Astrology of Today’s News

  A lively, not to say erratic and edgy start to the month comes courtesy of Mars in argumentative Gemini colliding with sparky Uranus and across from determined Pluto on the 4^th and 5^th. A day later it will all fizzle out as Saturn brings realism and restrictions to bear.

 The Cancer Sun for three weeks would prefer peace to conflict, and happy-home times rather than too much racing around. And while the month will not offer much rest and relax opportunities, there should be better times coming around mid month and just after.

  Andre Barbault, the French astrologer’s much vaunted Bread Basket with Jupiter opposition Pluto tied into Uranus and Neptune runs between the 17^th and 20^th. While I am leery of getting overly optimistic in these troubled times, it could bring unexpected, significant and lucky changes.

 The final ten days sees the Leo Sun enter with a flourish, content to know that the enthusiasm and good fortune of Jupiter will be giving the sunny, entertaining energy a boost. Pluto may put a minor damper on the show but overall it should be upbeat.

PLANETARY ASPECTS:

4: Mars conjunct Uranus in Gemini  – self-willed, overly impulsive, uncompromising, can be accident-prone.

5: Mars sextile Neptune in Aries – publicity attracting, creative.

Mars trine Pluto – dominating, determined, stuck.

6: Sun in Cancer square Saturn in Aries – delays, difficulties, negative thinking, hard work needed.

7: Neptune retrograde till mid December – subtle effect, creative projects need a rethink.

9: Venus into Virgo till August 6^th – pleasure from being helpful and working hard.

13: Sun conjunct Mercury – chatty, in mental overdrive

Venus square Uranus – emotional upsets or surprises, wanting romantic freedom.

14: New Moon in Cancer

18: Uranus in Gemini trine Pluto in Aquarius  – deep insight, changes, move away from the past.

2): Jupiter in Leo trine Neptune – kind, sympathetic, hopeful.

Jupiter opposition Pluto – confident, over-confident, clashes with authority, a mood that rules don’t apply to certain individual’s actions.

22: Sun into Leo for four weeks – sociable, entertaining, attention seeking

23: Mercury direct in Cancer – communication hitches and glitches of past three weeks disappear.

25: Neptune sextile Pluto – otherworldly, supernatural, ambitious.

26: Saturn retrograde in Aries until nearly mid December – practical projects may need to go back to the drawing board for a rethink.

27: Sun opposition Pluto – requires persistence to overcome obstacles, stuck.

 Sun trine Neptune – kind, creative, vague

Sun sextile Uranus – bright ideas, positive small changes.

29: Venus square Mars – passionately enthusiastic, impulsive, not tactful.

Full Moon in Aquarius

OUTER PLANETS

Jupiter in Leo until from July 1 2026 to July 2027 – socially outgoing, confident, brave and boastful.

Saturn: Saturn in Aries from May 25th 2025 for the first time in 29 years. There will be a need for grit, self-reliance, initiative, patience and resourcefulness. It can lead to selfish behaviour on the part of some and a lack of cooperation since the tendency will be to pursue an independent course. Though Neptune close by may soften its effect bringing more sympathy for those in need.

Uranus: From April 26^th 2026 into Gemini staying until 2032. Inventive, multi-tasking, technological advances.

Neptune in Aries from late April 2025 till 2039 (with a brief retrograde back into Pisces from late October to late January 2026) can prompt individuals to submit themselves to a bigger cause than themselves. In the past it has led to an increase in individual rights and advances for disenfranchised people.  When back in Pisces it reprises the mood of the past decade plus with conspiracy theories running rampant.

Pluto in Aquarius from late November 2024 till 2044. Can be enlightening, fosters social movements and equality, changes outlooks and attitudes, brings intense discussions and scientific advances.

Please add below. Older posts under News on top bar and in search.

 Richard Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal in August 1974 was a seismic event for the USA.

