Astrology of Today’s News

Sean Penn, the actor, director, writer with a mercurial  personal life, is stomping the boards in support of the Ukrainians threatening to smelt his Oscars if President Zelensky isn’t allowed to speak at the Academy Awards.

  Luvvies at full trumpet on behalf of humanitarian issues is hardly a surprise but Penn is emerging as a substantial player in the activist world, having been hands-on after Hurricane Katrina, more so after the Haiti earthquake. He was in Ukraine filming a documentary, in preparation late 2021, when the invasion started and had to walk to the Polish border to escape.

  He won two Oscars for Mystic River and Milk, before moving to directing and latterly to novel writing.

  Born 17 August 1960 3.17pm Burbank, California, with film business parents and his father the son of Russian immigrants, he started early making short films at school with his friends Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez. He’s been married at least three times to – Madonna, Robin Wright (on, off, on, off) and another actress – all brief, plus flings with Susan Sarandon, Charlize Theron, Jewel.

  He has a talented, tough-minded, forceful and determined chart.  His communication/far-travelled 9^th house is noticeable with a flamboyant Sun close to revolutionary/outspoken Uranus and in a lucky trine to an enthusiastic, confident Jupiter in his 1st. There’s also in his spread-the-word 9^th house, an opinionated, charming and intense Venus Pluto in Virgo which is on one leg of an accomplished Half Grand Sextile formed from a Cancer Moon opposition Saturn trine/sextile Neptune. Plus he has a heated, argumentative Mars on his Descendant square Pluto Venus, making him hell-bent on getting what he wants.    

 He’s also got a ‘karmic’ Yod onto Saturn inconjunct Mars sextile Mercury – which is difficult to live up to and handle well. Can be self defeating.

  It’s not an easy chart for relationships with a chilly Moon Saturn and that can-be-overly-forceful Mars Pluto.

  Relocating his chart to Ukraine puts his caring Cancer Moon on the Ascendant and his Sun and Pluto straddling the IC so it will resonate at a core level for him. Haiti and New Orleans (Hurricane Katrina) have his healing Neptune Midheaven line running through.  Moscow has his vehement Venus Pluto conjunction on the IC and Beijing has Venus Pluto on the Ascendant so both will ramp up his emotional responses.  

  At the moment he’s coming out of a low profile several years and winding up steam for his next life’s phase. He’s considerably aggravated this year and next with his Progressed Mars opposition his Saturn which fits with being in a war-zone; with his high hopes not working out as quickly as he’d like. 2023 is a mix of some confusion and high confidence success which runs into 2024.

 His get-it-together 5^th Harmonic is strongly aspected, confident and defiant and his humanitarian 9^th is marked. His leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H is also featured with Saturn Pluto aspects suggesting his work in disaster areas will be his gift for posterity.   

The confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated for the Supreme Court have been ‘rife with racism, sexism, feigned outrage and general ugliness’ according to the Washington Post. Despite which she is expected to be voted through in early April, assuming enough Democratic senators are healthy and present.

 She was born 14 September 1970 in Washington into a family of academics, lawyers and police officers; edited the Harvard Law review at college and has worked her way up steadily through  the ranks to become a Federal Judge.

  She has a hard-working, determined and controlling Mercury, Sun, Pluto in Virgo which is trine/sextile a stalwart, idealistic Saturn in Taurus opposition Neptune. Her Mars also in Virgo is sextile a charming Jupiter Neptune in Scorpio; and she has a Pisces Moon. Half her chart is Mutable = flexible, scattered, multi-tasking and the other half Fixed = enduring, stubborn. She’s also Earth Water which is not a bad combination of practicality and empathy.

Her midpoints which had a Jupiterian lift when her nomination was announced, have been rattled through these confirmation hearings with disappointment and confusion showing up. Tr Jupiter in Pisces will oppose her Sun in early April and then Pluto which may help in a minor way. Mid May and more so mid June onwards look undermining and disruptive. Her Solar Arc Venus Jupiter is moving in square to her Pluto this year and next which will help. But it won’t have been a life-affirming process.

