Astrology of Today’s News

The US Postal Service (USPS) has warned that millions of mail-in votes may not arrive in time to be counted on the presidential election day. A record number of people are expected to vote by mail due to the pandemic. Trump said he was blocking additional funding for the USPS to help with election issues, because he opposed mail-in voting. He says it will lead to voting fraud; experts say the voting system is safe from tampering.

The USPS was founded 1 July 1971 in Washington and has an inventive Cancer Sun square Uranus; with a helpful though not entirely practical Saturn opposition Neptune Jupiter; and an excitable Venus trine Mars and square Pluto. The Cancer Sun certainly fits with a public service outfit. The chart is uncertain and panicked now till late August, nervy and confused in September and less than enthusiastic from October through till late January 2021.

Louis Dejoy, 20 June 1957, businessman and major Republican fundraiser was appointed postmaster general and CEO, taking up office in June 2020.

He’s a final degree Gemini Sun square Jupiter and trine Neptune, sextile Pluto – so stratospheric ambitions. His Mars in Cancer conjunct Uranus are in a can-be-fanatical, volatile square to Neptune. He has four planets at anaretic final degrees – Sun, Mars, Neptune – and Pluto only one degree away. They point in general to the end of a cycle which may be significant as he joins wrecking-ball Trump in pulling an old house of cards down.

He looks amped up exactly now till late September with tr Uranus trine his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint; though he’ll be less bullish through September with an uncertain tr Neptune opposition his Sun/Saturn midpoint and nerve-stretched and paralysed through October. Tr Pluto is also in a confident, success-bringing trine to his Jupiter and sextile his Solar Arc Jupiter now till later this month and again late November to late December. The tr Saturn Jupiter exit from Capricorn will be in hard aspect to his Mars and Neptune and his Sun/Pluto midpoint from late November through December, which won’t bring unmitigated celebration. But his Jupiter will probably keep him afloat. His 2021 looks devastatingly bad with his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Neptune and square his Mars.

Trouble is brewing in the Eastern Mediterranean which is nothing to do with migrants, the pandemic or economic meltdowns. Turkey is at odds with Greece, Cyprus and the EU over maritime rights in the scramble for resources following the discovery of huge gas reserves in recent years. Turkey, Greece and France now have warships backed by fighter jets in the area, running the risk of a showdown. Relations between French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish president Recep Erdogan have been icy recently with accusations and insults flowing in both directions.

Mark Almond in the Telegraph remarks: “The reality is that Greece and Cyprus are looking to France as a great power ally. The rest of the EU maybe good for a statement of support and even a threat of sanctions but when it comes to possible use of force only France counts. Paris has military power. Brussels has words.”

The UK still has two sovereign bases on Cyprus which is in the eye of the storm but, in the muddle, guddle and passivity of the Boris government, direct action seems unlikely.

Recep Erdogan’s 4^th Term chart 9 July 2018 4.30pm Ankara, Turkey, has a belligerent Mars in Aquarius in the 3^rd house at 8 degrees. That is a hot spot degree that repeats in several relationship charts in particular between Turkey and Cyprus which has a hostile, power-struggling Mars Pluto conjunction; and between Turkey and Greece 1821. Tr Uranus having stoked up the heat a few weeks back will return to hard aspect that degree which could well provide a flash-point in late October into November this year and again March in 2021.

The other relevant charts – Turkey/EU and Turkey/UK – have Pluto at 7 degrees of Fixed signs so will be in the line of Uranian fire between November and early March 2021 for an upset of diplomatic relations.

The Turkey/France relationship chart is moving through deep-freeze territory till late this year and is mired in confusion and evasion in 2020/21.

The Turkey 29 October 1923 8.30pm chart is both discouraging blocked at a domestic level and in a confidently grandstanding mood in 2020/21 with tr Pluto square the 4th house Saturn and sextile the 5th house Jupiter.

This week’s ruthless, high-risk and impatient Mars Pluto square on Thursday followed by the bad-tempered Mars square Saturn on the 25^th which has military associations will ramp up the rhetoric if not push it over the edge into an outright confrontation.

Dimash Kudaibergen is a Kazakh singer/songwriter, with a six- octave vocal range and perfect pitch, who plays seven instruments. He is classically trained but performs across a wide range of music from traditional Kazakh to pop. An all round wonder who was brought up in a musical family and started singing and playing very young, gaining prominence after winning several Slavic, Chinese and Russian singing competitions.