 At that point tr Pluto at 4 degrees Libra had been hovering around the square to the USA Jupiter – amplifying the theme of the-rules-don’t-apply-to-me and clashes with authority. Tr Neptune was opposition the US Uranus for high-anxiety and trine the US North Node for a dent to national vanity. More significantly tr Uranus was in square to the US Pluto opposition Mercury for an almighty upheaval. Tr Saturn was in a discouraging conjunction to the US Sun exactly.

  I was wondering about any similarities to the present given VP Vance’s bizarre comment that today Watergate would be a 12 hour scandal. As several commentators point out what is happening now is much worse. — Trump’s trading of regulatory favours for gifts viz Paramount and Bezos’ Melania documentary, currying favour for his space venture.  ‘Trump operates an apparent market in presidential pardons.’ People who donate to him have been forgiven for crimes of embezzlement, money laundering and funnelling money to sanctioned regimes, including Iran. Hundreds were forgiven for storming Capitol Hill to overthrow an election. ‘Trump does not even bother to conceal. He makes no pretence of abiding by the US constitution’s emoluments clause.’

  At present the Solar Arc Pluto is square the USA Jupiter which makes for overly-confident and lawless actions as above. Tr Saturn is this year square the US Sun. In 2027 tr Neptune in early Aries will be squaring the USA Jupiter for a bubble-bursting effect on national confidence and finances. Tr Neptune will then trine the USA Uranus by 2028 for a highly strung mood. The Solar Arc South Node is conjunct the USA Saturn in Libra undermining a fair minded approach to rules and regulations at the moment.

  There is additionally the continuation of the high-crisis, game-changing Solar Arc USA Sun square Saturn colliding with the USA Mars square Neptune which has another year to run, having picked up two years ago.

 Some similarities. But not the major upheaval of the Uranus transit upending Pluto.

  What will be significant will be tr Pluto opposition the US ‘leadership’ Leo North Node in 2027/28.

9/11 occurred when tr Neptune was opposition the Node severely denting the nation’s pride. Nothing like that is likely to recur but it will be an event or series of events, maybe a culmination of the past two years, which brings a reckoning with the country’s identity.

  The squeamish should skip this one and I almost wish I had not bothered to research.

Shabir Ahmed, a Pakistani immigrant, convicted of 30 unthinkable child rape offences against children as young as 12 as part of a Rochdale grooming gang, is due to be released from jail next week. He cannot be thrown out of Britain because of an anomaly under the Immigration Act 1971 despite having been stripped of his British citizenship in 2016.

At his trial he was described as an ‘unpleasant and hypocritical bully’. The Judge said the gang treated their victims “as though they were worthless and beyond any respect”. He was banned from the courtroom in Liverpool for his sentencing hearing because of his threatening behaviour and for calling the judge a “racist bastard”.

 The inability to deport him means the Ministry of Justice and probation service will have to spend thousands of pounds imposing exclusion zones banning him from Rochdale, curfews and tagging restrictions on him to protect the public.

His date of birth according to company records is 23 January 1953, which is believe or not, three days after Jeffrey Epstein. He has the same can-be-promiscuous Mars Venus conjunction in Pisces exaggerated by being on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Neptune. Ahmed has an even more ‘indulgent’ Taurus Moon than Epstein’s Aries Moon. Though both have can-be-covetous and hedonistic Jupiter in Taurus.

Ahmed has a strongly aspected 18th harmonic often found with serial killers – which fits given the lives he ruined.

 The Foreign Secretary is trying to find a way of altering the law and he looks seriously rattled from this August onwards.

  If it had been France they would have tossed him out, law or no law. The Brits are far too timid when faced with this kind of situation.

Serena Williams, the greatest female tennis player of all time, winner of 23 majors, is back to play singles and doubles at Wimbledon.  She reportedly disliked her Wimbledon exit four years ago and misses tennis ‘every day’ she has said.

  Born 26 September 1981 8.28 pm Saginaw, MI, she has a hard-working Sun conjunct Saturn in Libra in her 6^th house with super-confident Jupiter Pluto Mercury also in Libra in her 6^th. Her Virgo Moon is on the cusp of her 6^th  and her high-vitality Mars in Leo is in her sporting 5^th house.

