Marjorie

The toppling of the statue of English merchant, slave trader, Tory Member of Parliament and philanthropist Edward Colston in Bristol is dividing attitudes. There has been pressure since the 1990s to have his statue removed and a museum might have been a better place for it.

Born 2 November 1636 JC in Bristol, he came from a wealthy merchant family, initially traded in wine, fruits and cloth and became involved in the slave trade through his membership of the Royal African Company, which held a monopoly of the English trade in African slaves. He used his wealth to support and endow schools, hospitals, almshouses and churches in Bristol, London and elsewhere and his name is commemorated by several Bristol landmarks, streets, schools.

The Times: “Colston was a leading official of the Royal African Company from 1680 to 1692, when it was responsible for the enslavement and transportation of 84,000 Africans, of whom more than 19,000 died en route to the Caribbean and America. He also invested in the Spanish slave trade and in slave-produced sugar. As Tory MP for Bristol he defended the city’s right to trade in enslaved Africans. At the time slavery was generally condoned in England and Europe by the church, intellectuals and the educated classes. John Locke, the celebrated philosopher of liberty, was a shareholder in the Royal African Company.”

He was a determined Sun Neptune in Scorpio with Pluto Moon in Taurus so not one to budge easily and clearly well-designed for money-making enterprises. His Pluto was in a confident and lucky trine to Jupiter in Virgo. He also had a hard-edged Saturn Mars in Capricorn in a brooks-no-interference and autocratic square to Uranus. Despite his charitable good works he wasn’t exactly dripping in sentiment.

Bristol has been around for aeons though it was given a Royal Charter in 1155 (no date) and then another charter to mark it out as a county on 8 August 1373 JC which gives it a stellium in Leo from a final degree Sun plus Uranus, Mercury, Venus with Mars Moon and Neptune spread out through Aries; and Pluto in Taurus widely square Saturn in Aquarius. At the moment Solar Arc Saturn is opposing its Pluto as protests have risen about the slave-trading money used to improve the city.

In Antwerp a statue of King Leopold the former Belgian monarch and colonial ruler was set on fire in protest at his oppressive rule of Congo and then removed. His rule from 1865 to 1909 involved a reign of terror in the Congo, which he ran as his personal property before it became a Belgian colony. In recent days, his statues in Brussels, Ostend, Ghent and other cities have been defaced, set on fire, covered in paint and daubed with the words “I can’t breathe,” the last words of George Floyd.

King Leopold, 9 April 1835 1.30 am Brussels, had a brutal chart with a control-freak Sun Pluto in Aries in an unyielding opposition to Saturn in a cruel and ruthless square to Mars in Cancer. Not a charmer. His Solar Arc Saturn is now exactly conjunct his Sun for a karmic and long delayed moment of reckoning. For more detail on Leopold and the Congo – and Ben Affleck see post November 25 2019.

J.K. Rowling appears to have tramped on the trans-lobby’s hyper-sensitive corns by suggesting that sex is real and that ‘persons who menstruate’ are actually called women. That brought the howling dervishes around her ears on twitter and elsewhere and she was accused of being an ‘aggressive biological existentialist’. In return she accused her accusers of being misogynist. Martina Navratilova pitched in with support for her, mentioning the importance of defending a level playing field in women’s sport.

Her latest children’s book has been less of a sensation than the Harry Potters leading to suggestions that she’s now out of favour. Not that she’ll worry too much given her reputed £750 million wealth though it may dent her ego.

She was born 31 July 1965 at 9.10pm (rectified from approximate time), Liverpool, England. She is an entertaining Sun Leo in a creative square to Neptune in her 9^th house which rules publishing and communication. With her Sun in a helpful trine to her Midheaven. She also has a stellium in communicative Virgo of Mercury, Venus, Uranus, Pluto and Moon. Her Uranus, Pluto and Moon oppose Saturn squaring onto a lucky, confident and scattered Jupiter in Gemini. Her Moon on the cusp of her 8^th and Mars in her 8^th give her added intensity.

She has tr Uranus on the cusp of her outspoken 3^rd house exactly square her Sun at the moment, and that will be around for almost another year – so expect more blunt opinions. She’s on her Progressed Moon Return so will be rethinking her life and maybe her public relations for the next cycle head. It’ll have a bumpy start with tricky Solar Arcs over the next four or five years – a blocked Solar Arc Pluto square her Sun in 8 months’ time; then Solar Arc Uranus square her Sun in late 2022; followed by Solar Arc Mars square Uranus, Pluto, then Saturn between 2022 and 2025. Tr Neptune will square her Jupiter bringing a few disappointments, perhaps financial or domestic in 2022/23; and tr Neptune will then oppose her Moon in 2023. During this next phase as well tr Saturn will move below her Ascendant into a lower profile few years from 2022 onwards. So time to step back, return to the drawing board and revision.

