Astrology of Today’s News

The United States poised on the brink of a momentous Pluto Return is stumbling through a discombobulating transition from the wild west of the Trump years into Biden dullsville. What Jon Sopel, the BBC correspondent, described as four years of ‘a Bacchanalian orgy of stories, backbiting, sackings, leaks, fury and indignation, and chaos’; into ‘order, discipline, process and a chain of command.’ From ‘a daily fix of crack cocaine to a half of lemonade shandy once a week.’ For those who view politics as entertainment it has proved a never-to-be-admitted disappointment.

  The Biden Inauguration chart did not appear that bland with an explosive Mars Uranus square Sun Saturn. Though the full potential of that volatile mix may be to come. The pandemic has thrown a smokescreen over many political sinkholes though the low ratings of Biden and VP may be an indication of woes to come.

  On the USA chart tr Neptune will continue to square the US Mars for the final time mid January to mid February 2022 which usually brings a panicky sense of failure. Neptune will continue to oppose the US Neptune on and off all year, which will tug on the USA Mars, as well as a Jupiter midpoint, so the sinking feeling of all not being well will roll on.

  The Pluto Return kicks in from early February and runs on and off till late 2023. There can be events around the exact return – for example Stalin died on ancient Russia’s Pluto Return; and Spain saw the dictator Franco relinquish power on a Pluto Return; in Scotland the Jacobite rebellion was ruthlessly crushed on a Pluto Return in 1745. But on the whole it is a sign of a historic shift, part of a long process; and can bring either a surge to greatness or the opposite as an old superpower fades.

   What will help keep American spirits upbeat is Jupiter moving through Pisces trine the USA Venus, Jupiter in Cancer in January and then trine the Sun late February into March. These are mild influences but will boost morale en passant.

 Relations with Russia and Iran will be stressed, especially coincidentally during the exact Pluto Returns – February to mid March, late June to early August and mid December across the New Year into 2023. The relationship chart with Russia has a composite Mars at 27 Cancer and with Iran a composite Sun at 27 Aries – so there will be a considerable amount of aggravation and tension.  China less so which is reflected on Biden’s astrocartography which puts his assertive/aggressive Mars Descendant line through Moscow and Iran; with dither and indecision through China. (His birth time being sound that is.)

The chart of Biden’s Administration will be ruffled by the Taurus/Scorpio Eclipses hitting on the Mars Uranus and there’ll be a few disappointments along the way. But it is  2023/2024 when the real problems blow up with the Solar Arc Saturn moving to square the Mars Uranus to exact; plus a punishing Saturn/Pluto midpoint.

  Biden’s personal chart will be mightily affected by the 2022 eclipses with his Mars in Scorpio catching the opposition from the late April Solar Eclipse; and his Sun, Venus, Mercury in Scorpio getting the same from the May Lunar Eclipse. Arguments will flare and he’ll be faced with rolling crises and mistakes. Indeed 2022 will start with setbacks as tr Saturn squares his Mars and in March there’s an insecure, jolting tr Uranus opposition his Mars. It’ll be a stress-testing time as he moves towards his 80^th birthday in November 2022.

  His Solar Return from November 2021 for a year has a disruptive Mars opposition Uranus square Saturn which falls (birth time being accurate) in his 9^th/3^rd/1^st which could point to foreign affairs arguments causing upset. I don’t put too much store on Solar Returns but his Returns covering 2023/24 look critical for health and career matters which will put questionmarks over whether he’ll stand again.

 The US Federal Reserve chart will also be rattled by the Eclipses hitting on its Mercury Moon and Sun in Scorpio through 2022. But it will be 2023/24 when it faces its greatest test with a devastating confidence meltdown as tr Pluto squares its Neptune.

  [For examples of other country’s previous Pluto Returns see  post October 16 2020.]

