Astrology of Today’s News

Boris Johnson’s exit is set to be as grubby and shambolic as his appearance as he ignores gravity with Trump-like bravado. His mischievous mask is slipping and the underlying nastiness being exposed as he prepares to throw his aides on the bonfire to deflect blame. All of which has been said before and may well be said again before his fingernails are prised from the cliff edge.

  Now Sue Gray’s Inquiry findings into the illegal lockdown-busting parties have been kicked into the long grass with the help of a police investigation which will no doubt drag on. And Lord Agnew, the anti-fraud minister’s resignation over the government’s ‘egregious failures’ to tackle issues with covid loans, costing the taxpayer many millions a month, is slipping below the radar.

 The Boris Term chart, 13 December 2019, is on a swampy slide with tr Neptune square the Sun exactly this month into mid February; with shocks and insecurity picking up from May as tr Uranus opposes the Mars. What was always going to grind the cogs to a halt was the 12^th house Solar Arc Saturn moving to conjunct the Venus (= unpopular) exact within two months though in effect now; and conjunct the Pluto in four months (dead-halt).

What intrigues me astrologically, since all of this is well-trodden ground, is the now-fractured relationship between Boris and Dominic Cummings, his erstwhile chief adviser, as the latter has been fingered lately as spilling the crucial beans leading to the present furore.

  When he was appointed in 2019 Matthew Parris wrote presciently in the Times, ‘Dominic Cummings is the sharp‑tongued recruit who could cut Boris Johnson down.’

‘A free spirit who cares not a jot whom he offends or what people think of him. That he will fall out with his new master within months is almost certain. That, when he does, the world will know about it in coruscating language, equally so. In Mr Cummings, he has appointed his own literary executioner.’

  The astonishment is Cummings was brought in at all since he’s a Sun Neptune in Sagittarius opposition Saturn in Gemini square Mars in Pisces which clashes mightily with Boris’s Mars, Saturn, Uranus Pluto T square. Both are volcanically angry, capable of spraying venom and/or rage in all directions.

  Their relationship chart is a sight to behold. Not only is there a bad-tempered and ratchety composite Mars Saturn North Node conjunction, it is amplified ten fold by being on the focal point of a Yod to Pluto (Uranus) sextile Neptune – if ever there was a bomb waiting to be detonated this was it. As it was it lasted 17 months and could be the key to Boris’s downfall.

  Composite Yods – made up of two planets in sextile which pour their energy through skewed quincunxes to a focal point planet – bring about fated changes in one or both lives either by acting jointly to force a radical change of direction or because one triggers unforeseen events which lead to a extreme alteration of the other’s life path. The result is not always negative and it depends on the planets involved.

  The Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson are a classic example of a disruptive one with a wide-ish Yod of North Node sextile Uranus inconjunct Mars – and they exemplify a Yod in action. Bonnie and Clyde also had a composite Yod onto Mars; and child murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley also had a composite Yod onto Uranus from Moon sextile Sun.  Two people drawn together with fateful consequences for both.

  Arron Banks, co-founder of Leave (Brexit) and journalist Carole Cadwalladr, at present in court on a defamation suit over allegations he had Russian connections, have two composite Yods in their relationship chart, both involving the ‘public interest’ North Node. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have a composite Yod of Moon sextile Saturn inconjunct Uranus – and that bonding certainly changed the trajectory of his life in a dramatic way. Donald Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who rose to dizzy heights in charge of everything also have an exact Yod of Pluto sextile Mars inconjunct Mercury in their relationship chart.

   Even Boris and Carrie have a Yod in their relationship chart of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Sun, pointing to stratospheric joint ambition.  It is being knocked sideways at the moment by tr Saturn square tr Uranus hitting the focal point Sun, now till early April this year.

  Yods in any chart point to an unexpected fork in the road, which can be abrupt – and is fated in the sense of being an ‘unrecognized necessity’, or a couple on a mission. It will always be challenging in a relationship, with tension building up constantly and then releasing.  

