Astrology of Today’s News

Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo are escalating, ditto China and Taiwan, India-Pakistan and Israel-Palestine, never mind Russia-Ukraine. Neighbourly spats and identity wars (e.g. Taiwan is China’s) rumble on constantly but there does seem more unrest than usual. There are no hard Saturn Pluto aspects which usually accompany major wars until 2028. Which doesn’t mean there won’t be outbreaks of military violence.

    The China-Taiwan standoff from past experience is highly sensitive around 28 degrees Cardinal which Pluto in Capricorn hits early, mid and late 2023. Any conflict there would deal a devastating blow to the global economy with the car, tech, pharmaceuticals and fashion industries all suffering badly. Which might be one possible reason for many central banks flagging up disasters as Pluto moves into Aquarius from March onwards.

  Serbia also appears to resonate to the dying days of Pluto in a sign through its long history. It declared independence on 5 June 2006 with Pluto at 25 Sagittarius and Kosovo unilaterally declared independence as Pluto moved into Capricorn on 17 February 2008. Serbia previously declared Independence in 1878 with Pluto in late Taurus.

   I’m not that convinced by the modern charts but for what it is worth neither Serbia nor Kosovo is looking too confident this coming year. Kosovo especially looks trapped this month into January and facing disasters from late March 2023 to June. Serbia is nerve-stretched and not empowered this year with tr Neptune square the Pluto but its major headaches come in 2024 and beyond as tr Pluto opposes the Mars, then Mars/Saturn/ midpoint, then Saturn for several years thereafter.

  This is all straws-in-the-wind but I wonder whether the Serbian high-alert is a weathervane for the global tectonic shift. From a previous post. “It stands on the frontier between east and west and throughout its long and troubled history has always seemed to be a place of great significance. 17 Roman emperors were born there; 140 wars have been fought around its capital Belgrade in the past two thousand years. And it was home to the renewed fervour for gnostic Christianity in the 8th and 9th Centuries which sent the Cathar heresies out into Europe. It was swallowed up in the Ottoman Empire, then incorporated into Tito’s Yugoslavia and suffered through an exceptionally destructive break up a decade after his death.”

   This is a non sequitur really but I wonder whether the east-west tensions which had seemed a relic of the past but are now resurgent because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Crimea) leading to grave uncertainty about globalization and the security of supply chains involving autocratic countries are in some way sending tremors through the countries at the crossroads like Serbia. Sounds silly in a way but Serbia has always played an outsize role in world history.

  No great conclusions except the world is achanging which will re-set the political landscape force majeure or by bad actors upsetting the status quo. Some countries will be more caught in the middle than others.

Charles gave his first Christmas message with heartfelt sympathies being offered to “those at home finding ways to pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm;” and thanks to those who give generously with time and money to help out those less fortunate.

  While understandable and touching, he did veer closer to politics than the Queen ever did, which was always the concern, highlighted memorably in Michael Dobbs To Play the King novel and TV serial in the 1990s. In the fictionalised version the newly anointed Charles publicly opposed a Tory Government’s social policies and the serpentine prime minister Frances Urquhart ultimately blackmailed him into abdicating with the threat of exposing hidden Royal scandals.

  The Queen as head of a constitutional monarchy rarely put a foot wrong but Charles has a bleeding heart, is naïve, lacking in self-awareness – and open to serious question about not only financial ongoings in his charity, his friendships with questionable billionaires and also his own extravagances.

  Rishi Sunak is nowhere near as twisted as Frank Urquhart but he looks a touch cool towards Charles over this New Year into early January; and more so towards mid 2023 and on. 

  Charles has a successful tr Jupiter moving across his Midheaven and 10^th house from March 2023 till late 2024 which will keep his popularity afloat. But for all that he is facing a testing year ahead with a jolting and jangling tr Uranus square his Pluto mid March for three weeks and then opposing his Scorpio Sun from July on and off into early 2024. So his controlling tendencies will be severely challenged. 

  Pluto squares his 10^th house Moon from late this March as tr Pluto moves into Aquarius until mid June; and then returns in 2024. This will bring immense pressure on the emotional side involving family relationships, bringing up past suffering and can involve power struggles. It will also affect his career and reputation since his Moon is 10^th house and power struggles may encroach in this arena as well.

