Astrology of Today’s News

The Democrats are chewing their fingernails in anticipation of the November Mid Terms since any hope of progressing Joe Biden’s agenda depends on the result. He has some lucky breaks beforehand July to mid October and a mild uplift in late November and has lost temporarily the catastrophe laden tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Pluto midpoint which is creating havoc earlier in the year and returns in 2023. He looks so so about the result and it is really 2023 when his problems mount precipitately. See previous post 11 February 2022.

 Kamala Harris, who has her own particular image problems, is labouring mightily in 2022/23 with tr Pluto square her Libra Sun and has a nerve-stretched tr Uranus opposition Neptune over the MidTerms – followed by a tempestuous 2023 which will knock even her stalwart temperament sideways. She’ll have a blip of luck in mid 2024, not exact over the election but returning in late November 2024.

  Nancy Pelosi, 26 March 1940, is an amazing 82, so other factors may be at play in her astrology – there’s nothing much showing over the Midterms this year and again 2023 looks to be the applecart-upsetting year with massively testing pressures on her as tr Pluto opposes her Pluto and squares her Saturn as well as tr Uranus jolts and jangles.

Chuck Schumer, 23 November 1950, the Senate Majority leader, again has not much of note over the Midterms though a blocked tr Saturn opposition his Pluto in late November suggests he will be weighed down by responsibilities. His 2023/2024 will be heavy going with more than a few disasters in 2024/25 – and not remotely happy over the 2025 Inauguration.

Pete Buttigieg, 19 January 1982, is in good spirits running across the Mid Terms, with some triumphs to savour. 2023/24 won’t be too inspiring for him with losses and anxiety; and the challenging tr Pluto conjunct his Sun to contend with as well. But 2024 will see him returning to confident form, determined to make a splash and his success will extend into and throughout 2025.

Bernie Sanders, 8 September 1941, again not much over this November; unsettled and disrupted in 2023, not altogether upbeat, but recapturing his optimism for an enthusiastic push in 2024/25.

Elizabeth Warren, 22 June 1949, startled and insecure through this November, so not comfortable with whatever happens. She’ll be trying to get her momentum back in 2023/24 with an enthusiastic, motivated tr Pluto conjunct her Jupiter; but is running into the sand by 2025 as tr Neptune squares her Sun Uranus in Cancer.

Beto O’Rourke, 26 September 1972, is cheerful through this November feeling pleased and that extends into early 2023. But from May 2023 onwards for several years he’s on a hiding to nothing – panicky failure and great confusion.

 Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, 13 October 1989, nothing over the Mid Terms, a mix of mountainous obstacles which make her feel trapped with a few blips of luck in 2023-2024 though she will begin to recover her mojo in mid 2024 – this is generally a tough phase for her.

  These above are not picked because they are possible contenders for anything, merely because they are leading Democrats and might be expected to show cheer or otherwise when their party does well.

Stacey Adams, 9 December 1973 4.44pm Madison, WI,  is not in a great year with tr Pluto square her Mars over the Mid Terms which is blocked and aggravated. Before then at the moment she’s uncertain and panicky and that comes back next year along with more frustrations. Though admittedly Jupiter is moving across her midheaven and 10^th now until early 2024 which usually is higher profile and brings some success. But these Pluto Mars aspects are tough to overcome.

One of the all-time racing greats, a favourite of the Queen and housewives round the country, jockey Lester Piggott has died aged 86. He won the Derby a record nine times, 30 British Classic races and had 4,493 winners overall from his first victory aged 12.

 Tall for a rider in flat racing at 5ft 8 inches, he spent much of his career on a punishing diet, heavy on champagne, cigars and constant saunas to keep his weight down to 8 st 5 lbs – about 30 lbs (14 kg) under his normal weight. Nothing got in the way of his ruthless desire to win – and make money. He was jailed for three years in 1987, being found guilty of tax fraud of more than £3m, though only served a year and returned to racing 12 days later to bag another winner in one of the world’s richest races. The Queen refused to cut off relations with him over his conviction.

  He was born 5 November 1935 into a racing family and was slightly deaf with a minor speech impediment giving him a taciturn reputation.

  He had a Scorpio Sun opposition Uranus so was super-determined and a maverick who’d go his own way. His Sun opposition Uranus formed a Half Grand Sextile to a tough-minded, disciplined and risk taking Mars in Capricorn and Saturn. He also had a confident/successful Pluto trine Jupiter in money-magnet Scorpio, sextile Venus in Virgo so he could turn on the charm when it suited him. His Mercury squared Pluto for a stubborn streak.