  But it does raise the question of why Boris lands in such fated relationships? Even his liaison when London Mayor with American business woman Jennifer Arcuri, in which he displayed his usual ‘greasy piglet’ ability to escape ignominy, has an eye-curling composite Yod of Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Mars. With his dysfunctional upbringing it is hardly surprising he opts for melodramatic relationships so maybe that isn’t the question. What is it about his chart that marks him out as a puppet of the fates?

  His relationship chart with the UK does have a weak-ish Yod of Jupiter sextile South Node – and it is probable we might not have ended up with Brexit without Boris. That isn’t an argument for staying, merely that it was his opportunistic intervention which sent the UK down an unexpected path with life and history changing consequences. And surprise, surprise Arron Banks also has a composite Yod with the UK.

  Not sure this is more than just an astrological curio but worth pondering.

  After all these meanderings, what is worth hanging on to is the astrology of Boris/Cummings maladjusted interface. It may well be the key to what comes next.  

Add On: This is a mix of psycho-babble and astrology and a bit of a stretch but bear with me.

  Boris has a delusional sense of invulnerability – he can transgress rules that others have to live by and doesn’t suffer their humiliation/ruin.  His school teacher wrote on his report: ‘I think he honestly believes that it is churlish of us not to regard him as an exception, one who should be free of the network of obligation that binds everyone else.’ And he was ‘affronted when criticised for what amounts to a gross failure of responsibility’.

  Delusions of grandeur can occur in personality and bi-polar disorders and includes a belief of being infallible or invulnerable, more intelligent than others, thinking that common rules don’t apply to you, acting selfishly, treating others with disdain or contempt, not caring if you hurt someone with your actions, being quick to anger if you are challenged, being unable to see how your behavior affects others.

  In his case I suspect there is something additional going on – it’s almost as if he has to deliberately tempt fate time and time again to prove how blessed by the gods he really is. Freud’s repetition compulsion points to an unconscious need to reenact early traumas in the attempt to overcome or master them. Boris clearly had a muddled childhood but my eye is always drawn to his 8^th house Mars which is massively afflicted being on the point of a scattergun Mutable T Square to Saturn opposition Uranus Pluto. That points to a driving demon that lies further back in the family line.

  The 8^th house indicates a direct link to a grandparental or even earlier experience. Studies in intergenerational trauma describe similar psychological coping mechanisms being handed down the family line, whether directly through behaviour or in some unidentified way through genes.

For example three generations of 15 Ukrainian families were studied whose forbears had lived through the 1932 Great Starvation. The coping mechanisms that the direct survivors had developed during the genocide were retained in the family system and passed down to their children and grandchildren. Similar effects have been seen in the descendants, second and third generation, of Holocaust victims.

  I have seen clients struggling to disentangle extraordinary difficulties in seemingly ordinary present lives, who had forbears who lived through traumatic experiences. It wouldn’t be something you’d normally expect but there is a definite pattern of lived experience that, consciously or unconsciously, comes down the family line. So this generation is having to cope as if they had lived through the same traumas but often don’t have any conscious knowledge of them, which adds to the stress and confusion.

  Boris’s paternal grandfather fled Turkey because his great-grandfather, Ali Kemal, 7 September 1869, was charged with treason. On the way to prison in 1922 he was murdered, hanged from a tree and stoned to death.  And isn’t that just a Mars Pluto Uranus Saturn event.

  Certain children in a family for reasons unknown are more open to the family legacy stretching back generations and it may well be that Ali Kemal’s grisly fate has something to do with young Boris’s desperate attempt to live as if he was not bound to a mortal fate – and has managed it pretty well so far, maybe thanks to his Jupiter (= undeserved luck). Ali Kemal had Jupiter Pluto in Taurus so would resonate with Boris, though his luck clearly ran out in the bloodiest way imaginable – if data is accurate when transiting Neptune in Leo was undermining his Jupiter Pluto.

 Just a thought to throw into the pot.

Adele appears to be in the midst of a total PR trainwreck over her new Vegas show, cancelled with 24 hours notice giving fans no time to recoup travel, accommodation and other expenses. The covid excuse appears to be wearing thin and industry murmurs are that any professional production crew would have known well in advance there were problems. The finger is being pointed at ‘diva’ like Adele behaviour and differences with the renowned stage designer, Es Devlin.

