Astrology of Today’s News

 

Keir Starmer has been elected Labour leader after the first round with 56% of the vote; with Rebecca Long-Bailey, the Corbyn choice, coming in second at 26%.

He was Opposition Brexit spokesman and before becoming an MP in 2014 was formerly a defence lawyer with an interest in human rights and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service. He is reputed to be the inspiration for Colin Firth’s character in Bridget Jones’ Diary.

Born 2 September 1962, he does have an influential and powerful chart with a ‘healing’ and private Water Grand Trine of Mars in Cancer trine Neptune trine Jupiter, formed into a Kite by Jupiter opposition a Sun Pluto (Uranus) conjunction in Virgo – so he’s not short of drive, confidence and determination. His Moon and Venus are in Libra; and he has a Fixed T Square of Saturn in cool, intellectual Aquarius opposition a Leo leadership North Node square Neptune in Scorpio. And a Yod of Mars sextile Sun inconjunct Saturn.

His focal point Saturn is getting a sharp prod from tr Uranus in square exactly now, shifting him onto a different track, as is customary with Yods. That plus tr Uranus sextile/trine his ‘driving rod’ Sun Pluto opposition Jupiter within weeks did always point to a lucky year for him.  See previous post April 7 2019. Though there’ll be a catastrophe or two to contend with late May to mid June, late October to early November and early 2021 when tr Uranus squares his Mars/Pluto midpoint. So it’ll be up and down.

2021/22 look emotionally intense with tr Pluto square his Venus; and highly-strung with tr Uranus opposition his Neptune with tr Saturn in square. Mid decade looks exceptionally stuck and devastated with his Solar Arc Sun Pluto crossing his Neptune and his Solar Arc Mars colliding with his Sun Pluto.

He certainly suits the Labour Party 27 February 1900 chart well with his Jupiter conjunct the Pisces Sun; though there’ll be a few fireworks from his Uranus opposition the LP 1900 Mars in late Aquarius. He’s an edgier mix with the Labour Party 12 February 190 chart with his Mars conjunct the Neptune and opposition Uranus square Moon; though his Venus in Libra chimes with the Aquarius Sun Venus.

Both relationship charts have emphasised Uranus suggesting innovations and almost certainly rolling crises and constant change.

His relationship with the outgoing (but not intending to be forgotten) Jeremy Corbyn is both confused and coolly business-like. There’s a disappointing composite Sun square Neptune; and a teeth-gritted Saturn. Their partnership looks pressured this year, with outbursts after mid year; and messy through 2021/22. His relationship with John McConnell is, if anything, worse. There’s a controlling, chained-together Pluto square Saturn and a cold Saturn square Sun; with an ego-clash Mars square Neptune. And his chemistry with Jon Lansman who represents the far-left Momentum is aggravated in 2020/21 and bumpy thereafter for two years.

Pic: Chris McAndrew

The epithets describing Jared Kushner’s elevation to a senior role in masterminding the USA coronavirus response are excoriating, the most pungent calling his squad a “frat party” that “descended from a U.F.O. and invaded the federal government.” Politico said “This is dilettantism raised to the level of sociopathy.” It follows on the heels of his much vaunted and long-awaited Middle East Peace plan which was dubbed “the Monty Python version of Israeli-Palestinian peace.”

His biographer said time and again people who’d dealt with Kushner told her that whatever he did, he “believed he could do it better than anybody else, and he had supreme confidence in his own abilities and his own judgment even when he didn’t know what he was talking about.”

Like Trump his previous career is littered with failures including a massive overspend on a Manhattan skyscraper, the debt from which has been a crushing burden for his family; and a bungled foray into newspaper ownership.

What did America ever do to deserve this?

His Mars in contrary, ornery and doggedly stubborn Aquarius opposes the USA’s leadership North Node in Leo – so he pulls in the opposite direction. His Pluto in Libra square his Capricorn Sun hooks into the US can-be-fanatical Pluto opposition Mercury; and his slippery, evasive Neptune in Sagittarius opposes the USA Mars, as his faux charm undermines the country’s assertiveness.

The relationship chart has a one-sided composite Sun Mars opposition Saturn – which suggests a relationship where only one partner gets what they want, while the other has to grit their teeth and suffer.

His confidence will get a serious elbow in the ribs come late May into June and again late October to mid November, and early 2021 with tr Uranus square his Mars. The first half of July and late December are also bad-tempered times of significant setbacks. The USA isn’t looking too fondly on him through this year and less so next.

