Astrology of Today’s News

Peter Mandelson, the former Labour politician and spin doctor known as the Prince of Darkness and usually described as ‘disgraced’ since he was forced to resign as Cabinet Minister over a financial scandal, has been drawn into the Epstein/Ghislaine Maxwell web.

  Photographs of him have emerged attending an Epstein birthday party in Paris in 2007 the year after Epstein was charged with counts of unlawful sex acts with a minor; and he visited Epstein’s Caribbean island, though friends were quick to assert that was Ghislaine Maxwell’s invitation since they were good friends of long standing through her crooked father.

  Mandelson has a ‘moth-like attraction’ to the rich so would share that interest with Epstein and indeed up at that level it is a very small world indeed. Newspaper reports in 1999 have Mandelson, then a Labour MP, dining regularly at Sunninghill Park, Prince Andrew’s home. In 2000, both Mandelson and the Prince were witnesses at the wedding of merchant banker Sir Evelyn de Rothschild to Lynn Forester, an American broadcasting entrepreneur who was a longstanding friend of Epstein. In 2001, Prince Andrew was appointed the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, and Mandelson was reported to have been a key figure in lobbying for the duke. Between 2004 and 2008 Mandelson was EU Trade Commissioner based in Brussels with huge influence.

  The FBI currently hold Epstein’s phone book which has ten numbers for Mandelson and 16 for Prince Andrew. Only a few people in the book, which seems to have been compiled by Ghislaine, are listed with multiple numbers.

 Mandelson was born 21 October 1953 – with a chart reasonably similar to Richard 111, the Hunchback King, and to Vladimir Putin if his birthdate is accurate.  He has a Libra Sun conjunct a slippery Neptune as well as Saturn, trine Jupiter in Gemini – and square Uranus which opposes his North Node in Capricorn.

  That late Cardinal degree seems to echo through the Epstein circles’ charts. Prince Andrew has his Venus Mars in Capricorn exactly conjunct Maxwell’s Saturn and exactly conjunct Mandelson’s North Node. Epstein has Saturn Neptune in late Libra square Mercury in Capricorn. Mandelson’s North Node is also conjunct Epstein’s (probably) zero degree Aquarius Sun. Virginia Guiffre has her Mars in late Cancer square Saturn Pluto in late Libra clashing with most of the above.

  Mandelson’s Mars in Virgo is conjunct Prince Andrew’s North Node, which would make it a facilitating relationship for work. Epstein’s South Node is exactly conjunct Andrew’s Ascendant and Maxwell’s North Node falls in Andrew’s 1^st house conjunct his Uranus, while her Moon is on his Ascendant – so both have the capacity to affect his image. As does Virginia Guiffre with her Leo Sun conjunct Epstein’s South Node, Maxwell’s Moon and North Node and Andrew’s Ascendant and Uranus.

  Mandelson’s relationship chart with Maxwell has another repeating factor in the Epstein saga – a composite Venus Mars conjunction – as well as a possessive, controlling composite Sun square Pluto. It looks rattled through this year.

  His relationship chart with Prince Andrew is showing signs of a downhill slide in 2024/25.

  Mandelson’s personal chart is moving through troubled times with a panicky, undermining tr Neptune opposition his Mars this year, with a hugely pressured and challenging tr Pluto square his Sun this month and on and off till late 2023 – and it is joined in 2023/2024 by tr Pluto square his Saturn which will be discouraging.

  It’s a real spider’s web of interconnections with undertones of a Greek or Shakespearean melodrama. The fates stalk amongst them exacting their slice of karmic retribution.

Love him or loathe him Nigel Farage is a pivotal figure in UK politics, without whom Brexit would not have happened. A new biography by Michael Crick sets out his life and the events which led to the most seismic event in decades.  Although an outsider he was right man in the right place aided by luck to propel the Euro-sceptic momentum towards a referendum.

  Robert Shrimsley in an FT review remarks: “For all his skills, Farage is rarely close to the real action. He operated in his own pool, effective when the ripples reached others but always swimming apart from those in power.” And he described him as being like a character in a novel “neither hero nor heroine, confidante nor villain, but who is nonetheless essential to the denouement of the story. Perhaps this is Farage: a gifted, ruthless, mercurial and sometimes reptilian figure who was key to getting the teams on the pitch but had to watch the match being decided by others.”

