Marjorie

A bygone era of gifted amateur athletes died with Roger Bannister this week. The first man to break the four-minute mile in 1954, while working as a junior doctor and only training part-time, it shot him to instant celebrity. He gave up competitive running a few months later and became an acclaimed neurologist. He once said that athletes should not get too hung up if they enjoy a few drinks or even the odd cigarette and that “you don’t have to make your life boring to be a good runner”. He later said that he deplored the “narrow professionalism” of sport in the modern age.

Born 23 March 1929, he was a Sun Uranus in Aries squaring onto a disciplined Saturn in Capricorn opposition Mars in Cancer; with a Grand Trine of Saturn trine Venus in Taurus trine Neptune in final degree Leo. Neptune often occurs strongly aspected in sportsmen’s charts, as does that odd mid Aquarius degree where his Sun/Saturn sat.

When he cracked the world record and fulfilled his dream tr Neptune was opposition his Jupiter/Uranus midpoint, which can either lead to disappointment or good fortune. And he always modestly put his world-breaking feat down to luck.

Those were the days athletes competed for fun and didn’t fuss too much. C B Fry equalled the world record for the long jump, between puffs on a cigar.

The Eurosceptics have swung the Italian election, where immigration and the economy were the two key issues in addition to political corruption. The two parties garnering most votes campaigned on a radical overhaul of the EU’s legally binding restrictions on public spending and low taxes. The result is being compared with Brexit and the election of Donald Trump in the US; although there is no intention of leaving the EU or euro, merely subverting the EU’s fiscal policies. Germany and other northern Europeans will fiercely resist any such demands. Berlusconi and Matteo Renzi’s parties were thrashed. There will now be a protracted period of agreeing a coalition.

Since 2013 more than 600,000 migrants have travelled from Libya: unemployment is currently at 11%, with youth unemployment running above 50 per cent in one region; and 18 million people are at risk of poverty. Italy is the EU’s third largest economy but its GDP is still six per cent below its pre-Lehman peak in 2007.

The relationship charts between Italy 17 March 1861 and Italy Republic 10 June 1946 4pm Rome give no indication of an outright split. But there are signs of major tensions brewing. The EU/Italy46 looks devastated right now with tr Pluto square the composite Neptune and that runs on and off till late 2019; with bad tempered ructions in 2019 and a few uncomfortable shocks.

The EU/Italy 1861 looks more agitated this year, jolted, jangled and prone to outbursts.

It’s a tough haul ahead on the Italy 1946 chart with pressures and disappointments mounting from 2018 right through till 2021. So no easy way out of their trough. And that coincides with major pressures on the EU’s chart with Solar Arc Pluto conjunct their 2^nd house Neptune in late 2019, plus tr Neptune square their Saturn at the same time for a period of great uncertainty.

Generation X, who are so dubbed following on from the baby boomers, were born (with varying dates) from roughly 1960 to 1977.

Sociologists described them as alienated youth, the “latchkey generation”, who had less adult supervision because of increasing divorce rates and working mothers. They were sometimes characterized as slackers, cynical and disaffected, into grunge and hip hop. In midlife, they appear to have become active, happy, and achieving a work–life balance. ‘Independent, resourceful, self-managing, adaptable, cynical, pragmatic, sceptical of authority.’ They are also credited with being the greatest entrepreneurial generation in U.S. history; and are deemed to be a “dark horse demographic” which “doesn’t seek the limelight”.

Astrology doesn’t lump together such a wide span of years into one astro-generation. Pluto was in Virgo from 1958 to 1972; Neptune in Scorpio 1958 to 1971. Uranus in Virgo 1962 till 1969 and then in Libra for seven years.

The 1960s batch would be very different from the 1970s, especially the mid-1960s when the revolutionary, inventive and erratic Uranus Pluto conjunction was around, at times in the tough-minded opposition Saturn in Pisces. Pluto in Libra from 1972 is a different energy, putting more focus and pressure on relationships.

Neptune in Scorpio might account for the grungy musical tastes. Pluto in Virgo would bring a changing attitude to work and health. Especially in the 1960s there were advances made in the area of health with leading-edge Uranus Pluto around. Virgo is also an understated planet, less flamboyant than the Pluto in Leo boomer generation. The X-ers would come of age sexually as AIDs erupted in the 1980s.

They do seem to have matured from disaffected youth to solid citizens; and were the heroes of 9/11 with most of the firefighters and police coming from this generation.

