Marjorie

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“The eternal singer-songwriter of sorrows, traveling through our highs and lows, the twentieth century master of the art song tradition.” Joni Mitchell at her peak was the most influential female singer songwriter of the 20^th century. And this despite a staggeringly difficult life, with isolation in an iron lung as a child for polio, a massive, decades-long drug problem, an insidious incurable disease that kept her a recluse for years and a brain aneurysm in 2015, she’s still here and about to celebrate her 74^th birthday next week.

Born 7 November 1943 10pm Fort Macleod, Canada, she has her Sun Mercury in Scorpio squaring onto Pluto, which must have given her a sense of being trapped certainly in childhood. Her musical and emotionally sensitive Pisces Moon is on her midheaven opposition Venus in Virgo in a harsh square to Mars Saturn in Gemini in her 12^th. She was always destined to have a tough life with that accentuated Mars Saturn and in a highly strung Mutable T Square. Morgellons Syndrome, the acute skin disease she suffers from is thought to have some psychological or psychogenic component, and be sometimes connected to long-term drug use.

When she had her brain aneurysm in 2015 a Pisces Solar Eclipse was conjunct her Moon MC and opposition Her Venus which would put emotional pressure on her; and her Solar Arc Moon was conjunct her Uranus – so a jolting time. Tr Pluto was also moving through her 6^th house of health.

Tr Jupiter in Scorpio should do her good. Like many old rock n’ rollers the astonishment is she’s still here.

Just for the record, Xi Jinping started his 2^nd Term (which may last for his lifetime) at the closure of the Beijing Congress around 12.30pm on 24 October. The vote for his confirmation came in camera prior to 11 am.

12.30 pm puts Sun Jupiter Mercury conjunct on the Scorpio midheaven which fits for a triumphalist, almost imperial elevation for Xi Jinping. There’s a secretive, controlling Pluto on the Capricorn Ascendant; and the super-confident Fire Grand Trine of Saturn Moon in Sagittarius trine Uranus trine Leo Node is still in place, formed into a Kite by Uranus opposition Sun Jupiter – certainly ambitious and attention-demanding. China has Venus and MC in Scorpio which picks up tr Jupiter through 2018.

An astonishing pronouncement from Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has vowed to return the country to “moderate Islam” and explicitly condemns hardline religious attitudes in place for three decades which were, he said, “not normal”. He blamed the rise of ultra-conservative clerics and the rigid doctrines that have governed the society as a reaction to the Iranian revolution. “We didn’t know how to deal with it. And the problem spread all over the world. Now is the time to get rid of it.”

His economic and social plans are more than ambitious as he attempts to move Saudi Arabia away from dependence on oil and open up opportunities for the young, including women.

Born 31 August 1985 he is a Sun Virgo, with a powerfully confident and socially idealistic Fixed Grand Cross of Pluto opposition North Node square Jupiter in Aquarius opposition Venus in Leo. He’s stubborn, has staying-power, faith in his own abilities and not too much humility. Plus a gritty, disciplined Mars Mercury in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio – not a man for turning.

If the Saudi 15 January 1902 3.45am chart is sound, then his Pluto is conjunct the SA Scorpio MC so he will have the desire and ability to transform the country, albeit in a highly controlling way. Tr Jupiter moving now into Scorpio is conjunct his Pluto now and the SA MC soon. So the timing fits.

Since the surprising thing about Jupiter in Scorpio is the positive benefits it brings for women (see post October 9 2017), the move away from a misogynistic culture, which has spread far beyond the SArabia borders may also be flagged up.

Not all of his plans will work economically with some dashed hopes in 2017/18; and there is a real risk of a backlash from the Wahhabist religious lobby. But tr Jupiter in Scorpio will certainly help him as it moves round his Grand Cross over coming months – if he doesn’t go into Jupiterian overdrive and get carried away by his enthusiasm.

