Astrology of Today’s News

  Trepidation about rising inflation is spooking the markets but there’s nothing much on the astrology to back up the panic at least instantly.   Looking back over times of high inflation, in 1975 for UK and USA and 1923 for Germany, the key factor appeared to be Neptune.

  In 1975 with inflation hitting 24% in the UK – on the UK 1801 chart, Solar Arc Neptune moving through the UK financial 8^th was about the conjunct the Mars and Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the speculative 5^th house Venus.  The Bank of England 27 July 1694 JC chart had Solar Arc Neptune conjunct the North Node and opposition the financial Venus; with tr Pluto conjunct the Solar Arc Saturn.

  In the USA in 1975 inflation was running at 13.5%. On the US Fed Reserve chart, 16 November 2014 9am, tr Uranus was square the 8^th house Neptune, the Solar Arc Neptune was square Saturn Pluto and tr Neptune was conjunct the financial Venus – so a super-whammy of panic.

  In Germany in 1923 when hyperinflation struck tr Neptune was square the Germany 8^th house Pluto; tr Neptune was opposition the Germany Neptune with tr Pluto conjunct the MC North Node and opposition the Sun.

The USA Federal Reserve Neptune will certainly be under considerable pressure from tr Pluto in opposition to the FedRes Neptune in 2023/24 and Solar Arc Neptune conjunct the Sun in 2026, but there’s nothing immediate flagging up concern.

  On the UK chart tr Uranus will oppose the financial Neptune in 2022 and tr Saturn will square Neptune. This is one staging post of a longish disruptive trail of tr Uranus round the three UK financial planets of 8^th house Mars and 5^th house Venus starting this year and extending on till 2024. And the Solar Arc Midheaven will square the Neptune in 2024 as well; plus Solar Arc Pluto squares the UK Sun in late 2022 which will be blocked. Whether it is inflation or just financial travails of a different variety it will be a bumpy ride at times. Uranus, of course, being the trickster planet, will bring ups as well as downs.

  Germany, if anything, looks even more tossed around by the celestial influences with a bubble-bursting and disappointing Solar Arc Neptune square the Jupiter later this year alongside the status-quo-upsetting tr Pluto opposition the 10^th house Uranus extending into 2023. In 2023 tr Uranus will conjunct the 8^th house financial Pluto for yet more forced change with tr Saturn pitching in its tuppence worth of woe as well. And the Bundesbank chart, 26 July 1957, will have a good deal of downward pressure from tr Saturn opposition its Mars, Mercury, Pluto in 2022 and tr Uranus in square the following years. But there’s nothing like the problems there were in 1923.

Adele’s life has been through the wringer in recent times with a split marriage followed by considerable weight loss and now the death of her estranged father. Although she has said she’ll regard it as a liberation, it will have shaken her.

  The markers on her chart which indicate the links to a father/male models in her life are intense with her Sun Jupiter in Taurus opposition Pluto squaring onto Mars in Aquarius – which harbours a good deal of anger, bitterness, even hatred and ambivalence. It drew her into an unhappy marriage with Simon Konecki – with his sharp-edged Mars Saturn conjunct her Venus and opposition her Moon. See previous post January 8 2020.

  At the moment tr Uranus is exactly opposition her Pluto, which starts a two year phase of change, turmoil and disruption as it moves in hard aspect round her Fixed T Square. Her tendency will always be to resist change but with this amount of pressure she won’t have much option. Her Solar Arc Neptune is also square her Pluto – so it is a key marker for her father.

 Tr Pluto is also poised on the cusp of her 8^th house and will stay there for many years ahead. The start of this can often coincide with the passing of an older relative or friend, and will prompt a reflective phase of thinking about deeper issues. It can also be financially restrictive though that would seem less of a problem.

  Losing an estranged or disliked parent can often be more difficult than it sounds, since there will be a confusion of feelings, including mourning for what was never there. And there can be regret that there had not been at least a coming-to-terms with the fractured relationship or some sort of rapprochement, though with a wealthy celebrity it is more difficult.   

