Two creative geniuses from different fields have died within days of each other recently. Pierre Cardin, one of the great and avant-garde fashion designers; and Albert Roux, the chef who along with his brother, brought classic French cuisine and Michelin stars to Britain. Both were from poor families who apprenticed early on in their respective trade, rose up the ladder and, both with a head for business, made themselves standout successes.
Cardin was born 2 July 1922 2pm San Biagio di Callalta, Italy, worked with Jean Cocteau on theatre costumes, migrated to Dior and then independence. “My clothes aren’t fun,” he said, “they are worrying; it’s like listening to contemporary music.” His flair for branding established a new tradition in haute couture.
Albert Roux, 8 October 1935 5.30pm Semur-en-Brionnais, France, was the son of a pork butcher who left school at 14, trained with a pâtissier, served in the French Army in Algeria and came to England as the private chef for the Cazalets, friends of the Queen Mother. He was a notorious perfectionist with a strong head for business, and it was usually he rather than his brother Michel who negotiated deals for the Roux empire. He was a natural on TV shows, ran several restaurants and was retained as a consultant by airlines and hotels all over the world.
Cardin had a much-travelled and controlling 9th house Sun Pluto in Cancer square a Libra Moon. Cancer is often a fashion designer’s sign and has a nose for public taste. A Libra Moon would attract him to elegance though his avant-garde creations were not always to everyone’s taste. He had a 10th house Venus Neptune in Leo giving him artistic and design talent and it held a significant place in his chart being on one leg of a Yod in sextile to his Moon Jupiter and inconjunct a 5th house maverick Uranus, which last would give him his liking for wayout designs. His Mars in colourful Sagittarius was in his financial 2nd trine his Venus Neptune.
Roux had a hard-working 6th house Libra Sun, a controlling 4th house Pluto, Mars in Sagittarius in his financial 8th; and a maverick Aquarius Moon square Jupiter in money-magnet Scorpio. His Uranus was in his 1st.
There are strong similarities between them – both with Mars in a financial house; both with an Air Moon aspecting Jupiter; both with a standout Uranus, the torchbearer leading the way. And probably most importantly of all they both had Jupiter in aspect to Pluto giving them confidence and drive.
Behind the shocking scenes at Capitol Hill this week were several supremacist militia groups, all given the green light by Trump and treated with kid gloves by the security staff. The largest of them, the Oath Keepers, an armed right-wing organisation with 30,000 law enforcement officers, soldiers and military veterans as members, say they will refuse to recognise Biden as president.
There are various enraged ‘patriot’ flag wavers and founders of various branches, many sitting on each other’s boards, but all with the same aim – creating mayhem. Dates aren’t available for all but below is what I can find.
The two key ones of the moment (though they do come and go) are the Oath Keepers, started in 2009 and incorporated on 22 October, as Pluto moved into Capricorn – it looks highly-strung in 2021 and in risk-taking and over-confident mood in 2022/23. The other is the Proud Boys, a male-only outfit, founded by Gavin McInnes which kicked off in 2016 with the paranoid Saturn square Neptune in place.
McInnes, 17 July 1970, a Neo-fascist who promotes violence against opponents, is a pumped-up Sun Mars in Cancer trine Neptune, sextile, Pluto, and square Jupiter – so a not inconsequential personality. His chart looks worked up to def con levels over the next three to four years with Solar Arc Mercury conjunct his Pluto this in 2021; and tr Pluto opposition his Sun and Mars, trine his Pluto and square his Jupiter. All of which looks volcanic.
Richard Mack, a former sheriff, another leading light on Oath Keepers, 27 December 1952, followed his father’s footsteps into the FBI, and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His ideology was formed at the feet of fellow Mormon, W. Cleon Skousen, a leading light of right-wing radicalism, a theocrat who believed the decline of America began with the 14th Amendment and its guarantee of equality for the former slaves. A former police chief and FBI agent, he whipped up anti-communist fervour under the banner of the John Birch Society. He warned of global elites scheming to create a worldwide, collectivist government; demonized federal regulatory agencies and campaigned to abolish civil rights laws, labour unions, the minimum wage, the income and estate taxes, the direct election of U.S. senators, the wall between church and state.
