Marjorie

Sudan has become the forgotten war and famine as top diplomats have used up their bandwidth focusing on Gaza and Ukraine. The latest outbreak of violence in Sudan in 2023 has displaced 10 million people, some fleeing abroad, and left as many as 25 million, half the population, facing acute hunger. Recent severe flooding has added to the agony.

  A civil war broke out in April 2023 between the national army and a renegade paramilitary force (RSF), which evolved from the Janjaweed militias with neither side able to achieve a decisive victory anytime soon. There are ethnic divisions with the renegade group adhering to a racist, Arab-supremacist ideology, and targeting African minorities for extermination. War crimes are being committed on a large-scale by both sides.

 There are allegations that the RSF is being armed by the United Arab Emirates which is denied.

Add On: Roger Boyes in The Times: “It’s not just corpses piling up because of the fighting (150,000 at last count) but the famine (2.5 million predicted to die of starvation by year-end, ten million by this time next year), the cholera and the mass displacement of people. Some ten million have fled across Sudan’s increasingly unstable borders and many have their eye on Europe. Sixty per cent of people in Calais camps waiting to cross the Channel are from Sudan. They are the lucky ones. Sudan, meanwhile, is stuck in a Hobbesian nightmare. It is becoming a bloodbath that is rippling everywhere, and with no one credible enough to shout: Stop!”

   And see below from a previous post April 17 2023, there also seems to be Saudi and Russian/Wagner Group support for the RSF.

 Sudan has had a muddled history in the 20^th Century starting effectively as British Crown Colony after an Anglo-Egyptian agreement in 1899 and gaining independence on 1 January 1956. What followed were political disruptions, coups, a civil war and the eventual secession of South Sudan on 9 July 2011.

 The 1956 chart has a stark Mars Saturn in Scorpio square Pluto in Leo and Jupiter in early Virgo which was guaranteed to be a recipe for rolling crises and jeopardy in years to come. Ther was also a Venus opposition Uranus square Neptune, hinting at a capacity for fanatical beliefs. When the most recent upsurge of violence started in April 2023 tr Pluto was starting to move round the Neptune, Uranus, Venus T square – and will continue on for some years. The Solar Arc Mars was also opposition the Uranus.  Solar Arc Neptune is conjunct the Capricorn Sun exactly now for a rapidly deteriorating situation. With the Uranus heading to oppose the Saturn and square the Pluto from mid 2025 onwards into 2026. Nothing cheerful ahead.

Previous post: April 17 2023.

A local violent squabble in Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country, between the president and his vice-president, leaders of the transitional government after a 2019 coup that ousted long-term dictator Omar al-Bashir, could have wider ramifications. Both Egypt and Saudi Araba have a stake in the game, as well as the Russians through Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group.

 Inside Sudan it pits the armed forces against a paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) originally known as the infamous Janjaweed for its atrocities and genocide in Darfur, resulting in 400,000 deaths. Although Saudi Arabia is calling for peace it has heavily supported the RSF financially in recent years and hired RSF troops to fight against Houthi rebels in Yemen’s civil war. The outcome may eventually depend on which of the rival generals can secure financial backing from either Cairo or Riyadh.

  The RSF has also been linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group, brought into Sudan by Bashir to help shore up his faltering regime in 2017. Following a meeting with Putin Bashir promised to make the country Russia’s “key to Africa”. Ever since, Wagner has supplied large quantities of weapons and equipment and it continues to operate a gold mining company, reportedly smuggling vast quantities of gold out of the country, amongst other things helping to fuel the war in Ukraine.

  Gulf states are concerned about instability on the Red Sea — a key trade route — and fear the rise of Islamists in the region as does Egypt who supports the non-RSF side. The concern is that it could spiral out of control at which point Egypt might assert itself and Ethiopia.  One commentator said: “If it is possible, my wish is for the two military sides to be defeated. Sudan would be much better without either of them.”

Chad, Eritrea and South Sudan could face a deluge of refugees, adding to their own internal struggles. A power vacuum could enable extremist groups across the region to take advantage of what is happening, as Al Quaeda did in the early 1990s, which would obviously undermine British and American security.

  Richard Kemp in the Telegraph suggests: “Sudan may be just the first African nation to implode under Russian influence. In the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Libya and Mali, Russian mercenaries have worked to reinforce existing conflicts, prop up despotic regimes, suppress efforts towards democracy, loot natural resources, secure strategic advantage for Moscow and drive out Western influence. The forces unleashed by their efforts will not be easily contained.”

