Astrology of Today’s News

Hitting rock bottom may be the UK’s only hope of sobering up after years of cataclysmic choices in policies and leaders. The UK’s superpower status died after WW11 but the country retained a reputation of gravitas, not least because of Queen Elizabeth 11 for the past seventy years. The Tories have now reduced UK Inc to a global laughing stock with a banana republic government drowning in a shambles of Italian operatic proportions.

  What is flagging up on the UK chart exactly now is a crisis of history-changing proportions.

  The UK chart has a Yod of Jupiter in Leo sextile Uranus inconjunct Pluto – such a Yod has all of Pluto’s fixated, refuse-to-budge qualities and can be coercive as well as self-destructive. The positive qualities give it the potential to be influential on a global scale, sometimes after a long period in obscurity.

 When a configuration like this one moves by Solar Arc Directions to impact key planets on the chart, it triggers a crisis sometimes stretching over several years . With luck and sensible management a breakdown that leads to a breakthrough.

  This Plutonic Yod has moved by Solar Arc to have the SA Pluto exactly square the UK Sun now for this paralysis of government and arguably a nation stunned by the departure of the Queen’s steadying presence. The legs of the Yod move by Solar Arc to have the SA Uranus conjunct the UK 8^th house Mars exact mid 2025 for an almighty economic/financial car-crash of sorts. On this basis the UK should be into calmer waters in three years from now after a stormy passage, hopefully wiser and ready to start down a new path.

  Before then the Solar Arc Saturn will oppose the UK Uranus for a high-tension jolt in late 2023.  At the moment the 2^nd house financial Neptune is catching the tr Saturn square at the moment and tr Uranus opposition through 2023.  That does suggest heavy pressure on personal finances but will also contribute to a mood of nerve-jangling confusion. Plus tr Saturn conjunct the UK Pluto throughout 2023 and tr Uranus square the 11^th house (legislature) Saturn exact from August 2023 onwards – though that will be in force at the moment since all the UK’s Fixed planets are reverberating in shock which will tug on that Saturn.

  So much for the UK. Not fun but the astrology makes sense which is bizarrely reassuring even if it does not promise instant bliss.

  Liz Truss’s Term chart does have tr Saturn exactly square the divisive 7^th house Uranus now leading to eruptions and crockery-throwing spats. The Fixed Saturn in Aquarius on the focal point of a square to Uranus NN opposition SN lacks adaptability and because it can’t or won’t bend, it will at one point break. But for once a Term chart is not being illuminating.

  The Conservative Party 9 May 1912 chart is spot on with the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Sun exactly now and rolling on for some months – a thunderbolt strikes. Plus the Scorpio Solar Eclipse late this month opposes their Venus bringing an emotional crisis and a feeling of not being loved. With the November Lunar Eclipse conjunct their Sun for an existential crisis.

Comedian and Late Late presenter James Corden has dented his affable brand by throwing a hissy fit in a New York restaurant, causing the owner to describe him as a “tiny cretin” and “abusive” before banning him. Fulsome apologies followed and the interdict was lifted.

 According to the Washington Post this summer, after discovering a hair in his food, Corden demanded in an “extremely nasty” fashion that a new round of drinks appear “this second” and previous rounds be comped. This month, his wife ordered an egg-yolk omelette that arrived with “a little bit of egg white” in it. The kitchen remade the dish, but it emerged with — the horror! — home fries on the side instead of a salad.”.

 All of which is a frivolous distraction from real world woes but may do real damage to Corden’s reputation and image, a touch like Ellen DeGeneres who exuded sweetness and kindness until it turned out she was made of snappier stuff.    

 Corden born 22 August 1978, London, no birth time, is a hard-working Sun Leo conjunct Saturn in Virgo with an impulsive Aries Moon. But where his aggro comes from is a conjunction of Mars, Pluto, Venus in Libra sextile Neptune with Uranus sitting on the midpoint. He can be charming with Venus in Libra but also do-or-die-determined and overly forceful with Mars Pluto.

  Ellen Degeneres also has an afflicted Mars which is conjunct Saturn and square Pluto, giving her a short fuse.