 Assuming the general view holds good and she is confirmed, she’ll get on well with Chief Justice John Roberts; will meet hostility from Amy Barrett and Clarence Thomas, and worse from Brett Kavanaugh. Sonia Sotomayor may be cool. Her interface with the Supreme Court chart itself hints at a disruptive relationship as it moves through a period of some turmoil ahead.

  The politicking of Clarence Thomas’s wife Virginia is raising more than eyebrows at the moment see post 30 January 2022. And the partisan nature of the judges and decisions are causing public concern and lowering public respect for the institution. See post 30 October 2021.

A stolid Taurus Chancellor with a meticulous Saturn in Virgo is not a great match for a harum-scarum Prime Minister with the attention-span of a gnat and less interest in economics except when it comes to handing out largesse from the money-tree.

  Yesterday’s budget seems to have pleased no one with sensational headlines about a historic plummeting of standard of living in the coming months and several years ahead. Which fits the astrology – see previous post of December 19 2021. This is a reprise with not much of cheer to add.

[Post-budget headlines have been damning. The worst fall in the standard of living since records began. The highest level of taxation since the 1940s. More than a million people to fall into absolute poverty. Nothing for the out-of-work and disabled. Food and energy prices spiralling out of control.]

  Transiting Uranus is rattling through the financial 8^th house until 2027 which will be erratic and unpredictable, not necessarily all negative but unstable economically. This year Uranus squares the financial Venus and opposes the financial Neptune for high anxiety and upsets.

 The blocked Solar Arc Pluto square the UK Sun, exact in 8 months, will not add to the cheer of the nation. Though it may not be financial. That is followed by a Solar Arc Saturn opposition the UK Uranus, exact in 18 months which will bring disruptions, and tensions, again not necessarily focussed on economics. And the Solar Arc Sun will square the 2^nd house financial Neptune late 2023/into 2024 which will bring financial disappointment.

  Tr Uranus will square the 11^th house UK Saturn from July 2023 to early 2025 which will shake up the legislature and may bring pressure for significant changes.

  Tr Pluto square opposition the UK Jupiter in 2023/24 will bring a confident push but there’s still the biggest financial jolt to come in 2025 with the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the 8^th house Mars.

 It won’t be the end of the universe but will be a rocky and swampy ride. Not that any country looks exactly cheerful through the same period but it will be a notable time of historical change for the UK.

   The Bank of England chart shows up 2023 to 2025 as the road-blocked and high-stress years.

  Rishi Sunak, 12 May 1980, will find his hopes won’t work out this year and next with tr Pluto square his Mars/Neptune midpoint; with gloom through 2023 from tr Saturn in Pisces opposition his Jupiter Mars and upheavals also in 2023 from tr Uranus conjunct his Sun Mercury and opposition his Uranus. He may decide discretion is the better part of ambition and bale out to a financial institution.

  Much is made in the media of his embattled relationship with the PM  – which is certainly riddled with doubt and suspicion with a composite Sun Mercury opposition Neptune Saturn. But there’s not too much showing in the near future without Sunak’s birth time.

Add On: Brexit chickens coming home to roost.

UK goods exports have underperformed the rest of the world – as Brexit limits UK trade performance. UK goods exports fell 14 per cent in the three months to January compared with the same period in 2020, in contrast to the global average of an 8.2 per cent rise over the same period.

“While most other advanced economies have seen a strong recovery in trade, UK exports remain below pre-pandemic levels.”

The OBR noted that “none of the new free trade agreements or other regulatory changes announced so far would be sufficient” to have a material impact on its forecasts for UK trade. It has estimated that leaving the EU would result in the total UK imports and exports being 15 per cent lower than if Britain had remained part of the EU.

UK exporters will continue “to be slowly cut out of global supply chains, due to the extra administrative burden for EU firms of sourcing goods from Britain”.

https://www.ft.com/content/021c629d-5853-4111-9600-ab5f0eb65a35

Please add below. Older charts under news on top bar.

Madeleine Albright, a Czech refugee, who became the first female US Secretary of State under Bill Clinton has died aged 84. Her early life was challenging as her diplomat father took the family to London months before World War 11, only to live through the blitz, and returned to Czechoslovakia briefly after the war before fleeing the communist regime to seek asylum in the US. By the age of 11 Albright had already lived in several countries and spoke four languages. She was brought up Roman Catholic and only discovered in the 1990s that she was born Jewish, with three grandparents killed in the holocaust.  