Born 24 May 1994 7.30 am Aktobe, Kazakhstan, he does have a uniquely aspected and emphasised Mercury in Gemini on the focal point of a Yod to Uranus Neptune in Capricorn sextile Pluto in Scorpio.

Uranus Neptune can be inspired, with a touch of genius and in sextile to Pluto gives it added potency. All that energy is channelled in a highly individual way through Mercury making him a master communicator. It could have gone another way and left him struggling to collect disorganised thought patterns but he obviously learnt early to order his mind to cope with a mass of input. He still has the Geminian trait of aiming for breadth. But he has clearly managed to combine that with depth.

His Sun is Gemini square a 10^th house Saturn which will help to give him discipline.

Significantly he has a creative Water Grand Trine of Saturn trine Venus in Cancer trine Jupiter in Scorpio, formed into an even more talented Kite with Jupiter opposition Mars.  The Water Grand Trine will allow him to operate within his own self-protective bubble. He also has an intense Scorpio Moon.

Interesting chart and a distinctive talent.

His creative 5^th and 7^th harmonics are well aspected. But the one that stands out is his 13^th harmonic associated with exploration, genius and breaking with the orthodox.

Photo:
laura___dear

A reprise in precis of the 2020 astrology and the coronavirus. The state of play at present is 750,000 deaths worldwide out of a population of 7.8 billion people. This compares to 50 million deaths from Spanish flu post-World War 1 with a population of 1.8 billion which occurred with Saturn Neptune conjunct in Leo, which is a classic epidemic signature. For comparison – heart disease and stroke dispatches more than 15 million annually, lung cancer 1.7m and road accidents 1.4m.

The overwhelming effect of CV-19 has been economic with a blizzard of ‘worst-on-record’ falls in GDP etc. That certainly fits with the Saturn Pluto conjunction which came exact last New Year and will be in place till this December. It has always been associated with deprivation and economic hardship, especially in Capricorn. Complicating factors have been Jupiter in Capricorn which will have brought some benefits perhaps in government handouts; and the extended square from Mars in Aries picking up this July to the year end, which magnifies risk, accidents, frustration and bad-temper.

A previous Saturn Pluto Jupiter conjunction (in Pisces) of 1819/20 brought about the first major peacetime financial crisis in the USA, with a collapse of the economy in 1821, and following that a resurgence in a new direction from the creation of a different and dynamic economy. First the destruction then the reconstruction.

The Eclipses this year have also been in Saros series associated with disturbing, upsetting and restrictive events.

The December 2019 Solar Eclipse affecting the first few months of 2020 – traumatic transformation and significant endings.

The June 2020 Solar Eclipse –  difficulties, restrictions, inhibitions, separations and illusions. Best advice is to wait before taking any real action.

The December 2020 Solar Eclipse – strongly emotional; caught up in situations or relationships beyond individual control with accompanying frustrations.

Two other planetary influences are in play.  One is Pluto moving towards the end of its 16-year stint in Capricorn, which put pressure on outworn financial and governmental systems with a view to replacing them with better. Arguably what was not fixed after the 2008 financial crisis is now being challenged until Pluto’s exit into Aquarius in 2023/24.

The second is Uranus moving into Taurus in 2018 for a seven year stay which from past experience usually brings major advances in technology as well as devastating famines. This may be most obvious in 2021 when tr Uranus is square tr Saturn, usually an indicator of an economic downturn.  In the past, authoritarian regimes have risen to power as a result.

Although the Solar Eclipses from June 2021 onwards are considerably more cheerful, there is a sense that the present turmoil has several years to run.

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Kamala Harris, the tough-on-crime former Attorney General of California now a senator, has been selected as Joe Biden’s running mate. Much has been made of her Indian-Jamaican background though she describes herself simply as ‘an American.’

She has a Libra Sun in her performing 5^th house opposition an Aries Moon, so she’s vivacious and outgoing, likes an audience and with Mars in Leo in the 3^rd opposition Saturn in her 9^th won’t back away from a fight, indeed will stir up arguments. That latter is softened to a degree by being square Jupiter in Taurus which has a range of meanings from arrogant, overly indulgent to an enlightened social administrator.

What is standing her in good stead this year and next are two influences. One is the confident and success-attracting tr Pluto trine her focal point Jupiter around earlier this year and returning late this December to late January 2021 across the Inauguration and on and off through 2021.

