Astrology of Today’s News

Liz Truss took up the reins at Balmoral at around 12.27 pm today to return immediately to London as the new prime minister on the votes of less than 100,000 older, mainly male, middle-class Tory voters.

  Looking on the bright side of the Term chart there is an Earth Grand Trine of a Virgo Sun trine Capricorn Moon trine Uranus North Node. Earth Grand Trines tend to be security-conscious, business-minded, keen to maintain the status quo and focused on materialistic ambitions. Can lack imagination, be stuck in a rut and overly conservative. Reasonably talented.

 The worry is the Uranus North Node close to the Descendant square Saturn. Uranus is divisive, uncompromising, uncooperative, defiant, unpredictable, prone to sudden changes in alliances, dislikes restrictions. Not good for stable relationships, for sure. That is doubled in effect by having the North Node on the Descendant which suggests that being considerate to the needs of others is not a priority. South Node on the Ascendant could suggest following old patterns (dogma) unquestioningly.

  The Uranus North Node square Saturn will make for a ratchety, jangled, high-tension term with ill-feeling erupting along the way. Saturn in Aquarius can be cold, unfeeling, overly rigid. The 3^rd house is heavy and challenging with Moon Pluto and Saturn there which in mundane astrology rules communication, internal travel within a country (rail system/strikes?), sometimes education.

  Mars in the 8^th house of debt and joint finances will arouse arguments since it is square the Sun and trine Mercury, partly a result of over-promising with Mercury opposition a grandstanding and over-hopeful Jupiter in the 5^th.

 Neptune in the 4^th – a confused, disillusioned electorate.

  I’ve seen administration charts a good deal worse though it will be a bumpy ride – coming to a crunch point in eighteen months when the Solar Arc Uranus closes to exact the square to Saturn. Tr Uranus square the Saturn from late May 2023 will also cause a few significant upheavals and bouts of rebellion.

   Liz Truss’s own chart has the upbeat, successful tr Pluto conjunct her Jupiter/Uranus midpoint which carried her to victory staying in place until early December but once that has gone she’ll have less luck coming her way. Indeed even before then tr Uranus conjunct her Mars from 11 October for a month will bring a shock or two and could provoke her into hasty misjudgements. That returns next April. After the first week in December she will run into a series of calamities and disasters until January 10^th and that influence returns late September/October 2023. Plus a panicky-failure tr Neptune square Sun/Mars from March 2023 till early 2024; plus a discouraging slog from tr Pluto opposition her Sun/Saturn midpoint and square her Uranus throughout 2023 as well.

  Hanging on grimly looks like 2023’s motto.

  Her personal chart looks nothing like Maggie Thatcher’s which had a super-confident, resourceful Jupiter opposition Pluto square Mars and Sun in Libra. She may have been a pain but she had initiative and conviction.  Maggie’s First Government chart was exceptionally tough, ambitious and ruthless. Getting results was her motto.   

See previous Liz Truss post August 29 2022. Also 21 July 2022 and 20 December 2021.

The Times said: “The Queen’s schedule on Tuesday involved Johnson arriving at 11.16am and leaving 39 minutes later. Truss arrived at 12.22pm and stayed for 33 minutes.

Both the Moon and Pluto crave closeness but of a different order. The Moon wants nurtured like a baby with unconditional love. Pluto demands ownership, dominates and controls. The Plutonic mother disregards the needs and wishes of the possessed child and assumes the right to be invasive even into adult life.

   One analogy which fits the Moon Pluto mother is the psychological quirk of not experiencing the child as a separate being but as being similar to their own arm – a lifelong extension of themselves. There is no mine and thine, it’s all me and me. In extremis a Moon Pluto mother is felt as death-dealing because she tries to suppress all separation and attempts to deny the child’s developing identity.

  Individuals with a Moon Pluto mother learn to protect themselves by shutting their emotions away and becoming defensive in other relationships. They fear being smothered, suffocated and controlled if they open up.

  It creates in adult life an intense and dramatic emotional life with a tendency toward dark moods and fears. It can bring psychic experiences as well since there is a pull towards what lies beyond reality or what comes from deep in the unconscious.

  As with all difficulties it can be overcome with psychotherapy – and it does seem to be more obviously burdensome for women than for men.

