Marjorie

The writer C J Sansom, creator of the character Matthew Shardlake, the hunchbacked lawyer who solved murder mysteries against the backdrop of the melodramatic turmoil of faith, heresy, high treason and political intrigue of Tudor England, Henry V111 and Thomas Cromwell, has died.  His obituaries say he invented the genre of a crime series set against the great sweep of political history.

“There are no modern spy writers who do not define themselves against John le Carré, or fantasy writers untouched by JRR Tolkien. The same is true of Sansom. If you pick up a novel tomorrow that ties a murder to a king, or a serial killer to a pope, there is a small, hunchbacked lawyer lurking in that book’s genesis.”

  He started from unlikely beginnings in Edinburgh on  9 December 1952, no birth time, growing up in a traditional Presbyterian family and bullied at school with undiagnosed ADHD. He escaped into books and attempted suicide at 15, ending up in a mental hospital for a year.

“For the first time in my life, I was not treated as a pariah, and I owe more than I can say to the devotedly caring staff. They saved my life. My mind came to life and I found interests in literature, history and politics.”

 After a hiatus he studied history at University, taking a PhD, and trained as a solicitor, mainly working on legal aid cases so that he could “act on behalf of the underdog”.

In his late forties an inheritance enabled him to take a sabbatical to write fiction and “see what happened”. Seven best sellers followed.

 ‘Sansom’s novels made him rich, but living alone he continued to struggle with intermittent depression: “If you keep kicking a dog, it expects to be kicked. All my life I have had the feelings of worthlessness, inferiority and self-blame characteristic of abused children.”

  A Disney+ series based on his novels, starring Arthur Hughes as Shardlake and Sean Bean as Cromwell, airs this week, which sadly he did not live to see broadcast.

 He had a knowledgeable, communicative Sagittarius Sun trine Pluto and sextile a hope-for-a-better-society Saturn Neptune in Libra. Significantly his Sun was also on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Uranus sextile Jupiter. A quincunx to his Sun would make him socially-awkward and self-conscious but would also give him the ability to switch track into a new field of activity that would give him confidence, resulting in recognition. He could have mismanaged such an aspect, as some do, into becoming overbearing but he clearly found a way to balance out his ego drives in a way that found appreciation out in society even if he never fully embraced his success.  He had a Virgo Moon which is good for detail plus his determined Mars in Aquarius was conjunct his North Node giving him a passionate drive for a cause which perhaps tied into his Saturn Neptune fight for the underdog.

  His Mercury in Sagittarius was unaspected apart from a mild sextile to Venus which initially may have scattered his attention but clearly had its other attribute of being one-tracked with an extraordinary ability in one narrow area of life.

  When he embarked on his life-changing second career in fiction his yod apex planet his Sun was being triggered by tr Pluto conjunct and Solar Arc Saturn Neptune also conjunct in the immediate aftermath. Yods usually need a sharp nudge which comes not as a willed effort but as a result of a series of outside circumstances which conspire to bring it to life and carve out a meant path ahead.

And his earlier shift at 15 in mental hospital came when transiting Pluto Uranus in Virgo were square his Sun.

Arab astrologers believed the greatest use of astrology came from insights it gave on the past, putting into context what had gone before. Predictive astrology tends to shine a light ahead and worry about what comes next. The oft repeated self-help mantra ‘Forget the Past, Live in the Present & Ignore the Future’ contains a nugget of truth, but is not feasible when there are ephemeris to be poured over (celestial-railway timetables) and both before and after become of all consuming interest.

  [When in a terminal catastropherian meltdown about the End of Times coming think crocodile. It has paddled on largely unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs. Life goes on.]  

  At present the great celestial gear change with Pluto moving into Aquarius, tentatively in 2023 and decisively in 2025 remaining till 2043, Neptune and Saturn moving into Aries in 2025/26 and Uranus into Gemini in 2025/26 – is causing a greater than usual level of uncertainty about what comes next. There won’t be such a close coincidence of four outer planets changing sign in such a short space of time for decades to come.