Jennifer Lopez is mourning her split from former pro-baseball player Alex Rodriguez by seeking solace from actor Ben Affleck to whom she was briefly engaged almost two decades back. Both have had a revolving-doors series of relationships so it may be just be a comfortable old friendship rather than a hot rerun of ‘Bennifer’.

  It’s all media fluff but what is minorly interesting is that she is a Sun Leo with probably a Scorpio Moon; and Ben Affleck is also a Leo Sun with a Scorpio Moon – two attention demanding personalities with intense emotional lives. It is quite some combination.

   A-Rod is also a Sun Leo with a Watery Pisces Moon and like Affleck has his Mars in an Earth sign and his Jupiter in Fire. Her astro-tastes clearly run along similar lines.

  The Lopez/Affleck relationship chart has an easy-going, mutually supportive composite Sun square Jupiter (Moon) so they will be relaxed in each other’s company. Plus a passionate Venus square Pluto though that will be undermined in a couple of years by tr Neptune hard aspects.

  Her relationship chart with A-Rod is more obviously affectionate with a composite Sun Venus sextile Pluto trine Neptune and will be under greater pressure in 2022/3/4.

  These high-level celebs tend to circle back and forwards in relationships adding new ones, hooking up with old ones – and most often publicity pics are just that.  

  Ben Affleck doesn’t look to be settling down anytime soon.  

For Jennifer Lopez and A-Rod see post September 19 2017.

Israel is once again descending into violence after Palestinian anger mounted over restrictions on nightly gatherings during Ramadan and yet more settler encroachment which would evict dozens of Palestinian families from their homes. Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets towards the holy city, the first time it had targeted the city in more than seven years. Israeli military responded with all-night airstrikes into Gaza.

  There have been international calls for calm in the face of concern that this could be the start of the Third Intifada, which on the astrology is not an impossibility.

  The Israel chart has had tr Saturn in Aquarius opposing the 10^th house Moon and more significantly Pluto in recent weeks which is discouraging; with tr Uranus square the Israel Pluto picking up exactly now and running on and off into early 2022. After which in 2022 tr Saturn will oppose the Israel Saturn, square the Sun and oppose Mars which will be jolting, jarring, risky and downbeat, with tr Uranus also in a high-tension square to the Israel Saturn in 2022. By 2024 tr Uranus will conjunct the Israel 8^th house Sun for yet more upheavals and aggravation running on to square the Israel Mars in 2025 – so a long period of disruption and high-risk.

  The First Intifada started in 1987 when tr Pluto was exactly square the Israel Pluto; and the Second Intifada in 2000 when tr Neptune and tr Uranus were in Aquarius .

  Israel has an extraordinarily Fixed chart with both Sun and Moon and three other planets in Taurus and Leo so doesn’t budge easy especially with the unyielding Saturn Pluto in its 10^th for a control-freak approach to government and political management. The Sun is also conjunct the destructive Fixed Star Algol which added onto the Saturn Pluto is a hint of self-defeating behaviour.

  Gaza, 9 November 1917 9am, is also very Fixed with a Scorpio Sun Mercury square Uranus with Neptune Saturn in Leo so will always go through convulsions in lockstep with Israel when there are significant transits in fixed signs as now and over the next three years.

 The Palestine Independence Declaration of 14 November 1988 is much the same with a Scorpio Sun, Mercury and Pluto in Scorpio.

  There doesn’t look to be anything bringing peace and harmony anytime soon.

Add ON:  Israel has not been on Joe Biden’s radar up till now since he had pragmatically reckoned the disagreements between the two were intractable. But he may get dragged in against his better judgement now. Netanyahu is sitting in political limbo unable to form a coalition after the umpteenth election rerun and neither temperamentally nor strategically inclined to calm the situation.

  Biden’s relationship chart with him indicates May 23^rd onwards will throw their connection into turmoil – though it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that Netanyahu could leave the stage altogether. Biden’s astrocartography doesn’t point to the Middle East as being a location of intense activity for him. Though his Fixed Scorpio planets and Jupiter on Israel’s MC could make him just the man to stand firm and bring Israel back into the zone of common sense.