 Jennifer Aniston, 11 February 1969 10.22pm Los Angeles,  has a Moon square Pluto and had a famously difficult relationship from her late mother from whom she was estranged for 15 years after her mother wrote a tell-all book in 1999 called Mother to Daughter to Friends: A Memoir. Which is a classic taking-ownership of my daughter and invading her privacy.

  In an interview Aniston said: “She was very critical of me. She was also very unforgiving. She would hold grudges that I just found so petty.”

 Karen Carpenter, the tragic singer, who died young from anorexia, 2 March 1950 11.45am New Haven, CT had a Moon Pluto conjunction in Leo and a difficult relationship with her parents who invested their hopes in her elder brother’s success but were unprepared for her ambitions and achievements.

  John Lennon, 9 October 1940, 6.30pm Liverpool, England, had a Moon opposition Pluto and fell into that odd category (which happens with Sun Pluto fathers as well) of not having a strong connection with his mother. He was effectively abandoned by her and largely brought up by his aunt Mimi – which left him with a constant sense of not quite belonging anywhere, or to anyone. He ended up hitched to Yoko Ono, seven years his senior, who was herself a controlling type with Pluto in her 10^th.

  So Pluto isn’t just about extreme possessiveness; it can also accompany abandonment and indifference to the child’s needs.

  Anne Heche, the troubled actress who killed herself recently in a car crash recently, with a religious mother from hell had a Moon Pluto conjunct in her 12^th. See posts 6 and 14^th August 2022.

 Skipping down famous examples what stood out were three children of high profile mothers/parents – Lisa Marie-Presley, Athina Roussel (daughter of Christina Onassis) and Suri Cruise. All of whom have hard Moon Pluto aspects – in part a reflection of an over-exposed or over-protected childhood.

  Suri Cruise has a Moon conjunct Pluto trine Sun – and part of that may stem from a sense of being a pawn in a tense stand off between parents.

Princess Margaret with a 5^th house Moon Pluto conjunction lived out the drama of her Moon Pluto to the full but she led a self-destructive life which took its toll on her health. And neither she nor her rigidly dutiful elder sister the Queen ever escaped from the clutches of the Queen Mother. The Queen evidently phoned her everyday in life and noticeably relaxed after her mother died.

  These are extreme examples and there will be those who manage to resolve the problems to live a reasonably balanced emotional life.

Liz Truss has won the Tory leadership battle with Rishi Sunak though with a less than resounding 57%+ to his 42%+. She goes to Balmoral tomorrow for her premiership to start officially with a meet time thought to be around mid day.  I’ll do a longer piece when the time is definite.

  If it is midday tomorrow, then both charts have a divisive Uranus in the 7^th which could point to explosive differences with neighbours, ie. the EU and even the USA, which seems likely, as well as internally.  Uranus square Saturn is jangled, high-tension can-be autocratic. Mid day tomorrow puts Mars in the financial 8^th for one arena of aggravation.

  She doesn’t look too chummy with the new Met Police chief Mark Rowley, due to take up the reins later this year. More tomorrow.

The impressionable Moon and fiery Mars do not make for amiable companions anymore than Saturn though in a different way. The Martian mother is angry, forceful, competitive, not sensitive – and most importantly blocks her child’s will. Mars says ‘I want’, ‘I intend’, ‘I am’ so is integral to a sense of identity. Pushed out of sight by a mother’s narcissism or in some cases the mother’s extreme vulnerability that can’t handle anger in any form, the child becomes a boiling cauldron of unlived assertion, stored up to become compacted anger. Mars is also the god of passion, so sexuality can get blocked as well.

  Traditional astrology always said Moon Mars types should avoid alcohol since it takes the inhibitors off and their aggravation explodes likely causing damage to relationships or the furniture. It tends to leave a prickly defensiveness since it is tricky to modulate assertive responses – and they are either resentfully submissive or explosively assertive.  

  Two Moon square Mars children from fiery mothers who won’t come as a surprise in this context are Lourdes, Madonna’s daughter, with a Scorpio Moon square Mars; and North West Kardashian (Kim’s daughter) with Virgo Moon square Mars.

  Shouty, provocative men who equally come as no surprise with Moon Mars are comedian Russell Brand 4 June 1975, with a Moon Mars in Aries conjunction opposition Pluto. And two Moon Mars hard aspects also crop up with argumentative Piers Morgan, and Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair’s erstwhile rottweiler chief aide.

