Marjorie

Shannen Doherty, a child star who became tabloid fodder with her wild-child behaviour, peaked in the 1990s teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210 but struggled in a rag-bag career later. She contracted breast cancer in 2015 which she handled with her customary bravado, working to publicise cancer awareness, but it spread to her brain and bones and she died two days back.

 She was born 12 April 1971 4.16 pm Memphis, Tennessee with a beautician mother who pushed her into auditions aged 10. Beverly Hills, 90210 which made her name was a photogenic after-school soap but the conformist teens on screen were a gulf away from the troubled reality offscreen with stories of Doherty’s bad cheques, nightclub altercations and open enmity on set. She left midway through the decade-long series, and was later sentenced to anger-management counselling after throwing a beer bottle at the windscreen of a motorist with whom she had rowed; and published a self-help book Badass: A Hard-Earned Guide to Living Life with Style and (the Right) Attitude.

 She married George Hamilton’s son Ashley at the height of her 90210 fame, when she was 22 and he was 18, which lasted only five months. There was a subsequent engagement to the cosmetics heir Dean Factor (who filed a restraining order against his fiancée in May 1993). A second marriage, to the professional poker player Rick Salomon, who would later achieve notoriety for a sex tape with Paris Hilton, was annulled after nine months. She married a photographer in 2011 and announced their divorce last year.

 What a life.

  She had an Aries Sun on the cusp of her 8^th house square Mars in Capricorn in her 4^th with her Mars square a 1^st house rebellious Uranus – volatile, overly impulsive, act first and think second, anger issues and relationship problems – 7/8^th house Sun and 4^th house Mars. She also had an intense Scorpio Moon opposition Saturn in Taurus tied into a Half grand Sextile with Moon sextile Mars and trine Venus in Pisces. Her Saturn was also in a stubborn and gritty trine to Pluto on her Ascendant.

  Her Earth Grand Trine of Saturn trine Mars trine a Virgo Ascendant (and Pluto) formed into a Kite by Saturn opposition Moon makes her emotionally trenchant and wilfully stubborn Moon in Scorpio her driving planet. That plus her tinderbox Mars all added up to her badasss temperament.

  Her looking-for-a-cause Aquarius North Node finally found its calling in her campaigning for cancer patients in the latter years of her life.

Hugely complicated and talented chart but she never quite got it together.

‘A plague on all their houses’ appears to be the apolitical approach of young Kenyans, eloquent and educated, who are staging demonstrations against corruption, injustice and inequality in a self-serving political class whom they are denouncing across the board. The GenZ movement as they are known who claim no political or tribal allegiance and organize their protests through social media platforms have been compared to the Arab Spring uprisings. In the face of a deteriorating economic situation, they have been expressing their discontent at the lavish lifestyles enjoyed by politicians funded by the taxes of the citizens.

  Kenya gained independence on 12 December 1964 at 12 am in the midst of the tumultuous Uranus Pluto Mars conjunction square a Sagittarius Sun – so it is fitting that a young reformist, revolutionary movement has finally decided to stand up and rock the boat as tr Saturn opposes the three Virgo planets and squares the Sun this year. The next several years look challenging and fraught as the disruptive Uranus Pluto Mars moves by Solar Arc to cross the Jupiter in Taurus opposition Venus Neptune in Scorpio (= acquisitive, financially deceptive, money-grubbing). The freedom fighters cross swords with the corrupt.

 The present president William Ruto, 21 December 1966, who has been accused in the past of a series of land grabbing manoeuvres (and is an evangelical Christian) is not looking overly happy. Tr Neptune and Scheat are square his final degree Sagittarius Sun this year and next; with tr Saturn following suit in opposing his Uranus Pluto, reaching his Second Saturn return and squaring his Sun all next year.

  It is reckoned that Generation Z is currently the largest in Africa making up 31.20%. Millennials represent 20.49%. Both generations make up 51.69%.

  Hopes for the future and a hint that across the globe there are signs of dissatisfaction with governing classes of all stripes. At least in Kenya the young are standing up to have an effect – where are Gen Z in USA and UK?

GenZ are reckoned to be late 1990s to 2010 – which covers the Pluto in Sagittarius phase of 1995 to 2008.

Ruth Westheimer, the celebrity sex therapist dubbed Dr Ruth by a caller to her late-night radio show and otherwise called ‘Grandma Freud’, has died. She was a target of conservatives for her support of gay rights and abortion.

 Born 4 June 1928 4am Karlstadt, Germany, she was separated from her family when she was 10 and sent to Switzerland, with her parents taken away by the Nazis and killed. After the war she went to Israel and joined Hagganah, the Zionist military organisation, before moving to France with her first husband. That marriage did not last, nor her second but her third, with an American, survived nearly four decades until his death.

