Fire Horse year in Chinese astrology brings dynamic energy and bold change. Experts say it will bring an intense mood with fast-paced change on a personal and global level. But the heightened energy needs to be managed wisely – slowing down before making major decisions, staying grounded, and cultivating emotional steadiness will be vital.
Looking back over previous Fire Horse years, every sixty years, it usually (though not always) has coincided with major events.
1966 – China the Cultural Revolution was in full swing, the Vietnam War was escalating. The Aberfan disaster in Wales killed many children.
1906 – San Francisco major earthquake. Hong Kong typhoon kills 50,000.
1846 – US v Mexico War
1786 – Farmers rebellion in Massachusetts. Dam landslide in China kills 100,00.
1666 – Great Fire of London and Great Plague in London
1606 – Gunpowder plot, Guy Fawkes. First performance of Macbeth.
1546 – Martin Luther dies
Henry VIII died in January 1547 so within the Fire Horse Chinese Year.
1486 – End of War of Roses. England stabilises
1426, 1366 ??
1306 – Robert the Bruce Crowned king of Scotland. Jews expelled from France.
1246, 1186, 1126??
1066 – the Norman Conquest which fundamentally changed England, introducing a new French-speaking aristocracy, establishing the feudal system, and forging closer ties with continental Europe. End of Saxon rule as William the Conqueror of Normandy took over.
English history did have ‘memorable’ moments during Fire Horse years as on occasion did US and China.
Gisele Pelicot, an ordinary housewife, drugged by her husband and raped by an estimated 72 men over a decade, became ‘a figure of astonishing power’ when she insisted on an open trial and has now written an inspiring memoir A Hymn to Life. After her husband was arrested for upskirting, the police having seized his computer found evidence of the assaults on her. She said when faced with the evidence she felt she’d “been struck head-on by a high-speed train”. When it came to the trial the French system would have allowed for a closed hearing but she insisted.
“It was those bastards I wanted in the spotlight, not me.” And she references the title of her book “shame has to change sides.” Her decision enraged the rapists, evoked the fury of their lawyers and drew crowds of supportive women to support her outside the court.
She was born 7 December 1952 1.17pm Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, and has an upbeat Sagittarius Sun fittingly in the 9th house which rules legal affairs. Her chart is riddled with yods onto Sun, Uranus and Moon Pluto respectively making her a unique individual despite her seemingly ‘ordinary’ life. Her Sun (boosted by Jupiter and Uranus), when the moment came, rose to the challenge and she refused to be suppressed. Her Uranus (boosted by Mars and the Sun) may well prove to be a catalyst for reform. Her Moon Pluto (inconjunct Venus sextile Ascendant) certainly gives her the potential to be an influencer for women’s rights.
She has Saturn Neptune conjunct in her 7th house of marriage hinting at a neurotic partner whom she describes as a ‘weak man.’ Her Mars in Aquarius conjunct the North Node will give her the impetus to promote a cause for the improvement of society and it squares Jupiter giving her confidence.
During the excruciating past few years her Solar Arc Mars has been opposing her Neptune Saturn for a punishing challenge though her Solar Arc Jupiter would help to boost her optimism.
Chariklo in her chart representing the eternal suffering of the wife sits on her Midheaven.
Her Solar Arc Sun on final degree Aquarius is about to change sign as she looks ahead a new future with a new partner.
Dominique Pelicot, 27 November 1952 2.30am Quincy sous Senart, France, is also a Sun Sagittarius with a dependent 7th house Aries Moon. His 10th house wayward, socially defiant Uranus opposes his Venus and squares Neptune Saturn in his 1st house – making him highly-strung, fanatical, autocratic. His Mars in stubborn Aquarius in is 5th plus Jupiter in his 8th suggests a playboy streak. He has one yod of Sun sextile Mars inconjunct his Midheaven, hinting at a direction in life tied into his pleasure-seeking Mars in the 5th.
His midpoints are much more stark than his former wife – in his case with sexually manipulative Venus/Pluto, ruthless Mars/Pluto and copious quantities of Saturn Neptune.
Ebertin describes Saturn Neptune amongst other attributes – as having a dual character, a struggle between the lower and higher nature, connected also to sacrifice and neuroses.
Their relationship chart has experimental, unconventional Uranus in the 8th house of sexuality.
[See previous posts under Pelicot in Search]
Unbelievably grim but she has managed to rise above it.
