Thatcher twins – siblings at war

Maggie Thatcher’s twins are evidently not speaking after Carol’s decision to auction off possessions her mother had left her. It now looks set to make millions after the first day’s higher than expected prices. Mark, always his mother’s favourite, is furious, though he is accused in Charles Moore’s recent Thatcher biography of exploiting his mother’s connections to further his business interests especially in the Middle and Far East.

The twins were born 15 August 1953 at 2.50/2.52 pm with Mark coming first as he always did in his mother’s eyes. Carol was the less favoured one, as indeed was Maggie’s mother whom she said she rarely spoke to after the age of 15, since there was nothing to say. In contrast she idolised her father who was not by all accounts a nice man.

Maggie was born 13 October 1925 9am Grantham, England and had Sun Mars Mercury in Libra. Libra women are often daddy’s girls, more inclined to the masculine than the feminine. In addition Maggie had Jupiter in Capricorn opposition Pluto square Mars Sun – so a hard-driving chart.

Her Moon aspects on the contrary are wreathed in fog – a Leo Moon Neptune square Venus. Neptune can idealise but can also regard the parent with contempt as weak. [Interesting side note from net trawl – her mother may have been the illegitimate child of local gentry.] Maggie’s Moon was conjunct her MC fitting her for a public career, but she may have owed more to her mother’s genes than she wanted to acknowledge.

Carol & Mark have Sun Pluto in Leo – like Princess Anne, who also tends towards her father. With complicated Moon aspects – Libra Moon conjunct Saturn Neptune square Uranus, trine Jupiter. So mother was a workaholic, inaccessible, evasive, unpredictable and at times indulgent. Clearly one twin got the better end of her and the other missed out. And tricky with two controlling Leos fighting it out for attention.

Both have been through a sticky time recently with Solar Arc Sun Pluto conjunct their Saturn last year which may have prompted Carol’s sale idea. Mark has been low profile since his arrest over the Simon Mann Equatorial Guinea coup plot in 2004 for which he got a 4 year suspended jail sentence. Both look set for much better financial news with Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct their Sun Pluto running up now and over the next year. So Carol has her retirement fund and Mark?? Who knows?

HMS Elizabeth – not going to plan

HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy and capable of carrying up to forty aircraft. She was laid down on 2 July 2009 and launched on 4 July 2014, and is scheduled for commissioning in 2017, with operational capability from 2020.

I’m not sure whether the build can be speeded up if the global situation demanded action. Somehow I doubt it.

The laying down chart hints at slow progress through 2016/17 with tr Pluto trine Saturn; and quite a concentration of influences, not all good, around late 2018/19/20. A challenging, pressured and maybe stuck Solar Arc Pluto opposition Sun; an uncertain, panicky tr Neptune opposition Saturn in 2019/20 and a ruthless, risky tr Pluto trine Mars in 2019/20.

The launch chart has a Cardinal Grand Cross of Sun opposition Pluto square Uranus opposition Mars – and is bumping its way with difficulty and probably multiple crises through the next several years as these aspects come exact by Solar Arc and transit. 2017/18 look fraught; 2018/19 jarring and in disarray. 2023 could be a collision of sorts.

HMS Prince of Wales which is also due for operational capability in 2020 was laid down on 26 May 2011 and looks to be having a marginally easier steam through with good luck in 2017, though a few tensions erupting in 2018.

Mario Rubio – nothing much doing

Florida Senator Mario Rubio was born 28 May 1971 and announced his bid 13 April 2015 at 6.13pm Miami.

He’s had a lack-lustre start to his campaign with tr Saturn criss crossing the conjunction to his Jupiter Neptune in Sagittarius and opposing his Gemini Sun. That’s now gone but there’s nothing much of any variety showing in his chart apart from Solar Arc Mercury square Pluto.

His bid chart always looked a touch limp with a Saturn opposition Venus square Neptune in the 6th – dreams and ideals but not much drive or realism. It also has a divisive Sun Uranus in the 7th with Uranus square a 4th house Pluto – so not universally popular. What’s worse is Pluto trine an 8th house Mars which looks hugely frustrated. Plus Mars is on the point of a Fixed T Square to Jupiter opposition Moon – maybe donor trouble.

There’s no birth time for him which could make a slight difference but I’d have expected to see additional good news elsewhere in his chart if he had a chance.

Downton Abbey – frivolous and enduring

Downton Abbey which has been a worldwide TV success is nearing closure with a Christmas Special finale and the cast in the USA strutting their stuff for publicity.