 Taking it year by year;

2025/26 Neptune Saturn conjunction in Pisces/Aries – hope for a better society, women’s and workers’ issues to the fore, some uncertainty, and health issues, both medical advances or panics.

2026 has Uranus just into Gemini (for seven years) trine Pluto sextile Neptune in Air and Fire which should be interesting in changing outlooks and advances.

2028 Saturn in Taurus square Pluto – tough-going, could see a war somewhere (plus ca change), deprivation.

2030/31 Saturn in Gemini trine Pluto sextile Neptune – could  see social improvements, could bring confusion.

2032 Saturn conjunct Uranus in Gemini – social reform, historically saw the rise of Golden Ages.

2032/33 Uranus Saturn into Cancer

2023/34 Saturn square Neptune – panicky, uncertain.

2035/36 Saturn in Leo opposition Pluto in Aquarius – deprivation, tough conditions, war.

2038 Neptune in Taurus – maybe art and nature combining. Constantin Brancusi the sculptor was born in 1876 as Neptune entered Taurus the previous time – a lovely combination of creativity with tangible form in sculptures.

2039 Uranus into Leo square Neptune in Taurus – highly strung, inspired, whacky ideas, fanaticism.  

2042 Saturn in Scorpio opposition Neptune square Uranus in Leo – creative, though also great uncertainty, line between fantasy and reality blurred.

2043 Pluto into Pisces.

  Nothing as tricky as the present four years between 2023 and 2026 but life’s winding path will continue to throw up mayhem as well as advances and advantages.

  The Supreme Court in the USA continues to lose respect and popularity for their abortion rulings and interventions in Trump’s behalf. The overturning of Roe versus Wade may prove to be the second worst decision in their long history and equally as politically damaging as the first.

  The Dred Scott decision of 6 March 1857 when they pronounced that people of black African descent could not be regarded as citizens was described as the Court’s “greatest self-inflicted wound” and had a crucial role in the start of the American Civil War four years later.

 The Dred Scott decision in 1857 came when tr Uranus in Taurus was square to the SCOTUS Pluto during deliberations. Tr Neptune was also conjunct the SCOTUS Saturn in Pisces; with the SA Pluto opposition the Neptune. Disruptive, leading to uncertainty and asserting power over compassion.

  The decision to overturn Roe v Wade finally arrived in June 2022, with pointed hints the month before, when tr Uranus along with the North Node in Taurus was square the SCOTUS Sun and moving to square the SCOTUS Pluto which is relatively similar to the above. And there was that momentous history-changing Uranus North Node conjunction approaching two months later in August. See post 17 June 2022. That arguably may have been the trigger for what transpires in future years like the Dred Scott decision.

 During SCOTUS decline in recent years with a right-wing slanted imbalance and corruption allegations tr Pluto has been squaring the SCOTUS Neptune. There will be some ructions in this June to August with tr Uranus square the Mars Jupiter conjunction, extending into early 2025.

  What may upset the apple cart is tr Pluto opposition the Uranus but that does not crop up until 2029 – so the knock on effect of recent misjudgements may take time to produce a substantial backlash.

Robert Todd Lincoln is a fascinating study in the fate versus freewill debate. Is a life pattern laid down at birth which attracts certain experiences, wished for or not?

  Lincoln was the eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln, a business lawyer and company president, who served as US Secretary of War and the U.S. ambassador to GB. He was present or nearby when the assassination of three presidents occurred – his father, James Garfield and William McKinley.

  He was born 1 August 1843 in Springfield, Illinois, no birth time and had a Leo Sun, with a Libra Moon almost certainly tied into a Cardinal Grand Cross opposition Pluto square Venus opposition Saturn. A Cardinal Grand Cross would give him a restless temperament, an over-abundance of initiative and a tendency to live a life of rolling crisis. With Saturn Pluto involved he would have grit and perseverance though also a tendency to experience the harsher side of life – and gave him an aptitude for a job such as Secretary for War.

