Astrology of Today’s News

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The BBC has become collateral damage in the government’s deflect-and-distract desperation to direct attention away from ‘partygate’ with a two-year licence freeze and a bombshell about removing funding altogether by the charter renewal in 2027.  The latter is being rowed back since it would depend on every household having access to high-speed broadband for alternative streaming options which won’t happen in time.

  The BBC chart, 14 November 2022 6pm London, does look shocked by the ‘collision’ of Solar Arc Mars opposition the Scorpio Sun this year, exact in four months; and tr Uranus in an equally shocking and self-esteem-denting square to the BBC Mars this month into early February.  Tr Neptune is also in an undermining opposition to the BBC Virgo Moon across this year into early 2023 – and the Taurus/Scorpio Eclipses this year will rattle up the BBC’s Sun, Mercury and Jupiter in Scorpio. As if that wasn’t enough tr Saturn and tr Uranus will both make a high-anxiety hit on the BBC Neptune; and finally tr Saturn will make a discouraging square to the BBC Sun this year with tr Uranus opposition in 2023.  All in all, not a fun time.

  The BBC are arrogant, their own worst enemy, self-defeatingly stubborn when faced with legitimate criticism and needed a sharp wake up call to scythe through their overweighted and stratospherically expensive management amongst other things. The pro-Brexit and Tory government have had it out for them with accusations of left-wing Remainer bias so political motives are partially suspect. But a day of reckoning was overdue.

   The Royal Charter renewal theoretically goes into effect, no doubt after aggravated discussions beforehand, on 1 January 2028. But it is 2029 and 2030 which show up as the face-reality and forced-change period with the Solar Arc Sun conjunct the 10^th house Uranus; the Solar Arc Moon opposition Pluto; and Solar Arc Saturn square the BBC Jupiter. New technology will force through a radical rethink about programme delivery.

   The BBC chart does have a talented and creative Water Grand Trine of a confident Pluto trine Jupiter in a risk-taking trine to Uranus, which has a good many plus points but its downside is a tendency to live within its own bubble detached from outside realities.

 The corporation is important to the UK with the BBC Pluto sitting on the UK Midheaven with the BBC Grand Trine  in favourable aspect from Uranus and Jupiter; plus the BBC’s dynamic Mars falling in the UK’s entertainment 5^th.  But there will be a few dips in the road ahead.  

Add ON: Boris’s sister Rachel related that Rupert Murdoch had asked the prime minister (on a Chequers visit when he dandled baby son on his knee) to get rid of the BBC – and then she had to hastily withdraw the claim saying it was a joke. Murdoch has made multiple visits to top Tory ministers recently and has a long standing connection with Michael Gove.

  Murdoch’s Jupiter is conjunct the BBC’s Pluto so there will be a tussle for the upper hand. But it is Murdoch’s relationship with Boris which is interesting.  Boris’s Pluto Uranus are conjunct Murdoch’s Midheaven for an influential, if chaotic, career connection. Boris’s Venus Sun fall on Murdoch’s Descendant which will make for a friendly interface.  Their relationship chart is even more intriguing with a chained-together-by- circumstance and unbreakable composite Pluto Midheaven opposition Saturn square Sun – that is being battered every which way by the tr Saturn square tr Uranus through coming months and on into 2023. With an unnerving tr Neptune square the volatile composite Uranus from May onwards – and it isn’t improving thereafter. 

To be remembered Murdoch is very old and Boris is on his last and final warning. But even if both stay the course for a while, it will be a less than amiable chemistry between them.

  The Tory Party 1912 chart isn’t too specific via a vis Murdoch and what there is of a link is sliding downhill this coming year.

Credit Suisse proudly proclaims itself as the ‘World’s Best Bank Winner 2020’ as yet another top brass, chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio, is tossed overboard and that is only the latest in a long line of scandals. The recent history of the bank on wiki reads like a Gordon Gekko script, running back through Greensill, Malaysian IMDB,  Mozambique secret loans, Archegos, forex manipulation, a US Foreign Corrupt Practices fine for Chinese involvement; and that is in the last decade. Before that the Swiss bank was at the centre of multiple international investigations for tax avoidance to which it pled guilty and paid US$2.6 billion in fines from 2008 to 2012.