Romy Iris Charlotte Johnson, the Boris and Carrie number two baby, arrived at 9.02am on 9 December 2021. This gives her a 12^th house Sun Mercury in Sagittarius square a 3^rd house Neptune, which could sound shy and retiring and a behind-the-scenes type. But there’ll be nothing wishy washy about her temperament with Mars in ultra-determined Scorpio trine Neptune, sextile a sublimely seductively charming and manipulative Venus Pluto in her 1^st.

  She’ll be a mover and shaker out in society with an 11^th house Mars, keen on making money with Jupiter Saturn and an Aquarius Moon in her 2^nd. Uranus in the 4^th suggests an unsettled and constantly shifting childhood with no secure sense of base or roots (and ditto father.)

  She’ll be a dreamer with her Gemini Node in the 5^th and escapist; a free-spirited wild child and headstrong.

  Carrie will be the controlling influence in her life with her Pluto falling in Romy’s 10^th but her indulgent Venus in Taurus also falls in Romy’s 4^th which will help provide a comfortable home life.

  Her chart is better put together than older brother Wilfred, 29 April 2020 9am London, who has a 10^th house Neptune square Venus, a rebellious Sun Uranus square an 8^th house Saturn; and a super-confident Jupiter Pluto opposition his Cancer Moon. In his chart mother, comes across as a drama queen and possessive, father as an erratic presence. Carrie’s Pluto opposes Wilf’s Sun Uranus which will be a battle of wills.

  The siblings will have a robust relationship since Romy’s Venus Pluto in Capricorn are conjunct Wilfred’s Jupiter Pluto so there will be  clash of personalities.

  What is intriguing is that in both of the children’s relationship charts with their father there is a resentful, chained-together-and-resenting-it composite Saturn square Pluto – on both sides. It does slightly suggest a railroaded Boris landed with yet more sproglings, he hadn’t reckoned on.  He’s certainly an unstable presence in both their lives with his Uranus Pluto on Wilf’s IC and Romy having Uranus in her 4^th.  

The cleaned-up woke sequel to the iconic Sex and the City series has launched to less than rapturous reviews. The three main female characters have moved on since 1998 to gain a new social and cultural awareness which means the old quips flavoured with racism, transphobia and white privilege are gone.

  Kim Catrall is also missing, one of the original stars, whose off-screen feud with lead Sarah Jessica Parker spanned a decade.  All good water cooler buzz.

   In one way what is astonishing is the entire top cast didn’t end up at each others’ throats.  Kim Catrall, 21 August 1956, is a determined and controlling Sun Pluto in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio so she doesn’t budge.

 Sarah P, 25 March 1965 9am Nelsonville, Ohio, is a Sun Aries with a formidable and volatile collection of Pluto, Mars and Uranus in Virgo opposition Saturn.

  Kristin Davis, 24 February 1965, also has the Mars Pluto  and Uranus in Virgo with a Pisces Sun Saturn. And Cynthia Nixon, 9 April 1966, is a feisty, upfront Sun Mars in Aries and Saturn Mercury in Pisces opposition Uranus Pluto in Virgo.

  All highly strung and unpredictable and argumentative.

 Chris Noth, 13 November 1954 12.59am Madison Wisconsin, who was bumped off in the first episode of the sequel, had his life rocked this week with two sexual assault allegations reported in a celebrity magazine. The LAPD said it was not yet investigating him for same, presumably since police reports had not yet been made.

  He has a powerfully Fixed chart with his Scorpio Sun conjunct Saturn on one side and Venus on the other, all in a hard-edged square to Mars in Aquarius which is in turn in an ultra-wide opposition to Pluto. His Gemini Moon is also trine Neptune, sextile Pluto – he will be enduring as well as controlling and very private.

  He looks edgy and jangled over the coming year with his Saturn in Scorpio square Mars being shaken up by the tr Saturn square tr Uranus.  But he’ll also have luck and relief on his side – so he won’t be down and out.

  The original Sex and the City launched on 6 June 1998 with a ruthlessly determined Pluto opposition Mars; a wide, expansive Sun square Jupiter and an sexy Scorpio Moon.

