Astrology of Today’s News

Cricket – a bat-and-ball game played between two teams – is to the uninitiated a leisurely amble across well-cut grass where gentlemen play for the enjoyment of playing and the win is of secondary importance. Except when it turns into a culture clash between nations. There has been outrage over some obscure misdemeanour by the Australian team in the UK for the Ashes, who have been condemned for going against the spirit of the game by their overly competitive approach. Cries of ‘cheat, cheat, cheat’ regaled the Aussies as they walked through the pavilion. One Australian newspaper responded by dressing England captain Ben Stokes up in a nappy and declaring that the “Poms take whingeing to a new level with ‘cheating’ drivel”.

 The Aussie captain Pat Cummins is being blamed for his out-to-win approach. Born 8 May 1993, he is a tough Sun Taurus opposition Pluto with his Pluto square Saturn in Aquarius so he’s no pussy cat. His Fixed planets do collide with the UK’s 8^th house Mars and sporting 5^th house Venus in Aquarius so he was bound to ruffle a few feathers. He also has a sporting Sagittarius Moon and Mars in flamboyant Leo.

  He does fit more comfortably with the Australian chart and ethos with his Sun conjunct the AU Taurus Moon and his Sag Moon conjunct the AU Venus, Uranus, Jupiter; and his Jupiter in Libra opposition Venus square the AU Sun.

  The relationship chart between Australia and the UK has a competitive, argumentative composite Sun Venus opposition Mars square Jupiter – a high-octane mix of (sometimes) friendly rivalry and oneupmanship jousting. Plus a chained together (and resenting it) Pluto opposition Saturn. And an evasive Sun trine Neptune.

  Even the respective Prime Ministers – Sunak and Albanese  – waded in with opposing takes on the huffing hurricane.

 Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, devoted its front page to the row with the headline: “Our message to the hypocritical, sanctimonious, whinging poms who can’t accept they were beaten fair and square . . . “We’re 2 up, baby!”

Over two pages inside, headlined “The poms always bleating”, the newspaper’s cricket writer, Dean Ritchie said: “The protesting poms can have a two-finger salute — which could also double as the series score. That’s right, it’s two-nil.”

The gathering storm that will blight Israel’s path over the coming years broke on cue as Uranus moves to explode the destructive Israel Saturn/Mars midpoint, heading to conjunct the deeply buried Israel Sun in Taurus from mid August onwards. A  major aerial and ground offensive into the West Bank city of Jenin was launched early today, the biggest military operation in the Palestinian territory in years. 

  The UN spokesman said  “airstrikes were used in the densely populated refugee camp.”  This is part of a year-long spike in violence, resulting in some of the worst bloodshed in that area in nearly two decades.

   An Israeli official described the camp as “ a hornets nest”. A ghetto-like area, home to about 11,000 people, it has  long been viewed as a hotbed of what Palestinians see as armed resistance, and Israelis see as terrorism. Hundreds of armed fighters from militant groups including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah are based there, and the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority has next to no presence. The incursion came at a time of growing pressure within Israel for a tough response to a series of attacks on settlers – including a shooting last week that killed four people. It was unclear whether the operation would trigger a wider response from Palestinian factions, drawing in militant groups in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Israel’s far-right government has fanned the flames of vigilante settler violence.

See previous post December 30 2022. “Israel facing a historic moment on its path with a Nodal Return and a liberating Uranus conjunction to its Taurus Sun has turned its face against progress and doubled down on the worst of the past.”

  What effect tr Uranus conjunct the Israel 8^th house Taurus Sun will have immediately is unclear since it is an obdurately stubborn country, seemingly incapable of compromise or change. It would take a massive jolt to get them to see how self-defeating their actions over more than half a century have been. The oppressed Palestinians living under occupation have little to lose – and as with the Brit experience in Northern Ireland when you leave this kind of situation to fester, the hotheads, violent freedom fighters, thugs and gangsters race in to raise the heat.  

  Tr Neptune is square the Israel Uranus opposition Jupiter through 2023/24 to early 2025, which will dent high hopes and bring disappointment, financial and other. Tr Uranus squares the high-risk Mars/Pluto midpoint in 2023/early 24. And tr Uranus continues on to square the Israel Mars come 2025 which will see an escalation of violence and insecurity. There is a dangerous and paralysed Solar Arc Mars square Pluto for Israel 2025/26, moving to square the Saturn by 2028. With a directionless SA Midheaven conjunct Neptune also by 2027. At that point tr Pluto will oppose the Israel 10^th house Moon causing maximum duress not only on the population but also the country’s direction. From 2023 tr Pluto will oppose the Saturn Pluto and eventually oppose the Israel Mars in early 2040s for a dead halt. Pluto in Aquarius will be doing Israel no favours

The Palestine Independence Declaration, 15 November 1988, looks rattled exactly now with tr Uranus opposing the Scorpio Sun, and that runs into early 2024; with losses and high anxiety come tr Neptune Saturn moving into Aries in 2025 when both will conjunct the Mars and square the Saturn.

