Astrology of Today’s News

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MacKenzie Scott, novelist and former wife of Jeff Bezos, has donated more than $4 billion in four months this year. After her divorce she became the world’s 18th-richest person and this year has seen her fortune soar. She said on her blog “This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling. Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of colour and for people living in poverty. Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.” Her donations were focused on those “operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates, and low access to philanthropic capital.”

  She was born 7 April 1970 at 6.20 am San Francisco, and has a 12^th house Aries Sun and four Taurus planets just into her 1^st house – Mercury, Venus, Moon and Saturn, all conjunct and opposition an optimistic, financially-minded Jupiter in Scorpio; and Mars is also in last decan Taurus. She certainly belies Taurus’s reputation for hanging on to material possessions. Though that may be partly to do with her Neptune in the 8^th making her idealistic about money. Her Mars is in a determined trine to Pluto so she’s no pushover.

  What’s interesting given Princess Charlene’s chart (below) is that tr Uranus was moving across MacKenzie’s Ascendant as she decided to divorce her husband and set herself on the road to freedom.

  She’s in a high-profile, hard-working phase with tr Saturn moving through her upper quadrant for several years ahead.

Porn has become one of the greatest ‘success’ stories of the internet age with Mindgeek, the world’s largest porn company, enticing on a daily basis 115m visitors to its websites and uploading 15 terabytes of videos, about half of the content available to watch on Netflix. It has escaped to date the scrutiny and accountability directed towards Facebook, YouTube etc, though it works on the same basis as FB, with its free-to-watch sites having content uploaded by the public. This convinces commercial porn companies to advertise in the hope that some want to pay for more.

  The operators tend to keep out of the spotlight but on a quick flip through the available charts there are two striking similarities across several charts – one is the predominance of Gemini and the other is Mars Saturn.  

  Fabian Thylmann, 5 June 1978, Dusseldorf, who founded the porn conglomerate that is now Mindgeek which he sold on after being done for tax evasion, is a New Moon, Mercury in Gemini opposition Neptune and trine Pluto; with a close Mars Saturn conjunction in Leo.

  He sold the company to Feras Antoon, 29 June 1975, Damascus, Syria, who now runs various of the companies out of Montreal with a partner. He is a Cancer Sun but with a Mars in Aries opposition Uranus square Saturn.

  The other contender for the top net porn slot is XVideos, owned by the Czech-registered company WGCZ holdings, 18 August 2014, which has an unpleasant Mars Saturn conjunction in Scorpio; a Leo Sun; and a Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Jupiter Venus.

  Pornhub, 25 May 2007 (owned by Mindgeek), is a Sun and Mercury in Gemini; with Mars in Aries; and its Mars/Saturn midpoint is at 13 Gemini.

  Gemini as a sign is sharp-witted, good at coping with complicated set-ups, often turns up in the lists of the world’s richest, and has a dark, wayward, at times amoral streak.

  Mars Saturn, Ebertin describes as harmful or destructive  energy. It has a positive side though it requires maturity and decency to get the better end of it. In raw form it is associated with cruelty, heartlessness and is damaging to the healthy sexuality.

More on Pornhub: On 4 December 2019, the New York Times published a column entitled The Children of Pornhub pointing out that “its site is infested with rape videos. It monetises child rapes, revenge pornography, spycam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags. A search for ‘girls under18″’ (no space) or ‘14yo’ leads in each case to more than 100,000 videos. Most aren’t of children being assaulted, but too many are.”

‘Appealing to the better angels of their owners to clean up their sites is just fatuous. It would be nice, in this festive season, to think that MindGeek suddenly saw the moral light. Likewise, it would be nice to see pigs fly in close formation. Fabulously profitable corporations don’t do ethics. So what changed? Simply this: on 10 December, Mastercard and Visa announced that they had prohibited the use of their cards on Pornhub. It’s the old story, in other words: money talks. MindGeek only moved when the handle of its money-pump was suddenly removed.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/19/pornhub-abuse-videos-new-york-times-mastercard-visa

Princess Charlene of Monaco, an icon of cool sophistication, has taken the extraordinary step of having a punk half-head-shaved buzz cut. It’s been put down to a new found independence and wish to please herself. Which may well be a precursor to her upping sticks and leaving what has been an unhappy stint in Monaco since she wed Prince Albert in tears in 2011. Twins followed in 2014 in what was rumoured to be part of the marriage contract after she was reportedly persuaded back, having bolted with pre-wedding nerves.