In the meltdown that is Keir Starmer’s jinxed rule, yet another furore is unfolding. His replacement for the ousted senior civil servants, forced to carry the can for past missteps, turns out to bring baggage of her own to the party. None of which matters a jot in the wider world but Antonia Romeo’s chart is a sight to behold in terms of temperament. Past claims of bullying and expenses misuse in a past position are being thrown around with counter-claims of “misogynist” and sexist whispering campaign from a “pale, stale and male” elite.
She would be the first woman ever to be elevated to the role of Cabinet Secretary and is seen by some as a talented and driven public servant able to use her intellect and emotional intelligence but is reckoned by others to be a self-promoter and disrupter.
Born 20 October 1974 London, she has a Libra Sun (like Maggie Thatcher) though in this case conjunct a passionately enthusiastic and go-ahead Venus Mars in Libra as well as a reforming, rebellious, uncompromising Uranus – all square Saturn in Cancer. That is quite a powerhouse. Her Jupiter in Pisces is in an optimistic square to Neptune, trine Mercury in intense Scorpio and inconjunct Pluto – so not short of confidence.
Libra can be argumentative, tending to be reactive despite its reputation for diplomacy; and ramped up by a high-vitality, volatile Mars Uranus will go for directness even with a sweetener from Venus.
Libra women often are closer to their fathers and she in the past like Maggie Thatcher has paid tribute to the effect her father had on her.
Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist who became the US’s first black presidential candidate has died.
He played a leading role in virtually every campaign for civil rights, sexual and racial equality, and economic and social justice. One of America’s best known public figures, he was called the “conscience of the nation” and “the great unifier”.
He had an astounding talent for publicity and words came easily to him. ‘As an orator he had the power to raise political discourse to lyric narrative and inspire his audiences to tears, cheers and chants. In the style of a Baptist revivalist preacher he would punctuate his text with mantras and rhymes that he would make his audience incant – his favourite being “respect me, protect me, never neglect me. I am somebody.”
Critics often accused him of being little more than a cheerleader of causes, his oratory mere “jive talk”, and of being obsessed with his own self-aggrandisement. But he became a powerful figurehead for the poor and oppressed far beyond the shores of America – in South Africa and Palestine
He was born October 8 1941 at 2.15pm in Greenville, South Carolina, in a South of poverty, segregation and lynching. His mother was an unmarried black teenager; his father, a married cotton worker, who lived next door. Jesse was later adopted by his stepfather.
He won a football scholarship to the University of Illinois but discovered that blacks were only allowed on to the pitch as linesmen. At 22 he achieved his first civil rights success when he organised picket lines and sit-ins at local restaurants, hotels and theatres that banned blacks, persuading many of them to lift the colour bar and went on to work with Martin Luther King. He impressed his colleagues in the movement with his energy as much as he irritated them with his personal publicity seeking.
He had a Libra Sun in the 9th house of faith and spreading-the-word in an argumentative and go-ahead opposition to Mars in Aries in his 3rd house of communication. He had an intense 7th house Pluto in a can-be-dogmatic square to Mercury in Scorpio. Designed as a talker and even more so a promoter of his views, he would make an impact. His persuasive and charming Venus in Scorpio in his 10th was opposition a determined and reforming Moon Saturn Uranus in Taurus which in turn was in an inventive trine to an influential 8th house Neptune, prompting him to work for a better society (Saturn Neptune). His confident Jupiter in chatty Gemini in his performing 5th house meant he was good at garnering an appreciative audience.
He was custom-built as a mover and shaker for the causes he espoused and very effective.
Interesting that his Libra Sun was conjunct the USA country Saturn in Libra, whose essential meaning is of fairness, though it often fell short.
Veteran actor Robert Duvall has died after a long and memorable career where he often played secondary characters but usually was the one remembered for his steely performance. He had notable roles in To Kill a Mockingbird, M*A*S*H, The Conversation and Network but reached his pinnacle as the self-effacing consigliere in The Godfather, alongside Brando and Pacino, and the surf-crazed Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now riding into attack in Vietnam with speakers blaring Wagner’s The Ride of the Valkyries.
He was born 5 January 1931 5.10am San Diego, California, with a rear admiral father, and bore the mark of the standout Great Depression generation though his family was not poor. He had his Sun conjunct Saturn Mercury all in Capricorn opposition Pluto Jupiter in Cancer square Uranus in Aries. So ambitious, a workaholic with a strong Saturn, confident with Jupiter Pluto, innovative with a focal point Uranus. A complex temperament given to self-doubt but buoyed up by robust self-assurance, both conservative and rebellious.
