Astrology of Today’s News

Actor Michael Fox has announced his retirement due to health concerns. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease thirty years ago and started drinking heavily and suffered from depression. He then pulled himself together and started a foundation to advocate for sufferers of the disease. He’s still leaving the door open for the possibility of an improvement which might see him return but says for the time being he is finding it difficult to memorize lines.

  Born 9 June 1961 12.15 am Edmonton, Canada, he has a 4^th house Gemini Sun sextile an excitable Mars Uranus in Leo in his 5^th. His steady Taurus Moon is conjunct Venus opposition an 8^th house superstar Neptune and square a 12^th house Jupiter and Saturn. In addition to being super-indulgent and eternally optimistic, such a Jupiterian T Square if handled well can give the ability to be an enlightened social spokesperson. His Moon Venus is also in a charmingly seductive trine to his Pluto North Node in Virgo. He has Mercury in Cancer in his performing 5^th house trine Neptune, sextile Pluto – giving him abilities as a comunicator. 

  When he was first diagnosed in 1991 he was on his First Saturn Return with the triple conjunction of Saturn Uranus Neptune in Capricorn moving through his psychological 12^th house so it would be a deeply unsettling experience. In addition – and worse – tr Pluto was then square his Mars and Uranus which would be scary, trapped and hugely disruptive. His Progressed Mars was also opposition his Pluto so he would feel completely cornered.

   At the moment he is on his Second Saturn Return with the triple conjunction of Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter moving through his 12^th house. So in addition to feeling held back he will be sensing a need to gradually let go old ambitions. Tr Neptune has also been squaring his Gemini Sun this year, finishing up late January 2021, which is low energy.

  His get-it-together 5^th Harmonic is exceptionally strong; as is his victim/healer 12H; and ‘seeking soul’ creative 7H and his actors’ 15H.

His fourth book is out:  “No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality.”

  There is an irony for such a Jupiterian personality whose half-glass-full approach to life has helped him stay buoyant through a devastating disease that it is Saturn which pulls him down. Or maybe not. It’s always the eternal struggle for the Jupiter Saturn conjunction. Jupiter raises high to the Olympian heights while Saturn cuts down to earth.

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The groundhog day of coronavirus lockdown may extend till spring according to the UK government, thereby obliterating Christmas. In laissez-faire USA, the number of cases is spiralling with an increase likely after Thanksgiving. France having seen a spike in early November imposed a second full-scale set of restrictions which is now easing slightly but will be reimposed if the situation reverses. And so it drags on in many though not all countries.

   The astrology would indicate a shift in mood after the middle of this December as Saturn and Jupiter move into airy Aquarius out of leaden Capricorn and begin a gradual move away from Pluto. But that will not necessarily open a gate into the sunny uplands instantly. Mars in Aries which has been causing aggravation and frustration since mid year in square to the triple Capricorn conjunction won’t exit until January 9^th and has one last scary, blocked hard aspect to Pluto running into December 23^rd.

  Neptune is also sitting on the Saturn/Uranus midpoint exactly now until the New Year which suggests a paralysis of will, and the need to resign to the inevitable. The December 14^th Total Solar Eclipse is in a Saros series with a similar theme – caught up in events beyond control, checked, blocked, a great deal of frustration – with the advice to avoid rash action until the dust settles.

  The December Eclipse highlights Neptune on the focal point of a Mutable T Square which is not encouraging – indecisive, confused, impractical, lacking will-power. Mars is trine the New Moon Mercury for a burst of energy, but also squares Pluto for a major road-block. It lasts in effect for several months.

  Into January Mars moves into Taurus and promptly rattles up against Saturn in Aquarius for setbacks and Uranus in Taurus for insecurity and irritations as well as Jupiter for a few rays of sunshine; with the first economically-challenging tr Saturn square tr Uranus due mid February.

   Relief may creep in only in small stages.

The delightful Marina Hyde is on form in the Guardian about the Boris gibber and witter in the face of impending doom.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/27/boris-johnson-false-hope-lockdown-prime-minister-tier-system

See previous Covid post August 13 2020

Two women in the news this week for raising the ire of dictatorial regimes are both of the Pluto in Scorpio generation.