  Prince William who has (had) a famously explosive temper has his Cancer Moon square Mars as well admittedly a short-tempered Mars Saturn conjunction. His needy mother used him as a prop when the Royal marriage was in trouble and no doubt expected him to be calm and caring rather than attend to his own needs and give full expression to what suited him.

  The classic Aries Moon Mars, along with Russell Brand, is Angelina Jolie born the same day, complicated by having both their Moons also opposition Pluto – a volcanic, emotional shambles.

  Lisa Minnelli, see Moon Saturn post below, also has a jumble of emotional turmoil from a Moon Saturn Mars conjunction. In some ways her chart is not dissimilar to Meghan Markle’s with MM’s Moon Saturn square Mars, softened a touch by Jupiter, as indeed is Lisa Minnelli’s.  Clearly they had very different upbringing though in both cases it left its mark.

Mother and son as a saga continues down a different track with headlines about Victoria Beckham’s edgy relationship with her newly acquired daughter-in-law Nicola Peltz. Son Brooklyn was evidently a favourite with mum Victoria and there for her when husband David was off on his jaunts, sporting and otherwise. She wasn’t invited to design the wedding dress for the highly publicised Palm Beach extravaganza of an April wedding and according to reports then upstaged the bride at the wedding.  A chill has descended since.

  Both Victoria and Nicola Peltz have prominent Mars Saturn aspects in their charts so will be prickly, defensive and liable to over react. And the Nicola/Victoria relationship chart has a composite resentful and highly aggravated Saturn opposition Pluto square Mars with a needs-space Sun square Uranus all covered over by an insincere veneer of marshmallow from Venus Jupiter. It was never going to be sweetness and light and if anything will worsen through 2023 to 2026 with grievances, spoken and unspoken, mounting.

 Brooklyn, 4 March 1999 7.48pm London, has a First House Libra Moon so will be close to his mother and his Moon opposes affectionate Venus, forming a Half Grand Sextile to Uranus and Pluto. Astrologer Richard Idemon once described Moon Venus as the ‘poisoned apple’ – motherly love mixed in with a hint of sexual attraction.

  Victoria, 17 April 1974, unverified birth time, is an Aries Sun opposition Uranus, sextile a hard-edged Mars Saturn in Gemini which in turn squares Pluto and trines Uranus. That volcanic and aggravated mix sits side by side with a frivolous, superficially sweet Venus Jupiter in Pisces square Neptune.

  What is intriguing though marginally complicated – is that Victoria’s chart with a Mars Saturn conjunction in Gemini square Pluto mirrors her relationship chart with Nicola.  And Brooklyn’s Sun/Moon midpoint, which is his marriage significator, is exactly opposition his mother’s Mars Saturn conjunction. So whatever Victoria’s personality and history problem is, it is irrevocably intertwined with the Brooklyn marriage. A hand grenade handed down a generation.

  Nicola, 9 January 1995, New York, is a highly-strung Capricorn Sun, Uranus Neptune which squares Victoria’s Aries Sun and squares V’s Uranus so they start out at cross-purposes. But what may be most significant is that Nicola’s Saturn in Pisces opposition Mars in Virgo collides with and completely squelches Victoria’s sugary-sweet Jupiter Venus. For all Nicola’s vastly expensive upbringing, her childhood had its destructive and harmful elements as well. She probably sniffed out V’s bull**** and exposed the darker underside of her temperament.  Brooklyn’s relationship chart with his mother has two ‘fated’ Yods tying their destinies together – Sun Mars Pluto, and Pluto Neptune Saturn.

  His relationship chart with Nicola has a composite Saturn opposition Mars, trine Pluto sextile Uranus. And indeed the wedding chart has a Pluto opposition Moon square Sun with Sun sextile a Saturn Mars conjunction – so despite the expensive froth it would be a fraught and gruesome affair.

  Fascinating all these repeating patterns of Mars Saturn Pluto which is not a comforting trio – brutal, ruthless, destructive. Victoria has tr Neptune aiming to undermine her Mars Saturn from 2024 to 2026 which is when Brooklyn’s Sun/Moon midpoint catches the Neptune square as well.

  What a tangled web.   

Having taken a quick look the same pattern repeats in Victoria and David’s relationship chart – a composite Sun Mars inconjunct Pluto sextile Neptune, and Sun Mars sextile Saturn inconjunct Neptune. Complication on complication.