  Born 3 April 1964 4.30pm Farnborough, England, he combines the rebellious chaos of the Uranus Pluto opposition Saturn – along with a rumbustious Mars in assertive Aries and an Aries Sun and Jupiter in his intense 8^th house. His Jupiter trine a Sagittarius Moon would give him dollops of undeserved luck – according to Crick that came from the 1997 death of Sir James Goldsmith which finished off the Referendum Party allowing UKIP to rise; and Tony Blair’s decision to agree to a new and proportional electoral system for the UK’s European parliamentary elections which allowed Ukip its only major electoral breakthroughs and Farage’s access to the broadcast media.

 What is significant about his chart vis a vis the UK are two things. One is his Aries Sun conjunct the UK 7^th house Aries North Node which was keyed up over the Brexit vote by tr Uranus in Aries in the run up and tr Pluto square in 2016. An Aries North Node has lessons to learn about being independent. The other, which Boris also shares, is his Saturn in Pisces conjunct the UK Pluto, which was also marked around the time of Brexit. In synastry, one person’s Saturn on the other’s Pluto can indicate large scale ventures undertaken together or mutual suspicion and political intrigues. Farage’s Neptune was also conjunct the UK’s Solar Arc North node in 2016.

 Farage’s relationship chart with the UK has – surprise surprise – a stressed and fated Yod of Uranus sextile Neptune inconjunct Mars; with a downbeat Sun Mercury square Saturn North Node – and the composite North Node conjunct Algol. He was definitely a catalyst for change for good or for ill.

  His lucky Jupiter is getting a boost from tr Pluto square from this month on and off till late 2023, which will send him into a confidence overdrive but that can backfire. Everything else on his chart looks either deflated, on a downhill slide or downright calamitous for the next three years with undermining tr Neptune conjunct his Sun/Saturn and square his Mars/Pluto and then Sun/Uranus midpoints; with a couple of car-crash Solar Arcs late this year into 2023; followed by a devastating tr Pluto conjunct his Sun/Neptune in 2023/24. So nothing going quite to plan.

[ The leading pro-Brexit Tories Rees Moog, Steve Baker and journalist Daniel Hannan have much the same mix of Jupiterian luck and confidence over the next two years alongside a few sinkholes – though less disastrous than for Farage. Apart from Rees Mogg walking into a considerable setback within months as his Solar Arc Mars squares his Saturn.]

Whoopi Goldberg, the American actor (her choice), comedian and TV presenter, has put her foot in it again, with an ill-chosen comment about the Holocaust, which has had her suspended from her chat show The View for two weeks. She has had an award-strewn career for films and on stage. But also a track record of defending the indefensible – Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski, Mel Gibson – before having to backtrack.

 Born 13 November 1955 12.48pm New York, she has a heavily populated, opinionated 9^th house with her Scorpio Sun, Saturn, Moon and Mercury there. She has a super-confident if a touch over-pushy Jupiter Pluto in Leo in her 7^th square her Sun Saturn so she does come on strong; and her Mercury is also in an outspoken (blurt it out) square to Uranus. Her Uranus is also trine a charming Venus in colourful Sagittarius in her 10^th.  Plus she has a driven-by-unconscious-forces Mars Neptune in her 8^th.

  She looks rattled at the moment with tr Saturn just over the square to her Moon and tr Uranus heading for a final unsettling opposition to her Moon in March. Then she has the downbeat tr Saturn square her Sun, on and off all year, as it criss-crosses her Ascendant into her lower profile First Quadrant for some years to come. Plus there is an enthusiasm-dampening tr Saturn opposition her Jupiter Pluto conjunction early next year. Not to mention the Scorpio and Taurus Eclipses will rattle her Mercury, Moon, Sun and Saturn in 2022/23 which will brew up a few more challenges.

  Her Neptune is also spreading confusion around as tr Pluto squares it from this March, on and off till late 2023; and in 2023 her Solar Arc Sun squares her Neptune as well. So muddles and indecision, partly perhaps over financial matters but also affecting other areas.  She is moving into a less successful few years ahead though it may take a while to kick in.

  Not her favourite year or two, for sure.  

Hugh Hefner, founder of the Playboy empire, four years after his death is embroiled in lurid stories of drugs and worse around his luxury mansions where heavily publicised wild partying was the norm. Teenage girls as young as 16 were trafficked, drugged, beaten, groomed for prostitution, and raped at ‘mini mansions’ owned by his friends and frequented by celebrities. Jennifer Saginor, daughter of his live-in physician who was also his lover, tried to blow the whistle in a 2005 memoir but Harper Collins, the publisher, pulled most of it for fear of retaliation from Hefner.

  She said that wannabe ‘playmates’ who didn’t pass auditions at the Playboy Mansion would be housed at a network of Beverly Hills homes where they were fed false promises of modelling contracts and movie roles while ‘traded like cattle’ between rich and powerful men. The women were instead drugged and ‘pimped out’.