   Sudan, 1 January 1956, does have the devastating and confused tr Pluto square Neptune exactly now and throughout 2024, with tr Pluto moving on in 2024/25 to upend the Uranus as well. Plus an explosive tr Uranus opposition Mars from this June, running on in a highly disruptive opposition to the Saturn and square Pluto in 2025/26.  There’s nothing to suggest a peaceful truce anytime soon.

  18 degrees fixed at the moment for these few significant days until May 11^th are highlighted in:

Egyptian President Al-Sisi’s relationship chart with Bin Salman (MBS)of Saudi with tr Uranus in a high-tension, eruptive opposition to the Saturn, moving into oppose the Mars in June onwards. Also sending a high-voltage jolt through Al Sisi’s Presidency chart, 8 June 2014, as tr Uranus opposes the Saturn. In his own chart as well, 19 November 1954, tr Uranus is heading to square the Mars in Aquarius  from early May onwards which could light a fuse, certainly bad tempered, insecure leading to rash decisions.

  MBS, 31 August 1985, could also be tempted into rash over-reactions come this August with tr Uranus opposition his Saturn and through 2024 squaring his Mars.

  The Egypt/USA chart looks rattled with tr Uranus conjunct the composite Sun at 18 Taurus.

 Yevgeny Prigozhin, 1 June 1961, has a volatile, explosive Mars Uranus in Leo of which the midpoint is catching the 18 degree tr Uranus square exactly now, so he will be on red alert.

 This decade is turning out to be an absolute horror.

Mars will dominate this winter as it moves through Cancer in opposition to Pluto from late October, going retrograde early December and staying within orb of this high-stress opposition till after the USA Inauguration in late January. Mars goes direct late February and picks up the Pluto opposition again mid April to mid May. Not only the USA but everywhere will be under strain.

 Mars opposition Pluto tends to feel blocked, frustrating, trapped, powerless and infuriated. On occasion it brings high-risk situations and/or crises. Progress will only come after superhuman efforts, meeting force with force. Mars Pluto can move mountains but it will take courage and unrelenting determination.

  From a previous post on the nature of Mars.

Mars, god of war, testosterone-fuelled and so competitive he would kick his father out of the way to get ahead, may have had a heroic image in ye olden times. But he/she is struggling to revision themselves in these non-binary, tree-hugging, #metoo sensitive days.  

  Broken down into simple words Mars is 1) assertive; 2) argumentative and competitive; 3) bolsters identity in ‘I want’; 4) provides forward gear; 5) is an essential factor in decision-making); 6) necessary for sex drive; 7) generates will-power and the life force. Without Mars there would be no life, no reproduction, no progress.

  Mars is usually thought of as angry. But anger is only stored up assertion. When ‘I want’, ‘I intend’, ‘I will do’ – all of them reflecting the core identity of the individual – gets blocked or remains unexpressed Mars slowly starts to boil until it erupts. Synonyms for assertion are – decisive, believing in oneself, self-assured, confident, forceful. All of those can be subtly conveyed – or not – depending on the sign Mars sits in.

  Mars in the Fire signs – Aries, Leo and Sagittarius – will be loud, inclined to flare up, outspoken and unselfconscious about demanding their own way. In Aries and Sagittarius squalls never last long and are soon forgotten. In Leo, being ego-centric and Fixed, there can be a prickly defensiveness hanging around after arguments.

 Mars in the Earth signs – Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn – can be slow burn and is usually focused on a practical or financial outcome. Mars in Taurus is slow to anger but earth-shaking when the lava erupts. Money will be what motivates them into action. Mars in Virgo, the workaholic, is a perfectionist. In Capricorn is super-ambitious, climbing ever higher up the ladder with steely determination.

Mars in the Water signs – Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces – is more problematic. Fire makes Water boil is quintessentially true of Mars in Cancer, which is volatile and gets over-emotional when provoked. Scorpio, secretive as ever, harbours a grinding resentment which is kept under control until the time is right and then the scorpion sting is let loose. Its plus point is utter-determination. In Pisces, Mars gets flummoxed since Pisces hate confrontations. Where the pair come together most effectively are in artistic ventures especially dance and yoga. Forward march to Pisces means taking the roundabout route.

 Mars in the chatty Air signs – Gemini, Libra, Aquarius – pumps fire into thinking and speaking. All good debaters and adept with words. Mars in Aquarius can be ornery, awkwardly stubborn.

 How Mars integrates in the chart and which planets it sidles up to or clashes with makes a difference. The essential nature of Mars in its chosen sign gets modulated, watered down or the opposite, depending on which other planetary energy it has to work beside.

  Sun conjunct Mars is competitive and courageous; in square and opposition doubly so, headstrong, willful, reckless and noisy.