  Intriguingly the other top singer with a reputation for being difficult is Barbra Streisand, who like Adele is a Sun Taurus in hard aspect to Pluto – stubborn and controlling.

  Adele, 5 May 1988 8.19 am London, is caught in the middle of the tr Saturn square tr Uranus of the moment with it hammering on her Fixed Pluto opposition Jupiter Sun square Mars. Tr Saturn is blocking her progress and dampening her enthusiasm through this month and February;  with tr Uranus causing disruptions opposition her Pluto, repeating from late last year, in early February, and then moving to conjunct her Sun and square her Mars in Aquarius in a turbulent phase until May 2023.

  Las Vegas may not prove to be the place of her dreams since relocating her chart there puts Pluto on her Midheaven, exacerbating her controlling tendencies and is usually regarded as unlucky, even risky, and bringing heavy issues.    

Es Devlin, the acclaimed English stage designer who has worked on shows for Beyoncé, Kanye West, U2, Pet Shop Boys, the Royal Opera House and designed the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony and the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics,   was born 24 September 1971.

  She’s a Sun Libra conjunct Pluto with a creative Jupiter Neptune in Sagittarius opposition Saturn and, like Adele, has Mars in Aquarius. They would not be the most comfortable fit since Es Devlin’s Sun Pluto square Adele’s Moon, Uranus, Saturn. And their relationship chart has a controlling composite Sun Mercury square Pluto; with Pluto in an intense and aggravated trine to Mars Jupiter; plus a volatile, explosive, uncompromising Mars square Uranus. There is also an innovative Sun trine Uranus trine Saturn so it could have been – and may still be – a tour de force. But not a relationship where egos can get out of hand without causing damage.

  Adele at the moment has tr Pluto poised on the cusp of her 8^th house for a longish stay of many years ahead which can feel heavy, trapped, financially as well as emotionally. She also has her Solar Arc Mars conjunct her 10^th house Pisces North Node exactly – so maybe is learning lessons about not sliding back into her perfectionist, nit-picky Virgo South Node. Tr Jupiter is moving through her 10^th until May 2023 so she should be having success though tr Uranus and tr Saturn are clearly upsetting her best laid plans.

ADD ON: Rich Paul, her latest beau, a sports agent, 16 December 1981, has also been brought into the furore. He has his Sun Neptune in Sagittarius conjunct her Moon and Uranus, which is great and not so great; with his Venus in Aquarius chiming with her Venus in Gemini and in a passionate square to her Pluto. But it’s not remotely settled at a domestic level with his Mars falling in her 4^th and squaring her Saturn, Uranus, Moon so there will be fiery clashes.

  All of which is reflected in the relationship chart with a possessive and ambitious Sun trine Pluto, sextile Neptune; an argumentative Sun square Mars; a volatile, no-compromise Mars Uranus conjunction; plus a tussle-for-the-upper-hand Jupiter square Pluto.  There’s maybe also a composite doubly-possessive Moon Pluto conjunction. It’s an intense, power-packed connection but riddled with contradictions and undercurrents.

See previous post October 9 2021

Thích Nhat Hạnh, the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, founder of the largest monastic order in the West and proponent of mindfulness, has died. He was exiled from his homeland and lived for most of his later life at the Plum Village Monastery in southwest France, travelling internationally to give retreats and talks; and writing many books and poetry. After a 39-year exile, he was permitted to visit Vietnam in 2005 and returned three years ago to spend his remaining days at his “root temple” there.  He was active in the peace movement and deep ecology, promoting nonviolent solutions to conflict and raising awareness of the interconnectedness of all elements in nature. Within Buddhism he was seen as second only to the Dalai Lama.

  He was born 11 October 1926, with a fair-minded and harmony-seeking Libra Sun and Venus; with his Sun in a confident trine to Jupiter and an intense square to Pluto. He had three planets in Water signs, too wide to be a Grand Trine, but he obviously had a healing and creative touch. His Saturn trine Uranus would give him the ability to institute positive change while hanging on to the best of the old ways.  What dominated his chart was a Fixed Grand Square giving him endurance. The Queen, David Attenborough, Mel Brooks and Tony Bennett also born in 1926, share the same extraordinary  ability to persevere over extended periods.