The other is tr Uranus square her Sun/Jupiter midpoint which brings sudden success and good fortune and is exact now. It picked up early July running till late September and returns in the spring and again across the New Year into 2022.

Across the Inauguration as well she has her Progressed Moon conjunct her Progressed Jupiter and both trine her Venus in Virgo – all exact. That is minor enough but will give a warm glow.

On the less rapturous side she has a downbeat tr Saturn square her Sun and Moon November 14^th to 26 but that can be extra hard work rather than a setback. Following that into early December she has a blocked tr Saturn square her Solar Arc Midheaven. She also has tr Pluto in opposition to a couple of her Mars midpoints from late August to late November which will be combative, argumentative and can be frustrating, infuriating and trapped, which again could be the rough and tumble of what will undoubtedly be a toxic campaign and maybe a delayed result.

Just after the Inauguration Jupiter moves into her 9^th for a year of perhaps more extensive travel than usual.

She’s a marginally odd mix with Biden though there’s nothing to say the President and VP have to be BFFs. Her outspoken Mars opposition Saturn squares his Scorpio Sun, Mercury, Venus though that will be mellowed marginally by her Jupiter being in opposition to his Scorpio planets. And her Venus in Virgo is conjunct his Midheaven so she will bring charm and PR abilities to bear on his career.

Their relationship chart is not easy with a suspicious and doubting composite Saturn Opposition Neptune Venus square Uranus. If they can focus their co-operation on social reform and innovative projects they’ll do OK but otherwise it’ll be a rocky and at times muddled partnership. What will help to steady it and bring luck/success is Jupiter trine Venus Neptune sextile Pluto which will give them an aura of a power couple.

ADD ON: Kam v Trump

She’s likely to press all of Trump’s hot buttons given his misogyny and racism.

Her Saturn opposes his Mars for an aggravated interface with her Pluto square his Uranus (and Sun and Moon) so she won’t budge easy.  What is intriguing – from an astrological point of view – is that her Jupiter is exactly conjunct his Midheaven which usually suggests the Jupiterian one will assist the career prospects of the Midheavener.  There might be a sense in which she will try to teach Trump to acquire a sense of cultural responsibility and ethics in professional life. Hah.  Interesting to see how it plays out.

What is clear from the relationship chart is there is visceral dislike and a fight-the-the-death power struggle with a volcano of bad feeling – from a composite Sun, Mars, Pluto, Venus conjunction opposition Moon.

His relationship chart with Joe Biden is nowhere near as toxic. There’s a differing-agenda, needs-space composite Sun square Uranus; and an only-one-can-win Mars Neptune – but it’s Kamala Harris that will set off his uncontrolled fuse.

Belarus, known as the last dictatorship in Europe is in uproar as the rolling presidency of strongman Alexander Lukashenko, at the helm since 1994, notched up another rigged election win. A landlocked country of 9.5 million inhabitants, with Poland to the west, Russia to the east, Ukraine south and Lithuania, Latvia to the north, it has been badly hit by economic mismanagement and the pandemic.

Belarus’s history is complicated though it became a founding member of the Soviet Union post-1917. They suffered unthinkable losses during World War 11, estimated to be 25% of its population when Nazi Germany invaded the USSR. About 85% of the capital Minsk was destroyed in bombing raids. The Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 also had a devastating effect on the country which suffered the worst of the radioactive fallout – about 70% of the hazardous particles it created landed there. Two million people in Belarus, 500,000 of whom are high-risk, live in heavily contaminated zones.

A Bolshevik regime was established in Belarus on 1 August 1920. That chart has Sun, Mercury, Neptune in Leo and Jupiter Neptune also in Leo which makes it sound like a Caribbean festival. But what marks it out as high-risk is a Grand Trine of ruthless Mars in Scorpio trine Pluto trine Uranus – rolling drama and cruelty. The Grand Trine is formed into a Kite by an autocratic Uranus opposition Saturn in Virgo. Mars is also square the Sun Neptune.

What is worrisome is that during World War 11 tr Pluto in Leo was then moving across the Belarus 1920 Sun Neptune; and in 1986 tr Pluto had moved on a quarter cycle into Scorpio to form another hard aspect to the Sun.  That scenario will repeat in the late stages of this decade with tr Pluto then into Aquarius.