PS: I’m too old for this trans-terf argument and watch the whole screeching and screaming farrago with disbelief. My hackles go straight up anyway with all the acronymic jargon. Trans exclusionary radical feminist, for heaven’s sake = “a brand of ‘radical feminism’ that is so rooted in sex essentialism and its resulting biologism, it actively campaigns against the existence, equality, and/or inclusion of trans people.”

Not sure what astrology it reflects – or should that be the other way round. Aquarius is androgynous, against the biology, but it hasn’t got into gear yet. And the Terf term evidently popped up in 2008. Doesn’t sound remotely Pluto in Capricorn. Though maybe the Pluto square Uranus from 2012 onwards stirred up support for the marginalised members of society. Though doesn’t feel like the answer. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Add ON: Thinking of this less in terms of present day astro-influences, but more as a generational divide might make sense. Through the 1990s Uranus and Neptune were conjunct, or in orb, and after 1995 Uranus was in Aquarius until 2003 with Neptune belatedly catching up. Uranus Neptune together can be inspired but can also be fanatical and frankly off-the-wall, hanging onto opinions in the face of incontrovertible evidence that they are wrong.

“In terms of awareness and language, there is definitely a generational shift going on,” says Finn Mackay, a sociology lecturer at the University of the West of England and author of a forthcoming book on female masculinities and the gender wars.  “We know that Generation Zers, a marketing term used to define those born roughly between 1995 and 2003, are most likely to use different pronouns like they/them, or to identify as non-binary, and they see these terms as a lot more fluid.”

Uranus in Aquarius it is with a smidgeon of Neptune for good measure.

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Prince Andrew’s spat with the US Department of Justice has escalated with a formal DOJ request to the UK Home Office for legal assistance to quiz him over the Epstein affair, sidestepping Buckingham Palace. Such requests are used only in criminal cases and could mean Andrew is forced to appear in a British court as a witness within months. He denies all culpability. His lawyers have hit back with claims that he has been co-operating and saying they will publish a full account of their dealings with the DOJ.

This was always when Andrew’s relationship to his principal protector, his inexplicably devoted mother, the Queen was going to flash red alert (see previous post November 16 2019). Their relationship chart has a loaded composite Pluto opposition Mars Midheaven. Mars Pluto in a relationship chart usually describes a relationship in which one side dominates – and it appears in many of HMQ’s family relationships. Exactly now tr Uranus is square the Pluto and by the middle of this week will square the Mars, and in July the Midheaven. So it’ll rock their connection considerably and those influences crash on till spring 2021.

His relationship with his brother Charles, never great at the best of times, has been rattled recently with tr Pluto opposition the composite Uranus from earlier this year; and will move into a tension-erupting phase from early this July with tr Uranus opposition the composite Saturn which will continue on and off into 2021 with a further rupture from tr Uranus square the composite Moon from mid 2021 to 2022.

Andrew’s own chart has this year picked up the tr Pluto square Midheaven running to late 2021 which is the classic fall-from-grace, destroyed-reputation, career-blocking influence. Exactly now his Progressed Moon is opposition his 1^st house Uranus for an emotional shock. That will pass by within weeks though tr Uranus in a nerve-stretched opposition to his 4^th house Neptune picking up mid this week and running to early July, and again on and off into 2021 won’t disappear so quickly. Uranus on Neptune can provoke irrational and obdurately stubborn responses.

It’s difficult to see how he can make a comeback from this point and all of his official duties have evidently been terminated in perpetuity. But he has a curiously upbeat Solar Arc Sun conjunct his Jupiter, exact in 2022 and his Solar Return for 2021 has Jupiter in his 10^th – so who knows quite what that will bring? Though 2022/23 also see a deeply frustrating and trapped tr Pluto conjunct his Mars and then Venus – so not all picnics and champagne ahead.

His close family all look seriously rattled at the moment and for months ahead. His not-quite-ex-wife Sarah Ferguson has tr Uranus opposition her Mercury this month which will make her agitated; the Cancer Eclipse, also this month, is opposition her 2^nd house Saturn (bringing financial chickens home to roost as their Swiss chalet fails to sell to pay off debts); and into 2021/22 tr Pluto is in a scary, trapped square to her Mars.