   But even given all that, three Presidential assassinations does seem a coincidence too far.

  Looking deeper into his chart it becomes clearer. His Mars in Sagittarius and Saturn in Capricorn appear to have little connection. But their midpoint at zero degrees Capricorn is conjunct his North Node which ties him into the zeitgeist and both square his Uranus. Mars Saturn was the traditional astrological signature for assassination. The North Node tied him into the spirit of the age. And Uranus added an explosive and doubly violent overtone. His Uranus was also semi-square his destructive Mars/Pluto midpoint which would also make being a bystander at murders more likely.

  On all three occasions his North Node either natal or by Solar Arc Directions was highlighted; as was his Cardinal Grand Cross with the natal or SA Pluto or Saturn being rattled.

  Mars Saturn does have a connection with death in general, having military associations. In my own life it has been present by transit when significant family members died – not by violent means, in one case by old age.

ADD ON: Two others who were bystanders at several calamities – at sea – were stewardess Violet Jessop, 2 October 1887 who survived the Titanic and two other sea disasters; and ‘the unsinkable stoker’ Arthur Priest, 31 August 1887, who survived four including the Titanic.

 Arthur Priest was a Sun Virgo with his Jupiter in Scorpio square a Mars Saturn conjunction in Leo. His Mars Saturn was emphasized being on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine of Venus (Uranus) in Libra trine Pluto Neptune in Gemini. He’d certainly be tough and arguably his Jupiter square Mars/Saturn would bring luck to dangerous/life-threatening situations. At the Titanic sinking 14 April 1012, his Solar Arc Venus Uranus, the leading planets in the mini Grand Trine were conjunct his Jupiter; and tr Pluto was inconjunct his SA Jupiter.

Violet Jessop also had Jupiter in Scorpio which may have been on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Pluto sextile an Aries Moon. At the 20 September 1911 collision of HMS Hawke tr Jupiter was square her Mars/Saturn midpoint. At the Titanic sinking her Solar Arc Uranus was within a degree of being conjunct her Jupiter and tr Uranus was exactly square her SA Sun. At the 21 November 1916 HMS Britannic sinking her SA Sun was conjunct her Jupiter.

  Not quite as clearcut as Lincoln but pointing to the blessings of a strong Jupiter. A chart axis from a birth time might also be significant.

Is the US heading for civil war?  Amidst a generally panicky mood about everything from an impending World War 111 to a possible raging pandemic, the unstable and divisive political situation in the USA, exacerbated by the January 6 insurrection, is producing real fears of an internal rupture.

 The classic civil war astro-signature is transiting Pluto conjunct the Sun which oversaw the tearing apart of the USSR and the Syria civil war.

 The previous US civil war starting 12 April 1861 did not impact the USA 1776 chart’s Sun in any noticeable way.  Though it did conjunct the Taurus Sun on the USA First President chart, 30 April 1789.

  What showed up on the 1776 chart was a Uranus Return, tr Pluto square the Leo North Node and Neptune on the cusp of moving into Aries.

  There are certain similarities to the previous Civil War influences around the 2028 election with another Uranus Return (every 84 years) and tr Pluto in Aquarius opposition the Leo North Node. The USA’s North Node is sensitive – 9/11 happened during the exact tr Neptune opposition the North Node.

  So the next election might be the more fraught one – though I hesitate to feed into the American obsession with elections which generates a constant angst and anxiety about the next midterms and the next Presidential before the ink is dry on this one.

  But the same influences rarely produce the same outer events so nothing is certain.

See previous post: Civil Wars, messy splits – no clear signs ahead 6th May 2022 and other civil war posts in search.

The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power is the provocative title of a new book. It looks at the internet’s winner-takes-all dynamic set up by Jeff Bezos who launched his competition-squashing behemoth in 1995.

