Astrology of Today’s News

Cult television classic Monty Python’s Flying Circus is 50 tomorrow. It launched against internal resistance within the BBC from senior management who found it unfunny, “disgusting”, “nihilistic and cruel” and thought it pushed across what was acceptable. The first episode of the late-night nutty comedy which promised crazy antics only attracted 1.5 million viewers and a less than rapturous appreciation response. The second series was commissioned but all the regions opted out – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And now it’s regarded as the height of comic genius.

It launched at 10.50pm on 5 October 1969 which gives a risk-taking and confident Libra Sun, Jupiter, Uranus in an explosive and outrageous square to Mars. There’s also an Earth Grand Trine of sorts of Saturn in Taurus trine Mars trine IC and Venus in Virgo which would ground it though on the edge of cruelty from Mars Saturn. Mars is also inconjunct an entertaining Leo Moon fuelling a few angry responses.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson took her first global outdoor title by winning the heptathlon gold at the World Championships in Doha, setting a British record. It’s the UK’s third medal in Doha, after Dina Asher-Smith’s 200m gold and 100m silver. The heptathlon is seven events – 100 metres hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 metres, long jump, javelin throw, 800 metres – competed for over two days.

She was born 9 January 1993 in Liverpool with a Bahamian father and a dancer mother and has an amazing chart. Her Capricorn Sun is closely conjunct Uranus Neptune opposition Mars and square Jupiter – so quite a power-house of pent-up energy. Her ultra-determined Pluto is sextile/trine her Sun Uranus Neptune opposition Mars and square Saturn – so even more drive from that.

The only aspect showing in her chart (without a birth time) over her momentous achievement is tr Saturn square her focal point Jupiter – which doesn’t sound like a whoopee-of-triumph moment, but may indicate the effort and discipline involved in powering through such an endurance test.

Pic: filip bossuyt

Prince Harry’s rant against the media has sparked off a critical backlash, ruining the generally positive publicity from his and Meghan’s Africa trip. No one objects to a legal response to the printing of a private letter between Meghan and her father, since there are copyright infringements involved. But the additional screech, against all internal Buck House advice it is said, comparing Meghan’s situation with his paparazzi-hounded mother Diana is pushing the envelope.

Early adverse publicity was down to Meghan’s family and badly handled at Harry’s end and all the recent brickbats have been their own doing – expensive home renovation at taxpayer expense, frequent air jaunts while wearing virtue badges about saving the planet etc.

If he pushes it much further he’ll be smartly told to give up his Royal title and privileges and retreat into quiet anonymity. Everything comes at a price and being Royal requires at least a truce being signed with the media.

He does have a fairly dogmatic and over-reactive chart with a deeply buried 8^th house Mercury in Virgo trine Jupiter, sextile Pluto and square Uranus – so he will tend to amplify situations and speak before he thinks; and the same goes with an 8^th house Virgo Sun in an impulsive and combative square to Mars and trine Neptune.

He is in an unusually intense mood at the moment with his Progressed Moon going through his 8^th house for another two years; plus a panicky, undermined tr Neptune square his Mars till mid November and for a final time mid December to late January 2020. His Progressed Mars is now sitting on his Ascendant which will also ramp him up. And earlier this year, when Archie was born, he had an aggravated Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his Mars – when the bizarre birth and baptism ducking-and-diving raised eyebrows.

He also has tr Saturn moving into his lower profile First Quadrant from this year until the late 2020s so he will want to step back anyway and might be well advised to steer clear of the limelight. Meghan, on the other hand, is just winding up a head of steam with tr Saturn moving above her Descendant to take on more responsibility and become more visible.

She’ll end up with the same problem as Diana – wanting to use the media to publicise her good causes and privacy for anything that doesn’t suit her – which isn’t how it works.

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Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah’s trainer Alberto Salazar, has been banned for four years for “orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct”. Farah is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history, with gold medals for both 5000 m and 10,000 m. He trained with Salazar for nearly seven years during which time he went from being just outside elite level to virtually unbeatable; and he stuck with him after allegations first surfaced in 2015 and left only in 2017. Questions are also being asked about the support of Sebastian Coe, the IAAF president, who had a long friendship with Salazar. Nike, who sponsor Salazar say they will back his appeal.

Salazar, born 7 August 1958 in Havana, is an innovative Sun Uranus in Leo in a volatile square to Mars (Moon) in Taurus. He doesn’t look too upbeat in 2020/21 with an uncertain tr Neptune square his Saturn; and tr Uranus opposing his Neptune across this New Year; though he may regain his enthusiasm come 2021/22 with tr Pluto square his Jupiter.

