Marjorie

Another nonsensical and damaging eruption from the bubbling cauldron of American academia produced the outrageous claim from three US college presidents that wishing genocide on a people might be acceptable depending on context. Sigh. What do these people use for thinking? From unformed, over-heated late teen brains it might be understandable if not supportable but their teachers should know better.

  The First Amendment in the USA on freedom of speech written into the Bill of Rights, ratified on 15 December 1791, was set in stone to differentiate from a restrictive climate on free speech in the UK of the time. There are categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment include obscenity, fraud, child pornography and speech that incites imminent lawless action.

  The Bill of Rights chart has an excitable, argumentative Sagittarius Sun square Mars in Virgo in a Half Grand Sextile with the revolutionary Uranus opposition Pluto in place linked in to an idealistic, over-optimistic Jupiter Neptune in Libra. 

  The Bill of Rights chart triggers the Mars in Gemini in the USA chart which I have always associated with their hair-trigger defence to any interference with their need to say anything and everything they fancy, waving the First Amendment as a fig leaf. The Jupiter Neptune also squares the USA’s intensely argumentative and not always tolerant-of-differing-views Mercury opposition Pluto.

   Claudine Gay, President of Harvard, who has been allowed to stay in position after her performance at Congress, was born 4 August 1970 and is a showboating Sun Mars in Leo sextile Uranus; with a charming, if manipulative, Venus Pluto in Virgo and a hyper-anxious Saturn in Taurus opposition Neptune.

 Elise Stefanik, the Republican congresswoman who mounted a fierce inquisition of the college presidents, though has been accused of hypocrisy since she is a far-right Trump supporter, was born 2 July 1984. She’s a Sun Venus, Mercury in Cancer. Her tough, can-be-vindictive Mars Saturn in Scorpio would clash with Claudine Gay’s Sun Mars in Leo; and Stefanik’s Mercury square Pluto echoes the USA’s demagogic streak.

  Not sure astrology has much to offer in this debate except to wonder if the pendulum swing towards idiocy might be about to reverse.

Two non-astro thoughts strike me.

  One is the inability of people in general and youngsters in particular (who may be forgiven since I recollect being an idiot at that age) to be incapable of complex thinking. Not all of life is like cheerleading a football match, supporting MY team and wishing defeat on YOURs. You are with me or you are against me. What happened to agree to differ? Or the unpalatable reality that both sides of an argument may be wrong and/or there may be right on both sides. It means tolerating uncertainty.

  Me, me, me. It is MY right. Toddlers go through an irritatingly ego-centric stage where tantrums are thrown if the world does not revolve entirely around their whims and needs. They grow out of it as cold reality sinks in. They are one of many.  There are no inalienable rights in a society such as ‘I can say exactly what I want.’   If you want to live in a society you need to accept compromises on individual freedom in order not to tramp all over the rights of other members of that society. It isn’t rocket science.  

  Threatening genocide is no different from issuing fatwas and is not acceptable in a civilized society.

Excitement amongst sky watchers as Betelgeuse, one of the brightest and best-known stars in the constellation of Orion, nearly disappeared a day ago – for seven seconds – eclipsed by an asteroid. Betelgeuse, famous for its bright red tint and unpredictable behaviour,  sits at 28°45′ Gemini has an orb of 2°40′.

 In astrological lore it gives preferment and wealth with the native being obstinate, combative, rash, energetic, and changeable. It has of Mars-Mercury classification. ‘How that serves the person in question depends on how he uses his strength. Nothing happens by halves with this great star. It can end in final ruin with the ever present danger of losses of one fell-swoop.’

This is a good conjunction for popularity. However, there is the danger of domestic or family problems. These natives must exercise caution not to create their own sorrows.

 Notable Sun Betelgeuse individuals are Boris Johnson and Paul McCartney, Errol Flynn, Salman Rushdie and Prince William.