   Amazon’s march to monopoly has raised questions about why the US government has done little to stop its anti-competitive behaviour, caring more, it is suggested about “consumer welfare”, which puts efficiency and customer outcomes above all else.  There is an antitrust lawsuit on the books against Amazon but it could be years before that reaches a judgement.

  The chart of the first sale, 16 July 1995, is, astrologically speaking, jaw dropping with an imaginative Water Grand Trine from a Cancer Sun (= has a nose for public trends) trine Pluto in Scorpio (conjunct Jupiter) trine Saturn Moon in Pisces. It is both sensitive to customer needs and unyielding. Built for endurance. The Water Grand Trine is formed into three talented Kites with the Sun opposition the inventive, inspired and can-be-fanatical Uranus Neptune in Capricorn; Saturn in an unsentimental, can-be-destructive opposition to a hard working Mars in Virgo; and Pluto opposition Algol. If there was ever a chart for a colossus this is it.

 Jeff Bezos, 12 January 1964, is no slouch in terms of a birth chart either, with a super ambitious Capricorn Sun and Mars but more significantly Jupiter in pro-active Aries on the focal point of a yod to a mould-breaking, inventive Uranus Pluto conjunction sextile Neptune. Stratospheric ambitions which could be brought low by massive over-confidence.

  There will be hitches and glitches ahead but nothing that stands out as hubris brought crashing down.

  [I fear I am one of the ones who sighs ‘Amazon is nasty but it works’.]  

Bird flu has jumped across to cows and is rapidly spreading through herds in the USA with traces found in milk. The risk to the general population is still considered low, given H5N1 does not appear to transmit from human to human. Those most at risk are farm and poultry workers close to infected animals. But researchers are concerned, given the potential for further mutations through intermediaries, such as cows, cats or pigs.

  If mutations enable human-to-human spread, avian flu would become the top priority for governments around the world. The fatality rate is estimated by the World Health Organization at 52%, including young people. The US government is preparing a vaccine plan, with Tamiflu, a flu antiviral, seen to be an effective treatment. As yet it is considered a US problem with  UK beef being largely imported from the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands.

  Given we are deluged with catastropherian panics daily in the media it could be just one more scare but if it does spread it makes sense for health authorities to be prepared.

 The recent Covid-19 epidemic had a Saturn Pluto conjunction stamp, hinting at deprivation, hardship and destruction but that is not usually a sign of illness. more often bringing significant wars.

  The astro-signature most associated with epidemics is a Saturn Neptune conjunction of which the next one is due in 2025/26 in Aries. The Spanish flu epidemic towards the end of World War One which wiped out more people in a single year than the Middle Ages black death plague (between 25 and 50 million) coincided with the Saturn Neptune conjunction in Leo of 1918.

  An epidemic of St Vitus Dance (chorea) broke out in Europe in 1021 when Saturn and Neptune were together in Aquarius; the disease causes involuntary jerky movements and leads to brain deterioration.   The plague that devastated Europe and Asia during the 1340s was marked by the Saturn–Neptune conjunction in Aquarius of 1344, and the Uranus–Pluto conjunction at the same time. The outbreak of bubonic plague in London in 1665 and the Great Fire of London a year later both took place when Saturn and Neptune were together in Capricorn.

  In 1846 in Aquarius, widespread famine in Ireland followed the failure of the potato crop. By the conjunction of the late 1980s in Capricorn, the AIDS virus was running amok, causing countless deaths in Africa, Europe and the United States.

But given there are three Saturn Neptune conjunctions per century an illness blight is not a constant.

 There is another side to a Saturn Neptune conjunction in providing practical care for the suffering.  Medical advances are highlighted. Take one example, the Saturn Neptune conjunction in 1881 in Taurus, oversaw Louis Pasteur’s discovery of the anthrax vaccine.

  Another thought – the foot and mouth outbreak in the UK in 2001 which saw a crisis in British farming with 6 million cows and sheep slaughtered came two years after the famous/infamous August 1999 Solar Eclipse. It had a highly charged, destructive Mars in Scorpio opposition Saturn square Uranus opposition a Leo New Moon Grand Square and its path ran across the UK. There were not too many instant effects in the UK but when transiting Mars returned eighteen months later to Scorpio the foot-and-mouth outbreak occurred.  

