Astrology of Today’s News

Milan Kundera and Victoria Amelina, both distinguished East European writers with first-hand experience of Russian authoritarianism, have died within days of each other.

Milan Kundera, 1 April 1929 Brno, Czechoslovakia, started out as an enthusiastic Communist party member in his youth but was latterly expelled as he spoke up in 1970 during the clampdown that followed the 1968 Prague Spring, of which he was one of the leading voices, publicly calling for freedom of speech and equal rights for all. He was blacklisted, fired from his teaching job and eventually moved to France, losing his Czech nationality. His novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being brought him to prominence and he was nominated several times for a Nobel Prize.

 Victoria Amelina, 1 January 1986, Kiev, Ukraine, was raised in the shadow of Russia, learning the language and attending a summer camp for Russian youth. Her grandparents had lived through “the great famine” of the early 1930s, in which millions of Ukrainians were starved to death under Stalin’s orders. They protected their children by raising them to speak Russian. She worked in IT, became politically active in 2013, when she joined the bloody protests after Ukraine’s President Yanukovych rejected closer ties with Europe in favour of Moscow. She wrote two novels, the second of which was shortlisted for the Unesco City of Literature Prize and the European Union Prize for Literature. After the start of the war she trained as a war crimes researcher, working with a human rights organisation called Truth Hounds, recording the atrocities witnessed by survivors. She was killed when a Russian rocket exploded in a pizza restaurant. A few days before the attack she had sent a draft of her first non-fiction project, War and Justice Diary: Looking at Women Looking at War, to a friend with a note attached: “just in case”.

  What stands out in each chart is a stark Mars Pluto conjunction – describing the fear of their upbringing. Mars Pluto can give courage and unrelenting determination in the face of ruthless/brutal authority figures who hold the power of life and death.

 Kundera was a Sun Aries conjunct Uranus squaring onto Mars Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn, so he had a stark and resourceful chart. He was evidently a believer in astrology, not surprisingly with such a Uranus in his chart.

He said: – “The hands on the dial of a clock turn in a circle. The zodiac, as drawn by an astrologer, also resembles a dial. A horoscope is a clock. Whether we believe in the predictions of astrology or not, a horoscope is a metaphor of life that conceals great wisdom.”

 Amelina was a Sun, Venus, Neptune in Capricorn which was sextile a ferociously single-minded Mars Pluto in Scorpio. She would head for danger without a second thought.

  Both had their North Node in Taurus hinting at a life long search for peace after turbulence.

  Both had marked writers’ 21^st Harmonic.

  We in the west have no idea how easy life is compared to the experiences of those who grew up and have to cope in eastern Europe on the borders of the marauding bear.

Spain is heading for a surprise early election as the PM Pedro Sanchez, despite low showing in the polls, hopes the electorate will react against the far-right (anti-feminist/anti-immigration/anti-LBGTQ+ and tough on Gibraltar) party VOX. Santiago Abascal, the eccentric and excitable Vox leader, is unlikely to win but he could be kingmaker in a new right-wing coalition. Sanchez in since 2018 has done much to calm the issue of Catalan independence, has coped with Covid/Ukraine and has an inflation rate of 1.9% to his credit.

  The winner is expected to be Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the mainstream conservative Popular Party (PP) but without an absolute majority.

 Sanchez, 29 February 1972, a Sun Pisces square Neptune and square Saturn has been through a disastrous few weeks recently but he does have tr Jupiter trine his Mars over the election which will lift his spirits though that could also be as a result of being relieved of the burden of office.

 His 2 June 2018 Term chart, is not in good shape and looks undermined and seriously rattled at the moment.

  Feijoo, 10 September 1961 Galicia, a Sun Pluto in Virgo with Saturn Jupiter conjunct in Capricorn. He does have tr Pluto conjunct his Jupiter now which normally would bode well (except look at Huw Edwards with the same) – but he also has an upbeat tr Uranus opposition his Sun/Jupiter midpoint now which will bring a stroke of luck. So despite a confused Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Neptune he might make it and then live to regret it since late August onwards for a couple of years ahead looks like a minefield of sink holes.