Donkeys and dimwits wherever you look. Mind you the UK isn’t short on that score, but not quite so dramatically.

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His brother Joshua Kushner, a financier and co-founder of a high-tech health insurance company, which is providing data for CV, was born 12 June 1985. He’s a Sun Gemini trine Jupiter opposition Uranus; with a Rectangle of a publicity-seeking Mars in Cancer opposition Neptune which is sextile/trine Venus in indulgent Taurus opposition Pluto. His Mercury in Gemini is in a vague and evasive opposition to Neptune. He’s confident, innovative, a risk-taker, ruthlessly determined and super-ambitious. His relationship with Jared isn’t altogether cosy with a power-struggling composite Mars opposition Pluto in their relationship chart.

But really everything in the Kushner family relates back to father Charles, 16 May 1954, an acquisitive and utterly fixed, controlling Taurus Sun square Pluto; with Jupiter Venus in frivolous Gemini trine Neptune. Plus a wide Yod of Saturn in obsessive Scorpio sextile Mars in ambitious Capricorn inconjunct Mercury in Gemini – mentally highly-strung and disorganised. And an intense and vengeful Scorpio Moon. His parents were Holocaust survivors who came to the USA in 1949 from Poland.

Charles was imprisoned in 2005 after agreeing a plea deal with US Attorney Chris Christie on charges of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. The final charge was because of an act of retaliation against his sister’s husband who was co-operating with federal investigators. Kushner arranged for a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, recorded the encounter and had the tape sent to his sister. A real charmer.

Jared evidently visited him throughout his prison sentence. They have an extraordinarily complex and tied-together relationship chart. There is an affectionate composite Sun Venus conjunction on the focal point of a Yod to Saturn sextile Jupiter; and opposition Uranus Pluto. The Sun Venus are also trine Neptune and sextile Mars; with Mars square Saturn. So it’s a bond with a good deal of friendliness, delusion, aggravation and sacrifice.

In a diluted form it has similarities to Jared’s relationship with Trump – with a friendly composite Sun opposition Venus Jupiter; a fated and stressed Yod of Pluto sextile Mars Neptune inconjunct Mercury; and a strained Sun inconjunct Uranus.

So not only has Ivanka married a similar temperament to her benighted father but Jared is adept at placating father-in-law’s monster ego since the dynamic is much as he is used to.

The charts of Joshua, Charles and the Charles/Jared relationship all have Gemini planets in line for tr Neptune squares from 2021 and on till almost mid decade; and Joshua and Charles will also be badly affected by the economically-challenged tr Saturn square tr Uranus of 2021. The Kushner family fortunes will be on a downhill slide for a while.

And the Jared/father Charles relationship chart even before then is under acute pressure this year with tr Pluto conjunct the Mars and square the Saturn.

 

Despite Trump’s happy-clappy claim that he had fixed the Saudi-Russia oil clash which has sent prices to an eighteen year low of $20, there seems little indication that either Putin or Bin Salman are going to budge. Demand has dropped because of transport restrictions during coronavirus and the two countries can’t agree on a production cut. Oil economies like Algeria, Nigeria and Libya need prices to be close to $100 per barrel to balance the government’s books. Saudi Arabia also could face a funding shortfall of more than £100bn. Russia is less vulnerable to a price drop.

OPEC, 10 September 1960 Baghdad, is looking shell-shocked this year with Solar Arc Mars conjunct its Uranus; and tr Neptune just over the opposition to its Virgo Sun. Tr Neptune is aiming for an even more undermining 2022/23 as tr Neptune squares the Mars (for panicky failure) and squares Jupiter (financial bubble-bursting). At the same time in 2022 there is a devastating and confused Solar Arc Pluto conjunct Neptune; and a financial slide in 2023 from Solar Arc Neptune square Venus.

The Petrodollar chart of 8 June 1974 9am Washington, DC, also has a 17 degree Mutable Sun in Gemini which has been catching the undermining and confused tr Neptune square earlier this year. There’s also an unstable and unpredictable tr Pluto square Uranus all this year as well as a ratchety and aggravated tr Saturn opposition the Mars and square Uranus just finished and which returns after the middle of the year. Plus a nerve-stretched earthquake from Solar Arc Uranus conjunct Neptune, exact in four months; and a seismic shock from Solar Arc Sun conjunct Mars. Followed by an even worse 2023/24 with tr Pluto in a trapped, scary, dead-halt opposition to the Mars.