Moon Mars – comes from the angry mother who blocks the child’s assertion, leaving issues with women/domestic life behind in adult life, quarrelsome. Alcohol tends to lift inhibitions so flare ups follow.

Mercury Mars – quick thinking, fast-talking and sharp-tongued, inclined to argue endlessly and stir up controversies.

Venus Mars – in conjunction can be passionately enthusiastic and, in some, a tendency to promiscuity. In square and opposition it leads to strong ‘romantic’ attractions but not always sensitivity to the other’s needs.

Jupiter Mars – high vitality plus positive thinking = good luck. Helpful for starting new projects.

Saturn Mars – blocked assertion can have positive outcome in self-discipline and promoting a military turn of mind where suppressing personal needs and identity for a specific purpose is helpful. Can be destructive, violent. Tends to be passive-aggressive. Simmers with resentment and then blows a fuse.

Uranus Mars – rebellious and freedom-loving plus fiery zeal can be an explosive and self-willed combination. Good for high-risk ventures, adventure and thrills. Bad for tolerating interference and compromise.

Neptune Mars – can attract publicity and glamour, common in showbusiness types. Has a hint of Mars in Pisces so not always good at full-frontal demands.

Pluto Mars –  a challenging combination stemming from a dominating, scary father who at times would feel life threatening.  Leaves behind an adult who is good in crisis situations and is do-or-die determined. Some turn ruthless since it was what they knew, others remain suppressed and attract difficulties because they are unsure how to live out the super-charged energy.  

  Discussing sex nowadays is a minefield. But I recollect years back reading a study by zoologist Konrad Lorenz about ducks and he found the ones lacking aggression/assertion didn’t/couldn’t mate. Aggression gave them propulsion but had to be diverted at the final moment to allow coupling to take place. Which suggests the Mars drive is essential for reproduction but has to be under control. Not that humans are like ducks or other animals – no rape in the animal kingdom. Female lions repel over arduous approaches with a snarl if they are not in the mood; and zebras with a well-aimed kick. The alpha males in rut have Mars in overdrive. But the ladies are in charge.   Not sure where humans went wrong as they mutated away from chimps.

  The Solar Eclipse of October 2^nd is conjunct the Fixed star Vindemiatrix, named after the Latin for ‘the grape-harvestress’. It suggests a collector or gatherer of information, can give mental concentration as well as produce ‘The One Sent Forth in the Faith’ – a missionary for their cause, whether religious or other. Astrology King calls it a ‘mischief-making star that can sometimes indicate disgrace or the untimely death of a husband hence the old attribution of the widowmaker.

 Astrology King runs down interpretations of planets in aspect to Vindemiatrix. https://astrologyking.com/vindemiatrix-star/

  Looking back on this 8 South Saros series of eclipses there are only odd ‘spotlight’ events in the midst of the usual run of accidents, disasters and killings. 2006 oversaw Israel invade Lebanon, Tony Blair resigns, Saddam Hussein hanged.  

1988 – Al Quaeda formed. Iran-Iran War ends

1970 – Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin both die of overdoses within two weeks of each other.

1952 – The European Coal and Steel Community was set up.

   Saros Series Eclipses do not always occur on exactly the same degree. So looking at eclipses which did occur around 10 Libra as this approaching one does:

2005 – Just before was Hurricane Katrina and five days after the Kashmir earthquake killed 86,000. Israel withdraws from Gaza strip. Saddam Hussein on trial. Angela Merkel becomes Chancellor.

2006 another eclipse at 8 Libra –  Indonesia earthquake. Iraq Civil War. Israel offensive against Gaza.

1986 October Eclipse at 10 Libra – the aftermath of Chernobyl (late April). Fox Broadcasting born.  Iran-Contra political scandal.

1978 eclipse at 9 Libra – Pope dies, new Pope elected and dies after 33 days – John Paul 11 is elected.  The Vatican chart of 7 June 1929 has Uranus at 10 degrees Aries – so disruptions to be expected. Iran quake – 15.000 dead. Camp David Accords.  Jim Jones mass suicide – he had his Moon at 12 Aries and North Node at 13 Aries.

  Some interesting pointers though nothing earth shattering.

  I have Vindemiatrix conjunct my Ascendant so the gatherer of information does hold good. Looking back on past Solar Eclipses which were conjunct my Ascendant there was nothing calamitous ongoing though there were notable major moves, domestic and/or career which did imply a leaving behind and separation from what went before but again not heart-rending. My father did have his Libra Sun at 10 Libra and he was widowed after 10 years of marriage so that resonates.   