Princess Beatrice, whose wedding has been delayed, has a disruptive tr Uranus opposition her Pluto this month and on into 2021; with the June Cancer Solar Eclipse causing a considerable emotional upset as it is conjunct her Venus Moon; and the December Sagittarius Eclipse will rattle her Uranus Saturn – so not a good time.

Princess Eugenie has tr Uranus in a shocking and insecure square to her Mars now and into early 2021; and a discouraging tr Pluto conjunct her Saturn till late this year. None of them look sanguine about life getting easier. (See previous post on family November 22 2019.)

Operation Overlord, the successful World War 11 invasion of German-occupied Europe, by allied forces started with landings in Normandy, France on 6^th June 1944. It was an extraordinary logistical exercise with 1,200-planes bombing in advance of 160,000 troops being landed having crossed the English Channel in an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. By late August more than two million Allied troops were in France with German forces in retreat. General Dwight Eisenhower was in overall charge with General Montgomery overseeing land forces – there were possibly around half a million casualties in all.

The chart for the initial landing was stark, with a brutal, do-or-die determined Mars Pluto in Leo on the focal point of a Neptune trine Uranus Venus – so no doubting its magnitude or intent. It had been keyed up by the previous January 1944 Solar Eclipse which had a heavily-loaded Air Grand Trine of New Moon in Aquarius trine an explosive Mars Uranus trine Neptune, with the New Moon opposition Pluto. Tr Jupiter in Leo was then exactly conjunct the France Uranus in Leo with freedom in sight.

The Solar Eclipse of July 1944 which occurred during the two-month campaign fell at 27 degrees Cancer, exactly opposition the USA Pluto and conjunct the Germany 10^th house Uranus. That was in a Saros Cycle which repeated in September 2016 just before Trump’s election; in August 1998 as the Lewinsky scandal broke leading to Clinton’s impeachment; in August 1980 preceding Reagan’s election; and more significantly in July 1962 which in the aftermath saw the Cuban Missile Crisis erupt (and the death of Marilyn Monroe.) Clearly that Solar Eclipse is in a cycle of major importance for the USA but it won’t repeat in that cycle again until 2034.

What does repeat this year is the Capricorn Lunar Eclipse which in July 1944 fell at exactly the degree of this July’s Lunar Eclipse.

There were Lunar Eclipses at this degree in Capricorn in July 2007 when what was described as the most prominent funeral of all time occurred for Michael Jackson who died in the June.

The preceding one in July 2001 fell just before 9/11 and the Afghanistan War – and Enron bankruptcy.

Before that a same degree Lunar Eclipse in July 1982 oversaw the Falklands War and the Lebanon War.

Another in July 1963 preceded the Martin Luther King ‘I Have a Dream’ speech a few weeks later to a crowd of 250,000, then the largest protest ever seen in Washington, DC.

That it should have a significant and dramatic effect on USA is not surprising given that it is conjunct the US Cancer Sun. The massive Black Lives Matter protests will be part of it.

All marginally complicated but intriguing – eclipses are generally thought to have an effect over several months following.

The enduring and ever-green Tom Jones is 80 this weekend with a documentary to mark his extraordinary life from coal-miner’s son who was a regular singer in Welsh working men’s clubs and after his first hit single in his 20s ‘It’s Not Unusual’ became a sex symbol status. That led him to the US with a long Las Vegas residency in between constant touring and an enduring friendship with Elvis Presley. His popularity declined in the 1990s but he resurrected his profile in The Voice UK TV series to establish himself as an elder statesman. Health concerns interfered with a recent ambitious US tour.

Born 7 June 1940 12.10am Pontypridd, he has a Sun Gemini (favourite sign of pop singers) in his performing 5^th house; with a Gemini Moon also there squaring onto an iconic 8^th house musical Neptune. His passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars in Cancer are in his hard-working 6^th house. He has an indulgent and money-magnet Jupiter Saturn in Taurus in his 3^rd along with maverick Uranus; with his Jupiter Saturn in an obstinate and persistent square to Pluto. His Pluto sits on his Descendant, so he’d have intense interactions with his public as well as with his long-suffering wife, whom he married at 16. She stood by him through numerous affairs (250 groupies a year he once said) and she sadly died in 2016 which hit him hard.

Relocating his chart to Los Angeles where he lives now puts influential Pluto on the midheaven which can be tricky to handle but has clearly worked for him.

His creative 5^th and 7^th harmonics are both well aspected, especially his musical 7H – and his making-his-mark 17H.