  This sequel And Just Like that, 9 December 2021, launched on a lacklustre Sun square Neptune which won’t have helped.

  Sarah JP is at a peak career-wise so a dud in this won’t bother her too much, She has had her own production company for years and a raft of award winning roles on her cv so she’ll survive.  

Jazz Jennings, the 21 year old transgender reality star who has been in the public eye since she was five and underwent gender affirmation surgery in 2018, has been struggling with a binge eating disorder. She has put on 100 pounds in the past two years and talked of her family fat-shaming her in their efforts to support a healthier lifestyle.

  She first appeared as a seven year old on Barbara Walters Show talking about the challenges of growing up transgender and subsequently appeared in other major TV shows and articles, has her own TV show with her family and appeared in commercials and in films.   

She was born 6 October 2000 in South Florida (no birth time sadly) and is a Sun Libra in an Air Grand Trine to Jupiter trine Uranus – communicative, a thinker and talker, emotionally detached, adventurous. She also has a quirky and charming Mercury Venus in Scorpio square Uranus. Most notably she has a powerhouse T Square of a super-confident Pluto opposition Jupiter square Mars in Virgo.

A Mutable focal point Mars will give her high levels of dynamic and nervy energy and a tendency to scatter in a disorganized fashion.  She won’t find it easy to wind down and recentre in a calm space. The Mars square Pluto will give her an underlying edge of desperation which she pours into overwork or at the moment into binge eating.

  Her Moon is either Capricorn or early Aquarius conjunct Neptune.

  When she had her gender surgery, which evidently had complications, in 2018 tr Pluto was opposition her Cancer North Node; and tr Uranus just dipping a toe into Taurus was opposition her Solar Arc Sun.

   She’ll go through considerable changes and upheavals in coming years with her Solar Arc Uranus in hard aspect to her Pluto, Jupiter and then Mars between 2023/2025.

  Carrying the burden of being a child star can’t be easy and making the transition into an adult career will be doubly difficult for her since she carries her family with her as well as the weight of too many people’s expectations.

Voters delivered a sharp message to the government that sleaze and incompetence in running the NHS and the country won’t be tolerated with the loss of a safe Tory seat. Bye-elections are not always a good indicator but with a major rebellion by backbenchers this week as well, the clock may be ticking down for Boris.

  The Conservative Party 10 May 1912 chart is showing a sharp loss of confidence and power at the moment with tr Neptune opposition the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint with worse to come from mid January 2022 as the calamitous tr Neptune square the Mars/Saturn midpoint kicks in for a few weeks with more banana skins through the year. Late year there is a disruptive Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Sun and a sense of disempowerment in 2023 with tr Neptune square the Pluto.

   May 2022 onwards is when Boris Johnson’s unpopularity with the party become critical with tr Neptune square the composite Mars. And 2022 always did look like crunch time on his Term chart with the blocked Solar Arc Saturn drawing the conjunction with Pluto to exact.

  The Liberal Democrats, 3 March 1988, look to be riding high in 2022/23 with tr Pluto in a bullishly confident square to their Jupiter. But their surge may be short-lived as they run into a dead-halt Solar Arc Mars square Pluto around late 2023/into 2024.

 Keir Starmer’s Leadership chart, 4 April 2020 10.45 am London, is a mixed bag ahead with a hard, at times discouraging slog through 2022/23 running alongside one upbeat and successful Mars/Jupiter midpoint. And he has the cataclysmic Solar Arc Saturn conjunct Mars to survive which comes exact in eight months, around autumn 2022 though may trigger early.

 The Labour Party, 27 February 1900 chart is not looking remotely chipper ahead through 2022/23. The LP 19 February 1906, is marginally more cheerful though only just – with ups and downs in 2022/23. There is a super-confident tr Pluto square Mars/Jupiter in 2023/24 alongside some major disruptions and changes.

  Political party charts aren’t always the most illuminating. But that’s what they show at the moment. Term charts are sound and accurate.

