Nigel Farage – undone by a burqa

Farage’s Reform Party has followed its usual pattern of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by losing a major donor and strategist just as they looked like becoming a force to be reckoned with on the political scene. Admittedly it was over an issue which would gain general support as a new Reform MP asked the Prime minister whether he would consider banning the burqa. Though it led to Zia Yusuf, a Muslim businessman, resigning as Reform Party chairman as a result.  

  Richard Tice, the Deputy chairman of Reform Party’s deputy leader says discussion about the burqa must not be ‘forced underground’ when it is policy in some European countries. He said “I think it is right that we should have a debate about whether or not the burqa is appropriate for a nation that’s founded in Christianity, where women are equal citizens and should not be viewed as second-class citizens.”

  But is is still a messy exit, raising questions about why Yusuf was there in the first place.

 Farage has a reputation for spectacular fall outs, the most recent being Rupert Lowe MP in March, who was cancelled without due process after a spectacular hissy fit. See previous post 12 March 2025.

 Farage and his Deputy Richard Tice, 13 September 1964, are looking undermined from the 9th of this month with tr Neptune square their composite Sun Venus conjunction and even edgier with tense and bad tempered eruptions in July right through till this November – and those influences repeat into 2026. I would not be surprised if a separation was on the cards.

Lee Anderson, Reform chief whip, 6 January 1967, and Farage equally are out of sorts through the next year with tr Uranus square the composite Sun and tr Neptune Saturn conjunct the composite Venus.

 Farage himself, 3 April 1963 4.30 pm Farnborough, England, an 8th house Sun Aries conjunct Mars, with a fiery Sagittarius Moon will be jittered and jangled with tr Uranus conjunct his Venus in later this month for an emotional upset; and tr Uranus square his Saturn from this August for further eruptions, which will continue into 2026. At which point he also has a panicky-failure tr Saturn Neptune conjunct his Mars extending into 2027.

  The Reform Party chart, 23 November 2018 has tr Uranus rattling (or blowing up) its Sagittarius Sun Jupiter square Mars from this August through 2026.

  On burqas: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy (in some localities), the Netherlands (in public places) and Spain (in some parts of Catalonia) have banned burqas. In Germany some states ban them in schools. Switzerland officially banned burqas, hijabs and other face coverings in public after a referendum. The ban has been implemented primarily citing security concerns, social integration, and to promote gender equality.

France banned the wearing of face-covering headgear in public spaces in 2011, including the burqa, which is a full-body covering that covers the face. 

 Jack Straw, a Labour MP for Blackburn, with a third of the electorate Muslim, raised the subject in 2006 and said he would no longer see constituents who covered their faces. There then followed a TV Question Time debate over which the discussion chairman David Dimbleby should hang his head in shame since it was badly mishandled – and the political debate was effectively buried thereafter.

Trump and Musk – a playground slanging match

Will the Musk fallout do damage? Trump in the past has made up with enemies before; and in addition has brushed off allegations and accusations of bad behaviour that would have sunk most politicians.

 There is no doubt this noisy parting of the ways has spread confusion and alarm this month since the Inauguration chart is dismayed with tr Uranus opposition the Sun/Neptune midpoint and the Neptune/Pluto midpoint from June 18 to July 6. Ebertin describes the first as sudden upsets, nervousness, spasms, an inner crisis and the second as hyper-sensitive nerves.  These repeat November 9 to December 2, and April 2026. Tr Uranus into Pisces from early July on and off into 2026 will also rock the administration’s boat.

  And as pointed up in a previous post the Progressed Moon on the Inauguration chart is heading to close the square to Mars to exact within the next few weeks bringing anger and aggravation. By March/April 2026 the Progressed Moon will square the Inauguration Pluto Sun for another blockage.

 I have always been intrigued by the Trump/Ghislaine Maxwell relationship chart, surprised that more has not emerged into the open before now. There is an aggravated (and then some) composite Mars Neptune opposition Saturn square Uranus with a yod from the composite Sun inconjunct inconjunct Pluto sextile Mars Neptune. That relationship has been under exceptionally heavy pressure in the past several years and yet nothing much has surfaced.

 On both the Trump/Ghislaine Maxwell and Trump/Epstein relationship charts – one degree of Cardinal signs is marked which the tr Saturn Neptune will hard aspect from now into 2026. But whether that will bring anything to light remains to be seen.