  He knew real hardship with his Mars opposition Saturn and his Saturn trine Pluto but managed to rise above suffering to offer his gifts of insight.

  His healer/victim 12th harmonic was strong; as was his leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H; and his global fame 22^nd harmonic.

Quotes:

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

“You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.”

Meat Loaf whose rock operas catapulted him to the status of musical icon has died. His 1977 album Bat Out of Hell spent nearly 500 weeks in the British pop charts and became one of the biggest selling records of all time. ‘Combining roaring guitars, strong melodies and Meat Loaf’s powerful vocals ranging over three octaves, Bat Out of Hell created a genre entirely its own.’ Overall he sold more than 100 million albums in an incredible six decade career. He performed in Broadway musicals and starred in several movies including Rocky Horror, Spiceworld and Fight Club.

  He was born 27 September 1947 4.23pm Dallas, Texas with gospel singer parents, his father also being an alcoholic and violent.

  The demands of overnight celebrity and continuous touring in the late 1970s sent him into a cocaine and alcohol-fuelled breakdown. His career had ups and downs but he staged a strong comeback and continued touring in recent years despite a litany of health complaints.

  He had an intensely emotional and influential 8^th house Sun, Neptune, Venus conjunction; with his Pisces Moon inconjunct in his 1^st. His 6^th house of health had Mars in Cancer as well as Pluto Saturn in Leo – throughout his life he struggled with his weight, addictions and latterly heart problems.

 Exactly now he had his Solar Arc Pluto square his 6^th house Mars and his Progressed Moon exactly square his Progressed Mars; with both tr Pluto and tr Saturn moving through his hidden, trapped 12^th. He died of covid and gave interviews saying he was scared to death of the virus but wouldn’t be dictated to over masks. He never admitted whether he had been vaccinated.

 His soul-mate and creative, musical, songwriting partner Jim Steinman tragically died last April. In an interview Meat Loaf said of their at times rocky five decade road together – “he was the centerpiece of my life.  We belonged heart and soul to each other. We didn’t know each other. We were each other.”

 Steinman, 1 November 1947 New York, had a super-intense chart with a Sun, Mercury and Venus spread out through Scorpio; and Pluto, Mars, Saturn conjunct in Leo. He did have a Gemini Moon to lighten up his load but he would clash at times with Meat Loaf, since they were alike. Steinman’s Jupiter in upbeat Sagittarius was conjunct Meat Loaf’s Midheaven which would make career success more likely when they were together.

 Just as a Sussex-free week or two in the headlines induces a false sense of calm up they pop again. Prince Harry is kvetching about returning to visit the UK without full police protection, because photographers chased him last time he was here. And Meghan kicked up about the BBC getting it wrong in stating she had apologized for misleading the court in her privacy case. Splitting hairs, she insisted, au contraire, she only issued the sorry word for forgetting about vital emails, which by their omission did in veritas, ipso facto, mislead the court.

  Staff at the time they were resident in the UK did murmur as a pair they were hypersensitive, ultra-touchy and quick to take offence. Part of the problem may be that both have prominent Mars squares in their charts. Meghan has Mars in watery Cancer which has a tendency to boil over and it squares her Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, which will be ratchety.

  Harry has an 8^th house Virgo Sun square Mars in outspoken Sagittarius; and an intense 8^th house Mercury in a speak-first, think-second square to his Uranus. His request to pay for-hire police protection didn’t consider the precedent it would set, with every passing celeb and billionaire wanting the same. Nor indeed how other Royals manage without a 24/7 blue wall.

  What is puzzling is how both of them seem to be on a sanctimonious mission amounting almost to a mania to – cleanse the media, save the earth, abolish racism etc etc etc – all worthy causes but without seemingly having an ounce of personal insight into their own double standards.

