Astrology of Today’s News

Robert Downey Jr has been remarkably forgiving of his counter-culture film director father in a ‘sad and affectionate’ home-movie portrait about to air on Netflix, which only finished after senior died of Parkinsons aged 80.

  Robert Downey Sr was addicted to drugs and alcohol and introduced junior to marijuana when he was six years old. Not surprisingly Jr continued on to develop a full-blown addiction leading to ‘fifteen years of total insanity’ which nearly wrecked his career. He had several run-ins with the law in the late 1990s and early 2000s and even spent time behind bars after missing his required drug tests. He credits his then wife for sobering him up in 2003 after which his career took off again largely thanks to Marvel.

  In an interview, Downey Jr. said: “When my dad and I would do drugs together, it was like him trying to express his love for me in the only way he knew how.”

  He was born 4 April 1965 1.10pm New York, Robert Jr has a lucky, successful and indulgent Moon Jupiter in Taurus in his 10^th, suiting him for a career in the public eye but also attracting him to hedonistic pleasures. His Moon Jupiter oppose a 4^th house Neptune describing his creative, film-maker father who was also hooked on other forms of escapism. There are various ways Neptune in the 4^th can manifest but a sick or druggie father is certainly one of them – not a great role model.

  Downey Jr also had a volatile, volcanic Mars, Uranus, Pluto in Virgo opposition an 8^th house Saturn which would give him a hot-lava reservoir of anger issues and depression.

  Sr, born 24 June 1936, in Iowa, was a Sun Venus in Cancer conjunct Mars in final degree Gemini which in turn squared Saturn – a mix of charm, wildly enthusiasm and short-temper. His Virgo Moon Neptune were conjunct his son’s Mars Uranus Pluto and opposition Saturn so it was a difficult emotional connection where nurturing was concerned.  

  When Jr finally got clean of drugs in 2003 tr Pluto was just finished squaring his natal Pluto (and Saturn).  That mid life crisis – aged 38 to 42 years old  – which starts with tr Pluto square natal Pluto is a vital transition if the second half of life is to be fulfilling.  It pulls away from the past – and is followed by tr Neptune square natal Neptune and then the Uranus opposition.

   His relationship chart with his father is tight and controlling/possessive with a composite Sun Venus Mercury square Pluto; with two strained Yods – one not surprisingly onto a Neptune apex planet and the other onto Saturn.  Not an easy bond but Jr appears to have risen above or moved beyond the more damaging aspects of it.

Edward Snowden, the former computer intelligence consultant who leaked classified NSA information in 2013 about their mass surveillance program and had his US passport revoked under the Espionage laws has become a Russian citizen. After the initial furore he fled to Hong Kong and then Russia. In 2020 a USA court ruled the program exposed by him was illegal and possibly unconstitutional. He has been called a traitor, a hero, a whistleblower, a dissident, a coward, and a patriot.

  He was joined in Russia by his girlfriend now wife, acrobat/dancer Lindsay Mills, with whom he has two children. He has a job at an unnamed Russian IT company.

  Born 21 June 1983 4.42AM Elizabeth City, NC, he is an assertive Sun Mars in Gemini in an Air Grand Trine to an unyielding Saturn Pluto in Libra trine an Aquarius Midheaven, formed into a Kite by Sun Mars opposition Neptune. Very bright clearly but also beyond stubborn with a can-be-fanatical idealist’s Air Grand Trine plus an unbudgeable Saturn Pluto.

  He also has an adventurous, risk-taking Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius opposition Mercury in Gemini.  It’s a Fire Air chart – so he’ll tend to live in his head and be ungrounded. He can put his ideas into action but will have a tendency to stay high rather than anchor his feet to the ground – so can be unrealistic. He has no Earth signs and only one Water sign – a Scorpio Moon. A driven man but not one to consider practical consequences.

  When he embarked on the actions which would upend his life in 2013 tr Neptune was in a head-in the-clouds, overly-optimistic square to his Jupiter Uranus with tr Uranus in a freedom-loving trine. Tr Saturn was also conjunct his Moon, separating him from his childhood family and home. More significantly tr Pluto was just into his 8^th house for an extended decade of feeling trapped.