  Another Mr Nice Guy being fingered for at the moment for misconduct is actor Bill Murray, 21 September 1950. He has a workaholic Sun Saturn in Virgo with a super-determined Mars in Scorpio square Pluto. So no slouch when push comes to shove.

  Luvvies acting badly is hardly a surprise but in the present climate tainting a previously saintly image can come very expensive in career terms.

 Corden has already said he is stepping back from his Late tv show next year and his recent movie appearances have received negative reviews. His Solar Arcs look seriously blocked ahead with SA Sun conjunct Pluto and SA Pluto square his Sun now-ish and through till 2024. His Jupiter will keep his optimism afloat till late 2023 but he’s not as jovial as before.

  Likewise Bill Murray isn’t looking too cheerful with tr Neptune opposition his Saturn and Sun and tr Uranus opposition his Pluto and square his Mars in the next three years.

  Mars provides drive, ambition and the courage to aim high and succeed but is not known for tact or sensitivity.

Fifty years ago a plane crash in the Andes in which survivors were left for a gruelling ten weeks in arctic conditions without food became legendary when it emerged that those few who remained alive had turned cannibal, eating the flesh of their dead companions. Ultimately only 16 out of 45 were rescued alive.

   Their story was brought to life by Piers Paul Read in his bestseller, Alive, with a Hollywood film to follow and now Netflix is to dramatize a reprise.  

  The survivors are a close-knit group who meet each year on December 22, the day the rescue began for a barbecue and attend a mass with relatives of their dead friends every October 13. None regret what they did to survive.

  Not all were killed in the initial crash and some succumbed to their injuries and others died in an avalanche. When they had lost all hope of being found, two of the group set off in search of help, scaling a 5,000m mountain with a homemade sleeping bag and rugby socks filled with human flesh. After ten days, they saw a Chilean shepherd across a raging river, threw him a note wrapped round a rock and he rode 100 miles to summon help.

  The crash occurred on 13 October 1972 3.34pm near Curico, Chile when there was a brutal and destructive Mars Pluto conjunction amplified in square to Jupiter Moon in Capricorn. There was also a Sun Uranus conjunction in the 8^th trine Saturn in the 4^th and Neptune conjunct the Midheaven.

  The previous Cancer Solar Eclipse in July was in a series which suggests the possibility of breaking out of a very negative situation where no hope can be seen to a more positive space.

  Of those who survived. Roberto Canessa, one of the two who summoned help, became a leading cardiologist and mountaineer, 17 January 1953. He is a Sun Capricorn square Saturn Neptune in Libra; with his Mercury opposition Uranus square Neptune indicating a strong faith which would have helped.  He also had an upbeat Mars Venus in Pisces sextile Jupiter in Taurus. His Solar Arc Pluto was opposition his Mars Venus over the crash and aftermath; and tr Pluto was opposition his Solar Arc Mars Venus.

Fernando Parrado, 9 December 1949, a Sun Sagittarius square Saturn Mars in Virgo also had an emphasised Neptune on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine of Sun trine Pluto, sextile Neptune. His Solar Arc Mars was conjunct his Neptune at the crash.

Carlos Paez, 31 October 1953, 31 October 1953, a serious Sun Saturn in Scorpio with an optimistic Neptune trine Jupiter, sextile Pluto. Tr Uranus was conjunct his Solar Arc Mars at the crash.  

Eduardo Strauch, 13 August 1947, a Sun Venus, Saturn, Pluto and Mercury in Leo in an optimistic square to Jupiter with a risk-taking Mars Uranus in Gemini. His Progressed Mars was catching the tr Uranus conjunction over the crash.

  Jupiter and Neptune get a bad reputation for being lazy and/or unrealistic. But in situations of trauma or high stress, they crop up remarkably frequently as life savers. Hope and vision help.

  Mars involved in accidents is no surprise either.

Applecart-upsetting Uranus sitting on the axis of Liz Truss’s term chart has been strutting its stuff in no uncertain manner. She has tossed overboard her personally chosen chancellor for having followed her line on economics, causing the markets to go into meltdown. In comes Jeremy Hunt –  with no Treasury experience (sigh) – who was a Sunak supporter.  Her effort to salvage her premiership failed to win over financial markets and has left Conservative MPs in a state of mutiny. Citigroup said “ we believe further market instability likely lies ahead.”