   Born 25 January 1978 12.35 pm Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, she’s a charming Sun Venus in Aquarius opposition Mars in Leo with an ‘unconventional’ Uranus in her relationship 7^th house. She’s also got a Leo Moon and Saturn in her 4^th house of home and family so she will crave a settled domestic life though it will always require effort.

  What is on cue is tr Uranus moving across her Taurus Ascendant now which is the start of a rebellious, defiant few years both in terms of appearance and also behaviour when she’ll go her own way no matter what the reaction. And, of course, the tr Saturn Jupiter move into Aquarius and crossing her Sun Venus will also be prompting thoughts of a new start. Tr Uranus is also square her Midheaven at the moment elbowing her to consider a radical change of direction. 

Through 2021 tr Uranus will oppose her Sun/Moon midpoint (= the marriage significator) with tr Saturn in square. This will put an additional strain on her marriage – with disruptions, a strong sense of separation and facing up to a few realities. But if she is going to go, and her predecessor Princess Grace stayed despite her unhappiness, it’ll be 2022 when tr Uranus square tr Saturn elbows her Moon. 2022 is also the year of her mid life crisis with tr Uranus opposing her 7^th house Uranus, so she’ll be seriously reconsidering her life options.

  The marriage always was going to be a grind with a composite unfair-treatment, one-sided composite Mars Saturn trine the Sun Mercury in the relationship chart – she had to give away a good deal of herself in return for a gilded cage. His controlling Pluto falls in her 4^th conjunct her Saturn and his wayward Uranus is opposition her Sun Venus; with his intimacy-blocking Saturn in her 8^th.  Not ideal.

The marriage chart for 1 July 2011 had a Cancer New Moon opposition a controlling Pluto square a deprived. unyielding Saturn opposition an unsettled Uranus – not a good omen for what followed.

  The relationship chart indicates 2022/23 are the low point with tr Pluto squaring the Saturn Mars for three years and tr Saturn conjunct the composite Sun – and that will be beyond tough going.

  2022 is when Prince Albert’s Sun/Moon midpoint will be under severe strain. This coming year sees the undermining tr Neptune conjunct his Pisces Sun, with his Venus in Aquarius being severely shaken up as well, not boding well for his love life. He’ll be tripping over one disaster after another from mid year and it only gets worse in 2022/23 with a devastating Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Neptune; a confusing, uncertain tr Neptune square his 7^th house Saturn; as well as a frustrating, enraging, trapped tr Pluto conjunct his financial and emotional 8^th house Mars.

   Princess Diana had tr Uranus crossing her Sagittarius Ascendant from 1986 onwards, two years after Harry’s birth, as she floated away from Prince Charles, though their split only came in the early 1990s.

Add ON: Reports suggests there is not a sympathetic connection with Princess Caroline of Monaco, Prince Albert’s older sister.  Born 23 January 1957 9.27am Monaco, she has a 12^th house Sun in Aquarius opposition Uranus – and that falls exactly on top of Charlene’s Sun Venus in Aquarius opposition Mars in Leo, so it will be a scratchy, uncompromising interface.

   Caroline’s Pluto is conjunct Charlene’s 4^th house Saturn so sister-in-the-law will be experienced as controlling and restrictive. Caroline’s Saturn is conjunct Charlene’s 8^th house Neptune which again inhibits warmth and a deep connection. In turn Charlene’s elusive Neptune is conjunct Caroline’s Midheaven, making for confusion, and perhaps a hint that Charlene’s starry aura does not sit well with Caroline.

   Their relationship chart has a chilly composite Venus square Saturn; and a disruptive composite Moon Uranus Pluto. It’s a relationship that will undergo many upheavals – starting this year and running on for the next several.   

After an annis horribilis it was a toss up whether fashion high priestess Anna Wintour’s Scorpio Sun being opposed by Uranus was going to lead to a departure or a positive change. It’s still questionable whether her elevation to two glittery new titles  – chief content officer of Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue – is a promotion or a space-clearing manoeuvre to allow the British Vogue editor Edward Enninful ultimately to step into gap.