  Helpful info on other planets conjunct Betelgeuse from https://astrologyking.com/betelgeuse-star/

  It should be said that Procyon, the fixed star, at 25 Cancer also has a reputation for falls from high grace but it doesn’t always work that way since I have known people with it who ambled along without tripping up.

ADD ON FROM VF. ‘Quite a few leaders who have risen and then fallen have their Sun on this star – Colonel Gadaffi, Radovan Karadzic, Aung Sun Suu Kiy and Ayman al-Zawahir (the Egyptian leader of Al-Qaida slain by the US to name but a few. Wallis Simpson too, so she and William, Prince of Wales, perhaps aptly share a synastry! King James I of England is a Sun/Betelgeuse royal too.’

  Also Rudi Guiliani who has his Saturn Midheaven conjunct Betelgeuse – and has certainly crashed from his glory days post 9/11 to a bankrupt tarnished idol.  

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The highly respected and much loved astrologer Erin Sullivan has died.  Known as “the astrologer’s astrologer” she had an internationally-acclaimed career consulting, writing and lecturing. She was an integral member for the Centre for Psychological Astrology in London for over a decade, edited the prestigious “Arkana Contemporary Astrology Series” of books and had a wide ranging career teaching and consulting.

  Her Classical Studies background and training in archetypal analytic psychology and cultural studies made her an activist thinker, and promoter of ecology, improving the power of women in the world, human rights and individual freedom.  Her six books include The Astrology Of Midlife And Aging, the best seller The Astrology of Family Dynamics and the recently reissued Where in the World? on astrocartography.

  She was born 9 November 1947 7.21 am Vancouver, Canada and died at 8.50pm on December 11^th in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

 Her chart shows great strength and tenacity with a Scorpio Sun exactly on her Ascendant conjunct Chiron and Mercury in her 12^th which squared onto a powerfully-determined Pluto Mars Saturn conjunction in the communicative, publishing, lecturing 9^th house. Her North Node in Taurus sat in her 7^th opposition her Sun and square her Saturn Mars Pluto.

  A Venus Jupiter conjunction in Sagittarius in her 1^st would lend her a charming and enthusiastic manner, masking some of the undoubted turmoil of her heavy Leo stellium and Sun Chiron conjunction. She also had a soft, intuitive Moon Neptune in Libra in her friendly 11^th house. Her astrological Uranus was in her 8^th house, giving her access to deeper realms of knowledge.

 She had a strongly aspected creative, ‘seeking and searching’ 7^th harmonic; a powerful healer/victim 12H; and a notable leaving-a-legacy -for-history 17H.

  I only met her once at a party I gave when she came with Howard Sasportas and my recollection was she supported him towards the end when he was dying of AIDs. Like her, he had that tumultuous Pluto, Saturn, Mars conjunction in Leo and there was a strong karmic connection between them with his Chiron conjunct her South Node exactly and her Chiron exactly conjunct his South Node. His Moon was conjunct her North Node. See previous post on Howard Sasportas 7 August 2023.

Heather Mills, one time wife of Paul McCartney (briefly), has been complaining loudly about the collapse of her vegan food company which has gone into administration. She is blaming everything from corporate greed to mismanagement to gaslighting influencers supporting the meat and dairy industry.  There has been a fall in the sale of vegan products after an early surge with only 1-2% of the population being vegan and many put off by the price, taste and suspicion of additives in non-meat products. The plant based market will still be substantial but too many firms rushed in creating a bubble which has burst. Rebranding may help stressing sustainable and healthy rather than vegan or vegetarian.

  Heather Mills was born 12 January 1968 in London with a possible 8.04 am birth time which fits with what is known of her life to date. She had a fractured childhood and a track record as a compulsive liar according to wiki – which is worth reading; lost a leg in a traffic accident and continued modelling with a prosthetic limb. Her marriage to McCartney was fractious, produced a daughter and lasted four years.

