Gladiator II, Ridley Scott’s epic historical action film, the sequel to the successful Russell Crowe 2000 blockbuster, is due for release this November. Paul Mescal plays Lucius, the secret son of the murdered Maximus from the previous narrative. The storyline sticks close to the original with Lucius, formerly heir to the Roman Empire, becoming a gladiator after his wife and child are killed in a coup, to wreak vengeance on corrupt rulers. The original was the second highest grossing film worldwide in 2000.
Principal Photography started on 7 June 2023 in Ourzazate, Morocco, with a potentially successful Venus (Mars) opposition Pluto square Jupiter North Node in Taurus. Though the Gemini Sun square the Saturn/Neptune midpoint hints at a degree of uncertainty.
It will be released on 15 November 2024 when there is a Sun opposition Uranus; a blocked Mars opposition Pluto and an up and down Mercury opposition Jupiter square Neptune. The Gladiator 1 release, 5 May 2000, had a Sun Jupiter Saturn in Taurus conjunction inconjunct Pluto; with Jupiter in a lucky square to Uranus so some similarities with a marked Jupiter in Taurus but this one not perhaps quite as successful.
Ridley Scott, the director, 30 November 1937, is a Sun Sagittarius with a risk-taking Mars in Aquarius square Uranus and a super-confident Jupiter opposition Pluto. Tr Pluto tugging on his successful Jupiter Pluto opposition will help to boost his chances; but he also has undermining, failed-hopes influences.
Paul Mescal, the Irish lead, 2 February 1996, a Sun Mars in Aquarius, has one upbeat influence over the launch followed by a less than ecstatic one after a few days through December.
Oddly Ridley Scott and Gladiator might get a lift in 2026/27 but it does not look to be the same rip roaring success as before.
Perhaps the appetite for blood and circuses has receded since pre-9/11, Iraq and all that has followed recently.
“None of us can change the past” was King Charles’ attempt to tackle the reparations row over the transatlantic slave trade at the Commonwealth Heads meeting. From 1500, the British government and the monarchy were prominent participants in the centuries-long slave trade, alongside other European nations. British ships are reckoned to have transported over three million enslaved Africans, mostly to colonies in the Caribbean and North America. Britain also had a key role in ending the trade in 1833. Some Commonwealth leaders have called for the UK to pay financial compensation estimated at more than £18tn ($23tn).
The Commonwealth of Nations, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. It dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was formalised on 11 December 1931. The current Commonwealth of Nations was constituted on 28 April 1949. The Head of the Commonwealth is Charles III. He is king of 15 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, whilst 36 other members are republics, and five others have different monarchs.
The 1931 chart has an enthusiastic Fire Grand Trine of Sagittarius Sun trine Uranus and trine Jupiter; five planets in earthy Capricorn trine an idealistic Neptune; and a hard-edged though innovative Saturn opposition Pluto square Uranus. With fittingly a go-it-alone North Node in Aries.
The 1949 chart has a similarly energized mix of Earth and Fire with a Taurus New Moon plus Venus and Mercury; with Pluto and Saturn in Leo and Mars in Aries. There was a mainly Fire but mixed element Grand Trine of Mars trine Saturn trine Jupiter; with a super-confident Jupiter on the focal point of a yod to Uranus sextile Saturn. Also with an Aries North Node.
Both charts hint that 2026/27 will be years of major upheaval. On the 1931 chart the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Pluto and opposition the Saturn will upend that T square. Fractious arguments will precede it with the Solar Arc Mars square the Mercury in 2025.
The 1949 chart has a tension-erupting tr Uranus square the Saturn from mid 2025 into 2026; with a road-blocked and infuriated SA Pluto opposition Mars as well as a can-be-fanatical SA Neptune conjunct the Uranus in 2026/27; followed by a deconstruct and reconstruct tr Pluto square the Sun in 2027/28.
