Marjorie

And so it has come to pass. The explosive turn of events that was aways going to mark Joe Biden’s term, much pondered at the time of the inauguration, has arrived on cue – with the Term Solar Arc Sun closing the conjunction with Saturn to exact and SA Saturn closing the square to Mars Uranus to exact. Saturn = weighty matters and heavy responsibility. Mars Uranus Saturn = a volatile, high-risk and destructive situation.

  The Taurus Lunar Eclipse late this month will also conjunct the Term Mars Uranus adding to the challenge and danger. Ebertin describes Mars Uranus as violent people, fighters for freedom, revolutionaries, a test of nerves and a sudden intervention (sometimes an operation).

  Biden took the almost unprecedented step for a US President of visiting a war zone, offering full support to Israel but that was conditional on aid getting into Gaza, with cautions about not repeating the same mistakes as the US by taking a vengeance spree post 9/11. He called for respect for the rules of war and for the innocent lives on both sides who might be put at risk in the conflict. He backed his support for Israel by sending two carrier battle groups into the region – no doubt with a wary eye on Iran. 

  Joe Biden’s personal chart has Mars exactly on the Descendant for Iran so it is very much his warzone hotspot. 

  Biden’s personal Mars/Uranus midpoint is on red alert over this crisis and for another few days; with a similar tr Uranus opposition his Sun/Mars midpoint picking up mid this November to mid December. He’s facing a panicky disaster just after mid November to late December with tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Pluto when he won’t have the energy or wherewithal to handle calamities decisively. He’ll get back into confident gear from late February 2024 onwards with tr Uranus square his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint.  

  But will be seriously rattled come July 2024 as tr Uranus squares his Mars/Saturn midpoint = which may be when the Middle East moves into an even more perilous phase with another major atrocity. (Or admittedly in his case could be a million different things.)  But that period certainly flags up on Netanyahu’s chart and his relationship with Mohammed bin Salman, as as well as MBS’s relationship with Israel. (And Trump and the GOP Convention.)

  It also flags up on Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s chart. He is doing sterling service at present zipping from capital to capital backing up Biden’s message. Born 16 April 1962 New York, he is experiencing the same extreme turbulence with his Solar Arc Mars square his Uranus and SA Uranus opposition his Sun now. And his Aries Sun is opposition the recent Solar Eclipse for a crisis. Next June he has tr Uranus opposition his Saturn/Pluto midpoint and then in July tr Uranus square his Uranus and his Pluto/North Node midpoint – which points to him being under maximum pressure in a potentially war-like situation.

  There is a blackly humorous and depressingly on-point cartoon today by Martyn Turner. The Bleedin’ Obvious: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results…” Israel – More force will put manners on them. Hamas – Kill more and they’ll go away.

  From the look of Israel’s chart this one is not going to go away for several years ahead. Indeed the situation is much as James Cameron pointed out 50 years ago and nothing much essential has altered since.  See post 10^th October. 

  See previous post on Netanyahu 11 October, and also previous post on Biden 2 July 2023.

ADD ON:

Kamala Harris, as ever waits in the wings, a stand-in if the unthinkable happens and Biden becomes incapable for whatever reason. Born 20 October 1964 9.28 pm Oakland, California, she has a Libra Sun about to emerge from a gruelling two years of a blocked tr Pluto moving through her 8^th house square her Sun from late this month which has put her through the wringer. Tr Saturn is now hovering around her Midheaven beginning eight years of heavier responsibility, hard work and possibly promotion ahead in whatever she does. The key complication from an astrological interpretation viewpoint is her Fixed T Square of a sharp-edged and prone-to-setbacks Saturn in Aquarius opposition Mars in Leo square a lucky, though overly confident and acquisitive Jupiter in Taurus. Such a Fixed T Square will give her stamina and the potential to be an enlightened political spokesman though Jupiterian excesses in terms of arrogance, inertia and intolerance can interfere with progress.