   She has been a seemingly immoveable fixture on the high fashion scene for 15 years but Enninful has come in with a more youthful and diversity-focussed approach and he now takes over all of the European Vogues.

  There is no love lost between them since his Mars in Taurus opposes Wintour’s Sun and her Mars in Virgo opposes his Pisces Sun so there is a competitive edge to their interface. And their relationship chart has an argumentative composite Sun opposition Mars; but that is the driving rod of a creative Grand Trine. If they can make it work and avoid gamesmanship and ego-clashes then it could be a productive partnership.

  She looks in better fettle than him with tr Pluto conjunct her Jupiter in Capricorn from late January 2021 to late 2022 which brings success, money and soaring confidence.

  He is less blessed by his stars in the immediate future with some disappointments and frustrations ahead.

  Whether Vogue itself can survive through an economic recession and the shift away from influencer/wealth envy is moot.  The Vogue chart, 17 December 1892, looks on a downhill slide for the next three years with tr Neptune conjunct the Mars and square the Sun.  

  For Wintour’s past woes see previous post April 20 2020. 

Rumblings from Florida hint that Trump will not be welcome to spend his retirement/declining years in Mar-a-Lago with neighbours seeking to enforce a decades-old compact (that gave him significant tax breaks) that says Mar-a-Lago, his private social club, cannot be used as a full-time residence.

  Melania has already been scoping out Florida schools for Barron and Ivanka/Jared appear to be moving to a billionaire’s bunker in the sunshine state, perhaps attracted to a local state law on “homestead exemption”, which protects a Florida resident’s primary home (of unlimited value) from being seized by creditors. In 2008 Bernie Madoff’s wife suddenly switched her primary residence from New York to Florida and applied for a homestead exemption to protect her $9.4m home.

  The family all appear to accept that New York will not welcome them back with open arms.

  Trump bought Mar-a-Lago on 27 December 1985, when there was a Sun Neptune in Capricorn in his 5^th house of enjoyment and entertainment; and a forceful Mars Pluto in Scorpio. That latter is being seriously rattled by tr Uranus in opposition from later this month and through till early March so all will not be equable and harmonious for the great retreat. That looks like a considerable disruption. Tr Neptune is also in a high-tension square to the Sale Uranus. The Eclipses from now till late 2021 will also be rattling the Saturn, Mercury, Uranus in Sagittarius on the Sale chart and the Solar Arc Mars Pluto for one crisis after another.

  The relationship chart between Trump and Mar-a-Lago is sinking and dissolving from now onwards with tr Neptune conjunct the composite Uranus and moving on to hit the composite Saturn, Mercury and Sun over several years ahead.  It was never that settled a residence for him anyway – possibly because nowhere ever would be.

  All trivia and water under the bridge now as far as world-changing politics is concerned but of passing interest.  For Trump Tribe family prospects see previous post August 25 2020.

Tom Cruise has been blowing off expletives at crew members on the set of Mission Impossible 7, who were ignoring distancing rules. Filming has been delayed because of Covid and there have been accidents so the production was already tense. Several crew members have left since Cruise’s rant surfaced, though for once he was talking sense. The industry has been badly damaged by the pandemic with widespread job losses as he pointed out.

  Born 3 July 1962 Syracuse with an unverified time of 3.06 pm, he has a Cancer Sun trine Neptune trine Jupiter in Pisces with Jupiter opposition Pluto – so private and creative from the Water Grand Trine and influential from having a super-confident Pluto as the driving planet. He has a super-determined Mars in Taurus in a volatile square to Uranus Venus in Leo, so he will have a short fuse. His head-in-the-clouds Neptune in Scorpio is on the focal point of a Fixed T Square to Saturn in Aquarius opposition a Leo North Node and maybe Moon.

   He is looking stressed as of now with a panicky-failure tr Neptune square his Sun/Mars midpoint till late January. And his life won’t improve much thereafter with a discouraging slog through February with tr Pluto square his Sun/Saturn midpoint and a mountain of frustrations thereafter as tr Pluto trines his Mars for two years thereafter. He also has a blocked Solar Arc Sun conjunct his Pluto within six months or so. Plus the high-tension and disruptive tr Uranus square tr Saturn will be bouncing off his Neptune and Saturn from spring 2021 onwards for more than a year which will induce considerable concerns. 2022 should be easier.