 Her radio show started from small beginnings – a 15-minute segment at midnight – but soon extended and was syndicated as she grew in popularity with a successful television series to follow. Over the years, she taught at multiple universities and worked at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Harlem.

  She had a 1^st house communicative Gemini Sun opposition a knowledgeable Saturn and Moon in Sagittarius in her 7^th house. Her Saturn in the 7^th hints at the effort required to maintain a close relationship, more so with her Sun/Moon midpoint exactly square her Saturn. But with her Moon in the 7^th she needed the support of a partner and would put herself across to her public audience in a way that was serious and motherly at the same time. Her saving grace from a tragic childhood was her predominantly inspirational Fire chart with Uranus, Mars and Jupiter in Aries, Neptune in Leo and Moon Saturn in Sagittarius – which would give her an overload of self-belief.

  Her high-risk and frightening Mars square Pluto and downbeat Sun Moon Saturn do bear testimony to what she went through but she managed to rise above it.

 She had a notable healers’ 12^th harmonic and a leaving-a-legacy 17^th.

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump for reasons unknown by a 20 year old apparently Republican-registered shooter has been taken as a critical moment in the election run-up with an iconic fist-pumping photograph of Trump going viral.

  Two astrological influences were spot on. Firstly the transiting Uranus, Mars, Algol of the moment was exactly square Trump’s bombastic Mars in Leo which usually accompanies a shock and a resulting over-reaction. It tends to be explosive whether in producing accidents, collisions of sorts, or even heart-related incidents in older individuals with a subsequent wild response to an experience which threatens to dent self-esteem. The same Uranus transit to his Mars returns throughout this October and again late April to mid May 2025.

 The other, on the USA chart is the Solar Arc Saturn being exactly conjunct the USA Mars, exact to a minute of a degree on the 11am chart. This is the start of a three year run of the two key squares in the USA chart colliding. The Solar Arc Sun square SA Saturn crashes into the USA Mars square Neptune. Usually when this happens it is a phase of rolling crises.  The last time was between 1935 and 1939.  

   Firstly there is the accident/assassination prone SA Saturn on Mars exactly now; then an uncertain, panicky SA Saturn square USA Neptune in 2025; an angry, collision-type event or series thereof in 2026 from SA Sun square the USA Mars; and a lacklustre, undermining opposition to the Neptune in 2027.

  On the Sibly USA chart the Solar Arc Mars is exactly conjunct the Moon now – and both will be jolted by tr Uranus square in this August.

  Horrifying though this incident is, the USA has a long history of political assassinations with four sitting presidents shot dead and failed attempts to shoot several more. A similar attempt to this one occurred in 1912 when “Teddy” Roosevelt was running for a non-consecutive second term as president. He continued giving his speech with blood soaking through his shirt which consolidated his reputation for bravado but it was not enough to win him re-election.

On Trump’s chart tr Jupiter and tr Uranus are now moving across his 10^th house. Jupiter stays there till June 2025 and is usually a high profile time which can be successful or catch headlines for other reasons. Tr Jupiter is conjunct his 10^th house Uranus in late November which should provide a lucky break in a minor way. Tr Uranus hints at a change of direction in his career/life (assuming the birth time is accurate) and runs on for years ahead.

 Apart from transiting Neptune hard aspects to two of his Mercury midpoints now till early October there is not much else showing in his chart – they will affect his concentration and perhaps give rise to more evasiveness than usual. January 2025 looks like an uphill slog for him. By the election his Solar Arc Neptune is exactly conjunct his South Node, moving on in 2025/26 to conjunct his Moon and oppose his Sun – he’ll either be dissolving into a fog of confusion or be exhibiting the worst of his delusional leanings.

 Of those closest to him – both Donald Trump Jnr and Lara Trump have confidently upbeat transits to a Jupiter midpoint late this December to mid March 2025. Though Eric Trump and Barron are showing extreme frustration and disappointment. Nothing conclusive out of that.

The Inauguration chart for 2025 is nothing like as tricky as for 2021.

 Interesting to see how the pro-gun MAGA will spin the atrocity.

ADD ON: According to electoral registration the shooter Thomas Crooks was born 20 September 2003 making him a Sun Virgo with Mars in Pisces conjunct Uranus in last degree Aquarius opposition his Jupiter – an excitable, impulsive temperament.  His Pluto in Sagittarius which is in an overly intense square to his Mercury is exactly opposition Trump’s Uranus giving him a desire to shift DT’s trajectory. Crooks’ Solar Arc Mars Uranus is now exactly square Trump’s North Node so he will have had quite a fated effect on Trump’s journey ahead – and it may not be quite what it seems at the moment.  

