Astrology of Today’s News

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‘Tradwives’ are a money-making bandwagon for social media influencers keen to promote ‘the feminine urge to take care of your husband’ – dressed in floral, baking cakes and slapping on the makeup before the ‘provider man’ comes home from his day’s labours. They have struck a chord amongst some fans of the ‘traditional’ marriage which is submissive and in line with Biblical mores. The movement has been linked to the alt-right movement though the views of supporters of the concept range from the moderate to the extreme.

 Extracting a common thread from the charts of the notable Tradwives influencers is risky since some may just have jumped on a commercially attractive ploy – and in any event are a contradiction in terms since they are working hard independently.

 But the first two I looked at had strong Mars Saturn aspects – which can be a masochistic trait, a learnt response to a difficult childhood where their identity was denied. Mars = I want, I will do, I am. Being blocked by Saturn it has to submit to The Other.

  Estee Williams, 28 December 1998, Virginia, is a Sun Capricorn with a leadership Leo North Node so hardly a shrinking violet. Though her Pluto conjunct Lilith may be a clue.

 Hannah Neeleman, 25 June 1990,  is a Sun Cancer with her Saturn square Mars and Mars inconjunct Pluto. Her Venus opposes her BML.  Huge anger issues.

 Cynthia Loewen, 13 November 1993, is a controlled and controlling Sun Pluto (Moon) in Scorpio square Saturn – very battened down.

 Nara Smith, 27 September 2001, a Sun Libra trine Neptune. Her Mars is square her Sun and inconjunct her Saturn.

Alena Pettitt, 19 November 1985, is another late Sun Scorpio conjunct Saturn with her Pluto South Node opposition her BML.

  No great conclusions since Tradwife is way off my personal radar though I confess these social/cultural fads and manias do get wearing.

 I would also have to confess to being judgemental about women who (in my view) sell their souls out of laziness/cowardice and leave the heavy lifting to the husband. Not that bringing up children is easy but it does seem to be an opt out in a good many cases.   

Brad Kochunas’ reflections on astrology, soul, myth and imagination are gathered together in his latest book Dark Skies.

  Thought-provoking and mystical in approach, his insights and attitudes are informed by his work for three decades in prison mental health. He puts forward the idea of ‘therapeutic astrology’ rather than psychological astrology which latter he says is about “striving for personal growth, self-improvement, actualization of potential and/or making out lives better.”  He does not do predictions at all and says the focus should be not what we want out of life but what life wants of us.

‘Therapeutic astrology dedicated to exploring and discovering what psyche and soul desire, rather than ego, brings us to a different understanding of what is means to be human.”

  I struggle with some of his concepts and outlook but what made sense on second reading was his notion of sitting with the darkness – in prison with men guilty of horrific crimes for whom there was no redemptive healing and no future as we understand it bar an acceptance of soul. Which he relates in ordinary life to a state in which ‘each carry the underworld as a constant companion.’ And quotes Jung as saying: “The serious problems in life are never fully solved. — The meaning and purpose of a problem seem to lie not in its solution but in our working at it incessantly.”

  While it can sound nihilistic, especially as he points out in an American culture so geared towards optimism, sitting under a dark sky and being with the shadow can feel strangely reassuring. He quotes Thomas Moore in the Dark Nights of the Soul, “Many people claim to have integrated their shadow sides but that effort is itself a work against the dark.  The real task is to live in, and with, the darkness, appreciating its unredeemed value and loving its irreversible qualities.”

 And W.B. Yeats: “Who can distinguish darkness from the soul?”

  He regards the 4^th, 8^th and 12^th house as the carriers of the shadow with the houses that follow being the houses of identity – 1^st, 5^th, 9^th.

 There are chart examples and interpretations of prison inmates and their counsellors, of the latter many have Pluto in the 12^th. As well as of Christopher Reeve and Michael Fox struck down by physical disabilities; David Bowie and other creative celebrities as well as notable criminals; and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

  In troubled times where there is no escape from anxiety, uncertainty and fear, a zen-like attitude can be helpful. It is also true in his words that  “Reluctance to engage darkness, silence and emptiness are symptoms of a diminished cultural soul and an arid spirituality.”  

  My Earth, Air, Cardinal and Jupiterian temperament baulks at the passivity of some of his ideas if taken to extreme. But it is a constructive antidote to a striving, got-to-get-better approach. When you can’t fix it, sit with it.

  One other perceptive insight on Neptune which has been degraded in recent times by conspiracy theories, delusions and the like.

