Marjorie

Competitors swapping insults and curses, whipping huge crowds into a frenzy is all part and parcel of the promotion of major boxing matches. The upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor this weekend had a four-city media tour to bring in the money and seemed even more raucous than usual. Doctors are concerned that McGregor, an Irish mixed martial arts champion fighting in his first professional boxing bout, is overmatched by Floyd Mayweather, considered the best boxer of his generation.

McGregor, 14 July 1988, is a Sun Cancer trine Mars in Aries with Mars square Neptune as well as Saturn Uranus in Sagittarius.

Mayweather, 24 Feb 1977, is a Sun Pisces, with a tough Saturn in Leo opposition Mars in Aquarius square Uranus in Scorpio. Both have Jupiter in Taurus and both have a high-octane Mars.

There’s little to suggest any real rancour between them. Indeed the relationship chart has a composite friendly Sun Venus. But needs must to keep the fans and the promoters happy. So they’re talking up a storm.

‘The president is alienating the one Republican he needs to advance his agenda — and to save himself from impeachment’. So reads a Vanity Fair headline over the long-simmering tension between Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The New York Times reported that the two men have stopped talking to each other entirely after a “profane” shouting match on August 9. The argument was supposedly about the failure to repeal Obamacare, but it’s thought the more likely bone of contention was that Trump wanted more protection from the Mueller investigation into Russian election interference and financial dealings.

McConnell is a Sun Pisces with a tough, pragmatic Mars Saturn Uranus in Taurus, which sit on Trump’s Taurus midheaven. It’s a shame since it could have been a reasonable partnership with McConnell’s Sun in Trump’s 7^th and MM’s Jupiter in Trump’s 10^th. And MM’s Saturn Mars on Trump’s MC could have given him some discipline and organisation, though since that also squares Trump’s I-am-the-greatest Mars in Leo, it was doomed to fall over.

Their relationship chart has a friendly composite Sun Venus; but where the trouble lies is probably a composite Jupiter Pluto conjunction which inevitably ends up in a power struggle. Tr Uranus has been conjunct the composite Sun and Mercury earlier this year, returning in early September into 2018.

McConnell is persevering to the nth degree and although he’s at full stretch in 2018/19 with tr Pluto trine his Mars Saturn, he’s also got an upbeat tr Pluto square Sun/Jupiter to give him confidence and some successes.

Trump’s relationship charts with the two Republican charts – 28 Feb 1854 and 22 Feb 1856 – both reflect the same ruptures, especially the 1856 one. It has a composite Sun Mercury which tr Uranus is conjunct right through into 2018; and is ploughing through very heavy seas this fall with a great deal of aggravation as tr Saturn opposes the composite Pluto (now) and then squares Mars and is conjunct Neptune; with more downers late December and eruptions in 2018. The 1854 chart also looks dismayed with Trump this fall and fit to walk away into 2018.

This isn’t going to get better. Trump’s Administration chart gets a sharp jolt from tr Uranus square the MC this October and will be in a state of total upheaval from February 2018 onwards as tr Pluto squares the Uranus; then maybe rocking on its perch altogether from mid 2018 as tr Uranus squares the Sun from then into early 2019.

A shoot-off-at-the-mouth Sagittarius temperament is getting a US politician’s newly-wed wife into trouble. Louise Linton, recently spliced to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has been forced to apologize over an Instagram dustup. She posted a look-amn’t-I-wealthy pic with her designer outfit itemised when on an official trip, and when an Oregon woman responded with a critical comment, she let fly with condescending cracks. It’s not her first faux pas by a long way. Her self-published book about Zambia called In Congo’s Shadow was met with a shower of condemnation including #lintonlies, and racked up predominantly negative reviews on Amazon where it currently has a one-star rating.

Born 21 December 1980, Edinburgh, Scotland, she is an actress though with one CS1:NY and one Cold Case appearance plus a zero-rated by Rotten Tomatoes horror movie Cabin Fever amongst her career highlights, she was clearly not a storming success.

She’s a last degree Sun Sagittarius with Mercury Neptune also in Sag as well as her Venus. Her Pluto is in a forceful square to Mars in can-be materialistic Capricorn. Her Moon is probably Gemini. Rather like Trump in reverse.