 See previous post Boris Johnson – 8 December 2021.

bell hooks, the groundbreaking feminist critic and poet has died after a prolific career as a writer on love, feminism, patriarchy, white supremacy, forgiveness and the power of art. In particular, she wrote about how a person’s race, gender and social class were interconnected. She adopted her maternal great-grandmother’s name as a pen name, but used lowercase letters to distinguish herself from her family member.

  She was born on 25 September 1952 at 8.57 pm Hopkinsville, Kentucky, one of six children born to a janitor father and a housemaid mother. She started her education in a segregated school and only latterly in an integrated one, got a college doctorate with a dissertation on Toni Morrison and became a teaching academic. Her Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism became a best seller in her thirties and she went on to write another 30 books.

  She had her Sun and Mercury in Libra is the entertaining 5^th house so she’d appreciate an audience; though with Saturn and Neptune also in her 5^th she’d always have a serious purpose and be keen on creating a better society. She was not short of courage or confidence with her Mars Moon in a determined trine to Pluto and her Pluto square Jupiter. She also had a Yod focal point Uranus inconjunct Mars Moon sextile North Node Midheaven in Aquarius which marked her out as a trailblazer, unconventional and a catalyst for change. She would be wilful, at times with a rebellious urge to break rules and regulations and would have a divisive effect.  Her Aquarius North Node would give her a humanitarian cause to dedicate her life to.

  An extraordinary woman. Her leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17^th harmonic chart was exceptionally strong so she’ll be remembered.

Pic: Alex Lozupone  

Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man and all round genius and whackjob has been elevated to Time magazine’s Person of the Year. It has attracted a raft of criticism, given his attitude to paying tax, opposition to unions and playing down the dangers of Covid. He was described as a “clown, genius, edgelord, visionary, industrialist, showman” which covers all bases and hedged with the caveat that his influence was bad as well as good. His businesses are undoubtedly leading edge and super-successful ranging from Tesla cars, to the space exploration SpaceX and the alternative energy company SolarCity.

  Born 28 June 1971, he had a much-married South African father, whom he describes in vitriolic terms and a fashion model mother.

  He arrived on planet earth only a few days before Julian Assange and has the same rebellious Cancer Sun square inventive Uranus; a creative though neurotic, paranoid and head-in-the-clouds Saturn opposition Neptune Jupiter; and Mars in determined, scientific Aquarius conjunct his North Node.

   His mother, Maye Musk, 19 April 1948, has the formidable Mars, Saturn, Pluto in Leo conjunct Elon’s South Node and opposition his Mars which arguably suggests his flight into scientific-fantasies-made-real came from a desire to escape her dark energies. After his parents’ divorce aged 10 Elon opted to live with his father which he later said was a terrible mistake.

  There’s no solid birth data for Errol Musk, though one site has 25 May 1946, which would out his Gemini Sun conjunct Elon’s Saturn opposition his Neptune for a confusing crossover; and Errol’s Mars is exactly conjunct Elon’s South Node with his Pluto nearby.

  Intriguing to speculate that it was the negative effect of both parents in different ways which ran so much against Elon’s grain that it motivated him to become a phenomenon in his own right. The demons that drive him could have destroyed him but instead he went the other way.  Though at some cost to his mental stability it would have to be admitted.

Pic Maye: Luan Luu

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Two faced Janus, ruling the New Year, mourning what has been and looking forward with anticipation, may be flummoxed this year with the groundhog-day strictures and fears of the pandemic still in place. Same old, same old. But up in the celestial sphere nothing stands still as the planets cycle at varying speeds along their own track.

  2021 was dominated by transiting Saturn square Uranus bringing tensions, limitations to freedom and a stop-start mood. That will still be in effect this January and February, moving out of orb thereafter, only to return after July for a few months, with one final exact aspect in October.

  But Saturn may well be the dominant planet of the year, more so than Uranus, since it holds sway over both sets of eclipses, squaring onto the North Node all year.