The Moon and Saturn are not comfortable companions with the Moon yearning for nurturing, support and comfort while chilly Saturn cuts down on warmth, raises defences and puts duty before pleasure.

  A Saturnine mother – whether through her own rigid, unempathic temperament or harsh circumstances – is not a recipe for easy relationships in adult life, though as in all things to do with the planet of time it mellows through and after the middle years.

 Elvis Presley, 8 January 1935 4.35 am  Tupelo, MS, had a poor childhood, a famously close tie to his mother Grace and problems forming mature adult emotional commitments. Perhaps even more significant than his bond with his mother, he lost a stillborn twin at his birth. His Moon Saturn conjunct fell in his 3rd house of siblings and though it seems too far back to remember, recent evidence is that losing a twin, even in utero, has a lasting effect in later life to the surviving sibling. Stillborn is full term, so he had developed side by side with a twin for nine months and the loss would have left an indelible mark.

 His mother was not the an easy temperament being a Sun Taurus square Uranus and her Leo Moon may have been opposition his Saturn and square her own Saturn. Whatever her mothering deficiencies, they would come from her own emotionally deprived childhood.

 See previous post February 3 2019 – Elvis and mom.

‘The family lived in chaotic poverty with his feckless father, an abusive drunk, in prison at one point for forging a check and Elvis becoming his mother’s protector when young. Gladys’ appeared to have been obsessed with her son, wanting absolute closeness yet she was also keen he find a wife to settle down with, and interviewed girlfriends, even very young ones to gauge their suitability. At 19 he became the family breadwinner, which unsettled her since he was more often away so despite her religious leanings she turned to drink for support. The richer he became, the more unhappy she was, effectively locked away in grand mansions. She died at 46 of alcohol related damage.’ He married 8 years after her death, having started a friendship with Priscilla when she was 14, seven years previously.

  George Clooney, 6 May 1961 2.58am Lexington, KY, also rollicked through a string of relationships before settling to marriage when he was 53. He has a Moon Saturn in Capricorn opposition Mars, so quite a fraught relationship with his beauty queen/city councilwoman mother. Her ambitious Mars in Capricorn in an utterly determined opposition to Pluto sat on top of his Moon Saturn, which is a scary combination.

 An extreme example is the Norwegian mass shooter Anders Brevik, 13 February 1979 12.50pm Oslo, Norway, who has Moon Saturn conjunct in Virgo in his 4^th. His mother with an abusive background herself, had mental problems, wanted to abort him,  ‘sexualised’ him and frequently told him that she wished that he were dead. Psychiatrists thought he should be removed from his mother for him to develop normally – he had little emotional engagement, did not show joy, made no attempts to play with other children. His mother showed negative reactions when he displayed any emotion. She described him as “clingy and demanding.” See wiki.

  She was a Sun Scorpio with Mars also in Scorpio which clashed badly with his Sun, Mercury and Mars in Aquarius.

  Obviously there was a great deal more than just Saturn going on or at least it was off-the-Richter scale Saturn but it describes the broad brush strokes of the dynamic.

  Another very extreme example is Lisa Minnelli, 12 March 1948 7.58 am Los Angeles, who has a Moon, Mars, Saturn conjunction in Cancer. She grew up with a troubled, alcohol and drug-addicted mother in Judy Garland in a chaotic showbusiness childhood. Those are harsh mothering influences which left her with her own addiction problems and four divorces in adult life. The Mars would add a layer of unkindness (perceived as cruelty) and extra anger issues into the mix which wouldn’t help.

Add On: Another classic example is Princess Anne with a Moon Saturn conjunction in Virgo but without such disastrous consequences – a dutiful, workaholic, emotionally-damped-down mother, paid nannies. The princess famously said she didn’t particularly like playing with children but thought they deserved protection which was why she has devoted a good deal of her time over fifty years to Save the Children.

 Marilyn Monroe had a Moon opposition Neptune square Saturn and a famously troubled childhood.

Carole Thatcher, Maggie’s daughter, had a mixed relationship with her workaholic, brother-favouring mother and she has a Libra Moon conjunct Saturn Neptune square Uranus.

Add On: One key effect of Moon Saturn is the mother’s ability to land a guilt trip on the child/adult-child as if it was their responsibility to care for her. The mother’s unhappiness and depression is an implicit criticism of the offspring. Their duty in life is to ease mother’s suffering with an implied blame for having been the cause of it. Saturn also carries with it a good deal of corrosive envy. So the Saturnine parent is determined that no one else is allowed to be happy or successful around them.   