Pic: Raph_PH

Christine Lagarde, head of the European Central Bank, has effectively dismissed the recent German court ruling about bond purchases being against Treaty law and announced a 600 billion euro top up. The previous recovery fund announced by the Commission in May is still not agreed with the frugal states northern dragging their heels. This further top up which may never get through is still deemed not enough to support the pandemic economic damage especially in Greece and Italy where public finances have become unsustainable. The ECB decision was described by one commentator as a “declaration of war” against the German court.

Her ECB start chart of 1 November 2019 12am is in a rebellious mood with tr Uranus opposition the Scorpio Sun exactly now and repeating on and off into early 2021.

Her personal chart, which is formidably enduring and obstinate with a Capricorn Sun, and Mars Saturn in Scorpio square Pluto Moon (Jupiter) is upbeat and pushily confident till early July but then it runs into a failed-plans slump through July. This is when the EU’s own chart starts to show considerable economic strain with tr Uranus conjunct the 8^th house Taurus Moon and square the Uranus.

Her relationship chart with Jens Weidmann, head of the German Bundesbank, is on red-alert exactly now and continuing to be in a tension-erupting phase till mid 2021. If she or the Commission can’t persuade Germany to agree then none of it will work.

The December Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius will hit her ECB CEO chart’s Moon and Jupiter for an over confident push along with an emotional upset in the months following.

Her relationship with the Germany country chart looks at daggers drawn for two and a half years ahead. Germany’s relations with the EU are being tested with this July’s Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn putting serious pressure on the ties-that-bind. There will also be a deepening froideur from this December onwards as the Sagittarius Eclipse is conjunct the composite Saturn.

Too many eclipses in one year and too much going on all over the place. The EU is set to rock n’ roll and not in a good way.

The tragic story of Madeleine McCann who disappeared from a Portugal holiday villa aged three years old in 2007 has reappeared in the headlines. At the time and for years after conspiracy theories swirled about her parents being responsible. A botched Portuguese police inquiry failed to follow up other leads and eventually fizzled out with a disgraced lead investigator being fired. Now German police say they have a convicted sex offender in prison for drug offences who was in the area at the time and confessed to a friend that he knew what had happened to her. The German authorities are treating it as a suspected murder inquiry.

Madeleine McCann was born 12 May 2003 at 6.14pm (astrotheme) Leicester, England, and is/was a Sun Taurus conjunct a Taurus North Node; with the bleak Saturn in Gemini opposition Pluto of the time in place. The Solar Arc Uranus is moving to square the Pluto on her chart, so perhaps stirring up secrets; with a free-ing tr Uranus square the Jupiter in place come early July. The Solar Arc Mercury is conjunct the North Node exactly now which may be a pointer to why the case has returned to public prominence.

The alleged suspect Christian Bruckner, 7 December 1976, if the birth date is accurate, is an excitable and evasive Sun, Neptune, Mars in Sagittarius trine Saturn in wannabe-important Leo, and sextile Pluto; with an indulgent Jupiter in Taurus trine Venus in Capricorn. Nothing is established as yet except that he was in the location at the time.

Both the parents – Gerry McCann, 5 June 1968 7.45am Glasgow, Scotland, and Kate McCann, 5 March 1968 Liverpool – have been through hell. Neither look cheerful over the next two years. Gerry McCann’s Mars in Gemini square Pluto is being undermined by tr Neptune hard aspects for two years. Kate McCann looks no more cheerful. Though if it is established she died at the hands of a sex offender that will be very hard on them.

A Twitter follower kindly pointed out a similar case which was eventually solved after 27 years. Jacob Wetterling, 17 February 1978, Minnesota, was kidnapped and killed as an 11 year old and his remains only discovered in September 2016 when the perpetrator confessed.

He was a Sun Aquarius opposition Saturn in Leo with a difficult Mars in Cancer square Pluto; and an optimistic Jupiter opposition Neptune.

When his remains were discovered tr Uranus was square his Mars; and his Solar Arc Saturn opposition Sun had moved to sit exactly on top of his North Node.

If there were to be similar aspects on Madeleine’s chart of tr Uranus square Mars, then that would point to spring of 2021, though from this July would also trigger the effect as tr Uranus starts to square her Jupiter which is natally in opposition to her Mars Neptune. On aspects to her North Node – her Solar Arc Neptune and Mars are square now and into 2021 as well.

It may seem odd looking at influences to a chart of someone (perhaps) deceased but for whatever reason the chart lives on and posthumous events do show up.