He’s a Sun Capricorn with the typical agitated-hatred for authority figures Mars opposition Pluto. He’s not in good health so unlikely to be in the forefront but will no doubt be cheering from the sidelines. His chart looks aggravated in 2023/24, and assuming that isn’t personal issues, there does seem to be a hint of trouble around that period.
Two others marching to the same drumbeat are rancher and anti-government activist Clive Bundy, 29 April 1946, and his son Ammon, 1 September 1975. Both have strongly aspected and aggressive Mars – Bundy Senior with a Taurus Sun in a formidable square to Mars Pluto in Leo; and Bundy Junior with a Virgo Sun square Marts and Neptune, and Mars trine Pluto. Bundy Snr is another member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and regards his successful stand off against ineffectual law enforcement in 2014 as divine intervention.
Bundy Senior is up in arms through the next three months with tr Uranus rattling his Sun and Pluto. Bundy Junior is in full autocratic overdrive for the next three to four years with tr Pluto square his Jupiter and hitting on his Uranus and Saturn.
Most of these white supremacist groups hate women as well as non-whites, so heaven help Kamala Harris if she had to step into the breach.
Joe Biden is a fair match for the hate-filled ones since he has Mars in Scorpio square Pluto himself, which he has obviously learned to control. Its more positive attributes include courage, tenacity and do-or-die-determination. Tr Uranus will square his Pluto for the final time next month and then make a disruptive and insecure opposition to his Mars from late May this year, on and off into early 2022. Luckily he’s also got a confident and successful tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter and trine his Sun/Jupiter midpoint from later this month, on and off till late 2022, which should ease his passage into an abnormally challenging presidency – with Covid and its associated economic damage, foreign policy crises, never mind the internal powder keg of the Trump hangover, the racial and poverty divide and dysfunctional law enforcement. He looks exceptionally rattled through 2023/24 with tr Uranus opposition his Mercury, then Sun and Venus, with a hint of health concerns from his Solar Return into 2024.
Kamala Harris is feeling the pressure from 2022 onwards with tr Pluto square her Libra Sun and Moon; but again it will be 2023/2024 which are her testing times with Solar Arc Saturn conjunct her Moon and opposition her Sun; as well as tr Uranus square her Mars and shaking up her Fixed T Square into 2024. She does have a strong Jupiter which will bring her some luck and she may need it.
No matter what rocks up for Biden and it’s likely to be a litany of troubles coming at him from all directions, he should find his Jupiter fishes him out of tight spots in the first two years. After that all bets are off.
“The mob is the most ruthless of tyrants.” Friedrich Nietzsche.
‘You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!’ Shakespeare’s reflections on the mob in ‘Julius Caesar‘ are a reminder they have existed throughout history. The Romans were acutely aware that the crowd of common men had to be treated with caution, kept amiable with bread and (blood-drenched, gladiatorial) circuses.
Two astro-events collided this month for the USA. One is tr Pluto opposition the US Mercury till late this month, which promotes bitter, hostile debate, riled up by demagogues and agitators with deceitful rhetoric. And it leads to excessive mental strain. That has been running on and off through 2020 and repeats mid August to late November this year.
The other trigger was the December 2020 Sagittarius Solar Eclipse which opposed the USA 1776 Mars in Gemini. It runs in effect for several months and leads to an overspill of argumentative and aggressive energy. Jansky in his book on Eclipses describes it thus: ‘A period of warfare. Compromise? Never!’ It can turn destructive which it obviously did in Washington yesterday.