His Cancer Moon was deeply buried in his 8th house and sparsely aspected being only trine a 12th house Venus. His Sun/Moon midpoint, the marriage significator, was conjunct his 10th house Libra South Node and square his Pluto, so relationships would not be easy. He was married four times, with stepchildren but no children of his own.
His Pluto was in the 8th house, which is not uncommon amongst top film stars who are able to project a powerful image. His Moon and Mars in Leo were also in the 8th so he did have subterranean depths which he put to good use in his highly controlled performances.
He appeared in more of the American Film Institute’s Top 100 films than any other actor.
Lilith Untamed, a Guide to the Astrological Black Moon, by Christina Rodenbeck, is a richly detailed look at yet another addition to the astrological lexicon.
Signifying the untamed, wilder, anti-social elements of human temperament, the author relates it to Adam’s first wife in paradise who refused to accept the inferior role, and to the rage-filled Kali the Hindu goddess, as well as figures from other cultures. An archetype which encompasses the creative, erotic, unboundaried, uncivilized, violent, crazy, unstable, unconventional. In Jung’s terms “an archetype is like an old watercourse — digging a deep channel for itself. … and sooner or later the water will return to its old bed.”
What is complicated is that Black Moon Lilith is not a planet or body, but rather a point, and should not be confused with the asteroid, Lilith. And to add to the confusion there is a True and a Mean Lilith. The author says she generally uses the mean Lilith but that both are valuable. My Janus software for some reason will only add the True Lilith glyph.
Lilith gets an entertaining and extensive analysis with dates for Lilith in each sign (every nine years), illuminating quotes from famous examples and an analysis of what each sign and house represents. Lilith in daring Aries, the initiator, has Christian Barnard, the first heart transplant surgeon as an example. Vincent van Gogh, a Lilith in Taurus was on his Lilith return when his painting exploded in a vibrancy of colour. Emily Bronte, whose wildness lived out solely through her writing had Lilith in Gemini — and on through the signs.
The houses also get a detailed run down. Marilyn Monroe had mean Lilith on her Ascendant with many of the motifs associated with the Black Moon – abusive childhood, several marriages and miscarriages, treated as an outsider etc
Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage both with Lilith in the 3rd house of communication – wild and wayout in language. Barack Obama has his Lilith in the 7th house of close partnerships – starting life as an outcast, ending up with a strong, independent wife. The 8th house, not surprisingly has Elvis Presley, Bardot, Angelina Jolie, Sophia Loren. The tragic Whitney Houston who drowned in a bath had an 8th house mean Lilith conjunct Neptune.
The Lilith cycle is pointed up as being important as is the Via Lamia – the gap between the mean and true Lilith.
This is an all-round one-stop-shop of an informative and entertaining primer on Lilith and worthy of a space in anyone’s astrological library.
Family and finances are the two vexations of Charles’ early reign, apart from his health scare. Calls for brother Andrew to be held accountable before the law for his enmeshed relationship with Epstein over women and in many ways more seriously – handing over inside financial information from his time as trade envoy are a new low for the Royals. It is hardly Charles’ fault since most of the blame lies with the late Queen Elizabeth 11’s unaccountably indulgent treatment of Andrew, but it is the king’s responsibility now.
The proclamation of Charles as king, 10 September 2022 10.04am London, does have Pluto in the 3rd house of siblings; Saturn and Chariklo (endless suffering) in the 4th house of family; and Moon Nessus (= the bad boy centaur) in the 5th house of children.
His Coronation, 6 May 2023 12.02pm London has a 4th house Scorpio Moon opposition Uranus Sun in the 10th so was always going to be a push and pull affair between head and heart. The Solar Arc Sun is moving to conjunct the 10th house Uranus exact in 4 months, which does suggest a change of direction, of which throwing Andrew into the long arm of justice may be part.
Charles’ personal chart, 14 November 1948 9.14pm London, was last year labouring under the discouraging Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his Sun as his cancer treatment got under way. More recently tr Neptune and tr Saturn were denting his joie de vivre as they squared his Jupiter opposition Uranus. That is now out of the way but he is heading for tr Uranus in a jangled, high-tension square to his Saturn in his 2nd house of personal finances from this August onwards into 2027.