Boris Johnson is discovering to his obvious irritation that he has an opposition in place capable of nailing him down with awkward questions. The most recent Prime Ministers Question time with the newly installed Keir Starmer evoked a flustered and aggrieved response as the former barrister’s inquisition of where his policies had failed in the pandemic crisis hit the mark. In return Boris accused the Opposition Leader of lack of co-operation and a deliberate attempt to distract the public to which he received the measured reply: “the Prime Minister is confusing scrutiny with attacks.”

Starmer, 2 September 1962, has a Sun, Pluto, Uranus in Virgo in a confident opposition to Jupiter, all of which sits on top of Boris’s Uranus Pluto, Saturn, Mars mutable T Square; with Starmer’s Uranus exactly square his focal point Mars in Gemini for an incendiary chemistry.

Their relationship chart has a cool, suspicious composite Mercury opposition Saturn square Neptune which will lead to confusion and evasiveness. And a wide power-struggling Pluto square Mars with Mars trine Saturn – so an angry interface which won’t improve as tr Neptune undermines the composite Mars till next spring.

The key question is – will Boris stay the course? Will he push a battered Britain across the Brexit finishing line in December and then bale for a lifestyle better suited to his blustering bonhomie temperament, having discovered the job he’s spent his life aiming for isn’t quite the prize he expected? Or will his health post-Covid dictate another course?

Tr Saturn will square his Moon from June 17^th to July 2. It was around previously in late March/early April when he contracted the virus, ended up in hospital and nearly died. So it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that the lingering after-affects, from all accounts long-lasting, make themselves felt. His Scorpio Moon is also being seriously jangled by the approaching Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his Moon, exact in 7 months, though in effect earlier. Given that his Uranus is tied into his T Square it does bring together the full weight of his scattergun, aggravated, high-tension temperament to bear on his Moon, not just this year but for several years to come. Which is a considerable pressure for the Moon to withstand. It could also involve challenges to his home and domestic life.

In addition, if his 2pm birth time is sound, then he has his Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct his Uranus within two months which suggests a radical change of direction – though if he was born a few minutes before or after, the timing could be out.

He will get a minor lift from tr Pluto trine his Mars/Jupiter midpoint from early this July to mid August and again late year – but that isn’t overly strong an influence. This week’s Lunar Eclipse will rattle his Pluto Uranus; the June Cancer Solar Eclipse will be conjunct his North Node; and the July Lunar Eclipse will catch his Midheaven – so it’ll be a fraught time ahead. Though the major turning point will come with the December Sagittarius Eclipse which will oppose his Sun Venus in Gemini – and that does tend to lead to a full-blown crisis thereafter or at least a major turning point in life.

Japan has come out of the pandemic better than most with under 17,000 infections and 894 deaths mainly due to a special contact-tracing strategy, early awareness and the timely declaration of a state of emergency, though without a compulsory lockdown.

The concern now is whether PM Abe can kickstart the economy which has been burdened with massive public debt for more than a generation.

The Japan 11 February 1889 chart has variable start times. There’s nothing too dramatic showing up instantly. Though there’ll be a financial dip or disappointment come 2021 with the Solar Arc Neptune opposing the Japan Venus.

The Nikkei, 7 September 1950, indicates a dampening of confidence through this year with tr Neptune opposition the Saturn; also flags up 2021 as an uncertain, panicky phase.

The Bank of Japan, 10 October 1882, is nerve-stretched this year not surprisingly with tr Neptune opposition its Uranus and jangled with tr Uranus opposition its Mercury.

All three charts have a heavy concentration of Fixed planets after mid degree – so the tr Uranus hard aspects from 2022 onwards till 2025 will be the years of greatest stress.

The Japan chart catches tr Uranus in a high-tension square to its Saturn in Leo in 2022, shaking its sense of national pride; and tr Uranus then moves on to square the Aquarius Sun in 2024 for more jolts and changes of direction and following that tr Uranus is conjunct the Japan Neptune in Taurus and finally Pluto in early Gemini – so it’ll be a stormy patch. 2022 also sees the panicky-failure tr Neptune conjunct its Mars.

The Nikkei chart is getting much the same pounding during that 21022 to 2025 period with tr Uranus opposition the Mars, square Pluto and finally square Venus – so several years of financial disruption.

The Bank of Japan has a discouraging Solar Arc Saturn conjunct Sun in 2022; with forced-change from an uphill-slog tr Pluto trine Saturn in 2021/22, followed by trine Pluto. With tr Uranus conjunct Neptune and then Saturn, Pluto in Taurus between 2022 and 2025.