From a previous post April 3 2023. Slavery reparations – righting historical wrongs
The history of British/English involvement in slavery has danced to the tune of Uranus Pluto with its participation in transatlantic slavery beginning in 1592 under Uranus Pluto in Aries; and taking over the slave trade to South America in 1713 under Uranus Pluto in Virgo.
Uranus Pluto is more commonly associated with rebellions and revolutions, present during the civil rights unrest in the USA in the 1960s with Uranus Pluto in Virgo in place and over the independence from colonial rule for 12 African states. But that Uranus Pluto conjunction also oversaw Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment as well as Martin Luther King and the Kennedy brothers’ assassinations.
During the previous Uranus Pluto conjunction in the 1840s and 1850s Natal in eastern South Africa, became a British colony and another Anglo-African War broke out. In the USA Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
In the eternal war between the forces of total oppression (Pluto) and the will for freedom (Uranus) sometimes one wins, sometimes the other. There is not another hard Pluto Uranus aspect until the 2040s. But it may be that Pluto moving into Aquarius, ruled by Uranus, combining as it does the two conflicting energies raises the same mood.
The moves to abolish slavery came in stages in the UK, first with a ban internally in the UK and only after 1833 in British overseas territory.
What is intriguing is that the two key acts – the Slave Trade Act 28 March 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act 28 August 1833 both had Pluto square the North Node – and the 1833 Act had Uranus in Aquarius. Pluto square the NN is puzzling at first glance but perhaps a hint that the zeitgeist/spirit of the Age was moving against Pluto’s need to control and to project its hatred and contempt towards those who are different and therefore deemed inferior.
Actor Ron Ely who came to fame as Tarzan in the 1960s television series Tarzan has died at 86 five years after his second wife was stabbed to death by their son Cameron who was subsequently shot by the police. Initially Cameron phoned police to say his father had killed her and when they arrived, according to the sheriff he indicated he had a gun and was shot. Ron Ely then unsuccessfully sued the authorities saying first responders were negligent in their actions involving both his late wife and son.
Ron was born 21 June 1938 8.10 am Hereford, Texas, with an 11th house Sun Mercury in Gemini and a fairly disjointed chart with a secretive, intense, seductive Pluto Venus on his Leo Ascendant; a free-spirited Uranus in his 10th in a creative trine to Neptune; with his 12th house Mars in Cancer square his Aries Moon and trine an 8th house Jupiter. His Sun was also square his Moon and trine his Jupiter. Plus he had a hard-edged, not-always-sympathetic Saturn in Aries square Mars and inconjunct Neptune.
There are not too many hints in his chart of the calamity that would strike him late in life though his South Node in Taurus conjunct Algol might be one hint since both oppose a 4th house Scorpio North Node, indicating that family and domestic matters were a challenge for him.
His son Cameron, 28 October 1988 was clearly troubled with a Sun Pluto conjunction in Scorpio and a probable Mutable Grand Cross of Mars in Pisces opposition Venus square Uranus Saturn in Sagittarius maybe opposition a Gemini Moon -this would make him exceptionally highly strung. Plus a yod of Sun sextile Neptune inconjunct Jupiter. He would have a hair-trigger temper, a need to maintain control over his environment and a tendency to flights of over-confidence.
What is marginally odd – if the birth dates are sound – is that Valerie Ely, 13 October 1956, appeared to have an easier relationship with her son than with her husband. She was a Sun Neptune in Libra with her Saturn square Pluto and Venus.
Her relationship chart with Cameron had an easy going composite Sun square Jupiter, a confident composite Jupiter trine Mars; and an admittedly intense Mercury conjunct Pluto.
His relationship chart with his father had a much trickier composite Mars trine Pluto with an ego-clashing Mars opposition Neptune; and a yod of Saturn sextile Jupiter inconjunct Pluto hinting at power and control issues – which were reflected in Cameron’s chart with his Sun Pluto conjunction as well as his afflicted Mars giving him major anger issues.