  The Gaza chart, 9 November 1917, has been badly rattled over the past two or more years with tr Uranus starting to move round its Neptune Saturn opposition Uranus square Scorpio Sun Mercury Fixed T square – with the reverberations extending into 2024. Tr Neptune Saturn in Aries in 2025 will square the Gaza Venus North Node in Cancer opposition Pluto for losses and disappointment.

  What sorted Northern Ireland was the US getting a grip but that is unlikely to happen with a depressing prospect of Palestinians going the way of Tibetans, Yazidis, Uyghurs etc.

Pluto sticks a toe into Aquarius and goodly chunks of the world go up in flames.

Keir Starmer, the strangely charisma-free and policy-light leader of the UK Opposition is flexing his muscles in what insiders describe as a ‘witchhunt’ inside the Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn is already banned from standing at the next election and his compadre John McDonnell fears he may be next to go. Even centrist figures are deemed at risk as he tightens his grip and reportedly aims to close down dissenting or independent voices. Starmer is also expected soon to carry out a shadow cabinet reshuffle.

  The previous post February 17 2023 lays out Starmer’s unhappy path ahead which does not look like a winning formula despite the Tory shambles.

  His relationship charts with both Labour 27 February 1900 and 12 February 1906 are both aggravated to start with. The Labour 1900 has a lacklustre, undermining composite Sun square Neptune and a bitterly, hostile and power-struggling Mars square Pluto.  The 1906 relationship is no better with a fractious, bad-tempered, one-sided Mars square Saturn and again a limp Sun square Neptune. Both have the chilly, separating Saturn transits in hard aspect in 2023/24, with jolts, jangles and significant tensions at the same time.

  Starmer’s relationship with Angela Raynor, his Deputy Leader chosen by the party not him, is less than rapturous this year (in the freezer) and seriously aggravated in 2024/25. He also has a stormy ride with Lisa Nandy in 2024/25 with little that looks like good feeling or joint success in evidence.

 With John McDonnell, there is heavy pressure this year in the midst of devastating confusion – and separation next year if they last that long together in the same boat.

  His Leadership chart, 4 April 2020 10.45 am London, makes more sense as events unravel. There is a mushy, slippery, smokescreening Neptune on the Midheaven; with an aggravated Mars Saturn conjunction tucked out of sight in the 8^th – and a supremely-confident, power-hungry Jupiter Pluto conjunction.

  His personal chart, 2 September 1962, is talented, determined, controlling and not always realistic – with a central Water Grand Trine which can be creative/healing and also lives in its own bubble detached from outer events and that is formed into a hard-driving Kite by a Jupiter opposition Pluto Sun in Virgo. There is a good deal more high-octane fuel in his tank than is obvious from his dull exterior. Not that it will help as he is running into the buffers in 2025/26 in a terminal meltdown, politically speaking. Angela Raynor might benefit in 2025 but Lisa Nandy won’t.

  I can’t see Starmer lasting over the next three years.

Mick Jagger shows no signs of giving in gracefully to old age, now squiring a former ballet dancer half his age with whom he is reportedly now engaged having had a child a few years back with her to add to his seven other children by four other women, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

   Born 26 July 1943 2.30am Dartford, England, he is an unrestrained Sun Leo conjunct a super-confident Jupiter Pluto Mercury all square a determined Mars in Taurus with a Moon also in Taurus trine a 5^th house creative and musical Neptune. His Sun/Moon midpoint is square his Neptune hence his difficulty with commitment in marriage and close relationships. His Saturn is also square his Sun/Moon midpoint suggesting that one-to-one-relationships always involve too much work from his point of view.

  Of the significant relationships in his life none of the ladies had planets in his 7^th house of close partnership which is usually the case for affectionate bonds and there was relatively little Venus flagging up on the relationship charts.