Rick Scott, Governor of Florida, was headlined as reversing his long-held support for the NRA in saying under-21s should be barred from owning guns  after the Stoneman Douglas shooting. Though he still voted against any restrictions on assault weapons and is deemed not to have given up much. He can’t stand for Governor re-election this year since he’s term limited and may go for a Senate bid later this month.

Born 1 December 1952 in Bloomington, Illinois, (4.30am?) he served in the navy, took a law degree, co-founded the largest private for-profit health care company in the U.S, from which he was forced to resign as chief executive in a controversy over the company’s business and Medicare billing practices. The company later pled guilty to fourteen felonies. It cost more than $2 billion to settle claims and at the time was the largest fraud settlement in U.S. history; though Scott was never charged. He’s a climate change denier; has an A+ rating from the NRA, and a questionable record on the death penalty and allowing parents to interfere in school curricula (ie. evolution is controversial).

He has a Sun Mercury in Sagittarius in his financial 2nd house opposition a Gemini Moon in his 8th; with Jupiter in money-magnet Taurus in an ‘adventuring’ and can-be opportunistic square to Mars in Aquarius. His Uranus opposes Venus in Capricorn squaring onto a 12^th house Saturn Neptune in Libra – which is erratic, autocratic, evasive. On this birth time he also has a controlling and influential 10^th house Pluto.

If the birth time is sound, then tr Saturn is heading downward in his chart, moving through his 2^nd house, which is generally not a hugely successful time with misjudgements and banana skins around. But even without the birth time, he has a raft of Neptune transits from early April, on and off till December 2019 square his Mars/Saturn, Mars/Neptune and Jupiter/Uranus – none of which look like good news. Plus come April 2019 till late 2020 he has tr Pluto square his Neptune Saturn which will be devastating and highly discouraging. Plus his Solar Arc MC conjunct within six months over the following 12 months. So a definite low.

His relationship with Trump is sagging from May onwards for 18 months with tr Neptune opposition their composite Sun.

Two were missed off the White House whirlygig (below) – Gary Cohn and HR McMaster.

Cohn, Trump’s top economic adviser, has been rumoured to be on the brink of leaving for months but stayed to stop the president from imposing steep tariffs. He believes passionately that protectionism is economically backward and won’t lead to increased prosperity. Trump went ahead yesterday with plans for a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminium imports, which tipped the Dow Jones down 500 points.

Cohn, 27 August 1960, looks in an explosively bad mood with tr Uranus square his Sun/Mars now and square his Mars/Pluto within days. His relationship chart with Trump is in upheaval at the moment with tr Pluto opposition the composite Uranus, worsening dramatically from mid March onwards with tr Pluto opposition Mars; and separating with tr Uranus square the composite Sun in April. All of these influences repeating into 2019 so it’s not going to get easier. He looks more upbeat in 2019 so maybe he’ll have flown the coop by that time.

HR McMaster, the National Security Adviser, is also tipped to leave, since he appears not to get on with Trump or Defense Secretary James Mattis. His chemistry with Trump always was fractious with a composite Sun, Mercury, Mars, Uranus. Though a million times worse with James Mattis – their relationship chart has a composite Sun, Mercury, Pluto, Mars square Saturn – and they don’t get much worse than that. It may come to a head with Mattis in April/May as tr Uranus trines the composite Pluto Mars. McMaster and Jared Kushner also have a hate-in with a composite Pluto opposition Mars, which is picking up tr Saturn squares this year; and as of this moment tr Uranus opposition the composite Sun and conjunct Mercury within days.

An additional thought – Trump was described by Politico as the loneliest man in Washington, made more so by the loss of Hope Hicks, one of his longest serving aides. She exited as tr Uranus was square his Venus (conjunct Saturn) for the final time. And that’s a fair description from the astrology. If the Kushners bale back to New York, he’ll be left with ? ? Melania and his two sons. Hmm.  Just had a look – he’s even falling out with Stephen Miller, his far-right policy advisor with tr Uranus square the composite Venus, Mercury, Sun at the moment and through March; and tr Neptune taking the shine off their enthusiasm as it hard aspects their composite Jupiter square Uranus now and later.

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An epidemic of conspiracy theories is another sign of our time. Mass shootings become ‘false flags’ staged by governments. Teenage survivors telling their stories are dubbed crisis-actors. Attempts to censor these delusional rants are taken as proof of a conspiracy to bury the truth.

Mob hysteria, or Mass Psychogenic Illness (MPI), has always been around, with a superstitious, fearful and powerless peasantry in days gone by susceptible to the spread of wild ideas. But it does seem to be worse at the moment, in part fuelled by an anti-government streak in the American psyche; as well as in other countries where governments undoubtedly do get up to no good.