  Mid January to mid February looks disaster-strewn as does August to mid September and November to late December 2023 with his Mars/Saturn midpoint being triggered. Through 2024 tr Neptune will square his enthusiastic Jupiter opposition Uranus and Solar Arc Midheaven which will undermine his confidence and exuberance.

His relationship chart with the UK has smatterings of affection though is trickier and less successful than the Queen’s. In his case there is a resignation about this being the way it is and he will divide opinion. There will be a turbulent phase in his popularity and position through 2024/25.

  His relations with close relatives:- Oddly enough with his brother Prince Edward there will be most confusion and tension, picking up late this March and running on for several years.

Andrew is clearly unhappy with a blocked, frustrating, enraging tr Pluto conjunct his Mars Venus in Capricorn now till late 2023; plus a downbeat tr Saturn conjunct his Pisces Sun throughout 2023. And nothing to suggest a road back since Prince William seriously dislikes him.

The stand off with Prince Harry won’t improve and with Harry’s Pluto in Scorpio exactly opposition Charles’s Taurus Moon there won’t be any give, more likely an intensified tug of war. Tr Pluto is also conjunct their composite Midheaven from late March which is likely to be destructive to their relationship rather than constructive.

  With Meghan, Charles looks edgy in 2023 and most alarmed, disappointed and aggravated in 2024/25/26. I reckon the MegHaz dog and pony show will grind to a halt circa 2025/26. 2027 is when her chart looks to be in critical meltdown with possible relationship splits on both sides in the year or two before.   

“Change is inevitable, growth is optional” is a thought to hang onto as 2023 throws open its doors. Jupiter changes sign every year, Saturn every two years and Pluto every fifteen to twenty years. This year three sign shifts will require adaptability, resilience and resourcefulness.

  Jupiter will be in upbeat, fiery and enthusiastic Aries until May 17^th which should help to lift flagging spirits. It then moves into indulgent, earthy Taurus into 2024 which will allow for a few treats.

  Saturn moves through Pisces from March 8^th until May 2025, which is not its favourite sign bringing a regretful mood, one prone to anxieties and fearfulness, and a reluctance to let go past mistakes and hurts. It does induce humility and an understanding of the less fortunate with an urge to be helpful in discreet ways. But needs periods of quiet to operate successfully.

 What to be thankful for is that Saturn has moved away from the high-tension square to Uranus which has made the past two years exceedingly stressful and argumentative as well as disruptive.

  Pluto is the game-changer as it moves into Aquarius on 24^th March, staying initially until mid June; and returning in 2024 to stay till 2044. Pluto is the planet of transformation, which pulls down old structures and attitudes and provides an opportunity for a positive advance. It has been grinding through materialistic Capricorn since 2008. Financial systems and forms of government have been its principle focus and although one might have wished for more wholesale changes, there have been acute pressures in both areas and maybe more to come before it exits finally and for ever (well 250 years ahead) in January 2024. It now switches its laser beam onto a new arena. The start usually brings the most noticeable effects as the deconstruction begins.  

  Aquarius is an Air sign, a thinker and communicator, emotionally detached, friendly, better at group activities than one-to-one relationships, an explorer of ideas, scientific, inventive, can be dogmatic in defence of theories and beliefs. At best it can be enlightened and humanitarian, at worst a fanatic.

  It may in a small way provide a helpful counter-balance to the mush of Neptune in Pisces in its swansong years up to 2026 which has in recent years pushed irrational beliefs to the fore.

  The Solar Eclipses are moving backwards at 29 degrees Aries and Libra for the year. The 20 April 2023 Solar has the Aries New Moon conjunct Jupiter and square Pluto so will have a powerful effect, with confidence and power-struggles prominent. Bernadette Brady says it is in a Saros series that is not subtle and brings deep and hidden passions to the surface.

  The 14 October 2023 Solar Eclipse at 21 degrees Libra is also square Pluto and in an even more forceful and fast-moving Saros Series – obstacles will clear suddenly or a crisis will blow up and escalate at speed.

 The Lunar Eclipses will remain as for 2022 in Scorpio/Taurus. The 5 May 2023 Lunar Eclipse at 14 degrees Scorpio will be opposition to Uranus for sudden surprises. The 18 October 2023 Lunar Eclipse at 5 degrees Taurus sits beside an upbeat, but overly impulsive and opportunistic Jupiter opposition Mars.  