The USA/Israel relationship chart will be agitated and upset from mid June onwards into 2022; and frustrated and angry from mid August to late November with tr Pluto opposition the composite Mars.

   The liberal Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz writes today that this present situation is: “ the reality of 54 years of occupation. In his desire to battle Palestinian nationalism, weaken it, and even make it disappear, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked and incited against Israeli Arabs in a criminal fashion. Instead of dealing with the problem, he preferred to exclude, discriminate against, Judaize and bring declared racists into the Knesset. This disastrous strategy is now blowing up in Israel’s face.

A responsible prime minister would have reined in the police, conducted a real dialogue with the Arab leadership, observed the status quo on the Temple Mount, not viewed mixed cities as places that need to be Judaized, announced a plan to invest in Arab society but most of all, would have stopped inciting. Netanyahu isn’t capable of this, which is why replacing him is more urgent than ever.”

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Nick Kamen, the ridiculously good-looking former model and singer, who has just died, was in the mid 1980s the most famous man in London as his launderette advert stripping off his Levi jeans to Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard it on the Grapevine’ thrust him into the limelight. It boosted Levi’s sales by 800%, made boxer shorts fashionable again and him a global sex symbol. He became the icon of the moment when consumerism became fashionable and youth culture commodified – and he was the epitome of cool. He not surprisingly caught Madonna’s eye and collaborated with her on several albums which were a hit in Europe. Latterly he led a private life.

  Born 15 April 1962 in Harlow, Essex, he had his Sun Mercury in Aries, with a confident Jupiter in Pisces opposition Pluto (Moon) in Virgo. His physicality and nonchalant image were indicated by his Venus in Taurus opposition Neptune square Saturn opposition the North Node – giving him an earthy, yet ethereal and suave air and hooking him into the zeitgeist.

  His indulgent and sexy Venus in Taurus was conjunct Madonna’s high-octane Mars in Taurus which would produce a spark of attraction though since it also squared her Uranus and his Uranus was conjunct her Leo Sun it wouldn’t last long. But their relationship chart did have an affectionate and easy-going composite Sun Venus opposition Jupiter so it would have its amiable moments.

  Sadly when his long struggle against bone marrow cancer was ongoing his Progressed Mars was moving in square to his Fixed Grand Cross starting with the square to his Saturn two years back.

  Comments from Boy George and others after his death suggest he was regarded with great fondness.

Nicola Sturgeon has cranked up the rhetoric about a second Scottish independence referendum being inevitable despite the SNP not having won an outright majority in the recent elections.  They did well but could not manage the final hurdle. Her estimation was for it to be held in late 2023 though it will require a Westminster sign off which is unlikely to happen, setting the scene for a potential court battle.

   Sturgeon, 19 July 1970 3.15 pm Irvine, Scotland, is in for the fight of her life with tr Pluto continuing to oppose her Cancer Sun this year and next and picking up the pushily confident tr Pluto square her Jupiter from early 2022 to late 2023. But given that her Sun is close to her flamboyant Mars in Leo she’s also picking up the frustrated, enraged and trapped tr Pluto opposition her Sun/Mars midpoint from early 2022 to late 2023; and worse a total road-block of tr Pluto opposition her Mars from early 2023 till late 2024.

  In addition she has a cluster of less helpful influences on her chart: tr Neptune undermining her power/influence in opposition to her Pluto in 2022/23; a jolting, high-tension tr Uranus conjunct her Saturn in 2023 and a sharp change of direction from tr Uranus square her Midheaven also in 2023.

   The SNP was formed in 1933/34 when the Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Cancer was in place, mirroring the influences in place over the 2014 independence referendum which the nationalist lost on a 45/55% vote. There was also a rise in SNP successes in the 1970s when the Uranus Pluto conjunction in Virgo was in place. But there is nothing similar in the near future, indeed before the 2040s.

  What is coming up is tr Uranus conjunct the England Scotland Act of Union 1707 Sun and square the Pluto Jupiter in 2023/24 which may lead to further devolution rather than a split. Though these influences have been round before over four centuries so may only cause a ripple. That does, however, coincide with tr Uranus square the UK 11^th house Saturn which could suggest changes in the national legislature (parliament).