  Jerry Hall, 2 July 1956, had her Saturn in Scorpio opposition his Moon and her Venus conjunct his Saturn plus her Uranus conjunct his Sun Jupiter Pluto – which adds up to a great deal of defensiveness on both sides and differing agendas. His Chiron in late Leo was conjunct her Jupiter Pluto in Leo, which hints at power struggles with both fighting for the spotlight. Her confidence would make him feel vulnerable.  The relationship chart also flagged up ego-clashes.

  Her Chiron opposes his Mercury which could cause anxiety and insecurity about saying the wrong thing. She would feel misunderstood, and perhaps unintelligent.

  Bianca Jagger, 2 May 1945, was a Sun Taurus conjunct his Mars square her Pluto which would be a tough mix with great stubbornness on both sides. Though her Chiron was conjunct his Neptune so she may have brought a spiritual or mystical connection which helped him to trust his instincts and clarify his illusions.

  L’Wren Scott, 28 April 1964, who he was with for several years until her suicide, was another Sun Taurus conjunct Mercury, Jupiter. Like Jerry Hall she had Venus in Gemini conjunct his Saturn.

  Melanie Hamrick, 17 July 1987 (famous birthdays.com), his most recent liaison, if the birth date is accurate, is a Cancer Sun, like Jerry Hall, with a Mars in Leo conjunct his Leo planets square Pluto – so both have do-or-die determined Pluto square Mars which can be dominating or can be submissive  but is not an easy connection, breeding resentment on the underdog side.  Her Chiron is conjunct his Saturn which suggests limitations and restrictions in the relationship with the Saturnine Jagger holding more power. Control can be an issue.

He’s nothing if not larger than life.

The trickiest phase of Joe Biden’s term in office is approaching fast, as questions are being increasingly asked about his health – verbal and physical stumbles, high cholesterol, acid reflux, frequent coughing, osteoarthritis of the foot and spine, and now sleep apnea. Age increases the risk of developing sleep apnea which can lead to cardiovascular disease and other symptoms such as forgetfulness, fatigue and sleepiness as well as sleep deprivation which is one of the strongest causes of cognitive decline. If he stood and won in November 2024, he would be 86 at the end of his second term.

 On his 2^nd Term, chart the Solar Arc Saturn closes the square to Mars exact in three months but in effect before then (and after for a few months) and then square to Uranus in four months. Followed by the Term Solar Arc Sun closing the conjunction to Saturn, exact in six months. All of which is accident-prone and obstacle-strewn, suggestive of setbacks, explosive and unsettling events, which may not be health-related but an indication of internal or external political turbulence.  But a high stress time, for sure.

  His personal chart highlights major confusion this month and through July, returning across the New Year into January, and September, October to late November 2024. Late this November to late December looks disaster-strewn, could be ill health or outer calamities.  March 2024 will be jangled and high stress, even more so July into August 2024.  On the positive side he will rev up his engine confidence-wise from late February 2024 with tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint and that returns late May to mid July, and is in place across the Inauguration – it usually means a hint of success. But at the same time tr Pluto squares his Moon which could suggest a domestic/family or emotional period of crisis and forced change.

  He has such a raft of negatives it is tricky to see how it will work out. Through 2025 tr Uranus in his 6^th house of health opposes his Sun and Venus for significant change; plus a confused and calamitous midpoint extending through 2026 – which does not suggest clear thinking or resourceful action.

  He is enormously stubborn with a stellium in Scorpio with his Mars Mercury in Scorpio square Pluto and his stubborn Taurus Moon also square Pluto.

 Solar Returns can be less than helpful at times, though accurate at others. But for what they are worth:

His Solar Return from November 2022 to November 2023 has Sun Mercury in the 6^th house of health and work with a nervy Uranus in the 12^th and Saturn on the midheaven which can be restrictive.

SR Nov 2023 to Nov 2024 – a held-back, hidden Sun Mars in the 4^th opposition a change-of-career-direction Uranus on the 10^th square a dependent Moon on the Descendant; with Pluto in the 6^th house of health.

SR Nov 2024 to Nov 2025 – all systems-change Sun opposition Uranus; and a frustratingly stuck and enraging Pluto opposition Mars on the midheaven.

  Even if he did scrape through, he’ll never make it to the end of a second term in any kind of compos mentis shape. The party elders should be exerting pressure except there is no obvious replacement. But there might be if he did the graceful thing and step back.

Actor Alan Arkin who found success early in his career as Captain Yossarian in Catch-22 and more recently won an Oscar as the heroin-snorting grandpa in Little Miss Sunshine, has died.  Once rated America’s best actor by Mike Nichols, he worked constantly through five decades. He also played the deadpan dad and working man, Bill Boggs, in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands and after that he excelled in the film of David Mamet’s play Glengarry Glen Ross.