The Libra Ingress coinciding with the autumn equinox (in northern hemisphere) was considered by German astrologer E.H. Troinski to be the key Cardinal Ingress of the year. Though other prominent astrologers like Barbault and Kepler discounted the relevance of ingress charts altogether. Charles Carter took the view they might have value as part of a larger jigsaw of astrological influences but not substantive on their own.

  For what it is worth this Ingress has a complex set of aspects. An Earth Grand Trine of Pluto in Capricorn trine Uranus Algol trine Mercury is formed into a Kite by Mercury opposition Neptune Scheat. Venus in final degree Libra is in an emotionally intense square to Pluto and on the focal point of a strained yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Uranus (Moon).

 Mercury opposition both Saturn and Neptune in Pisces is square Jupiter in Gemini – gloom, confusion and high hopes – what a muddle. Mars in excitable, volatile Cancer is widely square the Sun and the North/South Nodes. 

Plotting the astrocartography (which has not worked spectacularly well in the past viz the start of WW11)- it puts Mars on the Midheaven and Pluto on the IC through eastern USA. Which could suggest that the pressured, high-risk, enraging Mars opposition Pluto which runs effectively from late this October right through till April 2025 will be blighting the mood there in particular.

Pluto on the Ascendant through Israel – no surprise, darkening its image. Mars on the Descendant through Ukraine as the conflict drags on. Pluto on the Midheaven and Uranus on the Ascendant through China – if it holds good could suggest a major upheaval and change in China’s directions and image.

  But these are predicated on Ingresses working well – we can only wait and watch.  

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  An inspirational tale as an antidote to complaining about personal woes comes from Melanie Reid, a Times columnist who has been tetraplegic since a riding accident in 2010.  She writes with humour and angst about the travails of a seriously disabled life. This week she talks about Martha Lane Fox, entrepreneur founder of the website Last Minute during the 2000s dotcom boom and now a digital expert in the House of Lords. She had a car accident in Morocco in 2004 in which she broke 28 bones, had a stroke and spent almost two years in hospital, enduring 47 operations suffering multiple orthopaedic and neurological trauma.

  Despite continued health crises and constant pain, she pushed herself to walk again, using poles. Recently she walked up Ben Nevis, the last of a personal three peaks challenge (after Snowdon and Scafell Pike) to raise money for four after-trauma charities. Her mother who made it halfway up, says she has no idea where her daughter gets her unbelievable drive from.

  Melanie Reid, 13 April 1957, no birth time, is a Sun Venus in Aries in a determined trine to Pluto in Leo; with Saturn in Sagittarius. Planets in all three Fire signs will undoubtedly help to give her optimism even in the face of extreme difficulty. Her Saturn is opposition Mars which is accident prone and her Solar Arc Sun Venus were colliding with that opposition when she had her accident.

 Martha Lane Fox, 10 February 1973, is a Sun Aquarius in an inventive trine to Uranus widely sextile Mars in Sagittarius. With an Air Grand Trine of Pluto trine Saturn trine Venus, formed into a Kite by Saturn opposition Neptune – making Neptune the driving planet. Her Mars is on the opposite side of the zodiac to her Saturn, too wide to be an opposition but hints of the same. Her Mars is also in an out of element square to her Mars which will give her do-or-die- determination.

 Around the time of her accident a tr Mars Saturn conjunction was square her Pluto; but what was most noticeably was tr Uranus square her leading-planet Neptune – and tr Neptune heading to conjunct her Sun in the aftermath.

 Intriguing that her Neptune is so strong.

  From a previous post July 9 2022 on Neptune’s extraordinary powers:

Ranulph Fiennes, the transglobe explorer accomplished superhuman feats in the coldest and highest regions of the earth; and after a heart attack in his late fifties ran seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. He’s a fascinating example of magical Neptune at work, not normally a planet associated with extreme endurance, but it is frequently highlighted in the charts of top level athletes who can cope with punishing training schedules.

  In a new film on his life Explorer, he talks of ‘inviting the ghosts’ of his father and grandfather into his head whenever he’s at a difficult spot. ‘Those times that I really wanted to give up, I [chose not to] because of the thought of shaming my father and grandfather. I would imagine them walking beside me, particularly when I had bad frostbite and was on my own.’

  What is extraordinary (or maybe not) is he never knew his father who died four months before he was born, from wounds inflicted by a mine in Italy during World War 11; or his grandfather who died in the Battle of Arras in 1917. Yet the image of them lives in his head as his guiding star.