The internet provides a welcoming series of echo chambers where lone wolves can meet kindred spirits, so the critical mass rises as they reinforce each others’ beliefs.

The Worldwideweb was launched in August 1991 under the Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn, a Millenial event. Uranus Neptune has many positive attributes but one side effect can be to create emotional and psychic confusion; and contributes to an inability to digest rational evidence if it contradicts firmly held views. Pluto in Scorpio will also be at work, making for entrenched opinions, as well as deep and dark suspicions. Not that all conspiracy theorists are Millenials. Most high-profile ones are older, but without the internet they probably wouldn’t exist/or have much traction.

What is noticeable in both Alex Jones (Infowars) and David Icke’s chart is a Sun square Mars – they’re angry, especially at authority figures; father in childhood and father-figures (rulers) in adult life; as well as having an accentuated and rebellious Uranus close to their Moon.

You’ll have to forgive the psychobabble but paranoid personalities fascinate me. Leave aside for the moment  ‘the paranoid is the only one who sees the truth’, of which more below. Paranoia occurs in the first months of life, when a helpless, highly anxious infant tries to cope with a mother, who can’t be on tap 24/7. So mother gets split into good (when she’s there) and bad (when she’s otherwise occupied). Negotiating this phase by understanding she’s both wonderful (idealised) and frustrating (loathed) is a step along the way to maturity, leading to mourning for the lost paradise and an acceptance of separation.

The paranoid feelings will recur through life, but for some, they remain stuck in this splitting stage where people are either all good or all bad. Usually what happens is they perceive the ‘bad’ to be those on the outside, while they protect their image of themselves as shining white. Them are irretrievably guilty; I’m morally upright. Trump? It’s an inability to develop complex thinking and feeling. People, even the good-enough parent, are a mix of pluses and minuses; as is the individual themself.

Out in the howling internet, one of the fallacies that such simplistic splitting leads to is ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ For example, the USA has got up to all manner of dirty tricks, so is bad; therefore anyone against the USA, for example Russia, has to be good. Rather than facing a variety of horrible truths; 1) there may be no goodies amongst rulers anywhere; 2) some are better/worse than others; 3) both will have positive attributes which are not negated by their bad behaviour.

Splitting does make life easier for a lazy mind – I’m right and you’re wrong. Rather than facing the uncomfortable fact that “genuine tragedies are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights.” (Hegel). That is not a conundrum that is easily assimilated.

None of which ignores the fact that governments in varying degrees at varying times act egregiously badly and manipulate the population. “It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be moulded until they clothe ideas and disguise.” (Goebbels)  Or to carry out provocative acts and blame it on the other side to justify starting a conflict; of which there is copious evidence. See URL below.

But to move from an understanding that bad sometimes happens, to a mindset which is suspicious of every incident, even turning videoed mass shootings into ‘false flags’, is an indication of a pathology (illness).

http://washingtonsblog.com/2015/11/the-first-question-to-ask-after-any-terror-attack-was-it-a-false-flag.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/28/florida-shooting-conspiracy-theories-youtube-takedown

Millenials are generally considered as the generation born between the early 1980s to mid 1990s. That would coincide with Pluto in Scorpio, 1984 to 1995; and Neptune in Capricorn, 1984 to 1997. Uranus was in Sagittarius 1982 to 1989 then in Capricorn for the triple conjunction with Saturn and Neptune and moved out in 1995.

There’s a range of views about their characteristics: – special, sheltered, confident, team-oriented, conventional, pressured, and achieving. Confident and tolerant, but also with a sense of entitlement and narcissistic. More miserable. Pragmatic idealists. Dislike staying for long in same job. More open-minded, and more supportive of gay rights and equal rights for minorities; self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and receptive to new ideas and ways of living. “The trend is more of an emphasis on extrinsic values such as money, fame, and image, and less emphasis on intrinsic values such as self-acceptance, group affiliation and community.”

Pluto in Scorpio will make them intense, secretive, will-driven, interested in power and for some in the occult, resourceful in crisis, aware of the seriousness of life. Pluto in Scorpio is essentially about regeneration; and they will have strong views about sex and money. Evidently they are ditching credit cards and avoiding debt (apart from student loans). And are more obese – maybe the misery factor. And having less sex than previous generations, perhaps Pluto’s repressive tendencies, or realism about AIDs etc.

The late 1980s to mid 1990s batch will be different from those born earlier in the 1980s, since they have the triple and then double conjunction in Capricorn. Uranus Neptune around 1990 to 1995 is highly-strung, tinged with genius in certain cases, certainly inspired/creative but can also be fanatical. Radically different ideas about the handling of money, both individually and globally.