Charlie Wilson, one of the last of the old-style Scottish newspapermen has died. One of his successors at the Times, which he edited, described him as  “one of the toughest, sharpest and most all-round newspaper men in London, maybe the world”. He started his career at 16 as a copy runner in Fleet Street and progressed to the editorship of seven newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic.

 Born 18 August 1935 at 3.20am Glasgow, he was known to Private Eye as “Gorbals” Wilson and he leant on his background to convey an image as a hard-nosed, ruthless and irascible tabloid news editor. His father was a miner turned steelworker, occasionally violent, and his mother left the marriage taking him away from a working-class grammar school to London when he was 16, disrupting his hopes of going to university. He moved up the ladder from office boy into a job at the Daily Mail where he met and married Anne Robinson, eventually divorcing her as her drinking got out of control giving him sole custody of their daughter.

  He was eventually enticed to The Times by Rupert Murdoch to improve its circulation and broaden its appeal, as well as steering it through a vicious battle with the print unions at Wapping. During his time there he fired Boris Johnson for making up a quote. After a couple more moves to Chicago and back he ended up overseeing The Sporting Life which appealed to his enthusiasm for racing. He married twice more, once to magazine editor Sally O’Sullivan and finally to Rachel Pitkeathley with whom he established a National Hunt Stud in Leicestershire, breeding horses.

  Two things are intriguing about his chart.  One is a volatile, explosive 4^th house Mars in Scorpio opposition a 10^th house Uranus in Taurus which would make him uncompromising and impatient. Which sat side by side with a kinder, sentimental Neptune opposition Saturn. But more than that he had a Yod of a 3^rd house Neptune sextile Mars Jupiter inconjunct a 10^th house Moon.  A 10^th house Moon would fit him for a public career, since the Moon rules the masses. And while at an emotional level an apex Moon can be disorganised, it clearly gave him a ‘nose’ for public trends, indispensable for a newspaper editor.

Individuals with Yods in their chart tend to feel they do not fit into their environment initially but when the Yod clicks into place they get onto their own unique track to live out their special talent. When he was 16 and hauled away from home and education tr Jupiter in Aries was opposition to Neptune in Libra square Uranus in Cancer – all impacting on his Yod focal point Moon pointing him in the direction he was designed to go.

 Andrew Neil, another working-class Scot who edited the Sunday Times, at the time Charlie Wilson was heading The Times, also has a Moon apex yod – of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct a Pisces Moon. 21 May 1949 9.45am Paisley, Scotland. Both had a stubborn Mars in a Fixed sign, in Neil’s case in Taurus square Pluto; and in Wilson’s case in Scorpio opposition Uranus. Both had Pluto on the Ascendant or in their 1^st so heavyweight personalities. Both had Mercury in the sign of its rulership, Wilson in Virgo and Neil in Gemini.

  This is fairly self-indulgent since I knew him but interesting astrologically about the lunar yod. Of his wives – Anne Robinson is a strong-minded Libra and the next two were more than capable Leos which was his own sun sign – so he enjoyed the company of lively women.

Pic: JULIAN HERBERT

  American politics grows more mystifying, toxic and divisive with Trump’s loony-toon supporters demanding he be granted immunity from the laws of mankind and he offers the same in return and Joe Biden bemoans the near death of US democracy.

 Two states at the heart of the extremist GOP rhetoric, at least as far as political leaders go – anti-vaccination, anti-gun control, anti-LGBT, anti-abortion  – are Florida and Texas.

 Florida is normally a swing state but Governor Ron DeSantis has imposed a swingeing right-wing radicalization on policies which haven’t made him as popular with residents as his shouty proclamations might suggest.

 He was born 14 September 1978 in Jacksonville, no time, with a Virgo Sun square Neptune and Saturn Mercury also in Virgo with an Aquarius Moon maybe trine Pluto and Mars in Libra.

  He’s not looking overly cheerful across this year’s Midterms with tr Pluto in a frustrating square to his Mars; and a disappointing tr Neptune opposition his Jupiter/Uranus midpoint.  But is looking luckier come the 2024 when he may overtake Trump as the GOP nominee. His relationship with Trump is on a fast downward slide from April 2023 onwards.