  He was born 7 March 1944 12.30pm Windsor, and has a 10^th house Pisces Sun like other explorers, Sir Richard Burton, David Livingstone and Amerigo Vespucci. His Sun is square a 12^th house Mars Saturn in Gemini which would help with grit, courage, military discipline and the ability to withstand deprivation. He has a confident Jupiter Moon in Leo in his 3^rd which would also help in keeping his enthusiasm up; and his Pluto is exactly conjunct a ‘leadership’ North Node.  

  But what has always intrigued me is his 4^th house Neptune which is sextile Pluto North Node and trine Uranus. Many years ago I interviewed him for a media piece and explained the standard meanings of Neptune in the 4^th to which he took great exception. As he showed me out he said it was the one thing that was absolutely wrong so it always stuck in my head. A friend who had served with him in the army later told me Ranulph could never cope with the thought of his father dying in hospital from wounds. He wanted a father who had a glorious battlefield death.

  His father the war hero, was based on fact but in his absence became embellished with Neptune’s striving for the divine ideal into a mythical almost supernatural presence in his life.  

  I connected this to a story about Black Elk, the Lakota medicine man, who fought at Little Bighorn and survived the Wounded Knee Massacre, who was a Sun Sagittarius trine Neptune, 1 Dec 1863. During an illness aged nine he had a vision in which he was visited by Thunder Beings, figures like wise grandfathers, which marked him out as a shaman and healer. He said when he rode into battle in later years he kept his vision in his mind and emerged unscathed. The one time he let his vision slip a bullet got him in the shoulder.

  Neptune, when it isn’t dissolving into a puddle of indecision, drowning its sorrows in the bottom of a bottle or running a con, can create a fantasy of such potency it makes the impossible possible (sometimes).

  “All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”  T.E. Lawrence – had Neptune Pluto in the 10^th.

  Dreamers of the day like Barack Obama have Neptune on the point of a T Square.

  Major film stars often have marked Neptune – both Anthony Hopkins and Sean Connery have/had it in the 8^th. Projecting a powerful aura.

  Neptune is more kaleidoscopic and multi-faceted than most planets in its range of outcomes reflecting its dream spinner, shape-shifter energy.

With a government chart having Neptune on the Descendant conjunct shipwrecking Scheat and an 8^th house Uranus (Mars) conjunct the destructive star Algol, it is not surprising Keir Starmer’s administration has stumbled into a damaging run of self-defeating missteps.

 On the face of it a 10^th house with Moon, Sun, Venus in Cancer should have been a public relations dream but the downhill slide in popularity has been astonishingly fast. Tales of donors and freebies, bitter in-fighting in No 10 (shades of Dom Cumming) and the grim economic outlook, probably worsened by misguided financial decisions, has left Keir Starmer with his personal approval ratings down 26 per cent since the election.

  Of astrological interest is that Starmer’s Uranus in Virgo opposes the UK Pluto so he will have a status-quo upsetting effect, either disruptive or reforming.  More ominous and less ambivalent, his focal point Neptune (= can be idealistic but also unrealistic) exactly opposes the UK’s 8^th house Mars. That UK 8^th house Mars is due for a high-voltage jolt from Solar Arc Uranus conjunct Mars, exact in six months but in effect across the next year. It could bring a major natural or man-made disaster or a devastating financial hit. And it could be Starmer’s fuzzy Neptunian obsessions that provide part of the shock.

  Tory-tinged tales of freeloading are all the more surprising given Labour and Virgo Starmer’s sanctimonious utterances when in opposition. But as past revelations emerged he seems to have a track record of living well off freebies and expenses, substantially higher than others in a similar position. When Director of Prosecutions his expenses were three times higher than his successor on flights and chauffeured cars. He left that job with hefty pension benefits bringing him an average of £67,200 per year on top of his political salary.

  Although he has a bland, downbeat persona (Pluto Sun in Virgo on his Ascendant maybe) he does have that super-charged, messianic Jupiter Chiron opposition Sun Pluto which is the driving rod of his Water Grand Trine. Jupiter Pluto can bring an over-confident sense of ‘rules don’t apply to me’. In extremis it can also lead to a fanatical desire for power and has been associated with speculators and squanderers. Not quite what his image has suggested up to now.

  His Solar Arc Jupiter opposition Sun Pluto will collide with his Neptune within months and stay in contact for two/three years ahead – a Boris-type scandal perhaps. Plus his Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Sun Pluto in late 2025/26 running him into the buffers.

  Sue Gray, his chief of staff, is an irritation not just internally according to reports. but also to astrologers since she is remarkably coy about her birth date. A company check gives September 1957 making her Virgo or Libra with her Pluto at zero or one degrees Virgo catching the disruptive tr Uranus square come mid 2025 onwards. Once the advisers become the message they need to go. But the date may be iffy – there is some suggestion during the Irish Troubles that she was in the security service running a pub in ‘bandit country’ on the border. So it may be smoke and mirrors.