Musk and Trump were never a good fit with Musk’s Pluto squaring Trump’s Sun and Moon and Musks’s Mars in Aquarius opposing Trump’s Mars in Leo. The rift is likely to continue with tr Neptune square the composite Sun June 18 to July 6, repeating November and April 2026. With more upheavals from mid 2026 onwards as tr Uranus squares the composite Pluto.

Steve Bannon has always fought a war of attrition with Musk with a power-struggling-for-the-upper-hand Jupiter Pluto conjunction in their relationship chart square Mars. It will only worsen after the middle of this year into 2026 and beyond. Bannon’s relationship with Trump will hit an exceptionally nervy patch in 2026/27.

  No dictator appoints a successor so any suggestion of Vance stepping up will not be appreciated. The DT/Vance relationship chart is on red alert and undermined exactly now, which two influences repeat December and mid March 2026. The pair will hit an all-time low late this October to end of January 2026 either because of a personal fallout or because they are facing a career calamity together.

 Trump’s relationship chart with the USA has a composite Sun at three degrees Cancer which will catch the tr Neptune Saturn square in 2026/27 which may be the point at which the country wakens up to the disastrous financial and social impact of his policies.

Goebbels – did not believe his own lies

The Nazi Minister of Propaganda or the Hexenmeister, chief sorcerer of lies, Joseph Goebbels, is the subject of a new film. It spotlights his strained relationship with Hitler despite his reputation as a devoted follower and shows the misgivings that quite senior Nazis had until late in the war. Behind the theatrical display of ecstatic loyalty there were considerable fears about Hitler’s strategies. ‘It was Goebbels’s job to soothe their concerns, to create a subhuman identity for Germany’s enemies with repeated lies and provide a comforting illusion of imminent victory in which he, Hitler and everyone came to believe.’

 All of which is old history except it sounds remarkably current.

  Goebbels, born 29 October 1897 10.30 pm Rheydt, Germany, was a Sun Mars in Scorpio in his 4th house of family lineage and roots, with his Mars inconjunct Pluto in his 11th house of society giving him a ruthless need to spread his influence. His Pluto was conjunct Neptune, adding a further layer of megalomania.

 He had a Capricorn Moon like Hitler and both had an early Leo Ascendant. Hitler’s Taurus Sun fell in his 10th for a good career partnership though it would be a fractious relationship with Hitler’s Saturn in Leo clashing with his Sun and Mars.

 Goebbels did have a plausible Jupiter in his 3rd though I am marginally surprised he did not have more communication planets/houses in action.

 What was chilling was the fact that Goebbels and wife poisoned their six children aged, 13 to 5, when they committed suicide the day after Hitler. That was when Goebbels’ Solar Arc Mars was conjunct his Moon. Tr Saturn was square his Midheaven and tr Pluto trine.

 Magda Goebbels, 11 November 1901 1am Berlin, was a match for her husband with a New Moon in Scorpio and a controlling/ambitious Pluto and Neptune in her 10th house; with her Pluto opposition Mars. Mars Uranus in her 4th hinted at an argumentative, unsettled home life never mind the ultra-determined Mars Pluto.

 When Hitler committed suicide her Solar Arc Neptune was just over the square to her Moon and conjunct her Sun/Moon midpoint. With her SA Mercury conjunct her Mars opposition Pluto.  But given she poisoned her six children I might have expected more angst showing.

History recycling.

Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” Fyodor Dostoevsky

“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” Friedrich Nietzsche

If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”  Walter Langer

Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies.” Dorothy Allison,

A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” Vladimir Lenin

Sometimes the point isn’t to make people believe a lie – it’s to make people fear the liar.” Anne Applebaum

So a lie told a million times becomes the truth.” Maria Ressa

A lie leads a man from a grove into a jungle”. Marcelene Cox

He who tells a lie is not sensible of how great a task he undertakes; for he must be forced to invent twenty more to maintain that one.” Alexander Pope

“Most people don’t care if you’re telling them the truth or if you’re telling them a lie, as long as they’re entertained by it.” Tom Waits

“Gradually I came to realize that people will more readily swallow lies than truth, as if the taste of lies was homey, appetizing: a habit.” Martha Gellhorn

“A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood.” William Shenstone

Derek Jarman – retreat from darkness into nature

 Derek Jarman, artist, writer, designer, gardener and activist, who died thirty years ago, is celebrated in an exhibition of his ‘dark paintings’ in London and in the publication of a treatment for an unfinished film called The Assassination of Pier Paolo Pasolini in the Garden of Earthly Delights, which Jarman wrote in 1984 as he was struggling to get his film Caravaggio made.