  Her father taught at the University of Denver, where one of his later students was Condoleezza Rice, the second female Secretary of State under GW Bush. Madeleine Albright married a philandering publishing executive, had three daughters moved into academic life and then when her marriage split into politics. Her reputation as a tough operator followed her into the UN where she was US Ambassador, constantly championing US power.

In a later interview, Albright said the US had a problem with women in politics. “I don’t understand it, frankly,” she said. “We are very good at being No 1 in many things and yet we are not in this and I don’t know the answer. Because there are certainly very qualified women.” When she was professor of International Relations she made a point of putting women into the male-dominated roles, teaching them the importance of speaking up and interrupting to have their voices heard.

Because of her familiarity with communism and fascism, she was a fierce proponent of human rights and opposition to authoritarianism on the international stage, even if it meant military intervention. Though she was against the Iraq invasion.

  She used her jewellery to diplomatic effect, wearing an antique snake pin after she was called an “unparalleled serpent” by the Iraqi media after the first Gulf war. A giant insect brooch came out when the Russians were embroiled in a “bugging” scandal; and her monkey broach was worn to a frosty encounter with Putin in a subliminal “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil” reprimand over Russia’s activities in Chechnya. 

   She was born 15 May 1937 in Prague (no birth time) and had a dogged, enduring, stubborn chart, which reflected the dangers and stresses of her formative years. It’s the kind of chart that could easily have gone bad but she used her toughness to good use. She had a Taurus Sun conjunct Algol and conjunct Mercury with her Sun opposition a formidable Mars in late Scorpio; with her Mars was in an even more redoubtable Grand Trine involving Pluto and Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries. Her Sun was trine a lucky Jupiter in Capricorn on one side and Neptune on the other. Her Pluto was in a pushily confident opposition to Jupiter tempered by being square a diplomatic Venus. Complicated, talented, courageous and massively strong-willed.    

   Her spiritual-seeker 7th Harmonic was strong as was her ‘master number’ 11H and most marked was her breakthrough/exploration 13H.

Putin’s close family will be on high alert given the pressure he is under and the risk of him being deposed or dispatched out of a window. They may not like him but their own position, financial and otherwise, may be jeopardized and undermined if he were toppled.

Maria Putin, 28 April 1985, St Petersburg, his eldest daughter, a paediatric endocrinologist, is according to reports splitting from her husband, a Dutch businessman. She is a stubborn, controlling Sun Taurus opposition Pluto trine Neptune. Her Neptune sextile Pluto is on the base of a Yod inconjunct Mars in Gemini. Such a Yod is overly forceful and impulsive. Certainly she’ll have had major power and anger issues – both doing and been done to.  Father comes across as dominating.

  Mid June onwards looks especially hazardous for her with tr Uranus square her Mars/Pluto midpoint, with her standing being diminished as tr Neptune squares her Jupiter/Pluto midpoint – 2023 will see her on high alert. Though her greatest challenges will come after mid decade with tr Pluto in Aquarius bearing down on her Sun opposition Pluto.

 Katerina Putin, 31 August 1986, a scientist and former acrobatic dancer, his second daughter, is a Sun Mercury in Virgo sextile Pluto, square Saturn in Sagittarius and trine Neptune Mars in Capricorn – controlling in her own way and forceful. She looked rattled and unsettled in January when the Ukraine build up started; and is in a flat panic at the moment until mid April with tr Neptune square her Mars/Saturn midpoint, repeating later in the year into early 2023. Her Progressed Mars in late Capricorn is catching the tr Pluto conjunction, which will be scared and trapped into 2023.

  Putin’s reported mistress and maybe mother of further children, a former Olympic gymnast, Alina Kabaeva, 12 May 1983, is a New Moon Mercury in Taurus with an alarming, hair-raising Mars in Taurus exactly conjunct Algol on the focal point of a Yod to a bleak, unyielding Saturn Pluto in Libra sextile Neptune. That is one tough and angry chart.