She has Uranus and Venus in Scorpio in her 7^th house of partnerships so an unconventional marriage would be a must if it was to work.

  She is in a curious phase of her life – astrologically speaking – with her Solar Arc Uranus exactly square her Saturn, this year which will be high-tension, edgy and erratic. Plus tr Neptune opposition her Sun through this year, returning exactly mid August to late September, and on and off till January 2028, which can be confused, indecisive and low energy. Tr Saturn Neptune in late Pisces over last winter were opposition her Sun/Moon midpoint hinting at an internal shift making her less than satisfied with her life as wife and mother. Tr Uranus is also square her Solar Arc Midheaven through this year which certainly hints at a change in her life’s direction but not necessarily one that brings success.

 Tr Jupiter won’t move into her sporting, confidence-building and sociable 5^th until this September when it is conjunct her Mars. By 2027/28 her Solar Arc Saturn will conjunct her Uranus for another high tension jolt. With a setback in 2029/30 as her SA Mars is conjunct her Sun.

  Her midpoints at the moment show luck and a high for a few days, plus anxiety – and exuberance after the 19^th so no matter the result she may be pleased she made the effort.

 Emma Radacanu, 13 November 2002, Toronto, Canada, out because of a stress fracture, has had a disjointed tennis career since an early win with multiple coach changes and injuries.

She is a determined Sun Mercury in Scorpio square Uranus in Aquarius and square Jupiter in Leo. She will be quite ego-driven and a risk-taker, as well as stubborn and at times contrary. Jupiter is also opposing her Neptune will make her overly-optimistic. Her Uranus is in an Air Grand Trine to Mars in Libra and trine Saturn in Gemini so she will tend to live in her head and with no Earth planets she may well not be grounded in her body in a helpful way. She has a confident Pluto trine her Jupiter and sextile her Uranus, maybe square a Pisces Moon.

 Houses may make a difference – since Serena Williams is also short of Earth but has a jam-packed 6^th which is an earth house and a Virgo Moon.

Emma is heading into a defining moment in her career in later 2027 when her Solar Arc Sun is conjunct her Pluto for a seriously stuck phase of several months; followed by a confused and undermining tr Pluto conjunct her Neptune in 2028/29. At the moment she also has a moving yod of Solar Arc Uranus inconjunct her natal Jupiter sextile Mars which will be in place for two years ahead and in orb longer than that. Such yods tend to bring times of paralysis and indecision.

Ben Stokes, one of the world’s greatest cricketers, made a stunning retirement announcement on the fourth day of the deciding England Test at Trent Bridge. His shock exit appeared to have been triggered by burnout and an increasingly strained relationship with the England Cricket Board. Plus perhaps a serious facial injury he suffered in March after being hit by a ball in the Durham nets which had more of an effect than he has admitted publicly.

“It might sound quite selfish but this decision is genuinely the best thing for me right now,” Stokes said. He said he had been considering ending his career since England’s Ashes defeat in Australia in December 2025.

 Born 4 June 1991 Christchurch, New Zealand, he is a Sun Gemini inconjunct Neptune Uranus sextile Pluto; and trine/sextile Saturn in Aquarius opposition Mars Jupiter in Leo. Unravelling that – a yod focal point Sun will have problems with too little self-worth and then too much, so he will wobble from one to the other. Uranus Neptune conjunct is highly strung. Saturn opposition Mars can be edgy, short-tempered and resentful, weighed down by problems; Saturn opposition Jupiter will be up and down in mood.

He has been open about the mental health issues he has faced with anxiety and panic attacks through his career.