  This birth time puts an upfront, ambitious Capricorn Sun on her Ascendant trine an 8^th house Pluto Uranus in Virgo and sextile Neptune on her Scorpio Midheaven. Not short of ambition she will be opportunistic with Jupiter opposition a 2^nd house Mars which squared onto Venus in Sagittarius opposition Moon in Gemini in her entertaining 5^th house. Quite a whirlwind.

  Her Uranus Pluto at the moment has moved to conjunct her Neptune and her SA Neptune her Sun so a life-changing crisis. Plus tr Saturn damping her enthusiasm as it is conjunct her 2^nd house Mars and opposition her Jupiter this year into next.

  Her VBites company, founded 20 May 1993, did not kick off on the most auspicious of moments with a Taurus Sun Moon opposition Pluto square Saturn so it was always going to be an uphill struggle though also enduring.  Tr Neptune is in hard aspect to that T square in its Solar Arc positions.

 Another with a relatively similar chart (birth times being accurate) is lingerie-queen Baroness Michelle Mone. She is presently being sued by the UK government for £122m plus costs for “breach of contract and unjust enrichment”. This follows a Guardian investigation which reported that she and her children had secretly received £29 million of profits to an offshore trust from government personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts, which she had lobbied for during the COVID-19 pandemic.  She has issued regrets about not being clearer initially in her evidence but basically denies everything.

  She was born 8 October 1971 4.55pm Glasgow, Scotland and has an 8^th house Pluto as well as a Libra Sun conjunct Uranus and Mercury and Venus all in Libra in the 8^th. She has an assertive and stubborn Mars North Node in Aquarius on her Ascendant; and a Jupiter Neptune conjunction in Sagittarius opposition Saturn Moon in Gemini. A heavily populated strong, secretive, erratic 8^th house of business finances and a flurry of Mutable planets – both fixed and hyperactive.

  Tr Saturn at present heading into the nadir of her 1^st quadrant is not a successful time either for ambitions or for money and that lingers for several years to come.  Along the way of this year and next it will also dent her super-optimism as it squares her Jupiter Neptune opposition Saturn Moon.

  An invasion of the undead, ghosts from a hair-raising past, appears to be upon us. Trump is riding high in the polls and Boris is being mooted for a triumphant return along with a jungle jubilant Nigel Farage.

  Although Boris according to one set of inside murmurs is happy earning gzillions and staying out of the front line for now. Tr Saturn is wending round his Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto T square until March 2024 which will be downbeat and coincides with his Saturn Return – maybe a sliver of maturity will emerge. Following that he has an undermining and not ego-supportive tr Neptune square his Sun Venus in Gemini from April 2024 on and off till March 2025. He has one lucky blip in May 2024 but that coincides with another failed-plans influence – so ups and downs. In general 2024 to 2026 end looks like a discouraging slog.

  His standing with the Tory Party (apart from a few right wingers) is on a downward slide; and ditto with the UK.

 Nigel Farage, 3 April 1964 4.30pm Farnborough, England, has been buoyed up recently by tr Pluto square his Jupiter but that is now gone. Jupiter will move across his midheaven from mid 2024 for a year which is generally successful but that apart he looks stuck, facing setbacks and nothing else positive for three years or so ahead.

 Richard Tice, right-wing Reform Party CEO, 13 September 1964, is another destabilising Uranus Pluto in Virgo (plus Mercury and Sun) opposition Saturn with a Sagittarius Moon. He has all of Boris’s scattered, windmill-in-a-storm tendencies. He also has Boris’s over-hopeful, prone to bad judgement Jupiter in Taurus opposition Neptune. Saturn will damp his ardour over the next eight months and though he will get a maybe-lift from tr Uranus conjunct his Jupiter in mid 2024 that will tug on his Neptune which could upset his optimistic showboat.

See June 11 2023  Conservative Party.

Javier Milei was sworn in as Argentina’s new president yesterday vowing to lead his country out of decades of “decadence and decline” but said its punishing economic crisis would intensify over the coming months.