  This year brings the Queen’s Jubilee, Prince Philip’s memorial, Prince Andrew’s sordid saga – and Harry’s dreaded memoir, the timing of which is typically ill-chosen. Given that Harry still appears obsessed with an idealized vision of his mother, he’s unlikely to be writing a balanced account of his upbringing.

  He’s in an unfortunate phase of his life with transiting Saturn heading downhill through his 1^st quadrant, which is less successful, a time to retire quietly into the background and sort out unresolved psychological issues. Tr Neptune is in an undermining opposition to his Sun throughout this year and also squares his Solar Arc Midheaven – dithering and indecisive about what comes next. Plus his Solar Arc Moon opposes his 12^th house Neptune, exact in six months, for more drift and discontentment. Tr Uranus moves across his IC from mid June this year onwards which will bring an urge to move house, and indeed he may move several times in the next few years. Uranus here can also bring insight into early childhood issues and cause family upsets and upheavals. By late 2022 into 2023 his Solar Arc Sun will conjunct his Pluto for a blocked stalemate. Tr Uranus is then conjunct his 4^th house Moon from mid 2023.

A turbulent few years emotionally and in terms of family relationships.

  His relationship with Prince Charles will be rattled this month in particular; with William it isn’t great this month, but it is February to late April this year which will light a fuse with their argumentative composite Sun square Mars being triggered. And their stand-off will trail on for several years so the rifts won’t heal easily. Even Princess Eugenie who has been a supporter will gradually lose heart – though admittedly she has other problems on her plate.

  Meghan is on a completely different trajectory to Harry, getting more ambitious over coming years – and she doesn’t have the raft of difficult influences he has. This month and after August to late year look argumentative and irritable with tr Pluto opposition her Sun/Mars midpoint. And tr Uranus will square her Leo Sun this February for the final time. Her relationships with close partners, business colleagues and the general public will continue to be intense with rolling wrangles as tr Pluto slowly moves through her 7th for years to come.

  Her relationships don’t look good with any of the Royals – Camilla, Kate, Anne, Edward, Charles and the Queen – so she won’t be coming back into the fold with equanimity anytime soon.

  What will be worth watching is her relationship with Harry since tr Pluto opposes the composite Moon from March 10^th this year running to late June, and repeating on and off in 2023. Part of that may be moving house but it also suggests family issues will loom even larger than usual.

The Johnson tribe have certainly made their mark on the UK scene and establishment with all four of the siblings making their pitch in different ways for attention.

Boris is the eldest born in 1964 and Rachel came next, 3 September 1965 – Oxford University, financial and feature journalist, editor of The Lady, TV presenter and writer, with at present a regular Daily Mail column. She’s a fairly chaotic Sun Uranus Pluto in Virgo opposition Saturn; with a tricky, slippery and can-be-vengeful Mars Neptune in Scorpio. Her Jupiter in Geminis is conjunct Boris’s Sun Venus which will make for a friendly connection though neither are good at controlling their wilder impulses.  

Leo Johnson, 26 September 1967 (companies house) – describes himself as ‘the invisible’ Johnson, non-political, not blond, not Tory, determinedly private. After Oxford, he worked with the World Bank and is now in environmental sustainability; with an Afghani wife who works in post-conflict reconstruction. He’s a Sun Libra opposition Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Saturn; with his Saturn in a disciplined trine to Mars. He also has a charming and flashy Venus Jupiter in Leo square Neptune.

Jo Johnson 23 December 1971 – Oxford University, investment banking, financial journalist, MP, Cabinet Minister under Cameron and May, a Remainer and now in House of Lords. He has a Capricorn Sun on the focal point of a pressured T Square to a Mars opposition Pluto; with his Mars in an adventurous square to Jupiter; and his Saturn in a can-be-uncertain opposition to Neptune.  His Mars clashes with Boris’s Sun Venus so there will be a competitive conflict between them; and his Saturn Neptune opposition sits uncomfortably with Boris’s scattergun Mutable T square of Mars, Pluto Uranus and Saturn.

