Astrology of Today’s News

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Jackie Collins created a new genre of wildly popular romantic (sexual) fiction which sent 500 million books flying off airport stands all over the world. She was ahead of her time in writing strong female characters who fought for what they wanted in the bedroom and in their careers. Her carefully crafted shoulder-padded, over-made-up public image sold her brand. But she never threw off her inferiority complex at being the glamorous actress Joan Collins’ younger sister.

  A new documentary Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story, has been an unexpected hit at the Tribeca film festival. It outlines her early life in London with a showbusiness agent father who favoured Joan, her early failed starlet career and the runaway success of her novels from Hollywood Wives onwards. She even rescued Joan’s career when it was in the doldrums with starring roles in the movie versions of her books The Stud and The Bitch which led to Joan getting the Alexis Colby part in Dynasty.

  She was born 4 October 1937 (from birth records and sister Joan) maybe 3am (early morning), London.  Her first marriage ended because of her husband’s drug addiction and manic depression and he suicided shortly after. Her second husband, a nightclub owner, died of cancer after 18^th years; and her next long engagement also finished with her intended dying of cancer.

  She was a self-sufficient, focused New Moon in Libra with her Moon and widely Sun opposition Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries square Mars in Capricorn. That would dent her self-esteem but also give her the steely determination and self-discipline to achieve financially and in reputation. Her chart is overwhelmingly Earth with her Mars trine Venus in Virgo trine Uranus in Taurus and her Jupiter in Capricorn trine Neptune (Mercury) in Virgo trine Uranus. Her books from my recollection having had to dip into one or two for research were fairly gross in their descriptions of physical sex and were certainly focused on materialistic values. And weren’t exactly great literature to put it mildly.

  Despite the celebrity magazines pushing a sibling rivalry story about her relationship with Joan they did have a close though at times competitive relationship. They were both Air Suns which would help as to some extent would Joan’s earthy Taurus Moon.

   Their relationship chart has an emotionally intense, possessive though also jealous composite Venus, Pluto, Mercury, maybe Moon conjunction. Plus a creative and suspicious Saturn opposition Neptune and a fairly explosive Uranus opposition Mars square Sun. No surprises it blew hot and cold between them through their lives.

  Whatever one thinks about the quality and indeed content of her novels she did have an impact on the culture.   

Naftali Bennett was sworn in last night as the new Israeli prime minister at the head of an unwieldy coalition of right, centre, left and Arab-Israeli replacing Benjamin Netanyahu.

  This is just a memorandum for the future with more details in the previous post of June 3 2021.

  He was sworn in probably at 9.02pm on 13^th June . This gives an almost exact, lacklustre, indecisive Gemini Sun square Neptune; an exact contradictory, can-be-autocratic, doesn’t-practise-what-it-preaches Uranus square Saturn and a ruthless, but road-blocked and frustrated Mars (Moon) opposition Pluto. It may not last for long and will certainly limp and lurch along.

  Bennett for all his macho reputation as ex-special forces and pro-settler right winger isn’t the control-freaky power figure that Netanyahu was for the country. Netanyahu’s Pluto falls in Israeli’s 10^th in contrast to Bennett’s Moon being there. But Bennett will be a disturbing influence perhaps economically or with behind-the-scenes manoeuvring since his aggravated Saturn Mars falls in the Israel 8^th and his Pluto and Uranus in Israel’s 12^th.

  Netanyahu won’t go down without a fight given tr Pluto conjunct his Jupiter till late this November which will pump up his confidence and determination.   

Sarah Palin has popped her head above the parapet to announce she may run against Lisa Murkowksi, the Republican senator for Alaska since 2002, a Trump critic who voted for his impeachment. Others have said they’ll throw their hats into the ring as well.

  Palin has faded from view after a flurry of several years of Tea Party political activity, reality TV shows, radio and a best-selling book in the wake of her failed 2008 VP run. She endorsed Trump in 2016 and divorced her husband in 2019.  

