Astrology of Today’s News

Laurens van der Post was a South African writer, philosopher, conservationist, close friend of the Swiss therapist Carl Jung and mentor to Prince Charles, godfather of Prince William, adviser to Margaret Thatcher. He was much praised for his initiative when a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War 11, maintaining the morale of prisoners of different nationalities, organising a “camp university” and a camp farm to supplement nutritional needs. His later books about his experiences were turned into the film ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence’.

  Wiki quotes him: “It is one of the hardest things in this prison life: the strain caused by being continually in the power of people who are only half-sane and live in a twilight of reason and humanity.”

  His reputation in later years was dented when it was revealed he had fathered a child on a 14 year old girl, who had been put into his care on a sea voyage. He paid her family a small amount of money but never publicly acknowledged the daughter. After his death the accuracy of his claims about his life were questioned with examples published of where he had embellished the truth in his memoirs and travel books. One biographer claimed he was “a fraud, a fantasist, a liar, a serial adulterer and a paternalist. He falsified his Army record and inflated his own importance at every possible opportunity.”

  He was born 13 December 1906 at 2am (unverified) Philippolis, South Africa, and was a Sun Sagittarius in a controlling opposition to Pluto in the far-travelled and opinionated 9^th. His Pluto was also in a determined and courageous trine to Mars in Libra. But what dominates his chart is a healing Water Grand Trine of Jupiter Neptune in Cancer in the 9^th conjunct his Midheaven trine Saturn trine a Scorpio Moon, with Neptune Jupiter opposition an innovative, reforming Uranus.

   Water Grand Trine individuals can operate within their own little bubble and be detached from reality – which in appalling circumstance can be a blessing. Jupiter Neptune can also indicate a Pollyanna-like tendency of head in the clouds and hoping for the best; and it has a reputation as a guru-chaser which might well apply to his relationship to Carl Jung whom he idolised.

 He was a complicated man, half saint and in typical Jungian fashion half not. He was anti-apartheid and although his credentials as a guru and sage were challenged he did spread the word about Jung and African conservation to a wider public.  

  His relationship with Prince Charles was an influential one with a three quarter Grand Sextile in their relationship chart tying together the composite Sun, Saturn, Moon, Uranus and Jupiter. Van Der Post’s Sun fell in Charles’s 5^th house conjunct his Mars Jupiter so his enthusiasm would be an inspiration for Charles; and LVP’s leadership North Node in Leo was conjunct Charles’ Ascendant for another motivating lift.

  Van der Post’s relationship with Jung was very Neptune Pluto with the composite Sun trine Neptune Pluto which also sat on the focal point of a Saturn opposition Jupiter. Neptune Pluto has an interest in the paranormal and what lies beyond reality.

  When he had to surrender to the Japanese in 1942 the tr Saturn Uranus in Taurus were just moving into his 8^th house, bringing a phase where he needed to develop inner resilience and would be thrown back on his inner resources. Tr Pluto was exactly conjunct his 10^th house Node at that point, arguably sparking off his latent talents for showing the way to others.

Talented, influential and flawed.

The Euro Final football frenzy will kick off at 8pm tomorrow in London with England versus Italy. The last time England won was in 1966 also played in London.

The only faint clue of anything much on the manager Gareth Southgate’s chart is tr Jupiter square his Mars/Node midpoint which Ebertin describes as ‘successful team work’ and tr Jupiter trine his Mars but that isn’t exact until July 19th. And those are minor enough. I’ll let the afficianados pitch in since I’m blank.

Post-apartheid South Africa took a small step towards fulfilling Nelson Mandela’s hope for a corruption-free country when former president Jacob Zuma handed himself into the police. He had been charged with contempt of court after repeatedly refusing to appear before a commission looking at allegations of corruption against him, involving dealings with a criminal syndicate run by the Gupta family; as well as a separate arms deal. He denies any wrongdoing, ‘despite the mounds of evidence’.

  His successor, Cyril Ramaphosa, wants to be the face of a clean ANC, but has already had to sideline his health minister for diverting Covid-19 communications funds to cronies. At present South Africa is far behind its vaccination targets; has a corrupt and mismanaged state electricity provider; a passenger rail system barely functions; and a criminal justice system that was seriously damaged by Zuma and his cronies. Ways to go.

  Both the South Africa 1910 and 1994 charts have Uranus in Capricorn at almost the same degree picking up the tr Pluto conjunction this year – so the pressure for change has met its moment. And the 1994 chart in particular will feel the effects of the Taurus Lunar Eclipse late this November and the Taurus/Scorpio eclipses in 2022 all triggering the Moon Pluto North Node in last decan Scorpio as well as the Taurus Sun Mercury. Crisis and the challenge of change will dance hand in hand through till 2023.