  What is clear is that all of them in different ways reacted badly to their father Stanley’s influence/genes and their stressed childhood. Stanley is a bombastic and ultra-stubborn Sun Mars in Leo in a willful square to Uranus with quadruply obstinate Jupiter Saturn in Taurus square Mercury Pluto in Leo. Boris and Jo caught the full force of his personality highlighted in their afflicted Mars. Leo to a slightly lesser extent but he still has a tricky Sun Saturn Mars. In Rachel it shows in her disorganized, whirlwind-in-a-storm approach to life. I recollect reading somewhere that Stanley (when he was around) deliberately set them up against each other to foster a competitive attitude.

 Rachel’s relationship with Boris hints at wild over-enthusiasm when together, though also a tendency to stoke each other on to unwise decisions and to tussle for the upper hand and last word. With Leo there’s a stuck-together-by-circumstances but vague and evasive connection.  With Jo there is more overt power struggling and aggravation with a composite Sun opposition Pluto Uranus; and a wide Yod of Neptune sextile Uranus onto Mars, so not entirely sympatico.

  All go-getters in their way, argumentative, intelligent and well-educated. Just goes to show a dysfunctional childhood can be a driver for future success if not for happiness – nor indeed always for the benefit of those around them.  

Kanye West, super-star rapper and former spouse to Kim Kardashian, is getting rattled by access issues over their children, with both sides claiming the other has misunderstood the situation.

  He has had mental health issues in the past with spells of hallucinations and paranoia and he claimed recently to be bi-polar.

  Their marriage was exploited ad nauseam for publicity purposes by both and their divorce is clearly going the same way.

  He was born 8 June 1977 8.45am Atlanta, Georgia making him a Sun Jupiter in Gemini, favourite sign for popular singers; with his Sun Venus in a musical, creative and not-too-well-grounded opposition to Neptune square a hyper-sensitive Pisces Moon. A scattered Air Sun and even more disorganized Water Moon with nebulous Neptune thrown in for good measure is not a well-balanced combination. Air rules the thinking functions and Water the emotions. Throw them together and it is a tricky balancing act.

 Kim Kardashian, 21 October 1980 10.46am Los Angeles, is also an Air Libra Sun with a Pisces Water Moon but isn’t quite as precariously balanced since her Moon is not on the point of a Mutable T square.

  Kanye also has a pumped-up Venus Mars in Taurus in a volatile opposition to Uranus with his Uranus in a can-be-dictatorial square to Saturn in wannabe important Leo – all of which may have helped him on the way to the top but won’t make him easy to live with or even easy in his own skin.

  He’s sinking into uncertainty and confused thinking at points this year and into next; with highs as well. Though with tr Pluto moving through his 7^th house of relationships for the foreseeable future he’s likely to be bitter about losing control of partners.

  Their relationship will bump along uncomfortably for the next two years with tr Saturn this year dampening good feelings and tr Uranus causing tensions and eruptions to their composite Mars opposition Sun Mercury square Uranus this year and next.  

A touch like the Sussexes – can you just give us a break and hibernate for a year or decade or two.

Brazil appears to be in a state of paralysis with weaker post-virus growth than elsewhere, high unemployment and high inflation. All of which will deal a blow to Jair Bolsonaro’s campaign for re-election later this year. Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has surged to its highest level since 2008, and has suffered losses at an accelerated rate since he took office in January 2019.

  There are various charts for Brazil – 7 September 1822 4.08pm Piranga or 5 October 1988 3.49pm Rio de Janeiro. The 1822 isn’t showing much apart from an emotionally upsetting tr Saturn square tr Uranus hitting on the financial Venus throughout the year; and a confused tr Neptune opposition the Mercury over the election. The years between 2025 and the end of the decade look punishing.

  The 1988 chart is showing signs of a more overt crisis with the December Sagittarius Eclipse falling on the Midheaven – and the financial 8^th house Pluto being battered around by tr Saturn square and tr Uranus in opposition last year and onto March this year.  

  The Bank of Brazil chart, 31 December 1964 is showing signs of panic throughout this year, as well as misjudgements from an over hopeful and unrealistic approach.

