Marjorie

Howls of derision from columnists greeted Boris Johnson’s claims that he wasn’t lying in his assurances to the House of Commons about lockdown parties at No 10. Even the Telegraph have joined the Guardian in picking holes in the ‘Dodgy Dossier’ his lawyers produced at great expense (to the taxpayer) which turned itself in serpentine convulsions to proclaim his shining innocence.

  Marina Hyde in the Guardian is as ever worth a chuckle, as is John Crace.  ‘How can you tell if Boris is lying? Because he’s breathing and his lips are moving.’

  He may get let off in a technicality but in Hyde-speak he ‘feels inescapably yesterday’s man’ and even the Times remarks ‘he has lost the crowd –  Johnson has dazzled and amazed. But he is a magician whose trick won’t work anymore. The spell has been broken.’

  He does have tr Saturn exactly square his focal point Mars as he steps up to strutt his staff in front of the inquiry – that usually indicates a setback; and it repeats later in the year as he moves through his Second Saturn Return (grow up and face reality time).

  The key Astro-fascinator is what happens when tr Pluto squares his Scorpio Moon from this Thursday onwards till mid June. Pluto tends to pull up intense emotional reactions, sometimes destructive ones, churning up old childhood issues with accompanying pain and hurt. The Moon usually connects to domestic or family relationships but in politician’s it is also intimately connected to the general public. The Scorpio Moon rarely exposes vulnerability but self-control won’t be easy with Pluto in play.

  Moving into 2024 tr Neptune will make an undermining square to his Sun Venus with a career-blocking his Solar Arc MC conjunct his Pluto for a career – though that latter could come earlier if his birth time is marginally out. Tr Jupiter through his 8^th from this July for a year could bring money his way so he may be off on a commercial jaunt at that point. But Jupiter then heads towards his midheaven from mid 2025 for a successful career year thereafter. He’s not only a greased piglet he has a rubber-ball karma that will bounce him back from experiences that would obliterate others from public view.

  His relationship chart with the Tory Party 1912 is on a sharp downhill slide this year from this month onwards; and the UK won’t be overly enamoured of him either.

  Another Gemini with cockroach powers to withstand repeated blasting is heading for a fractious court appearance over the Stormy Daniels payoff. Trump would be the first US president to face criminal charges. Paying off the porn star to keep quiet about their affair was not illegal but recording it as legal fees amounted to falsifying business records and covering it up to fool voters is another kind of crime. It is not a clear-cut case with little precedent. A touch of the Al Capone’s about it.

 He still leads the polls of primary voters, way in front of De Santis with all other contenders nowhere. But some senior Republicans are speaking out against him. John Bolton, former National Security Adviser, said “The Republican Party has to cleanse itself of the damage Trump has done to it.” He didn’t want to see him win the Republican candidacy “not just for the good of the Republican Party, but for the good of the country”.

  In typical fashion he has calamities and lucky escapes alternating through the year. April looks nerve-stretched until the 24^th when a catastrophic crisis blows up and runs on till May 9^th as tr Uranus squares his Mars/Pluto midpoint at 18 Leo. Then his lucky jinni pops up from late May till mid June and mid November to early April 2024 as two Jupiter midpoints are sparked into life.  Though he also has a discouraging tr Pluto opposition his Saturn/Pluto midpoint picking up early February and running into 2025.

  If his birth time is accurate then from May 2024 he has tr Jupiter moving across his 10^th house until mid 2025, which looks worryingly upbeat and successful. Plus tr Uranus crossing his MC from June 2024 onwards suggesting a change of direction. And tr Uranus square his Mars from July can produce shocks and ego-dents as well as put stress on health in older types.

