Astrology of Today’s News

Lady Colin Campbell, the Jamaican-born aristo-wannabe, has another Royal book out this week – Meghan and Harry, the Real Story. She has previously cornered the market in marginally salacious Royal books, spilling the beans about Diana’s affairs, casting aspersions about the Queen Mother’s parentage and the Queen’s marriage amongst other titbits. None of which has made her popular in the inner circle of courtiers and Royals.

She came to public prominence on Celebrity Jungle a few years back, where she fell out with two of the other contestants and claimed she was bullied. She was born on 17 August 1949 to a wealthy department store father in Jamaica, with a birth defect which labelled her as a boy until she went for corrective surgery in her late teens. Her father was moody with a turbulent temper and her mother was narcissistic and cruel.  A brief early marriage to a younger son of the Duke of Argyll gave her a title and she has never remarried.

She is a Sun Pluto in Leo with Sun inconjunct Jupiter in socially and materially ambitious Capricorn. Her Moon either Taurus or Gemini probably squares Saturn in Virgo; with communicative Mercury and Venus also in Virgo.  She also has an excitable, assertive, focal point Mars in Cancer in a showbiz square to Neptune opposition North Node in Aries.

Her chart does not sit easily with Meghan’s despite both having Mars in Cancer, Venus in Virgo and Suns in Leo. CC’s controlling (and contemptuous) Pluto is conjunct Meg’s Sun – and both being Leo both will want all the attention. CC’s Uranus is also square Meg’s Moon Saturn which will be tension-inducing and fractious. The relationship chart has a disappointing and slippery composite Sun square Neptune; as well as an aggravated composite Mars trine Neptune sextile Uranus, Venus, Pluto, Saturn – so not mutually supportive as well as being hostile and blocked. Their connection isn’t under happy stars this year with a dip when publicity started to surface recently and continuing on into 2021 which in an odd way looks worse.

If anything she is more of a problem for Harry since her Pluto, Sun, Saturn, Mercury all fall in his intense 8^th house and her Sun Pluto squares his Midheaven and Saturn in Scorpio. Their relationship chart is edgy and panicky at the moment, worsening through 2021/22.

Lady Colin’s own chart looks chipper and upbeat this year with tr Pluto conjunct her Jupiter – good for money and success; and in particular now over the launch and all the publicity with tr Uranus opposition her Sun/Jupiter midpoint. Though with the Solar Eclipse conjunct her Uranus and July’s Lunar Eclipse hitting her Mars – it won’t go without flare ups, dramas and unexpected twists. 2021 looks much less enthusiastic for her.

The weirdly dystopian dramas of the one percenters have thrown up a sad ending with the apparent suicide of Steve Bing, Hollywood playboy, multimillionaire real estate heir, filmmaker and philanthropist. Left a mega fortune when he was 18 he became a Vegas high-roller and strip-club aficionado who used his wealth in part to involve himself in the movie business, producing Get Carter and Polar Express amongst others. He was buddies with Bill Clinton, Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger and did give generously to charity.

He came to public prominence via his bitterly disputed paternity suits over Liz Hurley’s son Damian and former pro-tennis player Lisa Bonder’s daughter Kira and eventually had to concede they were both his children though he had little contact with them in later years aside from financial settlements. Lisa Bonder at the time of conception had been in a 28-day marriage to multi-millionaire Kirk Kerkorian and it was his aggravation over child support claims that led him to find the truth about the parentage of Kira, using the services of the infamous investigator Anthony Pellicano, who ended up in jail for wire-tapping and other offences.

Liz Hurley and Steve joined forces recently to fight Steve Bing’s father Peter who was trying to cut out-of-wedlock children out of his will – and they won.

Steve Bing, 31 March 1965 in Los Angeles, no time sadly, was a charming Sun Venus in pro-active Aries with a volatile collection of Mars Uranus Pluto in Virgo opposition Saturn square North Node in Gemini – he would have a depressive and acutely frustrated streak which he channelled into his free-spirited, can-be-wild Gemini North Node. His Node would make him unwilling to shoulder responsibility. He also had an indulgent Jupiter in Taurus in a head-in-the-clouds opposition to Neptune.

Damian Hurley, 4 April 2002 12.22pm London, is also an Aries with Sun, Mercury there, in an expansive square to Jupiter in Cancer. He was born with the unyielding Saturn in Gemini opposition Pluto in place, which collided with Bing’s Gemini North Node and squared his father’s Virgo planets as well.  Damian also has his Node in Gemini as does Liz Hurley (and indeed Donald Trump). Liz Hurley’s Sun, Mercury and Jupiter in Gemini all connected with his North Node, 10 June 1965. And she also has Mars, Uranus, Pluto in Virgo opposition Saturn – so it would also have been a passing flare that couldn’t last.