  Santiago Abascal, 14 April 1976 Bilbao, the VOX leader, a Sun Aries square Saturn, with Venus in Aries in a seductive/manipulative opposition to Pluto square a fiery, volatile Mars, will be buoyed up with tr Pluto square his Sun/Jupiter midpoint till late July and again on and off through 2024. So something is going his way.

 Though the VOX 17 December 2013 chart is not as clear cut with too much Neptune around this year.

 Former bullfighter Vicente Barrera, 29 July 1968, VOX’s poster boy, a Sun Leo with a Saturnine yod,  is not quite as sanguine about victory now as he was a few weeks back and is facing a disastrous mid August inwards.

  Elections are always a pot pourri of influences, good and bad, and polls are rarely to be trusted. But Feijoo and Abascal might just cobble a coalition together.

 What is certain is that Spain is moving through an exceptionally pressured year with its Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Scorpio Sun this year, which will feel stuck. Then tr Uranus moves into the 4^th house opposition the Midheaven in 2024 which could see the start of internal unrest for several years thereafter.  2025 to 2027 in particular look exceptionally tough going with tr Saturn Neptune in an undermining square to the Spain Mars in 2025/26 and tr Pluto opposition the Spain Saturn and square Uranus in 2024 to 2026.

Hollywood has ground to a halt with actors and writers on strike over earnings for the lower paid with streaming and AI technology shifting the goalposts in favour of the studios’ coffers. What broke the camel’s back and brought matters to a head was the suggestion that extras “should be able to be scanned and paid for one day’s pay and their companies should own that scan…and to be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation.” Surreal.

  Having lurched out of the covid shut down, the prospect of a deadlock is causing despair amongst workers and will hit profits. But the feeling is that a complete revision of the financial underpinnings of the business need to be reached, which could take months.

  The Hollywood chart, 1 February 1887, has a ruthless Mars square Pluto with a hint of megalomania thrown in from Neptune Pluto; with an autocratic Saturn square Uranus. As well as an expansive Aquarius Sun square Jupiter and trine an innovative Uranus. With a creative and seductive Venus South Node square Neptune Pluto.

  The Hollywood Mars square Pluto this year is being blocked by tr Saturn in Pisces conjunct the Mars and square the Pluto as tensions grew earlier this year and those influences return late September/October and December. A previous Writers Strike of 2007/8 intriguingly occurred with tr Saturn in early Virgo also in aspect to the Hollywood Mars Pluto. Further back another strike in 1960 led by Ronald Reagan occurred when there was a Mars in early Pisces opposition Pluto in Virgo – just past the exact aspect but still rattling up Hollywood’s stony-hearted Mars square Pluto.

  The Screen Actors Guild, 12 July 1933, technically ceased in 2012 as it merged with the television union but the original chart does work well. It has a determined Sun Pluto in Cancer square Uranus – and is certainly in a rebellious mood this year with tr Pluto square the Uranus until November. There are hints of cheer from mid November though some sagging moments thereafter.

  The relationship chart between SAG and Hollywood hints at an ongoing, long-drawn-out tussle through 2023/24/25 with tr Pluto square the composite Saturn Sun.

 SAG-AFTRA, 30 March 2012, has its showbizzy Mars in Virgo opposition Neptune in Pisces tangling with the Hollywood Mars square Pluto and is having a tough slog this year till late on.

 Fran Dreschler, former actress leading SAG, 30 September 1957, is a gutsy Sun, Mars, Jupiter in Libra sextile Uranus in one side and sextile Saturn on the other. Her Uranus opposes the Hollywood Sun as she disrupts the status quo; with her robustly confident Jupiter Sun Mars triggers the autocratic Hollywood Uranus square Saturn. Most pointed of all her determined Pluto opposes the Hollywood Mars – for a full-on fight.

Scrape off the glitter and what’s underneath is greedy and black-hearted.

Add On:  The studios are represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which evolved from early beginnings in 1922, incorporated on 11 March.  That gives a Sun Venus in Pisces with an innovative and tough-minded Pluto trine Uranus square Saturn and inconjunct Mars. With a showbizzy Mars trine Neptune sextile a fortunate Jupiter. At the moment there is a pushily confident Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Jupiter. But there will be a disaster of two late this year in November and December and an uncertain, high-anxiety set of influences running till early 2025. 2024 looks ratchety and ill-tempered – but that is probably par for the course.

