Marjorie

The eighth US mass shooting this year so far and the worst since Sandy Hook in 2012 saw at least 17 die when a mentally disturbed ex-pupil, armed with an assault-style rifle he had purchased legally, went on the rampage. The local police chief called for gun control though Trump appears to be blaming it all on the shooter’s mental health problems. The National Rifle Association and its affiliates spent over $50 million in political ads in the 2016 election, boosting Republicans who promised to support the NRA and targeting Democrats who propose stricter gun laws. Trump was the biggest beneficiary of those ad dollars.

The NRA, 17 November 1871, does look marginally set back on its heels this year with tr Saturn conjunct its warrior-like Mars Saturn in Capricorn; and has the confused/devastating tr Pluto square its Neptune from this March till late 2019. But it is a Sun Scorpio opposition Pluto, so won’t adapt easily to the changing climate of public opinion.

What is strange is that the NRA’s Mars Saturn opposes the US’s Jupiter Venus which might suggest that it hardly suits the country’s sweetie-pie reputation. But the NRA Sun opposition Pluto not only ties into the US’s Aquarius Moon, it also more significantly aspects the can-be fanatical US Mercury opposition Pluto which tends to favour far-right viewpoints.

But for all that the pressure is on and will mount in coming years. The NRA/USA relationship chart will feel, if not winds of change, then at least a nudge to shift ground with tr Pluto trine the composite Sun in 2018/19; and tr Saturn will oppose the composite Jupiter in 2019 which will rub more of the shine off the association. With continuing slow grinding of gears through the early 2020s with tr Pluto trine Saturn and then sextile the Mars. But again that relationship chart is very locked together with a composite Sun opposition Pluto Mars, sextile/trine Saturn and sextile/trine Jupiter. Brutally self-protective.

Shaun White, the professional snowboarder who became the face of the sport for more than two decades, sent Winter Olympics commentators and fans into ecstasies this week after what they say was ‘the greatest run in halfpipe snowboarding history.’ Then tied themselves in knots trying to reconcile that with the sexual harassment suit he’d settled last year. (Details on: https://sports.yahoo.com/ugly-story-shaun-whites-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-trying-reconcile-olympic-gold-104140422.html). He has competed in four Winter Olympics and won gold in three.

Born 3 September 1986 San Diego, California, he has an extraordinary chart. His Virgo Sun and Mercury oppose Jupiter in Pisces, sextile Pluto, square Saturn and Uranus in Sagittarius and trine Neptune and Mars in Capricorn – so very tied together, making him a complicated personality, a mix of determined, powerful, low in self-esteem, rebellious, dynamic, vague and overly confident.

His Sun does square his Mars/Pluto midpoint, which would give him the never-say-die determination to climb to and stay on at top level sport; but won’t give him the most sympathetic of temperaments. His Venus in late Libra is widely conjunct Pluto but that apart isn’t well integrated into his chart. His Moon is Leo or Virgo.

He’s facing some losses and disappointments through this year, perhaps as #metoo bites into his endorsement deals; and is facing a depressing slog in 2019/2020.

Can children whisper to angels? That’s part of the plot of BBC One’s supernatural drama Requiem but it comes from the work of John Dee, a fascinating 16th-century figure, who was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist and alchemist. His life was dogged by rumours of treason, witchcraft, espionage and sexual licentiousness, which nearly saw him executed for calculating the birth charts of the Royal children Edward, Mary and the Princess Elizabeth. He was spared and when Elizabeth took over the throne she appointed him to be her philosopher; some said he was also her spy abroad (the first James Bond). He was even asked to find the most auspicious date to hold the queen’s coronation. He travelled extensively studying mathematics, astronomy and map-making. Because of his navigational knowledge he was consulted on the search for a north-west passage. In his latter days he employed a scryer to read the future from a black obsidian mirror and they travelled Europe together.

Born 23 July 1527 (NS) 4.02pm. The time is unverified but it looks sound enough from the chart. An 8^th house Cancer Sun was opposition Pluto, trine a 12^th house Mars in Scorpio, and square Saturn – so attracted to dangerous pursuits and a high-risk lifestyle, pursuing secret interests and looking beyond reality for answers. He also had Neptune in Pisces square Uranus in Gemini and trine Jupiter Mercury in Cancer – which would put his head in the clouds and make him both visionary and deceptive. The Uranus Neptune aspect would give him eureka moments as well as frankly off-the-wall notions.

Part genius, part opportunist probably.