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Stir-crazy times demand a weirdo celebrity to match the mood and right on cue an eccentric anti-hero has popped out of the woodwork, or the penitentiary to be exact, courtesy of Netflix’s docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.

Joe Exotic, a self-described “redneck” queer who once owned 200 tigers, is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for 17 counts of animal cruelty and for conspiring to murder a big-cat activist Carole Baskin, who had won a million-dollar lawsuit against him. He dabbled on the fringes of politics, yearned for reality TV stardom and has been married four times, to a total of five men – a 2014 marriage was polyamorous to two men, one of whom subsequently accidentally shot himself in the head.

He born 5 March 1963, into a Kansas farming family, is Republican-voting, believes in unregulated gun rights – and meth, a popular gay recreational drug. He says he fell in love with tigers while recovering from a suicide attempt he linked to his parents’ homophobia.

He’s a Sun Pisces in a controlling opposition to Pluto in Virgo, with his Sun also conjunct an expansive confident Jupiter. His Venus in gregarious Aquarius is in a passionate, though none-too-sensitive opposition to Mars in flashy Leo; with Saturn conjunct Mercury in loves-to-shock Aquarius. He’s probably also got a dreamy, detached-from-reality Water Grand Trine of Sun Jupiter trine Neptune trine a Cancer Moon.

His nemesis Carole Baskin, 6 June 1961, hasn’t had a straightforward life either, running away from home at 15 with a boyfriend and living rough, got married to another, had a child at 17, got divorced and married again. She set up a big cat rescue sanctuary with her middle husband Don Lewis who suffered from ‘sex addiction’ and disappeared in 1997 when visiting Costa Rica supposedly for a cure. He was presumed dead in 2002 and she married a third time. The police say they have no evidence he was murdered.

She’s a Sun Gemini with a volatile Mars Uranus in Leo. Her Mars is exactly opposition Joe exotic’s Saturn for a mighty clash; which transcribes onto the relationship chart, not surprisingly, as a marked-dislike composite Mars opposition Saturn (also the assassination signature in traditional astrology) with the Mars in a ruthless sextile to Pluto and an ego-clashing square to Neptune.

Don Lewis, her second husband, 30 April 1938, is/was a maverick Sun Uranus in Taurus with passionate Venus Mars in Gemini and a pushy Jupiter inconjunct Pluto. His Uranus clashed with Carole’s Mars, so it would be argumentative at times. His and Carole’s relationship chart has an emotionally intense and indulgent composite Pluto opposition Jupiter square Venus, which would lead at times to one-upmanship struggles for the last word. There’s also a fairly explosive composite Mars Uranus conjunction trine Saturn so it would veer towards the unkind at times. Tr Pluto was opposition the composite Mercury when he disappeared; with tr Jupiter opposing the composite Pluto.

Middle America in all its glory. But it’s keeping a home-bound audience riveted.

Triple conjunctions of any of the four outer planets are rare occurrences – only ten in the past 2000 years – and coincide with massive shifts in the power centres on the globe and in the aftermath there are usually significant migrations of people, often for decades after.

The last triple conjunction – of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune in Capricorn in the late 1980s coincided with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the break-up of the USSR amongst other events. The Russia 1917 chart has a controlling Pluto in its 10^th which was under assault from tr Saturn Neptune and Uranus in opposition in the late 1980s, so found its grip on power wrenched away.

The year’s triple conjunction is of a lesser variety since it includes the faster moving Jupiter alongside Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. But it will still have a significant effect. The two countries which spring instantly to mind as being on a collision course – one is the USA with its Pluto in Capricorn opposition Mercury catching the hard aspects. And Saudi Arabia with its Sun Jupiter Saturn in Capricorn being ground down by the triple conjunction.

To a lesser extent China with its 12^th house last decan Jupiter will take a financial and confidence hit.   Germany also with its 10^th house Uranus in Cancer may spring a surprise or two as it swings in a radically new direction from 2021 onwards.  Other countries more affected than most will be Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, all with late Cardinal planets.

If the early 19^th Century Jupiter Saturn Pluto conjunction in Pisces is anything to go by – although there were differences being more spread out and in an unstable square to Uranus as well – there will be a financial collapse followed two or three years later by a shift over to a different economic model and a resurgence. Though as ever with major planetary aspects it is likely to home in on a limited number of specific targets, so to speak. You see it with accident prone influences – there are usually one or two headline-grabbing crashes around the globe – but not everyone is affected.  It’s a weird phenomenon  as if the planetary vibe needs to be acted out by a designated mark and then it moves on. The ripple effect will be felt elsewhere but not the bullseye.