The Saudi chart looks chipper this December and January 2018 with tr Uranus square the Sun Jupiter in Capricorn; but tr Pluto continues to conjunct the Saturn in Capricorn through 2018 so it’ll be an uphill struggle at times. The results should start to show in 2020/2021 with tr Pluto conjunct the Sun Jupiter, which looks like success and a surge of confidence.

Oddly enough, or maybe not, he was born on Saudi Arabia’s Uranus Return, so just the person to breathe new life into the state.

The remaining JFK assassination files, may be released this Thursday as Trump seeks to brew up another publicity storm to distract from his various mishaps, mis-speaks and failures. How much of interest will come if they are opened to public view is questionable though the CIA’s handling of the investigation may come under renewed scrutiny.

JFK was shot in Dallas at 12.45pm on 22 November 1963 when the worrisome Neptune in Scorpio square Saturn Moon in Aquarius was in place, which would give rise not just to great confusion and uncertainty but also paranoia; and so the conspiracy theories followed. Mercury was square Pluto Uranus, which is also prone to a fevered imagination, intense disagreements and wild conjectures.

At that moment tr Saturn was conjunct the USA Moon (nearly exact for the USA Gemini Rising 2.17am chart); and was opposition the Sun/Neptune and Mars/Saturn midpoints. The first of these would exacerbate the panic, the second is often around for deaths and mourning. On the 11am USA chart, the Solar Arc Neptune was conjunct the Descendant and square the midheaven, so equally relevant; and tr Uranus Pluto was moving through the 12^th to make for a psychologically unsettled phase.

JFK, 29 May 1917 3pm Brookline, Massachusetts, had Saturn Neptune conjunct his midheaven in the 10^th. The other meaning of Saturn Neptune is the urge for a fairer society. He didn’t have an easy chart with Mars Mercury Jupiter in Taurus and his Gemini Sun in the 8^th – so his family legacy would weigh heavily on him; he would have the unconscious ability to project a powerful image; and he’d be driven by inner demons he never understood. Relocating his chart to Dallas puts Pluto on his midheaven, which is generally seen as a high-risk location.

When JFK was killed, his Solar Arc was within half a degree of being conjunct his Pluto, with tr Pluto opposition his Mars/Node midpoint and tr Saturn within a degree of being square his Mars – all of which are high-risk. Tr Uranus was conjunct his Solar Arc MC and his Solar Arc Sun was conjunct his MC. It isn’t always this clear but the aspects do certainly indicate a significant accident and sharp change in the direction of life.

Ewan McGregor appears to have been struck by the Hollywood curse on marriages after splitting from his long-time wife, production designer Eve Mavrakis.

Born 31 March 1971 8.10pm Perth, Scotland, he has an Aries Sun opposition Uranus square Mars in Capricorn, so will always need excitement and risk; plus a constantly-changing Gemini Moon. He’s also got an 8^th house Saturn in Taurus trine a 12^th house Pluto, so will be self-contained and not always open to intimacy.

His wife Eve, 22 June 1966, France, is a family oriented Sun Jupiter in Cancer with a Leo Moon. They aren’t the easiest of mixes with her Venus in Taurus opposition Neptune sitting on top of his Saturn; her outspoken Mars in Gemini conjunct his Moon; and her Saturn opposition his Pluto.

Their relationship chart is quite volatile with the composite Sun and composite Mars in aspect to Pluto Jupiter Uranus – it won’t ever have been dull, but it will have veered between possessiveness and the urge for space, so quite contradictory. Great highs and some lows. Plus a composite Sun opposition Neptune which suits the movie business but can run into trouble when the gloss wears off. It’s been under stress for some time and more so at the moment with tr Saturn in hard aspect to major points.