  Even the 1910 chart with its late Taurus North Node will be at a critical turning point as it runs into a Nodal Return from early 2022.

  Jacob Zuma, 12 April 1942, is an Aries with an adventurous/opportunistic Mars Jupiter in Gemini and a heavyweight Saturn Uranus in Taurus trine Neptune. Both his Term charts had marked Mars square Pluto aspects which always indicates ruthless control-freakery if not downright criminal behaviour; strong Jupiters for confidence and emphasised Neptune for slippery evasiveness. He won’t enjoy the next three years especially 2023 when he runs into the buffers.

  His Saturn Uranus in Taurus is conjunct the South Africa 1994 South Node and opposition the SAfrica Pluto Moon so his acquisitive Taurus proclivities would run him counter to the needs of the people; though his Sun conjunct the South Africa Midheaven would pitch him high for a while.

  Cyril Ramaphosa, 17 November 1952, is a New Moon in Scorpio square Pluto; with Mars in Capricorn opposition Uranus and square Neptune Saturn in Libra. If he fights on the side of justice he has considerable heft and perseverance. Though he will be volatile and given to impulsive, reckless decisions, disregarding advice.  He’s trapped and frustrated this year and next with tr Pluto conjunct his Mars, with the Eclipses from this November onwards for two years rattling his Scorpio Sun Moon. Tr Uranus conjunct his Jupiter exactly now and repeating into early 2022 will give him good news.

  His Term chart, 25 May 2019 11.30am has been labouring against tr Neptune dashing optimism in square to Jupiter; the Eclipses rattling the Gemini Sun Mercury until early 2022; and a dead-halt Saturn Pluto conjunction, closed to exact by Solar Arc later this year. It’ll be an uphill struggle to make progress.

Known around Hollywood as “Psycho Kilmer”, the actor Val is trying to burnish his reputation with a documentary culled from 800 hours of home video footage and premiering to rave reviews at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. His reputation as ‘difficult to work’ with shot his problematic reputation above such as Marlon Brando, Edward Norton, Russell Crowe and Steven Seagal. Not even his super-successful movies – The Doors, Top Gun and Batman Forever – could persuade directors who worked with him to ever repeat the experience.

  Industry commentators remark: “he never quite cracked the code of interacting with other people” and describe him as “a personality not exactly on speaking terms with self-awareness.” The documentary appears to indicate not much has changed.

He was born 31 December 1959 7.58am Los Angeles and brought up in the Christian Science faith which has been his guiding light since his career took a nose dive and he latterly contracted throat cancer which means he now speaks through a voice box. 

   He does have a tricky chart with an 8^th house Pluto trine a 12^th house Sun Saturn in Capricorn, sextiling Neptune Midheaven in Scorpio. Pluto in the 8^th would provide an unconscious ability to project an influential aura but in trine to a 12^th house Sun Saturn it is also depressive and locked in. The hidden houses wouldn’t make gaining insight easier. That trine focuses onto a filmic and religious Neptune in his 9^th conjunct his Midheaven so he would push aside any questioning of himself by focusing on his creative visions and spiritual beliefs.  His Moon also squares Neptune which wouldn’t help with insight either as Neptune fogs up his perspective.

  His seductive 10^th house Venus in Scorpio is in a needs-space square to Uranus which in turn is in an adventurous trine to Jupiter, Mars, Mercury in Sagittarius – all of which would lift him out of his gloomier tendencies from time to time.

  His recent years have been understandably challenging with his Solar Arc Neptune conjunct his Sun, Saturn; his Solar Arc Mars opposition his Uranus and tr Neptune trailing in square to his Sagittarius planets. It doesn’t look much easier ahead but he has the support of his children and his faith and will no doubt appreciate the attention at Cannes.

A hawkish Japan has said publicly for the first time it would join the USA in defending Taiwan were China to invade in an irritated response to China’s expansionist policies in the region. The prospect of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan has long been regarded as the potential trigger for a superpower conflict. Most foreign governments, including Japan, acknowledge that Taiwan is a sovereign part of China but insist that reunification must take place without force, something Beijing refuses to rule out. Taiwan is a prosperous democracy and has been self-governing since Chinese nationalist forces fled there after their defeat by the communists in 1949.

  What is intriguing – astrologically – is that the First Sino-Japan War of 1894 started with Uranus at 11 degrees Scorpio and the Second War in 1937 started with Uranus at 12 degrees Taurus. Which is where Uranus is this year and rattled by the tr Saturn square so no surprises the rhetoric is heating up. That rattles up the China 1912 Saturn in Taurus and the Japan Taurus Ascendant square Saturn in Leo.