Mnuchin, 21 December 1962 is also a final degree Sagittarius trine Mars in Leo, so quite a showman himself. His Venus is in Scorpio which doesn’t chime too well with her Venus in Sagittarius or her Gemini Moon.

Their relationship chart has a composite Sun Jupiter so they’ll egg each other on; though the composite Venus is conjunct Neptune, which usually wears the shine off. She’s certainly pretty over-confident at the moment with tr Pluto square her Jupiter/Pluto midpoint. But from late September tr Saturn starts to conjunct her Neptune, then Mercury, then Sun up to December, which will put her flame at a peep. 2019/2020 sees tr Pluto conjunct her Mars, which will feel boxed-in and acutely frustrating.

Their wedding in late June this year attended by the entire Trump dynasty and VP Pence had an ostentatious though high-tension Mars opposition Pluto square Jupiter – which could end up in bitterness at some point.

Angela Merkel is sailing high in the polls as the German election of September 24^th approaches and she seeks her fourth term. Yesterday she said she thought she got better the longer she stayed in office. That’s tempting fortune given the insoluble migrant problem which she partly stoked up, a German economic slowdown, and murmurs about crumbling infrastructure after years of austerity, saving and too little investment, never mind other EU criticism about the north/south imbalance.

The election will be held on a panicky-failure Mars opposition Neptune; though the Fire Grand Trine/Kite onto Jupiter is still in place which will produce a bubble of enthusiasm (which may not last).

Merkel does not look as happy as she had expected over the election with tr Neptune opposition her Solar Arc Jupiter, though that is a mild enough influence. She’ll bounce up confidently from late October and across into the New Year.

Her relationship with Germany has mainly been highly positive all the way through, not surprising given that her Jupiter sits in Germany’s 10^th house, giving the country a successful lift. But relations may be sagging ahead especially from this New Year with her popularity sliding – tr Saturn will oppose the composite Jupiter Pluto from late this December, on and off through 2018; and will be confused and disorientated in 2018/2019. So it looks rocky for her domestic popularity.

What’s key in her chart is tr Saturn moving below her Ascendant through her 1^st quadrant which is when erstwhile successful leaders most often lose their mojo, if they haven’t had the sense to retire. Banana skins become longer and more frequent, as do misjudgements. She’ll be at the lowest ebb of this phase right through her next term (if she’s elected).

And Germany is heading into a less bullish few years. The Bundesbank (Central Bank) looks pressured in 2017/18 and devastated in 2019. The Germany chart has the bubble and enthusiasm-bursting tr Neptune square Jupiter in 2019. The country chart also has tr Pluto square the 7^th house Neptune in 2017/18 which suggests that neighbourly relations are sinking into a swamp – which may be the EU, or bordering countries like Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, France. Merkel’s relationship with the ebullient French President Macron is deteriorating sharply now and through 2018. And her interface with the EU is similarly strained and then thoroughly undermined from mid 2018 into 2019.

She might have been better to stick to her original plan and leave when she was on a high.

A huge brand name in the tarot market has given it up in a conversion to Jesus and has now denounced all her former extremely lucrative books, cards and courses. Doreen Virtue (I confess I had never heard of her) is now pushing a presumably equally money-making line in more religious guidance. From google searches I can’t work out whether her fairyology courses are old or new incarnation but she seems to be punting a Devotional Prayer book hard on her twitter.

Born 29 April 1958 1.13am? Burbank, California, into a Christian Scientist family, she had clairvoyant experiences from childhood, speaking to spirits; and has been married and divorced four times. She’s a Taurus Sun opposition Neptune conjunct her Scorpio MC square Uranus in her 7^th. Uranus Neptune can be fairly fanatical in beliefs which are not always conventional. Uranus in the 7^th is a pointer to multiple relationships.

Neptune in the 9^th conjunct Midheaven makes sense of a psychic/spiritual career. She’s also got an entrepreneurial Fire Grand Trine of Pluto in the hidden 8^th trine Saturn trine Mercury in Aries, with Mercury opposition Jupiter in the 9th, forming it into a Kite. So all that heavyweight Saturn Pluto fiery energy is being pushed into publishing (9^th) and communication (3^rd). She’s also got an ambitious-for-money Mars in her 2^nd house of personal finances opposition Pluto in the business chart area. Her chart is a curious mix of deeply buried pointing to interests in what lies beyond/beneath reality and materialism. So making money out of a psychic/spiritual approach does fit.