  On the synastry – the Screen Actors Guild Mars is in a fractious conjunction to the MPA’s Saturn and square its Pluto  – for ongoing aggro.  With Neptune crossovers to add evasion to the dream business.

 The relationship chart has a composite Taurus Sun square Neptune. In 1960 when Ronald Reagan led a six month strike tr Uranus in Leo was exactly square the composite Sun – and this time round tr Uranus is conjunct the composite Sun.  A fall out was on the cards – and confusion may continue into 2024 even if the strike folds.

The UK is facing a “nightmare scenario” of China controlling sensitive national infrastructure, including nuclear power stations, universities and the technology sector. The regime is using money and spies to penetrate every sector of economy, according to an MPs report.

  Lurching from the Russia threat and before that Middle Eastern autocrats buying up the country, the Orwellian prospect of facing yet another foreign menace whom successive governments have done nothing to repel – quite the contrary they sold out to them – is all too worrisome.

  The relationship chart between China 1 January 1912 and the UK is inherently stressed and has always been with a composite yod of Uranus sextile Jupiter inconjunct Pluto – a constant power struggle which is being exacerbated at the moment by tr Pluto square the Pluto and sextile the Uranus, moving soon to trine the Jupiter – the next three years will be critical. There is also a Sun Venus opposition Saturn square Jupiter which is a blow hot, blow cold influence. And an evasive, vague, smoke-screening Mercury opposition Moon square Neptune.

 The China 1912 chart has its Neptune conjunct the UK 10^th house (ruling classes) Moon for a deceptively persuasive approach. Though what is more to the point is the China’s financial Saturn in Taurus conjunct the UK’s 8^th house Mars for a fractious and potentially destructive clash; with China’s determined Moon Mars in Taurus also in the UK 8^th and colliding with the UK’s 11^th house Saturn (the legislature).

 Xi Jinping,  15 June 1953, has his Uranus conjunct the UK’s 10^th house Moon, his Venus conjunct the UK Mars and his Pluto conjunct the UK Saturn – so he’s intent on changing UK’s direction and getting control politically.

  2024/25 look to be times of turbulence with the Xi/UK relationship chart having its Uranus square Pluto being upended – with 2025 and even before being undermining with tr Neptune and then tr Saturn being conjunct the Venus Sun. With major confusion and uncertainty in 2026/27. So it may all come to a head which is too exhausting to contemplate.

  Complete wastes-of-space of UK politicians – if there is money being offered, they will sell not only their soul but the country’s as well without a thought for the consequences.

Mary Tyler Moore, known as America’s sweetheart, was a fixture on television in the 1960s/1970s, who morphed from being Dick van Dyke’s stylish wife on screen to being a single,  independent woman in her own show. She “helped define a new vision of American womanhood” who had careers and could stand on their own two feet. The show faced issues such as equal pay, birth control, and sexual independence and that was in the 1970s.

“Just because you have a smile on your face doesn’t mean doesn’t mean you are not ready to go into battle.”

  She had a drama-filled and in many ways tragic life which belied her chirpy onscreen persona. Both her parents were alcoholic and she elected in childhood to live with an aunt and see her parents rarely. A younger sister died of painkillers and alcohol aged 21; her only son died from a gun accident aged 24 and her brother died in his late 40s from cancer.  She herself suffered from diabetes and she was alcoholic for many years, as was Dick van Dyke.

  Her chart certainly reflects a life that was turbulent and high-risk as well as lucky and successful. She was born 29 December 1936 at 10.45am in Brooklyn, New York which gave her a fortunate Sun Jupiter in Capricorn in her 10^th house of career so there was no doubt she was heading for glory and triumphs despite her unlikely beginnings. She had an attention-demanding Moon Pluto in Cancer in her performing 5^th house opposition Mercury and square an 8^th house Mars. She was do-or-die determined with a hefty dose of ancestral grit and anger pushing her on.

  She had the creative Saturn in Pisces opposition Neptune of the mid 1930s squaring onto a 10^th house North Node so career would always come more easily than settling into domestic contentment.