His strongest Harmonic is the 7^th – ‘traditionally regarded as a spiritual number, endowed with a different kind of imagination. Need peace. Perfectionism. A seeking soul. Attracted to alcohol/ drugs and occultism.’

His 13^th is also well aspected – associated with exploration, genius and breaking with the orthodox.

And his 17^th – leaving a legacy behind for history.

The Israeli police have announced that there is sufficient evidence indicating PM Benjamin Netanyahu took bribes in two separate cases and acted “against public interests” – accepting lavish gifts (worth circa $250k) from wealthy benefactors in return for advancing their interests. He is refusing to stand down and says the ‘police document has holes like Swiss cheese.’ He insists gifts from tycoons were gestures of friendship and ‘never felt like the amount of a million shekels.’

He won’t budge easy but his days are numbered according to Haaretz, the Tel Aviv liberal paper. April looks crux point with tr Uranus opposing his Libra Sun and tr Neptune opposing his 10^th house Saturn in Virgo. Pressures will mount through next month with the insecure tr Uranus trine his Mars and the devastating and scandal-prone tr Pluto square his Sun/Neptune, which latter continues on and off till late 2019. Tr Saturn is moving through his low-profile, less successful first quadrant and has now hit the nadir now as it moes through his 2^nd house. And he has Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Sun, exact in 6 months’ time, though likely put up road-blocks before then.

His 2015 Government chart also has tr Uranus opposing the midheaven from May onwards for a mighty jolt; and the Solar Arc Pluto square his Uranus, exact in six months destabilising him from now onwards.

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Jacob Zuma has been asked by his party to resign for the sake of the country. He has said he is willing to stand down in the next three to six months but as of the moment is still in power. First elected in 2009 he has been dogged by corruption allegations.

His Second Term chart, 24 May 2014 11.35am Pretoria is control-freaky with Mars opposition an 8^th house Moon Uranus square Pluto, so the likelihood of him going easily was remote. Mars is moving by Solar Arc to close the square to Pluto by the same degree in 3 months’ time, though not exact until August, which will feel like a dead-end. And tr Saturn will make a separating and aggravating square to the Moon and Mars by April – so the signs of an ending are all there.

His own chart, 12 April 1942, has tr Pluto moving to square his Aries Sun just after mid March, so the pressure is on. Though he has Saturn Uranus in Taurus so isn’t easily budged.

He’s probably aiming for an immunity deal for his retirement, though he looks deflated and less than confident over 2019 to the early 2020s.

Another teenage pirouetting snowboarder has picked up a gold at the Winter Olympics. Chloe Kim, 23 April 2000, Long Beach, California, is the daughter of émigré South Korean parents and she first tried the sport aged four. She has dominated the sport in recent years, becoming the youngest person to win three X Games gold medals. At just 15 she became the first female snowboarder to land back-to-back 1080 degree spins in competition, a trick she repeated on her third run in Pyeongchang. Don’t know how they do it but fascinating.

She has her Sun in Taurus square Neptune, along with Jupiter, Saturn and Mars also in Taurus; with her Mars Saturn square Uranus – definitely physical and adventurous. Her Jupiter is inconjunct Pluto.

So some similarities to Red Gerard (below, born two months later) with a Jupiter Saturn conjunction in Taurus square Uranus, and she has one quincunx, where he has two.

Just a quick thought on the upcoming Saturn Pluto conjunction. Usually associated with deprivation and economic hardship, and major wars, it also carries a sense of repression of freedom. I wonder whether, casting its shadow before the exact aspect in 2019, is may also be connected to the present slide towards intolerance and denunciation out in twitter land and indeed on university campuses. What is puzzling amongst today’s young is their reversion to a kind of puritanism away from a liberal past. As Matt Ridley points out in today’s Times, it is similar to the shift from louche Regency into Victorian strait-laced morality; or before that the coming of Oliver Cromwell, which was a joyless and mercifully brief excursion away from decadent monarchy.

The myth that history means progress doesn’t take account of the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other. Who’d have thought all we fought for in terms of liberation would be stamped on by the young, desperate to protect their delicate sensitivities? Mildly erotic classical paintings are being hastily removed to the basement out of sight; To Kill a Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn have been banned in the US since they make students uncomfortable. Protected spaces are undermining free speech and denying the young the opportunity to learn about – life. And the new can’t-upset-anyone movement is, in the UK, allowing Sharia Law to spread and effectively preventing many Muslim women from enjoying the same freedom that others have.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/12/western-feminists-refuse-confront-vile-ideology-oppresses-arab/

What this whole twitter rage-feste which attempts to destroy any alternative viewpoint suggests to me is fascism, or Stalinism which comes to much the same thing.