  There are no major outer planetary aspects as there were for the Saturn Pluto conjunction of 2019/20 and the Saturn square Uranus of the past two years, which will be a help in terms of jangle or pressure.

  My final thought is that Neptune may have a few things up its sleeve before it exits Pisces in 2025 – often the ending is as significant in events as the beginning.

  Eclipses are generally thought to cast a shadow six months ahead until the next one so the start of 2023 will carry the mood for the October/November 2022 Eclipses – see previous posts October 25 2022 and 27 August 2022.

Previous Saturn in Pisces – 1994/95 – 1965/66 – 1935/36 -1906/07. These always coincided with other outer planet placings so not always easy to extrapolate what truly belonged to Saturn in Pisces.

 Though there did seem to be concern for the poor. 1935 in the recovery from the Great Depression the USA Social Security Act was passed, and Alcoholics Anonymous was founded the same year. The 1964 Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 authorized the formation of local Community Action Agencies as part of the War on Poverty.

There were also advances with TB vaccines, strep treatment, electronics, first vacuum cleaner – though they have have been boosted by Uranus Neptune and Saturn Neptune around then.

  There did seem to be larger natural disasters than usual; as well as atrocities – Stalin’s Great Purge, Romanian Peasant Revolt (11,000 died), Rwanda genocide, Srebrenica massacre. King George V dies in 1936 and Churchill dies on the next Saturn in Pisces.

  There were USA east coast earthquakes in 1906 and 1994 but both of them also had Uranus Neptune – in opposition and conjunct respectively, so more to do with that.

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Happy festivities all round. Hope the break is enjoyable and that 2023 will bring optimism, enthusiasm and resilience.

  Predictions for the year to follow.

  I am grateful to those who pitch in with astro-thoughts, illuminating background contexts and questions since it helps to form a clearer picture.

All the best

Marjorie

Canadian rapper Tory Lanez has been found guilty of shooting fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion in the foot after they left a party at Kylie Jenner’s home in 2020. He was charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. He will be sentenced in late January and is likely to get a hefty prison term.

  The prosecutor praised Megan  for “incredible courage and vulnerability” despite facing “repeated and grotesque attacks.” He said, “you faced unjust and despicable scrutiny that no woman should ever face and you have been an inspiration to others.” In her testimony, she said Lanez offered her $1 million to keep quiet about the shooting.

 Two things seem odd looking at the incident and aftermath as a reflection of current trends. Taking a semi-automatic to a party?? And treating the shooting as if it was a he said/she said domestic violence spat or worse suggesting she might have asked for it because of her sexual history.

   He was born 27 July 1992 in Ontario and had a fractured childhood, being thrown out when he was 15 to fend for himself. He’s a Sun Leo sextile Mars in Gemini; with the excitable, highly-strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn of his generation; and an emotionally bleak Venus in Leo opposition Saturn square Pluto in Scorpio.  His Solar Arc Neptune Uranus are now starting several years’ trip in hard aspect to his chilly Venus Mercury, Saturn, Pluto T square so a devastating time ahead.

  Megan was born 15 February 1995 in Texas with a rapper mother and finished a college degree before launching out onto a full blow musical career herself.

  She’s a Sun Aquarius opposition Mars in Leo with Jupiter square Saturn in Pisces and the Uranus Neptune conjunction in late Capricorn. Her Pluto in Sagittarius is exactly opposite his Mars and his Pluto squares her Mars so sparks would fly; and her Venus in Capricorn is conjunct his Uranus Neptune.

  Not sure why any of this matters apart from the violent and misogynistic rapper culture and oddities of US gun lax control.  

The economic doomsayers are murmuring warnings about the EU returning to quantitative tightening as German hawks regain control of policy. Financial arrangements will no longer be tilted in favour of southern Europe’s high-debt states just as they are struggling to cover their energy bail-outs. A one-size-fits-all monetary policy could, as in 2008, significantly worsen the coming global recession/crunch as well as widen fracture lines within the EU.