 Jair Bolsonaro, 21 March 1955 2.45pm Sao Paulo, Brazil, is a far-right and populist, polarizing and controversial politician. During his presidency, he rolled back protections for Indigenous groups in the Amazon rainforest and facilitated deforestation in favour of mining interests. He downplayed the pandemic and its effects and opposed quarantine measures, while the death toll increased rapidly.

  He is a pro-active Sun Aries with an ambitious and determined 10^th house Mars in Taurus in a hard-edged opposition to Saturn which in turn squares Pluto opposition Venus. That last is an unbudgeable and cruel Fixed Grand Cross which won’t change course easily. Tr Pluto is in a confused square to his Neptune from next month on and off till late 2023. And tr Uranus will conjunct his Mars from late May onwards for a severe shock to his self-esteem, likely triggering an over-reaction. That runs on; and over the election itself he has tr Uranus square his Mars/Saturn midpoint which is fairly catastrophic. He’ll fight back for sure but it doesn’t look good for him with the exception of tr Jupiter in Aries moving across his Sun then.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former president who was imprisoned for corruption and then had the charges annulled, has indicated he is running and will seek a broad alliance. His birthdate is a touch iffy with a different date for registration though 27 October 1945 seems to be accepted. He’s a determined Sun Scorpio square Pluto with a charming Jupiter Venus in Libra and another hard-edged Saturn Mars aspects in his case conjunct in Cancer.

  He will have some triumphs this year in May though there’s nothing much showing on his chart (without birth time) over the election itself.    

The heat is rising on both sides over a possible Russian invasion in Ukraine. Moscow has already stationed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s border and more are heading for military exercises in Belarus. Biden is weighing up options, none of them attractive. One suggestion was to hit Russia with bank sanctions but that would damage Germany and other EU countries that trade with Russia.

The UK Foreign Office is in “crisis mode” as weapons are being flown from Britain to Ukraine to defend it from a Russian invasion. Though Germany has refused such help saying it would inflame the situation. Ukraine says it has evidence that Russia was responsible for a cyberattack that paralysed government websites, defence, education, emergencies and foreign ministries, among others, recently as part of a “hybrid war” aimed at destabilising the country before a possible invasion.

The Kremlin is demanding that Nato withdraw forces from former Warsaw Pact and Soviet countries, as well as guarantee that Ukraine will never become a member of the western military alliance. It is considering a number of potential responses, including the possible deployment of unspecified military infrastructure to Cuba or Venezuela.

  When Putin moved in to grab Crimea in February 2014, the Ukraine 24 August 1991 2.30pm chart, was showing signs of consternation with tr Pluto sitting on the Uranus/Neptune midpoint and moving to the devastating conjunction with the Ukraine Neptune shortly after; plus Solar Arc Uranus opposition Saturn; Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the Moon; and tr Uranus square the Uranus exactly, moving on to square the Neptune after. So a deal of upset, losses and panic.

  There is nothing as stark at the moment though the Solar Arc Midheaven was rattled by the December Sagittarius Solar Eclipse – and the Midheaven at 13 degrees Scorpio is catching a discouraging tr Saturn square exactly now for a few days, followed in April by an all-systems-change tr Uranus opposition midheaven. From May onwards there is a panicky-failure tr Neptune opposition the Ukraine Mars; and then  major disruption from June onwards as tr Uranus opposes the 10^th house Pluto, with the likelihood that power will change hands – and maybe rebellions will break out. Those influences run on into 2023.

  The two recent Eclipses located to Kiev both have Uranus on or near the IC so domestic upheavals were on the cards. The Lunar Eclipse in particular was disruptive and risky for Ukraine with Mars on the Midheaven opposition Uranus square Saturn.  

   Putin’s 4^th Term chart, 7 May 2018 11.05am Moscow, does have the aggressive and ruthless tr Pluto conjunct Mars exact this month and returning August to December this year.

  The NATO chart, 24 August 1949 11.42am looks rattled over the next few months and having to rethink its future direction from late May onwards with tr Uranus square the 10^th house Pluto, on and off into 2023.

  Troubling but not as pointed as 2014.

See previous post December 22 2021

Please add below. Older posts under News on top bar.