 The death of her son hit her hard not surprisingly and her chart was in shock – tr Pluto was on the cusp of her 8^th house. Tr Neptune was conjunct her Midheaven. Solar Arc Uranus was conjunct her IC and her Solar Arc Pluto was conjunct her Descendant. The axis of her world was rocked. And in that oddly spooky way, with an 8^th house planet involved, it occurred less than a month after the Robert Redford directed movie Ordinary People was released in which she played a mother who was grieving over the accidental death of her son.

   She did key into the USA chart with her Mercury opposition Pluto Moon facing up to the USA’s Mercury opposition Pluto in Capricorn as she highlighted controversial and divisive issues.

  Quite a lady, who died finally in 2017.

Huw Edwards, chief presenter and face of the BBC, has been named by his wife as as the personality facing allegations involving a teenager and sex photos, saying he is now an in-patient receiving mental care and will answer the claims soon. Other complaints have been made with suggestions of inappropriate behaviour in the office and on a dating website.

  Out of an abundance of caution it should be said – nothing has been proved and the police have said there was no criminality involved. He has not resigned, although is suspended and while UK libel laws do allow for a public interest defence, in general it is best to adhere to the adage – if you can’t prove it, don’t print it. Repeating gossip (which may be wrong) does not constitute proof and is no defence.

 However having said all that Jon Sopel, a BBC colleague and friend, did put out a tweet in which he said – “no criminality, but perhaps a complicated private life.” I would be grateful when posting comments if you could keep in mind the above.

  Born 18 August 1961 in Bridgend, Wales, no birth time, with a Welsh-activist academic father, Huw Edwards is married with five grown up children. He has an attention-seeking Leo Sun conjunct Uranus, North Node, Mercury also in entertaining Leo. North Node in Leo gives him leadership ability. In negative mode Leo can appear arrogant and he did have a reputation for mixing with management rather than those below him in rank – the driving force behind which is usually a sense of inner emptiness requiring constant affirmation. Sun Uranus can be a maverick and certainly dislikes compromise.

  He also has a Saturn Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn which may be significant. For many this is a comme ci comme ca aspect but for a few – Princess Diana, John Lennon, certain US Presidents – it has an overly expansionary side. The Jupiterian magnification factor flies them too high near the gods of Olympus, of which Zeus/Jove/Jupiter was the supreme being. At which point Saturn steps in with a sharp reality check to remind them they are human and subject to the same restrictions of morality and/or mortality as everyone else. In Roman times a slave would stand behind a triumphant general on a victory parade to remind him of his own mortality. It needn’t be as bleak as death dealing, but it can bring hubris down to earth with a bump if their Jupiterian streak gets out of control.

 His emotional planets include a Scorpio Moon maybe conjunct Neptune and trine Venus in Cancer, sextile Pluto hinting at a passionate side that was not much on view.

  At the moment tr Pluto is just off the trine to his Mars, repeating throughout 2024 which is stuck and frustrated. At the moment he has tr Pluto conjunct his Jupiter, which on its own can be successful, but clearly Jupiter’s ‘Miracle Grow’ qualities turned his public persona into a hulking green giant.

  This year he does have a career-denting tr Pluto conjunct his Jupiter/Saturn midpoint later this year with a stuck tr Saturn opposition his Pluto and a jolted, jangled and confused 2024.

  His interface with the BBC is highly Neptunian with his Sun conjunct the BBC Neptune and his Neptune conjunct the BBC Mercury – dream weavers united but not always realistic or straightforward.

 His relationship chart with the BBC is odd – a bad-tempered, one-sided composite Mars Saturn in a high-tension opposition to Uranus sextile/trine Sun, Mercury and Pluto – very tied together but a simmering cauldron of undercurrents of resentment and disagreement.  The Uranus and Mars Saturn are being battered this year by tr Saturn in square.  There’s also an illusory composite Sun Neptune conjunction which tr Neptune is undermining this year and tr Pluto putting additional strain on.

  If the general drift of the allegations hold water – and we don’t know yet – the word that came to my mind was ‘untouchable’ (an illusion/delusion thereof). Anyone who indulges in that kind of behaviour in a public position especially nowadays with a febrile and rancid social media never mind hawk-eyed tabloids has to imagine they are somehow wrapped in a magic invisibility cloak and can’t be exposed or held to account.