Lisa Bonder, 15 October 1965, a Sun Libra also has a Gemini North Node opposition a passionately enthusiastic Mars Venus in Sagittarius square Saturn which opposes Uranus Pluto – so another combustible mix.

Her daughter Kira, March 1998 is a Sun Pisces with Mercury, Mars and Saturn spread out through Aries; and a confident Jupiter opposition a Virgo North Node square Pluto. All of them have their Nodes tied into their charts fairly tightly – so central to the zeitgeist of their time.

Bill Clinton also has a Gemini North Node and Warren Beatty has a Sagittarius Node, which latter also has a dislike of commitment in early adult life and tends to swing around in the breeze.

When Steve Bing was originally fighting Liz Hurley over paternity support he said they had not been in an exclusive relationship and that it was ‘her choice to be a single mother.’ It would have to be said I have some sympathy for him. I’m not sure why in these days of feminist equality a few errant sperm should come with a hefty price tag attached.

All the money in the world and it didn’t do much for him at the end of it all.

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Seattle is the target of Trump and the far-right’s ire with claims the “radical left” has “taken over” the city when a police-free autonomous zone was set up by protesters after demonstrations over police brutality and systemic racism. The president said he had offered to come in and settle the matter within an hour or so. In response the Seattle mayor told him to “go back to your bunker.”

Seattle, incorporated 2 December 1869, has a long history of radical action stretching back to the Seattle General Strike of 1919 which brought the city to a halt as well as later historic protests.

The city chart itself has a stellium in outspoken Sagittarius with Mercury, probably Moon, Sun, Saturn there with Sun Saturn trine Neptune. Saturn Neptune is concerned with betterment of society and Sun Neptune will tend to the idealistic as well as the creative. Not surprisingly it has a long musical tradition, being the birthplace of Jimi Hendrix, and its vibrant jazz scene nurtured the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and others.

There’s also a super/pushily-confident Jupiter Pluto in materialistic Taurus in an innovative sextile to Uranus – fitting for a city renowned for being the gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush, and hosting a thriving shipbuilding, then aircraft industry and finally, courtesy of local Bill Gates, an even more prosperous technology sector.

The General Strike of 6 February 1919 happened with a tr Pluto Jupiter conjunction in Cancer which was in an explosive opposition to the Seattle Mars in Capricorn; and the tr North Node exactly conjunct the Seattle Sagittarius Sun.

Even more massive protests followed the Kent State University shooting when national guard shot 13 unarmed students, killing four, on 4 May 1970 during a peace rally against the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. The massacre led to a mass walkout of 4 million students in colleges across the USA. Tr Saturn was conjunct the Seattle Jupiter, moving to conjunct the Seattle Pluto in the aftermath, for a massive dip in local confidence. Tr Uranus was retrograding back to form an explosive square to the Seattle Mars; and the tr Node was square the Seattle Sun, with tr Mars in opposition to the Sun.

More recently on 30 November 1999, anti-globalisation protests against the World Trade Organisation Conference became known as the Battle of Seattle as 40,000 protesters gathered. At that point the economically unstable tr Saturn in Taurus square tr Uranus was in hard aspect to the Seattle Jupiter Pluto; and tr Pluto was conjunct the Seattle Sun. The cost to the city was considerable with the police chief resigning in the aftermath.

This year tr Neptune is squaring the Seattle Sun in a lacklustre run till late January 2021. The Solar Arc Sun will conjunct the Jupiter late in 2021 for a surge of confidence and success. Though before then the Solar Arc Neptune will square the Seattle Saturn for a period of uncertainty.

Not Donald Trump’s ideal location – especially with the Seattle Jupiter Pluto square his Pluto for a tussle of Pluto’s jostling for the upper hand; Seattle’s can-be-self-righteous Saturn conjunct Trump’s Moon and opposition his Sun and in a high-tension opposition to his Uranus; and Seattle’s rebellious, reforming Uranus conjunct Trump’s conservative Saturn. He won’t be retiring there for sure.

The Cancer Solar Eclipse has come and gone without too much out of the ordinary in terms of dramatic events. Trepidation and excitement precede eclipses which often turn out to be damp squibs on the day or even week itself.