 The Great American Eclipse recently was not as stressful as the 1999 eclipse was in terms of aspects but it might be worth keeping an eye on later triggers to the 2024 eclipse chart.

Celestial straws in the wind.

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Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction was overturned yesterday by the New York Court of Appeals, reversing a case that helped launch the #MeToo movement. The decision means Manhattan DA’s office will once again have to try the serial predator, and his accusers may have to take the stand again. The court ruled that the original judge had improperly allowed women to testify about allegations that Weinstein wasn’t on trial for. In all more than 80 women have accused producer him of sexual assault.

  He will remain in prison, because he also faces a 16-year sentence on a separate case in California, where he was convicted in 2022 of rape and other sexual misconduct.

  Judge Madeline Singas, one of the dissenters at the Court of Appeal, said that with the decision, “this Court continues to thwart the steady gains survivors of sexual violence have fought for in our criminal justice system”.

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer who represented eight of Weinstein’s accusers, said the decision was “tragic” and “a major step back”. “Courts routinely admit evidence of other uncharged acts… the jury was instructed on the relevance of this testimony.”  Lindsay Goldbrum, who represented six Harvey Weinstein victims, said the appeal court’s criticism of the use of witnesses not directly connected to the charges was a “leap backwards” and damaging to future cases. She said that the witnesses had “nothing to gain personally from participating in the trial. Their only goal was to give a voice to dozens of other women who suffered so much”.

  Weinstein, born 19 March 1952 9.45pm New York, despite his jubilation at the result is not cheerful moving forward with tr Neptune conjunct his Pisces Sun from this May off and on into 2025, followed by tr Saturn conjunct his Sun in 2025. And his ruthless, domineering Mars square Pluto in its Solar Arc Directions is still catching tr Pluto hard aspects into 2025.

 This month’s Aries Solar Eclipse was conjunct his Jupiter and opposition his Neptune – for hope and disappointment.

 Actress Ashley Judd, one of the first to speak out against Weinstein, has been voicing her disquiet about the court decision.  Her Saturn North Node in Aries caught this month’s Solar Eclipse which can bring discouraging experiences with a sense of weight and renewed responsibilities. Tr Pluto is still square her Aries Sun through this year for more challenges. She also has her Jupiter Neptune in hard aspect catching ups and downs through June and on.

  The law is an exceptionally blunt instrument when it comes to sexual offences and the calibre and biases of senior judiciary in charge of decisions leaves a great deal to be desired.

  I really do not wish to see HW’s repulsive face endlessly back in the newsprints.

 An astro-intrigue. His Mars in Scorpio went retrograde by progression when he was five and remains so throughout his life – which clearly did his career ambitions no harm at all  since he had a glittering succession of cinema triumphs. His Mars in his 1^st squares a control-freak, bullying Pluto conjunct his Midheaven – he really does have an unpleasant chart which reflects his tendencies.

Humza Yousaf’s coalition with the Scottish Greens has collapsed after after the Scottish Government scrapped its flagship climate change target last week. He will now lead a minority government with 63 MSPs out of a total of 129 members, slightly less than half. In theory the next election will be May 2026 though presumably it could come sooner.

  These are troubled times in Scotland with former SNP CEO Peter Murrell’s arrest on financial charges and a cloud still hanging over Nicola Sturgeon plus all manner of political squalls over taxation and other policies.

 Yousaf’s Term chart, 28 March 2023 3.03 pm Edinburgh always hinted at partnership problems with Saturn in the 7^th and Neptune in the 8^th plus Pluto square the Midheaven and a divisive 10^th house Uranus. It has a hugely stressed Mars in excitable Cancer conjunct the Moon, square Sun and Neptune, trine Saturn and inconjunct Pluto – so was never going to be a harmonious administration. The recent Aries Eclipse rattled up its Mercury Jupiter on Aries and the October Libra Eclipse will oppose the Aries Sun. If it survives into 2025 tr Saturn and Neptune in Aries square the Moon Mars will probably see the end of it.