  Tr Pluto is about to move out of his 8^th in 2023 which will lift certain restrictions. But he still has the weight of tr Pluto square his Saturn to slog him through a discouraging 2023 alongside a debilitating tr Neptune square his Mars followed by tr Neptune square his Sun in 2024/25.

  Whether the brave new world of Air and Fire emphasis from tr Pluto, Neptune and Uranus shifting signs over the next four years will affect his status is moot. Only by 2028 when tr Uranus crosses his Ascendant will he feel free of more restrictions.

  Relocating his chart to Moscow puts his Mars Sun in the 10^th so it is a location that can further his ambitions. Though with Neptune in the 4^th it will demand sacrifices on the home and family front.

 Lindsay, 20 February 1985, fills in for his emotional gaps with a Watery Pisces Sun, Mercury and Moon as well as Pluto and Saturn in Scorpio (not conjunct). Her passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars in Aries trine Uranus fits his fiery excitement-seeker side.

  Their relationship chart has a possessive, life-changing composite Sun opposition Pluto which will be under strain over the next two years with tr Pluto in square. There’s also an ever-optimistic Jupiter Neptune conjunct and Venus opposition Uranus which thrives either with freedom or an unconventional setting.

   They haven’t chosen an easy furrow to plough and the next few years look rocky.   

Liz Taylor and Richard Burton can probably be blamed for kicking off the modern celebrity culture when their torrid romance on the set of Cleopatra in 1962 sparked off a media frenzy. Their turbulent, on-off scorching hot and frequently aggravated liaison is well-trodden turf so I’m not sure why we need yet another rerun. But a new book claims to have had unprecedented access to diaries and letters.

  They lived a decadent, drink-sodden life together with copious amounts of seriously expensive jewellery being handed over as apologies when a alcohol led to arguments. It was a symbiotic love-hate match. She said “We were like magnets alternately pulling toward each other and, inexorably, pushing away.”

  He drank himself to oblivion and she started her days with a  bloody Mary, rolling on to wine and whisky or vodka. Her health was constantly throwing up problems which she wasn’t above using as a lever to catch his attention, and latterly to induce him into a second marriage after a 14 month separation and divorce.

  I’m not altogether convinced about her 2.30am birth time 27 February 1932 London. It explains certain things with a powerfully influential 8^th house Pluto in a disruptive square to Venus Uranus in Aries in her 4^th pointing to a constantly changing domestic life. But it says little about the health problems which plagued her life.  She was a Sun Mars Mercury in Pisces opposition Neptune so well suited to the film business. And her Jupiter in flashy Leo clearly appreciated the high-life.

  Burton, 10 November 1925 3pm  Neath, Wales, had a deeply buried, depressive and obsessive Sun Saturn in Scorpio in his 8^th square a filmic and addiction-prone Neptune in his 6^th and in a creative and unrealistic Water Grand Trine to Uranus trine Pluto in Cancer in his 4^th. His Grand Trine became a Kite with Pluto in a confident opposition to Jupiter – he had luck and talent to spare but was blighted by that downbeat Saturnine streak.

   On the synastry, her Scorpio Moon was conjunct his Sun Saturn in his 8^th – intense but conflicted, both passionate and defensive on his part. Her Neptune was conjunct his Virgo Moon for an evasive connection. Her Venus Uranus in Aries squared his central Jupiter opposition Pluto for fireworks as her adventurous streak was attracted to his grand gestures.

  But it is not as strong a connection as I would have expected. Their relationship chart has a possessive and controlling composite Sun Mercury opposition Pluto which would bind them together for a while and feel meant and Pluto tends to lead to messy breakups. There was a destructive composite Mars Saturn conjunction; a delusional Venus opposition Neptune. And a Yod of Neptune sextile Jupiter inconjunct Uranus – head in the clouds and unstable.

  The one thing which catches my eye is that both their Black Moon Lilith are conjunct their North Node – I have no idea what that means though to suggests a karmic journey towards the darker emotions. A relationship at some level they needed but was ultimately damaging to both. Both went on to marry twice more after their final split.       