 There’s a tentative time of 1 am but it doesn’t look right putting a chatty Sun in the 3^rd.

 One of the tales about his tax evasion was that he had reached an agreement with the Revenue that would have kept him out of prison. Then he wrote a cheque to pay the back taxes from a Cayman Island account he had sworn didn’t exist. Not sensible.

His get-it-together 5th Harmonic is exceptionally well aspected with a zippy Jupiter opposition Mars Mercury square Sun; and a tough-minded Saturn Pluto. As is his perfectionist 7H.

His rise-and-fall, wheel of fortune 10th harmonic which can be self-defeating is notable; as is his 9H which is attracted to money.

Mitch McConnell, head honcho of the Republicans in the Senate, is going through his usual tap dance over gun control which means no change. So the US is heading for the MidTerm elections in November, when all 435 House of Congress seats and 34 of the 100 Senate seats are on the ballot, with abortion and mass shootings thrust centre stage as the flashpoint issues.

  The election falls on the same day as the Total Lunar Eclipse in Taurus with the Moon closely conjunct Uranus opposition Sun, Mercury, Venus in Scorpio square Saturn so tensions will be running extra high as the Uranian urge for progress and change runs into the rigid, emotionally cold Saturnine imperative to maintain the status quo. Below is a quick skip down the prominent Republicans, almost all without birth time, so only a rough guide.

 McConnell, 20 February 1942, is sensing the tectonic plates shifting under his feet as tr Pluto trines his Uranus over the election and he also has an unpopular tr Saturn squelching his Sun/Venus midpoint. And that is a forerunner to a catastrophic 2023 with his beyond-obstinate Mars Saturn in Taurus catching the tr Uranus conjunction. Possibly worse or a double/triple whammy is his Solar Arc Sun (a Yod focal point) conjunct his Mars in 2023 and his Saturn in 2024 – which will accompany a life-changing series of crises. Given his age that may not all be political and could involve health or other issues also. And he’s looking devastated by the 2024 elections.  

  Kevin McCarthy, the GOP Minority House leader, 26 January 1965, has a hint of confidence/good news running through this November but is generally in a year when he comes down to earth with a bump to face uncomfortable realities. With no birth time his Mars and Mars midpoints could be one degree or the next. If an early morning birth then his 2023 is a panicky failure which extends into 2024 and that could even cover the Presidential election.

 Ron DeSantis, 14 September 1978, is blocked, powerless and furious over the Midterms with tr Pluto square his Mars and dismayed before then with a series of Neptunian swamps. He’s in better shape in 2024 though facing a few disasters as well.

 Ted Cruz, 22 December 1970, is all-systems-go at points this year and next with tr Pluto square his successful/confident Jupiter/Pluto midpoint but across the MidTerms he’s aggravated and taking losses to heart.

Mitt Romney, 12 March 1947, in better spirits than some of his colleagues this year and next, though discouraged over the Mid Terms, seriously rattled in 2023; facing losses in 2024.

 Rand Paul, 7 January 1963, is having a dispiriting 2022/23 and an uphill struggle over the MidTerms to keep his morale high; jangled and nervy in 2023; but recovering his mojo in 2024/25.

Greg Abbott, 13 November 1957, is in better shape than most over the MidTerms with Jupiterian lift from two directions; and this despite the Eclipses jangling his Mars Neptune in Scorpio as well as his Sun. His 2023 is less progressive with more sinkholes and disruptions.

Ben Carson, 18 September 1951, is in a Neptunian funk from 2022 to 2024 with some cheer this year and next but is generally in a slipping and sliding phase until 2025.

Liz Cheney, 28 July 1966, is in good spirits across the Midterms from two Jupiter boosts though with some setbacks this year along the way. Less encouraged by events of 2024 with tr Neptune conjunct her Saturn into 2025. By 2026 she’s back on sparkling top form and winning or at least making significant progress.    

Donald Trump has the undermining tr Neptune square his Gemini Sun across the MidTerms and a logjammed and acutely frustrating Solar Arc Mars square Pluto so he will be exceptionally displeased with life in general.

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Actor Ray Liotta, who shot to fame as a gangster in Scorsese’s Good Fellas has died unexpectedly on location after a four decade-long career. More recently he starred as the dirty cop in the TV Shades of Blue with Jennifer Lopez.