  Born 11 February 1964 Sandpoint, Idaho, maybe 9.44pm, a month after Jeff Bezos, she’s an abrasive, chilly Sun, Mars, Saturn in Aquarius square an unrealistic, slippery or can-be-delusional Neptune; with Moon Mercury also in Aquarius. And a grandiose Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Jupiter.

   She’s facing an extraordinarily difficult four years ahead with Neptunian confidence-dents to midpoints this year; then an agitated, nerve-stretched tr Uranus opposition to her Neptune in 2022, alongside tr Saturn moving across her Aquarius Sun, Mars, Saturn into 2023 as well. Then in 2023/24 she catches the tr Uranus square her Sun, Mars, Saturn which will be explosive, insecure and high tension. Plus in 2024 another disappointing Neptune hard aspect to one of her Jupiter midpoints across the election.

  I’d doubt she’s going anywhere politically.

Murkowski looks confident enough through this year and next, with tr Pluto conjunct her Sun/Jupiter midpoint till December 2022; with another Jupiterian uplift around the midterms as well as a couple of sinkers. She may be OK.

Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark and an online auction winner are aiming to go into space for 11 minutes on July 20th on the first crewed flight of New Shepard, a spacecraft system designed to take ticket holders on brief joy rides to space. The fully autonomous suborbital rocket is unlike Moon craft since it won’t circle the earth or float in space. It will go 62 miles above Earth, at 17,000 miles per hour, and will hit three times the speed of sound until the rocket expends most of its fuel. The crew capsule will then separate from the rocket and hover momentarily until it hurtles back down toward the ground.

  It’s lower risk than an orbital flight where re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere has to withstand 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit and 4.5 Gs of force. This won’t be as hot or as fast but clearly there are dangers. Earth’s atmosphere is not survivable above altitudes of 50,000 feet without a spacesuit, and Bezos will be traveling up to 350,000 feet. But the capsule will be pressurized, with access to oxygen if the cabin loses pressure. There are also safety features to help the capsule land gently even if a couple of its parachutes fail to deploy. One of Virgin Galactic’s suborbital space planes broke apart in 2014 killing one of the pilots.

  Bezos, 12 January 1964, no verified birth time, is an ambitious Sun Mars in Capricorn with his Sun trine Pluto and sextile Neptune as well as widely square Jupiter in pro-active Aries. He’s also got a Yod of Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Jupiter giving him super-confidence and more than a hint of arrogance or at least overly grandiose ambitions.

  Obviously nerves will be stretched if the trip goes ahead even though the Blue Origin craft have tested safely for a decade and that tension will reflect on the individual charts. What might give me pause for concern in his case is tr Pluto conjunct his Sun/Mars midpoint which is brutal, ruthless, accident-prone, damaging; and tr Saturn approaching less than a degree away from an exact conjunction to his Mars/Saturn midpoint which is also accident-prone.

His brother Mark, 17 May 1968 (net sources) a Sun Taurus trine Uranus Pluto and opposition Neptune, also, not surprisingly, looks stressed, over such a landmark experience, no matter how eagerly he anticipates it. His midpoints are nervy and aggravated.

Edward de Bono, a self-styled genius who invented the term lateral thinking, has died. His 60 plus books and relentless stream of out-of-the-box ideas brought riches and withering criticism. One reviewer said he had “the great salesman’s gift of being fluent in the international language of gibberish. If his life and career teach us anything, it is that no one ever lost money blowing his own trumpet.” Another commentator rejected lateral thinking as “founded on nifty puzzles, a storehouse of anecdotes, an abundance of imperial generalities and no end of clunking analogies and neologisms”.

 One of his most quoted treasures was that Marmite could be a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict since the Middle Eastern unleavened bread lacked zinc which makes them irritable and belligerent. Feeding them Marmite would help create peace.