His second headache will be increased focus on Royal finances – grace and favour houses, Royal wills protected from public view and the like. Not only is Uranus going to upset his applecart but his Progressed Moon moving through his 8th house now and for the next 18 months may well add to the pressure (amongst other effects). The August solar eclipse falls in his 1st relatively close to his Pluto which may be a prompt to be more open or at least move away from the old status quo.
His midpoints this year look messy though Jupiter moving across his Ascendant from this August for a year ahead may lift his spirits and to a degree offset the financial wrangles. 2027 will be immersed in intense at times bitter family arguments with his SA Pluto conjunct his 4th house Mercury. 2028 looks like an explosive year with collision-type shocks, not literally but the mood will be jagged as his SA Uranus squares his Mars and his Progressed Mars squares his Sun. The Proclamation chart also looks on high alert at that point with tr Uranus conjunct the 8th house Mars for a considerable jolt, financial or other.
Prince William, 21 June 1982 9.03 am London, is on his midlife crisis with tr Uranus opposing his Uranus in 2026, so maybe hankering back to old unfulfilled ambitions. But he will be drifting a little with tr Neptune (and briefly tr Saturn) square his Sun Moon in Cancer on and off until late 2027. Neptune squares his Moon this year for the first time late May to mid August. That may be balanced out by his Progressed Mars moving closer to his Midheaven over the next year (and conjunct his Prog Jupiter) which will give him an ambitious lift.
There is nothing much to suggest significant changes in his life over the next two years.
His relationship with his father will have a few ups and downs but noting too dramatic until 2028/29.
His dislike of Andrew will not abate through this year, if anything he’ll be more incensed from June onwards.
The Princess of Wales, 9 January 1982 7pm? Berkshire, having been through the upset of the past two years will be cheered by tr Pluto square her Jupiter in 2027/28. Though her Solar Arc Uranus may opposition her Moon in 2027 and will conjunct her Sun in 2028 which does suggest fairly significant changes.
Andrew, for the life of me I cannot see being persuaded to give evidence. He is as thick as a brick, shameless and I doubt is capable of admitting fault. He does though have a tumultuous tr Uranus square his Pisces Sun opposition Pluto in Virgo from late April and ramping up in August onwards. His Solar Arc Jupiter is also slowly edging towards the opposition to Pluto over the coming 18 months – and he is one of those greasers who always manages to wriggle out of trouble. But on the other hand SA Jupiter opposition Pluto could bring about a conflict with authorities and tr Neptune Saturn are now both moving through his 9th house of legal affairs – Saturn for two years and Neptune for a decade plus.
The worry is that his errant, shameless and unstable ex-wife Sarah, will sell her memoirs for many millions now that she is broke and homeless – and bring more family secrets out into the open. Born 15 October 1959 9.03 am London, she does look in financial meltdown with tr Neptune square her 2nd house Saturn this year and her Solar Arc Sun conjunct her Saturn by 2028/29. Tr Uranus will also square her Pluto from this August for yet more upheavals with a meltdown 2027/28 as tr Pluto squares her 12th house Neptune. She is clearly a psychological mess though it is difficult to feel sympathy for her. She does seem to be worrying Charles ahead this year and in 2027/28, and Andrew.
The days of entitlement and sweeping questionable behaviour under the carpet is long gone. But one wonders why no one put their foot down at the time since it was well known much of it.
Does Jeff Bezos have a sense of irony? Democracy Dies in Darkness proudly proclaims the Washington Post masthead as he takes a machete to the staff, culling hundreds of journalists, axing half its foreign bureau (including the war reporter in Ukraine). It has been described as “the biggest one-day wipeout of journalists in a generation”.
Since Bezos with his $260 billion wealth would not notice the cost of keeping the WP afloat even in these straitened times, fingers are being pointed at his “sickening” efforts to curry favour with Donald Trump because of “external economic interests” such as Amazon and his space technology company Blue Origin. Bezos earned Trump’s rancour in his first term due to the Post’s output leading to the loss of an Amazon $10bn government computing contract. In 2024 Bezos pulled the Post’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris which led to almost 250,000 subscribers deserting the paper.
The Washington Post, 6 December 1877, with a Sagittarius Sun, Mercury and maybe Moon, has a potential for widescale communication, an interest in the global world, how society works and culture. Mercury square Mars and trine Uranus will give added punch to its views; Uranus square Pluto an inclination to upset the status quo and push forward with reforms.
Tr Uranus at the moment is heading to square the final degree WP Uranus with this week’s solar eclipse in opposition to the WP Uranus as well, for another turbulent staging post in the WP’s long history. Tr Pluto will square the Neptune from late this March onwards through 2027 as well for confusion and more losses.