 Tr Uranus is in hard aspect shaking up this T Square, first in an edgy, insecure square to Mars late this month to mid November and again next April which can come about because of a sudden surprise change of circumstances and will also bring arguments. Tr Uranus then is conjunct her Jupiter late May to mid June 2024, late November to mid December 2024 and again March 2025.   On its own tr Uranus conjunct Jupiter brings lucky breaks and new opportunities. But tugging on that accident-prone Mars Saturn, it could well lead to an entirely different outcome. [As was obvious from individuals with Jupiter opposition Neptune in their chart who failed rather than succeeded when their Jupiter was triggered since their over-hopeful Neptune was pulled into play.]

 Her Mars/Saturn midpoint will be triggered at the same time as her Jupiter in June 2024 and December 2024 and into 2025. This could bring a fortunate separation, a silver lining in a major setback or having to concentrate extra hard on a complex and risky problem.

  Around the high-agitation phase in mid July/early August 2024 she has tr Uranus square her Sun/Node which suggests upsets within her community.

  What is marginally alarming is her relationship chart with Donald Trump – whom she was never going to blend with at the best of times with his Mars in Leo clashing with her Mars in Leo plus Saturn Jupiter. Their composite shows up with a bitterly hostile Mars, Sun, Pluto which is being severely aggravated from June onwards, peaking in June/July and extending on through into 2025. Which rather suggests he is still in the game.

  Relocating her chart to the Middle East, Saudi Arabia looks most stressed with her Mars close to her Midheaven there – definitely argumentative.  Her relationship with Mohammed bin Salman, is rattled at the moment and if she is still in situ 2025 onwards it will deteriorate.

  The mystery of the disappearance of explorer and archaeologist Percy Fawcett in an Amazonian jungle in 1925 led initially to tentative explanations of him being shot by Indians, killed by a jaguar or starved to death. Another bizarre reason has emerged recently which alludes to him being lured by a native she-god or spirit guide, leading him to plan a freedom commune in the jungle, based on a bizarre cult.

  For once the astrology has relatively clear indications about his demise and even the location. 

   He was born 31 August 1867 at 8am Torquay, England, and served in the army in Hong Kong, Malta and Ceylon, worked in Africa in the British Secret Service pursuing his main interest of surveying and mapmaking. Along the way he became friends with authors Sir Henry Rider Haggard and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; the latter used Fawcett’s Amazonian field reports as inspiration for his novel The Lost World.

He went on several expeditions to South America from 1906 onwards, charting unexplored jungle; and developed an idea about a “lost city” of an ancient civilization somewhere in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil. On his second trip to find it in 1925 he disappeared along with his eldest son, Jack, and a friend.

  Percy Fawcett was a Sun, Venus in Virgo in the 12^th in an expansive and confident opposition to Jupiter in Pisces. But his chart is marked by two key configurations.  One was an innovative/rebellious Uranus in his career 10^th square Mars opposition Neptune, giving him a liking for thrills, excitement and a touch of glamour/publicity.  The other was an 8^th house Pluto opposition Saturn in Scorpio making him beyond stubborn and enduring; as well as fascinated by exploring the furthest reaches of experience.

  He had been to Brazil several times but it was a risky area for him since it put his Pluto on his Midheaven, usually regarded as a location in which to be wary. All the usual Pluto issues tend to be raised on such a line – running into power struggles and opponents, facing danger. What would undoubtedly trigger high-risk/accident or misadventure was tr Pluto conjunct his natal Mars as well as his Solar Arc Pluto square his Mars exactly and reverberating round his explosive Mars Uranus Neptune T square. Tr Mercury was also exactly conjunct his Pluto on the day he disappeared.

  It was a troubled area for him. Where before he had escaped life-threatening problems, this time destructive transits on his chart triggered a disaster. What made that period in his life even more stressed was that his two tricky configurations – Saturn opposition Pluto and his Mars Uranus Neptune T square had collided by Solar Arc directions – and that usually keys up a life changing crisis.