Ron’s relationship chart with his wife Valerie was even more stark with a truly difficult composite Mars square Pluto; and a yod of Jupiter sextile Neptune inconjunct Mars – suggesting an aggravated relationship with domination issues and resentment.
As I say it depends on birth dates being accurate but whoever did what to whom, the atmosphere in that house must have been a tinderbox ready to blow.
Rudi Giuliani as the tragic hero brought low by hubris seems an unlikely depiction as he shows precious little of his former glory gained in his days as New York Mayor overseeing crime rates dropping and taking charge over 9/11. He has been ordered to hand out the keys to his Manhattan penthouse and all his valuable possessions to the Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him. Last month he was disbarred in Washington, months after he lost his law license in New York for pursuing false claims about the 2020 election. He is still facing his biggest test yet: fighting criminal charges in the Georgia case accusing Trump and 18 others of working to subvert the results of the 2020 election.
A fatal fall through excessive pride would not seem an exaggeration in his case and he has come down with a resounding clunk. His career was always littered with scandals, sexual and financial, and questionable judgments, such as support for the Iraq War. But he has finally hit zero.
Born 28 May 1944 2.31 pm New York, he has a 9th house Gemini Sun conjunct Uranus with Saturn in Gemini conjunct his Midheaven. But what is eye-catching is a formidably determined, good-in-crises and potentially lawless Mars Pluto conjunction in Leo on the focal point of a mini Grand Trine of Sun Uranus trine an evasive Neptune on his Ascendant.
His Venus in Taurus (conjunct Algol) is sextile his Descendant and Scheat – hinting at a stormy love life.
When 9/11 happened, tr Jupiter was crossing his 10th house giving him extra prominence. His Progressed Mars was exactly square to his Sun, his Solar Arc Uranus was conjunct his Mars, his Solar Arc Pluto was conjunct his Neptune and tr Neptune was opposition his Pluto. He was undoubtedly shocked though with tr Uranus was in a ‘lucky’ opposition to his Jupiter there was also an opportunity. What Mars Pluto excels at, is rising to the challenge in situations of high stress and danger, when others are panicking.
But after the jeopardy recedes there is always a yearning to relive the high risk, adrenaline-surge, sometimes by creating chaos to provide the thrill and emerge once again as the hero. A failed political career followed his exit from New York and his embrace of Trump – fairly similar in astrological features – was to provide the final coffin-nail in his reputation.
At the moment Guiliani has tr Neptune squaring his Saturn and Midheaven and opposing his Ascendant now and throughout 2025; with tr Neptune Saturn in Aries opposing his Neptune in 2025; and tr Pluto squaring his Mars and Pluto between 2025 and 2027. All of which looks like the final collapse.
Saturn on the Midheaven has a reputation for exacting justice and retribution for misdeeds. Stray from the straight and narrow and karma catches up.
He does have a pronounced 10th harmonic, associated with the wheel of fortune which indicates a rise as well as a fall of fortune. It has a Grand Trine of Sun trine Pluto trine Mercury formed into a Kite by Pluto opposition Neptune, which last can have megalomaniac ambitions.
Ironic that his fate is sealed with the Mars opposition Pluto in place across coming months. Which may also be true of Justin Trudeau being pressured by those within his own party to resign – he is also a Mars Pluto type. Of which more anon – though Mars Pluto don’t let go easy.
Cliff Richard, the teenyboppers’ delight pre-The Beatles in the early 1960s, is still going strong into his mid eighties. He has announced his Can’t Stop Me Now tour to Australia, New Zealand and the UK in 2025.
He started as a rebellious rock and roll singer in the style of Presley and Little Richard with his backing group, the Shadows, but an increased focus on his Christian faith led to a more middle-of-the-road image. In a career over 65 years, he has collected several gold and platinum discs and awards, including two Ivor Novello Awards and three Brit Awards though he never made the same inroads into the USA music scene.