Milei – a mercurial former TV celebrity known as El Loco or the Madman – compared his shock election with the start of the Soviet Union’s collapse. Far-right associates including Jair Bolsonaro and Viktor Orbán, were in attendance as well as Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Milei has called Putin a dangerous leader and appears to be positioning Argentina as Ukraine’s biggest Latin American ally.

The swearing in was 11.56am on December 10^th according to a local astrologer. This gives a fiery Sun Mars in Sagittarius in the 10^th so certainly loud and outspoken. But the Sun square an indecisive Neptune is not a progressive aspect for an administration. Pluto in the 11^th sits midway between an 8^th house Scorpio Moon trine Neptune – super ambitious. The Pluto is further emphasised sitting on the focal point of a T square to the Moon’s Node. The 11^th house refers to government institutions and long term hopes. Pluto does represent transformation but can also involve over-control. Venus in an indulgent, superficial opposition to Jupiter will ooze charm but may prove expensive. The Moon opposition Uranus hints at a restive population. The 12^th house Saturn a lack of realism or get-a-grip practicality.

 See previous post for details November 20 2023.

 There was nothing in the previous post to suggest he would swoop in on Marvel wings to accomplish a miraculous transformation.

Lady Sarah Chatto, the daughter of Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth’s only niece, has managed to stay under the radar despite being a Royal family fixture and on parade at key events. She had a close relationship with Charles growing up, was a bridesmaid for Princess Anne and Mark Phillips wedding and again at the Charles Diana nuptials and is godmother to  Prince Harry and Lady Louise Windsor.

 Her upbringing was less restrictive because of her father the photographer Anthony Armstrong Jones. She and her brother David attended Bedales, a co-educational school tilted towards arts and crafts and she graduated onto art schools, spending two years in India with her father when he was production photographer for the 1984 film, A Passage to India. Which was where she met her husband Daniel Chatto. He is an actor turned artist from a theatrical family and they have two children. She continues to work as an artist, painting expressive landscapes.

  Born 1 May 1964 6.20 am London, she has a friendly 11^th house Sun, Mercury, Jupiter in Taurus, one reason she was close to Queen Elizabeth, another Taurus. In her case her Taurus Planets are in an Earth Grand Trine to a Capricorn Moon on her Descendant trine Uranus Pluto in Virgo in her 4^th. The last element is indicative of her stormy childhood home with her parents’ fractious marriage which eventually split where she was 12. Her Grand Trine is formed into three talented Kites with Uranus Pluto opposition a 10^th house well-organised Saturn which will see her increasingly respected the older she gets. Her Moon opposes her North Node in Cancer on her Ascendant with a suggestion that she has struggled to build a strong sense of identity but could be all the more helpful as a result. Out of her experiences others could benefit. Her Sun opposes Neptune in her creative 5^th house.

 Her father Anthony Armstrong Jones, 7 March 1930 6.15 am London was a key influence on her chosen career with his Sun Venus in Pisces falling in her 10^th and his Mercury Mars in Aquarius being conjunct her Midheaven.

  Her mother Princess Margaret, 21 August 1930 9.22pm Glamis, Scotland, was a trickier relationship with Princess Margaret’s Neptune and Leo Sun being in opposition to Sarah’s Saturn in the 10^th and worse Margaret’s attention-demanding and controlling 5^th house Moon Pluto in Cancer being square Sarah’s Mars.

  Lady Sarah does look in a hard working, responsible phase with Saturn moving through her 10^th at the moment and her upper quadrant for some years ahead into the early 2030s. And her SA Moon is just into her 10^th house of career and reputation also for years to come for similar.

An astro-oddity popped up this week when I realised that Chelsea Manning, the Iraq War whistleblower, was born three days after Hamas was founded and both have charts with a notable Scorpio Sagittarius theme. Which is remarkably similar to Seung Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech mass shooter who shot himself in 2007 before he could be captured.

 Manning is being interviewed by Louis Theroux for a six part series of in-depth celeb reveal-alls. Except that Manning appeared not to be open to the same connectedness as the others and clearly disliked any talks of Assange or Snowden whom he regarded, according to a reviewer, as making him a bit player on the stage.