  The EU chart, 31 December 1957 11pm Brussels, has taken a fair battering since Uranus moved into Taurus and started in 2020 to shake up the 8^th house EU Taurus Moon and 11^th house Uranus. What may have been a saving grace is the EU’s 2^nd house Jupiter Neptune conjunction which produces luck initially but is guaranteed to trip up because of scandal or unrealistic optimism – or both. Tr Pluto will continue to square the Jupiter throughout 2023 which may stave off implosion though there will be tremors from tr Uranus square the speculative 5^th house Venus now till early 2023.

   When the real aggro or overwhelming panic kicks in will be 2024 as tr Pluto squares the Jupiter/Neptune midpoint and is conjunct the Neptune on the ECB 1 January 1999 chart.  

  During 2023 tr Saturn will oppose the EU 12^th house Pluto which will put the blocks on behind-the-scenes dirty-dealings. And tr Saturn will also square the 3^rd house Mars for neighbours/siblings at war with heated arguments.

  In 2024 tr Neptune will square the EU Midheaven for an undermining and indecisive phase of dither and muddle with little propping up morale. Worse follows in 2025/26 as Solar Arc Pluto will oppose the financial Moon and square Uranus; with tr Pluto square the 2^nd house Neptune – which could be terminal or lead to an almighty upheaval and forced change of financial direction.

  Ursula von der Leyen, now deemed the world’s most powerful woman, President of the European Commission, took up her role on 1 December 2019 so will be labouring under the Solar Arc Saturn closing the conjunction to Pluto to exact within four months, which is exceptionally heavy going. Tr Pluto will trine the Midheaven so she may retain a firm grip through 2023/24 but will experience a considerable shock as the Solar Arc Uranus opposes the Mars in early 2024.

  The old Franco-German alliance has been creaking badly through 2022 and more so in 2023 with high frustration and impatience surfacing at several points and ructions from May onwards for the following two years.

    The Germany/EU relationship chart which is tightly connected will be feeling the financial strain when tr Pluto moves into Aquarius from late March since it will conjunct the composite Venus; with depression and uncertainty running from March as well into early 2024. Open warfare (metaphorically speaking) is likely to break out in 2025 to 2025 with the composite Uranus, Mars, Moon Grand Cross being pounded.

   France and the EU will also be at a fractious standoff from this spring, right through till 2025 when there is likely to be a significant reset in relations with a major upheaval.   Italy ditto.

  France in particular is heading into troubled times with tr Uranus upending its Uranus opposition Pluto and square Mars Midheaven from mid 2023 till 2025; with an undermining tr Neptune opposition the Virgo Sun in 2024.

  And Germany in a lesser way is coping with tr Uranus in a disruptive conjunction to the 8^th house Pluto till this coming spring; and a trapped, frustrating tr Pluto trine Mars from late March 2023, on and off till late 2024; with the Bundesbank flashing red lights of alarm throughout 2023 to 2026.

All too exhausting to contemplate – most countries/entities appear to be following the same trajectory with a nadir around 2025/26.

The British Museum is doing nothing to improve the UK’s reputation by falling back on lame excuses for not handing back either the looted Greek Elgin Marbles or the Nigerian Benin Bronzes. Germany has handed back their Benin pieces and the Vatican has repatriated Parthenon marble fragments which makes it worse.

  There have been discussions about a ‘partnership’ with Greece with a quid pro quo for a loan of other historical artifacts coming back to the UK but it is unlikely the Greek authorities would agree to anything other than a permanent return.

  The British Museum has said “we operate within the law and we’re not going to dismantle our great collection as it tells a unique story of our common humanity”. They fall back on the line that the British Museum 1963 Act forbids it from  removing objects from its collections, except in some narrow circumstances.” There have been vague thoughts about changing the law but nothing has yet transpired.

  The British Museum founded by an act on 7 June 1753 has a Gemini Sun opposition Pluto square Uranus in Pisces – wide interests, pioneering and controlling. There’s also an adventurous and ‘entrepreneurial’ Fire Grand Trine of Mars in Aries trine Pluto trine Neptune which gives it an inspirational though also arrogant streak, and will tend to make it insensitive to others’ needs.