Florida, 3 March 1845, for whatever reasons which may not all be political, is having a less than progressive year in 2023 with an undermining, panicky, failure-ridden tr Neptune square Mars from April 2023 onwards. Into 2024 tr Uranus square the Tx Neptune Venus will make for overwrought nerves and emotional upsets.

  DeSantis is not a good fit with the Florida state chart with an angry, resentful composite Saturn Mars in the relationship chart which will be upended in 2024; and a disruptive Neptune, Uranus opposition Pluto. He is a catalyst for change but not of the popular variety.

[More nearer the time, but Democrat Charlie Crist, 24 July 1956, up against De Santis this November does have a couple of Jupiterian lifts around then then so could well be successful. Democrat Val Demings, 12 March 1957, up for the US Senate in November, is looking successful from early December – perhaps after a recount?]

 Texas is a more obvious right-wing state from the deep south with Greg Abbott, the governor, 13 November 1957, pushing the  ultra-conservative line on guns, abortion, covid etc. He’s a Sun Scorpio with Mars, Neptune, North Node also in Scorpio square Uranus in Leo. He’s got mixed influences running into this November midterms with upbeat and successful Mars/Jupiter and Jupiter/Pluto midpoints; as well as career-losses from Jupiter/Saturn and panic from Mars/Uranus. He’ll win some, lose some.  The October Solar Eclipse in Scorpio will catch his Mars Neptune for a crisis or two and some very public arguments. 2023 is not a good year for him; nor is 2024 to 2025.

Beto O’Rourke, 26 September 1972, no birth time, running against Greg Abbott, has a couple of successful midpoint transits over the Midterms – but is facing a failed-plans run of influences in 2023/24.

 Texas, 29 December 1845, an uncompromising and ambitious Capricorn Sun in a volatile square to Mars Uranus in Aries, will have a few hitches and glitches in early 2023, but from late March onwards till late 2024 the state will be going full-steam ahead with tr Pluto square the Jupiter in Taurus; with some ups and downs from tr Uranus square Neptune Venus from mid 2023 to late 2024. 2026 to the end of the decade will undercut the Texan bravado with tr Neptune undermining the Mercury, Sun and Mars Uranus.

  Oddly enough Abbott isn’t too popular there either according to the relationship chart with another aggravated Mars Saturn conjunction (like DeSantis and Florida).     

Leonardo di Caprio’s repetition compulsion for losing girl friends when they turn 25 is still in operation as yet another one exits on cue. Quite what he is re-enacting isn’t entirely obvious.

  He was born 11 November 1974 2.47am Los Angeles which gives him a charming and seductive Sun Venus in Scorpio in his financial 2^nd house with Mars in Scorpio also in his 2^nd in an enthusiastic trine to a 6^th house Jupiter and a 10th house Saturn. Money and work are his priorities.

   His Libra Moon sits just below his Ascendant conjunct Pluto and square Saturn which hints at an emotionally bleak childhood and a controlling and disciplinarian mother. Though his relationship with his mother in publicity photos appears close and he describes her as the driving force in nurturing his talent. His parents split when he was one but continued to live in neighbouring houses to be able to co-parent and he talks of it as a happy time.

 Not to be overly Freudian about it, the younger-girlfriend syndrome will be tied somehow into his relationship with his mother. Immelin Indenbirken, 14 February 1943, born in Germany during the war, is an Aquarius with a Gemini Moon and Venus in Pisces. Her Jupiter sits in Leo’s 10th conjunct his Saturn and trine his Scorpio planets so her enthusiasm would spur him on. Her Venus is trine his Scorpio planets for good feelings. What does stand out is her Pluto square his Mars which suggests a power imbalance and underlying fear.

  That Mars Pluto theme repeats in several of his relationships with past girlfriends. The submissive one gets a chance to dominate perhaps? He also appears to pick girl friends who are unlikely to stick around to eternity.

 Gisele Bundchen had her Uranus conjunct his Sun Venus. Bar Refaeli had her Venus opposition his Uranus. Camila Morrone, the latest to leave, has her Saturn opposition his Moon and their relationship chart has a composite Venus square Uranus.

  His relationship chart with his mother is strong on the power-couple energy and possessiveness with a composite Jupiter trine Pluto trine Sun. Plus a dominating Mars square Pluto. There’s a constant oneupmanship battle going on which is clearly never spoken nor even possibly conscious.