   Even his son Jack, 19 May 1903 (no birth time) had his Solar Arc sun conjunct his Pluto, SA Uranus square his North Node and Progressed Mars square his Neptune – all exact – when he disappeared – hugely pressured, wrong place wrong time and panic creating.

  Jim Lewis is spot on in his Astrocartography book about Pluto Midheaven locations – a battle for personal autonomy and freedom from coercion, engaging in hero worship, anti-social behaviour which would all fit with his escape-to-Brazil cult idea. It also tends to bring situations of victimization ‘by organized mobs.’ Maybe the Indians got him after all.

  Before anyone comments that wiki have a different August birthdate – this one works perfectly and comes from ADB.

Jim Jordan’s far-right supporters are putting on an intimidation campaign to twist the arms of reluctant Republican congresspersons before the vote for him to become Speaker on Tuesday. If he wins they will have elected a speaker who opposes Ukraine funding and wanted then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject Joe Biden electoral votes. In addition it means that Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s strategy will have been successful, as a small group (four percent) of House Republicans will have unilaterally ousted a House speaker — and replaced him with their chosen successor.

  “Several of Mr. Jordan’s supporters have posted the phone numbers of mainstream G.O.P. lawmakers they count as holdouts,” according to The New York Times.

  He was born 17 February 1964 in Troy, Ohio, was a wrestler in college, became a congressman in 2007 and recently has been an all-out, vociferously supportive pro-Trumper.

  He was born three days after John Gotti Jnr, (the convicted former mobster’s son), six days after Sarah Palin and 7 days after Glen Beck (right-wing conspiracy theorist jock.) All of them have similar charts – a ferociously hard-edged and aggressive Sun Mars Saturn in Aquarius with Neptune in Scorpio in square. Plus a Yod of Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Jupiter (Moon) in Aries. A yod apex Jupiter can be influential  on social affairs but tends to be undone by self-aggrandisement. He has another Yod of Mercury in Aquarius sextile Venus in Aries inconjunct Uranus – can be a trailblazer but is also divisive and tends to cause rifts.

  His Jupiter and maybe Moon (not known because no birth time) was opposition this week’s Solar Eclipse which could hint at wild over-confidence but there is nothing other than that showing on his chart for or against victory or defeat at the moment and ditto Matt Gaetz. What, however, is eye-catching is a considerable upset on his chart in July 2024 which he will regard as a cataclysmic disaster. His relationship chart with Donald Trump will also be seriously shaken at the same time by a devastating turn of events as their composite Pluto square Mars gets elbowed sharply by tr Uranus in hard aspect, continuing into 2025.

  That is also when tr Uranus squares Trump’s Mars in Leo over the 2024 Republican Convention which looks to be a shock n’ awe event with a Uranus Mars conjunction on the opening day.

  Jordan looks deflated in 2025, his confidence dented and ambitious plans undermined.  

DNA testing could prove the guilt or innocence of Bruno Hauptmann convicted and executed for the kidnap and murder of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s baby 90 years ago. There has been no DNA testing or forensic testing of any kind in recent decades and the case largely rested on circumstantial – admittedly overwhelming – evidence. A group of researchers is pressing its legal fight to reexamine the case evidence using rapidly developing DNA technology.  Marked bills from the kidnapping ransom were found in his garage. Wood from the kidnapping ladder was found to be from his attic.  But there are queries as to whether he had an accomplice. When he went to the electric chair in 1936, he was still maintaining his innocence, refusing to sign a confession that might have saved his life. 

Bruno Hauptmann, 26 November 1899 1pm Kamenz, Germany, was a carpenter, an illegal immigrant who came to the USA after the First World War in which his father and two brothers died and he himself was gassed and suffered a head injury. After the war, he and a friend robbed two women wheeling a baby carriage and he served time for burglaries including one using a ladder.