  The previous CEO Tidjane Thiam survived five years before being ousted after allegations of spying on a staff member though he claims it wasn’t done with his knowledge. Antonio Horta-Osorio, brought in to clean up the stable, and the first ever non-Swiss chairman, has only made it through eight months before being shown the door for covid breaches and overuse of the company’s private jet. He did appear to have acted badly though there are murmurs of internal resistance to his attempts at pushing through changes.

  Credit Suisse was founded 5 July 1856 in Zurich with a Cancer Sun and Venus square Mars opposition North Node and widely Jupiter; and both Pluto and Uranus are in Taurus (not conjunct). Both its Taurus planets have been triggered in the recent past with tr Pluto trine the Uranus; tr Uranus conjunct the Pluto over Thiam’s exit; Solar Arc Pluto in a blocked conjunction to the Mars in 2020 and an apple-cart upsetting Solar Arc Uranus opposition the Pluto in 2021. So it is in a turbulent and game-changing few years which will run on through its Uranus Return in 2023 and the Solar Arc Pluto opposing its Aries North Node in 2024.

 Antonio Horta-Osorio was born 28 January 1964, four days after Novak Djovic’s excitable mother, and two weeks before Sarah Palin. He has a determined and stubborn Sun Mars in Aquarius as well as Saturn in Aquarius and all square onto Neptune. In Palin’s case it is a tighter square but is still not an indication of much common sense. He also has Mercury in Capricorn in an over-confident square to Jupiter in Aries. Most significantly he has a Yod of Jupiter sextile Mars inconjunct Pluto, which can throw up difficulties in handling power.

 Tidjane Thiam, 29 July 1962, is a Sun and North Node in Leo opposition Saturn square Neptune; with a powerhouse Jupiter opposition Pluto square Mars in Gemini.

  Neither of them lack confidence but what is intriguing is the emphasised Neptune in both charts – not quite what you’d expect in a global banker.

  They won’t be short of cash with vast salaries when in situ and pay offs.  

The entire bank culture is well beyond the pale – and regrettably Pluto in Capricorn doesn’t seem to have done much to sweep out the Augean stables.

A northern cold war is hotting up with Russia ratcheting up “hybrid” operations of cyberattacks and signal-jamming in Norway affecting military, government and commercial operations. The fear is that conflict in Ukraine could spill over to the north.

  Sweden has sent hundreds of extra troops to the Baltic island of Gotland after Russia deployed more landing craft to the region and unidentified drones were seen above Swedish nuclear power stations. Over the past year Russia has reactivated Soviet-era military bases in the Arctic region and built new airstrips on islands in the high north. US and UK forces have also been gearing up for the possibility of conflict in the Arctic.

  Norway’s close alignment with the US and its allies has put it in Moscow’s sights. Part of the reason for Russia’s hectic burst of military activity in the far north is that it feels global warming and the melting of the Arctic ice is turning its northern coast — once an all but impenetrable natural barrier — into a 20,000-mile vulnerability. It is also trying to exploit the retreat of the ice sheets for commercial purposes as the northern sea passage becomes viable, which by some estimates could be  iceberg free in the summers by 2050.

  The Norway, 7 June 1905 11am Oslo chart, is showing distinct signs of disruptions and a turnaround in its relations with Russia this year with tr Pluto conjunct the composite Uranus. The tensions started mounting in 2019 and have been escalating since. The relationship between Norway and modern Russia 1991 is no better with tensions erupting mid this year and worsening through an aggravated 2023.

  The Norway country chart does look stressed exactly now into February with tr Neptune square the Pluto; with a ‘shock’ of sorts or a setback which could have military associations in 2023 with the Solar Arc Mars conjunct Saturn.  The Norwegian economy appears to be doing better than most as the pandemic wanes.