  At the moment his Solar Arc Sun is exactly opposition his Neptune for a lacklustre, undermining year. Alongside that tr Pluto opposition his Mars in Leo would bring feelings of being stuck, frustrated and blocked in. With tr Pluto in hard aspect to his Mars/Saturn midpoint probably over his March accident, bringing a significant setback. Tr Pluto will continue on to conjunct his Saturn in 2027/28 so retirement initially will be hard going. Though gradually tr Pluto opposing first his Mars/Jupiter midpoint and then his Jupiter in 2029/30 should bounce him up again.

Mel Brooks, actor, filmmaker, comedian, songwriter and playwright, has reached 100 with a lifespan as long as his talents. Winner of an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, he can look back on a seven decade career with many highs including Blazing Saddles, The Producers, Young Frankenstein and the Elephant Man – and a few lows.

 He was born 28 June 1926, a month after Marilyn Monroe, three months after Queen Elizabeth 11 and four months after David Attenborough – so it was a notable year.

  When asked the secret to a long life years ago, he replied: “Don’t die.”

Farces, parodies and black humour were his metier.

 He was born on the kitchen table of a tenement in Brooklyn, the son of European Jewish immigrants, and brought up by his mother after his father died when he was two years old. He was a small, sickly child and the youngest of four brothers. Despite which he fought in World War 11 in 1944 on the Western Front, which allowed him to make outrageous jokes ever after about the Nazis. After a brief first marriage which produced three children, he met and wedded actress Anne Bancroft, staying together for 41 years until her death in 2005.

 He has a Sun Pluto conjunction in Cancer square Mars in Aries, so a force to be reckoned with. He turned a good deal of anger and frustration into biting wit and made a joke of what he could not change. His Jupiter square his Mars/Pluto midpoint would help to mellow the bleakness of the Mars Pluto.

He also had the powerful collection of Fixed signs of that year with Neptune in Leo opposition Jupiter in Aquarius square Venus in Taurus opposition Saturn in Scorpio. An unbudgeable personality and not always comfortable within himself though he made lifelong friends and was universally liked.

  His Moon was in Aquarius which generally lends a mischievous air to proceedings.  

 His four decade marriage to Anne Bancroft, 17 September 1931, matched her Sun Venus in Virgo to his Venus in Taurus and her Sagittarius Moon to his Aquarius Moon. Her stellium in Virgo and a Mutable Moon would make her flexible and able to cope with his strong Fixed temperament. But it would not all have been easy. The relationship chart had an intense fanatical composite Mars opposition Pluto, softened to a degree by good Jupiter aspects and a ‘fated’ yod which would make it feel meant – and indeed it would have a profound effect on both. She battled depression and an alcohol problem during her life.

 A reviewer wrote: “He is the son of immigrants who fought the Nazis and ultimately triumphed in every area of showbusiness. He is the American dream made flesh.”

Mel Brooks quotes:

“If God wanted us to fly, He would have given us tickets.”

“Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.”

“Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.”

“If Shaw and Einstein couldn’t beat death, what chance have I got? Practically none.”

“Humor is just another defense against the universe.”

“Bad taste is simply saying the truth before it should be said.”

“He who hesitates is poor.”

“I don’t believe in this business of being behind, better to be in front.”

“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.” Shakespeare, Hamlet.

  From an ill-judged war to a sulphurous green Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC after a $14 million renovation, Trump does not have his troubles to seek.  The one minnow he did not expect to bite back after they admitted their mistake was the BBC. But as anyone in the business knows, suing the BBC is usually a very bad idea indeed as their sharp-clawed legal hounds get to work.

 In this instance having said sorry for the misleading edit of a fiery speech he made shortly before the January 6 assault, making it appear that he’d made a direct call for violence. And ditching the director-general Tim Davie and the News chief Deborah Turness, the BBC have now come out guns blazing.  

  The BBC is arguing that to win his $10 billion defamation case, Trump has to prove he did NOT foment or incite the riot. They have requested Trump’s diary and phone logs, issued a wave of subpoenas to dozens of members of Trump’s inner circle, raising fresh questions about Trump’s speech before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

To win the case, Trump “must prove that he did not foment or incite the January 6 Capitol riot,” the BBC said. “Plaintiff has placed that question directly at issue in bringing this libel lawsuit – he cannot now prevent defendants from seeking records that would shed light on his true knowledge, intent, and state of mind in delivering his speech.”