   February (last month) saw her in calamity territory and this month till mid April is no better. The rest of the year has one upbeat influence and several knocked-sideways ones. But it is 2023 which shows up as the major enthusiasm dampener. At that point her lucky Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius is under a dark Saturnine cloud. In 2023 as well tr Uranus will conjunct her Sun and Mercury for forced changes against heavy resistance; and 2024 will be worse as tr Uranus is conjunct her Yod focal point Mars giving her a considerable shock and forcing her life onto a different trajectory.

 Lyudmila Putina (as was), his former wife and mother of Maria and Katerina, 6 January 1958, has gone on to marry a younger husband. She’s a Sun Capricorn with a stressed Mars in Sagittarius square Pluto, trine Uranus with her Uranus opposition Venus. She would have attracted herself to a domineering husband with Mars Pluto though may, as she has matured, turned it round to become the one holding the reins. Her fortunes are mixed ahead with hostile arguments and discouraging challenges this year; but more confidence and luck in 2023/24 interspersed with a few setbacks.

  Kiril Shamalov, ex-husband of Maria, a billionaire, former economic adviser to the government and son of a Russian bank owner, confidante of Putin, was born 22 March 1982. He’s a Sun Aries with a formidable collection of Mars, Saturn and Pluto spread through Libra. His Progressed Mars is exactly square his Sun at the moment for a setback and shock; and his Solar Arc Uranus is also square his Mars now for much the same effect in a double whammy of unwished for thunderbolts.

   He looks suspiciously upbeat this August to November with tr Pluto square his Mars/Jupiter midpoint. 2023 will be so-so. 2024 he will find his mojo again with more confidence and luck though 2025 with tr Saturn Neptune conjunct his Sun won’t do his prospects much good.

  Not all the influences on these charts will relate to the evil overlord’s prospects but the ripples are bound to be felt.

Ingress charts erected for the moment the Sun enters one of the four Cardinal signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn – were once deemed important in traditional astrology. But are not much used nowadays since they are not altogether enlightening. Opinions varied as to which was the important one for giving an overview of the year ahead. Some thought Cancer, others Libra and some Capricorn.

  The recent Aries ingress located to Kyiv puts a disappointing Neptune on the Descendant square the Midheaven, suggesting a deceptive neighbour, lack of support, and uncertain direction. There is also an explosive Mars in Aquarius square Uranus but it doesn’t leap out as a harbinger of war.

 The previous Capricorn Ingress last December does have a power-struggling neighbour with Pluto on the descendant opposition Moon for Kyiv, but again not much that is too hair-raising. Although digging deeper the Sun is sitting conjunct the ruthless/brutal Mars/Pluto midpoint.

 The coming Cancer Ingress looks more destructive with Mars square Pluto and sextile Saturn; with again an unsupportive, slippery Neptune in the 7^th.

 The Libra Ingress has Uranus on the Midheaven for Kyiv – pointing to a sharp change of direction if it means anything.

  I would have to confess I don’t find Ingresses useful.  Eclipses are usually more indicative of what’s happening and where.  See post Eclipses March 5 2022.  

The carnival that is Sylvio Berlusconi’s life aquired another roundabout on Saturday as he added a not-quite bride to his extensive list of liaisons. His children evidently objected to a legal hitch with his latest squeeze, some 53 years younger, which might affect their legacy from his £5 billion estate. So he went ahead and had all the trappings of a white wedding without the expensive ‘I do.’

 Born 29 September 1936 5.40am Milan, he started life as a cruise ship crooner, built a media fortune, became prime minister, saw off innumerable scandals, has suffered various bouts of ill health and is still standing and singing at 85. His ‘bride’, reportedly unhappy at not getting the full works, is a heavily-peroxided blonde Italian MP, Marta Fascina, 9 January 1990.

  She has the triple conjunction of Uranus, Neptune, Saturn conjunct her Mercury and Sun all in his 4^th so home life won’t be too settled.  Her fun-loving Venus in Aquarius is in his playful, sociable 5^th and her Jupiter (maybe Gemini Moon) are close to his Midheaven, so she’ll be drawn to his status and he may well regard her as an asset. Though his children are probably correct about the money since her controlling Pluto falls in his 2^nd which will tempt her to get a grip.