It launched on 26 September 2010 with a lucky Jupiter Uranus in Pisces opposition a Libra Sun (and Saturn) square Pluto – so a real mix of enthusiasm, good fortune and enduring determination from Saturn Pluto. Plus an earthy (country) Taurus Moon opposition a passionate Venus Mars in Scorpio. Uranus has moved by Solar Arc to oppose the Sun exactly as it shuts up shop, though it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility (and commerce) that a movie might transpire at some point.

Hugh Bonneville, 10 Nov 1963, headed the cast as Lord Grantham. He’s an intense though dreamy and creative Sun Mercury Neptune in Scorpio square Saturn in Aquarius. With a Virgo Moon Uranus Pluto square Mars Venus in Sagittarius – so more complicated emotionally than he looks, certainly suited for a roving lifestyle.

Joanna Froggatt, 23 Aug 1980, who plays Anna Bates, is up again for a Golden Globe, having won last year. She’s a Sun Virgo with Jupiter and Saturn also in Virgo (none conjunct); and a tough Mars Pluto in Libra. Tr Jupiter in Virgo will be doing her morale good; and even better tr Pluto will trine her Jupiter from late January 2016 for two years – so great success to come.

Michelle Dockery, 15 December 1981, who played Lady Mary, is mourning her fiancĂ© who has just died from a rare cancer. She’s a Sun Neptune Mercury in Sagittarius square Mars in Virgo – so well designed for glamour, publicity and a creative world and feisty with it. Her Moon is Leo and she has the tough-minded Saturn Pluto in Libra. There’s success for her through the next two years with a couple of Jupiter midpoints getting a boost.

USS Milwaukee – embarrassing teething troubles

The USA Navy’s newest warship, USS Milwaukee, has ground to a halt only three weeks after being commissioned and is being towed back to harbour with engine trouble. It is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation.

It was laid down on 27 Oct 2011 and launched on 18 Dec 2013.

The laying down chart has a Mars in Leo opposition Neptune square Venus Mercury in Scorpio – so good for flashy publicity; with an overly expansive and probably overly expensive Sun opposition Jupiter in Taurus (nearly half a billion USD). That chart has a disruptive Solar Arc Uranus square Pluto now when it ceased to function. There’s another eruption of problems possibly when tr Uranus starts to square the Saturn from April 2016 onwards; and a panicky/failure Solar Arc Mars opposition Neptune in 20 months’ time. So it’s going to be a while before all the wrinkles iron out.

The launch chart 2013 has that awkward revolving-crisis Cardinal Grand Cross of Mars in Libra opposition Uranus square Pluto opposition Moon Jupiter. Interesting that it commissions and runs into trouble when Mars is back in Libra for the first time in two years. There’s a fair amount of mayhem on that chart for the next year as the Grand Cross moves by Solar Arc to close aspects to exact. It could ultimately be successful with Jupiter in there, but it will take time.

Tim Peake – putting the UK on the cosmic map

Major Tim Peake became the first UK astronaut when he blasted off at 11.03am from Baikonur, Kazakhstan today. He has now successfully docked, with fellow crew members, a Russian and an American, at the International Space Station where he’ll stay for six months.

The launch chart has the high-tension Mars in Libra opposition Uranus square Pluto; and the Sagittarius Sun square an 8th house Jupiter which will hopefully bring luck from the universe.

Born 7 April 1972 in Chichester, England, he’s an Aries Sun in a trail-blazing opposition to Uranus. With a determined Mercury in Aries opposition Pluto square lucky Jupiter in Capricorn. He’s certainly not short of initiative with all those Cardinal planets. He’s also got Saturn Venus Mars in Gemini opposition Neptune so disciplined, passionately enthusiastic, a dreamer.

Indeed he’s got an Air Grand Trine of those three Gemini planets trine Pluto trine North Node in Aquarius, all focussed into a Kite with cosmic Neptune as the driving planet.

It looks a fairly bumpy ride over the next few months with some lucky, high-spirited moments as well.

Angela Merkel – still on a tight rope

Angela Merkel won a lengthy standing ovation from her party after pledging to “tangibly reduce” the number of refugees entering Germany. Though she refused to put a number on migrants who would be given entry. She also emphasised that other EU countries must do their bit and that refugees had to assimilate German language and customs.

She’s still not out of the woods politically, however much admiration her humanitarian stance has brought her. Local councils are struggling to manage basic amenities for the 1 million who arrived in 2015. Tr Neptune continues to oppose her Jupiter/Saturn midpoint till mid January which is usually career losses. Then she has the challenging tr Pluto square tr Uranus hitting on her Midheaven next year. Uranus is conjunct her IC opposition her MC in February which heralds house moves if not instantly then certainly in the near future; and then tr Pluto square MC from March till late 2018 and that could bring her reputation to a new low.