Salazar’s Sun Uranus are trine Mo’s Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius which makes for a lively crossover and there’s a good fit also with Mo’s Aries Sun and Mars.  Salazar’s Mars (Moon) in Taurus is conjunct Mo’s Venus and opposition his Saturn – so it was a relationship with a good deal of drive and determination. Last but not least and probably most importantly Salazar’s Jupiter was conjunct Mo’s Pluto giving him a confidence boost.

Their relationship chart has a friendly composite Sun Venus (Moon) trine Uranus; with an awkward, stressed Mars inconjunct Pluto – it was a high-pressure relationship pushing to the limits of endurance.

Mo himself, born 23 March 1983 in Somalia, is looking very stressed over the next three years with tr Pluto square his Mars opposition Pluto. He had retired from track events to focus on marathons but recently was talking of going back to some track events.

Pic: Tim Hipps, U.S. Army IMCOM Public Affairs

Bernie Sanders has pulled out of campaigning for a short while after having emergency surgery putting two stents in to ease artery blockage. Although he’s still raising substantial quantities of money, his campaign was already in some disarray with Elizabeth Warren eclipsing him as the progressive standard-bearer. He’s sunk to third place nationally, behind Warren and Joe Biden.

He never looked that sanguine ahead with tr Neptune in a debilitating opposition to his Sun for the final time mid this November to mid December and a frustratingly blocked tr Pluto square his Mars in Aries from late January 2020 on and off till December 2020. Plus his Solar Arc Neptune is moving to square his Sun in 2020 as well and square his Jupiter – suggesting high hopes would be dashed.  And worse still his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Venus now and opposition his Mars in 2020 which is blocked every which way.

Despite his best efforts, William Barr, the Attorney General, is being dragged down into the rapidly expanding Ukraine impeachment affaire. It appears he and Mike Pompeo, according to multiple reports, ‘collectively participated in contacts between Trump and leaders of at least four foreign countries.’ These contacts were variously aimed at producing stories that could damage Joe Biden or undermine the US intelligence community’s assessment from 2017 of Russian election tampering in the last election. Barack Obama’s former speechwriter Jon Favreau tweeted “The America First crowd is jeopardizing our national security by pressuring foreign governments to help them discredit our intelligence officials and rig our elections.”

Barr always did look in for an exceptionally panicky and uncertain term (see posts April 18 and May 1 2019). From distorting the Mueller report to make Trump sound exonerated, he’s obviously continued along the same path in a job that is supposed to be non-partisan but using his position to support Trump’s political ends.

Mid November onwards looks rocky, with some lucky breaks, but they’ll disappear through a high-stress phase in late December and through January on both his personal chart and his relationship chart with Trump. Where the real calamitous aggravations crop up – which shows on the Pence and other related charts as well – is March/April 2020 and September 2020 to February 2021.

Multiple allegations and firm denials are flying around over Boris Johnson’s association with American entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri during his time as London Mayor. The Sunday Times reported that Ms Arcuri was given £126,000 in public money and privileged access to three foreign trade missions led by him during this time. And friends are quoted as saying she told them there was a sexual affair, which given his track record seems not unlikely.

She was born 26 February 1985 (net sources) possibly in Kentucky, which makes her a Sun Pisces trine Pluto, sextile Neptune – creative, not short of stratospheric ambition, especially given her Pluto in a super-confident square to Jupiter. She has a passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars in Aries so definitely pro-active – she goes straight for what she wants. Her Moon is in earthy, acquisitive Taurus.

Assuming this is accurate her Venus Mars fall in Boris’s 7^th house of close relationships conjunct his Descendant so there would definitely be an attraction. Her Pluto is conjunct his Scorpio Moon with her Jupiter square his Moon – so there would be an intense frisson and good feelings. Her Moon falls in his 8^th perhaps conjunct his Jupiter so again a deep comforting connection. It wouldn’t be entirely perfect since her Sun is conjunct his Saturn opposition his Uranus Pluto and square his Mars so long term it’d be a less than stable connection.

Their relationship chart has a fiery composite Sun Mars which initially can spark up a few romantic fireworks, but ultimately becomes argumentative and competitive. What’s interesting is that there is a Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Mars. This suggests a fated relationship which has the potential to affect the destiny of each in a significant way – for good or for ill.