  She is now described as a ‘zombie prime minister’ with the Conservatives now between 20-30 points behind the Labour opposition. “They only thing keeping her there is we can’t work out what to do,” says one veteran Tory MP.

 Hunt, born 1 November 1966, is a charming Sun Venus in Scorpio square Jupiter in Leo and sextile Mars in Virgo; with Saturn in Pisces opposition Pluto Uranus in Virgo, trine/sextile Neptune South Node in Scorpio.

  His Jupiter is conjunct Truss’s Leo Sun which will help but his Neptune opposition her Mars in Taurus which sits on his North Node are an ominously-cross-purposes mix. Not a supportive combo.

  Their relationship chart has a controlling (mutinous) Sun, Pluto Mercury conjunction trine Saturn in Taurus – chained together by circumstances and not happy campers. Plus a volatile Mars square Uranus Venus which won’t lead to comfortable compromises. Tr Neptune is dissolving the foundations of their togetherness right through from now into 2024/5; and tr Uranus conjunct the Saturn after mid 2023 will cause tensions to erupt.

  Hunt will have his work cut out to keep his morale high with tr Neptune conjunct his Saturn and opposition Uranus as well as tr Saturn square tr Uranus hammering away at his Neptune right through from now into 2024.  He will get one ray of sunshine from August 2023 onwards and will be in better shape in late 2024/2025 but that may be because he is off the Truss leash and onto firmer ground.

  Liz Truss only had one upbeat influence from a Jupiterian midpoint which runs out early December and exactly now she has the ‘car-crash’, self-esteem-denting tr Uranus conjunct her Mars now till early November and again next April. This December looks calamitous for her with deep gloom coming in January/February and on and off throughout 2023.

 It’s difficult to see how she can survive though her Term chart is mysteriously anchored with an Earth Grand Trine and a Fixed T Square.  The Uranus in the 7^th – and for the leadership announcement the day before, exactly conjunct the descendant – suggests that any partnerships with her will be short-lived.

  This one will run and run until she disappears like Boris down a sinkhole.

 Add On: The Conservative Party 9 March 1912 chart is tracking events well. Liz T’s relationship with it has tr Uranus square the composite Pluto with tr Saturn conjunct the Jupiter at the moment – a mix of turbulence to the point of break-up (running again early 2023); plus enthusiasm/ confidence-dampening.  Plus Neptunian sinkers to the composite Mars/Sun midpoint now and Saturn and Sun through 2023/24 as the party surveys the mess she created and no doubt blames her, despite having picked her.

 The Tory chart 1912 is showing up the present turmoil clearly with a shocking change from Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Taurus Sun now. Tr Saturn is in a discouraging square to the Sun this November, followed in 2023 by tr Uranus conjunct the Sun and Saturn into 2024, so the convulsions will continue.

  The last twelve years of Tory rule starting with David Cameron have largely coincided with tr Neptune through Pisces as well as tr Pluto through Capricorn. So it’s fitting they would end their long run in government as both the outer planets gear up for changing sign.

  Not that Labour’s Blair/Brown exactly did the country any favours before that with immigration run out control, never mind Iraq, and Brown’s economic policies being blamed for the pension mess.

Robbie Coltrane, much loved as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films and known before for Cracker playing the clinical psychologist in the TV police drama, has died aged 72. Not renowned for a healthy lifestyle he was a binge eater and much like Cracker he said “I smoke too much, I drink too much . . . I am too much.” His friend actor John Sessions (once said: “Robbie has a strong self-destruct streak . . . a deep, driving melancholy.”  After a career of playing morally ambiguous characters, he was delighted to play Hagrid – ‘the first time I’ve played someone thoroughly good.’

  He was born 31 March 1950 at 3am in Glasgow into a middle-class family with a teacher/pianist mother and a surgeon/police pathologist father and was educated at a private school. He had a famously short temper and did struggle with depression which ran in the family.

  After a slow start to his career with a diversion into Art School, he began to pick up work and once his career took off in the late 1980s he was never short of offers. Cracker in the 1990s pulled in 15 million viewers at its peak, almost unheard of for a drama in those days and won him three consecutive best actor Baftas.  In recent years he has suffered from ill health, especially diabetes and osteoarthritis.