  Best known to the general public for his peaceful garden in the shadow of the Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, now saved for the nation, his main oeuvre in contrast was often ‘angry, dark and disturbing.’

His black paintings came out of a period when he had been diagnosed with HIV and in the midst of the Thatcher backlash against homosexuality in the late 1980s. He died of complications from AIDs in 1994.

Jarman was born 31 January 1942 7.30am Northwood, England, had a 1st house Aquarius Sun (and Venus) in an entertaining trine to a 5th house Jupiter; and more pointedly opposition Pluto and square Mars in Taurus – ultra-determined, angry, stubborn and enduring. His Cancer Moon conjunct Pluto on one side and sextile Uranus and Saturn in Taurus in his 4th added to his super-determined temperament. Though a 7th house Moon would yearn for the security of a close partner. Three planets in Taurus, two in his 4th, would incline him towards nature in his home life, hence the garden. His 8th/9th house Neptune was in a creative, inspired trine to Uranus.

 A critic wrote: “There’s something galvanising about Jarman’s resourcefulness as well as his rage, his protean creativity, and his determination to live his life and make his work regardless of the forces of repression ranged against it. “He kept flying through the flak. He kept going forward and he was extremely unapologetic about who he was and what he liked to do. Shadowing his work is a great deal of distress and trauma, but you were very seldom aware of it in his company because he was immensely warm, positive and joyful.”

 Pier Paolo Pasolini, 5 March 1922 6.30am Bologna, Italy was poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright,  considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history. Openly gay, he became an avowed Marxist after the end of World War II, voicing harsh criticism of Italian petty bourgeoisie and what he saw as the Americanization, cultural degeneration, and greed-driven consumerism taking over Italian culture. ‘As a filmmaker, Pasolini often juxtaposed socio-political polemics with an extremely graphic and critical examination of taboo sexual matters.’  He was murdered aged 53 in 1975, with blame initially falling on a 17-year-old rent boy but the more likely culprit would be a far-right terrorist group, working with the tacit approval of the secret services.

 Pasolini was born 5 March 1922 6.30am Bologna, Italy, with a father who was a gambler and pro-fascist. He had rebellious, provocative Uranus Sun and Venus in Pisces in his 1st house in a charismatic and determined trine to Pluto in his entertaining and creative 5th house. His Neptune sextile Jupiter was inconjunct his Sun and Venus for a personality that was both charming and also unsure. His lively Mars in Sagittarius in his communicative, opinionated 9th house was in a showbizzy trine to Neptune and sextile Saturn as well as inconjunct Pluto.

  His Taurus Moon was square Mercury but not well integrated into his chart.

My slight impression and it is hardly a statistical survey is that an afflicted Mars and poorly aspected Moon are a theme in this and the Edmund White/Genet charts as well.   

Edmund White – a chronicler of gay life + Genet

Edmund White, essayist, playwright, novelist and chronicler of gay life, has died aged 85, having suffered from HIV since 1984. He once said of his generation: “Gay fiction before that, Gore Vidal and Truman Capote, was written for straight readers. We had a gay readership in mind, and that made all the difference.” For several years he lived in France and went on to write admired biographies of Jean Genet – which won White a Pulitzer prize – as well as Marcel Proust and Arthur Rimbaud.

 He estimated he slept with three men a week for 20 years; in 1970s New York, he wrote: “I thought it was quite normal to take a break from writing at two in the morning, saunter down to the piers, and have sex with 20 men in a truck. When I wrote that I’d had sex over the years with 3,000 men, one of my contemporaries asked pityingly: ‘Why so few?’”

 He was born 13 January 1940 5.11pm Cincinnati, with an engineer/entrepreneur father and child psychologist mother who  divorced when he was seven. He came out as gay to himself at 12. His partner and husband of 30 years in an open relationship Michael Carroll is also a writer.