 He was born 18 December 1954 6.07am Newark New Jersey, and handed in to an orphanage, being later adopted by parents who gave him a stable upbringing. He took his Italian immigrant adoptive father’s name and only in later years discovered his mother was Scottish. He tracked her down in his forties for a “disappointing” meeting which left him pleased he’d been handed on elsewhere.

  Despite his tough guy face and persona he said he was not a violent person and disliked being typecast.

  He had an ebullient 1^st house Sun Mercury in Sagittarius trine Pluto, sextile Neptune giving him super-charged ambition. He had a ‘public career’ 10^th house Moon, largely unaspected apart from an inconjunct to Mars in Pisces, which would give him a sense of emotional disconnect; as well as aggravated issues with mother figures. He said for years he was angry at being abandoned though later came to see it less negatively.

  He only married once in his forties which lasted a few years and produced a daughter.

  The hard-edged side of his personality is reflected in his Mars trine a 12^th house Saturn Venus in Scorpio, so he would have a simmering reservoir of anger which he kept well under control. He also had a lucky 8^th house Uranus Jupiter in Cancer square Neptune. That 1954 generation produced a fair few notables.

  His Solar Arc Venus Saturn had moved to oppose his Uranus; and his Progressed Mars over the past year or so had been opposing his Neptune and squaring his Uranus Jupiter – so a testing time. Tr Uranus was also just moving into his 6^th house of health along with his Solar Arc Mars.

  He had a DUI offence after a car crash some years back and had questions raised more recently about his drinking. Moon Mars was always flagged in traditional astrology as a no-no for alcohol consumption.

Breath-taking courage or foolhardy indifference to risk was the hallmark of intrepid travel writer Dervla Murphy’s life. She survived decades of trips on her bicycle to remote and untouched corners of the earth the world, many of them accompanied by her young daughter and wrote 20 books about her experiences. She fought off wolves, battled treacherous black ice in the mountains of eastern Europe, winds that blew her off her bike, debilitating dust storms in Pakistan, was forced to tie herself to a cow to get across a raging river, had her ribs cracked by the butt of a gun during a fracas on an Afghan bus. Nothing stopped her.

 She was born on 28 November 1931 in Waterford, Ireland and decided at 10 to cycle to India. But looking after her sick mother since she was pulled out of school at 14 tied her down for 16 years during which she smoked and drank heavily. Only in her thirties could she escape and the initial six-month journey, took her from deepest winter in northern France, across communist eastern Europe and the wilds of Iran and Afghanistan to monsoon-drenched India. She estimated she covered 3,000 miles, cycling an average of 70 to 80 miles a day.

  When she was 37, she had a daughter out of wedlock and stayed put for a few years, only starting to travel again when Rachel was 5, buying a retired polo pony to carry her along with camping gear for trips to the inhospitable regions of northern India. Her travelling was ceaseless and in her late seventies, accompanied by her daughter and three granddaughters, she was still on the move to Cuba and elsewhere. She died this week aged 90.

  What is delightful is how apt her chart is – could not be more descriptive.

  She has a traveller’s Sagittarius Sun square a visionary Neptune in Virgo – Neptune/Pisces oddly enough often being found with explorers. Even more significantly she has a passionately enthusiastic Venus, Mercury, Mars in Sagittarius in a Fire Grand Trine to Jupiter in Leo trine Uranus in Aries.  

  A Fire Grand Trine is inspirational and prone to launch wholeheartedly into exciting adventures with little fear. Tierney says: “A natural adventurous streak is found plus an appealing sense of innocence which allows this individual to take risks and gambles without much forethought.” “His faith in himself as well as his sense of personal protection from harm is so ingrained he may be willing and eager to attempt anything, disregarding impossible odds, to fulfil goals and objectives.”

  Along with a blind sense of luck which clearly paid off from an overdose of Fire, she had a tough-minded Pluto opposition Saturn in Capricorn square Uranus. She was designed for harsh conditions, deprivation and had grit and perseverance to spare. The emphasised Uranus made her a trailblazer, careless of the conventions of society and keen to strike out on her own independent path.  

  She lacked Air in her chart which may have helped since she wouldn’t stand back to reflect on the what ifs and what might have beens.

  An amazing woman and astonishing life – a moment of cheer in a dismal world for an eccentric who challenged the gods and stayed afloat.