   Intriguingly it has a Scorpio North Node which hints that spiritual fulfilment lies in changing a strongly possessive streak and letting go what it once regarded as security. ‘The more he accumulates the more he traps himself.’ Transformation comes through the loss of what once felt precious. The 2023 Lunar Eclipse in Taurus will rattle the Brit Museum North Node so who knows?  It may be forced to shift. Tr Saturn will also move round its focal point Uranus this year and its Pluto, Sun, Venus in 2024 so it may have to bow to the inevitable. Certainly Neptune entering Aries in 2025 will have a considerable impact and the Museum may go through a sobering time of rethinking its values.

The 1963 Act has a patriotic Sun, Mercury in Cancer on one leg of a Yod sextile Mars in Virgo inconjunct Saturn in Aquarius. That has already been under pressure from tr Neptune opposition the Mars in 2021 but will be even more jolted by tr Uranus square the focal point Saturn from mid 2023 onwards. Playing Canute and trying to hold the tide of social pressure back may not work much longer.   

Russia is moving into 2023 facing a significant and humiliating failure in Ukraine but the economy is holding up better than expected.  Sanctions against Russian exports, important in the medium and long term, proved ineffective in the short term because high energy prices continued to fill the state’s coffers. Though the population’s assessment of its current situation and its economic expectations have deteriorated sharply in recent months.

  The Russia 8 November 1917 chart had its Scorpio Sun triggered by the November Lunar Eclipse suggesting tensions would escalate, especially since this Eclipse was conjunct the erratic, unstable Uranus square Saturn. Tr Uranus returns to oppose the Russia Sun and square the Saturn in Leo for a final time mid January 2023 to early February. But will continue on to square the Russia Uranus from May 2023 onwards which will be a moment to pause and rethink what lies ahead. Putin first became president in 2000 on the Russia 1917 Uranus Return – so it might be fitting if he exited on the first square. It could also see a restive population rising up to show their displeasure at his dictatorship.

  His 4^th Term chart, 7 May 2018 11.05 am, was always heading for a turbulent possibly terminal phase in 2023. Tr Pluto starts the destabilising square to the Uranus from mid February 2023, on and off till late 2024 – administrations often tumble during this time. Plus there is a Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Mars, exactly in 6 months which is trapped, enraging, unable to proceed, high risk. He will have some luck up his sleeve mid March to early May 2023 as tr Uranus hits the Sun opposition Jupiter, but it could also lead to over confidence tripping him up.

  The Bank of Russia, 13 July 1990, won’t escape the almighty crunch coming as Pluto moves into Aquarius in late March – which is also affecting the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England – since it will square the BoR Mars at zero Taurus; with a devastating Solar Arc Neptune squaring the BoR Pluto late 2023. So there will be massive challenges on the economic front.

  Alexander Lukashenko’s 6^th Term chart as ruler of Belarus, 23 September 2020, is feeling the strain late 2023 and hitting the buffers in 2024 so whatever plans he has for perhaps assisting Putin in a further assault on Ukraine won’t work well.

  Modern Belarus has much the same chart as Ukraine – which is why I really don’t like these modern charts, though the 1918 ones aren’t much better.

  Russia and the USA will continue to be at loggerheads with tr Pluto opposition the composite Mars throughout 2023; and even the much punted entente cordiale with China looks mired in confusion in 2023/24 and worse in 2025.

The winter solstice is here with the Ingress on December 21^st of the Sun into Capricorn, planet of the threshold between the old year and the new. Capricorn is creative given its dual nature of being immersed in the unconscious realm of ideas (the fishy tail) and the earthy realm of material ambition (the mountain-climbing goat). Ingress charts are deemed to give a hint of the theme for the next three months though opinions vary amongst astrologers as to how much illumination they actually throw on upcoming events.

  This Ingress has the Capricorn Sun exactly square a go-ahead Jupiter just into Aries, which should produce an upbeat mood – which hardly fits the prevailing wind. Plus an aggravated Moon opposition a retrograde Mars in Gemini. The irritable push-pull Saturn square is still in place tied into the Nodes.

  Not sure I am any the wiser – anyone who likes to comment, feel free.

  Looking at last year’s Capricorn Ingress set for Kyiv there is an emotionally intense Cancer on on the Ascendant opposition Pluto Venus in Capricorn which might suggest problems with control-freak partners/neighbours but wouldn’t exactly headline invasion. – with Mars in the 5^th and Jupiter in the 8^th as well as Saturn.

  Anyway I put them up as talking points.