Gwyneth Paltrow was looking nervy and uptight in court as she faced a $300,000 claim over a ski-ing accident which both parties claim was the other’s fault. According to the complainant, who has a sole eye witness, she carelessly crashed into him breaking his ribs and causing brain damage. She has dismissed his lawsuit as an attempt to ‘exploit her celebrity and wealth’ and counter-sued seeking $1 in ‘symbolic damages’ but also payment of her lawyers’ fees. This is the culmination of seven years of legal claims and counter-claims, during which dozens of motions have been filed. It all depends on who the jury believes and if she loses it could tarnish her image.  Though on the facts as the DM has them it does sound iffy with a starstruck claimant.

  She was born 27 September 1972 5.25pm Los Angeles, into a wealthy family with an actress mother and film producer father. She has a fearsome collection of a Libra Sun conjunct Pluto conjunct Mars in late Virgo in her 7^th house. Not a lady who does anything by halves and she will attract herself to determined partners in life.  Her Sun Pluto Mars also square a lucky, successful 10^th house Jupiter in Capricorn. Her Mars is also in a hard-edged square to Saturn. Her restless Gemini Moon is conjunct a 4^th house Saturn and she has Uranus in her 8^th. Her emotional life won’t be settled or easy, continuing on from a challenging childhood, maybe the reason why she is a go-getter professionally.

  Both her husbands, Chris Martin and now Brad Falchuk, have complicated charts. Chris Martin, 2 March 1977, has a Pisces Sun on the focal point of a yod to Saturn sextile Pluto, Mars opposition Saturn; and possibly his Moon conjunct Saturn in Leo.  Brad Falchuk, 1 March 1971, has a yod as well onto Uranus from Sun sextile Saturn; Mars square Pluto and Moon conjunct Saturn. Neither are straightforward or relaxed by temperament and she clearly is drawn to their struggles since they match her own.

  Tr Saturn is about to descend into her lower profile First Quadrant after this year which may not have an immediate effect but she will find her ambitions sagging and her success rate slumping as well in coming years.

  This trial is due to take eight days and her influences are incredibly mixed. She has two upbeat, lucky Jupiterian midpoints triggered mid March to late April. Those run alongside two tr Pluto horrors picking up from later this week until mid June and again in 2024 – squaring her Mars/Neptune midpoint which is crisis, weakness, plans not progressing plus acute frustration from her Mars/Pluto midpoint being leant on as well.

  2024 sees tr Neptune opposition her Mars in Virgo from April, on and off into 2025 – which will feel like failure and evoke panic.  Tr Neptune will continue to oppose her Mars/Pluto and Mars/Sun midpoints until 2027 with tr Saturn chipping into its tuppence worth of woe which won’t be a barrel of laughs and will dent her confidence.

  It’ll be a rocky ride though money will hardly be an issue.

  Her brand name GOOP website flogging beauty products and questionable health cures started as a newsletter in 2008 as Pluto moved into Capricorn and is now value around $250 million. It might be the beginning of the end as Pluto changes sign.

Xi Jinping’s state visit to Moscow brings together two autocrats keen to establish a post-American world order where the east rises and the west declines – while trade continues to flow. Xi in typically inscrutable fashion is presenting himself as a peace broker over Ukraine, though his plan says nothing about Russian withdrawal, in an attempt to maintain some credibility in Europe. He is basking in the success of his recent efforts to restore relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and keen to establish credibility as a power-broker. It’s a difficult balancing act since he also needs Russia for alternative energy supply routes in the event of a China/US clash over Taiwan.  

  The Washington Post remarks ‘the world is at a dangerous crossroads’ and there could indeed be a significant shift in the global power balance with China, Russia and Iran lining up against the United States, Britain and other NATO allies.

  All of which might fit in with the history-changing Uranus North Node (and Mars) conjunction of last August. (See post 17 June 2022). Previous occurrences oversaw:

1961 – the start of the Berlin Wall build.

1946 – the 1946 bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem by Jewish terrorists which led to a hasty British withdrawal, the set-up of Israel two years later which led to decades of trouble in the Middle East.

1976 – the death of Mao Tse Tung.

1870 – German unification with France supplanted as the dominant European land power.