 Hefner, born 9 April 1926, 4.20pm Chicago, was a political activist in the Democratic Party and for the causes of First Amendment rights, animal rescue, and the restoration of the Hollywood Sign.

 He launched the original magazine in 1953 with financial help from his mother and the first copy, featuring a nude Marilyn Monroe calendar pic, sold over 50,000 copies.

  What is eye-catching about his chart is how strong his control-freak Pluto is – in the 10^th, square his Aries Sun, trine his Moon and Venus in Pisces and inconjunct his Mars in his ‘performing’ 5^th. He was not a man do do anything by halves and looked to be a dominator. His Moon Venus was in a wide conjunction – a combination described once by astrology Richard Idemon as the ‘poisoned apple’ – the mother who offers sexuality wrapped up in nurturing, which might explain a lot.

   He also had a Fixed T Square of Neptune in Leo opposition Jupiter in Aquarius square Saturn in Scorpio – unbudgeable and acquisitive. With an unpredictable, constantly changing Uranus in his 7^th house of relationships.

  The first Playboy, then named Stag Party, 1 December 1953, had Venus in sexy (can be sleazy) Scorpio conjunct Mercury square Pluto trine Uranus and inconjunct Jupiter.

  What always chokes me off about these stories is how long it takes for them to see the light of day. Everyone knew and no one could get it published. I’ll bet there are a fair few who were on the guest lists who must be a touch edgy.

The ‘genocide’ Olympics as Beijing’s winter feste was dubbed by Joe Biden is kicking off this Friday. There will be fewer governments represented, following a series of diplomatic boycotts because of alleged human rights abuses, especially towards the ethnic Uyhgur population in Xinjiang. But there has been no full boycotts of athletes. Because of covid it will be a televised event, with no tickets sold, seats only given to Communist Party members. Infection numbers are rising even within the covid-bubble. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), is as per usual, distancing sport from politics.

 The opening ceremony on February 4^th at 8pm has a damp squib 7^th house Moon Neptune, fittingly for a virus-ridden event; with a downbeat exact Sun Saturn in Aquarius. There is a showy, attention-demanding 5^th house Pluto Mercury, perhaps a hint that Zhang Yimou, the renowned film maker’s show for the opening will be a hit.  It will also get a degree of luck from Venus Mars trine Uranus sextile Jupiter.

 It is not as fraught a chart as for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics which had an explosive Mars opposition Uranus square Pluto. It followed a catastrophic earthquake in Sichuan in May that killed an estimated 70,000 people, which generated massive international sympathy for China, drowning out support for Tibetans.

  The IOC, 23 June 1894, does look stressed through this event with tr Uranus opposition the natal Uranus; and bitter differences and arguments from tr Pluto opposition the Mercury. They were founded during the super-ambitious but scandal-prone Neptune Pluto conjunction with Jupiter added in, giving them an ability to turn a blind eye to unpleasant realities.  Their Venus in Taurus is conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol. Their moment of truth may be coming around 2025 when the tr Saturn Neptune in Aries conjunct their Mars and square their Sun.

  The Guardian quotes Archbishop Desmond Tutu: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” And added, “If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Despite a high vaccination rate in Canada – 90 percent – a “Freedom Convoy” of tens of thousands of truckers in a 45 mile line still disrupted Ottawa and sent Justin Trudeau fleeing for a safe haven. They were  demonstrating against Covid-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers. Trudeau accused  conservative politicians of stoking fears that are exacerbating supply chain disruptions and fueling inflation.

   He described the truckers’ views as anti-science, anti-government and anti-society. The Canadian Trucking Alliance, a major industry group, said the vast majority of the country’s truck drivers are vaccinated and it “strongly disapproved” of the gathering in Ottawa. Trump has thrown his support behind the agitators as well as Joe Rogan, Donald Trump Jnr and Russell Brand.

   Trudeau’s new Term chart, 26 October 2021, always was going to move into considerable difficulties from this February onwards with tr Pluto square the Mars, giving rise to a trapped, enfuriated and risky mood and that runs on and off until late 2023. There will also be humps and bumps and tensions erupting through this April.  It won’t be a happy administration.

  Canada is undergoing major changes – with considerable disruption – through this year into next with first tr Saturn square the Saturn opposition Pluto; and then from May onwards tr Uranus is conjunct the Pluto – and that will create an unsettled, at times rebellious mood until May 2023. It’s not clear what form the changes will take though there will be an unpredictable financial phase from 2023 onwards and a revisioning of the long term outlook as well perhaps as changes to the legislature with tr Pluto moving into the Canadian 11^th house for two decades from 2024 on.