There’s no indication they have much contact nowadays but the ‘relationship’ has been dominating the headlines and there may be more consequences when tr Uranus is conjunct the composite Sun from this coming mid November for a four weeks; and more so into 2020 when tr Uranus is conjunct the composite Sun/Mars midpoint at around 6 degrees Taurus and more so in June 2020 as it hits the composite Mars – jangling the Yod.

PS: I can’t remember which of his many liaisons when it surfaced in the press was brushed aside as an inverted pyramid of piffle. He was steeped in the Trump playbook from way back.

‘An enigma without a secret’ – Matthew Parris’s delightful description of Theresa May might just as easily be applied to Mike Pence, Trump’s VP. To European eyes his fusion of evangelical Protestantism with unvarnished capitalism and the spirit of the Tea party seem head-jarringly contradictory. Less so in the USA but even there his piety sits awkwardly with his proximity to the pussy-grabber-in-chief.

For all his slippery evasiveness he now appears to be getting dragged into the impeachment scandal – with both Barr and himself named in a whistleblower complaint alleging Trump abused his office in a conversation with Ukrainian President. There are also hot rumours that the Kushners are manoeuvring to have him dumped and replaced by Nikki Haley.

Pence born 7 June 1959 is facing an uncomfortable few months with a debilitating tr Neptune square his Gemini Sun running now till mid November and returning mid December to late January 2020. Plus a ‘shocking’ and insecure-making jolt from tr Uranus square his Mars mid this November to mid December, returning in February and early March 2020; with an additional jangle from tr Uranus square his Venus/Mars midpoint late December and across January. In addition he has his Solar Arc Sun conjunct his Uranus around now which will be destabilising – without a birth time it’s not possible to pin it down timing-wise.

Late December to early February also look beset by tr Pluto square his Neptune/Node leading to confusion and breakdown of relationships; followed from late March till early July by tr Pluto square his Saturn/Uranus midpoint which will bring brutal challenges, harm through force majeure – and that repeats on and off till late 2021.

During that last phase his relationship with Trump hits a new low with tr Neptune square their composite Sun from late March, on and off into 2021. And there are also signs at the exact same time that Trump’s relationship with Lindsay Graham who is mounting his impeachment defence also hits the skids with tr Neptune opposition their composite Saturn.

But for all of the above he does have tr Pluto sextile his Jupiter in Scorpio from late March onwards till late 2021 which will bring him some succour and confidence.

Neither Pence nor his wife Karen, 1 January 1957, whom he calls mother, get on with Jared. In Pence’s case there will be ructions from mid October onwards. Karen who evidently had a hotline into his office when he was Governor and more or less ruled both his home and working life is an ambitious and pro-active Capricorn Sun (Moon) square Mars in Aries with Venus Saturn in Sagittarius. She reportedly wasn’t too enamoured when Trump won with her holier-than-though husband at his side so tricky to tell from her chart whether she’d be up or down at being able to retreat from the White House. Her relationship chart with Trump nosedives even lower from March 2020 onwards with tr Neptune square the composite Mars.

The oddly macabre tale of Barbara Newhall Follett has surfaced again with the reprint of her successful novel, House Without Windows, published when she was 12 years old in 1927, which propelled her to prominence as a child prodigy. Her second novel at 14 also received critical acclaim though in the same year her life fell to bits when her beloved father abandoned the family for a younger lover. She married at 19 and became depressed because of her husband’s infidelity and walked out, so the story goes, when she was 25 and was never heard from again. It’s still debated whether it was suicide or murder.

Born 4 March 1914 in Hanover, New Hampshire, she was creative and sensitive with Sun Venus and Mercury in Pisces, with her Sun Venus square Saturn in Gemini – so she would be prone to depression; though her Sun Venus were also trine Mars in Cancer giving her courage. Her Mercury in Pisces was in a good-for-fiction trine to Neptune in Cancer. Her Moon was in Gemini as was her Pluto; and she had an adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Aquarius. So a Water Air chart which often finds it tricky to find a balance between head and heart, and can be unstable. Not only did she have Saturn pulling down her self-esteem, she also had Mars conjunct Pluto which can lead to intense frustration and deeply buried anger which can be destructive.

When she disappeared her Solar Arc Saturn had moved to conjunct her Mars – which can be accident-prone but would also aggravate the Mars Pluto, bringing a sense of calamity; tr Pluto was within a degree of a conjunction to her Solar Arc Mars, again completely road-blocked; and her Solar Arc Pluto was conjunct her Neptune with tr Saturn in square to both which would be confusing to the nth degree. Whatever actually happened she would be on the edge of a breakdown with those influences running.