Trump channels into the USA Mars with his Gemini Sun conjunct and his Sagittarius Moon exactly in opposition, so he was always going to be a divisive and inflammatory catalyst for the country. And his Full Moon was exactly what the December Solar Eclipse provoked – to his detriment, which in turn generated full-blown narcissistic rage. To do the decent thing and face up to loss and failure for him would mean psychic death, against which he defends himself with volcanic anger and frenzied desperation.
His relationship charts with both Republican Party charts have composite planets also being rattled by the Eclipse – one has a composite Saturn Pluto at 24/20 Gemini and the other Pluto at 21 Gemini square Mars. Even his die-hard political supporters are, mainly, turning their backs on him – too late. The Republican Party, 22 February 1856 chart, has a sober-moment of reckoning from the December Eclipse opposition the Saturn, which brings responsibility for those under their care. They voted for him, stood behind him and now they are seeing the chickens come home to roost. This chart is sagging badly through 2021/22 with tr Neptune square the Saturn.
Tr Uranus is also square the USA North Node in Leo, exactly now, which is arguably denting the USA’s leadership image as a shining beacon of decency and democracy.
What next? The tr Pluto opposition the USA Mercury runs on into the Pluto Return in 2022/23 so there will be lingering aggravation and resentment. This is a pivotal moment for the USA, with a contradictory outcome. Trump as wrecking ball may have been a necessary force to tumble the house of cards of American politics and bring greater self-awareness of what is needed in the rebuilding process. But there is also a sense of deep wounds exposed which won’t heal easily. He leaves a poisoned legacy behind – “the evil that men do lives after them.” (Shakespeare)
Of Trump himself, he appears to have overshot his bolt to such an extent that there will be no coming back and no compassion for his manifest financial sins. It may be that John F Kennedy was right when he said in his own inaugural address: “Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.”
Earlier posts to refresh memories:
December 13 2020 – Trump as of the moment.
September 28 2020 – Trump finances ahead
August 25 2020 – the Trump tribe, kiddies’ fortunes ahead.
Sound the trumpets for the end of the celebrity influencer cult (cross fingers) with the news that Kim Kardashian, one of the principal and early offenders in this zone is heading for a divorce from Kanye West.
He’s had well-publicised problems with his bi-polar disorder and she pulled back from the spotlight after a scary robbery in Paris in 2016. The marriage has clearly been in trouble for a while and with so much money at stake – $4 billion jointly it is thought – it will be a major disengagement exercise.
In many ways it’s a shame since his Sun Jupiter in Gemini falls on her Descendant which is ideal and fits her Libra Sun; with his passionately enthusiastic Mars Venus in her 5th. His Pluto in her 10th would make him inclined to control her direction but she’s got a Sun Pluto conjunction so would have been OK with that up to a point. Both have Pisces Moons.
There’s nothing much showing on the relationship chart apart – perhaps – from tr Neptune conjunct the composite Moon. But without his birth time that isn’t certain. 2022 looks more ominous since tr Saturn in Aquarius will then conjunct the tricky composite T square of Mars opposition Sun Mercury square Uranus; with a jolting tr Uranus joining in and extending in the years beyond that. So it may take some time.
He’s on his mid-life crisis Uranus opposition at the moment with tr Uranus also disrupting his Saturn in Leo as well through this year so he’ll be up and down.
Her Sun/Moon midpoint which usually shows up with separations, took its worst pounding several years back so she may psychologically have made the split already.
She’s in a less successful low-profile phase with tr Saturn moving through her First Quadrant – from the robbery in 2016 through till mid decade. Which doesn’t mean she won’t be making a confident and probably successful push for a new project come 2022/23 with tr Pluto trine her 10th house Jupiter.
Their wedding chart, 24 May 2014 Florence, Italy, had all the hints of a tumultuous union with an Aries Moon Uranus opposition Mars square Pluto opposition Jupiter. It predicted a pattern of rolling crises in the years following – of which this is one, with the explosive Solar Arc Mars in exact opposition to the Uranus.