But there can be a curious delayed effect. The 11 August 1999 total solar eclipse was starkly aspected with the Leo New Moon opposition Uranus square Saturn in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio and caused much alarm amongst astrologers in advance. The path rose in the Eastern seaboard of the USA, crossed the UK, down across Afghanistan, Pakistan to southern India. There was a Turkish earthquake on the path of the eclipse which killed 17.000, but nothing in the other locations on the path.

Almost two years later in January 2001 tr Mars returned for the first time to the 1999 eclipse position in Scorpio and tr Uranus was just one degree passed the opposition to the 1999 Eclipse New Moon when the devastating Gujarat India earthquake occurred, killing many tens of thousands. Gujarat was directly on the path of the 1999 eclipse. In the UK the catastrophic national foot & mouth epidemic in the UK, also started around this time. And the 9/11 terrorists were arriving in the USA at this point to train and plan.

The Tangshan Earthquake in China on 28 July 1976 in which a quarter of a million people died occurred with tr Saturn in Leo at exactly the degree of the Mars in the Solar Eclipse two years before in June 1974, arguably triggering the eclipse chart.

The Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, which killed around 250,000 people, occurred when tr Mars had moved to conjunct the New Moon of the November 2003 Solar Eclipse. Which sounds minor enough.  But just in these few examples Mars turns up as a trigger.  It’s not (I think) much researched and you drown in charts if you’re continually tracking each eclipse on for several years. But it’s intriguing enough for anyone with time to follow up.

So worth keeping an eye on this Eclipse chart ahead. My recollection from doing an eclipse survey at one point was that the New Moon following was often a trigger as well as much further ahead  On individual charts it’s generally reckoned the eclipse effect runs until the next one – so six months.

Tone deaf or deliberate provocation? Trump’s deluded insistence on holding his first campaign rally in the midst of rising CV-19 figures in Tulsa, Oklahoma has drawn outrage from black Tulsans, who say it will stoke tensions never mind act as a super-spreader of infection. In late May 1921 the city was the site of one of the worst massacres on the black community; and this is the weekend that celebrates freedom for enslaved black people, never mind the nationwide protests over racism in policing.

Juneteenth celebrates the Texas emancipation of slaves on 19^th June 1865 and was followed in December 1865 by a nationwide abolition. The Texas Liberation Day fell on a reforming, all-systems-change Sun Uranus conjunction in Gemini opposition Jupiter and trine Saturn in Libra; with an emotionally intense Venus Pluto Moon in Taurus square Mars in Leo – so it would not meet with universal approval.

It took till 1964 to enact a landmark civil rights and labour law that outlaws discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, and racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations.

The US Civil Rights Act 2 July 1964 chart has a Sun Mercury and North Node in Cancer and is on a Nodal Return this year with this weekend’s Solar Eclipse being conjunct the Node and the July Lunar Eclipse being opposition the Sun Mercury – very much in the centre of the zeitgeist now.  It was passed in the febrile 1960s after JFK’s assassination when the turbulent and reforming Uranus Pluto in Virgo was in place and squaring the USA 1776 Uranus. The 1964 Uranus Pluto opposition Saturn was square Mars in Gemini when the act was passed – again a hard struggle and arousing bitter opposition.

The Tulsa Massacre, 31 May 1921, called “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history,” involved mobs of white residents attacking black residents and businesses on the ground and from private aircraft. It destroyed a district, then the wealthiest black community in the USA, known as “Black Wall Street”. A 2001 state commission estimated deaths well into the three figures. It happened when there was a high-tension, autocratic and opportunistic Uranus in Pisces opposition Jupiter and Saturn in Virgo square an angry Sun Mars in Gemini – all of which triggered the Uranus and Mars in Gemini of the USA 1776 chart – I’ve always though that US Mars Uranus in Gemini had a lot to answer for and was very key to American attitudes and behaviour.

The city of Tulsa itself, incorporated on 18 January 1898, was seriously rattled as well with its Pluto Neptune in Gemini opposition Saturn Moon (Uranus) in Sagittarius catching the violent whirlwind of influences in 1921.

The Nixonisation of the present US Administration continues with the attempted removal of Geoffrey Berman, the Manhattan US attorney, who has overseen key investigations of Trump allies including Michael Cohen and Rudi Giuliani. William Barr, the attorney general announced the resignation but Berman kicked back saying “I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning. I will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate.”

Congressional Democrats have already accused Barr of politicizing the Justice Department and acting more like Trump’s personal attorney than the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.  Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: “This late Friday night dismissal reeks of potential corruption of the legal process.”