  He had an upfront 3^rd house Aries Sun and Mercury conjunct the North Node opposition Neptune and trine Pluto in the 8^th and square a 6^th house Uranus.  He also had Saturn and a Virgo Moon in the 8^th which would be where his melancholy was rooted. His Moon opposed Jupiter and Venus, which may have contributed to his over-eating; and his Pluto opposed Venus giving him a rumbustious love life. He had multiple relationships despite his unlikely appearance.

  Mars in Virgo in the 9^th would add to his 3^rd house Aries planets in producing a communicative and argumentative streak. Uranus in the 6^th does suggest health issues along the way and added onto an indulgent Venus Jupiter tied into his Moon over-eating would have been a temptation to stave off his 8^th house Saturn Pluto glooms.

Tortured and talented – and he ended up much loved.

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Saudi Arabia’s bullish young Crown Prince MBS has rejected the olive branch offered by Joe Biden and opted to back Russia in the fight over oil prices. In the short term Putin wins with Opec+ agreeing to a surprise reduction in supply that will push prices up. But it could backfire badly on MBS, who is not known for his good judgement with the disastrous Yemen war and the brutal Khashoggi killing already blotting his record. Backing a clearly failing Putin is a puzzling gamble.

  Opec, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, was founded during a four day conference starting 10 September 1960, as a way to force oil prices up in response to US import caps.  It operates as a cartel with member countries agreeing to coordinate their production of oil in order to influence prices.

  Opec has already been labouring under uncertainty and panic from April 2022 onwards, with the Neptunian downward spiral to morale returning mid February to mid March 2023 and again late November through December 2023 with tr Neptune square the opportunistic, confident Mars opposition Jupiter.

 MBS himself, 31 August 1985, is facing failed plans through this December, worse in January  with a run of Neptunian disappointments at the same time as Opec, above, and considerable jolts and jangles to his self-esteem from mid 2023 onwards. And his Crown Prince Term chart is showing instability this December and through portions of 2023 with a downhill slide from 2024 into 2025.

 He’s possibly banking on Trump being reinstalled but that relationship and MBS with Jared does not give any indication of other than ruptures and dashed hopes.

See previous posts  22 August 2022, 11 July 2022.

The Coronation of King Charles 111 will take place on 6 May 2023, scaled down from previous such occasions with 2000 not 8000 guests and only lasting an hour, with Camilla being crowned Queen at his side.

   As with his mother’s coronation in 1953, Jupiter will be in the 10^th house for an enthusiastic mood though there’s an innovative/rebellious Uranus also in the 10^th which does suggest changes in the monarchy will follow. Mercury is retrograde which has not been the case in any coronation over the past two centuries (I think) but was retrograde for the crowning of King Charles 1 in 1626 (later beheaded – visible from the get-go with a brutal Mars Pluto on his enthronement) and Charles 11 in 1661, who was profligate, licentious, irresponsible and cultured and reigned for 24 years as king until his death.  

  For this coronation there is a Water Grand Trine of Neptune trine a 12^th house Mars trine a 4th house Scorpio Moon which could be healing, a comforter of those who are suffering or in need, can foster the arts through its creativity, but can also be overly emotional and self-protective to the extent of becoming detached from reality.

It happens one day after the Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio which located to London puts an enthusiastic Jupiter conjunct the Descendant in an impulsive square to Mars; though there’s also an overly-controlled (maybe mutinous) Pluto on the IC. And trickster, rebellious, reforming Uranus is in full flood conjunct the Sun and opposition Moon which will bring tensions and eruptions. The Solar Eclipse two weeks earlier which is conjunct Charles’s 10^th house Taurus Moon is in a Saros series that is highly emotional and passionate.

  On the UK chart tr Mars is just over the conjunction to the 10^th house Cancer Moon which relates to the ruling classes. Jupiter is moving through the friendly 7^th but there might be concern from tr Uranus moving through the UK 8^th opposition the Neptune – as there is exactly at the moment, bringing a mood of heightened anxiety about personal finances.