Julie Burchill, the media commentator known for her outrageous, often offensive and contentious opinions, has stirred up another hornets’ nest. She has had her book ‘Welcome to the Woke Trials: How #Identity killed progressive politics’ due out in March, dropped by publishers Little, Brown after a row with Muslim journalist Ash Sarkar. She was accused of ‘crossing a line’ by posting ‘Islamophobic’ comments on Twitter.  Burchill had tweeted that Sarkar’s worship of the Prophet Mohammed was the ‘worship of a paedophile’, referring to the 7th Century leader’s marriage to his third wife Aisha when she was around 10. 

  Born 3 July 1059 Bristol, England, Burchill is a Sun Cancer opposition Saturn, sextile Pluto and trine – so an odd mix of under-confident and utterly unyielding. What causes the problems is her Mercury, Uranus, Mars spread out through Leo which will make her attention-grabbing, explosive, uncompromising; and with her Mars squaring Jupiter she’ll be a risk-taker and impulsive.  She’s not a happy camper from later this month to late January with a major disruption from tr Uranus square her Sun/Pluto midpoint; followed by a disastrous two years of scary, risky tr Pluto square her Mars/Saturn midpoint.

  It may or may not blow up into a “Satanic Verses” Rushdie standoff but even if it doesn’t will provoke similar arguments.  

In 1988 author Salman Rushdie had to go into hiding with heavy security after death threats were made against him for a novel that Westerners would not have raised an eyebrow over. Joan Bakewell remarked at the time it was a problem for a basically tolerant country when it takes in intolerant elements – it doesn’t know what to do with them. The UK has no interdict against blasphemy, while Islam does. And it’s why the rigorously secular French made such a stand over Charlie Hebdo, ditto the Danes over the Muhmmad cartoons.

  There was an excellent book years back by, I think a Norwegian journalist, about the position of modern women in Islamic countries which certainly included detail about Muhammad’s complicated marital history. She was not popular but whether she spent the rest of her life in hiding I don’t know.

  Ash Sarkar is a left-wing journalist and political activist, 17 April 1992, and has an Aries with a super-determined Pluto trine Mars, sextiling onto a highly strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn. She enjoys jousting with Burchill in a fight for the upper hand and last word with both their respective Jupiters and Pluto colliding. And Sarkar’s Pluto squares Burchill’s Mars for a hostile clash.  

  In some ways it’s a spat in a teacup. But it also highlights an unresolved and unresolvable problem about respect for other cultures/religions when they don’t offer respect for the mores of the country they choose to live in.

Shia Laboeuf, the American actor, performance artist and filmmaker with a track record of misdemeanours from disorderly conduct to public intoxication has been accused by the musician FKA twigs of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress during their year long liaison. He has not denied the allegations and said in response: “I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt.”

  He was born 11 June 1986 12.14 am Los Angeles, with a former dancer turned jewellery designer mother and an ex-Vietnam veteran father who suffered from PTSD and was an alcoholic. He has said he had a ‘hippy lifestyle” childhood and despite problems and poverty was happy and he loved both parents, whom he supports today.

  He has a 4^th house Gemini Sun opposition a wayward Uranus in the 10^th which squares onto Jupiter in Pisces – he won’t be short of confidence but will lack common sense with such an emphasised Jupiter. It can describe an irresponsible wanderer who expects results with no effort though, it can, if sorted out ultimately produce an enlightened spokesperson. His Mars in Capricorn opposes Venus in Cancer and a Leo Moon. Venus Mars in hard aspect tends to be insensitive to partner’s needs. His 6^th house Leo Moon squares an 8^th house Pluto, so he’ll be emotionally intense, possessive, and certainly shouldn’t over-drink since his health won’t cope with too much abuse. His Moon also trines Saturn in Sagittarius. He’s clearly ambivalent about his mother who brought him up after his parents divorced – Moon in aspect to Venus and Mars and Pluto and Saturn is quite bubbling cauldron of attachment, anger, fear and guilt.