  Their relationship chart has a power-couple Jupiter Pluto conjunction sextile Sun Mercury which will give both a boost – until it doesn’t and descends into a tussle for the upper hand. There is a one-side composite Saturn trine Mars sextile Venus which may be a reflection of the age gap but it isn’t a match of equals for sure.

  His relationship prospects don’t look too rosy ahead with tr Neptune square his Sun/Moon midpoint before mid year and tr Neptune heading for his 7^th. But he’s having fun so probably doesn’t care. She’s also into a Neptunian year or two of some disappointment. So not much of a honeymoon.

PS The pic is the previous arm candy, aged 28, who like this one, pursued him.

The Duke of Windsor was always known to have Nazi sympathies but a documentary this coming weekend based on Andrew Lownie’s recent book Traitor King goes further and says he knowingly passed information to the Nazis that aided in the fall of France in 1940 and encouraged Germany to bomb Britain into submission to be followed by his return to the throne.

   Some historians are sceptical but Lownie says everything is based on primary sources from the Royal Archives and from German and Portuguese police reports of the time. It reveals a telegram from Winston Churchill to the Duke in July 1940, following the fall of France, in which the he appears to threaten the ex-monarch with a court-martial. During the invasion, the Duke and duchess fled to Lisbon, Portugal, where they continued to socialise with German agents and sympathisers. Not long after, Churchill made the Duke the Governor of the Bahamas, removing him from Europe.

  Born 23 June 1894 9.55pm Richmond, England, the Duke had a Cancer Sun in an impulsive square to Mars in his financial 2^nd house. His Pisces Moon, also 2^nd house, was square a 4^th house Pluto (conjunct Neptune Jupiter) in Gemini.  He evidently remained an adolescent all his life, collecting childhood toys (shades of Prince Andrew’s teddy bears). His Jupiter was in his sociable 5^th. Relocating his chart to Berlin put his ‘comfortable/spoilt Jupiter on the IC, so a place where he could relax and feel supported.

 Hitler’s Jupiter in Capricorn opposed the Duke’s Cancer Sun and square his Mars which would provide a veneer of good feelings though there was no underlying compatibility.  

  The Duke was certainly a terrible match with Churchill with his Pluto opposition Churchill’s Sagittarius Sun, his Mars on Ch’s Descendant and his Sun on Ch’s MC for a competitive interface; and his Saturn conjunct Ch’s Mars Jupiter for outright dislike.   

  And he had an even worse fit with the UK since that relationship chart had a bitterly hostile composite Mars Pluto opposition Uranus, inconjunct Saturn – and that was never going to work.

  King George V1, his reluctant successor, wasn’t exactly stable with a 2^nd house Sagittarius Sun and Mercury opposition an 8^th house Neptune Pluto; but his Midheaven and Jupiter in Leo fell in the UK’s 10th which would provide a morale-boosting relationship.

  Churchill’s relationship chart with the UK had not surprisingly a ‘fated’ yod of Jupiter sextile Saturn inconjunct Pluto – the man and the moment came together.

  At the fall of France in 1940 with the war in full swing, tr Pluto was conjunct the Duke’s Solar Arc Jupiter and trine his Mars, pumping up his amour propre and determination. On his relationship chart with Churchill there was high alarm and anxiety which had been building for a year or so with tr Pluto square the composite Uranus and tr Uranus conjunct the composite Neptune.

  The Royal family has always been a coach crash in terms of personality failings but he does seem to have been worse than most. His mother, the ramrod straight Queen Mary never forgave him for the abdication and his brother George V1 had an aggravated interface with him which was being exacerbated as war broke out – with the composite Saturn square Mars catching the tr Pluto square tr Saturn.

  Exile was the least he deserved.  

Add On: The Duke’s Venus was in late Taurus conjunct the can-be-destructive star Algol. His brother Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, also had Venus in Taurus conjunct Algol – he conducted a famous affair with married pilot Beryl Markham until his father put a stop to it.  Prince Diana’s Venus in Taurus was conjunct Algol which would make sense of the damaging side of the Fixed star. But so is Prince William’s Venus in Taurus, which sits within 15 minutes of a degree to Algol (= closely conjunct) and on the apex of a Yod. It’s less obvious in his case where the Algol effect operates.