Born 14 October 1940 9.10 pm (rectified and unconfirmed) in Lucknow, India, he came to the UK aged 6 when violence broke out pre-independence and partition.
He has a Libra Sun largely unaspected in his performing 5th house; with his Mercury in Scorpio also in his 5th opposition Saturn Jupiter in Taurus widely square Pluto in his financial 2nd house – thus a fixed T square giving him endurance and a stubborn streak. He also has a 12th house Uranus exactly conjunct Algol in a creative trine to Neptune.
His 10th house Aries Moon, suiting him for a public career is in a possessive trine to Pluto and a fractious opposition to Mars in his domestic 4th house. His Venus in Virgo trines Saturn Jupiter.
An unaspected Sun will make him defensive and independent, aloof and absorbed within his own world.
His romantic life has always been a subject of intrigue for the media with a string of high profile ladies at one point who never made it up the altar and he has lived for some years with an ex-priest and his mother.
When the police raided his Berkshire home in 2014 as part of the Operation Yewtree post the Jimmy Savile scandal, tr Neptune was conjunct his Midheaven and tr Saturn in Scorpio was opposition his Taurus planets as he expressed outrage at the publicised operation and retired to Portugal thereafter for a few years. No evidence was found and he subsequently successfully sued the BBC and South Yorkshire Police for damages.
Graham Hancock’s ‘Ancient Apocalypse’ series which aroused scientific fury on the first season is back for a sequel. Described as the most dangerous show on Netflix it attracted top ratings with accusations that fans were conspiracy theory nuts. Season 2 looks for continued proof of an apocalyptic event that may have wiped an advanced civilization off the Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago at the last ice age. Renowned actor Keanu Reeves appears and has given it his blessing.
Hancock was born 2 August 1950 7.50pm Edinburgh, Scotland, and started his career as a journalist writing for respected broadsheets mainly on economic and social development. He then branched out into writing about the origins of the pyramids, the Ark of the Covenant etc – The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Message of the Sphinx, The Mars Mystery, Heaven’s Mirror, Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization, and Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith.
His Sun Pluto conjunction in Leo and his Mercury and Saturn in Virgo are all deeply buried in his 8th giving him an interest in the paranormal, the occult and what lies beyond reality. His inventive, status-quo-upsetting Uranus in Cancer is heavily aspected being trine his lucky financial 2nd house Jupiter, square his Moon and square a spiritual 9th house Neptune – which last square will give him fixed ideas and flashes of insight.
Uranus Neptune can at times stick to opinions even when incontrovertible evidence points the other way. Pluto on the other hand can give a profound ability to tap into ideas before their time, attracting resistance but ultimately being proved right. He has his Mars in Libra in his 9th giving him the ability and inclination to indulge in intellectual debates.
His Pisces North Node is closely conjunct the Fixed Star Scheat which can bring great mental creativity and insight – or an ability to fantasize.
Below are a list of his Fixed Star aspects.
Sun conjunct Asellus Austral, the Southern Ass. A fearless nature is indicated, with a tendency to take risks or perform dangerous stunts
Mercury conjunct Regulus, associated with generosity and ambition. If well aspected it will raise the person to high positions in life and denotes successful activity, prominence and wealth.
Mercury opposition Sadaimelik. Often associated with lawyers and complicated lawsuits. Sometimes warns of sudden misfortune. Also associated with occultists and magicians.
Venus conjunct Sirius. A a harbinger of fame.
Venus opposition Vega. Associated with wealth and good fortune, artistic talents, riches and fame are possible, touches of vanity and pretension can also manifest.
Mars conjunct Arcturus. Associated with fame and honours. It also indicates an enterprising and pioneering spirit.
Uranus conjunct Alhena. It confers spiritual aspirations and gives artistic inclinations. There can also be an interest in the sciences.
Neptune opposition Alpheratz . An indication of good fortune, wealth, honours, freedom, and love; can lead to becoming well known in public.
North Node opposition Markeb. Shows a pious nature, wide-ranging knowledge and successful voyages.