Add ON. Waheed Alli, Baron Alli, born 16 November 1964, chief Labour donor, is a British media entrepreneur, who was made a member of the House of Lords by Tony Blair in 1998, the first openly gay peer in Parliament and one of the few openly gay Muslim politicians in the world. His mother from Trinidad and Tobago is Hindu and his estranged father from Guyana Muslim.

A Sun Neptune in Scorpio opposition Jupiter in Taurus square Saturn in Aquarius he was a more obvious ally for Blair whose Taurus Sun and Jupiter clicked with Alli’s entrepreneurial ambition.  With Starmer, Alli’s Mars is conjunct Starmer’s Uranus, Sun, Pluto in Virgo which could initially lend a spur to Starmer’s ambitions – but it is  fractious connection. Both have Venus in Libra which may be significant for a love of elegant living. Both have Neptune in Scorpio and Saturn in Aquarius so they will share certain similar aims.

  What is significant is their relationship chart with an overly-expansive Sun Venus opposition Jupiter with its hints of indulgence; and more so the composite yod of Saturn sextile Jupiter inconjunct Pluto. Chained together by a joint drive for power.

 There is also a composite yod in Alli’s relationship chart with Blair from a composite Sun sextile Saturn inconjunct Mars – so he’s clearly a pivotal figure in Labour leaders’ destiny.

Mohammed Al Fayed, formerly owner of Harrods and nearly Princess Diana’s father-in-law, who died last year, is now the centre of a sexual abuse scandal with allegations of rape and sexual assault being made by former employees.

  Ambitious for high honour and acceptance in the upper echelons of British society including in the Royal Family, Al Fayed courted Diana in her post-divorce days flaunting his conspicuous wealth with yacht, helicopters and private plane. Although she was wealthy by normal standards with £17 million from Charles on her divorce, she hankered after a billionaire’s lifestyle. And she knew Dodi Al Fayed as stepfather to William and Harry would cause maximum embarrassment to the Royal Family.

 Mohammed Al Fayed, 26 January 1929 Alexandria, Egypt, no birth time, was a Sun Aquarius square Jupiter in Taurus; with a hard-edged Saturn in Sagittarius opposition Mars square Venus in Pisces.  He also had a yod onto Neptune (Moon) in Virgo inconjunct Uranus sextile Sun. His afflicted Neptune was conjunct Diana’s Mars Pluto in Virgo (and her Leo North Node) in what could be seen as connecting him to her death (Mars Pluto) because of his delusional need to reach exalted status (Neptune).

 His Sun was conjunct Diana’s 2nd house Jupiter so money and his initial generosity would be a draw for her. His North Node in Taurus was conjunct Diana’s Venus for a good public relations offensive and her social charm would also offer a chance for him to expand his influence.

 Their relationship chart had a composite affectionate Sun Venus in an overly-excitable and argumentative square to Mars; with a fated yod of Uranus sextile Pluto inconjunct Saturn. If it had proceeded into a Diana Dodi marriage it would have ended in tears.

 When Diana was killed along with Dodi and Henri Paul in 1997 tr Uranus in early Aquarius was moving to conjunct Mohammed’s Sun and was exactly conjunct Diana’s Jupiter. For him a terrible jolt. For her the end game from tr Uranus conjunct her Saturn Jupiter conjunction – flying too high because of public adulation and cut down by Saturn’s grim reaper – as the ‘memento mori’ of Jupiter Saturn extracted its final revenge. As it did with John Lennon, JFK and others.

  Henri Paul, 3 July 1956 1am Lorient, France, the chauffeur, was a Sun Cancer, his birthday only two days after Diana’s, with a super-confident Pluto Jupiter in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio.  His Jupiter Pluto was conjunct Diana’s North Node, Mars and Pluto which looks like an unhealthily revved up link – and there was a yod formed by his Jupiter Pluto sextile Venus in Gemini inconjunct Diana’s Saturn, as destiny chained their fate together.

 On his relationship chart with Diana there was a composite yod onto the Moon with the Moon also on the focal point of a composite T square conjunct Scheat. Highly emotional and pulling public attention.

 He also had a yod link to Pamela Harriman with his Jupiter Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct her Sun, Mercury Midheaven in Pisces.

 What a tangled web the fates weave.   Yods do seem to be one connecting factor.