  His sister told the court-martial that both their parents were alcoholics, and that their mother drank continually while pregnant with Chelsea. There was a suggestion that his facial features showed signs of fetal alcohol syndrome. He was neglected through childhood, small for his age and bullied at school as effeminate; and was present when his mother attempted suicide.

  In 2010, having worked as a US army intelligence analyst he leaked a vast trove of classified information to the WikiLeaks, videos, embassy cables and war logs, and was originally sentenced to 35 years in jail, spending years subsequently most  in solitary confinement. Inside, she attempted suicide twice and transitioned from Bradley to Chelsea and was released by President Obama shortly before he left office in 2017.

  She has a Sagittarius Sun conjunct Uranus, Saturn, Mercury – knowledgeable from Sagittarius, low-self-esteem though also self-righteous from Saturn in Sagittarius, autocratic from Saturn Uranus though also inventive and progressive, irritable prone to outbursts.

  Sitting just before those fiery Mutable, scattered planets she has a Mars Pluto conjunction in Scorpio with the Moon close by – which fairly describes a destructive mother who would feel beyond unsafe. Mars Pluto can also give courage and the ability to cope in crisis situations.

  Hamas founded three days before has the same Scorpio Sagittarius concentration though with a Virgo/Libra Moon. The most negative end of Mars Pluto, especially in Scorpio is ruthless brutality. Fight without quarter, do-or-die-determined. The struggle is for power. Often associated with rape when it has the upper hand or victimhood when it does not.

 Seung Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech killer, born in Seoul, South Korea, 18 January 1984, also had Mars in Scorpio conjunct Pluto with Saturn in Scorpio as well and Uranus, Venus, Jupiter, Neptune spread out through Sagittarius – and a Capricorn Sun. He killed 32 and wounded 17 in the deadliest US school shooting ever (so far).  He seemed to have been mentally disturbed from early on and was diagnosed at school with severe anxiety disorder, selective mutism and depression, which led to him being bullied. He appeared to have problems connecting.

  Both Manning and Hamas are in for a significant crisis in the near future as their Solar Arc Mars Pluto starts to cross their Sagittarius planets. Both seem edgy and tense at the moment with tr Neptune square Uranus in Sagittarius but the key lifechanging moments will come around 2025.  [Assuming the Hamas date is sound.]

  Always interesting to see how roughly the same energies can play out differently though with certain similarities as well. Scorpio Sagittarius is certainly a difficult combination to balance.

Add On: Another Mars Pluto in Scorpio is Ronan Farrow, son of Mia, born 19 December 1987 10.49am New York, who has his power-packed, penetrating (and vengeful?) Mars Pluto in the 9^th house of communication and publishing with a stellium in Sagittarius from Moon, Midheaven, through Saturn, Mercury, Uranus and Sun all ranged through his career 10^th. He was always destined to make his mark with devastating effect.

  He was around during his mother’s affair with Woody Allen who has a Sagittarius Sun and Mars in Capricorn opposition Pluto which would make him scary and Ronan’s has taken aim at him as well over his sister’s allegations.

 Weinstein has Mars in Scorpio square Pluto so Ronan’s take down of him was all the more courageous.

Mars Pluto can be a victim but can have the courage to face up to perpetrators as well.

A heartthrob with great talent, actor Ryan O’Neal, who has just died, was nominated for an Oscar with the tearjerker Love Story (1970), one of the most successful films of all time. His career did not maintain those starry heights and he became better known for his stormy private life with Farrah Fawcett and his aggressive behaviour on set. His daughter Tatum O’Neal with whom he acted in Paper Moon succumbed to drug addiction later which she blamed on her upbringing, losing her custody of her children with John McEnroe. She was reconciled with her father in recent years.