  No doubt more will crawl out of the woodwork as time goes on.

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Incarcerated for over half a century, cult-leader Charles Manson’s protégé and co-perpetrator Leslie van Houten has been released on parole. While in prison since the murder she committed aged 19, she has finished a master’s degree in humanities and participating in a range of mental health and self-help programs.

 Two things intrigue me – what kind of chart indicates an entire adult life behind bars and what was Chiron’s input?

  She was born 23 August 1949 5.51am Los Angeles, with her Virgo Sun and Saturn sitting on her Ascendant square Chiron exactly on her IC with Moon Pluto in her 12^th.

 Chiron on the IC points to the wound being in the family leading to feelings of rootlessness and insecurity with a need to people-please to be accepted – a classic cult mark. Squaring her Saturn and the Sun would only add to her sense of worthlessness leading to self-destructive behaviour and an intolerance of vulnerability or weakness. One description of Saturn square Chiron is ‘locked in a self-imposed box. Carrying depression as a wound. Carrying loneliness as a wound.’

 Talk about attracting what you most fear.

  Manson, 12 November 1934 4.40pm Cincinnati, OH, had his Chiron at 8 degrees Gemini, exactly square her Saturn – so he tapped deep into her issues.

  [For previous Charles Manson post see 20 November 2017; for previous Van Houten 1 December 2020.]

  The other self-destructive partnership still in headline-grabbing gear is the endless saga of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s ill-fated match.

  As with all matters astrological there are always several factors involved. In their case Pluto – with the relationship chart having a composite Sun opposition Pluto which makes for a possessive and controlling match which eventually splits with a long-drawn out hostile, bitter battle. His Pluto squares her Sun natally and her Pluto squares his Mars – all set for an endless bout of toxicity. Plutonic relationships are about transformation – they arrive for a reason in each individual’s life to precipitate a change. Once the lesson has been learnt and the transition to a deeper self-understanding accomplished there is no longer a need for the Pluto tie and they can split. The Jolie-Pitts have clearly not quite got there yet. See previous post 17 August 2022.

 Chiron of the unhealable wound is described as an animal cowering in a cave lashing out in pain. Pitt’s Chiron is conjunct Jolie’s Black Moon (no idea what that means but doesn’t sound healthy) and square her Neptune and Sun. Her Chiron squares his Venus Moon in Capricorn.

  It is a karmic bond with his wound being attracted to her darkness (which she has in spades from a traumatic mother and childhood with a Moon Mars opposition Pluto.) His Moon Venus conjunction and Jupiter in his 4^th suggests a supportive childhood which may have exacerbated her own sense of unworthiness from the mess in which she grew up.  Chiron square Venus in synastry can also bring up accusations that the Venus half is profligate with money – which is partly what this recent bout of accusations vis a vis their once jointly owned Provence winery is about.

   Will it ever end? The 2024/25 Solar Eclipses will be shaking up her Mars Moon in Aries opposition Pluto which might lay a few rays of daylight in. But with tr Pluto moving through her 7th for another decade and a half she’s unlikely to find relationships mellow -quite the reverse.  Their relationship chart will grind on under immense strain for another three or four years yet.    

ADD ON: Looking at other incarcerated Manson followers Chiron does loom large.

Patricia Kernwinkel has Chiron sitting on her Ascendant and conjunct Charles Manson’s Scorpio Sun Venus.

Susan Atkins has Chiron conjunct her Midheaven and conjunct Manson’s Sun Venus.

Robert Beausoleil has his Chiron conjunct his Sun widely conjunct his Ascendant and conjunct Manson’s Sun.

 Charles Watson has his Chiron conjunct his IC and Manson’s Chiron is square his Sun.

All birth data on ADB. Manson fed into all those deep wounds and created havoc.

Mark Rutte has ended a 13 year run in the Netherlands as prime minister, bowing out after a row over immigration collapsed the coalition government. He said he will stay on as a caretaker prime minister until the general election in November. Known as “Teflon Mark,” for his ability to survive a series of political crises, he is described as a manager not a visionary –  pragmatic, flexible and boring. His popularity has sagged in recent times, with his exit over migration seen by some as a strategic ploy to allow his own party to win the next election.