The chart for modern Belarus, 25 August 1991 6pm (unverified) Minsk, Belarus, has, if the time is accurate, a control-freak Pluto on the Midheaven with a highly-strung Uranus Neptune on the Capricorn Ascendant; with an 8^th house Virgo Sun and Mars also in Virgo; plus a Mercury, Jupiter, Neptune in Leo which echoes the 1920 chart.

The way ahead is beset by pitfalls with a revolutionary tr Uranus opposition the Pluto in 2022, and a panicky-failure tr Neptune opposition the Mars in 2023 along with a deprived, discouraging slog from tr Pluto conjunct Saturn in 2024/25.

Predicting the downfall of dictators is always a mug’s game since they usually have the tenacity of cockroaches.

Lukashenko, 30 August 1954, is a Sun Virgo trine Mars in Capricorn, sextile Saturn in Scorpio – ambitious, hard-edged, obsessive, not prone to sharing the driving seat with others. He’s also got a lucky Jupiter Uranus in Cancer in a can-be-fanatical square to Neptune Venus. He’s in a devastated muddle at the moment and in 2021 with tr Pluto square his Neptune and in a state of upheaval in 2021/22 with tr Pluto opposition his Uranus – so he could go, but if anything his worst years look like 2023/24.

His first presidency chart, 20 July 1994, is under severe stress now and on for another three years with the tr Saturn Pluto this year in hard aspect to the Cancer Sun opposition Uranus – and it will continue in turmoil through 2021 and worse in 2022/23; with topple-off-perch influences (if he’s still there) by 2024.

I may be wrong but it looks as if the chaos will run on for another few years yet.

The opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanaovskaya, has fled to Lithuania, understandably given the president’s propensity of labelling protesters as terrorists, saying: “We will wring their necks, as one might a duck.” Her children had been sent ahead of time and her activist husband appears to be under arrest.

She was born 11 September 1982 and is an idealistic Sun Virgo square Neptune, sextile Mars in Scorpio, with a tough-minded Saturn Pluto in Libra. She looks deflated and discouraged through the next two and a half years with one minor uptick from tr Uranus opposition her Jupiter in Scorpio in November/December and February 2021.

Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong media tycoon and staunch pro-democracy activist has been arrested by under suspicion of colluding with foreign forces. It is the most high-profile arrest since Beijing’s national security laws were imposed on Hong Kong in late June.  He has been arrested before but the fear this time is he will face an unfair judicial process, with potential transfer to mainland China for trial. Hundreds of police also raided Lai’s Apply Daily tabloid newspaper.

In June, he said the national security law would make the operation of a free press not just difficult but dangerous. “But we have no choice but to go on with it. We don’t think about the consequences, we just have to carry on what we are doing. If we let the fear frighten us we won’t be able to do anything.” Brave man.

Born 8 December 1948 on mainland China he fled for Hong Kong aged 12, worked in sweatshops, learned English, became a self-made entrepreneur in clothing before turning to journalism, establishing Next media and founding Apple Daily in 1995.  He reportedly became politicised and a critic of Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

He’s a Sun Mercury in Sagittarius square Saturn in hard-working Virgo. He has a go-getting and risk-taking Mars Jupiter in Capricorn opposition Uranus; and his Pluto is in a determined trine to his Sun Mercury and squares his Venus in Scorpio.

When Tiananmen Square protests happened in 1989 and were brutally put down, tr Uranus was conjunct his Jupiter for a moment of enlightenment with his Solar Arc Jupiter opposition his Pluto for a surge of confidence. The tr Saturn Neptune in Capricorn were also moving to square his idealistic Neptune.

There’s nothing much ahead which looks optimistic. He will be determinedly cheerful through 2021/22 though it’ll be an uphill struggle. Where he looks to be running into more serious difficulties is in 18 months to 2 years’ time with a couple of worrisome and risky/blocked Solar Arcs and acute frustrations in 2022/23 and failed-plans after that.

His relationship chart with China 1949 is at a critical point now with the recent Eclipse conjunct the composite Uranus and aggravated in 2021/22. It’s much the same with the China 1912 chart.

The Apple Daily tabloid newspaper was launched 20 June 1995, with a journalistic Gemini Sun on the focal point of a strained Yod inconjunct Pluto sextile the highly-strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn; with Saturn square Sun and trine Pluto; and a focal point angry and argumentative Mars in Virgo square a Venus Mercury in Gemini opposition Jupiter in Sagittarius – not short of guts and strong opinions, but it was always going to have a difficult furrow to plough. Tr Pluto conjunct the Neptune Uranus this year and on till 2024 will rock it on its foundations; with tr Neptune bring major uncertainty 2022 till 2025 with tr Neptune conjunct the Saturn and then square the Sun. So nothing much of cheer until 2026 if it still exists then.

