Marjorie

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 10^th (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 4^th 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 12^th house Mars in Leo trine an Aries North Node (and Uranus) in her 8^th 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 3^rd 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 9^th 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 22^nd harmonic was strong, as was her writers 21^st and leaving-a-legacy 17^th. Her victim/healer 12^th harmonic hinted at finding an outlet through communication. Her get-it-together 5^th 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”.

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 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 8^th house Taurus Sun and Mars plus Saturn Pluto in Leo in the 10^th.  As admittedly has the UK but maybe two world wars and loss of empire finally let in some daylight.

Making Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 is the new UK Labour Government’s impressive mission put into the hands of Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. Great British Energy (GBE) is being set up, to be headquartered in Scotland and the founding statement was unveiled on 25 July 2024.

  GBE has a tied-together Half Grand Sextile of Sun opposition Pluto sextile Mars in Gemini sextile Neptune in final degree Pisces (and Scheat). Ambitious but an uphill battle which given Miliband’s lacklustre previous track record is worrisome.

  Born 24 December 1969 (2pm?) London, he has a Capricorn Sun square Uranus in Libra and Pluto in late Virgo – keen on leading edge technology certainly. He has an up-and-down Jupiter in Scorpio opposition Saturn in Taurus which won’t give him great judgement; and neither will his impulsive, scattergun Mars in Pisces inconjunct Uranus. Now that I look he has a yod of Mars sextile Sun inconjunct Uranus – that could make him an agent for enlightened change or a fringe activist who flies ahead regardless on his pet crusade. He has a last degree Neptune in Scorpio.

 Oddly enough despite his elevation he has an aggravated Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Saturn this year which usually accompanies setbacks – and he has tr Pluto leaning on his unstable Jupiter opposition Saturn this year and next so will be on highs and lows. But his real test is 2026/27 which is when Keir Starmer’s chart is showing maximum stress. In Miliband’s case he has tr Uranus in an insecure square to his Mars alongside tr Neptune and tr Saturn square his Sun. His relationship chart with Starmer is sagging in 2025 and catastrophically bad through 2026/27.

  Juergen Maier, 12 January 1964, a former Siemens UK chief executive, is to spearhead Great British Energy. He has an ambitious Sun Mars in Capricorn, with his Mars road-blocked by a tr Pluto conjunction till this December. But again it is 2026/27 which look devastating for him with SA Pluto conjunct his Neptune and SA Neptune conjunct his Sun.

 Of the other Labour Cabinet members: Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is struggling through this year with her final degree Pisces Sun sagging under Neptune; and again her 2026 with the exception of one ray of sunshine is noticeably panicky.

 Health Secretary Wes Streeting is likewise penned down by negative events in 2026/27, though admittedly he has an impossible job.

  I wonder what the future brings? The poisoned chalice of a decade plus of Tory rule with no money in the kitty, nothing working as it should plus outside events, do seem to be taking their toll.

John Mayall known as the godfather of British blues has died. His influential band the Bluesbreakers was a springboard for stars including Eric Clapton, as well as bassist John McVie and the drummer Mick Fleetwood, on their way to found Fleetwood Mac. He remained a “musician’s musician” for most of his career, eclipsed in name recognition by artists who had graduated from his famed blues academy.

 The years of the mid-1960s, he said, “were a special period in British music history” – the foundation of all today’s rock. “Our source was all the American black music that Americans weren’t listening to,” he said. “People mention Eric Clapton, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, the Animals, the Rolling Stones: all these people came out of a small time period – four years. We were all so dedicated to where this music came from and the injustice of the fact that the blues was not appreciated in America. We were damned if we were going to let it go on being unnoticed.”

 He was born 29 November 1933 7.30am Macclesfield, England, with a father who played the guitar in pubs. After army service in Korea and four years at Art college in Manchester he formed his first band and worked as a graphic designer.

  He had an extraordinary chart with a restless and bubbling-with-initiative Cardinal Grand Cross of Uranus in his performing 5^th (often found with rock musicians) opposition Jupiter square Pluto opposition Venus. Not short of confidence, drive – and charm. He also had an Earth Grand Trine of a Taurus Moon also in his performing 5^th trine Mars in Capricorn trine Neptune; with creative, musical Neptune square his 1^st house Sagittarius Sun. He was certainly a go-getter, and well grounded.