 He was born 26 March 1934 4.17am New York with a film set designer father who was blacklisted unfairly during the McCarthy era.

 Arkin was a lively Sun Mars in Aries with Mars inconjunct Neptune in his 7^th house of relationships. His Sun was sparsely aspected making him independent and not reliant on others for mirroring. Most notably he had a lucky, adventurous Uranus opposition Jupiter square an influential and controlling Pluto on the cusp of his 6^th house. Secretive, intense, insightful, enigmatic, he would not be the easiest personality to fathom.

  He had a cool Venus Saturn in Aquarius conjunct his Ascendant so would come across as restrained and understated though both of these were trine his 8^th house Jupiter giving him tremendous depth. His Leo Moon suited him for performing  and does trine his Sun Mars though seems relatively disconnected from the major configurations in his chart.

  Maybe it was what made him a consummate character actor, the ability to slough off his real personality to become Another.

Ann Leslie, the formidable leading lady of Fleet Street who for nearly 35 years covered the Balkan wars, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Zimbabwe, China, El Salvador, Iran, the Gulf War, almost every US presidential election since 1975 and five superpower summits, has died. She went to war with heavy make-up and false eyelashes. “Crying” she once said, “is pointless. It just smudges your mascara.”

  Described as “gravel-voiced, courageous and opinionated” she didn’t allow frequent bouts of ill health to stop her hopping on the first helicopter available to a dangerous trouble spot. She also became a familiar figure on television and radio, on Question Time, Stop the Week and Any Questions. She once punched Mohammed Ali for not paying attention and told George W Bush to his face he was “two sandwiches short of a picnic”, which was intended to rile but it merely puzzled him.

  She was born a child of the Raj in Rawalpindi on 28 January 1941, with an oil industry father and a distant mother who sent her off to boarding school in India aged five and thence aged 9 to the UK to another boarding school. Oxford followed which led into newspapers. As a showbusiness correspondent initially she was flashed at by Salvador Dali, dallied with several notables from the entertainment world; James Mason wanted to marry her, and she had to fend off the unwanted attentions of David Niven. Then she moved over as foreign correspondent to roam the world’s hotspots.   

  She had a robust chart and temperament, similar to Dick Cheney’s born two days later, with an Aquarius Sun opposition Pluto square Jupiter Saturn in Taurus.  Her Moon was also in Aquarius. Her Mercury in Aquarius was in an outspoken square to Uranus and sextile Mars so she would not be backwards about stating her views. She also had an Earth Grand Trine of Uranus trine Neptune trine Venus which would keep her grounded and give her a business head.

  An old style trouper – and her appalling childhood did not seem to hold her back, indeed seemed to fuel her determination to push her luck in the face of danger.

Sue Johanson, a much loved sex educator, who provided candid advice to Canadian and US audiences, has died. She was a registered nurse who opened the first school birth control clinic in Canada and put out her message first on radio and then on her TV Sunday Night Sex Show, which eventually  moved to the US as well.

 She was born 13 March 1930 in Toronto with a decorated war hero father and an Irish-Protestant mother. She was a Sun Pisces with a trailblazing and innovative (and status-quo upsetting) Uranus in Aries square a tough-minded Saturn opposition Pluto. She would inherit her go-getting, brook-no-interference streak from her father. Her Virgo Moon may have been conjunct Neptune opposition Mercury and square Jupiter in Gemini which gave her a softer side and her Jupiter in Gemini would give her an ability to spread the word in a simple form to the masses.

  What is also relevant is her determined  Mars in Aquarius. Aquarius is often found amongst campaigners for sexual openness – Alex Comfort, Havelock Ellis, Germaine Greer, Betty Frieden amongst others were all Sun Aquarius.   

  France is in flames as riots broke out over the police shooting of a teenager without a driving licence who drove away from a traffic stop.  The state prosecutor said the circumstances of the shooting did not meet the criteria for the legal use of firearms by the police. Macron said the killing was ‘unforgiveable’ but then described the resulting violence as “unjustifiable”. Public buildings have been burnt and at least 130 police officers injured in the worst rioting in 18 years, as the simmering tensions between young people and police in disadvantaged neighbourhoods boiled over.

  Whether it was racially motivated or not, and it seems likely, since the youth was French of North African origin, it could spell trouble ahead.