  Saturn in Aquarius at its best brings technological change – the worldwideweb was born and took off under it in the early 1990s. Medical advances in vaccines shot ahead under pressure in 2021. Social justice will be high on the agenda with a push for progressive change. The power of group movements will rise.  But it can also be rigid, emotionally cold, overly serious.

   Jupiter having moved into kindly, dreamy Pisces in time for the New Year sticks around till early May, returning for six weeks in November/December. It can be charitable, well-intentioned though is often not realistic. Its conjunction with Neptune in April may coincide with a financial bubble bursting. Jupiter Neptune’s ‘false happiness’ tendencies need to be guarded against since overly high expectations will end in disappointment and not just where money is concerned.

   The 30^th April Solar Eclipse at 10 degrees Taurus is conjunct Uranus, so there will be surprises, moments of enlightenment, jolts and jangles. The Taurus Node squares Saturn, trines Pluto and sextiles Neptune, Venus, Jupiter which will bring a mixed bag of hardship, tough conditions and high hopes. It is in a Saros Series that Bernadette Brady says is concerned with relationships with authority (father) figures. The key words are responsibility and commitment.

   The Lunar Eclipse of 16 May 2022 with the Full Moon in Scorpio at 25 degrees is square Saturn so will bring an uncompromising and serious mood, with intense determination, heavy controls and inflexible attitudes.

  From May 11 Jupiter moves into upbeat, pro-active Aries, staying till late October which will be a balancing factor and more go-ahead.

  The 25^th October Solar Eclipse at 2 degrees Scorpio is conjunct a charming and seductive Venus inconjunct Jupiter which will spread a little frivolous cheer around. Though the ratchety, backwards-forwards Saturn square Uranus has returned and Pluto is in a stressed inconjunct to Mars. This is in a Saros Series which has a manic flavour, brings forceful events, especially in the relationship area, which can include falling on or out of love; and also may involve groups taking power into their own hands.

  The 8 November Lunar Eclipse at 16 degrees Taurus is conjunct Uranus and square Saturn, so will bring the 2021 mood back in force though perhaps in a different context.  Mars is still inconjunct Pluto and square Neptune Jupiter which may well try to make the best of difficult circumstances by glossing over the reality.

  Mars will have one of its long, retrograde phases, staying in Gemini between late August and March 2023.

  There will be an underlying sense of endings, of old cycles drawing to a close, with Saturn moving into Pisces and more significantly Pluto into Aquarius in March 2023. 2022 may well be a year when loose ends need tied up, outworn attitudes and even stale relationships need let go. Getting ahead of the game and clearing out what will inevitably go anyway is always wise.

The long running battle to force American Anne Sacoolas to face UK justice over the road accident resulting in the death of 19-year-old motorcyclist Harry Dunn seemed to have reached a turning point. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced she would be giving evidence by video link only to be contradicted by her lawyer who said nothing had been agreed.

  She was allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road and was given diplomatic immunity after the event due, presumably owing to her or her husband’s CIA work. The CPS charged her two years ago with causing death by dangerous driving. US officials rejected an extradition request submitted from the Home Office in January last year and they have described their refusal to extradite her as “final” on a number of occasions. The extradition process with the US is very one-sided, skewed badly in favour of the US.

  Harry Dunn was killed around 8.25pm on 27 August 2019 near Brackley, England, which puts the Cancer North Node exactly opposition Saturn and Pluto, on the midpoint – a pointer to the seemingly insurmountable obstacles to getting justice. There was also an elusive, evasive Neptune on the Ascendant.

  The CPS give Anne Sacoolas birth date as 28 August 1977 – and I imagine they have seen her passport.  This makes her a Sun Virgo, and it was one day after her birthday when it happened. Her Solar Arc Mars was square her Uranus exactly at the time which makes sense of a collision and a shock, with tr Uranus moving to oppose her Uranus and square her Solar Arc Mars in the aftermath.

  At the moment, assuming the date is sound, she has tr Saturn square her Ascendant and moving to square her Solar Arc Mars. This month looks panic-stricken and calamitous with significant disruptions through 2022/23.