When you look at what happened to Tibet, there’s not much to give one hope of the Chinese becoming more civilized. Which makes his and the journalists’ stance all the more courageous.

Jane Birkin, the elfin English-French actress, best known for her decade-long, often controversial, liaison with French singer Serge Gainsbourg, has published her diaries in the UK. She’s had a wild life, marrying at 19 to a much older John Barry, the composer, divorced at 22, scandalous years with Gainsbourg and then a relationship with Jacques Doillon, a French film director – with a child from each.

Born 14 December 1946 3pm London, England, she has a volatile Sun Mars in Sagittarius in her relationship 7^th opposition a rebellious 1^st house Uranus with a searching-for-her-identity Gemini North Node on her Ascendant.  She’d be attracted to adventurous and assertive men, even though her relationships meant suppressing her own individuality. She had a battened down Saturn Pluto in her 4^th house, a hint of her controlling naval father who appeared also to be a spy, though she talks of him in affectionate terms. Her Saturn Pluto square a seductive and sensual Venus Jupiter in Scorpio. A complicated mix of wanting to drown in passion and wanting the freedom to find herself. Her Neptune in the performing 5^th is creative but not so good at commitment. Her Virgo Moon square her North and South Node would arguably make her overly sensitive and disorganised emotionally. Better at relating to a public audience than one-on-one.

Her first husband, John Barry, 3 May 1933, had his Mars Venus in Sagittarius in her 7^th house conjunct her Sun Mars with his Scorpio Sun close to her Venus – so there would be a sizzle of attraction initially. Though the relationship chart was controlling, trapped and not mutually supportive. The daughter from that relationship Kate Barry, a photographer, committed suicide in 2013, having long struggled with addictions and depression, some of which was ascribed to her chaotic upbringing amongst the bohemian Paris set.

Serge Gainsbourg, 2 April 1928 4.55 am Paris, was an upfront and provocative Sun, Jupiter and Uranus in Aries in his 1^st house with his Sun Jupiter in a controlling and pushily confident square to Pluto in the attention-demanding 5^th house. His Saturn in Sagittarius fell in her 7^th conjunct her Sun Mars and opposition her Uranus, so a ratchety mix where he put her down a good deal though she stuck it out for 13 years.

Their relationship chart, like her first marriage, has a one-upmanship struggle Jupiter Pluto, a dominating Mars Pluto; Saturnine endurance; and Venus in an illusory trine to Neptune and a fun trine to Uranus. There would be a love-hate dynamic running under the surface. She never really got over him.

Together they released a song  – “Je t’aime… moi non plus” (“I love you … me neither”) which was deemed offensive and banned radio plays in various countries for its sexual explicitness in referring to sex without love; and it finished with what sounded like an orgasm. It became a hit.

Her third affair which produced a child, with film director Jacques Doillon, was no more astrologically well-matched than the others. His Pisces Sun square Mars Saturn in Gemini collided with her Sun Mars in Sagittarius opposition Uranus. Though his Jupiter in her 4^th would help.  That relationship chart had a power-struggling composite Sun opposition Pluto; with a defensive, chilly Venus Saturn and an idealistic, illusory Jupiter Neptune.

Not a dull life, for sure, though she could never reconcile her conflicting needs for sexual intensity and independence. Until now.

Simon Cowell, television personality, entertainment manager, record producer and mega-millionaire, has fallen off an electric bike and broken his back in California.

Born 7 October 1959 in London with no birth time, he has a Sun, Mars and Mercury spread out through Libra; and a charming though manipulative Venus Pluto conjunct in Virgo in a hard-edged trine to Pluto, square Jupiter and sextile Neptune – not short of confidence, drive or ambition.

At the moment he has his Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his Mars which fits with an explosive collision and is often associated with operations which he’ll need to fix his injuries. He’s also got three of his Mars midpoints impacted by tr Neptune and tr Saturn aspects – as well as a downbeat tr Saturn conjunct his Mercury.

Not staggeringly interesting but the astrology is on target.

Photo: Alison Martin of SimonCowellOnline.com