  He will have a fear of being trapped with a Moon conjunct Pluto as he was by his mother so when girlfriends get to the stage of being obviously adult or starting to flex their muscles in the relationship it’ll trigger his defences.

  His chart is Water Air – with a Water Grand Trine and a stellium in Libra – which is a difficult combination and a tight-rope act balancing emotions with thinking. He’ll veer between being immersed in feelings or being overly detached – and constantly pulled between the opposites.

  He does have hints of significant emotional change coming up. Tr Uranus will oppose his Venus Sun in 2023; tr Jupiter will move through his 8^th from May 2023 for a year which brings positive emotional changes, fewer defences and maybe insight as he pulls away from the past. Tr Pluto will square his Sun/Moon midpoint in 2024/25 which will force him to face what he wants out of close commitment – it won’t be easy but the end result may bring better connections – and last but not least Uranus moves out of his 8^th in 2025 which will be more settled emotionally thereafter.  

Mikhail Gorbachev described as a “one-of-a kind statesman who changed the course of history” has died. Celebrated in the west for playing a critical role in ending the Cold War, he was blamed in Russia for the turbulence that his reforms unleashed – glasnost (“openness”) allowing for freedom of speech and perestroika (“restructuring decentralizing economic decision-making “) –  and the sharp drop in the standard of living domestically.

BBC broadcaster John Simpson paid tribute to “a decent, well intentioned, principled man who tried to rescue the unrescuable”. His biographer William Taubman said his main issue was that Russia simply had no real experience with the freedom it was being offered. “He gave us all freedom – but we don’t know what to do with it,” said liberal economist Ruslan Grinberg.

  He was the first and the last president of the Soviet Union, from March 1990 till December 25, 1991 and as Yeltsin and other hardliners took over after a coup he retreated away from front line politics.

  He was born 2 March 1931 in Stavropol with a questionable birth time of 8.30pm and was one of the innovative Depression generation, like Rupert Murdoch born eight days later.  Gorbachev had a confident and lucky Pisces Sun trine Jupiter in Cancer, but his chart was dominated by the signature tough-minded Pluto Mars in Cancer opposition Saturn and Venus in Capricorn square a revolutionary, status-quo-upsetting Uranus in Aries conjunct North Node. His early years were blighted by Stalin’s worst excesses with various relatives being imprisoned, tortured and starved which would make sense of his Mars Pluto Saturn aspects. His Moon in Leo was trine Uranus but otherwise not well integrated into his chart.  

  When the collapse of the USSR came with the fall of the Berlin Wall on 1989, the triple conjunction in Capricorn was in place, with tr Saturn Neptune exactly opposition his Jupiter and then moving in to upend the rest of his Cardinal T square in the years following. His relationship chart with Russia 1917 has a potentially ‘transformational’ composite Sun opposition Pluto and a reforming Pluto trine Uranus. But the power struggle he unleased with Russia’s hardliners saw him defeated.

  His chart is substantially Cardinal giving him initiative and resourcefulness but he was up against Russia’s Fixed energy which tends towards stasis and inertia and resists change.

His get-it-together 5^th harmonic is strongly aspected; as is his rise-and-fall, wheel-of-fortune 10H. His leaving-a-legacy 17H is stressed but his global-eminence 22H is highly positive.

   It can be a problem with an over-active Uranus that it aims to disrupt stuck situations without giving sufficient thought about how to bring about stability on the far side.

  Rupert Sheldrake who has a background in botany once said to me that plant development is a question of the balance between creativity and structure. Which seemed a useful analogy.

  Uranus is creative in introducing change but situations also need stability. Too much change or too fast and it ends in anarchy or chaos, lacking in solidity. Reconstruction needs to follow deconstruction otherwise the phoenix won’t arise from the ashes of the old.      

Add ON: It would have to be said I don’t see what the strong astrological connection between Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan was – though confirmed birth times might help. There were faint traces of amiable feelings with MK’s Sun conjunct RR’s Venus and both trine RR’s Jupiter – and maybe MK’s Jupiter in RR’s 7^th (though birth times are iffy). If anything Gorbachev and Maggie Thatcher, though poles apart politically, had more resonance together. 

  Gorbachev did fit well with the USA chart with his Leo Moon conjunct the USA ‘leadership’ North Node and his reforming Uranus Node square the USA Sun and opposition the USA Saturn.