The East India Company formed in the final years of Queen Elizabeth 1’s reign grew into a formidable enterprise which seized control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent, colonised parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. At its peak, it was the largest corporation in the world and had its own army of 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British army at the time. According to wiki it accounted for half of the world’s trade during the mid-1700s and early 1800s, particularly in basic commodities including cotton, silk, indigo dye, sugar, salt, spices, saltpetre, tea, and opium. It eventually came to rule large areas of India and was involved in the slave trade between 1684 and 1834 until forcibly stopped by the UK government.

The British East India Company was fiercely competitive with the Dutch East Indies company in particular, leading to four Anglo-Dutch Wars.

  The East India Company was formed 31 December 1600 (JC) with the founders birth dates unknown. That gives a financially ambitious Sun Mars in Capricorn in a ruthless square to Pluto and Uranus in early Taurus. Saturn in determined Scorpio opposed Uranus and squared Mercury. There was also a wide Yod of Pluto sextile Venus inconjunct Jupiter – grandiose, super-confident, has a considerable impact on society. That Jupiter in Virgo was conjunct Elizabeth 1’s Sun. She was born, 7 September 1533 JC 3pm London, as Pluto moved onto zero degrees Aquarius with Neptune in final degree Pisces about to enter Aries – so not dissimilar to now.

  Elizabeth 1’s Coronation 41 years earlier on 15 January 1559 JC also indicated an expansive and acquisitive reign ahead with Jupiter in Aquarius on the focal point of a T Square to Mars Uranus in Scorpio opposition Saturn Neptune in Taurus.

  The company lasted into the early years of Victoria’s reign. What is of interest is that it bears similarities to the England, 11 May 973 AD JC chart with its Taurus Sun Mars square Pluto. England’s drive for power at its height.

  The Dutch East Indies Company, 20 March 1602 JC,  was also a force to be reckoned with. Pluto still in pro-active Aries in 1602 was opposition an expansive, ambitious and lucky Jupiter  and inconjunct Saturn in determined Scorpio would give it staying power.

  Pluto in Aries clearly gave both companies ‘boot’ when they started; and Uranus moving into Taurus and Neptune moving into Virgo would signal the start of a new materialistic era.

Prince William looks fit to explode as his much punted Boston Earthshot trip is knocked sideways by the furore over unbelievably crass questions from a close Royal intimate at a London charity function. Lady Susan Hussey, a former lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, managed to make one black invitee feel as if she didn’t belong after repeated queries about where she ‘really’ came from.

   Having had their recent Caribbean tour criticised by an ill-advised ‘colonial’ parade on the back of a landrover, the Wales were presumably hoping to put the Royal ‘racist’ criticisms ladelled around by Meghan Markle to rest. It’s almost spooky the timing of the fiasco.

  Lady Susan Hussey, 1 May 1939, a daughter of the Earl of Waldegrave, married the former head of the BBC, Marmaduke Hussey, and joined the Royal household in 1960, was made godmother to Prince William and accompanied the Queen to Prince Philip’s funeral. She’s woven into the fabric of the Royal family which makes her behaviour all the more damaging.

  Although reputed to be sensitive and diplomatic she has a very, very tough chart. She is a Sun Taurus with a Libra Moon. But her chart is dominated by an Earth Grand Trine of Uranus in Taurus trine Neptune trine Mars in Capricorn – practical, materialistic, limited in her vision. Her Mars opposes Pluto and squares onto a hard-edged Saturn in Aries; and her Neptune opposes Jupiter in Pisces. So her Pluto and Jupiter (in trine) are her leading planets. Scrape off the tact of the Libra Moon, and she is formidably self-assured, stubborn and not overly compassionate.

  William has a ‘major setback’ tr Saturn opposition his Sun/Mars midpoint exactly now as well as a confidence-dampening tr Saturn opposition his Mercury/Jupiter midpoint plus an over-stressed and explosive tr Uranus square his Mercury/Pluto midpoint.

  Relocating his chart to Boston, it’s clear that it does not bring out the best in him, burying his Jupiter, Pluto, Saturn, Mars in the hidden 12th and Sun in the even more hidden 8^th. Plus it gives a 16 degree Leo midheaven which tr Uranus is presently elbowing in square.