   ‘In Neptune’s association with Pisces, we can never overlook that Pisces is the matrix out of which something new arises to birth. It is the fecund chaos present at the creation of the world. It is the massa confuse of alchemy.   The Piscean moment before manifestation, before birth, is the ultimate uncertainty and it is potent.”

Published by the Wessex Astrologer.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing when mulling over the efficacy of predictive tools. But the past is not always a good indicator of a precise repeat when similar influences occur ahead.

 Trump survived an assassination attempt on 13 July last year near Butler, Pennsylvania. Relocating his chart there pulls his 12^th house Mars in Leo across his Ascendant into his 1^st house pushing him further into the spotlight in a flamboyant way. Transiting Uranus exactly conjunct Algol conjunct tr Mars in Taurus were hovering around his midheaven and exactly square his Mars for a sudden, explosive event causing great insecurity and leading to a fiery reaction.

 Trump’s Solar Return from June 2024 has a high-risk Pluto square Mars in the 7^th and 11^th. Set for Butler, Penn, it putls Pluto closer to the 8^th square Mars which make sense of a dangerous event.

 His Lunar Return which covers that event from Jun 21 2024 has Pluto on the Midheaven, which can be ominous, square Mars with Uranus in his 1st. The aftermath in his Lunar Return from 18 July 2024 has Uranus, Algol, Mars in the 8^th as the enormity of what had happened began to sink in with Saturn and Neptune in his 6^th house of health; and a trapped Pluto in his 4^th.

  Mars Pluto and Mars Uranus Algol would all point to a brush with danger.

  Those influences repeat from late this April into May 2025 with tr Uranus back conjunct Algol at 26 Taurus which squares Trump’s Mars – and also rattles an unsettling number of other charts especially across the Middle East and elsewhere.  On April 26^th, as well, the trapped, scary, can-be-ruthless and overly-aggressive Mars in Leo opposition Pluto is back for the final time. Plus Neptune has for the first time dipped its toe into Aries.

 Which also, just to be cheerful, coincides with the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the 8^th house Mars in the UK chart moving to exact to within a minute or so. Which could be financial/economic fallout to whatever is going on elsewhere as well as a more physically shocking experience.

  The UK Solar Return from December 31 2024 for a year ahead does have Mars in the 7^th house of partners/enemies opposition Pluto in the 1^st, perhaps hinting at a front-seat participation in whatever is happening – plus a financially uncertain Saturn Neptune in the 2^nd.

Solar Returns for the USA are trickier with no settled start time but on the Sibley chart, the July 2024 Solar Return has an explosively aggressive Mars Uranus Algol in the 7^th house of neighbours; with a stubbornly extreme Pluto in the 3^rd opposition Mercury.  Which makes sense as Trump throws the old  global order into disarray.

   The USA July 2025 Solar Return has Mercury in the 7^th opposition Pluto in the 1st as intense diplomatic discussions continue though lessening in aggression; with an unsettled electorate from Uranus in the 4^th plus a financially uncertain Neptune Saturn in the 2^nd and Mars in the 8^th.

 Bit of a hotch potch but Lunar Returns can be helpful. Country Solar Returns I don’t normally do but they seem to be reasonably illuminating.

  The levels of extreme anxiety in the USA and to a lesser extent elsewhere may to a degree be amped up by the Mars opposition Pluto and Uranus Algol which have been running since last year – and will finish after late April 2025 for Mars Pluto and in July when tr Uranus moves into Gemini (though returning to Taurus for a few months later in the year). Late this coming April does look like a toxic hot spot.

The tawdry spectacle of an unhinged Kanye West dragging his compliant maybe-spouse Bianca Censori on flesh-baring, publicity parades may be coming to a finish. Despite denials it does look like the end of the road.

  His close partner signifier Sun/Moon midpoint is around 2 degrees Taurus which is catching the tr Pluto square exactly now and on and off till late 2025 – that is classic split up indicator. Added to which their relationship chart has a composite Sun at zero/one degrees Aries which will be undermined by tr Neptune Saturn from April onwards and on into 2026 as tr Neptune Saturn continue to disintegrate the composite Sun square Mars opposition Neptune.

Kanye West, 8 June 1977 8.45am (unverified) Atlanta, Georgia, has a birth chart notable for several outstanding features. He has his Gemini Sun conjunct an expansive Jupiter opposition Neptune which on its own is scandal-prone and would incline him to go well over the score and trip himself up through arrogance. That opposition is formed into a Half Grand Sextile to Pluto and Saturn – talented, enduring, tough-minded. But it also squares onto an over-sensitive Pisces Moon which is further distressed by being on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Saturn and Pluto.