   The Sweden 6 June 1523 JC chart has an undermining tr Neptune square the Gemini Sun this year into early 2023. The Sweden 7 December 1865 3.30pm Stockholm chart, is labouring under tr Saturn square tr Pluto upending its Pluto in Taurus opposition Saturn which won’t clear until after the final disruptive tr Uranus conjunct Pluto this coming March.

   Relations with both old and new Russia on both Sweden charts are fraught and turbulent over the next three years. So nothing calming down too soon.

 See previous post Russia flexing its muscles  December 22 2021.

An undersea volcano has erupted in Tonga, triggering a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, so large it was visible from space and sent tsunami waves crashing into the coast. The Pacific island was left covered in ash and cut off from aid with all communications down.

 An expert in Tonga eruptions  said: ‘This is one of the massive explosions the volcano is capable of producing roughly every thousand years. We could be in for several weeks or even years of major volcanic unrest. Tsunamis generated by volcanoes rather than earthquakes are relatively rare. The powerful waves registered in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, with a thunderous sonic boom heard 6,000 miles away in Alaska.

  Tonga gained independence on 4 June 1970 and the 12 degree Gemini Sun was exactly opposition last December’s Sagittarius Solar Eclipse, which would have pointed to an approaching crisis of some sort. Tr Pluto is also exactly square the Tonga 8^th house Jupiter at the moment, which isn’t a bad description of a massively amplified below-the-surface event.

  The recent November 2021 Lunar Eclipse has Venus sitting on the Descendant; and tr Saturn is exactly square the Eclipse Mars as the volcano was triggered. The Eclipse had a formidably tricky and explosive T Square of Mars opposition Uranus square Saturn and it is this which was rattled.

Denzel Washington, called the greatest actor of the 21st century by the New York Times recently, with Tom Hanks gushing: “He is our Brando. Nicholson. Olivier” has gone back to his roots. His early success off-Broadway was in Shakespeare and now he is starring in The Tragedy Of Macbeth along with Frances McDormand which is directed by her husband Joel Coen. It has a limited release and is available to stream on Apple TV+. Filmed in black and white, it is a stripped-down rendition of the play, and is tipped for Oscars.

  Washington born 28 December 1954 12.09 am New York, with a preacher father and grew up with split parents. He was sent to military school in his teens which he said saved him from the streets and prison where many of his childhood friends ended up.

  He’s had an illustrious and award-strewn career on stage and in movies with a settled near forty-year marriage and four children.

  He has a sharp-witted, intelligent and communicative 3^rd house Capricorn Sun conjunct the North Node and Mercury and his Aquarius Moon falls in the performing 5^th house. Both his Sun and Moon are sparsely aspected. What dominates his chart is a creative Water Grand Trine of a lucky and adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Cancer in his career 10^th house trine Venus Saturn in Scorpio trine Mars in Pisces. Such a Grand Trine will allow him to live in his own bubble giving him a detached feel. An unintegrated Sun can also be an island-unto-himself type, standing aloof; and an unaspected Moon can be disconnected from what’s going on around him.

   His Jupiter Uranus is square Neptune which threw up a fair few successful types from 1954; and his Venus is in an intense and seductive square to Pluto – but with his Venus conjunct Saturn, he’s cool rather than passionate.

   He’s on an upswing with tr Pluto opposing his Jupiter this year and next; and has a hurdle or two to climb in the next year or so with his Solar Arc Neptune conjunct his Sun and his Solar Arc Mars square his Pluto – but he’s not going to be retiring for a long while yet.  

Nicola Sturgeon should be profiting from Boris Johnson’s plummeting reputation but her popularity is down from the height of the pandemic last year. Polls show that independence has slid down voters’ priorities and is seen as less important than health and education. Though signs are she will use the coming May elections for another referendum push.