1939 – the first Anglo-Afghan War, one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between Britain and Russia. Also the First Opium War between UK and China. Twentieth century nationalists considered 1839 the start of a century of Chinese humiliation, and many historians considered it the beginning of modern Chinese history.

  The final exact aspect of Uranus to that 18 degree point comes late April/early May this year and will trigger Xi Jinping’s 3^rd Term chart and Putin’s 4^th Term chart – both with fixed planets at 18 degrees. It also rattles up the Xi/Putin relationship chart (assuming Putin is born 1952)which has a composite Sun at 18 degrees Leo.

 If that relationship chart between Xi and Putin holds good they are likely to encourage each other on to unwise, overly confident actions, some of which will fail through 2024.

  The Russia 1917/China 1912 relationship chart indicates confusion/delusion through 2023/24 with the composite Neptune catching the tr Pluto opposition; with an uncertain and panicky tr Neptune square the composite Saturn in 2024.

  It is all too easy to catastrophise in these troubled times and I hesitate to pile worry on top of woe. But it was always true that a) The USA’s Pluto Return could shift its status as top dog. Pluto Returns tend to accompany rise and falls; and b) Joe Biden’s Term chart indicated that the greatest and riskiest problems would come late in 2023 into 2024 when the Inauguration’s Solar Arc Sun would close the conjunction to  Saturn to exact; and the SA Saturn would close to the disruptive and perhaps violent square to the Mars and Uranus.

   China’s relationship chart with the USA looks discouraging but not necessarily combustible over the next two years. Ditto China with the EU, though 2025 could throw a few firecrackers into the mix.

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  The glory days are over as Peter Murrell, chief executive of the Scottish Nationalists for almost 25 years, exits stage left to join his wife Nicola Sturgeon off the podium. He took responsibility for lying about a recent fall in membership numbers which critics feared might see the the bogus 30,000 being used by the SNP ‘party machine’ to support Humza Yousaf. He is seen as the continuity candidate, preferred by the establishment to take over as First Minister.

  Despite being seen as a political power-couple par excellence and skilled at winning elections, Murrell and Sturgeon leave behind them a party in freefall and a string of scandals from mismanaged ferry contracts to questions over campaign funds, as well as a country suffering the consequences of the ‘monomania’ with independence obscuring the need to improve failing public services.

Peter Murrell, 8 December 1964 Edinburgh, is a Sun Sagittarius conjunct South Node square a fearsome collection of Pluto, Mars, Uranus in Virgo – more chaotic than he appears, determined and ruthless. He also has the Boris Johnson over-confident/over-optimistic Jupiter in Taurus opposition Neptune and Venus in Scorpio. Tr Uranus is shaking that up exactly now, bringing him down to earth with a bump for once to be forced to face a cold dose of reality.

  His Jupiter falls in Nicola’s 7^th conjunct her Saturn so he boosts her morale and takes the edge off her negativity.  Like, her he has an Aquarius Moon.

  It was always a relationship geared towards work with a composite Sun, Venus opposition Saturn; and a publicity-attracting Mars square Neptune. He met his future wife in 1998  at a SNP youth weekend which he was organising. They started working together in 2003, announced their relationship in 2004 at the party’s annual conference and married six years later. Alex Salmond always said their relationship in holding to two top slots would be a recipe for disaster and it contributed to their falling out. As it happens it lasted longer than expected.  But it will be a difficult transition to life away from the power centre and spotlight with tr Uranus hitting the composite Mars and Neptune from mid 2023 into 2024.

 Nicola Sturgeon, 19 July 1970 3.16 pm, Irvine, Scotland, always was facing a complete dead-halt, scary, trapped, enraging phase as tr Pluto moved into Aquarius from this week opposing her Mars in Leo on and off till late 2024.

Astro-thought.  Murrell has his Neptune at 18 degrees Scorpio. The Scotland 25 March 1005 chart has its Pluto at 18 degrees Scorpio.  That 18 degree Fixed point will be rattled up by tr Uranus late April/early May – and has popped up in all manner of global charts in recent posts.  It was highlighted last year as an indicator of history-changing times when Uranus, North Node and Mars came together at 18 degrees Taurus – see post 17 June 2022.