  Such a Moon especially in Pisces can be unstable, unbalanced and prone to confusion, overly defensive and inclined to react in self-defeating ways, constantly looking for maternal support. An emphasised Moon often seeks a public audience since appreciation from a crowd makes up for lack of one-to-one nourishment.

 He also has Mars Venus conjunct in Taurus which ramps up his passionate enthusiasm, his hyper-sexuality and can lead to lack of sensitivity in intimate relationships – a placing he shares with Hitler and his Mars is also the same degree of Taurus as that of Adolf Eichmann, perhaps why he veers towards Nazi symbolism.

Bianca Censori, 5 January 1995 Melbourne, Australia, no birth time, was born at the time of the highly-strung Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn which is conjunct Mercury on one side and her Sun on the other. So she will be inclined to an unconventional lifestyle. In addition and most significantly she has Mars in Virgo opposition Saturn in Pisces (conjunct Moon) square Jupiter in Sagittarius conjunct Pluto in late Scorpio.  Like Kanye West she has a strong streak of Mutable, whirlwind chaos in her temperament. And a masochistic streak from Mars Saturn amplified by Jupiter Pluto.

 The relationship chart, not surprisingly, had a power/ domineering streak from a composite Mars trine Pluto – and a publicity-seeking Mars opposition Neptune which is the crucial feature of their togetherness though ultimately where only one could get the ego-boost.

An odd reflection of the culture of the times.

  Solar Returns have their fans but are a hit and miss tool taken on their own for predicting elections and the aftermath.

 In a quick skip backwards – only JFK had lucky, successful Jupiter in his Solar Return 10^th on his election.

 Trump in 2016 for his successful run had Uranus conjunct the Solar Return Midheaven which makes sense of a change of career direction but that could mean several things.

In 2020 when he lost, Uranus was still in his SR 10^th with a power-propelled Jupiter Pluto on his SR Descendant – and admittedly Procyon on the SR Ascendant conjunct his emotionally-wounded natal Venus Saturn in Cancer.

 In 2024 he had Neptune in his SR 10^th square a hidden Venus, Sun, Mercury in his 12^th square a Saturn opposition Moon, none of which looked resoundingly cheerful for him.

 George W Bush won in 2000 with Neptune in the SR 10th along with Mars and Jupiter Saturn Pluto in the 8^th.

Obama won in 2008 with Uranus on the SR Descendant (Washington, DC) and Venus Saturn Mars in the SR 12^th.

Nixon won in 1968 with Uranus Pluto in the SR 9^th and Sun in the SR 10^th. With Sun in the SR 10^th the following year.

Trump in his Solar Return from June 2025 for a year has Sun conjunct the Midheaven and Jupiter in the SR 10^th – which looks successful.

 Last time it came up for discussion I bought a recommended book on Solar Returns but did not make much headway with it.  Though I gleaned that the SR Ascendant was significant and that Solar Returns cannot be treated on their own as a standalone chart.

Comments more than welcome.

Actress Tuppence Middleton, of Downton Abbey and War & Peace renown has been speaking of her obsessive compulsive disorder which constantly threatens to overwhelm her.

  This is a speedy and not comprehensive flit across a few well known OCD sufferers.

 Tuppence Middleton, 21 February 1987, is a Sun Pisces trine Pluto, sextile Neptune with a heavily aspected Mars in Taurus – trine Neptune and Uranus and widely opposition Pluto; with her Saturn semi-sextile her Mars/Pluto midpoint.

 Afflicted Mars appear to be a constant theme. Khloe Kardashashian, 27 June 1984, has Mars Saturn conjunct in Scorpio and her Saturn conjunct her Mars/Pluto midpoint and her Moon = Mars/Saturn midpoint.

 Howard Stern, 12 January 1954, a Capricorn Sun Venus opposition Uranus square Neptune, also has Mars Saturn conjunct in Scorpio; and his BML conjunct his Mars/Pluto midpoint.

Billy Bob Thornton, 4 August 1955 7.05 am Hot Springs Arkansas, has his Sun Mars conjunct in Leo  square Saturn in Scorpio with his 6^th house Aquarius Moon opposition his Mars/Pluto midpoint.

Daniel Radcliffe, 23 July 1989 another Sun Leo and Mars in Leo has his Sun square his Mars/Saturn midpoint. His Uranus square his Mars/Pluto midpoint and his Moon possibly also opposition his Mars/Pluto plus his Pluto square his Sun/Mars midpoint.,

Charlize Theron, 7 August 1975 8.23 am Benoni, South Africa,  a Sun, Mercury in Leo with Mars in Taurus. Her Moon is conjunct her Mars/Uranus midpoint. Her Mars/Pluto midpoint is conjunct her Moon/Saturn midpoint.