  Kylie Moore-Gilbert, 28 May 1987, an Australian academic has been released after 804 days in Iranian prisons. She attended a conference in Iran and was arrested on espionage charges which she has strenuously denied. The Australian government has refused to confirm her freedom was extracted through a prisoner swap. She went on repeated hunger strikes and her health had deteriorated during long stretches in solitary confinement.

   She has a New Moon in Gemini with her Sun on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct Pluto in Scorpio sextile Neptune – so a curious mixture of over and under confident.  Her Pluto is in an intense opposition to Venus in Taurus and her Neptune opposes Mars, with the two oppositions forming a Mystic Rectangle, whose energies are always hard to balance.

  Her life is certainly turning upside down as her release is organised with tr Uranus opposing her Pluto and an upbeat tr Pluto trine her Solar Arc Jupiter. Ahead is up and down with successes and contentment as well as uncertainties and concerns. She will experience a psychological backlash from spending so much time in fear and conditions of deprivation after the euphoria of freedom wears off. When she was arrested her Solar Arc Neptune was square her Pluto – not unlike Jake Haendel (post below) when his brain collapse locked him in.

  The other in a more perilous situation is Loujain al-Hathioul, 31 July 1989, who led the charge to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia, and is back standing trial this week in in a special court which deals with national security crimes and terrorism. She was arrested in early 2018 and told her sister last year that “she had been held in solitary confinement, beaten, waterboarded, given electric shocks, sexually harassed and threatened with rape and murder. She was shaking uncontrollably, unable to hold her grip, to walk or sit normally”.

  She’s an intense and stubborn Sun Leo square Pluto in Scorpio with the triple conjunction of Uranus, Saturn, Neptune in Capricorn opposition Jupiter and trine Venus. When she was arrested in 2018 her Solar Arc Neptune was opposition her Sun and tugging on her Pluto, though Solar Arc Neptune won’t get to the exact square to her Pluto until 2022. At the moment tr Saturn is opposing her Sun with tr Uranus squaring her Sun which is high tension, being buffeted around; and she has a tranche of less than wonderful transits to midpoints over the next few years. Her triple conjunction is moving by Solar Arc to oppose her Sun and square her Pluto won’t clear for almost a decade ahead for a protracted period of crisis. She is one brave lady taking on that regime.

  It’s telling that both women have their Pluto in Scorpio aspecting their Sun – as does Jake Haendel. And all three had relatively similar Pluto Neptune Solar Arc collisions when they went into effective meltdown, their lives paralysed.

For Louthain see previous post January 27 2019

A locked-in patient who returned from a twilight non-existence has been telling his extraordinary story. Jake Haendel is a former opioid and heroin addict who wreaked catastrophic brain damage on himself. Expected to die, he remained in a non-communicative state, with his father describing him as ‘a houseplant’ although he was aware of everything going on around him.  He later called himself as a ghost inside a broken machine.

   After nine months he made a breakthrough and started rudimentary signals to express himself. He has now recovered the power of speech and hopes to walk again soon. Earlier this year he contracted Covid but bizarrely it appeared to speed his recovery once it had passed. Doctors regard him as a unique case and a medical miracle, though they are aware that after injury different areas of the brain are “recruited” to recover lost function, forming new neural pathways in an effort to heal. Jake believes he thought himself better.

  Born 31 October 1988 in Massachusetts, he’s an incredibly determined and stubborn Sun Pluto in Scorpio; with the brilliant and chaotic triple conjunction of Uranus Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Capricorn squaring onto Mars in Pisces, so highly strung, a risk-taker and reckless.

  When he collapsed into a coma in December 2017 he was just over his First Saturn Return, which can be a sharp reality check. And his Solar Arc Neptune was moving to square his Sun; tr Neptune was square his Solar Arc Pluto and trine his natal Pluto. Tr Neptune was moving to conjunct his Pisces North Node and his Solar Arc Pluto was moving to square his Node over his long months of locked-in-ness. Pluto Neptune can bring devastation and confusion.