London analyst Christopher Bollas writes of the fascist state of mind that it “entertains no doubt or uncertainty”. Distortion of the views of opponents to render them less intelligible and credible is the first move. They have to be discredited because no separation of view is possible from the accepted one. Denigration, character assassination and caricaturing are their weapons. French analyst Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel echoes the same thought when talking of group delusions: “He who does not think as the group does is excluded, harassed, killed or declared insane.”

If all of the above is a side effect of Saturn Pluto, it means we are in for another two years of it, which is a real bore. Roll on Aquarius.

Katie Roiphe, a journalist and professor at New York University, has been trashed for her views on #metoo and in response she suggests there is a Stalinist tenor to the debate, which is trying to police thought and shut down free speech. She is concerned about the dangers of collapsing distinctions between different types of male misbehaviour and being indiffer­ent to due process. She argues there is a “silent majority” who are deeply supportive of bringing abusers like Weinstein to book, but who think that crying foul over a stray hand or a sleazy date is counterproductive, undermining more serious cases of actual assault.

Her 1993 book, The Morning After, criticised what she called the “rape crisis movement” then sweeping college campuses. “If we assume that women are not all helpless and naive, then they should be responsible for their choice to drink or take drugs. If a woman’s ‘judgment is impaired’ and she has sex, it isn’t always the man’s fault; it isn’t necessarily always rape.” That brought accusations that she was “enabling misogyny” and this time round the attacks are even more vicious. She says: “There’s been a lot of flattening of misbehaviour, everything from rape to a bad date is getting chucked in the same bin. Real damage to reputations is being done; some of it justified, some of it not.”

Born 13 July 1968 6.30am New York with a psychoanalyst father and a noted feminist mother, she has a 12^th house Sun Mars Venus in Cancer, so isn’t scared of an argument. Her Sun Venus square Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries in her 10^th, so she’s a curious mix of emotionally volatile and cool, a good organiser who gains respect through hard work. Her Sun Venus are also trine Neptune and sextile Uranus Pluto in Virgo in her 3^rd, so she’s keen on leading-edge thinking and expressing herself with vigour.

Tr Uranus is conjunct her Saturn exactly now, as her Harper’s piece is published, which is a time tensions often erupt into the open. She’ll be challenged and pressured through 2018/19 with tr Pluto opposing her Sun and trine her Pluto.

She’s a stalwart personality so it’s not surprising she worries that the broader aspects of the #metoo debate, as she did in the date rape controversy, categorize women as weak and undermines their sexual agency.

Syria is sliding back into the fog of war, just as it seemed to be coming to an end, albeit unhappily with Assad still in charge. Israel has launched raids against Iranian targets in Syria after saying it had intercepted an Iranian drone crossing the Israel border. Syria has accused the US of carrying out a “brutal massacre” with US air and artillery strikes killed an estimated 100 pro-government fighters. And the Kurdish battle for freedom seems to be escalating, which is unsettling Turkey. There appear to be myriad different groups fighting who have support from the US or Russia or Iran. All an unholy mess that could start up again.

Israel does have tr Uranus square its midheaven exactly now, suggesting a sharp change of direction; with the Eclipses colliding with their 10^th house Saturn Pluto (Lunar, January 31) and their Mars (Solar on February 15th). The Mars Eclipse link is combative and explosive. The late July Lunar Eclipse will oppose the Israel Moon; and the August Solar Eclipse will catch the Israel Saturn, so it will be a fraught year. Israel is feeling more isolated than before with tr Saturn moving through their 3^rd house.

The Israel relationship chart with Syria, 1 January 1944, will be undermining, suspicious, under huge pressure and worsening from early May onwards.

The relationship chart with Iran, 1 Feb 1979, has the composite Saturn opposing the Solar Eclipse this week, for a major jolt; with a further slide from April onwards.

Bashar Assad’s Presidency chart, always did look to be hitting its riskiest and most challenging phase from this month onwards for several years ahead, which didn’t make sense when I first looked at it, but now does. (See post Dec 15 2017). Tr Pluto is opposing Mars for the first time now, and repeating on and off till late 2019; then squaring the Sun/Mars midpoint and finally opposing the Sun until late 2021. That will be frustratingly and scarily trapped.