I had been struggling with the notion that all the charts I have seen it in recently were somehow mysteriously connected to one event. Maybe it is more likely that as a shift in the celestial tectonic plates occur with this being an especially sensitive point, that it rattles up significant figures but all within their own sphere of operations. An underground volcano sends up a tsunami which spreads out across a broad coast line. Different regions, different outcomes but all from the same trigger point.

  Whither Scotland?  None of the three candidates looks up to much, so are likely to be interim cup holders. The SNP having moved through its Uranus Return in 2018 and its Third Saturn Return early this has shot its bolt for the time being and will be back to the drawing board for a re-vision for some time to come. But Scottish Labour and indeed Tories are not exactly on form either, so it’s anyone’s guess.

Add On:  Mike Russell, 9 August 1953, has taken over as SNP CEO from 18 March 2023. His term chart hints at a dire year ahead as he proclaims the party is in “a tremendous mess”. There is a dithery, indecisive Sun Neptune conjunct square Mars – and tr Neptune won’t clear the exact aspects until January 2025. Plus the Sun Neptune conjunction will close to exact in 2025 for much of the same. Assuming he stays in position it will be a muddy trail ahead.

  He is a stalwart and influential/controlling Sun Pluto in Leo sitting on the midpoint of a Jupiter trine Saturn Neptune.  His Sun Pluto will be rattled up by tr Uranus jolting squares from now onwards, more so after mid year into early 2024.

Entrepreneur Jacqueline Gold, who has just died, took four seedy backstreet sex shops and transformed the Ann Summers lingerie and sex toy brand into a multimillion-pound retail empire, playing a key role in the sexual liberation of British women and the high street.

  When she took the company over in her late twenties it was a male oriented business – staff and customers – but she trailblazed the idea of using a direct sales model based on Tupperware parties, where vibrators were sold to small groups of women within their homes. When she put forward the idea to her all-male board they resisted, saying ‘Women aren’t even interested in sex.’ She described the move as taking “the company from the raincoat brigade to a female institution”.

  She was made a CBE in 2016 for services to women in business and social enterprise and died recently after a long battle with cancer.

  She was born 16 July 1960 and had a fascinatingly illuminating chart. She was a Sun Cancer which sign is ambitious and creative, female-oriented but more significantly has a nose for public trends. Added to that she had a defiant Uranus in a courageous and uncompromising square to Mars in determined Taurus as well as in an adventurous risk-taking trine to Jupiter. Even more to the point she had Neptune in Scorpio almost certainly opposition a tactile Moon in Taurus squaring onto a flamboyant Venus in Leo. All the strands of her temperament came together to make an oddball success of an offbeat business.

The Iraq attack twenty years ago was an arrogant folly of gargantuan proportions which set in motion a cascading avalanche of ruinous effects across the Middle East and beyond. With no American plan for rebuilding after the defenestration of Saddam, the country fell prey to chaos, conflict, corruption and sectarianism. Iran was emboldened, the Islamic State’s violence moved into the vacuum and the disintegration of Syria followed. Millions were displaced and it sounded the death knell for the notion of western intervention as a force for good.

 One Iraqi said: ‘We have a saying that captures the devastation of our country: ‘Saddam has gone, but 1,000 more Saddams have replaced him.’

IS-led terror attacks fuelled the resurgence of populism and ethnonationalism in Europe, leading for example to Brexit where immigration was a central theme. Donald Trump ran for president on an anti-immigration, anti-Muslim platform.

  Putin used the same pretext of ‘pre-emption’ as GW Bush et al had done in invading a country that had no plans to attack anyone.

  Baghdad is safe and prosperous now but the state remains weak. Money laundering flourishes and Iraq remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

  The attack went ahead on 20 March 2003 on the basis of false intelligence with questionable legality and in the face of strong public opposition in the UK where two million marched in a stop-the-war protest a month before, which Tony Blair blithely ignored.