 Although he did have his supporters. Richard Branson called him “an inspiring man with brilliant ideas”. And he wasn’t wrong about education – “Schools waste two-thirds of the talent in society. The universities sterilise the rest,” he said.

  Born 19 May 1933 3am (biography) Valetta, Malta, he was inventive from an early age, took medical degrees in adult life while writing down his gems of wisdom as a second-string activity. His books eventually made him enough money to stop practising and he became rich with homes in London, Norfolk, Venice, Ireland, Malta and the Bahamas.

   He was a Sun Taurus – on this birth time in the financial 2^nd which would make sense; with an innovative, status-quo-upsetting Uranus in the 1^st square Pluto.

  What is intriguing about his not-very-interesting chart is his Neptune, Mars, Jupiter in Virgo which was shared with F Lee Bailey, the flamboyant lawyer and court bamboozler (see post below) and Joan Collins amongst others. Mars Jupiter is spilling over with energy and enthusiasm, is risk-taking, can lead to a might-makes-right approach and produces a campaigning, crusading spirit. Add Neptune into the mix and it becomes publicity-seeking as well as a dream-spinner.  He did have a scientifically inclined Saturn in Aquarius which would add a veneer of respectability to his theories.

 His global-renown 22^nd harmonic was strong; as was his get-it-together 5^th though it had a distinctly unique bent; and his breakthrough/exploration 13H.

Lindsey Buckingham, best known as lead guitarist and singer with Fleetwood Mac through its glory days, has announced a new solo album along with the news that he is divorcing his wife of 21 years Kristin Messner. Amidst tales of rolling melodrama and conflict he and Stevie Nicks, his romantic and musical partner of the time, raised the band to global heights in the 1970s/80s and after a decade’s break he returned in 1997 only to be fired in 2018. Rock n’ roll took its toll and he had open heart surgery in 2019.

  He was born 3 October 1949 1.53 am Palo Alto, California and has a Libra Sun, Mercury and Neptune which sounds easy-going enough. Except that his Sun is in a rebellious square to Uranus. He also has a high-octane, steamroller Mars Pluto in Leo square Venus in Scorpio which will make for super-intense emotional reactions. His 7^th house Aquarius Moon is the exact opposite, making him an odd mix of dependent and emotionally detached. A creature of opposites.

  His singing partnership with Stevie Nicks which was superlatively successful is intriguing astrologically since his megaton Mars Pluto was conjunct her Saturn Pluto in her 5^th which is some combination. With his Jupiter falling in her career 10^th boosting her chances of making it. And her Jupiter falls in his performing 5^th house.

   Although her Gemini Sun fits his Libra Sun and her Venus in Cancer was semi-OK with his watery Venus in Scorpio, it would be a tearing-flesh kind of connection, which eventually became too much to bear.

   His about-to-be-ex-wife Kristin Messner, a former photographer, does have her Pisces Sun and Mercury in his 7^th house which is a good crossover and her Venus in Pisces in his 8^th for a deep connection. Her Jupiter hovers around his IC which would be supportive at a family and domestic level. Though her Uranus conjunct his Sun would bring a few tensions and her Mercury opposition his Mars Pluto some bitter arguments. She has a powerfully determined Yod of Mars sextile Mercury inconjunct her Pluto so she would be a match for him.

  Their relationship chart is a mix of supportive, adventurous, affectionate and strained. The composite Sun, Mercury, Jupiter opposes Mars and trines Uranus which looks fun. The Moon probably conjunct Venus is comforting. But the Yod of Mars sextile Uranus inconjunct Venus would bring emotional tensions.

  Lindsey’s Sun/Moon midpoint at 19 Sagittarius has been catching the transiting Neptune square in the past two years; and Kristin’s Sun/Moon in the last decan of Capricorn will have suffered from the tr Uranus square tr Pluto of the past few years. And their relationship chart has had tr Neptune undermining the Jupiter, Mercury and Mars, as well as tr Pluto square tr Uranus hitting on the Venus in recent years.