Robert Graves was a towering figure in 20^th Century literature with his WW1 war memoirs (Goodbye to All That), poetry, historical novels (I, Claudius, The Golden Ass) and writing on mythology (The White Goddess). Yet he was irrevocably scarred by his experiences in World War One, where he was wounded at the Somme. He knew Siegfried Sassoon well and another writer Edmund Blunden, though both fell out with him over his recollections of the war in Goodbye to All That.

  Grave was physically fragile and mentally troubled after the war and embarked on a messy affair and menage a trois with his secretary and his wife. Laura Riding his secretary was none too stable either and she at one point threw herself off the balcony of the four-storey flat. Graves had to foot the bill for her hospital stay which prompted him to write his best-selling war memoir which he regarded as a pot-boiler.

  He was born 24 July 1895 4.26am Wimbledon, England, and had the signature generational Neptune Pluto in Gemini square his Venus which would not make for a settled or conventional emotional life. His ‘shell shock’ made him hyper-active sexually and his relentlessly prolific output suggests he was driven to write and create as well. The world got the benefit but he was not a contented man. He had a Leo Sun on his Ascendant square a 4^th house rigidly conscientious Saturn in Scorpio and he had an impatient Moon Mars in Leo.  

  That generation were marked by the Neptune Pluto conjunction which together creates a fey, mystical mix of energies, wonderful and terrifying at the same time. Historically the combination is connected with the rise of great powers with epically brutal leaders; with art, especially erotic literature; with scientific advances in such intangibles as electricity, radio and telephone; with religious events; and with scandals.

   His 12^th Harmonic chart of the sacrificial victim is marked with a Grand Trine, T Square and the brutal Mars opposition Pluto.  

 Edmund Blunden, 1 November 1896, was a writer and poet, who survived two years on the front through Ypres, Somme and Passchendaele without injury though he was gassed and suffered mentally for the rest of his life.

 He had his Sun in Scorpio with Uranus Saturn conjunct in Scorpio as well and probably his Virgo Moon square Neptune Pluto which opposed his Venus. His victim 12^th harmonic is also strongly aspected with a Neptunian Grand Trine and a stark Saturn opposition Jupiter square Pluto.  

Sassoon’s 12^th harmonic is similarly prominent with a Grand Trine, formed into a Kite by a war-like Saturn opposition Pluto and destructive Pluto square Mars.

  What is clear from Graves’ chart was the effect of tr Neptune moving into Leo which was moving to conjunct his Sun and and Ascendant and square his Saturn as the war got underway. And both Blunden and Sassoon were debilitated by tr Neptune in the immediate aftermath of the war when their psychological damage hit home. Neptune in Leo is traditionally associated with the Roaring Twenties and the giddy inflation and flamboyance which followed the carnage of WW1 but less so with its insidious effects on those with front line experience.

Church cover-up of sexual abuse is hardly new given the relentless stream of accusations against RC priests and others in recent decades. What is noteworthy about the ‘apocalypse’, as one former adherent described it, which has hit the Southern Baptist Church this week as a report was published describing the mishandling of sexual abuse allegations, is that it is the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the USA. So a not insignificant part of American culture.

  It may be the USA Pluto Return is upending the sewers, triggered for some reason by the recent Lunar Eclipse. The Eclipse was certainly activating the Southern Baptist chart, 12 May 1845, with its Taurus Sun Venus South Node (conjunct Algol) and square Neptune Saturn in Aquarius. And it is on its Saturn Return.

 The report detailed charges of deception, stonewalling, and intimidation and vilification of victims and those calling for reform. The leaders of the denomination used the Bible and spiritual language as weapons against the innocent victims. One leader said the claims of abuse survivors were a “satanic scheme to completely distract us from evangelism.” Two survivors of sexual abuse who became advocates for victims were written off as “the devil being temporarily successful.”

 One survivor said her experiences ‘left a legacy of hate’ and she referred to it as ‘soul murder.’

 Southern Baptist churches are evangelical in doctrine and practice, emphasizing the significance of the individual conversion experience, which is affirmed by the person having complete immersion in water.

  The SBC chart is facing the shocking disclosures as tr Uranus is conjunct the Mercury in Taurus exactly now and moving on to conjunct the Taurus Venus Sun in 2023 plus the Eclipse effect – another organisation in for a rocky ride, and not before time.