  He had a stellium of six planets spread out through Sagittarius with Sun conjunct Uranus, Uranus conjunct Mars and Venus, Mercury, Saturn all conjunct. His explosive Mars Uranus was opposition Pluto and square a Virgo Moon which suggests a volcanic reservoir of anger against women, no doubt from his own infant experiences.  His Venus, Mercury, Saturn opposed Neptune and again squared his Moon – emotionally incredibly unstable. Plus his Mars was conjunct Chiron which can have problems controlling aggression.

  Tragically and ironically the baby Charles Lindbergh 111 also had his Mars conjunct Chiron, deeply buried in in Taurus in his 8^th house. Born 22 June 1930 2.10pm Englewood, New Jersey, he may have had a lucky, expansive Sun Cancer conjunct Jupiter in his 9^th house but he did not have an easy chart with an over-controlled 10^th house Pluto square a 7^th house Uranus and his Mars Chiron conjunct his Moon. Had he survived the kidnapping or even without it, he would not have had an untroubled life.

  His father, Charles Lindbergh 11, 4 February 1902 1.30 am Detroit, Michigan, was a super-determined Sun and Mars in Aquarius with a controlling Pluto in his 8th opposition Uranus and Neptune also in his 8th Taurus. His Moon in Sagittarius was conjunct Uranus and opposition both Pluto and Neptune – so not emotionally stable or calm. His Sun was square the baby’s 8th house Mars exactly so a connection that would tend to flare up easily.

  The baby’s mother Anne Morrow Lindbergh, another aviator, 22 June 1906 11.15 am Englewood, NJ, also had a revved up Mars with her Cancer Sun conjunct Mars, Moon, Neptune opposition Uranus – and that would have been explosive.

  There is nothing much on any of the charts to give any indication of involvement on 1 March 1932 when the baby disappeared.

  But there is an extraordinarily strong Mars theme running through all the charts.   

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Michael Caine whose epic and award-strewn career started with Zulu, The Ipcress File, Alfie and The Italian Job in the 1960s has announced his retirement at 90. He continued on through the 70s with Get Carter, The Man Who Would Be King, The Eagle Has Landed and A Bridge Too Far, followed by Educating Rita, The Cider House Rules, Mona Lisa and others.  He says he wants to go out on a high note after his last role in well-reviewed The Great Escaper.

 He was born 14 March 1933 10.10am London, son of a fishmarket porter and a charlady, who grew up in poverty and dreamed of becoming an actor. He didn’t go to drama school and after National Service where he saw action in the Korean War, he worked in rep theatre and took bit parts in movies until his breakout role in Zulu.

  He was marked by the poverty of his upbringing and remarked of one untypical dud movie he appeared in: ‘By all accounts it was terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.’ But across the board he managed to produce quality performances in top-notch films.

  He had a 10^th house Pisces Sun and Venus (not conjunct) suiting him admirably for a Neptunian filmic career. His Sun was opposition a 4^th house Jupiter and his Venus was opposition Jupiter, Neptune and Mars in his 4^th house. Home and roots would always have been important to him.

 What stands out in his chart is his Libra Moon in his performing 5^th house which was quincunx his Sun – and opposition Uranus square a 2^nd house Pluto. The quincunx would make it difficult to balance his ambitions with his emotional needs and he’d be constantly restless and fluctuating in mood.  Moon Uranus would further accentuate his need for excitement and change.

  A focal point Pluto in his 2^nd would make him obsessive about staying in control of his finances and boosting his security and wealth.

 His wife since 1973 Shakira, 23 February 1947, is also a Sun Pisces with her Venus in Capricorn falling in his 8^th opposition his Pluto and trine his Jupiter –a passionate and amiable connection.  Her Jupiter in Scorpio is also trine his Sun and his Pluto so she would be a supportive influence and would also enjoy the good life along with him.  The Jupiterian crossovers will help to smooth any rough edges.

  His actor’s 15^th harmonic is exceptionally well-aspected as his his leaving-his-mark 17H and his global-presence 22H.   

He has twice before said he is retiring so who knows?