 Yousaf’s personal chart, 7 April 1985, has his Aries Sun rattled by this month’s Solar Eclipse and his Mercury by October’s Libra Eclipse. Tr Saturn is square his Uranus this month for high tensions and eruptions. He looks particularly rattled this coming week till early May with tr Uranus square his Mars/Saturn midpoint and tr Pluto square his Sun/Mars – calamities, catastrophes and vicious arguments. And the frustrations and hostilities will continue on and off into 2025.

 The SNP 7 April 1934 chart is also being seriously rattled by this month’s Solar Eclipse with its Sun Mars in Aries opposition Jupiter square Pluto catching the full effect; with eruptions and tensions in June and on and off into spring 2025.

  I was never sure what it meant but the original Act of Union of Scotland and England chart, 1 May 1707, was always due for an upheaval with tr Uranus conjunct the Taurus Sun and square the Jupiter Uranus, finishing now.  With a setback coming in 2026 with the SA Mars conjunct the Saturn. It can’t mean another independence referendum since that boat has well and truly sailed. Even the Devolution 17 November 1998 Scotland Act is being seriously jangled – and has been through the past two years over Sturgeon’s surprise departure and is still subject to major jolts and disappointment through into 2025. Were it not such a mire the whole devolution set up should go back to the drawing board for a rethink.  

Add on:

 Humza Yousaf appears to have a birth time of 11.20pm 7 April 1985 Glasgow which puts his Scorpio Moon on his Ascendant with tr Uranus in opposition at the moment; and tr Saturn opposing his Virgo Midheaven. With a confidence-busting SA Neptune moving to conjunct his Jupiter over the next few months. If he survives the fairly catastrophic Uranus transits to two of his Saturn midpoints over the next three weeks till mid May, he’ll have more major disruptions this August onwards into early 2025 and a major setback in 205 from SA Sun opposition his Saturn.

 Alex Salmond’s Alba Party, in the shape of Ash Regan its only MSP member who defected from the SNP after her defeat in the leadership contest, may be called in to offer support in the event of a no confidence vote.  Salmond, 31 December 1954 4.30pm Linlithgow, looks over excitable over the next three weeks though more hopeful in later May. But overall is heading for SA Neptune in a lacklustre, undermining conjunction to his Sun in 2025.

  Ash Regan, 8 March 1974, has nothing to suggest uplift this year though she has a lucky-break tr Uranus square her Jupiter from July 2025 onwards.

ADD ON:  John Swinney, formerly leader of the SNP pre-Salmond, has been retrieved as yet another continuity candidate to take the tiller. Born 13 April 1964, he is another Sun Aries with Mars also in Aries on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Pluto. A yod focal point Mars in Aries is generally thought of as a hothead and loose cannon which hardly fits Sean Connery’s view of him as boring and lacking energy – though the Mars may be deeply buried in his chart.

  He’s in a mixed phase with confidence and high hopes from tr Pluto square his Jupiter at zero Taurus but damped down by Solar Arc Saturn also at zero Taurus. This autumn’s Libra Solar Eclipse opposition his Mars will bring a few fireworks and noisy arguments as will the spring Solar Eclipse in 2025 in Aries. It’ll be a wild ride; with 2026 looking like the end of the road politically with a frustrating and dead-halt SA Mars square his Pluto and tr Uranus square his Saturn.

ADD ON: John Swinney was sworn in as First Minister on 8 May 2024 around 11.47am Edinburgh. This puts a charm-offensive Sun Venus, Moon in the 10^th plus a changeable Uranus and a lucky Jupiter. With a financially restrictive Saturn in the 8^th and maybe Neptune also in the 8^th (depending on time being accurate) so money problems may be the Achilles Heel.