America’s gun addiction problem has hit another new low with nineteen Texas primary school children shot dead by a disturbed adolescent wielding military style rifles. The usual howls of outrage greeted the news but whether anything will or indeed can be done to deal with the problem is questionable.

  The recent May 16 Lunar Eclipse at 25 Scorpio opposition Algol square Saturn in Aquarius always did look troublesome. And indeed it clashes mightily with the National Rifle Association (NRA) Scorpio Sun opposition Pluto in Taurus; as well as the Texas state Mars Mercury in Aquarius. As well as the USA 1776 chart’s Solar Arc Mars in Aquarius.

 The NRA founded 17 November 1871 has been in turmoil in the recent two years with a welter of legal suits, attracting accusations of “abuse and fraud” with CEO Wayne LaPierre accused of excessive compensation and exorbitant spending of NRA funds on himself and his wife.

  Not only will this year’s Eclipses be rattling up the NRA Scorpio Sun and Pluto; tr Uranus will also upend the Pluto by conjunction from this July onwards with more disruptions and forced change through 2023/24 as tr Uranus opposes the Sun. One way and another they’ll have to shift ground.

  Evidently Trump is due to address them within days and as per usual no guns will be allowed at this meeting – it’s beyond parody.

  Texas became a state on 2 March 1856 and the Taurus North Node square Mars Mercury in Aquarius are being thrust under the Eclipse spotlight this year as well as catching the tr Uranus hard aspects in 2023/24.

  The shooter, Salvador Rolando Ramos, 16 May 2004 (net sources) shot dead by police, had his Taurus Sun closely conjunct Algol and being shaken up by this recent eclipse. He had a hard-edged, volatile Mars Saturn in Cancer trine Uranus – and had been bullied for a speech defect, so he wouldn’t be even tempered.

Every country has their area of madness but the insanity of modern USA is beyond thought – especially given the overwheening US pride in their ‘exceptionalism’, morality and global leadership qualities.

The US ratio of 120.5 firearms per 100 residents, up from 88 per 100 in 2011, far surpasses that of other countries around the world. Other stats below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41488081

“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Dylan Thomas.

At 89 actress Sheila Hancock has earned the right to strutt her stuff and toss around her opinions on life, love and politics. Her latest memoir Old Rage was intended as an inspirational guide to growing old for those who aren’t Joan Collins but she rampages off down divergent paths as the whim takes her.

  She was born 22 February 1933 on the Isle of Wight into a working class family, a surprising background for a later Royal Shakespeare Company classical actress, and migrated from there into television over a long and prolific career. She has been married to two actors, who both died of oesophageal cancer. Her second husband the talented John Thaw best known for The Sweeney, Morse and Kavanaugh QC was an intense relationship which they took a break at one point since they both felt smothered but came back together again.

  She’s a Sun Pisces opposition Neptune in Virgo, good for a film and creative career, though by all rights it should have made her dreamy and vague. It is her Mars and Jupiter in Virgo opposition Mercury in Pisces which will fire up her tendency to straight speaking. That plus a rock-the-boat Uranus square Pluto. She has two Yods in her chart – one onto Venus and the other onto Jupiter which will give her the potential for making a major contribution to culture.

 John Thaw to whom she was married for 29 years was born 3 January 1942 in Manchester and was a Sun Capricorn with an Earth Grand Trine of Mercury in Capricorn trine Saturn Uranus in Taurus trine Neptune in Virgo – a heavy weight personality, renowned for his grumpiness, a heavy drinker and smoker.

 Their relationship would not be all plain sailing with his Mars in Aries in a firecracker conjunction to her Uranus. The over possessiveness which both admitted to came from his Cancer Moon conjunct her Pluto and his Pluto opposition her Aquarius Moon. Their relationship chart had a needs-space composite Sun square Uranus; an irritable and one -sided Mars square Saturn, hinting that one had to bite their tongue more than the other; and a successful-together Pluto Jupiter

  Their wedding chart of 24 December 1973 was also an indication of a close but not easy connection with a New Moon opposition Saturn square Pluto; with the New Moon trine Mars and Mars opposition Uranus. It was probably as well that both had busy and constantly changing acting careers to soak up the grittier side of their chemistry.

  She is on a third Saturn Return this year so reflecting deeply on life and what comes next.

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” Mark Twain

“Age is not important unless you’re a cheese.” Helen Hayes