Trump’s brawling exit from the White House, slashing-and-burning as he goes, leaves (he hopes) a scorched earth legacy for his replacement. It is even for him, nauseatingly destructive. He is, for one, auctioning off portions of the Arctic national wildlife refuge to oil drillers to add to his previous sins against the environment and mother earth. Executions are also on his wish list as he ‘rushes to kill three prisoners over four days as a macabre climax of his time in the White House.’ One of them, if it goes ahead on January 12th will be the first woman executed in 70 years.
Lisa Montgomery, 27 February 1968 in Kansas, did commit a shockingly brutal murder of an eight months pregnant woman to steal her baby sixteen years ago. But the story of Montgomery’s childhood is so beyond horrific that it is a miracle she survived at all, let alone was left with any spark of humanity. Raped, gang-raped while still a child, suffering severe concussive injuries when she objected which are visible on MRI scans, sold for sex by her mother – not a story for the faint of heart or stomach. No civilized country executes those suffering from severe mental disorders – apart from the USA.
Montgomery is a Sun and probably Moon in Pisces opposition Jupiter in Leo, with her Jupiter square Neptune. It was possibly her emphasised Jupiter which allowed her to keep going in the face of years of brutalising treatment. What stands out starkly is a Mars Saturn conjunction in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries. Mars Saturn can be an indication of unkind if not downright cruel treatment. But there is always a spectrum of meaning with any planetary aspects and how they work out will depend partly on house positions and on the ‘indefinable’ something that a chart won’t show. In old style astrology Mars Saturn had associations with assassinations or violent death; as well as military ability.
Two born near Montgomery with the same Mars Saturn in Aries are Daniel Craig, born 2 March, who became the face of acceptable violence as James Bond. And Kate McGann, born 5 March, tragic mother of the disappeared Madeleine.
Montgomery has her Black Moon Lilith conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol opposition Neptune. When she committed the murder in 2004, her Solar Arc North Node was approaching the conjunction to her BML and opposition her Neptune. A touch nebulous but it may be significant.
Oddly enough her Jupiter falls exactly on Trump’s Ascendant; her Uranus Pluto squares his Full Moon, her New Moon sits in his 7th; and her Mars Saturn sits in his 8th. There’s more than a hint of a karmic link between them. And their relationship chart has a composite Sun Venus opposition Neptune, trine Pluto, square Uranus – which is quite interconnected.
If there is any decency in the universe, his karma will surely come up and bite him for his misdeeds.
Rumours are rife in Scotland that Trump may fly to his Turnberry golf course hotel in Ayr (despite it being closed) on January 19th to avoid the Biden Inauguration next day. It may turn out to be a non-story or he’ll change his mind or Nicola Sturgeon will quite rightly throw a hissy fit over him breaching coronavirus restrictions and deny him entry. Nor is it clear how, as a private citizen, he would be allowed to fly back to the US after January 20 from a plague-zone.
In any event he might be better advised to avoid turning a publicity spotlight onto his two Scottish golf courses, which are haemorrhaging money, and in debt to the tune of £158 million. Their long-term viability is underwritten by the Trump Organization, which will come under renewed scrutiny after Trump leaves the White House. And there is a larger and scarier threat with Scottish lawmakers pushing to investigate Trump’s finances using an anti-money-laundering statute typically employed against kleptocrats, oligarchs, and crime kingpins. Their question: Where did the hundreds of millions Trump poured into his Scottish courses actually come from?
During his well-documented low period between 2006 and 2014 he splurged $400 million in a cash spending spree, in addition to Scotland, purchasing a golf club in Ireland, five courses in the USA, and several expensive homes. Then spent mega-millions more in refurbishments.
Questions, questions and with Deutsche Bank backing off, who knows what might crawl out from under rocks?
Scotland is where his mother Mary was born, but is a risky area for him. Relocating his chart to Ayr put his secretive, dirty-dealing Pluto in the 10th which is generally considered unfavourable, since it brings out a ruthless energy which can be destructive or damaging. His Pluto is being particularly battered this coming year by tr Uranus in square and tr Saturn in opposition.