  On Charles’ chart Pluto at zero degrees Aquarius is square his 10^th house public-service Moon and Jupiter in late Aries is moving through his 10^th house of career, boosting his status and visibility. The pressure will be on. He is on the exact nodal return, which reflects a moment of destiny in an individual life, a staging post of development.

  His Solar Arc Neptune opposition Midheaven has moved to sit exactly on his Jupiter opposition Uranus which has a handful of interpretations ranging from a career high with sudden changes, to over-hopefulness and/or unearned gains after a loss, as in an inheritance. His honeymoon won’t last long with tr Uranus moving to upend his Sun from early July 2023 onwards, on and off into 2024; and that is followed by a discouraging Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his Sun after mid 2024. With some Neptunian disappointments as it squares his Mars/Jupiter, Mars/Uranus midpoints and then his Jupiter and Uranus by 2024/25. Certain plans/hopes won’t work out.

  Camila has tr Pluto conjunct her Solar Arc Jupiter exactly next May for a morale boost and her Solar Arc Midheaven may be close to the conjunction to her Uranus for a sudden change now depending on her birth time. But like Charles she’s facing uncertainty and disappointment  in 2024.

  Prince William has his Solar Arc Venus conjunct his Moon through mid 2023 so will be on  charm offensive. Tr Saturn is moving him into a more visible and ambitious phase in slow stages as it sits on the cusp of his 3^rd house. Tr Uranus is also moving him into a livelier social period as it crosses into his 5^th exactly then. Tr Pluto is exactly square his Jupiter which sits at his Midheaven which will tend to pump up his confidence (too much so?) through 2023/24 and will certainly be pushing him in a new direction. Pluto then squares his Midheaven from 2024 into 2025 which will transform his reputation and pose a few challenges as he carves out a new path ahead. It may also indicate the considerable wealth he has been handed by his father since the Duchy of Cornwall valued at over £1 billion in property is now his.

  Prince Harry looks emotionally all over the place with tr Uranus moving across his IC into his 4^th causing ructions domestically or within his family; and feeling unloved with tr Pluto square his Venus/Saturn midpoint and Pluto in 2023/2024. Tr Pluto square Pluto is always a tug of war, lasting two years of pulling away from the past with the past pulling back. Tr Uranus is also heading to conjunct his Taurus Moon by mid 2023 for more family upheavals and jolts.

Angela Lansbury, one of the last golden oldies, has died aged 96. She played alongside the legendary stars of the 1940s – Ingrid Bergman, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman, Orson Welles, Elvis Presley, Bette Davis and Maggie Smith in classics like Gaslight, National Velvet, Dorian Gray and The Manchurian Candidate. Despite rave reviews and supporting actress nominations she never made it to a lead role and switched to Broadway.   

  Finally aged 59 on her Second Saturn Return she landed Murder She Wrote for TV. Her role as Jessica Fletcher ran for 264 episodes over 12 years, with an audience of 28 million a week, making her the richest woman on TV at one point earning $200k per episode.

  She fostered a wholesome image in the kindly TV detective figure though early directors saw a darker side – she was offered Nurse Ratched in the Cuckoo’s Nest and did excel in Gaslight and The Manchurian Candidate.

  She was born 16 October 1925 at 12.45am London with her father dying young and her mother relocating her in her teens to the US during World War 11. Her sister who had married Peter Ustinov stayed behind. Angela married twice, the first time briefly to another actor, who was thought to be gay and then to another actor/producer for a long marriage that produced two children. Her daughter became entangled with Charles Manson and her son was also on drugs so she moved them to Ireland to clean up.

  Two things are fascinating. One is she was born three days after Margaret Thatcher so had the same super-confident and highly resourceful Jupiter in Capricorn opposition Pluto square Mars in Libra; as well as Maggie’s conscientious, perfectionist Saturn in Scorpio and a Libra Sun to match.

   House positions are different, of course. Angela’s rigid Saturn fell in her 4^th house, perhaps an indication of family problems in childhood and beyond. Neptune in entertaining Leo was on her Ascendant for an appealing filmic image; with enthusiastic and money-magnet Jupiter in Capricorn in her performing 5^th house.