 Crooks’ midpoints double up on him being overly confident – Jupiter = Pluto/NNode and Pluto = Sun/Jupiter. As well as overly excitable – Pluto = Venus/Mars and Venus/Uranus; and prone to eruptions of anger with Saturn = Mars/NNode and Pluto opposition Saturn/NNode.

Lamine Yamal, the 17 year old (just) Spanish footballer has been lauded as the standout star of this year’s European Championship in Germany with talk of him becoming one of the greats like Messi, Ronaldo, Pele, Maradona.

  He was born 13 July 2007 near Barcelona into a Moroccan immigrant family and brought up in a tough, poor area. He has a Cancer Sun with Moon Mercury in Cancer; and a determined Mars in Taurus which is in a publicity-attracting square to Neptune opposition Saturn. His Mars is further influenced being on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine of Sun trine Uranus.

  There is not a huge amount to be gleaned from a chart without a birth time but his global-superstar 22^nd harmonic has a super-successful Jupiter Pluto conjunction which may be a pointer.

 Pele, 21 October 1940, Brazil, also had Jupiter conjunct Pluto and Saturn in his 22^nd harmonic. He was a Sun Libra with a Gemini Moon; and his Mars in Libra was conjunct his North Node.

Lionel Messi, 24 June 1987 Argentina was another Sun Cancer with Mercury and Mars also in Cancer; and a Gemini Moon. His 22^nd harmonic had Jupiter square Pluto.

Maradona, 30 October 1960 Argentina, was a Sun Neptune in Scorpio trine Mars in Cancer, with his Mars opposition Saturn and a Pisces Moon. His 9^th harmonic has a talented Kite from Sun trine Jupiter trine Saturn, Sun opposition Pluto.

Cristiano Ronaldo, 5 February 1985, seems the odd one out with no Cancer planets and a Fixed not Mutable Moon, but he does have Pluto square his Jupiter natally – and he does have a strongly aspected superstar 22^nd harmonic, though mainly Jupiterian not Pluto aspects.

Yamal is clearly under pressure at the moment but has a good deal of Jupiterian uplift from later next week and on to the end of this year. Offers will be piling up.

The Kennedy women who either suffered at the hands of the male members of the clan they married into – or to whom they sold their souls in return for money and prestige –  have smatterings of similarities amongst them. 

  Rose, the matriarch, 22 July 1890 11 am Boston, Massachusetts, wife of Joseph, mother of 11 children including JFK and Robert. She had a 10^th house Sun Mercury in Cancer so was designed for a public life; with a fearsome Mars in Sagittarius opposition an 8th house Neptune Pluto in Gemini square a chilly Venus Saturn in Virgo. Made of tempered steel, hard, could be cruel. Her hidden Libra Moon was in an Air Grand Trine to Jupiter in the 4^th trine Neptune Pluto = emotionally cool.

 Her daughter Rosemary, 13 September 1918 7pm Brookline, Massachusetts, who became difficult to handle in her teens, was forcibly lobotomized at her father’s insistence when she was 23. The procedure left her permanently incapacitated and rendered her unable to speak intelligibly.

 She had her highly-strung Virgo Sun conjunct her Descendant square a Sagittarius Moon and North Node, but what was more significant was a 12th house Uranus opposition Saturn in Leo square an 8th house Mars in Scorpio. A disruptive gestation (her mother’s pregnancy with her with Uranus in the 12^th) plus the generational family demons breathing heavily with Mars in the 8^th were guaranteed to cause problems. When she was operated on in 1941 the transiting Saturn in Taurus was opposition her 8th house Mars and tr Uranus in Taurus was square her Uranus and Saturn – so that unstable and afflicted T square was being upended. It was a criminal act.

Eunice Shriver, another daughter of Rose and Joe, founder of the Special Olympics, was close to Rosemary. She had a 10^th house Cancer Sun, Mars, Mercury and Pluto, a pointer to a controlling, angry, ambitious mother (similar to Nathalie Wood’s nightmare of a stage mother). Eunice also had a hard-working Virgo Moon conjunct Saturn; and a reformist Uranus trine Pluto and Mars.

 Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish, 20 February 1920, was the one daughter who did make a break for freedom, though she had a tragically short run. She defied her family and mother to marry an English aristocrat who was – shock horror – Protestant in a civil ceremony attended only by her brother Joe. Both her husband and Joe were killed a few months later in 1944. She then fell in love with another Protestant, who was rich, a gambler and married, only to die with him four years later in a plane crash in the south of France. Because of the scandalous circumstances of her death and JFK’s fledgling political career, the Kennedys wanted little attention paid to her.