Trump’s relationship with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has never been good and she said recently that he will face “due accountability” in Scotland if evidence emerges that his Scottish golf courses have been used for money laundering and fraud. Trump’s Pluto is conjunct her Mercury, her Saturn is conjunct his Midheaven and square his Mars – so there will be a war of words and she’ll put blocks in his way.
Their relationship chart is volatile with an uncompromising composite Uranus Mars which is being ramped up to explosion point through this year by the tr Saturn square tr Uranus. The recent December Solar Eclipse was opposition their composite Saturn; and tr Pluto is opposition the composite Mercury this month and again later in 2021. Relations will deteriorate badly in the months to come.
Screen goddess Sophia Loren, one of the last true stars of the movies, has returned to the screen aged 86 in the Netflix The Life Ahead directed by her son Edoardo Ponti. Dispensing with any pretensions at glamour or likeability, she appears angry, defeated and cynical as Madame Rosa, a former sex worker and Holocaust survivor, who looks after the children of “working women”.
Sophia’s life started in the unlikely beginnings of a Rome home for unmarried mothers. By the time she was eight, she, her mother and sister were starving, hiding from air raids in a rat-infested train tunnel, full of “sickness, laughter, drunkenness, death and childbirth”. Her mother was a beauty and Sophia started on the beauty pageant circuit at 15, moving into bit film parts until eventually she was discovered by Carlo Ponti, twenty years her senior, whom she eventually married, produced two children and stayed with throughout his life.
She says her most important teacher was Vittorio De Sica who directed her breakthrough film, The Gold of Naples in 1954 which started her 13-film collaboration with Marcello Mastroianni and, eventually, a career in Hollywood where she landed speaking no English.
She was born 20 September 1934 2.10pm Rome, Italy and has a far-travelled 9th house Virgo Sun with a lucky, successful Jupiter conjunct her Midheaven in a determined and confident square to a 7th house Pluto. Her screen presence was never less than intense thanks to her Pluto and co-stars like Richard Burton remarked on her intelligence. Her Jupiter opposes a domestically-unsettled 4th house Uranus squaring onto her Pluto – she would be controlling and secretive, but also able to push back boundaries.
She has an Aquarius Moon conjunct Saturn opposition an 8th house Mars in Leo – a hint of her hard beginnings and the lifelong obsession with poverty it left behind. In addition to Mars she also has Venus and Neptune in the 8th, giving her the film-star knack of projecting an aura.
Carlo Ponti, 11 December 1912 1pm Magenta, Italy, also had successful Jupiter on his Midheaven, in his case in Sagittarius with, also like her, a packed 9th house in his chart – good at communication and travel. His Moon Venus in Capricorn would connect with her Virgo Sun. His money-minded Saturn in Taurus was square her Moon which is less than ideal, though her Moon Saturn would be acclimatised to the cool, materialistic and workaholic Saturnine energies. Her Sun fell on his Descendant which is ideal for a relationship with her Jupiter in his 7th as well.
He was more of a behind-the-scenes support for her; though his Pluto in Gemini opposition Jupiter was trine/sextile her Midheaven so he’d be instrumental in making her career a success.
Both children, Carlo a conductor, and Edoardo have prominent Jupiter in their charts making for gilded lives.
The confected outrage over gender fluidity and pronouns has been well and truly skewered by the genuine article. Comedian Eddie Izzard, who came out 35 years ago as transvestite and more recently transgender, defended JK Rowling against accusations of being transphobic. “We need to look at the things she has written about in her blog. Women have been through such hell over history. Trans people have been invisible, too. I hate the idea we are fighting between ourselves.”
Eddie was born 7 February 1962 7.30 pm (unverified) in Aden, Yemen, to English parents, and was brought up in Northern Ireland and Wales. He knew from aged four that he was transgender. “I’m gender fluid. Your brain gets coded male or female when you’re young. Mine got coded both ways. I have the gift of both, although it doesn’t feel like a gift at first.”