 

Sweden, unlike most countries, has not closed its borders, schools, non-essential businesses or banned gatherings of people. They have instead adopted voluntary, softer measures to delay the spread of the virus. Its approach, spearheaded by epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, has come in for criticism both internally and elsewhere. More stringent measures will be put in place if there is a sharp increase in cases. At present Sweden has 3,700 confirmed cases with 110 deaths, low compared to other countries.

The Sweden chart, 7 December 1865 3.30pm Stockholm is showing up high risk as this year goes on with a scary, grind-to-a-halt Solar Arc Mars conjunct the Sweden Pluto, exact in six months but in effect before then.  And even more significantly the Solar Arc Uranus will move to form an insecure and high-stress conjunction to the 6^th house (health) Mars in Sagittarius – on the same degree within weeks and will remain in place for months thereafter. This will test the country’s confidence.

The June Solar Eclipse will elbow the Sweden Uranus in Cancer hinting at a shock and need for a change of approach. Plus there will be a jolting, change-direction tr Uranus opposition the Sweden Saturn in Scorpio starting late May and running on and off into early 2021. No matter what the final numbers are the country along with everyone else globally will take a financial hit.

Anders Tegnell, 17 April 1956, has a super-confident and uber-determined chart with a pro-active Aries Sun in a visionary though can-be impractical opposition to Neptune and trine a might-makes-right Jupiter Pluto in Leo. His Saturn in self-righteous Sagittarius is in an unyielding and obstinate square to Pluto; his Mars in contrary Aquarius squares a stubborn Mercury in Taurus and his Sun. And last but not least his Neptune is in a can-be fanatical square to Uranus. He’ll be pretty impervious to feedback or viewpoints which are different.

Tr Saturn in Aquarius will conjunct his Mars for a car-crash setback from April 6^th to mid June which may cause him to rethink his strategy. Tr Saturn back in Capricorn will starting colliding with his Neptune and Uranus from early July till late year; and his Solar Arc Sun will almost certainly catch the June Cancer Solar Eclipse for a crisis and forced change.

Apologies to all Mars in Aquarius types, but I’ve tripped across one or two who were hair-raisingly irritating and impossible to budge, as well as way off beam in their ideas. Being different for the sake of being different may make you stand out from the crowd. But sometimes everyone else is right.

Hungary’s Viktor Orban has tightened his autocratic grip by exploiting the coronavirus crisis to pass legislation allowing him to govern by decree for an indefinite period of time. He’s already at loggerheads with Brussels over his refusal to take in migrants as per the EU quota scheme and his stamp-down on the media, the judiciary and academic institutions. This latest move has raised disquiet within the EU and given that Hungary is the fourth largest net recipient of the EU budget after Poland, Romania, Greece, there should be considerable leverage. But it appears not to make a dent on Orban’s inexorable passage towards total dictatorship.

Orban, born 31 May 1963, 2pm (memory), is a slippery and controlling Sun Gemini square Pluto Uranus in Virgo; with his Uranus in an explosive, brook-no-interference conjunction to Mars in bombastic Leo. In turn his Mars is in a hard-edged and tough opposition to Saturn in can-be-cold Aquarius squaring onto a stubborn Mercury in Taurus. He’s also got a Yod of Jupiter in Aries sextile Sun inconjunct Neptune – so can be delusional, following a dream.

There’s not much showing on his chart instantly apart from tr Saturn in Aquarius in 2021/22 blocking his Fixed planets. Then there’s a confident uplift or a pro-active push from Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct his Sun in 2023, followed by a dead-halt Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct his Pluto (birth time being accurate) in 2024 with sharp reversals and setbacks also in 2023/24 from tr Uranus square his Mars and Saturn.

His Term chart, 10 May 2018, always did look fairly brutal and repressive with a Taurus Sun in an over-confident opposition to Jupiter and trine a ruthless Mars Pluto in Capricorn. There’ll be a few financial panics this year understandably from tr Neptune square Venus; but the pressure really builds in 2022/23 with a trapped, enraging, frustrating tr Pluto conjunct Mars which could spark violent opposition; with instability in 2023 from tr Pluto square the Uranus and tr Uranus conjunct the Sun. But as usual with demagogues there’ll be an undeserved streak of luck from Jupiter.