  She did have Mars in Scorpio like several other family members but more importantly her Uranus was trine her Pisces Sun and maybe Pisces Moon and was also trine Mars and Pluto in a Water Grand Trine, formed into a Kite by Uranus Sun opposition Saturn – very Uranian. Plus a super-optimistic Neptune Jupiter in Leo square Mars.

 Neither Jackie Kennedy nor Ethel, Robert F’s widow, have charts nearly as difficult. Ethel has a confident Sun Jupiter I Aries in the 2^nd square Pluto with a well-organised Saturn in her 10^th.

 Jackie, had a 10^th house creative Neptune and ambitious Mars, with her Leo Sun in the publishing and far-travelled 9^th house; with a cool, sophisticated (and unloved) Saturn in her 2^nd opposition Venus in her 8^th.

What a nightmare dynastic families are.

Actress Shelley Duvall, known for playing eccentric characters in Robert Altman’s Nashville and 3 Women, Woody Allen’s Annie Hall and most memorably in Kubrick’s horror-flick The Shining, has died.

 She was born 7 July 1949 Houston, Texas, sadly no birth time, and was known as “Manic Mouse” by her mother in her childhood because of her high energy and offbeat personality. She had a gruelling experience with Kubrick during the shooting of The Shining, who pushed her to the limit.  After 2000 she retreated from acting and public life, resurfacing in 2016 to talk to Dr Phil McGraw on TV about her mental health problems, which drew criticism for exploiting her fragile state.

  Her chart without a birth time is not overly illuminating except that her Cancer Sun square Neptune was sparked off during the filming of the Shining when tr Pluto was conjunct her Neptune ( = devastating/confused) and square her Sun. And again when her heavily-slated interview with Phil McGraw took place in 2016 tr Pluto had moved an exact quarter cycle to oppose her Sun and square her Neptune.

  Her natal Saturn in Virgo which was oddly aspected and not well integrated into the rest of her chart, being sextile Uranus and inconjunct a yod focal point Jupiter, also seems to have been a trigger point. Her Saturn would tend to make her perfectionist, a worrier and prone to depression. Though the inconjunct to Jupiter would be hard to handle. It could well have given her flights of mania as she flitted from the low self-esteem of Saturn to the grandiosity of a yod focal point Jupiter.  

 During the shooting of The Shining she was on her First Saturn Return which is always heavy. And her Solar Arc Saturn had moved to square her Uranus exactly. By 2000/1 when she retired from acting her Solar Arc Neptune was square her Saturn, inducing great uncertainty and perhaps undermining her grip on reality. By 2016 and the Dr Phil interview her Solar Arc Saturn was square her Venus and tr Saturn was conjunct her Solar Arc Neptune.

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George Clooney, a major Democrat donor, has raised the heat in the Biden go-or-stay debate, saying flatly Biden is not the man he was in 2020 and won’t win if he stands. Despite a robust push-back from the White House and Biden family, pressure is growing. Even Nancy Pelosi is carefully saying the time is getting late and a decision needs to be reached.

  Clooney, 6 May 1961 2.58am Lexington Manor, Kentucky, is an enduring Taurus with a reformist streak from a Uranus square; with an exuberant Mars in Leo in his performing 5^th square a dreamy 8^th house Neptune  and opposition a Capricorn Moon, Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius. A mix of glamour and gravitas.

 He is looking discouraged across the election with tr Pluto conjunct his Saturn and in a calamitous square to his Mars/Saturn midpoint till late November; and frustratedly trapped from November 20 to December 29 with tr Pluto opposition his Mars. His Progressed Mars is exactly conjunct his Pluto now and for some months ahead, which won’t give him what he wants. He won’t get his bounce back till March 2025 when tr Pluto squares his Mars/Jupiter midpoint on and off through 2026 as well.

  Nancy Pelosi, 26 March 1940 3.10pm Baltimore, Maryland, a determined 8^th house Sun and lucky Jupiter in Aries with an ultra-determined Mars Venus Uranus conjunction on her Midheaven opposition a Scorpio Moon. Tr Uranus is conjunct her Mars exactly now for an outspoken and insecure moment with over-reactions likely.  That repeats throughout October and again in  May 2025.  Exactly now she has tr Pluto square her Sun/Mars midpoint till mid next week which will be wound up and logjammed. That repeats throughout January 2025. Mid July to early September is a real and depressing slog against massive obstacles. This September to early October she has a disastrous tr Neptune square her Mars/Pluto midpoint. She will be agitated and argumentative late December to mid March 2025. Like Clooney she will regain her bounce come March 2025 onwards.