  Maggie Thatcher in contrast had Saturn on her Ascendant for a determined and formidable persona with her Jupiter opposition Pluto falling across the 3/9^th house for confidence in communicating her dogmatic opinions.

  Both of them shared a Yod of Neptune sextile Sun inconjunct Uranus. Such a Uranus can be erratic, contrary and rebellious, independent-spirited and a catalyst for change – can be divisive, disruptive and intolerant. It’s not clear where it showed up in Angela’s life but it was 8^th house so it may have been the wild side of her nature that her Saturn in Scorpio kept firmly battened down.

  The other point of Astro-note is when she landed the Murder She Wrote role, which made her fortune and cemented her fame, launched 30 September 1984, when she was 59 years old. She was on her Second Saturn Return and on a Jupiter Return and the Sun was in Libra. Her Solar Arc Midheaven was within orb of the opposition to her Uranus – her birth time is from memory so that aspect could have been exact. That would be typical of a fated turn of events which puts the individual onto a track that is meant and works.

“The Singular Wit and Double Measures of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother” is the latest Royal gossip-feste, filled with fun anecdotes about the nation’s granny who had a backbone of pure titanium. Her consumption of industrial quantities of alcohol is the best antidote to medical gloom-mongering about the damaging effects of gin. She tottered on to 101 happily pickled.

  Despite her sweet smile and marshmallow outfits, “she looked everything she was not . . . Behind the veil, she schemed and vacillated, hard as nails,” according to socialite Stephen Tennant, who knew her before she was married. And apparently she possessed “an Olympian ability to hold a grudge”.

 Since her father did not register her birth until six weeks later there has always been a question mark over the data but this one seems to work well enough at 4 August 1900 maybe 12.30 am London.

  She did have a tough start with the blight of the First World War. “I think of my 20 best friends in 1914,” she reminisced, decades later. “Only five came back.” One brother died and three others came back with shell-shock. Despite ‘only’ being an earl’s daughter she was much courted, and according to the Duke of Windsor wanted to marry him. But his mother Mary of Teck decided she would do well for the insecure, stammering and nervy Bertie (King George V1) – and given Queen Mary’s formidable Saturn opposition Pluto square Mars nothing much got in her way.

  Princess Marina who married the Duke of Kent treated the Queen Mother with contempt as a “common little Scotch tart”. And she went on to have a legendary rift with Wallis Simpson who had been equally scathing about her.

  She believed in ghosts and requested exorcisms right up to her death. Her household was notorious for not only the lavish entertaining but the largely homosexual servants she employed and had a friendly relationship with. Some of the stories that emerged were wild.

  One odd rumour in this book was that she once told friends she had burnt documentary evidence of Queen Victoria not only having an affair with her Scottish servant John Brown, but also secretly married him.

  On this birth date she was a Sun Leo which fits her flamboyant outfits and sociable temperament. She had a hard-edged Mars in Gemini conjunct Neptune on one side and Pluto on the other opposition Saturn. Mars Saturn would connect to her experiences in the war which would stiffen her spine and toughen her. Mars Pluto is determined, ruthless and vengeful as indeed is her Scorpio Moon. Saturn opposition Neptune would contribute to her other-worldly ghost-sighting interests.

  The Duke of Windsor would have been a reasonable fit with her since his Cancer Sun was conjunct her Venus; his Jupiter was conjunct her Pluto and her Jupiter was conjunct her Midheaven. They would have made a formidable pair on the throne.

 Bertie (King George)  did have his Sagittarius Sun on her Descendant for a good partnership and her Saturn in the 7^th always indicated a husband who would involve hard work. His Jupiter was conjunct her Sun which was fortunate and like her he had a Scorpio Moon. But it was a stressful relationship with a composite Saturn opposition Mars square Pluto – so she’d have to suppress a good deal of who she was to make it work. Though as a ‘war’ partnership it did clearly bear dividends.

  Wallis Simpson had her Gemini Sun and Venus conjunct the QM’s Neptune and Mars with Pluto hovering close by for a decades-long feud with Wallis’s Saturn Uranus in Scorpio maybe conjunct the QM’s Moon. Their relationship chart was explosive.

  What fun.  It puts the present storm in a teacup into perspective.