  Her personal chart, 19 July 1970 3.16pm Irvine, Scotland, shows nothing but brick walls ahead until 2024 and calamities in 2025. Although she has a confident tr Pluto square her Jupiter from this February, on and off till late 2023 which will put the wind in her sails, she’s running into a frustrating, enraging tr Pluto opposition her Sun/Mars midpoint from this March onwards which runs right through the election till June; and then repeats till late 2023.

  From May 18th this year as well across the election she has the catastrophic/not-coping-well tr Neptune square her Mars/Saturn midpoint, which runs on and off until early 2024. Into 2023 to add to her woes tr Pluto opposes her Mars which is even more blocked and deadlocked, running until late 2024; with a disaster-prone tr Uranus square Mars/Pluto in 2025. By 2026 when she is up for re-election her Solar Arc Mars is conjunct her Pluto which points to a dead-halt.

  Her Term chart, 13 May 2021 9am Edinburgh, is equally beleaguered with a destructive tr Pluto square the Mars/Saturn midpoint February to early March this year; followed by tr Neptune conjunct the Sun/Pluto midpoint mid April to mid May across the elections – both of these influences repeat on into 2023.

  The 1707 Act of Union chart does indicate 2023/24 to be years of a shake-up as tr Uranus is conjunct the Sun and square the Jupiter Pluto – and that coincides with tr Uranus square the UK 11^th house Saturn – so there may be legislative changes of some variety, though clearly not of the magnitude that Nicola Sturgeon would like.

Ronnie Spector, lead singer of the Ronettes in 1957, the girl band which shot to stardom under the producing talents of Phil Spector has died.  Their string of hits in the early-to-mid–1960s, included “Be My Baby”, “Baby, I Love You”, “The Best Part of Breakin’ Up”  and “Walking in the Rain”. She was referred to as the original “bad girl of rock and roll but found her marriage to the whacko and prodigiously jealous Phil Spector a risk too far.

   After their marriage in 1968, he subjected her to years of psychological torment, surrounding their house with barbed wire and guard dogs, and confiscated her shoes to prevent her from leaving. He sabotaged her career and promised he would kill her if she ever left him. She began drinking and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to escape the house and fled four years later barefoot and without any belongings with the help of her mother. In their 1974 divorce settlement, she forfeited all future record earnings after Phil threatened to have a hit man kill her. It took her a decade to get the coercive contract rescinded.

   He was found guilty in 2009 of killing actress Lana Clarkson and died in prison last year. Ronnie was remarkably forgiving of him merely saying he was a great record producer but a lousy husband.

  She was born 10 August 1943 in New York, no birth time, and was a Sun close to a ‘leadership’ North Node in Leo square a determined Mars in Taurus. She had a talented and creative Uranus trine Neptune, sextile a super-confident Jupiter Pluto in Leo – which may have been tied into an even more successful Half Grand Sextile off an eternally optimistic Sagittarius Moon opposition Uranus. Plus a low emotional self-esteem Venus square Saturn.

  The connection with Spector was very fated – obvious from the wedding chart, 14 April 1968, and the relationship chart, less so from the synastry. Her Venus in Virgo square Saturn tangled with his showbizzy Neptune opposition Mars Jupiter so she’d be attracted to his artistic abilities. But her Sun was square his Uranus and her Mars conjunct which was a volcanic interface.

 The wedding chart had a strained Yod of Uranus (Pluto) sextile Neptune inconjunct Sun. Their relationship chart had an even trickier Yod  of Neptune sextile Venus inconjunct Mars with Mars opposition Sun and Mercury. Such a Mars would be highly volatile not to say aggressive. The composite Sun Mercury were also inconjunct Saturn Uranus.

 Phil Spector, 26 December 1939 2.55pm New York, had an 8^th house Capricorn Sun opposition a Cancer Moon square Jupiter in Aries. His 12^th house Uranus was in a creative trine to Neptune which in turn opposed a super-confident Mars Jupiter conjunction. His Neptune was also inconjunct Saturn which would make him neurotic; and his Venus was in a passionate, possessive opposition to Pluto. It’s not an especially brutal chart though he would be disorganized psychologically, and over confident, reckoning he could get away with anything.