Australia met the challenge of the Solar Eclipse by ducking and rejecting the government’s proposal to create a permanent body for indigenous people to advise parliament. Best estimates are that 60% voted no. It was an attempt to improve the lives of the indigenous population and close the enormous gap that persists between them and non-indigenous Australians. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders account for 3.8 per cent of Australia’s population of 26 million people. Opponents gained traction with the public by claiming it would divide Australia by race, bestowing special privileges on one small minority.

  The Australia Settlement chart of 26 January 1788 had yesterday’s Eclipse conjunct the Neptune. Jansky remarks that Neptune triggered by an eclipse can be an opportunity for greater spiritual understanding and joy (idealism/caring as well). Misused it leads to self-deceit. Typical Neptunian dither and evasion. Though chickens may come home to roost in coming years as the Solar Arc Venus and significantly Saturn will conjunct the Neptune in 2025/27. Even before then next April’s Aries Eclipse will oppose the Neptune perhaps exposing the insincerity.

   New Zealand also rallied voters in an election which saw a sharp swing to the right as the Solar Eclipse opposed the Aries Moon. Jacinda Ardern’s sweeping victory in 2020 was reversed as the country grapples with economic pain.

In a mundane chart the Moon refers to the public though can also indicate an emotional component when it is triggered. The next April Aries Solar Eclipse will conjunct the NZ Moon so the enormous pressures on the NZ chart won’t magically disappear with a new shade of government. Pressures will intensify with tr Pluto continuing to conjunct the NZ Mars in Capricorn till late this year and square the Pluto till late 2024. With two high-tension and deprived/tough conditions Solar Arcs – Saturn opposition Pluto and Pluto opposition Moon – in 2024 as well.  With financial disappointments in 2023/24 and upheavals into 2025/26.

 There may well be political musical chairs for a while.  I will return to NZ and politicians when the new government is sworn in.

Canadian-French astrophysicist Hubert Reeves whose fascination for the Universe’s past led him to become the historian of the cosmos and of matter, has died. Latterly he became an environmentalist as well. “After skimming the skies, he became passionate about the Earth.”

   In one paper he said: that astronomy and ecology could be seen “as two facets of the same theme: our existence. Astronomy, by telling us the story of the Universe, tells us where we came from, and how we came to be here today. Ecology, by making us aware of the threats to our future, aims to tell us how to stay there.”

  He was born 13 July 1932 6pm Montreal, Canada, where after graduation he taught and became a scientific advisor to NASA. But in his 30s he moved to Europe and became Director of research at the CNRS, France’s national scientific research centre, and scientific advisor to the French Atomic Energy Commission. There he might have stayed, respected by colleagues but little known until he was persuaded to write a book, which initially could not find a publisher. When it did it, he sold over a million copies and had it translated into over thirty languages. Thirty books followed and his memoirs.

  He had a deeply buried 8^th house Sun Pluto conjunction in Cancer which would fuel his interest in the mysteries that lay far beyond our limited reality. His Sun Pluto also squared an innovative, experimental Uranus and trined an intense 12^th house Scorpio Moon. His communicative 9^th house – teaching and writing – had a flamboyant and entertaining Mercury and Jupiter in Leo as well as cosmic Neptune which in turn squared his 7^th house Mars. He was always destined to come out of the academic shadows with attention grabbing Leo and a publicity-attracting Mars Neptune.

  His writers’ 21^st harmonic is well-aspected, both charming and explosively direct. His get-it-together 5H and seeking-and-searching 7H are also notable. As is his breakthrough-genius 13H and global-fame 22H.

Protecting the rights and lives of civilians is a basic tenet of the Geneva Convention. As Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, declared as a caution this week in Tel Aviv: “We democracies distinguish ourselves from terrorists by striving for a different standard, even when it’s difficult.”

 The Geneva Convention came into force on 21 October 1950, following from the earlier convention of 22 August 1864 and there have been various amendments since.