I’m not sure when her epiphany/conversion on the road to Damascus occurred. Though her career seems to be moving seamlessly into another success, at least for the next two years, if her birth time is accurate. In 2019, however, she picks up tr Uranus in hard aspect to her Fixed T square of Neptune (MC) opposition Sun square Uranus, which points to another radical shift in her path.

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A maverick inventor, a sunk submarine and a dead female journalist all add up to quite a mystery off a Copenhagen island. Initially Peter Madsen claimed he dropped Kim Wall onshore, but now says she died in an accident onboard his vessel, and that he dumped her body in the sea. A torso minus head, legs and arms has now been found though not yet identified.

Madsen, 12 January 1971, has now been accused of negligent manslaughter and police suspect he scuppered his privately-built and crowd-funded submarine deliberately. He has a reputation as a loner, hot tempered especially with journalists who give him a bad press, but not violent.

He’s a Sun Capricorn in a controlling trine to Pluto, sextile an ultra-determined and unforgiving Mars in Scorpio, square Uranus and trine Saturn in Taurus – so a heavyweight chart. With a short-tempered, hard-edged Saturn opposition Mars square an Aquarius Node – channelling his aggression into a cause. His Mars is in an enterprising conjunction to Jupiter, which in turn is conjunct Neptune Venus in Sagittarius. And his Mercury in Sagittarius in an intense, dogmatic square to Pluto. A talented man with a strong craftsman/builder 5H; and unorthodox/genius/breakthrough 13H – but not an easy temperament.

Kim Wall, 23 March 1987, was a highly respected freelance journalist, who had worked in dangerous spots in the world, and was researching a feature about Peter Madsen. She had written for the New York Times, Guardian, Vice and the South China Morning Post.

An intrepid Sun Jupiter in Aries square Neptune Uranus,  she had Mars in stubborn Taurus inconjunct Saturn in Sagittarius – certainly go-ahead, drawn to a high-adrenaline lifestyle, and could be gritty. She wasn’t a great combination with Madsen, with her Mars conjunct his Saturn and trine his Sun, so it would be a sparky mix. Their relationship chart has a competitive and fairly explosive composite Sun Mars square Uranus and trine Pluto – not well-designed to be together in a confined space.

He’s not looking too happy ahead with various Mars midpoints getting elbowed into 2018 and then tr Pluto conjunct his Sun in 2018/19.

Jerry Lewis, the comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer, director has died aged 91. He was a ‘defining figure in American entertainment’ on Broadway, in films, nightclubs and on television, adored by some and disliked by others for his zany performances.

Born 16 March 1926 12.15pm Newark, New Jersey, into a vaudeville family, he was often left as his parents went touring. He became successful early in a duo nightclub act with singer Dean Martin and later after they split branched out on his own to a prolific and long-running career, which had its ups and downs but he always bounced back.

He had Sun Uranus in Pisces on his midheaven, so definitely quirky and went his own independent way; with his Sun Uranus in a pro-active sextile to Mars in Capricorn. His Mars was square a 10^th house Taurus Moon and his 10^th house Mercury in Aries was square Pluto – he could pack a fair verbal punch. He was also blessed with an 8^th house Jupiter in Aquarius conjunct Venus opposition Neptune square Saturn in Scorpio in his 5^th – lucky and obsessively conscientious especially about the organisational side of showbusiness. He was a complicated, multi-talented man with a chart replete with creative quintiles and inspired though not always stable septiles (5^th and 7^th harmonics.) His unorthodox/genius 13H was also especially heavily aspected.

The New York Times wrote: “A mercurial personality who could flip from naked neediness to towering rage, Mr. Lewis seemed to contain multitudes, and he explored all of them. His ultimate object of contemplation was his own contradictory self, and he turned his obsession with fragmentation, discontinuity and the limits of language into a spectacle that enchanted children, disturbed adults and fascinated postmodernist critics.”