Tone deaf or doesn’t care? Washington watchers are mystified by Melania Trump’s brazen attempt to make money out of her husband’s presidency by auctioning off a white hat she wore for the 2018 state visit of the French President. It is part of her “Head of State” collection, with a letter of authenticity from Trump, a watercolor of her wearing the hat and an NFT of the painting with an opening minimum bid of $250,000.

  CNN spoke to insiders who thought she was out for her own personal gain, at the expense of tradition and respect for her former role; and a valuer said it was way over-priced – and $5000 would be a more sensible figure. She appears to be driven by the need to make an income unrelated to her husband, whether out of a general insecurity or as the preliminary to an exit plan.  The small print indicates a portion will go to charity.

  She does have a Taurus Sun opposition Jupiter in Scorpio which will make her rooted in the material world, not just indulgent but quite avaricious. Plus Saturn in Taurus is tight-fisted; and her indulgent Venus Mercury also in Taurus trine Pluto in Virgo will make security, possessions and money a priority in her life. On top of that she has a Pisces North Node whose challenge is to learn to let go an attachment to the physical plane. Out of laziness or inertia the tendency will be to slide backwards into old set habit patterns.

  Her 9^th harmonic is exceptionally marked which also points to a love of pleasure and money.

   The marriage to Trump appears to have been one of convenience on both sides – he got arm candy and she got sumptuous houses/clothes, green cards for her parents and wasn’t too crowded by Trump, allowing her to live in her own separate space.  Her Venus Mars conjunction in Taurus/Gemini fall in Trump’s 10^th so she would have a dynamic effect on his career; and her Pluto sits square his Sun and Moon and his Pluto is square her Sun Saturn so there would be possessiveness on both sides, not necessarily born of passion or jealousy, but of insecurity perhaps on her side.

  Their relationship chart has been rattled recently with the tr Uranus square tr Saturn hitting on the composite Uranus – with one more hit from tr Uranus from early February to mid March 2022. The composite Moon’s position isn’t known but it is probably opposition the Venus which catches an undermining tr Neptune square from May 2023 onwards. Even before then in February 2023 tr Saturn is square the composite Sun; and tr Saturn moving into Pisces thereafter may be conjunct Melania’s Sun/Moon midpoint; and will oppose Trump’s in 2024.

  She does look exceptionally blocked and frustrated at the moment with her Solar Arc Sun square her Pluto and tr Pluto just over the opposition to her Solar Arc Mars – so maybe having her husband home 24/7 through recent months has been a strain. As tr Pluto moves into Aquarius in 2023 tr Pluto will square Melania’s Jupiter for an almighty push on her part running into 2024; but running her at the same time into major and risky obstacles.

   There are any number of scenarios possible and a split is certainly one of them but she’d have to be assured of a decent pay off otherwise she wouldn’t go.

The waiting begins – unfit to lead, dead man walking, the party is over – as Boris finally appears to have crossed the line of no return. The penny may not have dropped with him but the general feeling is that even he cannot survive the cumulative damage of the mountain of bad behaviour that has emerged. Though like Tony Blair or indeed Margaret Thatcher he’s unlikely to go easy. In the run up to the Blair exit, astrologers were angst-ing over astro-straws in the wind for months trying to predict a final date.

  In hindsight Margaret Thatcher’s final curtain and forced exit was easier to predict. By the time of her resignation on 22 November 1990 the chart for her entry into No 10, 4 May 1979, had a car-crash setback tr Saturn square the Mars and tr Pluto conjunct the Uranus which is a classic topple-off-perch indicator in Administration charts.