I suspect we haven’t seen the full potential of this generation yet. Pluto in Scorpio and a heavy dose of Capricorn will take maturity for its full potential to emerge.

The Brexit chaos is causing major alarm in Northern Ireland with talk of the Good Friday Agreement being threatened. That was the power-sharing deal struck on 10 April 1998 which saw an end to hostilities. The DUP was the only party to oppose it. No definitive or constructive ideas have been forthcoming about how to resolve the problem of the soft North South border in Ireland in the event of a Brexit outside an EU customs union. Boris Johnson is swatting it aside as an irrelevance and Barnier is playing it up as a chance to keep the north within the EU.

The GF Agreement chart goes look highly stressed this year and on with tr Pluto square the Sun 2018/19; tr Uranus in an explosive conjunction to Mars across mid to late April this year, returning later in the year; high-wire this July and again in 2019 with tr Uranus square Neptune; and a tested-to-the-limit tr Pluto square Saturn 2019/20 – with worse aggravation in the years following.

The Northern Ireland chart looks jangled this month; at a critical point and trapped with tr Pluto square the MC in 2018/2019; and uncertain and depressed from May 2019 with tr Neptune opposition Saturn.

The relationship charts between North Ireland and both Republic of Ireland 1922 and 1949 charts look angry, blocked and damaged this year, worse next.

Sinn Fein, 28 November 1905, is running into a deadlock in about 18 months’ time. The DUP 30 September 1971 is deflated and argumentative this year; and nerve-stretched in 2019/2020. Relations between the two parties will be disrupted in a minor way in 2018, and be in complete upheaval in the three years following. That relationship chart has a bitter-hostility composite Mars opposition Pluto square Mercury Sun (Venus), which tr Uranus is clashing with in hard aspect till late 2021.

The UK/Northern Ireland relationship chart is moving through trouble times in 2018/19 with tr Pluto trine the composite Mars; and undergoing major adjustments to accommodate a change of direction, starting this May, but really exacerbated from May 2019 when tr Uranus will conjunct the composite Pluto. The old rules won’t apply any more.

The same goes for the UK/Republic of Ireland with ructions when tr Uranus moves into Taurus from May onwards; with more upsets and a re-set in diplomatic ties in 2019/2020.

Heaven knows what that all adds up to. No one looks happy, including Arlene Foster, the DUP leader.

Whether tr Saturn conjunct the UK Capricorn IC and Sun late this year and through 2019 is strong enough to separate the UK into its constituent parts, I’d doubt. Though it is possible, and the problems are mounting over Scotland and Wales devolved powers, never mind Gibraltar. I’m intrigued to see how the Solar Arc Moon opposition the UK Saturn, exact this time next year works out. The Saturn represents the legislature and the populace are obviously a million miles apart from their hapless politicians.

The UK has turned itself into another kind of global laughing stock, at least at political level, for the ineptitude of their approach to the Brexit negotiations. The great silent majority both Leavers and Remainers, huddled inside behind snowdrifts, just wish they’d get on with it. But incompetence, bickering, lack of decisive leadership, whatever, has turned the whole sorry process into a stumble through a swamp in a thick fog catastrophe.

Which is fairly what was expected from a Government chart, 9 June 2017 12.35pm which has Neptune squaring a Full Moon. There’ll be a jolt or two come April/May but I wouldn’t be surprised if it drifted along somehow till 2019.

Theresa May does look disheartened, uncertain, feeling as if failure was staring her in the face with tr Neptune conjunct her Mars now, tr Saturn square her Sun across the middle of March, followed in late March by a disastrous tr Pluto conjunct her Mars/Saturn midpoint, on and off till late 2019; plus another Neptune sinker from May onwards, till late 2019.

Boris Johnson has cleared Neptune transits from his main planets; but is getting the tr Neptune square his Sun/Mars midpoint from April onwards till late 2019, which is not a winning combo. Even before then he looks trapped and frustrated and that will also be around till late 2019.

The shine is rubbing off David Davis, indeed it’s even sinking into his irrepressibly optimistic exuberance that he’s not winning with tr Saturn conjunct his Mercury Jupiter, now till late March, repeating till the autumn. With an infuriated, blocked tr Pluto conjunct his Mars now till late 2019.

Philip Hammond has lost the undermining tr Neptune square his Sun Mercury and actually looks fairly cheerful from late March onwards; with a few nervy moments admittedly, but is in better spirits than most of his colleagues.

Where is Winston Churchill or Maggie Thatcher when you need them? Not that I was a fan of the latter but she at least she made decisions.