  White had a Capricorn Sun in his 7th house of close partnerships in an Earth Grand Trine to Uranus in his 11th trine Neptune in his 3rd making him a hard-worker and builder in life, keen on comfort and perhaps inclined to over gratify his physical appetites. He had a lucky, successful and high vitality Jupiter Mars conjunction in Aries conjunct his Midheaven giving him drive, ambition and motivation in his career. He also had Saturn in self-reliant Aries conjunct his South Node sextile Venus in Aquarius in his 8th house inconjunct Neptune. Such a Neptune can be emotionally disorganized, escapist, tending to live in  a bubble of privacy and weighed down by feelings of unworthiness. Though ultimately it would give him healing as well as creative abilities. He was present at the Stonewall riots and the start of the gay moment and undoubtedly did a great deal of good in helping a marginalised community including gay writers.

 His Pisces Moon in his communicative 9th was sparsely aspected being only sextile Mercury and widely sextile Uranus.

 His Chiron was conjunct his Cancer Ascendant and opposition his Sun giving him problems early on forming a strong sense of identity; though for some as a consequence it can become pioneering.

  Jean Genet about whom he wrote a monumental biography was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist, the son of a prostitute who became a vagabond and petty criminal, but later after spells in the Foreign Legion and prison he became a writer and playwright.  Acclaimed by Jean Cocteau, Jean-Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso, he escaped a mandatory prison sentence for repeat offences. His writings were controversial for their explicit and provocative portrayal of homosexuality and criminality. His aim was to subvert traditional moral values and celebrate a beauty in evil.

Latterly he became a political activist drawing attention to the living conditions of immigrants in France, protesting police brutality against Algerians, expressed solidarity for  Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof in the Red Army Faction, was involved with the Black Panthers in the US and the Palestinian cause, having been in Beirut during the Sabra Chatila Camp massacres.

 Born 19 December 1910 7.45 pm Paris France, he had an audience-attracting 5th house Sagittarius Sun conjunct Venus in Capricorn, which was opposition Pluto and trine Saturn in self-reliant Aries on his Midheaven, adding a controlling and tough dimension to his temperament.

 His Mars in intense, all-or-nothing Scorpio was sextile Uranus inconjunct Pluto for a hint of the darkness in his outlook and obsessions. It gave him an extremist streak, a tendency to be overly forceful but also an ability to bring penetrating insights to bear that could be valuable in changing social values.

 His Uranus was in a high-wire, can-be-fanatical opposition to Neptune square his Midheaven and widely square his Saturn.

 His saving grace was Jupiter in his 4th pointing to his supportive adoptive family though it did not keep him out of trouble. It squared onto a Leo Moon in his Ascendant. A complex personality, driven by an urge to shock.  

Edward and Wallis – an omen-laden wedding ++ mother Mary of Teck

The Duke of Windsor’s wedding to ‘the woman I love’ Wallis Simpson, by all accounts a sad affair six months after his abdication with none of his family present took place in France. The vows were made at 11.47am in Conde en Brie, France on June 3 1937, with a self-protective Water Grand Trine of a Pisces Moon and Scheat in the Dependent 7th house trine Mars in resentful Scorpio trine Pluto in Cancer, formed into two Kites by Mars opposition the destructive Fixed Star Algol and the Midheaven – and a rules-don’t-apply-to-us Pluto opposition Jupiter. Saturn was on the cusp of the 8th hinting at financial restraints as well as emotional ones.

   A powerful, unhappy, bitter and self-defeating chart which set the path for what followed.

 Transiting Uranus at 11 degrees Taurus then was exactly conjunct the UK’s 8th house Mars – as it was just after Prince Philip’s death in April 2021 and just before Queen Elizabeth 11’s death in September 2022.

The Duke of Windsor, 23 June 1894 9.55pm Richmond, England.  Tr Uranus was also exactly opposition the Duke of Windsor’s yod focal point Uranus (inconjunct Pluto Neptune sextile North Node in Aries) – for a mid-life crisis of considerable proportions, sending his life onto a totally different trajectory courtesy of his yod. His Solar Arc Mars was also exactly opposition his Uranus as he caused an explosive and irrevocable rift with his family and country.

Tr Pluto was conjunct his Mercury in Cancer having just moved across his Descendant which fits with impassioned and hostile discussions with family members. The Gemini Sun that day was conjunct his Neptune in Gemini.

Wallis Simpson, 19 June 1896 10.30pm Blue Ridge, Pennsylvania, was another Sun Gemini, also with a Uranian yod inconjunct Mars sextile Neptune Venus. Her Saturn in Scorpio was also inconjunct her Pluto – and tr Uranus was moving to a disruptive, high tension opposition to her Saturn within days. Tr Pluto opposition tr Jupiter was colliding with her Solar Arc Neptune as well for a forcibly confident and delusional move.