  When he made his first tentative movements towards communication in June 2018 tr Jupiter then in Scorpio was conjunct his Pluto stirring his confidence. Tr Pluto in the weeks before had been square his Mercury. And tr Saturn was conjunct his Neptune about to finish moving across his triple conjunction.

  His beyond-obstinate Sun Pluto in Scorpio would be what dragged him into the depths and pulled him back out.  A miracle-making Scorpio. Though he’s still in transition with a disruptive tr Uranus opposing his Sun and then his Pluto through 2021.

  His breakthrough 13^th harmonic is strong; and even more so his 16H which carries a warning of catastrophes, sometimes self-inflicted but also brings an extraordinary will to survive.

  Mystic Medusa interestingly has highlighted another addict, veteran Alex Minsky born the year before and she says:

‘Sun-Pluto in Scorpio often undergo intense and unusual experiences, almost like a legendary journey into darkness to face demons. It is a life-death-rebirth vibe, a mythological epic transformation trip – you embody this.’

‘https://mysticmedusa.com/2013/07/sun-conjunct-pluto-in-scorpio’

https://www.jhaendelrecovery.com/

Diego Maradona, acknowledged as the greatest footballer of all time has died aged 60. He was described as ‘dazzling, infamous, extraordinary, genius, outrageous and a flawed football icon.’ ‘He boasted a rare combination of flair, flamboyance, vision and speed which mesmerised fans.’

  Born 30 October 1960 7.05 am in the slums of Buenos Aires in Argentina he showed his prodigious talent early on, brought glory to Argentina, moved to Barcelona and then Naples but as glorious as his career was it was also marked by drama, indiscipline and a long-running cocaine habit. He was exploited commercially by Argentina’s military regimes and when in Italy had connections to the Camorra – the Naples mafia. After his retirement from football in 1997 he became bloated and grossly overweight and in 2004 was hospitalised with a suspected heart attack following excessive cocaine use.

   He had an extraordinarily tied together chart with a Water Grand Trine of a 12^th house Sun Neptune in Scorpio trine a Pisces Moon trine Mars in Cancer, formed into a Kite by Moon opposition Pluto North Node and Mars opposition Saturn in Capricorn. From the Water Grand Trine he’d be healing for others but not for himself and the Sun Neptune especially in the 12^th plus a Pisces Moon would make him addictive prone.  With anger issues from Saturn Mars.

  His pleasure-seeking 9^th harmonic was strong; as was his self-defeating, rise-and-fall 10H; and his superstar 22H.

  It’s not often that death shows up clearly but he did have his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Neptune exactly and square his Midheaven; his Solar Arc Mars opposition his Moon; his Solar Arc Saturn exactly opposition his Node. Which is quite a collection.

So much talent and so much adulation heaped on his shoulders would not be easy for a shanty town kid to handle.

  Suzanne Moore, the Guardian columnist, winner of last year’s Orwell Prize for journalism, has resigned over the paper’s lack of support for her when she was attacked by transgender zealots, who threatened her physically and her children. After she wrote a piece in which she said gender was a biological classification, ‘not a feeling’ and defended Selina Todd, an Oxford academic who had been no-platformed, over 300 Guardian staff complained about her.

  Suzanne Moore said: “The way the column is spoken about, it’s as if it was Mein Kampf.’ “We have gone through the looking-glass and are being told that sex is a construct.” ‘It is said that sex is merely assigned at birth, rather than being a material fact – actually, though, sex is recognisable in the womb (which is what enables foetal sex selection). ‘Sex is not a feeling. Female is a biological classification that applies to all living species. If you produce large immobile gametes, you are female.’ Even if you are a frog. This is not complicated, nor is there a spectrum, although there are small numbers of intersex people who should absolutely be supported.’

  Suzanne Moore, 17 July 1958, is known for her outspoken views and with an upfront Mars in Aries in an enthusiastic opposition to Jupiter North Node in Libra squaring onto a fairly ego-centric Cancer Sun it’s not surprising. Her Mercury in outspoken Leo is in a rebellious conjunction with Uranus which will tend to make her fairly direct as well. Her Mercury is also trine Mars and trine Saturn in self-righteous Sagittarius – so all in all, she’s well-designed to be an opinion column writer. Her Moon may be late Cancer or early Leo, perhaps square Mars or conjunct Uranus. An excitable lady and not one to be shouted down.