The other triggers appear to revolve around the China 1912 Uranus at 28 Capricorn square the North Node at 28 Aries.  The Second Sino-Japan War in 1927 started with tr Pluto in opposition to the China Uranus, which is what will pick up from March next year, on and off till late 2023.

  The three Taiwan Strait crises of 1954, 1958 and 1995 – all have activity around the China North/South Node axis at 28 Aries/Libra and squaring onto the China Uranus at 28 Capricorn – which will be under pressure in 2022/23.

  The Japan/China 1912 relationship chart is aggravated this year especially from mid August onwards for a few months and with intense arguments in 2022/23. And in swampy, uncertain territory until Neptune clears Pisces mid decade.

  The China/USA relationship chart, always in a state of tension with a composite Sun opposition Pluto, will be most affected in 2023/24 when tr Pluto opposes the composite Saturn.   

  Tensions will rise undoubtedly with all these sensitive spots being triggered. But it’s difficult to see the US getting dragged into another messy conflict when all the weight of public and political opinion is to avoid them.

See previous post October 1 2020

Marjorie Taylor Greene is not only addicted to offensive, over-heated rhetoric but also to a warped Trumpian cum Nazi tactic of turning herself and her ilk into victims. She recently was forced to apologize for suggesting that mask mandates were similar to the Holocaust; and promptly went on to compare medical personnel offering vaccinations to Nazi brownshirts forcing prisoners to undergo experiments.  

   The House of Representatives which she only joined this January, voted to remove her from all committee roles on February 4, 2021, in response to her incendiary and violent statements. She will run for re-election in 2022.

  Born 27 May 1974 in Georgia, USA, she is a Sun Gemini opposition Neptune trine Pluto; with a volatile and over-loaded Mars in excitable Cancer on the point of a T Square to Venus opposition Uranus; and a hard-edged, unyielding Saturn square Pluto. Tr Pluto is still exerting maximum pressure on her Martian T Square being square the Venus and Uranus till the end of this year – so her cat on a hot tin roof performance will keep going for a while. 

The December Sagittarius Solar Eclipse will oppose her Sun for a crisis of direction in which she may be forced to rethink her plans. She’s also got a Neptunian failure or two late this year and in general her high hopes won’t be producing results with swampy influences till late 2022.

  Her Solar Arc Sun is conjunct her Mars probably mid or later in 2022 which will produce a collision of sorts and is not good news, followed by Solar Arc Neptune in a paralysed, panicky square to her Uranus also in 2022 and then Venus in 2023.

  She probably is enamoured of Hitler since his mesmeric Neptune Pluto in Gemini is conjunct her Sun and oddly enough both have Uranus in Libra. The relationship chart has a passionately connected composite Pluto opposition Jupiter square Venus

  With Trump, it’s trickier to see where the love comes from with his Saturn conjunct her focal point Mars; though her Sun falls in his 10^th and her Leo Moon is probably attracted to all the fake glitter. Their relationship chart again has a passionate Sun Venus square Pluto which will be rattled up by this December’s Solar Eclipse.

Roger Federer says he does not know if he will play at Wimbledon again after losing in the quarter-finals with a final set 6-0 loss. Now nearly 40, he’s had a sterling tennis career winning his first grand Slam at 21 and over his career 20 in all, a record shared with Rafael Nadal. He dominated the 2000s with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, (both 5/6 years younger) – the ‘big three’ – but was less successful in the 2010s until his knee surgery in 2016 after which he won three more Grand Slam singles titles over the next two years. He is routinely one of the highest-paid athletes in any sport with $100 million in endorsement income in 2020.

  Born 8 August 1981 8.40 am Bale, Switzerland, he has a 12^th house Leo Sun Mercury trine Neptune and sextile Pluto in his 6^th so he’ll be super-powered by an ambitious streak. He was born four days after Meghan Markle and has her volatile Mars in Cancer square Jupiter Saturn in Libra. He lacked emotional self-control as a junior but calmed down as he matured. He has Uranus Moon in Scorpio in his 3^rd so would have a defiant streak though he is very controlled with a Scorpio Moon and an emphasised Pluto.

   His Gemini Midheaven is catching the upcoming December Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius which will pose crucial questions for his career direction; and the late November Taurus Lunar Eclipse will oppose his Uranus so there will be a few disruptions and upsets.

  Exactly now till early October he looks slightly paralysed with sticky midpoint transits; and there are hints of a turnaround in his life with tr Pluto sextile his Uranus this year and next. He won’t disappear even if he does retire though any transition will be difficult, making him irritable and frustrated in 2022 to 2024.

The only other point of note is his Solar Arc Neptune moving to conjunct his South Node later next year which could be a hint of retiring from his leadership positions of the past.   