  Trudeau is a divisive figure with his Uranus falling on the Canada Descendant; but also an important one with his Moon in the Ascendant and his Sun close to the Canada Midheaven.  

  His relationship chart with Canada will move into more troubled times from mid 2023 onwards – so this may be his swansong as prime minister. But he won’t disappear from the public arena. With a talented Grand Sextile in his chart; his Progressed Jupiter moving ever closer to his Capricorn Sun in coming years; and tr Saturn heading upwards in his chart for another nearly two decades he’ll find himself a high profile niche somewhere.

See previous post December 30 2021

‘With one bound he was free’

  Boris Johnson has yet another golden opportunity to test his stupefying, confounding and astounding Road-Runner capacity to survive death-defying near misses and stay on his feet. Now there is news that his erstwhile squeeze Jennifer Arcuri has handed over vital documents to an inquiry into whether he abused his position as London mayor to “benefit and reward” her. Could he be undone finally by a Yod or two?

  Arcuri was given access to foreign trade missions led by the future prime minister and sponsorship for her events business, raising questions about conflicts of interest. She is also said to be cooperating fully with a separate investigation that raises the prospect of Johnson facing an investigation for a potential criminal offence of misconduct in public office. The Observer revealed last year that he had allegedly overruled the advice of staff to promote the business interests of Arcuri and win her affections. A previous investigation decided not to open a criminal inquiry but that inquiry did not have access to her handwritten diary entries and was hampered by the deletion of key email and phone records at City Hall that prevented the watchdog from “reviewing relevant evidence”.

  Jennifer Arcuri, 26 February 1985 (companies house), Kentucky, has a passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars conjunction in Aries which sits in Boris’s 7^th house so a hot liaison definitely fits; and her Jupiter squares his Moon with her Pluto conjunct his Moon – so there would be intense feelings initially. Her Taurus Moon may conjunct his Jupiter for ditto. But her Saturn in determined Scorpio sitting in Boris’s financial 2^nd and opposition his afflicted Mars is a definite no-no. And her Pisces Sun conjunct his Saturn and opposition his Uranus Pluto square Mars makes for a bizarre pairing. Her Neptune is also conjunct his South Node which doesn’t indicate she would persuade him to be a better person. It does slightly suggest she played him.

  What is fascinating is their relationship chart which has two Yods. An exact Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Mars; and a wide-ish Yod of Venus sextile Jupiter inconjunct Uranus. The first Yod was rattled by tr Saturn square tr Uranus last year and just before. But it is the second Yod which is being destabilized this year with tr Pluto square the apex planet Uranus from exactly now, on and off till late 2023; with an additional swampy dip from the middle of this coming May as tr Neptune undercuts enthusiasm as it is conjunct the Jupiter on one leg of the Yod  – and that runs on and off into 2023 as well.

  Carrie also looks less than enamoured with Jen across the May elections and beyond.

  A gift that just keeps on giving.

[ Dominic Cummings, another Martian Yodal link to Boris, has just been quoted as saying in an interview with a New York magazine that removing Boris was ‘like clearing the drains.’ Oops. Ouch.]

See more Boris Yods post below 25 January 2021.

Virginia Thomas, the vocal right-wing wife of Supreme Court judge Clarence Thomas is coming under increasing scrutiny as the Supreme Court plummets to its lowest level ever approval rating over a perception that it is becoming overly politicized. She is working with many groups directly involved in controversial cases on abortion, affirmative action, and gun rights amongst other before the Court. She is a Trump supporter and has declared that America is in existential danger because of the “deep state” and the “fascist left,” which includes “transsexual fascists.” She was vocal on social media prior to January 6^th praising those who were ‘standing up’ but removed the posts immediately after.

Stephen Gillers, a law professor at N.Y.U. and a prominent judicial ethicist said, “I think Ginni Thomas is behaving horribly, and she’s hurt the Supreme Court and the administration of justice.’

 She was born 23 February 1957 in Omaha, Nebraska into a family known for its extreme views; and after graduating law she fell in with a cultish self-help group, Lifespring. She and Thomas married in 1987. ‘As a woman clashing with the women’s movement, she had found much in common with Thomas, who opposed causes supported by many Black Americans.’

  Jane Mayer has an exhaustively researched piece on her in the New Yorker, January 21 2022.

  Virginia is a Sun Pisces trine Neptune which fits well with Clarence’s Cancer Sun, Mercury, Venus square Neptune. What is less obvious is how they survive her bulldozer Mars in Taurus which falls conjunct his IC, making their domestic life a noisy affair, and worse squares his Saturn Pluto in his 7^th.  Mind you with Saturn Pluto in his 7^th he was bound to be attracted to a hard, warrior partner.