 On the sexual allegations against Mohammed Al Fayed – a birth time would help though Saturn opposition Mars can be cruel and it squares onto his Venus. His Sun was also square his Venus/Mars midpoint which has been associated with promiscuity. His Uranus squared his ruthless Mars/Pluto midpoint; and his Pluto was in a hard, unfeeling opposition to his Sun/Saturn midpoint.

Pamela Harriman, daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill, described as a “European geisha” and “The Last Courtesan” was supposedly, according to a new biography, pimped out by her father-in-law (and Lord Beaverbrook) to seduce key Americans to ensure support for the UK war effort. She did bed W. Averell Harriman, Roosevelt’s representative in London and in later years married him. Though Pearl Harbour was more of a clincher than her charms.

 Having hitched herself at 19 to Randolph Churchill, “a drunken, debt-ridden, offensive adulterer,” she needed to find a diversion. After the war she rollicked through a series of affairs with Prince Aly Khan, Alfonso de Portago, Gianni Agnelli, and Baron Elie de Rothschild plus two marriages one to a Broadway producer. By the end of her life, Bill Clinton made her U.S. ambassador to France.

 Reviews suggest the biography is somewhat over-egged but her chart is interesting if only because her Sun, Mercury and Moon all in late Pisces are fairly current at the moment.  She had a tough Water Grand Trine of Mars in Scorpio trine Pluto in Cancer in her attention-grabbing 5^th trine Uranus Venus in Pisces, made into a Kite by Uranus Venus opposition Saturn in Virgo. She also had an upbeat Jupiter Neptune conjunction on her Descendant square Mars.  

  A hard, ultra-determined, courageous but not exactly nice person – she seemed to have had squabbles over inheritances in later life with her husband’s families.

She died of a brain haemorrhage aged 76 in 1997, collapsing in the swimming pool at the Paris Ritz and was fished out and given oxygen by Henri Paul, the intoxicated driver who later that year drove Princess Diana to her death. Tied into the zeitgeist to the end.

The Lebanon has had an illustrious history stretching back several millenia being a major centre under the Byzantine Empire and ultimately under the Ottoman Empire. In the colonial carve up after World War 1 it was handed as a mandate along with Syria to France, who made a botch of their ultimate withdrawal with 22 November 1943 being celebrated as the symbolic moment of independence though officially it happened on 1 January 1944.

   Subsequently this state, no bigger than Wales that has become “battleground for one of the defining conflicts of twentieth-century history. Throughout its short existence, it has been attacked, invaded, occupied or interfered with to serve the political interests of foreign powers, resulting a series of devastating wars and crises. To understand Lebanon’s history is to understand the history of the entire region – and, with the rise of Hezbullah, it has come to assume a disproportionate, dangerous power of its own. Iran and Israel now face each other in the hills of south Lebanon.” (Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East by David Hirst. Amazon).

 During the Civil War (1975-1990) there were invasions and military occupations by Syria from 1976 to 2005 and by Israel from 1985 to 2000.

 Hezbollah was established by Lebanese clerics primarily to fight the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Close ties have developed between Iran and Hezbollah. During the Lebanese Civil War, Hezbollah’s 1985 manifesto listed its objectives as the expulsion of “the Americans, the French and their allies definitely from Lebanon, putting an end to any colonialist entity on our land”.

 Both the Lebanon 1 January 1944 chart with its Uranus Mars in Gemini sextile Pluto inconjunct a Capricorn Sun; and the 22 November 1943 with its final degree Scorpio Sun and late Virgo Moon work reasonably well against subsequent events.

   The previous Israel war with Lebanon from 13 April 1975 with Uranus at zero degrees Scorpio and a Pluto in Libra opposition Jupiter square Saturn has no real parallels instantly with the next warlike Saturn square Pluto not turning up until 2028. Though Israel’s future does look on high stress well into the next decade so it may come.

 There is a depressing sense of an unwinnable, ongoing and fundamental schism with deep historical roots that flares up from time to time, dies down but never goes away.

See previous post October 10 2023 on James Cameron’s book The creation of the state of Israel.

“The introduction of the Jewish State into the Arab heartland exalted many hearts and broke many more. More than anything in this century it was a triumph and a desolation. Full of high hopes it produced the most intractable conflict of our times.”   So wrote journalist and world affairs commentator James Cameron, in 1976. What follows comes from his excellent, dispassionate, lucid and brief book ‘The Making of Israel.’ The quotes are his.

Where it began.  Theodor Herzl a cultivated Viennese journalist outraged by the Dreyfus scandal when  a Jewish officer in the French army was framed on a treason charge lit a flame under the idea of a Promised Land where Jewish people could live free of persecution and hostility, funded by rich Jewish interests. Zionism was born with the First Zionist Congress held in Basel 29 August 1897.