     The key directive is to distinguish between combatants and civilians and minimise harm to populations. Sites such as shops, hospitals, schools and places of worship are considered civilian installations where attacks either deliberate or as collateral damage would normally be prohibited. Attacks should be focused on militarily defeating armed opponents, rather than collective punishment of a wider group of people for casualties inflicted. Hostage-taking such as that carried out by Hamas is also a war crime. The use of civilians as human shields for combatants is forbidden. Even if a warring party is using civilian sites, its opponent still has a responsibility to minimise non-combatant casualties.

  The Geneva Convention’s 1977 additional protocols prohibit the use of starvation as a weapon of war. It is forbidden to “attack, destroy, remove or render useless . . . objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population”. These include “foodstuffs, agricultural areas . . . drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works”.

White phosphorus bombs are internationally prohibited under the 1980 Geneva Convention, which explicitly forbids their use as incendiary weapons against both humans and the environment. Their use in civilian areas is considered a war crime. Human Rights Watch says there have been documented civilian deaths from the use of white phosphorus in war zones in countries and areas such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Gaza.

  When the Convention came into force in 1950 there was a Libra Sun and Venus Mercury Neptune also in Libra sitting midway between a brutal/ruthless Pluto trine Mars. The Sun is labouring under tr Pluto square exactly at the moment and the Venus Mercury Neptune are catching today’s Solar Eclipse for an emotional upset, disagreements and confusion – with more come next spring’s Aries Solar Eclipse in opposition. Tr Uranus is also square the Pluto mid this December to mid March 2024. Plus an uncertain, undermining tr Neptune opposition the Saturn this year into early 2024. So war crimes will be in the spotlight over the coming twelve months.

The sham that was Will and Jada Smith’s marriage in finally unveiled as she admits they have lived separately since 2016 despite his heroic defence of her at the 2022 Oscars when he slapped presenter Chris Rock for making fun of her.

  Never believe a Hollywood smile when cameras are around.

  He was born 25 September 1969 9.47 pm New York, started out as a rapper before switching to movies which have festooned with awards and earned nearly $10 billion over the years.  His entertaining 5^th house Libra Sun is conjunct Uranus giving him an original, quirky, inventive streak and a need for space. He has a Moon Neptune conjunction in Scorpio making him idealistic but unrealistic about women. It sits on one leg of a tricky yod sextile a super-confident Jupiter Pluto inconjunct Saturn in self-reliant Aries – he’s a curious jumble of arrogance and low self-esteem, pushy at times and dreamily uncertain at others.

  Jada was born 18 September 1971 12.38 pm New York and has a controlling and influential Sun Pluto in Virgo conjunct her Midheaven with Moon Mercury in Virgo in the late 9^th house. She also has an Air Grand Trine of Uranus trine Saturn in Gemini in her 7^th trine a stubborn Mars in Aquarius and North Node, formed into a Kite by Neptune Jupiter in Sagittarius on her Ascendant. She’ll be critical with so much Virgo and emotionally detached with so much Air. 

   Neither are easy personalities and she has Saturn on her Descendant so relationships were always going to require considerable effort from her.

  Both have Venus in Libra which will help  and her Venus is conjunct his Sun. But her Saturn squares his Mars which will be fractious and her Sun Pluto is conjunct his Uranus and Sun – so a push pull, over-control and then reject pattern.  Her Virgo Moon is conjunct his Jupiter.

  Their relationship chart has the composite Sun sandwiched between possessive Pluto on one side and needs-space Uranus on the other so it was never going to be easy to find a secure middle ground. There is also a composite Mars Neptune conjunction which is not good news since it points to an ego-conflict and not mutual support. One succeeds in career projects and the other feels diminished. Worse the Mars opposes Saturn which suggest one partner has to suppress their identity for the relationship to prosper.

 The wedding chart, 31 December 1997, has a downbeat Sun square Saturn; a tough-going Pluto trine Saturn, sextile Venus, Uranus, Mars – not an indication of seamless happiness ahead.  

   Not that it should matter what goes on behind closed doors but such is the price of fame to feed the public’s appetite for gossip. And to give astrologers a chance to dissect the celestial strands that bind together or tear apart.