Her relationship chart with the Conservative Party 1912 chart had tr Uranus in an applecart-upsetting opposition to the composite Pluto; and a blocked tr Pluto square the Saturn. And tr Jupiter square the Sun as her over-confidence prevented her seeing the writing on the wall. Her relationship chart with the UK had tr Uranus trine the Pluto – so the tumultuous, revolutionary Uranus Pluto were all over her departure.

  Tony Blair was heartily disliked in the UK for a good while before he handed the keys over to Gordon Brown and went off in search of ill-gotten gains elsewhere.   When he finally let go on 27 June 2007, tr Neptune in Aquarius exactly opposition tr Saturn in Leo were exactly square the Solar Arc Sun of his First Government chart; tr Pluto was in a dead-halt square to the Govt Solar Arc Mars; and tr Uranus was hovering around the opposition to the Govt Mars.

  His relationship chart with the UK, which was hostile and divisive had the tr Neptune opposition tr Saturn hitting on the aggravated composite T square of Mercury opposition Uranus square Mars Pluto. Different energies at play but still clear signs of considerable unrest.  

  Boris on his personal chart has his Progressed Moon plotting a fairly accurate course through recent calamities as it first opposed his Mars last August through the Afghanistan retreat disaster and he erupted in fury at Rishi Sunak over an alleged disloyal leak. In September his Progressed Moon squared his Saturn as his mother died (with his Solar Arc Saturn opposition his Scorpio Moon at the same time). Now his Progressed Moon is exactly square his Uranus for more fire and brimstone overflowing – and it won’t clear his overly-volatile T Square until it squares his Pluto this coming June.

 Tr Saturn will also deflate his eternally, unrealistically optimistic and unstable Jupiter opposition Neptune in the final days of this month into early February.  With tr Uranus upending it through May and again December and early 2023.

  His First Government chart, 24 July 2019, does have the tr Saturn square tr Uranus hammering on the Mars in Leo with setbacks this month; and again from mid April throughout the year. Plus a good deal of stress and raised emotions from March onwards.

  His relationship chart with the Conservative Party 1912, is sagging badly from late May onwards, into 2023 with tr Neptune square the composite Mars. His relationship chart with the UK is also on a slide of disappointment, which started last June, when his polls started to dip, and will peak again from mid March onwards into 2023 with tr Neptune square the Jupiter. This February and March will give rise to much electorate grumbling and discontent with the composite Neptune opposition Mars catching the tr Saturn squares. But the first sign of a real upheaval comes from mid June onwards with tr Uranus opposition the composite Neptune and tugging on the Mars in opposition into 2023. The Eclipses are also triggering that composite Mars North Node opposition Neptune this year – that aspect in a relationship chart indicates the each partner puts their own personal glory above the other’s success.

  There is nothing quite as definitive with Johnson as there was with Thatcher and Blair and it is easy enough to become cynical about the greased piglet’s ability to slide out of tight corners. He’s had a lifetime’s experience of feeling no shame.

  The Tories may wait till the May local elections to see which way the wind is blowing before dumping him.  

Wait and see.

Add On: Much as I distrust political party charts the Conservative Party 10 May 1912 one does appear to work reasonably well.

  The Tories moment of truth will arrive in 2023 but even before then from 18 January (this month) to 15^th February they’ll be tripping through a minefield of catastrophes from tr Neptune square the Mars/Saturn midpoint – at the same time as tr Pluto this month squares the Mars/Uranus midpoint (= struggle for survival, test of nerves) and next month tr Pluto squares Uranus/Neptune midpoint (= pessimism, losses) and those repeat from late June to mid January 2023. Plus a sobering tr Saturn square the Taurus Sun this March, repeating on and off till November this year.

  But the triple whammy plus extras of 2023 is what may really upset their applecart. The Solar Arc Uranus will conjunct the Sun and tr Uranus will also conjunct the Sun and then Saturn from May 2023 into the summer and beyond; with power and influence fading away from tr Neptune square the Pluto.

  Boris may well be fulfilling a Trumpian function as a catalyst (wrecking ball) at the end of an era forcing significant changes to come – in time.