 Their relationship chart not surprisingly was also dominated by a yod onto Uranus in the 9th inconjunct Mars sextile Pluto Neptune – which indicates a life-altering relationship, one which changed both their destinies – not necessarily for the better as it turned out.

Very descriptive charts which marched to the celestial dance.

Add On: Mary of Teck, his mother, 26 May 1867 11.59pm London, was a tough cookie. She did have a family-oriented 4th house Gemini Sun square Jupiter Moon in Pisces in her 1st which would give a semblance of empathy. But what dominates her chart is a ramrod rigid Saturn in Scorpio opposition Pluto in a harsh square to Mars in Leo – she did not have an easy life and would offer no sympathy for the Duke of Windsor’s dereliction of duty. She evidently was a great mentor and role model for Queen Elizabeth 11, instilling an ethos of sacrifice and duty above all else.

 Her Fixed T square clashes badly with the Duke’s Uranus on the focal point of a yod so no surprises his bid for freedom went down so badly with her.  Their relationship chart had a volatile composite Moon opposition Uranus square Mars.

 If she was his female role model no surprises he made a bad choice.   

Geert Wilders – a risky move likely to backfire

Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders has withdrawn his party from the government, over a row about immigration bringing down the governing coalition after less than a year.

There was shock and anger among political leaders, many of whom pointed out that several of Wilders’ demands are similar to policies already in the coalition agreement. Many of the additional proposals put forward by Wilders had been dismissed because of legal concerns.

A political commentator said Wilders wanted the government to collapse as the support for his Freedom Party is dropping in the polls and any forthcoming snap elections are likely to put him at the centre of the campaign. Though there are no guarantees that his gamble will pay off.

 Wilders, 6 September 1963 Venio, Netherlands, no birth time, is an unpredictable Virgo Sun, Venus, Uranus, Pluto; with his Sun Venus on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Saturn in Aquarius sextile Jupiter in impulsive Aries – giving him an erratic tendency to overblow his importance. Plus his Saturn is in a can-be neurotic square to Neptune. And his Jupiter (Moon) are in a headstrong, opportunistic opposition to Mars in Libra. His Mars is also on the focal point of a Cardinal T square to the Cancer North Node/Capricorn South Node axis making him overly assertive, at times reckless – and clearly needing to move towards his empathetic Cancer North Node rather than sliding back into Capricorn.

 There’s nothing upbeat for him ahead with a confused Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Neptune; a downbeat SA Saturn conjunct his Jupiter, both this year with tr Neptune Saturn bringing calamities according to his midpoints now until 2027; and tr Uranus causing stresses and strains from this July.  Dead halt by late decade.

 His Freedom Party, 22 February 2006, is equally beset by less than cheerful influences especially in 2026/2027 – tr Uranus conjunct Mars and square Sun plus tr Pluto square Saturn.

 The Dick Schoof cobbled-together coalition prime ministerial term, 2 July 2024 10.26am, started on an exact Moon Uranus conjunction conjunct Algol which sat midway in a trine of Mercury trine Neptune Scheat – little has evidently been achieved.

 Nothing much is registering on either Netherland charts – 26 July 1581 or 16 March 1815.

Poland – a nationalist lurch to the right

A shock result in the Polish presidential election has seen a right-wing historian, a former boxer with a background in football hooliganism and no political experience voted in. Karol Nawrocki is likely to oppose the prime minister Donald Tusk’s centrist pro-EU and pro-Ukraine agenda. The outcome is a rare win for Donald Trump’s Maga movement abroad, following election defeats for rightwing politicians aligned with the US president in Canada, Australia and Romania.

Radical candidates on both ends of the political spectrum fared better than expected in the first round, endorsed in particular by younger voters. “The fight pitting liberal internationalists against pro-Trump, pro-Orbán populists is being joined, and Poland is one of the more important battlegrounds in what is likely a generational struggle within the world’s leading democracies.”

  What brought Nawrocki to a slender win was the backing of Jarosław Kaczynski’s Law and Justice (PiS) party, a ruthless and effective populist electoral machines. “His approach  – one can call it nationalistic: emphasising the exceptional heroism and martyrdom of Poles in the 20th century.”