Barr’s astrology indicates that his near future, far from being a triumph, is one long banana skin. He has tr Neptune conjunct his Jupiter/Node midpoint exactly now which suggests ‘false happiness’ and over-confidence which leads to disappointment and failure. That is echoed on his Swearing-In chart from February 14 2019 which has Jupiter at the same degree. Where his downhill slide picks up speed will be from late this August to late November; and even more so from early October to late January 2021 with tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Saturn midpoint, which will bring a long series of disasters and calamities. Late October to mid-November across the election he has tr Uranus square his Sun/Neptune described by Ebertin as ‘sudden emotional crisis, mourning, weakness.”

There are similar aspects in his relationship chart with Trump – not happy campers together, for sure and worse into 2021. Both Barr and the Trump relationship chart are being triggered by the Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse now and Solar Eclipse late year.

Geoffrey Berman, 12 September 1959, a Sun Mercury in Virgo, is being rattled by this month’s Solar Eclipse and will have a panicky dip in September and again early in 2021, but on the whole looks fairly upbeat and confident late August to late November and through 2021/22.

Judicial overreach may boomerang back uncomfortably.

Actor Ian Holm, best known to younger fans as Bilbo Baggins in Lord of the Rings, has died aged 88 of a Parkinsons-related illness. In fact he had an illustrious career on stage and screen over decades with multiple awards for Chariots of Fire, Alien, King Lear on stage and others. Described by Peter Bradshaw as “ a virtuoso actor of steel, sinew – and charm. He was a character actor with star quality.”

He was born 12 September 1931 2am Ilford, England with a psychiatrist father, who pioneered electric shock therapy; and he started initially, aged 18, studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and after National Service joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was married four times, divorced three, with five children from various mothers.

He had a communicative and restless third house New Moon in Virgo in a charming conjunction with Venus. His Mercury Neptune were also in Virgo. Dominating his chart was an extremely restless Cardinal Grand Square giving him initiative aplenty and the ability to pick up and start again, well-designed for a career of constantly changing projects. The signature tough-minded Saturn in Capricorn opposition Pluto of the Depression in his case squared onto a heated 4^th house Mars in Libra opposition a 10^th house Uranus in Aries. An unpredictable lifestyle would suit him and he’d rebel against restrictions or compromise, both domestic and career.

He suffered from stage fright after 1976 when tr Saturn was moving through his 1^st house pushing him into a lower-profile phase; with a panicky tr Neptune conjunct his Solar Arc Mars; tr Uranus conjunct his Solar Arc Sun, Moon, Venus – and I suspect more significantly his Solar Arc Moon Neptune square his 12^th house Pluto. He returned with Lear in the late 1980s to a resounding success.

His chart wasn’t quite what I’d expected since he always looked restrained and slightly demure.  His personal life clearly didn’t run too smoothly which would be partly down to an argumentative Mars in the 4^th, plus Uranus plus Pluto giving him a degree of obstinacy and anger. And the male-of-the- species Virgo can be a player, more so than the female.

Harry Tyson Moore has been called the first martyr of the civil rights movement that expanded in the 1960s. He and his wife were victims of a home bombing on Christmas Day in Florida 1951, which 56 years later was deemed likely to have been the work of four Klu Klux Klan members, all long dead by then.

Moore, November 18 1905, was a teacher and pioneer leader of the civil rights movement, founder of the first branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Brevard County, Florida, and president of the state chapter of the NAACP. He led the Progressive Voters League, achieving an increase in the registration of black voters in Florida to 31 percent of those eligible to vote, markedly higher than in any other Southern state.

He had his Scorpio Sun on the focal point of a Fixed T Square to Saturn in Aquarius opposition a ‘leadership’ Leo North Node so he would stand out from the crowd and not give way easily; with his Venus also in Scorpio in a passionate square to Mars in Aquarius. His outspoken Mercury in Sagittarius was in a vehement opposition Pluto in Gemini. And he had the signature Neptune in Cancer opposition Uranus of his generation.

When he died in an ambulance, being driven thirty miles to the nearest black hospital, his Solar Arc Neptune was exactly conjunct his Leo North Node, undermining his Fixed T Square.

His wife, Harriette Moore, 19 June 1902, a hyper-active Sun in Gemini with Pluto and Mars also in Gemini with a reforming, rebellious Uranus (Moon) across the zodiac in Sagittarius. Her Saturn in Capricorn was exactly conjunct the Pluto on the USA 1776 chart for an unyielding connection, When she died, her Solar Arc Mars was exactly opposition her Saturn; and her Solar Arc Saturn was square her Mars/Pluto midpoint which Ebertin describes as “brutality, cruelty, violence.”