  The attack was launched at 5.30 am on a Saturn in Gemini opposition Pluto in Sagittarius, which is the aspect most connected to war and deprivation. Pluto was almost exactly on the midheaven at the start in Baghdad and both squared onto a Pisces Mercury Sun. There was also an Air Grand Trine of Saturn on the IC trine an 8^th house Moon trine a 12^th house Venus = emotionally cold – formed into a Kite by Saturn opposition Pluto making power-hungry and destructive Pluto the leading planet. The Air influence may also connect to the aerial bombardment. Uranus was at zero degrees Pisces. No Earth signs hints at a lack of practicality and realism.

  What struck me at the time was the difference between the US view – relocated to Washington, DC, the attack had a grandstanding ‘shock and awe’ Sun in the performing/entertaining 5^th with overtones of financial interests (and costs). Whereas set in London it suggested hard work with little appreciation from a 6^th house Saturn and powerlessness with Pluto in the 12^th – and was hardly the UK’s finest hour politically or militarily.

When it kicked off tr Neptune in Aquarius was squaring the UK’s 8^th house Mars, which suggests failure. And the UK’s Pluto, both natal and Solar Arc was being rattled.

  The previous Total Solar Eclipse of December 2002 had a Sagittarius New Moon conjunct Pluto and Neptune on the Ascendant set for Bagdad; and the following Lunar Eclipse of May 2003 was even more descriptive with Uranus on the Midheaven and Pluto on the Descendant.

  GW Bush, 6 July 1946 7.26 am New Haven, CT, had the transiting Saturn opposition Pluto sitting directly on top of his Gemini North Node conjunct Uranus with his SA Saturn square his North Node – so a destiny-changing moment for him leading to impulsive decisions. Tr Neptune was just over the devastating/confusing opposition to his 1^st house Pluto as he was struggling to cope with the fallout from 9/11.

  Tony Blair, 6 May 1953 6.10am Edinburgh, intent on striding the world stage playing with the big boys, had a friendly relationship chart with GWB with a composite Sun Venus trine Neptune, so overtones of illusion and delusion as well. But more significantly there is a Jupiter Pluto conjunction, hinting at misplaced over-confidence in the partnership leading to a rules-don’t-apply-to-us folie a deux. Transiting Neptune was moving in square to that Jupiter Pluto and midpoints across the invasion and in the disastrous aftermath.

  On Blair’s own chart tr Neptune was conjunct his 10^th house Moon undermining his political reputation; and tr Saturn was moving downhill through his less successful, banana-skin-strewn First Quadrant.

   Iraq itself has two charts, both of which work well.

23 August 1921 6am Baghdad – had the panicky-failure tr Neptune exactly opposition its Mars; tr Saturn opposition Pluto in hard aspect to its Jupiter Saturn conjunction; the SA Moon and SA South Node conjunct the Pluto – which is descriptive of the collapse. Tr Uranus at zero Pisces was also heading to hard aspect the Descendant and Midheaven for a complete re-set of direction and relationships.

14 July 1958 4am Baghdad – tr Uranus was exactly opposition the Pluto for an almighty disruption. The tr Saturn opposition Pluto was colliding with the Iraq Saturn in Sagittarius opposition Moon Venus in Gemini; and tr Neptune was moving across the Iraq Uranus Mercury during and immediately after.

  It was terrifying to watch at the time and even more chilling to reflect on the knock on effects worldwide in later years.

Move along, nothing to see here, was the finance experts view of the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, until another couple of banks keeled over, the US government caused consternation by going against practice to bail out SVB depositors and Switzerland had to pony up $45 billion to shore up Credit Suisse.

 Gerald Baker in The Times points to 2008 parallels with a series of isolated incidents with small hedge funds down in 2007, the run on Northern Rock, Bears Stearns’ collapse in 2008 and onto the final straw of Lehman’s implosion bringing the whole house of cards down. This time round is not the same since the banks are not overloaded with toxic assets but it just goes to show how economic predictions can swing from  Pollyanna to catastrophe in the blink of an eye.  