 FKA twigs (what gives with these weird names?), 16 January 1988, England, was a seriously bad match for him. Her Capricorn Sun is conjunct his Mars and her Mars in Sagittarius is conjunct his Saturn; her Sagittarius Moon conjunct his Uranus and her disruptive Uranus Saturn in Sagittarius falls in his 10^th square his Jupiter and opposition his Sun.  Apart from her Venus in Pisces trine his Pluto there’s not much of a connection.

  Though the relationship chart does have a positive composite Sun Jupiter conjunction, and a passionate Venus opposition Pluto – which won’t make up for the effects of an explosive Uranus Mars conjunction.  On balance more minuses than pluses.

  He needs to get his act together. He does have his Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his Mars this year for a wake-up call. And his North Node opposition Pluto square Moon will have moved by Solar Arc to have the Moon square his Saturn in 18 months’ time which will be another sharp reality check.

   Pic: John Blauld.

John Le Carre, best known for his Cold War spy fiction which he raised to a literary art – The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Night Manager, The Perfect Gardener – has died aged 89.

  Born David Cornwell on 19 October 1931, he had an extraordinary childhood with his mother bolting when he was six leaving his brother and himself with their father, Ronnie Cornwell, described as “ a charming, colourful, larger-than-life confidence trickster, a fantasist and a womaniser, briefly imprisoned in several parts of the world, who left a trail of unpaid debts, false names, bogus letterheads, perplexed women, unsuccessful racehorses, luxurious motor cars and dubious financial schemes.” The two boys had to share his lies: “To run the household with no money required a lot of serious lying to the local garage man, the local butcher, the local everybody.”

  Ronnie used them to get himself out of trouble. David and his older brother, Tony, developed skills in observation and reading between the lines, targeted at their father. In turn Ronnie kept his boys under constant surveillance, listening to their phone calls, searching their rooms, opening their mail. Life with Ronnie was an apprenticeship in espionage.

  In later years having served in MI5 (counter intelligence) and MI6, Le Carre speculated that ‘the habit of keeping secrets about his father had accustomed him to the blanket of protection which membership of a secret community confers, and that working in a confidential capacity for the government offered a combination of propriety and subversion to match his curious upbringing.’

  He only met his mother once after her departure when he was 21 but the rift was never healed. His father despite his appalling behaviour held a place in his affections till the end, despite latterly trying to tap into his son’s royalties.

  Le Carre was a Sun Mercury in Libra with the signature tough-as-nails Great Depression aspects of Pluto opposition Saturn square Uranus tied into his Sun; with his Pluto in a dourly determined trine to Mars in Scorpio; and his Jupiter in an adventurous square to Mars and trine to Uranus. His Moon was in Aquarius almost certainly square Venus in Scorpio and maybe opposition Jupiter in Leo – which is odd with an estranged mother, though houses might be more descriptive if the birth time was known.  But his father was the overwhelming influence in his life, tying him in with a controlling Sun square Pluto and Saturn, despite his wayward Uranian lifestyle.

  A genealogy website has his father’s birthdate as 4 November 1905 which looks feasible, giving Ronnie a Scorpio Sun conjunct Le Carre’s Venus and Ronnie’s Venus in Libra widely conjunct Le Carre’s Sun which suggests an affectionate bond. Though the conflicting cross overs between each’s Mars to the other’s Saturn hint at the other more aggravating side of their chemistry.

 Their relationship chart had the classic paranoid signature of Saturn opposition Neptune square Sun, so it would veer between an illusory connection and discouragement; with an affectionate Sun Venus; and a super-confident, struggle for the upper hand Sun trine Jupiter Pluto. Quite a mix.

  Le Carre was an acute observer of the political and wider social scene, with a cynical distrust of authority figures and government and a nuanced, at times jaundiced, view of the split between the good guys and the bad guys. His spies weren’t heroic James Bonds in Armani suits. One of his characters remarks ‘“Spies? They’re a squalid procession of vain fools, sadists and drunkards, people who play cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten lives.” 

  The British scene will be poorer for his passing.  He had a prominent though strained writer’s 21^st harmonic; a super-obsessive 11H; a victim/healer 12H and a notable leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H.