  At the moment he has both Pluto and Saturn moving through his 6^th house of health – tr Pluto had just moved in when he had heart surgery in early 2019 – so he will need to be cautious but if all is well then Saturn is heading in the right direction in terms of career for a few years ahead. Jupiter will also bring more money his way through 2022, moving through his 8^th and a good year success-wise in 2024.

Pic: Raph_PH

Lee Miller’s damaging childhood propelled her into adult life with an inclination towards risky, unstable though talented men. Man Ray, the photographer, 27 August 1890, who taught her and tried to control her, had a hair-raisingly difficult chart with Neptune Pluto in Gemini opposition Mars square Sun Saturn in Virgo – hard, angry, ruthless, unbalanced.

  Her Paris circle included Pablo Picasso, 25 October 1881 11.15 pm Malaga, Spain, who was a Scorpio Sun opposition Saturn with a pushily confident Jupiter Pluto and Neptune in Taurus opposition Mercury in Scorpio; with an insensitive Venus square Mars. A breaching whale of a personality.

 Salvador Dali, 11 May 1904 8.45am Figueras, Spain, was another Taurus with his Sun conjunct Mercury, Mars and Algol all squaring Saturn – cruel, stubborn, angry.  He also had a disruptive Pluto opposition Uranus.

   In Los Angeles she also mixed with physician George Hodel, thought to have been the Black Dahlia serial killer, who socialised with Man Ray and John Huston, the film director.

 Hodel, 10 October 1907 2pm Los Angeles, had an ego-centric Libra Sun on the focal point of a can-be-fanatical opposition of Uranus and Neptune. His Sun Venus were trine Pluto and his Venus was in an insensitive square to Mars in Capricorn; with his Pluto in a hard square to Saturn. Not an easy chart but less alarming than the three artists above.  

Lee Miller’s genius as a fashion and war photographer was destined to stay a footnote in art-historical journals until her son found a vast archive of her work, more than 80,000 negatives in an attic, after her death in 1977. Since then a foundation has been set up, various exhibitions held and a documentary about her extraordinary and tragic life has brought her name to prominence.

  She graced the cover of Vogue as a model when she was 20, moved to Paris and began a professional and romantic relationship with artist Man Ray, which involved her with a Surrealist and modernist circle including Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and Salvador Dalí. Marriage to an Egyptian produced a striking series of desert photographs and when World War 11 broke out she came to London and was instrumental in Vogue’s switch from couture to war time subjects. In 1944 embedded with the US army, she saw the first use of napalm bombing, was present at the blitz, the chaos following D-Day, the liberation of Paris, the Battle of Alsace, and liberation of Buchenwald and Dachau.

  She had her first child at 40 in 1947 and her later years in England were marred by depression and alcoholism.  Her son knew little of her life and talent and said he believed the trauma she suffered as a child, being raped aged 7 and undergoing painful treatment for a sexually transmitted disease in the aftermath, were a key to understanding her later attraction to surrealism and war photography. He said: “She held incredible secrets right through her life.’ A friend described her as “a remarkable woman, completely unsentimental, and sometimes ruthless.” Another talker of her having a “chip of ice” in her heart.

  She was born 23 April 1907 4.15 pm Poughkeepsie, New York, and had a Taurus Sun on the cusp of the secretive 8^th house in an Earth Grand Trine to a 12^th house Moon in Virgo trine a 4^th house Mars Uranus in Capricorn. An Earth Grand Trine is practical and resourceful, a hard worker and inspired. Her Mars Uranus in the 4^th opposed a 10^th house Neptune Jupiter Midheaven in Cancer square Mercury in Aries which is a complex mix giving her strong creative talents from Neptune in her 10^th along with luck and success in her career. In part her restless direction in life was fuelled by her self-willed and intolerant father, who by choice or chance inclined her towards a peripatetic adult domestic life. He evidently took nude photos of her when she was an adolescent which can’t have helped. Her focal point Mercury would make her eternally curious, highly-strung, restless and impatient. Her Venus in sensitive Pisces (sign of the image/photographer) was conjunct Saturn and square Pluto which may have been in part why she was drawn to the camera in her career with its ability to spread the word (Pluto in the 9^th). Her photographs from Dachau were headed ‘Believe it’ as they were displayed to uninformed and disbelieving US and UK readers.