  Selina Todd, 19 February 1975, the academic who was disinvited from a feminist conference, for holding supposedly transphobic views, also has her Mars in a Cardinal sign – Capricorn – and has a fixed sign Mercury in Aquarius trine Pluto, square Uranus and inconjunct Saturn so will tend to get pulled into heated arguments.

   JK Rowling who also got it in the neck earlier this year (see post June 8 2020) for the same alleged sin equally has Mars in Cardinal sign Libra.

  The Guardian ought to know better and it was a fertile relationship with Moore with their relationship chart having an Air Grand Trine of Sun Pluto trine Uranus trine Saturn with Uranus opposition Mars – so custom built for a co-operative venture in candid think-pieces.

  Oddly the first issue chart for The Guardian, 5 May 1821, is fairly stark. There is a Sun Venus in Taurus; with Jupiter Saturn Mars conjunct in Aries; and Uranus Neptune in Capricorn. Some of that is extremely hard-edged and veering to the fanatical. Jupiter Saturn can be reasonably idealistic and Uranus Neptune can be inspired. But it’s a starker chart than I might have expected given its touchy-feely, tree-hugging inclinations.

(PS Amended from the previous Guardian JC chart – software glitch.)

  Not sure there are too many conclusions to be drawn. The June post on Rowling concluded the fanatical bent of the transgender debate might be down to the generation born 1995 to 2003 who are of the Uranus Neptune generation which can lean towards zealotry and an extremism that is not open to debate.

  And oddly enough Lola Olufemi, a fervent advocate of the transgender lobby who was involved in the de-platforming of Selina Todd is born 1996 when the Uranus Neptune conjunction was still in orb.

  In ten years’ time we’ll be looking back, scratching our head wondering how on earth this madness caught such a hold.  Suzanne Moore points out it also included arguments about Brexit and other topics – complete inability to tolerate the other point of view.  

  It’s fascist. Think as I do, speak as I do or I’ll destroy you. Scary.

The Jupiter Saturn conjunction in Aquarius, exact on the solstice this December is significant for several reasons. As an astronomical event it will be rare. Despite these two planets coming together in a conjunction every 20 years, they will be closer visually than at any time in several centuries.

    Such astronomical alignments aren’t always noteworthy astrologically speaking. But this one is the first step in a momentous shift out of earthy, money and power-oriented Capricorn which has been the dominant theme for the past twelve years and is the harbinger of a revisioned landscape moving forward in this decade. Pluto will move into Aquarius in 2023, followed by Uranus into Gemini and Neptune into Aries – an ideological, technological driven, scientific Air/Fire emphasis rather than leaden materialism.

   The third lesser reason is that the conjunction falls on the Ingress of the Sun into Capricorn, always reckoned one of the key points in the year, painting a theme of what lies ahead.

   The key locations for this Ingress with be London, Korea, Iran and Los Angeles with the conjunction fall on the axis for each. Intriguingly with Brexit (of whatever variety) galloping towards a finish line the Jupiter Saturn due is conjunct the Ascendant located to London. The Brexiteers will no doubt hope this heralds a brave new world. Though a 12^th house Pluto square a 2^nd house Mars suggests financial road-blocks and dirty-dealings, and a confused, indecisive, delusional 1^st house Moon Neptune squaring the Node is also a worry.

  Set for Seoul in South Korea, close to the North, it puts Pluto on the Descendant with Jupiter Saturn in the 7^th – so that region will be on alert. The change of USA President is no doubt weighing on Kim Jong Un, now that his buddy Trump has departed.

  For Teheran the Ingress has Pluto conjunct the Midheaven with Jupiter Saturn in the 10^th so is likely to also be an important location for the same reason as North Korea. And Joe Biden’s chart relocated there has his determined Mars in Scorpio exactly on the Descendant, so is likely to be an area of intense concentration for him.