Bezos was never a good fit with the WP with his Saturn Venus conjunct the Aquarius North Node and his Neptune square hinting at uncertainty and distrust; with his Pluto (Uranus) in a road-blocked opposition to the WP Saturn.
His relationship chart with the WP is being severely rattled unsurprisingly at the moment with tr Uranus square the composite Mars and moving to square the composite Saturn and Uranus through this year with the Aquarius eclipse also conjunct the composite Mars ; at the same time as tr Neptune Saturn is square the composite Sun Mercury. He’ll either sell or run it into the ground completely.
Bezos’ relationship with Trump is moving into a new unsettled phase at the moment with tr Uranus square their composite Pluto with the Aquarius solar eclipse in opposition to the Pluto as well – a test of alpha’s power battle? Where it runs into real trouble is by 2027 with tr Neptune conjunct the composite Sun and opposition Mercury and tr Pluto square the composite Saturn.
One bleakly fun suggestion is that the ex-wives of Bezos and Bill Gates team up to support journalism.
The rich and powerful have always had a malign influence throughout millenia but is it just me that thinks in recent decades the rise of the money men has had a significantly damaging effect on culture and society in the west. The old newspaper barons were black hearted souls many of them but they had a smidgeon of respect for the purpose of the papers they owned. Ditto Hollywood. The old moguls actually liked films. Publishing. Even vets for heaven’s sake. The hedge funds move in and it turns into a rip-off industry. Mind you the US health industry is no better.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed two years ago in a Siberian penal colony using a poison developed from a dart frog toxin, UK and European allies have said. There is no innocent explanation for the toxin, called epibatidine, being found in samples taken from Navalny’s body, the UK Foreign Office said.
He was Putin’s most prominent political opponent convicted this final time on what are described as trumped up charges. For many years he was a lawyer and an anti-corruption activist, with six million YouTube subscribers in 2021. He described Russia’s ruling party, United Russia, as a “party of crooks and thieves.” He was poisoned a few years ago by, it is thought, Russian security agents and went to Germany for treatment. He returned against advice and was imprisoned for breaking his parole, latterly in an Arctic penal colony nicknamed “Polar Wolf”, where the temperature can drop to minus 22C.
I have been puzzling over his motivations since his return meant almost certain death.
Born 4 June 1976 1.30 pm Moscow, Russia, he had a 9th house (legal affairs) Gemini Sun conjunct Venus opposition Neptune and trine Pluto – a communicator and supremely ambitious. His Mars in flamboyant Leo was in an uncompromising and risk-seeking square to Uranus and in an impulsive square to an 8th house Jupiter in Taurus and South Node.
He had one yod onto an apex Neptune from Sun Venus sextile Mars; and another wide yod onto his 8th house Jupiter South Node from Pluto sextile Neptune.
Neptune echoes throughout his chart – opposition his Sun, leading a yod, tied into Pluto and appearing in his midpoints especially his Neptune/Pluto midpoint. Not Neptune the timid, but Neptune the visionary, capable of ignoring physical danger and privation. It evokes T.E.Lawrence’s memorable phrase about ‘the dreamers of the day’ being dangerous men – Lawrence was born with Neptune Pluto conjunct in Gemini.
An 8th house Jupiter would also be a motivator for Navalny, giving him a profound (if misplaced) sense of having the luck of the gods behind him. His Chiron in Taurus on the cusp of his 8th and even more so his Scorpio North Node in his 2nd point to an obsessive intensity. The Scorpio North Node and the 8th house can suggest the road to enlightenment or transformation comes through giving up everything and starting again. Though not usually in quite as dramatic or tragic a fashion as his circumstances. His Scorpio North Node was conjunct the Russia 1917 chart Sun – so he might well have seen his salvation lay through rescuing his motherland.
And he would be keen to leave his mark on history with a strong 17th harmonic which links Saturn to Mars, Neptune and Pluto indicating extreme hardship and brutality as his way through to immortality.
His 8th harmonic is also notable which gives bad luck but also ‘an abundance of strength and stubbornness in the face of difficulties.’ His sacrificial victim 12th harmonic is not marked except by Jupiter on the focal point of a yod which might suggest he did not see himself as a martyr, more a messenger with a mission.
Navalny also had the asteroid Nessus close to his midheaven which may also be significant in its positive role of pointing out conmen and alerting his countrymen to the dangers they were facing.