  Their relationship chart does have an affectionate Sun Venus conjunction with Venus trine Pluto and Sun opposition Jupiter – so there would an attraction. But there is also an explosive composite Uranus Mars square Saturn Neptune which looks highly uncomfortable and prone to blow fuses.

  The good feelings between them are looking a touch deflated at the moment perhaps because of the New Yorker piece; there will be major jolts, in his case, relating to his partner, making them emotionally conflicted over the next two years.  She’ll be rattled badly from June onwards with tr Uranus conjunct her Mars.

  Her relations with Chief Justice John Roberts are difficult at best and running into turbulent times from this month onwards, worsening dramatically in 2023.  Her relationship chart with SCOTUS points to the same conclusion with major confusion in 2022/23 and complete disruption come 2023/24.

  Clarence Thomas will stay reasonably upbeat in 2022/23 but he’s sliding into a less successful, less visible phase of his life/career which will become increasingly obvious from 2023 onwards.   

See previous post on SCOTUS October 30 2021

  This isn’t astrological but a question popped up after the discussion on intergenerational trauma asking about studies on African Americans.

   The concept first arose with children of Holocaust survivors in the 1960s, whose parents came out of the camps and most often said nothing of their experiences. It was not as widely written about then as it is now so the children knew little of what had gone on. Yet in some cases they lived out their parents’ trauma as if it had happened to them. And there were similar psychological effects down into a third generation. Since then studies have widened to include African-Americans forced into slavery, Native American genocide survivors, war survivors, refugees, survivors of domestic violence.

In his 1952 semi-autobiographical novel Go Tell it on the Mountain, the esteemed African American author James Baldwin asked the question “Could a curse come down so many ages? Did it live in time, or in the moment?”

The curse of slavery has left an intergenerational legacy of trauma and poor health for African Americans

‘The curse of African American slavery cannot be underestimated; the trauma of enslavement has been carried by African Americans through the ages and generations and is currently shown in many of the health problems experienced by a significant proportion of the African American population in the US.

Negative physical, psychological, and social health conditions of African Americans in general. For example, research shows the incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure, premature death from heart disease, and prostate cancer are generally double among adult African Americans compared to White Americans. African Americans experience significantly higher psychological stress and PTSD, and these are related to depressive symptoms, poor self-rated health, functional physical limitations and chronic illness. Similar comparisons of social health show homicide rates are higher, black men are 5 times more likely to be incarcerated than Whites (5 percent of the African American male population are incarcerated in many American states), and illicit drug use and rates of intimate partner violence are highest among African Americans.’

African American Health and Posttraumatic Slave Syndrome: A Terror Management Theory Account

The —- impact of slavery was a significant trauma to African American people, which was carried forward through successive generations; providing an explanation of their current anxiety-related conditions, poor health, and maladaptive behaviors.

Poor parenting, connected to the master-slave relationship as the template for all human relationships; the dominant one parent family structure created by slavery; and transgenerational haunting.

Growing consensus in the scientific community that trauma is passed down through generations in DNA.

Barry Cryer, the comedian and comedy writer for everyone from The Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise to a long list of notables – Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory Bremner, George Burns, Jasper Carrott, Tommy Cooper, Ronnie Corbett, Les Dawson, Dick Emery, Kenny Everett, Bruce Forsyth, David Frost, Bob Hope, Frankie Howerd, Richard Pryor, Spike Milligan and Mike Yarwood – has died.

  He seems to have been universally liked in the business as well as an accomplished performer. Though like many comics his chart was not as easy as his personality sounds. He was born 23 March 1935 3am Leeds and had a successful Jupiter in the 10^th in a confident trine to Pluto in an out-of-sign trine to a sharp-witted, communicative 3rd house Aries Sun. It would give him talent and a lucky touch. His intense Scorpio Moon would be mellowed by an opposition to Venus in Taurus, though Venus was conjunct Uranus and square his 7^th house Pluto – so he would be quite controlling. And his Pluto was even more emphasized having a Mars opposition Uranus in square. There was a volatile, quite explosive side to him which he would keep well under wraps. Though Mars Uranus can also contribute to a quirky take on life.  

  He also had the creative and sympathetic Neptune opposition Saturn Mercury of that mid 1930s generation.

  His father died when he was five which may explain his Sun, Mars Uranus square Pluto. His Neptune in the 8^th would give him an ability to project an aura out into the zeitgeist and such a strong Pluto would make him an influencer par excellence.

He married in 1962 and stayed married, having four children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild when he died.