 His two marriages ended in divorce and he is survived by six children, Gaz, Jason, Red, Ben, Zak and Samson, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

 His creative 5^th and 7^th harmonics were strong not surprisingly, as was his giving-pleasure 9H; and his global influencer 22H.

Panic is in the air everywhere and economic journalists tend to see catastrophes beyond every bend in the road. But there are worrying indicators beginning to flash red. One is government debt which is massively up everywhere. Biden probably spent more even than Trump. In the UK, newly-arrived Starmer is discovering there is no wiggle room for spending on welfare improvement since the cupboards are bare with public debt already over stretched. France is heading for a knuckle-rapping from Brussels for the scale of its overspend.

  There is evidently another worry which to economic illiterates (like me) sounds like the pre 2008 financial leveraged jiggery pokery.

 Trying to simplify (what I don’t entirely understand) is the insertion of private equity into  –  everywhere – family homes to supermarkets and cosmetics companies — even hospitals. Think about veterinarians being bought over by finance companies. Think about the Royal Mail being bought on debt.

An analyst cautioned in April there were “natural questions about the risks of these financing arrangements, and the growth in kinds and quantity of leverage, or ‘leverage on leverage’, throughout the ecosystem”. The debt that ties private equity in with the banks, insurance companies and other groups means that any stress in the industry could ripple across the wider financial system. “The opacity, complexity, and interconnectedness of the sector have made assessing its developments difficult.” “There should not be a pocket of the market that touches on so much of the economy in such a sizeable way.”

  The US Federal Reserve Bank, 16 November 1914, is under severe pressure and panic as tr Saturn Neptune move into Aries from May 2025 onwards to square the Saturn Pluto in Cancer; with a further layer of panic in 2026 with Solar Arc Neptune conjunct the Fed Res Sun and tr Uranus in an insecure square to the Mars.

 The Bank of China, 1 December 1948, is also heading for 2026 as a crisis time, building up from this year onwards as tr Neptune squares the Uranus and peaking when tr Saturn Neptune square the Mars Jupiter at the same time as a tr Uranus square the Pluto in 2026 as well.

 Bank of Australia is in serious trouble in 2025/26. Bank of Canada ditto in 2026/27. Bank of Switzerland is into calamity zone by and through 2025. France hits high stress from mid 2025, worsening through into 2027/28.

 The European Central Bank, depending on whether the original 1973 chart or the later 1 January 1999, or even 1 June 1998, is showing extreme stress from mid 2025 right through for several years.

  All of the central banks will be coping with additional turbulence as they face the csonequences of having borrowed too much when the going was cheap.

  The huge private equity firms which are behind much of the other worry are tricky to pin down astrologically since they often start as private firms without dates and then sell multiple times over the years.

 But the Carlyle Group launched on Nasdaq on 3 May 2012 will not respond favourably to Uranus moving into Gemini from mid 2025 and will be more stressed in 2026 and by 2027 is looking blocked and deprived.

Blackstone, 1 October 1985, is heading for the buffers in 2025 as its Solar Arc Pluto squares its Mars, which if accurate will grind it to  a halt. Followed by hugely disruptive 2026 as SA Pluto is conjunct the Uranus.

 Dyal Capital which merged into Blue Owl, 19 May 2001, is feeling a chill wind at the moment with tr Neptune square the Mars; with major jolts and upsets in 2026/27.

 Whether it is political leaders or greedy financiers leading the way, the end result never seems to be helpful.

See previous posts: Banks at Risk 17 March 2023; Debt levels 26 October 2023.

Solar Arcs in action can be a key indicator of life-changing events. Two cases in point in the news – one is radical preacher Anjem Choudary who has been found guilty of directing a terrorist group al-Muhajiroun banned under UK law. Seen as a radicalising network its former members were involved in the London Bridge killing with eight dead and at London’s Fishmongers Hall in 2019 with two dead.

  The head of the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said al-Muhajiroun’s “tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security”. The organisation has been linked to international terrorism, homophobia, and antisemitism. Choudhary did spend two years in prison after 2016 but emerged to continue on the same track.