His career is no longer at the peak it was through Trainspotting, Star Wars, Moulin Rouge and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and his recent directorial debut American Pastoral didn’t get great reviews. But tr Saturn is slowly wending its way out of his low-profile first quadrant, to cross his IC in 2019 which should lift him up career-wise at that point. Plus he’s been through a punishing run of the tr Uranus square tr Pluto hitting on his central Sun Uranus Mars T Square, which cleared last year. Tr Uranus is moving through his 7^th (since 2015) which is often when marriages break up or at least there’s a need for more space.

His Sun/Moon midpoint at 14 Taurus isn’t picking up much but Eve’s is last decan Cancer so may be getting tr Uranus square and then tr Pluto opposition which is more testing on close relationships

It’s a shame. But few marriages survive in the febrile movie business with long separations and intense working relationships crowding out domestic ties.

Bowe Bergdahl, the American soldier held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan will be sentenced tomorrow on charges of desertion for which he could face life in prison. Despite stories put about by the Taliban that he had defected to them, he says he was setting out to another base 18 miles away to make a complaint about leadership issues in his unit. And he was held in solitary confinement, caged and tortured during his five years of captivity, during which time he continually tried to escape and was punished severely when they re-captured him.

The senior military investigator in the US said he believed Bergdahl’s account and found him to be both genuine and honourable in his intent, but also concluded Bergdahl was “delusional” and had “outsized impressions of his own capabilities”, believing his was  a Special Forces type and like Jason Bourne. He recommended that Bergdahl should not be sent to prison.

Born 28 March 1986 in Sun Valley, Idaho, he is a Sun Aries inconjunct Pluto, trine Saturn in Sagittarius, square Mars Neptune in Capricorn, sesqui-square Uranus (135 deg) and semi-sextile Jupiter – a mix of confident with his Jupiter trine Pluto; fearful of being trapped but used to tough conditions with Sun Pluto Saturn; impulsive with Sun Mars Uranus and a dreamer with Sun Neptune.

He had an odd upbringing being home schooled by an Idaho woodsman father who taught him to shoot and hunt, whom he described as overbearing and domineering. He then extraordinarily studied ballet, sailed the Atlantic to Pacific and tried to join the French Foreign Legion. According to Rolling Stone he’d become disillusioned with the war in Afghanistan, disliking his fellow soldiers’ contempt for the locals. Others say he should never have been accepted into the military. The US coast guard had thrown him out of basic training after only 23 days, deeming him “psychologically unfit” after diagnosing him with “adjustment disorder with depression”. But in 2008, the US army issued Bergdahl a medical waiver and in May the following year he was sent off to Afghanistan. He lasted just six weeks before walking off his base and was possibly suffering a nervous breakdown at the time.

When he was captured on 1 July 2009 tr Pluto was conjunct his Mars and in the following year conjunct his Neptune and then square his Sun. And his Solar Arc Saturn which was conjunct his Mars when he joined up, then moved across his Mars/Neptune midpoint and Neptune. And was just clearing the square to his Sun was he was released. And that is a poleaxing set of influences – tr Pluto and Solar Arc Saturn all landing on his natal Sun square Mars Neptune for five years putting him through a hellish situation.

He’s disheartened by his reception back in the US and doesn’t look too cheerful ahead with tr Saturn heading to conjunct his Mars Neptune and square his Sun across this New Year into 2018; and his Solar Arc Neptune is square his Pluto round about now, which is devastating confusion. Then his Solar Arc Pluto is in a depressed/blocked conjunction to his Saturn by 2019 along with a trapped tr Pluto conjunct his Sun/Pluto and tr Neptune square his Mars/Saturn – and none of that looks good. Though even if he isn’t sent to prison the PTSD from his years of ill-treatment will catch up with him.

He sounds a touch like Bradley Manning, who also should never have been employed in the job he was.

John Kelly just dug himself deeper into Trump’s hole over how not to talk to a soldier’s grieving mother. Kelly in trying to retrieve the situation spoke poignantly about his own son’s death in Iraq, and then proceeded to fabricate a smear against Frederica Wilson, the Democrat Representative for South Florida, who was in the car when the blundering phone call was made. Luckily for her, in the era of ‘fake news’, there was film footage of the event at which Kelly falsely claimed Wilson had taken credit which wasn’t due.