  Her creative 5^th Harmonic was exceptionally strong though with overtones of brutality, which would be why she was drawn to dark subjects. Her victim/healer 12H was also marked; as was her 13H associated with exploration, genius, breaking away from the orthodox.

  When she suffered her childhood assault tr Neptune in late Cancer was conjunct her North Node with tr Pluto moving to cross her Midheaven which can be a devastating change of life’s direction.  When she photographed Dachau, after several years of seeing a litany of war time horrors, her Solar Arc Pluto was just across the conjunction to her North Node and tr Saturn was on her Midheaven. Her Node was clearly key.

  Tragically, like many who suffered damaging traumas either from rape/abuse or war, and in her case both, the risk in later life is the darkness takes over unless there is therapeutic intervention. She never had a chance to heal.

Add ON: Her second husband Roland Penrose, 14 October 1900 London, whom she met in 1939 and married in 1947 was a historian, poet and associate of the Surrealists. He was a Sun Libra trine Pluto and trine/sextile a creative Neptune opposition Saturn; with an adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius square his Venus in Virgo and trine Mars.  He was a better match for her than Man Ray (see next post). His Venus was trine her Sun and conjunct her Moon and his Cancer Moon was conjunct her Jupiter.  

Naomi Wolf is in a full-on anti-vaxxer rant round the US at the moment. Although she garnered a respectable reputation initially as leader of the third wave of feminism, her scaremongering in recent years about government-led plots to establish a dictatorship and other conspiracy theories, has been described as “unhinged, damaging, and dangerous.”

  Born 12 November 1962 4.10 am San Francisco, California with an anthropologist mother and a gothic-horror scholar father, she is an intense Sun Venus Neptune and Mercury in Scorpio square a flamboyant Mars in Leo. She will come on strong to attract attention and be vague about facts. She’s also got a super-confident, over-pushy Jupiter opposition Pluto Uranus; and an intense and secretive Taurus Moon in the 8^th.

  Her Scorpio Mercury square Mars opposition Saturn is not dissimilar to UK actor and anti-woke activist Laurence Fox’s Mercury in Taurus opposition Uranus square Mars Saturn in Leo. She’s certainly bubbling with anger about authority figures and life in general; and likes to cause a stir if it puts her in the spotlight.

  Her next several years will be bumpy with tr Uranus opposition her Mercury and Neptune now and square her Mars from this July onwards and then opposing her Sun, Venus for a couple of years. 2023 will be devasting and confused.

The other communicator/influencer forever rattling out opinions that grate is Melanie Phillips of the UK Times. She used to support Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced promoter of the MMR vaccine scare story; but appears to be firmly on the side of the Covid vaccine. Over the years she has come out with – and been allowed to print – hair-raisingly extreme views against the Irish peace process, against Obama and pro-Trump, against civil partnerships for gay couples. Her inflammatory opinions have on several occasions managed to irritate both sides of an argument.   

   Her latest provocation is to suggest the ludicrously low convictions for rape in the UK may reflect false claimants and any attempts to amend the legal system would be a travesty of justice.  Born 4 June 1951, she’s a mouthy and argumentative New Moon and Mars in Gemini sextile Pluto; with a Jupiter in Aries opposition Neptune square Uranus. A focal point Uranus can be a trailblazer, or a creator of chaos and an obsessive contrarian. Jupiter Neptune has blind spots galore.

   Into 2022 tr Neptune will oppose her Saturn for an uncertain and panicky two years thereafter; with a high-risk, deeply frustrating Solar Arc Mars conjunct her Pluto late 2022 as well.