The BBC has formally subpoenaed the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust in a bid to ascertain the financial impact of the alleged defamation. That trust, managed by the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, holds Trump’s business interests and assets.

  What is even more amusing is the astrology.  The BBC, 14 November 2022 6pm London, a determined Scorpio entity, has its bullishly stubborn and contrary Mars in Aquarius exactly opposition Trump’s 12^th house Pluto for a fight to the death. The BBC’s Saturn is conjunct DT’s 2^nd house financial Jupiter as it attempts to weasel out financial info that he will presumably wish to hide. The BBC’s slippery Neptune sits exactly on DT/s Mars/Pluto midpoint in his 8^th; with the BBC Pluto conjunct his Mercury. A worthy opponent.

 The BBC/DT relationship chart is also wonderfully apt in the circumstances with a composite T Square of Uranus opposition Jupiter square Pluto – Jupiter Pluto is a tussle for the upper hand. Uranus Pluto is capable of creating turmoil. Jupiter Uranus is associated with fortune hunters or a tendency to magnify a situation – and can go wrong.

  The focal point Pluto hints at a power struggle and it trines Mars, doubling up its determination not to be put down.

 Plus there is a composite Saturn, Sun Mercury, Neptune in Virgo which will be rattled by tr Uranus square from this July onwards, when tensions erupt for two or three years ahead.

  All a sideshow but could be fun. It is supposed to come to trial in Florida in February 2027 though there are arguments about jurisdiction for a programme that never aired in the USA. If it does proceed tr Saturn will be in hard aspect to the Uranus Jupiter Pluto T square from mid 2027 onwards, dampening spirits considerably. It may well fizzle out, more’s the pity.

Comedian Larry David is taking aim at 250 years of American history with Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America on HBO – an eviscerating satirical and occasionally educational series. A different sort of celebration from the man who has “made a killing out of killing sacred cows.” Best known for  Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld, at 78 he decided retirement was not for him.

 A reviewer wrote: “For a country evangelical about its superiority, there is a dark and sizable underbelly they would prefer to ignore…..  Who better to educate America on its history, then, than Larry David?” The series is executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama with Samuel L Jackson narrating.

  Larry David was born in Brooklyn on 2 July 1947, no birth time with a father from a German Jewish family, who moved to the US in the 19th century and a Ukrainian mother.  A Sun Cancer square Neptune seems mildly sympathetic for a comedian with a penetrating wit and a sharp bite, but he does have the tough Saturn Pluto in Leo of that era square a confident lucky Jupiter in Scorpio which also trines his Sun. He also has a fired-up Mars conjunct North Node in communicative Gemini. More than that his Mercury in late Cancer sits on his Sun/Pluto midpoint which will give him insight and a powerful way of putting across his points.

 What intrigued me was how he interfaced with the USA with whom he shares a Cancer Sun. His Uranus Venus conjunction on Gemini sit on top of the US Mars for a sparky relationship; and his Mars North Node fall close to the SA Uranus  – for a double dose of argumentative triggers. His Saturn in Leo is also conjunct the US North Node in Leo which gives the country leadership potential and aspirations, so no surprises his Saturn aims to cut through bombast and vanity. His Mercury in Cancer, already hyped-up in his own chart, also opposes the US Pluto and is conjunct the USA Mercury – that USA Mercury opposition Pluto is guilty of overly dogmatic opinions which he delights in taking aim at.

 His relationship chart with the US has an explosive Mars Uranus conjunction square a Saturn Jupiter conjunction for a disorienting association veering from dislike to appreciation and back again. The composite Sun is in a trine to Pluto for a bond that remains tight despite all the brickbats he throws. Though it may be tested across the 250^th Anniversary as tr Pluto will be squaring the composite Pluto; and by September tr Saturn will be square the composite Sun – so the reaction is unlikely to be all positive.