2016 has some ups from tr Uranus to a couple of Jupiter midpoints in Feb/March, but tr Uranus is moving to square her 8th house Uranus Sun in Cancer from late May onwards which will be jolting and uncomfortable. And tr Saturn is heading for her Ascendant which it briefly crosses early in the year and then makes the final move in October. She’ll run out of energy, enthusiasm and ambition as tr Saturn heads downwards through her 1st quadrant thereafter.

Though she won’t go easy. She’s got endurance with four planets in the 8th.

Her 3rd Term chart, 17 Dec 2013 12.06pm Berlin, has the destabilising Solar Arc Uranus square Pluto exact in two months’ time. Though before is usually more significant than the exact date. On that chart she’ll get a lift in February and be pushing – possibly over-pushing with too much confidence which could backfire – from March onwards till late 2017. Late 2016 looks discouraging with tr Saturn conjunct Mercury, square Ascendant and then conjunct Sun in 2017. The very insecure, reckless, solar Arc Mars opposes Uranus also in 2017, which is when the next election is.

Zimbabwe – a turning point coming

The ‘who succeeds’ question is becoming more urgent in Zimbabwe as Robert Mugabe, now 91, grows ever frailer. He has ruled with an iron fist since 4 March 1980, 35 years which has seen a once thriving economy destroyed, hyper-inflation raging and the population beaten into submission. All power and most money lies with his corrupt cronies and the successor is likely to come from their ranks. There is even talk it could be his wife Grace.

His Presidency chart, will be de-stabilised by tr Uranus opposition the Pluto from mid April 2016, on and off for a year thereafter. Though given his track record for surviving against all the odds, it may be late 2017/early 2018 when the Solar Arc Sun opposes Pluto that brings his reign to a close. 2018 also has tr Pluto square Pluto – so an almighty amount of pushing and pulling.

This accords with the Zimbabwe chart, 18 April 1980 12am Harare. Tr Uranus opposes Pluto on that also from April 2016 until early 2017 which will start the upheaval; and then tr Uranus will conjunct the Aries Sun and IC in 2018 – so shaking the country to its foundations. In 2018 as well, Solar Arc Saturn will oppose the Sun; and tr Pluto will trine the 8th house Saturn in 2018/19 – so it will be a tough struggle with even more hardship and economic problems.

Grace Mugabe, 23 July 1964, is a Sun Leo, with a lively Venus Mars in Gemini, an indulgent Jupiter in Taurus opposition a delusional Neptune; and a Capricorn Moon.

She doesn’t look remotely a good fit for Zimbabwe with her Saturn in Pisces opposing the Z Jupiter; and her Mars Venus square the Z Saturn and opposition the Z Neptune.

She does have tr Neptune opposition her Uranus Pluto now till late 2017 which will be undermining. But then from 2018 tr Pluto will trine her Jupiter which looks confident, pushy and successful, more’s the pity.

Star Wars 7 – arousing strong reactions

Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens premieres tonight in Los Angeles at 5.30pm. This puts Neptune conjunct the MC from the 9th square a 6th house Saturn which doesn’t sound too inspiring. The 10th house Uranus opposes a 4th house Mars square a 7th house Pluto – so probably arousing as much adoration as the opposite. It’ll certainly bring a strong reaction. Pluto is trine Jupiter which will be commercially helpful.

Though it’s nowhere as enthusiastic as the first Star Wars which premiered on 25 May 1977 which had a Sun Jupiter trine Pluto; and an inspirational Fire Grand Trine of Saturn in Leo trine Neptune trine Venus in Aries, with Venus opposition Pluto – so the potential to be a gamechanger – which it was.

Charlotte Rampling – air and water

Charlotte Rampling also picked up two awards at the European Film Festival, one lifetime and one as best actress for 45 Years.

Born 5 Feb 1946 7.20 am London, she’s got a very Airy chart with Sun Venus Mercury in Aquarius trine Uranus in Gemini trine Neptune in Libra with Jupiter also in Libra. The Air Grand Trine is formed into a Kite by Sun Mercury Venus opposition Pluto – so a powerful, determined personality. Though with Pluto in the 7th she’s attracted to intense, controlling partners.

She’s also got a really difficult Mars Saturn conjunct in Cancer in her 6th trine a Pisces Moon. Tr Uranus square tr Pluto has been bouncing off that conjunction through 2015 – her long-time partner died earlier this year – and some of those difficult aspects will roll on for another year or two.

There’s nothing much to suggest success at the Oscars. Not that she would be that fussed, I imagine.