 Karol Nawrocki, 3 March 1983, Gdansk, is a Sun Pisces square a lucky, risk-taking, adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius which might have suggested a more liberal mindset. But his Mars in Aries, conjunct Venus, inconjunct Saturn in Scorpio conjunct Pluto points to a darker, more ruthless side to his personality. Especially since his Neptune opposition the North Node squares onto his Mars in Aries. Neptune on his South Node in Capricorn and a focal point Mars in warrior-like and aggressive Aries won’t be awash with sympathy and sentiment.

 He is not in for an easy ride ahead with 2026 having tr Neptune Saturn conjunct his Mars for setbacks and failure and tr Pluto square his Saturn into 2027 as well for a grinding uphill struggle.

 His relationship with Donald Tusk is one of polar opposites with a composite Uranus opposition Sun Mercury which is being undermined by tr Saturn Neptune in 2026 and later; and a highly-strung tr Uranus opposition the composite Neptune from this July.

Donald Tusk’s Term chart as PM, 13 December 2023 10am is being jolted onto a new track by tr Uranus opposition the Midheaven from this June onwards into 2026; and a high-tension tr Uranus square the Saturn from this August into 2026.

 Nawrocki’s relationship with his mentor Jaroslaw Kaczynski, 18 June 1949, won’t be plain sailing, to put it mildly, with tr Neptune Saturn causing uncertainty and undermining joint confidence as well as running into major roadblocks from this July on for three years.

 Nawrocki’s relationship with both Poland charts, 1918 and 1989, will be significantly unsettled right through till 2027 as well.

 The Poland 24 August 1989 1.05pm chart will be facing the uncertainty of tr Neptune Saturn square the Uranus, Saturn, Neptune in Capricorn and Jupiter in Cancer from now and on effectively till late decade, though 2026/27 are likely to be the most worrisome. The 1918 chart looks panicked and undermined now and into 2026 with tr Neptune Saturn square the Mars in final degree Sagittarius.

Ukraine drone attack – daring but not decisive

“Operation Spider’s Web”, a drone attack planned and executed by Ukraine has wreaked considerable damage at two of Russia’s most major airfields. The two remote military airfields are key to Russia’s nuclear strike capability and were considered untouchable.  

  The operation took eighteen months to organise and was personally overseen by Zelensky, with drones being smuggled into Russia. The attack happened around 2pm Kiev time which puts Jupiter conjunct the Midheaven; the Leo Moon conjunct Mars; and perhaps most significantly Saturn conjunct Neptune in Aries – which last sits midway between a Uranus Algol trine Pluto. Successful, daring, showy – and a hint of the new era.

 The Russia 8 December 1991 7.45pm chart has a 3 degree Saturn in Aquarius which is catching the tr Pluto conjunction exactly now – and on and off till late 2026, which hints at tough conditions and an uphill struggle. Putin’s initial Presidency chart, 31 December 1999, which is the start of his reign, has Neptune at 3 degrees Aquarius which reflects this attack as completely devastating – which influence continues on till late 2026. This chart hints at 2026 as a year when his grip on power could be overthrown with a Solar Arc square the Pluto. His 5th term chart, 7 May 2024, also shows 2026 as a year of failure and setbacks.

 Russia is, of course, sensitive to Saturn Neptune conjunctions with the 1917 Revolution happening with Neptune Saturn at 7 and 14 Leo; and Stalin’s death in 1953 with Saturn Neptune conjunct in the last decan of Libra.

  The Russia 8 November 1917 chart has tr Uranus square the late Leo Moon now; and emotionally downbeat tr Saturn Neptune square Venus now and into 2026; and an insecure tr Uranus square Mars in 2026 along with a devastating tr Neptune Saturn square Pluto.

 The Russia 8 December 1991 7.45pm chart is rattled at the moment with SA Venus conjunct the Mars; and heading into an explosive phase later in 2026; with a meltdown in 2027.

 Ukraine, 24 August 1991 2.31pm will be on edge and expecting upheavals with tr Uranus square the Venus exactly now and moving to square the Sun from early July. At best it could lift tensions but Uranus being a trickster can go either way. And there is a hint from one Russian military top brass that using nuclear weapons might be the response. Not that anything so devastating shows up on the Ukraine chart but there is nothing looking too settled ahead.

 Zelensky’s Swearing in chart, 20 May 2019 10am, is being jolted by tr Uranus conjunct the Taurus Sun exactly now for a definite turning point but from the 9th of this month till late July tr Neptune square the Mars will lead to a sense of failure and disappointment – and that continues through 2026.

See previous post May 1 2025.