Barack Obama, 4 August 1961 7.24 pm Honolulu, Hawaii, looks rattled across the election with tr Uranus square his Uranus but does have the confidently upbeat (and usually successful) tr Pluto conjunct his Jupiter late November to the end of December; though from late December to mid March 2025 he will also facing major setbacks from tr Uranus opposition his Mars/Saturn midpoint.

N.B. Some of the above could be down to personal issues but overall not looking like like a celebration for the above three.

“When it comes to controlling human beings there is no better instrument than lies. Because, you see, humans live by beliefs. And beliefs can be manipulated. The power to manipulate beliefs is the only thing that counts.” Michael Ende.

   The gulf between the public image and private reality has rarely been wider than between the romanticized, progressive Camelot of the Kennedy men and their sordid reality.  A new book Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed by Maureen Callahan is described as “a lacerating exposé” of the clan.

  The details are wince making. Father Joseph kept his wife, Rose, permanently pregnant while he took up with movie stars such as Gloria Swanson – whom he raped without bothering to introduce himself at their first meeting – and Marlene Dietrich. In 1938, Joe hailed Hitler’s new world order and  admired Nazi eugenics, which he applied to his daughter Rosemary, deeming her a “defective product” and having her lobotomized with anaesthetic, which left her “functionally a two-year-old”. His wife was not consulted.

  JFK’s conduct mimicked the tom-catting of his father  and shared Marilyn Monroe with his brother Bobby, his attorney general. The promiscuous Kennedy men had scant liking for women; and practised what Callahan calls “technical sex”, short-fused but excitingly risky. The same sense of existential danger elated JFK’s son John, who loved to show off his genitalia after showering at the gym. Callahan argues that for John Jr “dying was a high”, an orgasmic thrill that he insisted on sharing with a female partner.“ She deemed the plane crash with him behind the controls, in which he, his wife and sister-in-law died, was a murder-suicide.

  Ted Kennedy’s mishap at Chappaquiddick which left Mary Jo Kopechne, upside down for hours in a dwindling pocket of air before drowning in an overturned car is also a target. He inexplicably wandered off to cope with the pr.  

  Robert Kennedy Jr of the worm-eaten brain, a potential candidate for this year’s presidency, seems cut from the same cloth. According to Callahan the second of his three wives, in despair after reading a diary in which he tabulated his adulterous flings and awarded them points for performance, killed herself in 2012.

  Joseph Kennedy, 6 September 1888, Boston, MA, regrettably no definite birth time, was a New Moon in Virgo with Mercury Venus also in Virgo and Mars Jupiter in Scorpio. Virgo oddly enough in the male of the species can be a player sexually – and the same Virgo and Scorpio or 8^th house mix descended down the generations.

 JFK, 29 May 1917 3pm Brookline, Massachusetts, had a Virgo Moon and a heavily 8^th house chart with a Gemini Sun as well as Jupiter, Mercury and Mars in earthy Taurus there. And a thrill-seeking Uranus in the romantic 5^th which was on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Moon sextile Midheaven.

Robert Kennedy, 20 November 1925 3.11pm Brookline, MA, had a 7^th house Scorpio Sun and Saturn with Mars in Scorpio also on his Descendant and Neptune in his romantic 5^th trine an 8^th house Mercury.

 Edward Kennedy, 22 February 1932 3.58 am Brookline, MA, had a Pisces Sun opposition an 8^th house Moon Neptune in Virgo with Jupiter also in his 8^th.

 Robert Kennedy Jnr, 17 January 1954 5.32 pm Washington, DC, shares his fathers Mars Saturn in Scorpio which falls in his domestic 4^th alongside Neptune; with a Capricorn Sun Venus in a constantly-changing opposition to Uranus in his 12th. Emotional contentment was never going to be his lot.

  John F Kennedy Jnr, 25 November 1960 12.22am Washington, DC, also had a highly-strung Uranus in his 12^th opposition his Aquarius Moon; with Pluto also in his 12^th square his Sagittarius Sun. He also had a can-be-self-destructive Mars opposition his 5^th house Saturn Venus in Capricorn so Callahan may well be right about his attraction for death-defying experiences.

  Rose, the matriarch of the clan, may have been badly done by but was no softie with her Mars opposition an 8th house Pluto Neptune square Venus Saturn in Virgo.

  My fascination is not so much the recurring patterns down the generations – though partly that – but how such a Hollywood mythic fantasy was woven round such a dysfunctional bunch. Which says as much about the public’s need for a comforting illusion as it does for those in power, desperate to sell their snake oil. Lies didn’t start with Trump.