 Not comprehensive but interesting. Suppressed anger and thus fear, not surprisingly leads to hyper-anxiety.

Germany is heading to the polls on 23 February to vote in a snap general election, after the government collapsed in November. The centre-right CDU/CSU alliance is in the lead with about 30%, while the anti-immigration, Eurosceptic, far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has risen to more than 20%, making it the second strongest party.

 The country is seeing a radicalisation on the left and right in line with elsewhere. There are concerns about a lack of investment in the country’s ailing transport, energy, housing, education and health infrastructure which run headlong into Germany’s reticence about taking on more public borrowing. Cheap gas from Russia has dried up and German industry has suffered, with a third consecutive year of recession looming.

 The likely winner Friedrich Merz is not inspiring enthusiasm any more than the outgoing Scholz did.

  Whoever wins, the country is moving into troubled times. The Germany 1 January 1871 chart has Mars at zero degrees Libra square Saturn at 1 degrees Capricorn which will be badly undermined by tr Neptune Saturn in Aries from April onwards into 2026 in hard aspect to both, resulting in a sense of panicky failure and great uncertainty.  

 Germany’s relationship with the EU was always in for a rocky ride from this month onwards, worsening through 2026/27 and continuing on till  late decade with tr Pluto opposition the composite Uranus, then square the Mars and finally square the Moon; followed by tr Saturn and Neptune eroding the tightly controlled composite Sun opposition Pluto.

 Relations with France will be rocky through this year, sagging in 2026 and in a significant upheaval by 2028. USA diplomatic ties are also on a slide for several years. And with Russia there will be aggravation in 2026/27 – and perhaps worse through the final years of the decade.

  The Bundesbank, central bank chart, 26 July 1957, flags up confusion and indecision now, with an extended phase of disappointment, losses and turmoil through 2026 to 2028.

Frederick Merz, 11 November 1955, no birth time,  is a determined and battened-down Sun Saturn in Scorpio square a confident Jupiter Pluto in Leo. His life is changing radically this year with tr Pluto opposition his Uranus and lucky with tr Uranus square his Pluto Jupiter conjunction from June onwards – but if he does get elected his 2026/27 look fairly calamitous with tr Pluto square his Sun/Mars and his Mars/Saturn midpoints.

ADD ON:  Alice Weidel, 6 February 1979 Gutersloh, Germany, co-chairman of the right wing AFD, [born a few days before UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves] is a determined Sun, Mercury, Mars in Aquarius sextile Neptune trine Pluto and square Uranus. She has an upbeat, confident tr Pluto opposition her Jupiter till early March and on and off till late 2025. And gets a lucky break this April but thereafter runs into considerable setbacks in May 2025 and later in the year. With her successful influences running out in 2026/27.

Tino Chrupalla, the other AFD co-chairman, 14 April 1975, also has smatterings of good luck bringing success ahead, though the election result won’t please him.  But he will gear up and push ahead confidently despite hitches and glitches for the next two years.

Anselm Kiefer, the German painter, on exhibition in Oxford and 80 in a few weeks, has used his art to explore the infiltration of his country’s culture and psychology by Nazism and the far right. Born in 1945 he was one of the first generation of German artists to confront the country’s recent past head-on and to explore how art could keep history alive so that it would not be forgotten, or repeated.

  He was born 8 March 1945 in Donaueschingen in the Black Forest, in a hospital cellar as his home was being bombed and destroyed, and he grew up in the house next door to the ruins. An expansive Sun Pisces opposition Jupiter; he has his Mars in Aquarius opposition Pluto, trine/sextile Uranus – which would attract him to the darkness and danger of the past. His Chiron is conjunct Neptune which can produce compassion as well as a vibrant inner fantasy life.

 What intrigued me is that his Mars falls in the Germany creative 5^th house and exactly square the Germany 8^th house Pluto which points to a shadow and need for power at all costs in Germany’s deeper unconscious.  Kiefer’s Neptune Chiron falls on the Germany Libra Ascendant and Mars, and square the Germany Saturn, IC and Capricorn Sun. So he is intimately linked to his country’s identity and psychology. 

Another creative figure regarded as one of the most important in German-language literature of the post-World War II era was Paul Celan, 23 November 1920, a Romanian-born French poet and Holocaust survivor.

“He speaks truly who speaks the shade.“

A Sun Sagittarius square Uranus, he had his Mercury in Scorpio opposition the Germany 8^th house Pluto and his Neptune is square. His Pluto fell on the Germany Midheaven and his Mars in Capricorn opposed the Germany 10^th house Uranus.  His Chiron was closely conjunct the Germany Descendant.