In 1951 when the bombing occurred, the 1776 USA chart was at that point on a Saturn Return; with a Saturn Mars (Neptune) in Libra conjunction square Uranus in Cancer.

The main NAACP organisation came together on 12 February 1909 to meet the challenges faced with African-Americans, especially disenfranchisement, and to find solutions. Bizarrely white Democrats who dominated the southern legislatures were a major headache, creating barriers to voter registration.

The NAACP chart has an Aquarius Sun which fits well with Harry T Moore’s chart; with two central oppositions indicating the divisive struggle ahead  – Neptune opposition Uranus and Mars in Sagittarius opposition Pluto North Node in Gemini. That latter was keyed up in the 1960s during the Civil Rights struggle with the tr Uranus Pluto in Virgo in square. It’ll be facing a dip in 2021/22 with tr Neptune square the Mars and Pluto, though should get an uplift in 2023/34 with tr Uranus square the Sun. Pendulum swings – just as you think progress is being made, it takes a step backwards before moving forwards again.

An unholy scandal is threatening to rock the monarchy in Spain involving former King Juan Carlos over Swiss bank accounts, secret foundations and untaxed multimillion-euro payments, and a hell-hath-no-fury rift with an ex-lover of his. The end result may force him to face trial or leave the country. Swiss prosecutors are investigating the source of a €65 million payment he made to his former mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. She has alleged on tape various backhand deals involving eye-watering sums of money he supposedly made via Middle Eastern rulers. As a result his son, King Felipe VI, disinherited himself to attempt to put distance between the throne and questionable money.

Juan Carlos started his reign in 1975 on a modernising high but latterly tarnished his reputation with dubious associations. His downfall finally came on Botswana elephant hunt with this mistress in 2012, when he fell and had to be flown home for an emergency hip-replacement. The Spanish press went to town, opening the floodgates on his affairs. He was heavily criticised for his excess in a time of economic crisis which led two years later to his abdication. What didn’t help was his son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarín being simultaneously under investigation for corruption, which ultimately led to a six year prison sentence.

Juan Carlos, born 5 January 1938 1.15 pm Rome, Italy, spent his early years in exile with the dictator Franco in power in Spain, returning in 1975 to be given back the throne. He’s a super-confident Jupiter on his Midheaven opposition Pluto; with his Jupiter square a 12^th house Uranus – a risk-taker, uninclined to follow ordinary morals’ rules and regulations. He has Sun Venus in socially ambitious Capricorn trine Uranus and sextile Mars – innovative, uncompromising, dislikes interference. A North Node in his 7^th house of close relationships hints that committed partnerships were not his strong point – as his poor, beleaguered wife Queen Sofia found out.

This particular ex-mistress, who is causing waves, twice married Corinna zu S-W, 28 January 1964, is a feisty Sun Mars in Aquarius which is conjunct Juan Carlos’s Jupiter in his 10^th so she’d be attracted to his status, but her Sun Mars also square his Uranus so there would be high-tension outbursts. Her Venus in Pisces is conjunct his Mars for a touch of passion; with her Moon conjunct his Pluto for possessiveness. Her Jupiter in Aries squared his Sun for mutual back-scratching; but her Saturn on his Moon would be a damper.

What’s on the money is their relationship chart which has a deeply-hostile composite Mars opposition Pluto. Often duos which have this aspect can amble along contentedly for a while but when they part company it gets extremely nasty so vengeance and payback are par for the course.

King Felipe’s reign, 19 June 2014, was always going to be a fraught series of rolling crisis, kicking off with Uranus opposition Mars square Pluto; though Uranus also squares Jupiter for a hint of luck. It’ll run into a downbeat, potentially unpopular blip in mid to late 2021 with Solar Arc Saturn opposition the Venus.

His own chart, 30 January 1968 12.45pm Madrid, indicates a shock and collision of sorts later this year with Solar Arc Mars square the Sun, perhaps as the Royal scandal moves on apace. What should cause him some concern is that he shares a late degree Capricorn Midheaven with his father which tr Pluto will move to conjunct – by 2022 in his father’s case and 2023 in his (timing dependent on birth times being exactly accurate). Tr Pluto on the Midheaven often accompanies a fall from grace, loss of reputation and a career-dead-halt with a need for a rethink on the far side. In Juan Carlos’ case it may mean he faces the consequences of his past actions and ends up in the sin bin in one way or another. In Felipe’s case it could even mean a tussle with Republicans and it’s not definite that he’d win.