Ascendant opposition Alhena. It confers spiritual aspirations and gives artistic inclinations. There can also be an interest in the sciences
An interesting man. His 8th house will attract him to dig deep into the past to prove his theories and he undoubtedly taps into a need amongst the general populace for a glimpse of a reality that lies beyond the establishment’s narrowly defined ‘what can be proved.’ I have no idea how off-the-wall his ideas are but I am no lover of scientific orthodoxy.
“No part of the aim of normal science is to call forth new sorts of phenomena; indeed those that will not fit the box are often not seen at all.” Dean Radin.
“Science is still only a candle glimmering in a great pitch-dark cavern.” Mario Vargas Llosa
“The rise of modern science has brought with it increasing acceptance among intellectual elites of a picture of reality that conflicts sharply both with everyday human experience and with beliefs widely shared among the world’s great cultures.” Edward F Kelly: Beyond Physicalism.
“Theory is all very well, but it doesn’t prevent things from existing.” Freud
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” Arthur Schopenhauer.
“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light but rather because its opponents eventually die, a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” Max Planck
“There is a principle which is a buffer against any information, which is proof against all argument and which does not fail to keep every human being in constant ignorance. This principle is to condemn before researching.” Herbert Spencer.
“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinionswhich differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable even of forming such opinions“. Albert Einstein
“Each science has a sort of attic into which things are almost automatically pushed that cannot be used at the moment, that do not quite fit …We are constantly putting aside, unused, a wealth of valuable material [which leads to] blocking of scientific progress.” Kohler
Moldova has voted by the slimmest margin in a referendum to join the EU with much talk of Russian interference in the vote. Though according to reports the populist Georgian Dream party is expected to win in an upcoming election on Saturday which is set to pursue an illiberal agenda that would make EU membership impossible.
There are two charts for Moldova – 23 December 1917 and 23 June 1990 11.15 am Kishinev, Moldova. Both charts indicate an undermining phase ahead with the tr Neptune Saturn conjunction in Aries squaring the Sun in both instances and other planets from mid 2025 onwards for several years.
The 1990 chart hints at increasing domestic resentment leading to a revolution of sorts by 2029. The 1917 chart has some highlights ahead as well as several significant disappointments; with a devastating set of influences in 2027/28.
The Moldova 1990 relationship chart with the EU makes any closer links look a forlorn dream almost till the end of the decade with tr Saturn Neptune in Aries undermining the composite T square of Pluto opposition Sun Venus square Saturn.
It will be ‘interesting’ to see how the former Soviet satellites and indeed Russia itself – all reinvented in 1990/91 – cope with the tr Neptune Saturn in Aries square to their Capricorn planets in the triple conjunction between 2025 and the end of this decade. And since many were formerly established in the 1917/18 period they also have tr Pluto in Aquarius squaring their Neptune and Saturn in the years ahead which will be punishing and confused.
The long drawn out struggle to appoint a new leader for the defeated Tory Party is a needless exercise in the view of some who see yet another change coming up a year or so ahead. The cartoonists are having a field day sticking a head on the skeletal remains of the Conservative Party.
The Tory chart, 9 May 1912, which is the one which works best against events, is facing stormy seas with repeated upheavals, disruptions and perhaps outright revolutions over the next three years. By late 2025 the Solar Arc Uranus will conjunct the Party Saturn suggesting a move against the old guard and the old ways. With a rebellious, status-quo upsetting tr Pluto conjunct the Uranus through 2025/26. 2028 to 2030 look to be terminally blocked and confused with the Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Mars Neptune so recovery won’t be swift.
Whichever of the two candidates left standing, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, make it through to the blue rosette the result is unlikely to be greeted with delight. The 2nd November announcement falls on the exact, infuriated, frustrated Mars opposition Pluto.