 He started his run on 14 October 2010 on a lucky Jupiter Uranus in Pisces but all indications from that chart are that he should have bowed out at last time round in early 2022. Then there was a Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the Sun and Solar Arc Uranus opposition the Saturn hinting at the end of the road.

  His personal chart, 14 February 1967 6.53 pm The Hague is a mix of jolting change and great relief pending from new opportunities on the horizon. Tr Neptune is conjunct his 7^th house Saturn in Pisces at the moment exactly, pointing to disappointments in partnerships; with a tense, jolting Solar Arc opposition his Neptune, moving to square his Aquarius Sun in 2024 – at the same time as tr Uranus rattles up his Sun square Neptune (and SA Saturn).Tr Pluto is square his Mars at zero degrees Scorpio which is paralysed and frustrating in 2023/24 and he has a major setback from Solar Arc Mars square his Saturn in late 2024.

  However he also has his Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct his Jupiter for success and his Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct his Uranus bringing a lucky break with relief also in 2024. Plus tr Saturn moving above the descendant on his chart which is usually a career marker upwards. With tr Jupiter moving across his 10^th house mid 2024 to mid 2025 which usually brings promotion or recognition in some way. He’ll no doubt be handed a helpful gig to ease the pain.

  He was a so-so fit with the Netherlands, 26 July 1581 JC, with his Aquarius Sun conjunct the Netherlands Saturn and his Neptune square the Neth’s Saturn – dull with ripples of distrust.  But his Jupiter did conjunct the Neth South Node so he would provide a sense of faux comfort even if he did not produce any progressive policies.

Boris and Carrie Johnson Mark Three arrived last week, born 5 July at 9.15am in London, named Frank Alfred Odysseus. A glowing Carrie instagrammed that it was Boris who selected the name of the Greek king and hero of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. who was known for his intellectual brilliance, cunning and versatility.

  This one looks to be the biggest handful of the three. He has a friendly 11^th house Cancer Sun trine a 7^th house Saturn – so far so sensible. But he also has a maverick Uranus conjunct his Midheaven in a volatile square to a rumbustious and passionate Venus Mars in Leo. With Mars on the focal point of a yod to Pluto sextile Neptune. Super-ambitious and self-willed with problems moderating his assertiveness and aggressiveness. Anger will be an issue as it is with his father whose Mars is on the point of an explosive T Square. Venus Mars as remarked before has a reputation for what used to be described as promiscuity (sexual/romantic incontinence). With a doleful Saturn in Pisces in the 7^th he will marry later than some and find it a burden, with his 8^th house Neptune tending to back away from commitment.

  His mischievous Aquarius Moon, which will make him delight in shocking those close with provocative comments, is square to Jupiter suggesting a mother who spoils him, at least superficially.

  Romy, born 9 December 2021 9.02am London, has not been burdened with a mythological forebear. She has a creative and hidden 12^th house Sagittarius Sun Mercury square a vague Neptune in the 3^rd house of siblings. She has a persuasive, seductive, passionate Venus Pluto in Capricorn and a 4^th house Uranus, hinting at frequent home moves and an unsettled domestic life. Her Aquarius Moon is conjunct Jupiter in her 2^nd house so she’ll be keen on finding financial security. She does have a strong-minded Mars in Scorpio in her 11^th so she’ll be no slouch when it comes to standing up for herself. But will be nothing like as unruly as her latest brother.

 Wilfred Johnson, 29 April 2020 9am, has a rebellious, unconventional Sun Uranus conjunction in his 11^th so will have maverick friends and forge a unique path in life. He has a caring, creative Neptune in his 10^th which will soften the rougher edges of his opinionated and stubborn Mars in Aquarius in his communicative 9^th house. His pushily-confident Jupiter Pluto conjunction opposes his Moon, so he’s likely to attract himself to challenging partners. Though with Saturn in his 8^th he may find closeness not a familiar experience.

  All three have rip-roaring Mars in Fixed signs so the family squabbles will be noisy and all three have prominent Moon Jupiter aspects suggesting a drama-queen mother of whom they think well.

Pic Instagram