  There are earlier degree Venus in Taurus in the charts of George V, Queen Mary of Teck, and the Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood ( the Duke of Windsor’s sister.)

 And of this generation – Zara Phillips has her Taurus Sun conjunct Algol. Princess Charlotte has her Mars in last decan Taurus; and her younger brother Prince Louis has his Venus in late Taurus, neither conjunct Algol.

 A family signature.

The romance of the century – tempestuous, turbulent, tumultuous and heartbreaking – is a label that fits several iconic marriages, none more so that the ill-starred match between the two Hollywood legends Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.  ‘Truly Madly’ is the latest book, by a former Hollywood Reporter editor, to rake over the details.

  Leigh is etched in public memory for her Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind and Blanche du Bois from Streetcar Named Desire; Olivier for Shakespeare and a raft of screen hits. Their marriage lasted on paper for twenty years, during which she had breakdowns diagnosed as “manic depression”, which sent her into rounds of electroshock therapy, a cycle of excited derangement followed by suicidal depression. Both drank excessively and both had affairs, she with Peter Finch and he with Dorothy Tutin.

 Both came out of dysfunctional backgrounds, he the son of a tyrannical and eccentric clergyman with his mother dying when he was 12; and Leigh never recovering from being sent aged six to boarding school by her parents in India. They both abandoned their first spouses to be together and then set out on a high-profile stormy marriage with two careers and her illness constantly pulling them apart.  

 Olivier was born 22 May 1907 5am Dorking, England with a 12^th house Sun Mercury in Taurus. He had a Virgo Moon opposition Saturn in Pisces square Pluto which hints at a bleak emotional life and battened down feelings. His explosive Mars Uranus in his 8^th house would do nothing for his stability or ability to relate at an intimate level.

  Vivien Leigh was born 5 November 1913 5.16pm Darjeeling, India and had a Scorpio Sun on her Descendant square an Aquarius Moon and Uranus on her Midheaven which is an awkward combination, even without the erratic Uranus thrown in for good measure. She had a wide Air Grand Trine of Moon trine Saturn trine Venus in Libra; and Mars Neptune plus Pluto in Cancer – so she’d wobble between Water and Air, emotionally intense and then detached.  

  Despite all the protestations of lifelong passions there is remarkably little in the way of affectionate compatibility between them. Both may have been mesmerised by the other’s career since her Moon fell on his Midheaven; and his Midheaven in her 10^th. His Sun was in her 1^st which is helpful though her Saturn sat on his Ascendant which was less so.  Her Venus Sun were in his 5^th so for a romantic fling and fun it would be OK but her Venus also squared his 8^th house Mars Uranus which would produce fireworks.

  It was the tangle of their Nodes which probably cemented the ‘meant-to-be-together’ feeling. His Moon was conjunct her South Node and his Saturn conjunct her North Node with his Pluto square – so his neediness would prevent her developing. Her Neptune was conjunct his North Node in Cancer so his journey towards being a more caring personality would have been distracted by her delusional behaviour.  

  Their relationship chart didn’t have much going for it either. There was an illusory and ultimately disappointing Venus Neptune in a highly-strung opposition to Uranus in a volatile, angry square to Mars. And a ‘fated’ Yod of composite Sun sextile Pluto inconjunct Uranus.

 She stayed lifelong friends with her first husband Leigh Holman, 3 Nov 1900, another Scorpio who was a better match for her with his Jupiter in her 7^th; and her final partner Jack Merivale, a Sagittarius, looked after her with care.

  Olivier moved latterly onto actress Joan Plowright, 28 October 1929, for a thirty year match. Like Vivien Leigh, she had a Sun Scorpio with Venus in Libra and like him a Virgo Moon though it wouldn’t all be smooth sailing. The key plus point was her Jupiter sitting on his Ascendant which is mutually supportive, fosters friendship and would boost his image – in contrast to Vivien Leigh’s Saturn in the same place.  

  Not sure why this is a fascination especially in such grim times – put it down to displacement activity. But I’m always intrigued by the myths of unattainable bliss sold by the influencers of the time which turn out to be gratingly different from the reality.