  Ryan was born 20 April 1941 9.34am Los Angeles, California, with an actress mother and screenwriter father. His 10^th house charming Sun Venus in Taurus and Mercury in Aries designed him for a public career which would bring him attention – and latitude for indulgence as well being Taurus. He had an adventurous, friendly and lucky Jupiter Uranus in Taurus square an Aquarius Moon and trine Neptune on his IC. Certainly inventive and creative with Uranus Neptune but also emotionally erratic. His Neptune was on the focal point of a Yod to Moon sextile Sun Venus making him escapist, a dreamer and emotionally disorganized.  He also had a troublesome 8^th house Mars in Aquarius square his Saturn which would be where his explosive temper came from. An ancestral legacy he never resolved.

  He had been through two marriages before he met Farrah Fawcett for a tempestuous decade plus affair. She was the former star of Charlie’s Angels and wife of O’Neal’s friend, the actor Lee Majors. There were public rows and reconciliations. On one occasion Farrah Fawcett was photographed with two black eyes; she went on to describe O’Neal as “a loud, rowdy son-of-a-bitch”.

  During this period he also punched his teenage son, knocking out two of the boy’s teeth. “I beat up my own kids,” he said. “I am deeply ashamed.” He finally separated from Farrah but was reconciled in 2001 and stayed with her until she died of cancer in 2009.

  Farrah Fawcett, 2 February 1947 3.10pm Corpus Christi, Texas, an all-American beauty at college who graduated into acting, had an explosive and monumentally difficult chart with an 8^th house Sun Mars Mercury in Aquarius opposition Pluto Saturn in Leo. The bubbling volcano inside was hidden from view with a sympathetic Moon in Cancer on her Ascendant and an outgoing Jupiter in Scorpio in her 5^th. To some degree she may have been drawn to Ryan O’Neal because of shared patterns – he also had Mars in the 8^th in Aquarius, Neptune in the 4^th and both had last decan Pisces Midheaven.  But it was never going to be a peaceable connection. Their relationship chart had a hostile, power-struggling composite Mars opposition Pluto and only a frivolous Venus Jupiter to provide light relief.

 Their only child Redmond O’Neal has had a troubled, drug addicted life and was ruled mentally “incompetent” to stand trial in 2019, facing charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. In an interview he said: “It’s not the drugs that have been a problem, it’s the psychological trauma of my entire life. Fighting with my father, being kicked out and living on the streets, going to jail, being embarrassed all the time, just because of who my parents are. I never asked for any of this, I never wanted any attention.”

 Redmond was born 30 January 1985 2.55am Los Angeles,  has a 6^th house Taurus Moon North Node opposition a 12^th house Saturn in Scorpio in a Half Grand Sextile to Jupiter Mercury in Capricorn and Venus Mars in Pisces. His Aquarius Sun conjunct both his parents’ 8^th house Mars won’t have helped; and his over controlled Sun square Pluto echoes his father’s Sun square Pluto. But I have seen more difficult charts and there is a good deal of potential lurking inside him which he clearly hasn’t been able to access.

   Tatum O’Neal 5 November 1963 3.38 am Los Angeles, was produced from Ryan’s first marriage to actress Joanna Moore who also had addiction problems and lost custody of the children. Tatum  has an intense collection of a Scorpio Sun, Mercury, Neptune all conjunct in her 2^nd house in a creative/neurotic square a 5^th house Saturn in Aquarius. With Venus in final degree Scorpio conjunct Mars in Sagittarius with her Mars being square Uranus Pluto in Virgo in her 10^th . She didn’t have her psychological problems to seek either and that has hints of a troubled pregnancy (with her in utero, from those 12^th house aspects).

 Her Cancer Moon on her Midheaven suited her for a public career and a 7^th house Jupiter would give her confidence and enthusiasm, especially since it sits on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Uranus Pluto sextile Sun, Mercury, Neptune.

  She did reconcile with her father though still appeared to have drug problems and suffered a massive stroke in 2020 from a prescription drug overdose.

  What a family – exhausting even to think about. Unfinished business in all directions, nothing ever got sorted.