‘If [people] call me she and her, that’s great – or he and him, I don’t mind. I prefer to be called Eddie, that covers everything.”
He cut his teeth as a street entertainer, ‘made burbling, conversational surrealism his stock in trade’ and hit fame in his thirties as a stand-up comic, often in drag, following in the Monty Python tradition – as Darth Vader in the Death Star canteen (“Give me penne all’arrabiata or you shall die!”), the thoughts of a busily munching squirrel (“Did I leave the gas on?”) or God as James Mason. ‘Izzard didn’t just riff off recognisable reference points but spun big existential questions into hallucinogenic gold.’
Now 58 he has stayed the course, has built a stage and screen acting career, sold out Madison Square Garden, was the first solo comedy act to play the Hollywood Bowl, did a long stint in Paris, performing in French, and has gigged in Germany, in German. He/she has also caught the headlines doing astonishing back-to-back marathon runs for charity, to be repeated this month on a treadmill. He’s a dedicated Labour activist and may go into politics.
His/her chart has an astonishing six planets in Aquarius, a sign often associated with comedians – Jimmy Tarbuck, Jimmy ‘Scnozzle’ Durante, Ned Sherrin, Michael Bentine, Barry Humphries, Les Dawson amongst others. In Aquarius he a disciplined, determined and sharp-witted Mars Saturn conjunction, as well as sunny, charming, chatty, lucky Mercury, Sun Jupiter and Venus. Neptune in Scorpio sits in square with Uranus as well as a leadership North Node across the zodiac in Leo. So incredibly Fixed and enduring.
He/she probably has unaspected Pisces Moon which will tend to make his feminine impulses act erratically. On his artistic 5th Harmonic the Moon is heavily aspected in opposition to Sun, Jupiter, Venus square Pluto Saturn (Mars) so through his creative work he can fully express his emotions and feminine side. His mother died when he was six of cancer.
The other cross dressing though not transgender comedian Barry Humphries, the Australian Dame Edna Everage, was also a multiple Aquarius with Sun, Saturn and Venus in Aquarius with a Sun Saturn trine Jupiter.
Hilaria Baldwin, wife of Alec, being ‘outed’ as not-Spanish is a silly season twitterfuffle. Only in America where ethnicity is as carefully calibrated as caste in India, would it even have surfaced. A celebrity influencer sprinkling a little distinctive glitter on her bio to separate her out from the crowd is hardly pass remarkable. Though her sin appears to be taking away attention from proper Latinas and appropriating what isn’t hers.
She was born in Boston on 6 January 1984, spent some holidays in Spain growing up, maybe more though she’s vague when pushed, and her parents now live on Mallorca. She is the mother of Baldwin’s five children, whose names are Spanish-influenced and she is multi-talented – teaches yoga, podcasts and writes, co-owns a chain of yoga studios, has penned fitness books and has a signature calming ointment to her name.
She’s a Sun Capricorn sextile Saturn in obsessively conscientious Scorpio. What probably draws her to the flamenco-vibe is her four planets in adventurous, far-travelled Sagittarius – Venus Uranus and a fantasy-prone Neptune Jupiter. She also has an ultra-determined Mars in late Libra conjunct Pluto which is sextile her head-in-the-clouds Jupiter Neptune Mercury. Her free-spirited, wild-child Gemini North Node opposes her Sagittarius planets. And she has a loves-to-shock Aquarius Moon.
Alec Baldwin, born 3 April 1958, is an upfront Sun Aries with an excitable and uncompromising Mars in Aquarius opposition Uranus square Mercury opposition Neptune. His Venus in Aquarius resonates with her Moon; her Mars Pluto is conjunct his Jupiter; and her Venus in Sagittarius connects with his Aries Sun. They are both high-octane personalities and both have strong Mercury Neptune aspects which will be no drawback in the showbusiness world of make believe.