  The USA, despite all, has a robust tradition of comedians focusing on the public and political scene.  All power to them.

Frida Kahlo, the artist, who has achieved cult status in the last two decades is the focus of an exhibition at the Tate Modern: The Making of an Icon for the next six months.  Art critics are scathing about the ‘piggybacking or the deadening drumbeat of identity politics’ in the exposition but inevitable given that Kahlo represented many of the modern preoccupations of sexuality, gender, class, status, race and disability.

  Her own macabre, mesmerising and seductively weird paintings are the centrepiece of the show with the curator saying the intention is to “trace how Frida has become this global icon.” Her stamp can be seen nowadays on Christmas decorations, fashion collections, socks, skateboards, clutch bags and feminist children’s books.

 She was born 6 July 1907 8.30am Coyoacan, Mexico, to a German father, who suffered from epilepsy and a Spanish/indigenous Mexican mother of delicate health. A bout of polio aged six permanently damaged one leg. But she suffered a worse blow aged 18 when a calamitous traffic accident left her with lifelong injuries and in constant pain.

She was devoted to her Mexican identity and fought for the working class becoming respected for having a strong female voice. Through her life she had affairs with women and men, experimented with masculine clothing and remained proud of her lustrous black moustache — prominent in her self-portraits. She was also the first artist to represent female experience in terms of miscarriage and birth.

 Her devotees tend to selectively pick what suits their cause from her life ignoring her strong communist beliefs and her (unfeminist) dedication to her husband, another Mexican painter Diego Rivera, a prolific philanderer, who even had an affair with her sister. He was 20 years older and obese.

  She had a visionary, idealistic and optimistic Sun Neptune Jupiter in Cancer opposition a volatile, explosive, highly strung a 5^th house Uranus Mars in Capricorn.  She would have initiative to spare but would be constantly pulled in opposite directions. Her sombre 8^th house Saturn in Pisces was trine a Cancer North Node and Jupiter, sextile Moon MC in Taurus, so she would resist intimacy and channel her obsessions with death and what lay in the darkness into her career. Her Taurus Moon in the 10^th would suit her for a public career; and Venus Pluto in Gemini also in the 10^th would make her influential with a creative streak from Venus and the Taurus Moon.  

 Her Saturn which is in a bleak square to Pluto Venus rules her 6^th house of health. Chiron in Aquarius is the only entity there which Melanie Rhinehart suggests can lead to a lifelong search for ways to connect the spirit and the flesh. In Aquarius it would make her a crusader for a cause.

   Her 10^th house Moon in Taurus would be the saving of her, bringing a public career that involved a tactile medium and involved a love of all things botanical. Her Venus close to Pluto and square Saturn suggests an emotional life both passionate and cold. She had affairs with everyone from Josephine Baker to Leon Trotsky.

 Her husband Diego Rivera, born 8 Dec 1886 11pm Guanajuato, Mexico, had a 4^th house Sun Venus in Sagittarius. He shared a  Taurus Moon and 5^th house Mars in Capricorn with her, so both liked to go their own way. His Moon Neptune Pluto fell on her MC and into her 10^th so he’d be a driving force and controlling in her career and life’s direction. Though he’d also squash her exuberance at times since his Saturn was conjunct her Jupiter; and his Uranus was square her Sun Neptune and Mars Uranus – not an easy or harmonious match.

 Their relationship chart had a cool composite Moon Saturn in a tension-erupting opposition to Uranus. But the Moon Saturn was also trine Mars and trine Venus so there would be mix liveliness and creativity with emotional blockages.  The composite Venus was square Neptune Pluto so passionate and idealised, driving them both unbalanced at times. Plus a yod onto a focal point Mars for angry flare ups.

 She died aged 47, perhaps of an accidental overdose though she was in worsening health having had a leg amputated. She wasn’t well known outside art circles until the 1980s.

“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”
Friedrich Nietzsche