  Could Switzerland be bankrupted by this crisis is one of the  wilder conjectures. Seems unlikely but with last time in mind ’the unimaginable may become the inevitable very quickly.’

 The Bank of Switzerland, 20 June 1907, looks mired in consternation and panic from this May on and off until January 2025 with tr Neptune square its Gemini Sun and conjunct its Saturn. Into 2025 there will be a totally road-blocked Solar Arc Pluto square Mars – so this is not a crisis that will evaporate this year.

  The Switzerland country chart, 12 September 1848 12.55pm does look under considerable pressure for the next three years with tr Pluto trine Mars and then its financial Venus but is unlikely to go the way of Ireland after 2008.

  Credit Suisse heading for its Second Uranus Return from this August onwards might do worse than look back to 1940/41 when it had its First Uranus Return to see the likely effects. See previous post on Credit Suisse 18 January 2022.

And post below Bank collapse 11 March 2023.

ADD ON: Switzerland is preparing to use emergency measures to fast-track the takeover by UBS of Credit Suisse which they see as the only option to arrest a collapse in confidence in Credit Suisse. UBS has requested some form of indemnity or government agreement to cover future legal costs. As of May 2022, UBS is the third largest bank in Europe.

  Founded by a merger on 29 June 1998, it is facing an uncertain three years ahead. This year tr Saturn in Pisces will square its financial Venus in Gemini opposition Pluto; with the Solar Arc Sun moving to an undermining opposition to its Neptune; and tr Neptune will conjunct the Jupiter  from mid this May on and off into 2024 none of which is usually good news on the money front. It will face worse in 2024/25 with tr Pluto in a devastatingly confused conjunction to the Neptune.

  The USA First Republic bank is also in trouble despite a rescue package of $30bn from JPMorgan and 10 other banks. Its stocks has fallen more than 75 per cent after panicked investors realised it would not benefit from the special Federal Reserve funding vehicle. Founded 1 July 1985 it is a Sun Cancer like UBS. Its Solar Arc Venus is opposing Neptune this year for a flutter of uncertainty; but its greatest woes will come in 2024 when the Solar Arc Mars squares the Saturn (and it may trigger late this year) with tr Pluto squaring the Pluto also forcing through unwanted changes. Plus tr Uranus will conjunct the financial Venus to bring upsets.

  The financial pundits are still holding onto a ‘bullish assessment’ but admit it is pro tem being ‘trumped by bearish nerves.’ While they insist this crisis is different from 2008 since banks are not loaded down by toxic assets, there are different problems. This time round central banks need to calm inflation by raising rates and that adds pressure to banks used to easy money over recent years.

Pluto’s entry into Aquarius will keep the upset running.

France is in uproar as Emmanuel Macron pushed through his plan to raise the retirement age by two years to 64 bypassing a vote in the National Assembly. That he was elected twice on a  reformist agenda, the past time with a central pledge to raise the retirement age in order to keep the country’s generous social welfare model afloat, appears not to be deemed relevant. Opposition leaders are now pushing for a no confidence vote which if won would force the resignation of his government.

  France has the lowest pension age in Europe but high taxation rates and a stubborn, often violent, resistance amongst the proletariat for any change to their way of life.

   Recently there were murmurs of Macron, bored with being stuck in a quagmire in the Elysee Palace, would resign which may explain him going nuclear which was guaranteed to attract a furore in response.