Eclipse excitement is at its height across the USA, as it was with the UK August 1999 Eclipse. Despite fears of momentous events, if this one follows the 1999 one, nothing much of significance may happen immediately. Though it’s interesting to look at what events occurred close to a previous USA Total Solar Eclipse on 29 July 1878, seen across southern states. There was a tornado in Connecticut 10 days later which killed 34. More tragically that year there was an outbreak of yellow fever in the Mississippi Valley which killed over 13,000.

The previous winter had been abnormally cold and was followed in Texas by a plague of grass-hoppers. Politically the USA was sinking into the ‘gilded era’ so called satirically by Mark Twain which was a period of serious social problems masked by a thin gold gilding. It was a time when political corruption, the spoils system, and back-room deals contributed to a weak federal government. So called Reconstruction after the Civil War came to an end, and the African-American people in the South, formerly slaves, were stripped of political power and voting rights and were left economically disadvantaged. Republican Rutherford Hayes had become president in 1876 in a contentious and controversial USA elections, despite have polled lower than the Democrat candidate, who won a majority of the popular vote.

The 1878 Eclipse was at 6 degrees Leo, so exactly conjunct the USA North Node, which should have been a wake-up call. But an attempt at a more progressive era took another decade plus to come into being. The Eclipse did coincide with a brutal and disruptive Pluto square Mars Uranus; as well as New Moon opposition Jupiter square Neptune, perhaps pointing to its slippery financial effect.

James Garfield who became Republican President in March 1881 was assassinated four months later. When his death occurred on 2 July 1881, on the 1878 Eclipse chart the New Moon had moved by Solar Arc to square the Neptune; and Solar Arc Pluto had moved to close to the square to Uranus to exact, with Solar Arc Mars square Pluto – that’s perhaps a touch obscure since you’d drown in data if you plotted all Eclipse charts for years after. But intriguing enough for major Total Eclipses on their path.

For previous posts on the August 2017 Eclipse see August 14 2017 and November 11 2016.

Image is of a drawing made at the time of the 1878 eclipse.

‘I’ll do what I want and you’ll do what I want then I’ll be happy’ appears to be Trump’s Make America Great again strategy as the Canada, Mexico, USA NAFTA trade agreement, now 25 years old, opens for renegotiation. Trump has called NAFTA the worst deal ever and threatened to tear it up unless a better agreement can be negotiated for American workers. North of the border, a top Canadian union boss said; “ We’re a polite nation, but we’re not a stupid nation” to the suggestion that the USA wants more access to government procurement contracts in Canada and Mexico, while restricting businesses through so-called Buy American laws. South of the border, Mexican hatred of Trump is escalating, so any Mexico comes-second deal is likely to accelerate an anti-USA government being voted in, which will have other consequences, not least on border control.

The NAFTA agreement came into force on 1 January 1994 and has a productive chart with a Sun Mars Mercury Venus in ambitious and commercial Capricorn sextile Jupiter in Scorpio; and an enduring Saturn opposition Moon square Pluto. But it is undoubtedly moving through sticky times. Tr Saturn is moving to conjunct the Capricorn planets from early 2018, and worse tr Pluto will conjunct Neptune Uranus in Capricorn also from early 2018 to late 2019 which look highly confused and devastating, so it’s not beyond the bounds of possibilities it ends up in a heap on the floor. Though two things in its favour. That Saturn Pluto square is fairly unbudgeable and tr Uranus opposition Jupiter in 2020/21 might see a revival.

Relations between both Canada and Mexico and the USA are extremely fractious now and until 2020.

The Canadian/USA relationship chart is stuck at the moment, discouraged through the fall, and explosive from March 2018 onwards, with increasing coldness and separation as well as major jolts into 2019.

The Mexico/USA relationship chart is on a knife-edge of insecurity in 2018; and much worse in 2019/2020 with tr Pluto opposition the composite Mars, which will bring up extreme aggravation.

The Mexico 15 September 1810 11pm Dolores Hidalgo chart looks irritable and blocked at the moment, downbeat in late Sept/Oct and facing a serious setback with losses in 2018 from Solar Arc Mars opposition Sun and tr Neptune conjunct the 10^th house Pluto, so not in a good phase.