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Haitian president Jovenel Moise has been shot dead in an attack in his home which left his wife wounded. His time in office since 2017 has seen him face accusations of corruption and money laundering ($3 million) and there have been violent anti-government protests recently, including a previous attempt to kill him.

  His election was marred initially by allegations of massive fraud and were further postponed by Hurricane Matthew battering the country, killing hundreds and causing extensive damage, with Haiti still dependent on international aid since the devastating 2010 earthquake. According to the UN World Food Programme, two and half million Haitians live in poverty, most live on less than $3 a day.

  Born 26 June 1968 he was an enthusiastic Sun, Mars, Venus in Cancer with his Moon also in Cancer. He also had that peculiarly awkward Saturnine Yod shared with Marine Le Pen of Pluto Uranus in Virgo sextile Neptune inconjunct Saturn in Aries. It requires maturity and self-discipline to get the best out of it and promises a harsh karmic payback for mistakes.  

  Tr Pluto is now within a degree approaching the final square to Saturn so the pressure from the fates would be building.  The tr Saturn square tr Uranus were also colliding with his Mars/Pluto and Mars/Uranus midpoints at the moment which are both harbingers of catastrophe and high risk.

  His Term chart (another zero political experience businessman) had a Trumpian-Administration overly confident Jupiter Uranus Pluto T Square. It has been wobbling perilously for some time with the unstable Uranus Pluto square closing to exact last year and tr Pluto squaring the Solar Arc this year.

 Haiti, 1 January 1804, has had a complicated history being colonised by the Spanish, then the French, then invaded by the USA and in recent times riven by political instability – 32 coups since independence in 1804 – plus rolling corruption and natural disasters. Despite its tourism industry, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Americas, with poor infrastructure, lack of health care, lack of education and high unemployment.

  The 1804 chart has a Half Grand Sextile of Sun Mars in Capricorn sextile Jupiter in Scorpio and sextile Pluto square Saturn, trine Moon – a curious mix of money-minded and unfair.

  When the 12 January 2010 earthquake hit which killed a reported quarter of a million people with 1.5 million left homeless, tr Pluto was exactly conjunct the Haiti Mars with tr Saturn in square. The Capricorn Solar Eclipse three days later had Jupiter Neptune on the IC for Haiti; and the Lunar Eclipse of 31 December had Mars on the IC and Pluto, Venus, Sun in the 8^th square Saturn.

  The Mars in Leo opposition Saturn square Uranus of the moment is certainly making its explosive presence felt.

Dutch investigative reporter Peter de Vries known for his focus on the criminal underworld has been seriously wounded in a shooting in Amsterdam. He is renowned for his work on exposing mobsters and drug lords and helping police solve a number of high-profile cases.  

  He was involved in the case of the kidnapping of beer magnate Freddy Heineken by one of the Netherland’s most notorious gangsters Willem Holleeder now doing a life sentence for five murders. Holleeder was also convicted of making threats against de Vries. The movie Kidnapping with Anthony Hopkins was based on de Vries’s novel.  He also won an Emmy for a TV show about Natalee Holloway, a US teenager who disappeared on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005.

 Recently he has been acting as an adviser to Nabil B, a former gang member testifying against alleged drug lord, Ridouan Taghi, presently on trial for murder and drug trafficking. Nabil B’s former lawyer was assassinated in 2019.

  Peter de Vries was born 14 November 1956 8.22pm (unverified) Aalsmeer, Netherlands, and is a Sun Mercury in Scorpio trine Mars in Pisces. Scorpio is often a good researching sign and known as good at foraging in the gutter to find nuggets of gold. They don’t mind walking on the dark side, indeed are curious about runs below the surface and will get their hands dirty if the end result merits it.

  Mars in Pisces is traditionally thought of as less courageous/assertive Martian than other sign placings, but skipping through a few mafia journalists’ charts, some of whom lost their lives exposing crime, two out of the four I looked at had Mars in Pisces – Paolo Borrometti and Jan Kuciak.

   De Vries’ Mars is also in an adventurous opposition to Jupiter so he would aim for a lively, challenging lifestyle.

  The birth time looks feasible with his Sun Mercury in his attention-grabbing and entertaining 5^th house along with serious, well-informed Saturn in Sagittarius which is in turn in an unyielding square to Pluto.  Pluto in the 3^rd also points to an inclination to dig way below the surface. His 10^th house Aries Moon suits a go-ahead public career.

  His Solar Arc Mars and Solar Arc Midheaven are in the vicinity of the destructive Fixed star Algol at the moment; tr Neptune through this year has been in an undermining conjunction to his Mars and several of his Mars midpoints are heavily stressed by Pluto and Neptune transits as well, so all in all not a great time.