 Born 18 January 1967 in London, he has two major configurations in his chart. One is a Cardinal Grand Cross of a Capricorn Sun Mercury opposition Jupiter square Mars opposition  ? an Aries Moon. Ambitious and overflowing with initiative. The other is a Water Grand Trine of Saturn in Pisces trine Neptune trine Jupiter, formed into two Kites by Saturn opposition Pluto Uranus in Virgo, and Sun Mercury opposition Jupiter.

  At the moment his Cardinal Grand Cross has moved by Solar Arc to collide with his Water Grand Trine/Kite – and that is usually an indication of a life crisis of considerable proportions. His SA Sun is conjunct his Saturn; and his SA Mars is heading to square his Pluto; his SA Neptune is square his Mars.

 In addition his Water Grand Trine has moved by Solar Arc to rattle up its internal components – with SA Uranus Pluto conjunct his Neptune and his SA Saturn opposition Neptune.

  On transits he has tr Pluto still exerting pressure on his Grand Cross till late this year as well as tr Uranus shaking up his Neptune/Grand Trine.  

  Interesting astrology – though extraordinary he was still at large. I am sure if he had been born in France they would have turfed him back to Pakistan, his parents’ country of origin after his first prison sentence, citizenship or not.

  The Al-Muhajiroun chart is also showing signs of a reversal with its natal Mars in Aries opposition Pluto Saturn moving by Solar Arc to collide with its Uranus.

  The other Solar Arc in the news in a completely different arena is dressage rider Charlotte du Jardin, described as the dominant competitor in her field, winner of six Olympic medals, including three gold, plus multiple other titles. She has withdrawn from this year’s Olympics after a four year old video of her whipping a horse in training has appeared.

  Born 13 July 1985 Abridge, England, no time,  she is an excitable Sun Mars in Cancer with an obsessively conscientious and perfectionist Saturn in Scorpio on the focal point of a T square to a Mercury opposition Jupiter. With Saturn maybe opposition a Taurus Moon for an early morning birth. At the moment her Solar Arc Uranus is exactly opposition her Mars as her reputation and career disappear down a drain.

She may also on an early morning birth have tr Pluto conjunct her Midheaven which also can accompany a tumble from a high position. Four years ago tr Pluto would have been opposing her Mars which would have triggered her can-be-short-tempered Sun Mars.

Venezuela is heading into an election this weekend which if played fairly would see the downfall of autocrat Nicolas Maduro, who took over in 2013. His administration has overseen a wrecking of the economy of the oil-rich state with GDP down 80% and has precipitated the emigration of eight million people, a quarter of its population. Despite promises to pull back on corruption, which eased US sanctions briefly, the election is likely to be rigged as the Opposition party streaks ahead in the polls.

 The favourite Maria Corina Machado has been banned from standing on trumped up charges so she is campaigning for Edmundo González, a year-old former diplomat. Many of her campaign staff and volunteers have been arrested.  Observers say the regime will meddle to the end, setting the stage for a contested result and possible post-election violence.

  Venezuela, 5 July 1811 3pm Caracas, is edgy this year with tr Uranus opposition the Mars in Scorpio through until early 2025; with a disruptive Solar Arc Sun square the Uranus later this year into 2025. And an undermining SA Neptune conjunct the Sun come 2026/27.

 Maduro’s First Presidency chart 19 April 2013 2.05pm, has a yod onto control freak Pluto which makes sense and a forceful Sun Mars in Aries which is catching the final tr Pluto square this September to late November = frustrated, high-risk, trapped. With two legs of the yod being buffeted by tr Uranus square the SA Moon and tr Saturn square both the natal Jupiter and SA Jupiter over coming months.  If the start time is accurate then he will being give a sharp elbow in the ribs come mid 2025 onwards with tr Uranus conjunct the Midheaven.

His personal chart, 23 November 1962 9.03pm Caracas, has a stroke of luck and a confidence boost now till early August, followed by a disruptive, possible violent few weeks till late September; with jeopardy through December into spring 2025.  If he does finagle his way through to a tainted win, he will face his moment of significant change as tr Uranus moves to opposes his Mercury and Sun in Sagittarius from July 2025 into 2026.