   I can’t see independence happening – not on Sturgeon’s astrology or the other charts – and the economic arguments are even less appealing than they were in 2014.

Labour are licking their wounds after a humiliating defeat at Hartlepool and losing control of seven councils to the Tories, who gained 12, though Labour candidates did retain two major Mayoralties in London and Greater Manchester.

  Capricorn Research tracked back on Labour’s history and indicated the 27 February 1900 chart was the most accurate.  It certainly showed up the defeat to Maggie Thatcher in 1979 with tr Saturn opposition the Sun; and the 2020 Brown defeat with tr Neptune conjunct the Mars; and the 1997 win for Tony Blair as Solar Arc Jupiter squared the Pluto. But the 12 February 1906 chart has also has its indicators – tr Neptune opposition the Pluto when Maggie won; and tr Pluto square the Mars when Brown lost. Though not much when Blair won. So the 1900 definitely produces more information though the 1906 isn’t completely useless with tr Neptune square the Pluto for this year’s slump.

  The 1900 LP chart is rattled by the Eclipses hitting on its Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius opposition Pluto – and Neptune – in Gemini – so a slipping and slithering year with setbacks in 2022 from tr Saturn conjunct the Mars and then in 2023 conjunct the Sun and square Pluto Jupiter Uranus – none of which looks upbeat.

  It will benefit from tr Pluto moving into Aquarius though not instantly and really won’t get its mojo back until 2028 on this reckoning as tr Pluto is sextile the Jupiter and Solar Arc Jupiter is sextile the Pluto.

  Keir Starmer’s leadership chart, 4 April 2020 10.45am London, always did look disastrous with an 8^th house Saturn Mars square Uranus which will move to exact in an explosive phase in late 2022.  Before then it does look more upbeat mid this August to late November, but overall it has the feel of a dead-end so he may not last the race at the helm.

  Starmer’s personal chart, 2 September 1962, is very tied together with a healing Water Grand Trine of Jupiter trine Neptune trine Mars, formed into a talented Kite by Jupiter opposition Sun Pluto Uranus in Virgo. He’s undoubtedly got ability and does have a ‘leadership’ North Node in Leo but may just be in the wrong job.  His Neptune is on the focal point of a T Square to Saturn opposition his Node so he will be idealistic but will possibly lack the ambitious killer-edge needed for politics. And he has a tricky Yod of Mars sextile Pluto inconjunct Saturn which will throw major stumbling blocks in his way through life though it isn’t highlighted at the moment.

  He’s floundering around this year into 2022, is discouraged late 2022; and hits a wall in the middle of the decade.  

Add On: There aren’t the same stresses on the Labour Party 1900 chart that there were running into the split from the Gang of Four which led to the creation of the Social Democrat Party in 1981. At that point tr Uranus was opposition the Solar Arc Sun and square the LP Mars for an almighty disruption. Plus tr Neptune was undermining the LP Mercury square Neptune.

  At the moment tr Neptune is quarter of a cycle further on and again muddying the waters as it is conjunct the LP Mercury and square the Neptune next year. Tr Saturn will conjunct the Mars in 2022 and tr Uranus will square the Mars in 2025 – all of which will cause unrest though nothing that suggests another breakaway party.   

The Queen’s first cousin Prince Michael of Kent has been accused by a Sunday Times/Channel 4 Dispatches investigation of peddling his royal connection for access to Putin.  It sounds an extraordinary tie-up but Prince Michael is a fluent Russian speaker and is related on both sides of his family to the last Tsar, Nicholas 11, assassinated in 1917 by the Bolsheviks, to whom he bears a strong resemblance. The prince is one of a small number of Britons awarded the Kremlin’s highest honours, the Order of Friendship, for his work on Anglo-Russian relations. Others include George Blake, the British double agent.

   He does not receive taxpayer-funded income from the sovereign grant, though the Queen personally pays his substantial rent at Kensington Palace and he retains his honorary military titles. His lifestyle is financed by acting as a consultant for business clients and his personal company, Cantium Services, has made more than £2.2 million, over the past five years without paying corporation tax because it has been operating at a loss.