  Los Angeles? Who knows?  It has the Jupiter Saturn exactly conjunct the IC, which could perhaps bring grassroots pressure for a less greedy less capitalist approach to movie making?  Small hope!

  Jupiter is expansive, optimistic, fosters ideals and visions of a better life. Saturn is restrictive, realistic, insists on a tangible result from efforts and on facing life as it is. Finding the balance between idealism and materialism is crucial when these two come together. Having hope and common sense at the same time.

  A similar astronomical phenomenon of Jupiter and Saturn being so close together hasn’t occurred since July 1623 (in Leo)and before that March 1226 (in Aquarius). In 1623 the USA was stocking up with settlers in New Plymouth after the Mayflower’s landing in 1620. 1226 – nothing of great note that I can see.  

A depressingly vacuous court case involving two English Kardashian-type footballers wives centres on who leaked what from a private Instagram account. Coleen Rooney, wife of bad-boy Wayne, accused Rebekah Vardy of leaking stories of her private life to the media and says it caused her three years of ‘stress and anxiety’. RV in return sued her for libel, claiming she nearly miscarried because of her anguish over the affair. RV has won the first round, on the grounds that others had access to her Instagram account and the libel was directed solely at her. Both are now involved in “one final attempt to resolve the matter without the need for a full trial”. If they manage it the media will gnash their teeth at missing out on the fun and distraction.

 Coleen Rooney, 3 April 1986, is a Sun Aries with an emotionally intense and stubborn Venus in Taurus opposition Pluto square an Aquarius Moon.  She has a Solar Arc Saturn square her Sun around now so not in the best of spirits. She’ll have some uplift over the New Year but that runs alongside a run of mishaps and failures till late January, followed by a run of disasters from tr Neptune squaring her Mars/Saturn midpoint late March to mid April, repeating later in the year.

 Rebekah Vardy, 17 February 1982, is a Sun Aquarius trine Pluto, Saturn, Mars in Libra which in turn square Venus in Capricorn – so equally not one for giving way easily under attack. She’s not looking too ecstatically happy in 2021 either with Pluto and Neptune transits putting blockages and banana skins in her way; with a sharp-shock from Solar Arc Mars square Sun also in 2021.

   Their relationship chart which has Saturn sitting on the Mars/Pluto midpoint – not an auspicious omen for a BFF bond – has tr Neptune conjunct the composite Sun from late March, through April and on and off across the New Year into 2022.   All disappearing down the plughole as well it might.

What an obscene waste of money.

 See previous post: October 10 2019

A historic Israel-Saudi Arabia pact had been on the cards. Even in the dying days of the Trump regime there is a push to make it happen with Israeli PM Netanyahu and Secretary of State Pompeo allegedly being seen at the Saudi leader Mohamed bin Salman’s favourite watering hole. Whether it will happen or not is questionable with the strong possibility that the promised sweetener of an arms’ sale will be withdrawn under Biden’s watch.

  The Saudi Arabia/Israel relationship is uneasy at the best of times with a struggle-for-the-upper-hand composite Jupiter opposition Pluto; a differing-agendas Sun opposition Uranus and a hostile Mars trine Pluto; and an unsupportive Mars square Neptune.  Tr Neptune will be producing disappointments between them through 2021 and undermining trust.

  Netanyahu and MBS aren’t a comfortable mix at the best of times with both having a brash, flamboyant Mars in Leo and MBS’s super-charged, control-freak Pluto being conjunct Netanyahu’s Sun.

   USA/Saudi Arabia relations look easier than the Saudi/Israel ones through 2021. And there will be considerable tensions between Israel and the USA starting from late this December.

    Netanyahu and Biden are a tough mix with Joe Biden’s Scorpio planets squaring Netanyahu’s Mars Pluto in Leo for a stand-off. It’s highly strung at the moment, jousting for position from the New Year and seriously disrupted through 2021 with tr Uranus in hard aspect to the composite Sun square Pluto, with tr Saturn chipping in its dampers as well.

  Iran is at the centre of all political decisions with Biden likely to try and resurrect Obama’s deal which Trump summarily overturned.