwanted circumstances. Fixed will dig in its heels and expects the world to change in their favour and won’t budge until it does. Although even they have to give in to reality at some point.
On the extreme negative end of fixed, is wilfulness and possessiveness, the latter acting in emotional relationships and in the acquisition of material goods and money. ‘Bull-headed and absolute in demands’. Mars and Pluto are particularly awkward in Fixed signs.
Recent examples in the news of the worst of the worst of Fixed energy include Gavin Plumb, 25 February 1987, who plotted the kidnap, rape, and grisly murder of tv presenter Holly Willoughby and targeted four other women and teenage girls. He was a Sun Pisces trine Pluto, sextile Neptune but his chart was dominated by Mars in Taurus opposition Pluto in Scorpio almost certainly square an Aquarius Moon.
Another is Hongchi Xiao, 5 February 1963, convicted of gross negligence manslaughter when a 71-year-old diabetic woman at his ‘slapping therapy’ workshop died, having been persuaded to come off insulin. He had assured that her condition could be healed by a method of self-healing which is said to expel ‘poisonous waste’ from the body through slapping and stretching. He is a Sun Saturn in Aquarius opposition Mars square Neptune – an overdose of Fixed, with a punitive streak from Mars Saturn and inclined to off-the-wall notions with a focal point Neptune. Tom Cruise born the previous year with a proliferation of Fixed signs, North Node, Venus and Uranus in Leo, Saturn in Aquarius, Neptune in Scorpio and Mars in late Taurus has some similarities – certainly enduring but holding unorthodox beliefs.
Another (minor) example which caught my eye is former tv presenter Jan Leeming, looking good at 82, but complaining she has had ‘such bad luck’ with men, having five failed marriages behind her. Lack of self-awareness – of being able to learn from life – also seems to be a negative Fixed characteristic. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. She is a Sun Capricorn, but has Venus in Aquarius opposition a Leo Moon square Saturn Uranus in Taurus, with Pluto in Leo square Mars in late Aries.
In the hothouse atmosphere of family relationships an overdose of Fixed can cause problems. Tv presenter Nadia Sawalha, 18 November 1964, has a famously stormy relationship with her younger sister Nadia, 9 September 1968. Admittedly both were born in the tumultuous Uranus Pluto marked in their charts which would not help. But both have strong Fixed qualities about their charts. Nadia has a Scorpio Saturn and Neptune square Saturn in Aquarius; and Julia has Mars in Leo square Neptune in Scorpio. When stubborn meets stubborn head on, finding a compromise is not easy.
The greatest strength of Fixed is also its greatest weakness. Bamboos bend in the breeze. Oak trees, which can’t bend, fall over if the wind is strong enough.
This is a bit of a stretch (above) but I am feeling satiated with US political shenanigans and with the endless repetition of the world’s woes – Gaza, on and on and on, financial cliff edges, climate change/net zero.
Though come to think of it Israel has the Fixed chart to end all Fixed charts with an 8th house Taurus Sun and Mars plus Saturn Pluto in Leo in the 10th. As admittedly has the UK but maybe two world wars and loss of empire finally let in some daylight.