 His father, Prince George, Duke of Kent, who was killed in a plane crash weeks after his birth, had a louche reputation with tales of multiple affairs and a cocaine and morphine addiction.

  Prince Michael, 4 July 1942 7.35pm Iver, England, has a secretive, deeply buried Sun Jupiter in Cancer in the 8^th square an Aries Moon in his IC – so he is strongly linked to his family forbears and their largesse. His Moon is also trine a tricky, can-be-ruthless Mars Pluto in Leo which may have given him an inclination to mix with powerful and less savoury characters. His social butterfly Venus in Gemini is conjunct Saturn Uranus on his Descendant making for changeable close relationships.

  Relocating his chart to Moscow puts his Sun Jupiter in his 7^th for a sociable connection and wilful Mars Pluto in the secretive, financial 8^th.

   His relationships with the senior Royals – Prince Charles, Prince William and the Queen – are under stress this year into early 2022. The Queen is fond of him but will not be pleased at yet another Royal sleaze scandal landing on her doorstep.

  Prince Michael’s Mars in Leo is being buffeted around this year by tr Uranus square and tr Saturn in opposition for major setbacks and high insecurity; tr Neptune is in an undermining square to his Solar Arc Midheaven and his Solar Arc Sun is conjunct his Neptune for much the same slump effect. Plus his Descendant and Gemini planets are being rattled by the Eclipses late this month and in June.

  His haughty wife, Princess Michael, 15 January 1945, Sydney, AU, isn’t looking too chipper either with tr Pluto conjunct her Capricorn Sun till this December and tr Neptune eroding her steely Solar Arc Mars opposition Saturn. Her relationship to her husband looks less than rapturous through this year with aggravations from this August onwards for a few months. The consequences may well impact on their lifestyle in ways she finds irksome.

Pic: Allen Warren

Boris the boundless is here for an eternity, according to a media over-excited by the admittedly resounding win for the Tories in Hartlepool. They forget, as ever, that a week is a long time in politics and ten years which they are confidently predicting is millions of light years hence.

  This success showed up clearly on the Conservative Party 10 May 1912 chart with Solar Arc Jupiter square the Pluto now – which may make me revise my jaundiced opinion of political party charts, though it is clearly dependent on nailing down the right one. Where this chart goes into a seismic convulsion and loses influence is in 2023 when tr Neptune squares the Pluto and tr Uranus is conjunct the Sun Saturn in Taurus plus Solar Arc Uranus is conjunct the Sun as well in 2023. That will throw everything up in the air.

  Where Boris’s Term chart runs into more obvious problems is in 2022. Though this year it does have an undermining tr Neptune square the Sun in September/October and again early in 2022 – as well as this month’s Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse rattling up the Term Mercury and the June Gemini Solar Eclipse opposing the Term Sun brewing up a crisis or two in the months thereafter. What will make 2022 sticky is the Term 12^th house Saturn Venus Pluto conjunction moving to exact in spring 2022 for a logjam; with tr Saturn in late January/early February and then tr Uranus from May rattling up the Term Mars for setbacks, shocks and insecurity.

  David Frost, the EU liaison is looking downcast and a failure through 2022 with his relationship to Boris extremely aggravated and logjammed. The Brexit damage at present is less than expected except for the poor fishermen and other business snafus, but once the pandemic recedes and the full extent of the over-spending becomes obvious – and has to be paid for – there may be more focus turned on the economy. Boris’s relationship with the Tory Party will be souring from May 2022 onwards. Ditto his relationship with both co-chairpersons of the Tory Party who are looking less and less enamoured ahead.

  Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, isn’t as sanguine or optimistic as his jovial appearance suggests with an uncertain tr Neptune opposition his Saturn this year; panicky failed-plans this year and the next two from Neptune midpoints; and considerable upheavals in 2023/24 with tr Uranus conjunct his Taurus Sun and opposition Uranus. His Term chart is running into road blocks late 2022 and sagging badly in 2023.