  His relationship with Meghan Markle is also flagging up more than a hint of chill with tr Saturn opposition the composite Moon exactly now.

  Quite what prompted Susan Hussey into such a witless, blunderingly insensitive line of questioning defies explanation. She’s certainly old school but that’s no excuse.  

Christine McVie, singer and songwriter of the stratospherically successful, 100 million record-selling Fleetwood Mac, behind hits including Little Lies, Everywhere, Don’t Stop, Say You Love Me, and Songbird, has died at the age of 79. She stayed for two decades through an era of wild excess, heavy cocaine addiction and romantic tangles as she married and divorced the bass guitarist, John McVie, sharing a stage with him through the breakup and after.

  She was born 12 July 1943 in Lancashire, England, with a concert violinist father and a psychic medium and faith healer mother. Her grandfather had been an organist at Westminster Abbey and she was trained in classical music until she fell into Fats Domino and rock’n’roll/rhythm and blues in her teens.

  Out of the emotional carnage of the various Fleetwood Mac members’ fractured emotional relationships came the 1977 album Rumours, which sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and became one of the biggest-selling albums of all time. She retired in 1998, returning to Britain and shunned  the spotlight. She finally gave in to entreaties and rejoined the band in 2014 for a while.

She was a Sun Cancer with a Scorpio Moon possibly opposition Mars in Taurus square Jupiter Pluto in Leo – emotionally intense, impulsive, a risk-taker, supremely confident and lucky.

  John McVie, 26 November 1945, had his Venus in Scorpio probably close to her Moon, but his Mars Pluto in Leo was conjunct her Jupiter Pluto and square her Mars – too volcanic to last. He was a Sun Sagittarius opposition her wayward Uranus which didn’t help. As was the case with another of her liaisons, Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, an unstable, drug-addicted former associate of Charles Manson. He had a Moon Pluto in Leo which collided with her Moon.

  When her fame and success were at their height in 1977, tr Saturn in Leo square tr Uranus in Scorpio was pounding on her Jupiter Pluto in Leo and square her Mars in Taurus; with her Solar Arc Neptune square her Jupiter and opposition her Mars. She must have felt she was going mad.

  It’s a miracle these old rock n’ rollers survive as long as they do. Though Dennis Wilson didn’t, dying at 39, an alcoholic in a drowning accident.

Fleetwood Mac were formed in July 1967 and had the first band outing on 13 August 1967. It was in the midst of the chaotic, turbulent, progressive Uranus Pluto conjunction in Virgo with a flamboyant Sun Jupiter in Leo, given to excess and indulgence –  and an emotionally intense Mars Neptune, maybe Moon in Scorpio, which does suggest a walk on the dark side. Slightly the same as Christine McVie – Water and Fire, a combustible mix.

The world is going to hell in a handbasket – the worst it has ever been – is a frequent cry of every generation so it is illuminating to consider the gin-sodden, violent, addiction-addled times of Georgian England in the 18^th Century. Jane Austen glossed over the dark side and left the impression of an elegant society run on a strict code of morality and etiquette. In reality murder and robbery were rife with no organised police force, consumption of gin amounted to an average six gallons per person every year and there were 40,000 prostitutes in London alone.

  The Royal family of the time make the moderns like King Charles 111 look tame in comparison – with one of King George 111’s sons suspected of murder; and his heir/regent during his illness George 1V was “a libertine over head and ears in debt and disgrace” – debt seemingly amounting to millions of pounds in present day terms and ultimately addicted to laudanum.

  The anti-Austen turbulence and grime is exposed in new ITV drama about Frannie Langton, a fictional former slave standing trial for murdering her master, George Benham, and his eccentric wife, Marguerite, with whom she was having a clandestine affair.

  The Georgian period runs from the first Hanoverian King George 1 in 1714 up to 1830 or 1837 till Victoria took the throne, with amongst other things a distinct Georgian style of architecture based on the classical architecture of Greece and Rome, with ornament restrained and sometimes absent on the exterior.