 The France chart was always due to have it revolutionary Uranus opposition Pluto square Mars detonated by tr Uranus square Uranus and Pluto exactly now and moving on to oppose the Mars through the first half of 2024, all ramped up by the Solar Arc Sun square the Fr Uranus and Pluto in 2024. So the country will rock on its axis. Tr Uranus on Mars does tend towards violence so it won’t be easy to calm.

 The France 29 degree Virgo Sun and Macron’s 29 degree Sagittarius Sun will both be undermined by tr Neptune in hard aspect from spring 2024 on and off into 2025 – so an ineffectual and lacklustre response is likely to be the outcome.

 Macron’s 2^nd Term began officially on the 14th May 2022 with a 23 degree Taurus Sun square Saturn at 24 Aquarius – all of which will be severely rattled by tr Uranus from this August onwards into 2024.

 The insanities of the 2008 financial crash are well-matched by the latest greed bubble to burst in broken Britain in the unlikely arena of water and sewerage. The story starts in 1989 when Margaret Thatcher, against strong public feeling, fully privatized the water and sewerage systems, the only country in the world to do so. Financial scavenger investors were handed a debt-free monopoly and proceeded to load up debt to pay dividends and did nothing to fix the infrastructure with raw sewage dumped into rivers and water pipes leaking. More than three decades later they have a collective debt burden of £60bn.

 Thames Water, the largest, on the brink of being renationalized has been through several owners in three decades – first Germans who didn’t factor in maintenance/renovation costs, then Australian ‘vampire kangaroo’ McQuarie who ran up £10.6bn of debt, while extracting £3 bn for shareholders and paid corporation tax of just £100,000, followed by George Osborne-sourced Chinese investors and Canadian, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait money types. It reads like a  bad novel, with as per usual hapless governments and regulators looking the other way.  

‘Only when the tide goes out’, as Warren Buffett once observed, ‘do you learn who has been swimming naked.’

The financial health of up to four other English water companies is being monitored. Between 1989, when the Government sold off the 10 main regional water suppliers, and 2015, water bills rose by 40pc more than inflation. Customers have been told to brace for rises of another 30pc over the coming years. ‘It amounts to a massive transfer of wealth from bill payers to investors, while the country’s Victorian water system leaks a scarcely believable 3bn litres of water every single day – enough to meet the needs of more than 20m people – and Britain hasn’t built a new reservoir since 1989.’

  The Water Act was given Royal Assent on 6 July 1989 when the triple conjunction of Uranus, Saturn, Neptune were in place. The Saturn Neptune at that point being exactly conjunct the UK Capricorn Sun – which might have given a hint of the mayhem to follow. There was also a ruthless, brutally determined Mars in Leo square Pluto in Scorpio.  The Water Act Cancer Sun was trine Pluto and opposition Neptune Saturn hinting at overwhelming ambition.

  At the moment the Water Act Saturn Neptune has moved by Solar Arc to oppose the Mars and square Pluto for a major standoff, indeed terminal catastrophe – as the scandal has finally breached, with rising public pressure for restraints and fines on the water companies. But the horse has bolted and renationalization at this stage would land eye-curling debt on the taxpayer with decades of costs ahead to upgrade neglected infrastructure.

 Not normally a subject I would get excited about. Nor do I usually spit teeth about the Tories. But I will make an exception this time round. What an unholy screw up.

I suspect we have still not grasped the scale of the changes wrought by the late 1980/early 1990 triple conjunction which crossed the UK Sun. Historians looking back may well point to that as a key turning point – and not in an upward direction.

Add On:

Add On: Sir Adrian Montague, a City veteran with experience in turning around infrastructure firms, has been has been hauled in as chairman of Thames Water to raise crucial funding. Born 28 February 1948, he has a strong-willed Sun Pisces on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Pluto; and is certainly tough enough with Saturn conjunct Pluto and Mars in Leo plus an adventurous Jupiter opposition Uranus.

  But even he will have his work cut out. Tr Uranus will square his Mars from mid August, which will be explosive and test his mettle; tr Neptune squares his Jupiter this year also denting a few high hopes; and his Solar Arc Sun will run into a car-crash square to his Mars in coming months into 2024. His Solar Arc Uranus is opposition his Sun in 2025 for a jolting upheaval – he’ll be glad to be out of what looks like a relatively short run.

  The company records have Thames Water Ltd as registered 1 April 1989, before the Water Act was agreed. If correct, it has a ruthless Plutonic yod onto Mars sextile Sun Venus which sounds about right for a financial rip off entity. Plus another aggressive yod of Saturn Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Mars. Not exactly a public service icon.