   Chaim Weizmann, who later became the first President of Israel, joined. He was an eminent biochemist who gave great service to the British government during World War One. ‘It was he who extracted from the then British  Foreign Minister  through gratitude,  expediency, absent-mindedness, not one will ever know – the famous Balfour Declaration.’

 ‘It was ambiguous, elusive, provocative, but it was the springboard.’  To the Arabs it was an act of outright imperialism to wilfully dispose of the future of a territory to which Britain had had no rightful claim, without any consultation with the 92% non-Jewish part of the population. ‘To the British it was an afterthought, to Jewish people a green light.’

  During the British Palestine Mandate (1920 to 1948) the indigenous Arabs were constantly dispossessed from their land as the Jewish communities burgeoned. Conflicts grew and ‘Palestine becomes an arena of endless guerilla warfare.’ ‘The aspirations of the Jews and Arabs are irreconcilable.’

  Along comes World War 11 and the Holocaust. Jewish immigration is still strictly limited by the British to 1500 a month. In desperation illegal ships bring in more, including the Exodus carrying 4500 survivors of the death-camps, which the British Navy inexplicably rammed and returned to Germany on the orders of Ernest Bevin, the Labour Foreign Minister, whose dislike to the Jews was well known backed by the traditionally Arabist UK Foreign Office.

‘Almost every independent newspaper in the world  reported the Exodus with incredulous horror. Much of what happened in the Mandate must be considered against this dismal betrayal.’

  In Palestine sections of the Jewish community have decided violence is the only way to make a difference to their cause. The British Mandatory Authority are now exasperated. ‘No conceivable proposal that  suits the Arabs can possibly mollify the Jews.’ In 1947 the British government decides to toss Palestine back to the United Nations. The UN tries for partition which is turned down flat by the Arabs. ‘By now it is abundantly clear that no compromise any mortal man can devise is going to reconcile the Arabs to the legal existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East.’

  There are attacks and counter-attacks inside Israel, roads are blockaded and the massacre at Deir Yassin follows. Mass panic sends Palestinian refugees fleeing from their villages – 6000 from Tiberias, 40,000 from Haifa.

‘The stage is now ready for the culmination of the story, of a sick and sorrowful conflict, not between right and wrong, but between two forms of right and, maybe two forms of wrong.’

  In spring of 1948 there is no government and no mandate authority, the country was ‘a shifting mosaic of overlordships.’ ‘It is possible that there was no specific British intention to leave chaos behind them but is is sure that no particular effort was made to prevent it.’

  In the US the partition principle was accepted but with diminishing enthusiasm. The State and Defence department were against it because it could open the Middle East to Russian interference and jeopardise Arab oil. While President Harry Truman wanted to conciliate the domestic Jewish vote.

  As time wore on Harry Truman, like the British before him, became exasperated at being pounded by constant pressure from the Zionists. ‘The Jews are so emotional ,’ he wrote, ‘and the Arabs so difficult to talk with that it is impossible to get anything done.’

  Truman dithered, his underlings put out conflicting messages, until eventually a school friend introduced him to Weizmann and he decided that he would look foolish to abandon his earlier acceptance of partition.

  A week before the British mandate ended there was still no certainty of a dominantly Jewish state although many Arabs had fled by this time. Various Arab armies stood at the ready including a Jordanian one backed by the British aiming to capture the areas laid down in the Partition for the Arabs.  There was a massacre at Etzion killed 70 Jewish settlers in retaliation for Deir Yassin. Two days before the mandate ended another Arab attack on a medical convoy killed 77 Jewish doctors, nurses and helpers. The British refused to intervene pointing to Deir Yassin.  At this point Jerusalem was under siege so the administration of the new country was moved to Tel Aviv.  On the day itself the British moved out and the Jewish government, under David Ben Gurion, declared itself in charge.

‘And no one lived happily ever after.’

James Cameron’s epilogue from 1976

“Three times in the last quarter century I have personally seen the endless tensions of the Middle East build up their content of hate and fear until it burst across the Israel-Arab borders, in one direction or another, leaving its predictable residue of triumph and defeat and sorrow and recrimination and solving nothing. Each time the world knew uneasily that the next time would be worse, and it was.  Each times the wounds were deeper and the scars more brutal. Each time the world protested this could not go on, while perpetuating the factors that made it inevitable.

 By and by a new generation will grow up in the Middle East, both Arab and Israeli, which will reject the role of pawns in the Power Game, refuse the importunities and persuasions of the strong and cynical, and recognize, as many voiceless patriots already recognize, that what is done is done, and that both sides must make a future together, if there is to be one at all. Amen.”