The modern Hungary chart, 23 October 1989, has tr Saturn square the Scorpio Sun exactly now; with a blocked and angry tr Pluto square Mars all year; and an undermining tr Neptune square the financial Venus also this year. 2021 will see jolting changes and challenges from tr Uranus opposition the controlling 10^th house Pluto.

The Hungary EU Accession chart, 1 May 2004, indicates disappointment and an undermining of ties from 2021 through till 2023; with tr Saturn exactly square that Midheaven at the moment. There’s also a blocked Solar Arc Pluto opposition Saturn in late 2021/22 – so it may come to a total impasse ahead. The relationship chart with the EU also points to 2021 being a flare-up point extending into 2024.

It’s always head-scratching when countries with as rich a cultural history as Hungary manage to get themselves embroiled with control-freak dinosaurs, determined to put a deadening hand on the lifestyle.

Angry warnings that the EU could collapse altogether if there is no solidarity over the economic plight of countries like Italy and Spain in the aftermath of the pandemic have erupted. At the recent summit it was made clear that Germany and the Netherlands would not countenance any rescue plan that was the equivalent of a transfer union. The Latin Front of the Mediterranean countries has come together united to face the EU down, with even pro-European Italian leaders questioning the point of membership.

The fundamental flaw in the EU and euro project is being stress-tested to its limit and beyond, as was always predicted it would be in the event of another recession. Merkel at the summit by videolink said even if she agreed on the equivalent of a coronabond Marshall Plan that the Bundestag would block it.

That the EU was going to be under immense stress from this year onwards was never in doubt – see previous post March 8 2020. The EU chart is dominated by Fixed sign planets forming a Grand Cross and that is being thrown into total disarray this year and on till 2023 with explosive tr Uranus hard aspects. Then tr Neptune squares the midheaven for a directionless and undermining drift of indecisive lack of direction in 2024/25 just as the Solar Arc Pluto has moved to oppose the 8^th house economic Moon and square the Uranus causing a total snarl up on the financial front.

The various internal relationships between Italy and Spain and the EU, Germany and France – are messy at the moment, in particular where Spain and the EU is concerned. But the major upsets look more congregated around 2022/23 and onwards with even ructions between France and Germany.

Germany this year has the June Solar Eclipse opposition its Saturn and square its Mars so won’t be having an amiable summer, with significant setbacks in the offing, not the least of which is a run of financial bubble-bursting Neptune transits and Solar Arc to its Jupiter in 2020/2021/22. Tr Pluto opposes the 10^th house Uranus in 2021/22 for a sudden, forced change of direction. With a hugely disrupted 2022 as tr Uranus is conjunct its 8^th house Pluto.

Germany will undergo a fairly violent (in diplomatic terms) reset of its relations to France, Italy and Spain through these 2021 to 2023 years. All in complete turmoil until at least mid decade.

 

Saturn has now been in Aquarius for a week and is joined tomorrow by Mars which makes a conjunction on Tuesday. So this is the first hint of what the long, slow slide over to Aquarius might bring. Saturn stays there till early July, Mars till mid May. Then Saturn and Jupiter together move in late December – Saturn staying for two years, Jupiter for one year; and Pluto moves in by 2023 for two decades.

Aquarius is an inventive, innovative, inquiring, scientific sign which likes to upset the status quo; and, particularly in Mars, dislikes being told what to do. No surprises if it starts on Tuesday’s conjunction with outbursts of anger or accidents. Mars Saturn can be disciplined but it tends to be passive aggressive, gritting teeth for so long and then letting fly. It’s associated with broken bones – Saturn’s rigidity meeting with Mars’ hash and crash approach. And with the military, which is being called out in various countries to deal with the crisis.

April continues with a fair sprinkling of the same energy with a volatile, explosive, argumentative Mars square Uranus on the 7^th which can also bring equipment break downs, in particular with computers or high tech; and a Taurus Sun square Saturn on the 21^st.

But along with the hitches and glitches there will be upbeat moments – a Jupiter Pluto conjunction in Capricorn on the 5^th might bring some cheer and confidence. Though thr Sun opposing Jupiter Pluto on the 14^th/15^th might lead to excessive behaviour since the combination is none too good at sticking to rules and regulations. Arrogance or over confidence can backfire.

Aquarius is associated with friendship and team or humanitarian activities and can also be stubborn and unyielding.