  I’ve been puzzling about what the astrological markers are since it started on a triple conjunction of Pluto, Saturn, Uranus in Virgo and Neptune in early Taurus and finished with Pluto in Aries and Neptune in Capricorn. So there were a fair few signs the outer planets moved through. Though Pluto, Uranus, Saturn were heading for a triple conjunction in Aries/Taurus by 1848 – so the Georgian period was sandwiched between two rare triple conjunctions.

   George IV, 17 August 1762 7.24pm London led a riotously unrestrained and scandal-strewn life, illegitimately marrying his mistress, then being forced to marry Caroline of Brunswick by his father in exchange for his debts being settled, which turned out to be a disastrous union. She was immensely popular and in later years he had to drop plans to divorce her though he did shut her out of his coronation.  Complete mayhem.

  He was a Sun Leo conjunct Neptune in a Fire Grand Trine to Pluto trine Saturn – attention-demanding, impulsive, confident, not humble, unshakeable self-belief. Plus an indulgent Moon Jupiter in Taurus in a short-fused opposition to a vengeful Mars in Scorpio.

  Caroline, 17 May 1768 4pm Braunschweig, Germany, was a late Sun Taurus with her Uranus in Taurus triggering his Moon Mars so not a harmonious mix. Their relationship chart had a relentlessly hostile Mars Pluto opposition Sun Venus. That was never going to work.  

   It should make us grateful for the comparatively well-behaved Royals in situ at present.

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Elon Musk has dented his super-genius, miracle-maker reputation to turn into a blundering Don Quixote who by gross misjudgement may sink Twitter altogether. Since he took over a month ago the platform has dropped two-thirds of its workforce; lost half of its top hundred advertisers; seen the introduction and abrupt cancellation of a subscription-payment scheme; and lost at least a million users. And he reinstated Trump’s account who used it to promote the January 6 Capitol attack.

  As the New Yorker pointed out this is a tragedy  for the free-speech platform of the past which shared details of public figures who had obtained privacy injunctions from U.K. courts; spurred along the Arab Spring; and publicised the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor which would otherwise have been buried by the authorities.

 Advertisers understandably don’t want their products appearing next to homophobic, racist, sexist tweets and are unlikely to return unless Musk does a volte face which seems unlikely given his double-down on stubborn idiocy tendencies.

   The New Yorker concluded: “It seems likely that this experiment will conclude with bankruptcy and Twitter falling into the hands of creditors who will have their own ideas of what it should be and whom it should serve.”

  Musk, 28 June 1971, is an inventive, maverick Sun Mercury in Cancer square Uranus with a creative/neurotic Saturn opposition Neptune Jupiter and a bloody-minded Mars in Aquarius. His uncompromising Mars is getting a hammering from tr Saturn conjunct this December 4^th to 18^th and then tr Uranus in square late May 2023 on and off into 2024. So even his resolute I-am-never-wrong stance may have to budge.

Plus he has a trapped, enraging tr Pluto square his Sun/Mars midpoint from mid January to mid February 2023 (returning twice late year.) As well as a plethora of other less than helpful transits to midpoints and downbeat tr Saturn in Pisces square his Jupiter Neptune and Saturn. None of which will stop him blowing his trumpet at full toot through this December and again late year.

  It may be a shipwreck ahead but he’ll go down all flags waving.

  Twitter, 21 March 2006 had that momentous Uranus North Node (and Mars) 18 degree Taurus transit in this recent August hitting its Neptune and Jupiter. And the reverberations of that run into 2023 – scandals caused through instability, wild over confidence causes its own downfall.  Twitter may not run into the buffers immediately through tr Neptune square the Pluto through 2023 will undermine its influence (and ditto on Musk’s chart). It’ll be the shift of Neptune out of Pisces into Aries in 2025 which may ring its final bell.  

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/why-i-quit-elon-musks-twitter?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=the-new-yorker&utm_social-type=earned

Add On: Tesla’s market dominance is eroding as more affordable models proliferate and forecasts are that by 2025 they will supply only 20% of the market as opposed to 70% last year. And their brand image has taken a dent over the past two years over the Musk connection.