  Born 21 December 1977 10.40am Amiens, France, he has a late Capricorn Ascendant with not only tr Pluto conjunct his Ascendant at the moment, putting pressure on his image, potentially damaging it. And even more pointedly he also has tr Saturn about to enter the nadir of his First Quadrant – this is an unsuccessful phase of several years when ego-trippers slide on banana skins, make misjudgments and generally foul up. He is on a Saturn Half Return and tr Neptune is heading into an undermining square to his Sagittarius Sun and Mercury from mid 2024 onwards. His Solar Arc Saturn is exactly conjunct his Pluto now with his Solar Arc Midheaven (birth time being accurate) heading to square both Pluto and Solar Arc Saturn by 2024. So this may well be the end – politically speaking. It could come this year if his birth time is marginally out.

  He’ll have a run of career setbacks with tr Pluto in Aquarius opposition his Jupiter/Saturn midpoint late March to mid June (again in 2024); and it also hits his Uranus/Pluto midpoint for considerable disruption. More disasters from elsewhere from this June.

  His Second Term chart, 7 May 2022 and his relationship chart with France both flag up now till early April as flash points for upsets.  His Second Term chart always looked controlling evoking a mutinous public response with a Pluto opposition Moon; reformist and divisive with Sun Uranus; and over-hopeful and unstable with Jupiter Neptune.

  France itself looks on the brink of mass confusion and great uncertainty with tr Pluto continuing the square of Neptune from 2022 right through 2023; and tr Pluto square the 3^rd house Saturn now till June and again in 2024 – which could cause transport and communication problems, as well as a depressed mood.

  Tr Uranus is also about to stir up the French revolutionary spirit as it squares the Uranus opposition Pluto from the middle of this June onwards and into 2024 opposes the Mars in Scorpio.  Plus, of course, tr Neptune opposing the France Virgo Sun in 2024/25. The next two/three years always did look as if they would be hugely unsettled for France, more so even than for most countries.

Chaos in Pakistan as police tried to arrest former PM Imran Khan on corruption charges which he denies. He claimed there was a plot to “abduct and assassinate him” and his supporters fought a pitched battle with security forces to prevent him being taken. The legal proceedings against Khan began after he was ousted from office in a parliamentary vote early last year. Since then, he has held protest rallies across the country demanding a snap election, during one of which he was shot and wounded. Some commentators blame Khan for stirring up  “anarchy and chaos.” Others blame the government.

  Plus ca change. ‘Political infighting is common in Pakistan, where no prime minister has yet fulfilled a full term and where the military has ruled for nearly half of the country’s history.’

  Khan, 5 October 1952, is a Sun, Saturn, Mercury, Neptune in Libra with a pushily-confident Pluto square Jupiter in a can-be-ruthless trine to Mars. [If Putin’s 1952 birth date is accurate then he was born two days later.]

   Tr Uranus hitting his assertive Jupiter square Pluto between this May and early 2024 will find him in a go-ahead though not necessarily realistic mood. Tr Neptune square his Mars from the middle of this month and repeating on and off into early 2024 suggests failed plans and panic. Tr Uranus opposition his Sun/Mars late April into early May, and opposition his Mars/Saturn from mid this June on and off into early 2024 suggest calamities, setbacks and risk.

  The Eclipses in October 2024 will hit his Neptune and Moon which won’t be positive.

  His relationship chart with Pakistan is set for a battle of wills from April onwards; but looks liable to disappointment and losses from April this year into 2024.

   Pakistan, like everywhere else on the globe, is limping and lurching along though with a blip maybe upwards or maybe in an unrealistic direction late April as tr Uranus opposes its Jupiter. Then tr Uranus squares the Pakistan Sun from June onwards which will bring jolting changes. Overall the country is in a nerve-wracked and undermining phase as tr Neptune squares first the Pakistan Uranus this year, then the Midheaven in 2024 and most worrisome of all tr Neptune and Saturn square the Pakistan Mars in 2025. So it is along slide of confusion and setbacks.

  Imran Khan did look like a destabilising influence on Pakistan which makes sense of his reforming zeal. But with his Mars opposition the Pak Uranus, his Uranus conjunct the Pak Moon, his Pluto conjunct the Pak Sun and his Sun conjunct the Pak Neptune it was always going to be a bumpy ride with sinkholes, explosions and swamps along the way.