Frederica Wilson, 5 November 1942, certainly isn’t the woman to put up with nonsense from anyone with a passionately intense Sun Venus Mars in Scorpio square Pluto. She’s a tower of strength and a good fighter for causes. Her influential Pluto is further emphasised being on the midpoint of Uranus Saturn in Gemini trine Neptune (Moon) in Libra – so no one’s pushover.

She certainly dislikes Trump with a hostile composite Mars Neptune square Saturn in their relationship chart; and a needs-space, differing-agendas composite Sun square Uranus. But if anything she dislikes John Kelly even more with a composite Sun Pluto square Jupiter, which is a struggle for the upper hand; and an ego-battling composite Mars Neptune; plus a cold Venus opposition Saturn.

There’ll be more clashes to come with both men. She looks to be forging confidently ahead this December and on and off through 2018 with tr Pluto trine her Sun/Jupiter midpoint; though she will have some downers with dashed hopes from tr Neptune opposition her Mars/Jupiter and a confused tr Pluto square her Sun/Neptune from March onwards. Tr Uranus moves to oppose her Mars from mid year, on and off into 2019; and then in 2019 to square her Pluto – so she will be aggravated and going through some seismic changes.

Ayatollah Al-Sistani is the spiritual leader of the Shia Muslims in Iraq. He has avoided getting embroiled in politics and hopes for a civil not a religious Iraq which puts him at odds with Iran, who are the financiers and weapons suppliers to Iraq’s main Shia parties and their militia.

Born 4 August 1930, he’s now 87 with no obvious successor. His Leo Sun is conjunct the Iraq 1921 Mars Neptune and his Neptune is conjunct the Iraq Sun – so the religious connections are clear. And his Venus in Virgo is conjunct the Iraq Jupiter Saturn, bringing a helpful cross over. He is coming up to his 3^rd Saturn Return in 2018 and with tr Neptune square his Mars in Gemini may not have the strength to stand up to whatever forces, physical or otherwise that are ranged against him.

Terry Fox was a Canadian athlete and cancer research activist whose astonishing feat of running 3500 miles across Canada with a prosthetic leg to raise money and awareness has resulted in a lasting worldwide legacy. He lost his leg to bone cancer when he was 18 and vowed he wouldn’t give up his distance running and basketball. Sadly the spread of the cancer to his lungs stopped his Canadian east-west marathon after 143 days and he died nine months later, just before his 23rd birthday. But the Terry Fox annual run now involves millions of participants in 60 countries and is the world’s largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research.

Born 28 July 1958 7.30am Winnipeg, Canada, he had a rebellious Sun Uranus in Leo on the focal point of a Fixed T Square to an unyielding Mars in Taurus conjunct his midheaven opposition Neptune, so utterly determined, ambitious, a crusader with a 9^th house Mars, willing to take risks with Uranus Mars. There’s no way he could have sat in a wheelchair and moped. He also had an achievement-oriented Capricorn Moon in his performing/sporty 5^th house in an Earth Grand Trine to Pluto Mercury in Virgo and Mars MC so physical, grounded, and able to push himself through crisis situations.

He also had an ever-optimistic Jupiter in his 3^rd which was sparsely aspected making him marginally less sociable than he might otherwise have been and also making him idealistic and naïve. He did have a strong chart with Mars in Taurus on one leg not only of a Grand Trine but also a stubbornly enduring Fixed T square.

His get-it-together 5^th Harmonic and his ‘seeking soul’ 7^th were strongly aspected; as were the to-be-expected ‘inner strength’ 8H and ‘obsessive dream’ 11H. His leaving-a-mark-on-history 17H tied together an exuberantly successful Mars Jupiter to a never-give-in Moon Pluto and Sun. His 12H – victim/healer – was starkly difficult.