Kemi Badenoch, 2 January 1989, London, no birth time, is a Sun Capricorn trine an enthusiastic Jupiter Mars in Virgo with a Cancer Moon. Over the announcement she has tr Neptune opposition her Saturn which will be uncertain. And the tr Mars opposition tr Pluto is hitting her Solar Arc Mars which would not normally be helpful but since her Mars conjuncts her Jupiter it may not be as blocked. November see tr Pluto square her Jupiter/Neptune midpoint which usually means plans don’t work out. Her December looks much more upbeat and successful. Though 2025 won’t be her favourite year with undermining setbacks.
Robert Jenrick, 9 January 1982, Wolverhampton, no birth time, is another Sun Capricorn, born the same day as the Princess of Wales, with his Sun square Mars and Saturn and widely square Pluto and opposition a Cancer Moon. The Libra Solar Eclipse was conjunct his Mars and next March’s Eclipse will be in opposition so he will be revved up and on fighting form. Tr Jupiter is trine his Sun/North Node over the announcement which will boost his spirits, though it is a minor influence. Tr Pluto is square his Mercury/Node and Jupiter/Saturn also through November; with tr Neptune opposition his Uranus/North Node, none of which look too jubilant. He’ll be on better form through patches of 2025 with tr Pluto square his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint.
The usual election mish mash.
Badenoch would be a better fit with the Tory Party, less so with the UK. Jenrick would be a dominating force within the Tory Party and marginally resented in the UK.
King Charles’ welcoming event at the Australian parliament was disrupted by Aboriginal senator Lidia Thorpe who went on an anti-colonial rant before being ushered out. She has a track record of stunts and angry outbursts, giving a Black Power salute as she prepared to take her oath for the start of a new post-election parliament.
Charles ignored her tirade which is not unusual for a Royal visit but what is interesting is the astrology. She was born 18 August 1973 less than two weeks before Thomas Tuchel (see below) and has the same intimidating Mars in Taurus on the focal point of a formidable yod to Pluto sextile Neptune. Her Mars is also in an argumentative trine to Mercury in attention-seeking Leo trine Neptune, in a demanding and super-confident Fire Grand Trine, formed into a Kite by Mercury opposition Jupiter – so not short of self-belief or luck.
Her ramped-up Mars is conjunct Charles’ 10th house Moon and North Node and opposition his 4th house Mercury so his position will trigger her anger. She also has a confident Jupiter trine Pluto, a tough-minded Pluto square Saturn; and Saturn on the focal point of another yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Jupiter. Her emphasized Saturn sits on top of Charles’ Uranus opposition Jupiter for a high-tension and enthusiasm-deflating connection.
Their relationship chart has a volatile, short-fused composite Mars opposition Uranus being triggered at the moment by tr Uranus in square; and the composite Sun caught the recent Solar Eclipse. A hot button moment.
There has been concern that Charles’ cancer treatment would make an onerous foreign trip too taxing. He does have his Solar Arc Saturn exactly (to within one minute of a degree) conjunct his 4th house Sun so the pressure is on. Tr Pluto has one more square to his Moon this December before finishing a punishing too year challenge which will put pressure on him. There will be ups and downs next year and some setbacks but with tr Jupiter moving through his 11th his optimism will stay high.
His troubled relationship with Harry shows no immediate signs of easing with tr Saturn hitting the aggravated composite Mars square Pluto Uranus early in 2025 and the two Solar Eclipses, Libra and Aries in effect over the next year will trigger the composite Saturn in their relationship chart which hardly looks encouraging and good feelings will be further eroded as tr Neptune Saturn in Aries squares the composite Jupiter into 2026.
Add On: Charles’ chart relocated to Australia (Melbourne) gives a friendly 11th house Sun, a fun-loving 5th house Moon and an upbeat Jupiter on the Ascendant. He will feel positively about the country and spent some time there when he was younger. But it does put his Saturn exactly on the Midheaven with hints of retribution for past deeds/misdeeds and an argumentative Pluto in the philosophical 9th so he will attract the opinionated.