  The 1 July 2003 chart has financially disappointing Neptune square Venus transits in 2023/4 and downbeat tr Saturn opposition Uranus Mars throughout 2023 as well. It will feel a chill draught in coming years, worsening dramatically by 2026 onwards. The second half of this decade looks highly uncertain. The 29 June 2010 IPO chart has one blip upwards in the years ahead but many more sinkers which will outweigh any good luck.

Ghislaine Maxwell appears to be lurching from one catastrophe to the next with reports that her appeal against her 20-year jail sentence for sex trafficking will collapse after her estranged husband has refused to pay her legal fees. Scott Borgerson apparently controls her fortune after she transferred £20 million into a trust fund before her 2020 arrest in. Her  appeal must be filed by the end of January.

  He broke off their relationship by phone, did not visit her in jail and refused to attend her trial. Friends have suggested he is trying to force Maxwell to improve his payoff in any divorce settlement.  “Her brothers were astonished to find out that not only was she married, but she had made all her money over to Scott,” a source close to the family said.

  Two sets of lawyers have indicated they are pulling out.

  Her father Robert Maxwell, 10 June 1923, was a monster – Mars Pluto in Cancer square Saturn. And Epstein, 20 January 1953, was a different kind of awful – Mars Venus in Pisces trine Uranus  with a Sun square Saturn Neptune.  Both had indulgent Jupiters in Scorpio and Taurus respectively which would feed her Leo Moon’s need for a grandiose lifestyle. But she doesn’t seem to have gained any insight along the way.

  She does have an 8^th house Sun, Mars, Mercury in Capricorn so her life will have been a series of dramatic events, ferocious compulsions driving her into situations over which she had little understanding. Plus her Capricorn planets are trine a tumultuous 4^th house Uranus Pluto in Virgo. Which is not to exonerate her from responsibility for her actions and decisions but she was never going to have a settled suburban life or indeed to be too self-aware. On top of all that, her flamboyant Leo Moon opposes a ‘spoilt’, arrogant Jupiter on her Midheaven squaring a head-in-the-clouds, evasive Neptune.

  Setting the scene for an almost gothic Greek tragedy.

   Transiting Neptune is moving to square her Venus this year, then square her Mars (along with tr Saturn) by 2025 and Sun, Mercury following, so it will be a devastating and disappointing time where her morale (and money) are concerned. Indeed it will be keyed up by her Solar Arc Pluto conjunct her Neptune within the next year which will be disorienting. Plus she has an emotionally upsetting tr Uranus square her Moon mid January 2023 for two weeks.

  Scott Borgerson’s date of birth is only mentioned on one net site so may be iffy. But if accurate at 3 September 1975, it makes him a Sun Virgo square Neptune opposition Mars. On this chart he has a flashy Leo Moon like Ghislaine Maxwell. His Sun is conjunct her Pluto and his Pluto is square her Sun, Mercury, Mars – so a spider’s web of control and compulsions. The relationship chart (on this birth date for him) has a cool Venus opposition Saturn and, more pointedly, a power-struggling, bitter Pluto opposition Mars Jupiter, sextile/trine a slippery Neptune Mercury.  If his birth date is sound, it was never going to end well.

Add On: Born on the same day with an almost identical chart is Ingrid Betancourt, the Colombian politician held hostage in the jungle by Farc guerrillas for six and a half years. One of the American contractors held with her described her behaviour while a captive as selfish, ‘controlling and manipulative’ as was her belief she deserved better treatment than the other captives owing to her political and social standing. They claimed she took more than her fair share of scarce food, clothing, and personal space. One said, “I can get over just about anything, but I don’t know about Ingrid. Forgive? Yes. Move on? Yes. Respect? No.” Others described her as ‘courageous’ and ’caring.’ In her own memoir she talks of the ordeal turning the captors against one another.

  Born 25 December 1961 2.15pm Bogota, Colombia, she came from a well-to-do, politically prominent family.

  She has the same confident Jupiter Midheaven opposition a 4^th house Leo Moon square Neptune. And more significantly Sun Mars in Capricorn in her 8^th leading to a dramatic, event-filled life with little self-awareness. A different kind of trapped to Maxwell but an intriguing parallel.

Tr Neptune was exactly conjunct her Jupiter when she was captured.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/18/ingrid-betancourt-i-still-have-nightmares