   It got me thinking about other war artists and writers.

Samuel Bak, 12 August 1933, is a Jewish Lithuanian-American painter and writer, a Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Israel and then settled in the US. His work deals with the artistic expression of the destruction and dehumanization which make up his childhood memories. He has a Leo Sun which sits in Israel’s 10^th house close to its Saturn and Mars. The horror and danger of his childhood experiences reflected into his destructive Mars in Libra opposition Uranus square Pluto sits firmly on the Israel Ascendant, Descendant and Midheaven making him a key figure for Israel.

 The painter Paul Nash whose iconic Menin Road  became a symbol for the destructiveness of World War One, also had his Pluto and Chiron on the UK’s Midheaven and his Jupiter conjunct the UK’s IC.

  Siegfried Sassoon, 8 September 1886, was one of the leading war poets of WW1:

“You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you’ll never know

The hell where youth and laughter go.” 

 A Virgo Sun, he had his Mars in Scorpio opposition the UK’s 8^th house Mars, with his Saturn in the UK 10^th exactly conjunct the Moon; with his Uranus Jupiter sitting on the UK Ascendant square the MC/IC axis.

 T.E. Lawrence, 16 August 1888, author of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, known for his role during the Arab Revolt and Sinai and Palestine campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the World War 1, like Sassoon never left his war experiences behind him.

   Also like Sassoon he had Mars in Scorpio opposition the UK’s 11^th house Mars. He was a Sun Saturn in Leo with his Uranus falling in the UK 1^st house conjunct the UK South Node exactly square the UK Sun and Moon. He was betrayed by the British and French top diplomats who ignored promises to the Arabs who had helped him defeat the Turks – which is maybe where the South Node comes in with perfidious Albion with garlic overtones doing their worst.

Not sure what all this adds up to except certain individuals have, for good or for ill, a destiny more closely intertwined with their country than most.

The US Treasury manages government revenue,  collects federal taxes through the IRS and manages U.S. government debt. It is headed by a secretary of the treasury, who is a member of the Cabinet, presently Scott Bessent, an investor and hedge fund manager, a major donor, fundraiser, and economic advisor for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

 The US Treasury chart, 2 September 1789, has a Sun Mercury in Virgo widely opposition Saturn in Pisces for practicality and detail. But it also has an expansive, confident/overly confident Jupiter opposition Pluto square a Scorpio North Node which makes sense of a financial body with considerable power.

    There is also a yod of Saturn inconjunct Neptune sextile Jupiter which requires self-discipline and maturity to operate well. That critically aspected Saturn is moving by Solar Arc to square the Jupiter opposition Pluto by mid to late 2026 suggesting a life-changing/history-changing crisis of enormous proportions – which will damp enthusiasm and confidence.  The Solar Arc Sun will also be in a disruptive square to the Uranus in 2026 with tr Pluto square the Uranus in 2027/28 – again pointing to turbulence, upheaval and turmoil.

 Scott Bessent has his Leo Sun conjunct Uranus sextile Mars in late Gemini – keen on money and speculation, volatile, innovative, not overly respectful of rules and regulations especially as his Uranus is conjunct Pluto and his Pluto is in a rules-don’t-apply-to-me opposition to Jupiter.

 He looks exceptionally uneasy moving ahead with a jolting tr Uranus square his Sun on and off till early 2026. Plus a panicky-failure tr Neptune square his Mars again on and off into early 2026.  Plus an explosive SA Mars conjunct his Uranus this year; and worse his Solar Arc Jupiter opposition Pluto colliding in hard aspect to his Neptune this year – that latter suggests over confidence leading to a scandal/or or a calamitous disappointment.  Tr Uranus will square his Uranus and then Uranus/Pluto midpoints until it reaches his Pluto in 2028 – so a turbulent passage ahead. 2027/28 look discouraging and deprived with tr Pluto conjunct his Saturn.

  His relationship chart with Trump is essentially unstable and then some, riddled with suspicion and rumbling with suppressed anger, with a composite Saturn opposition Neptune square Uranus, Sun, Mars; with an admittedly confident Pluto trine Jupiter. There’ll be an upheaval or two between them mid March to early April 2025 and some disappointed hopes through this year into early 2026. But nothing too dramatic (without his birth time).

 What is obscure but interesting is that the Bessent/Trump relationship chart, like the Trump/USA relationship chart has composite planets hovering around Procyon, the Fixed star, indicating a rise and then a fall.

 Trump’s financial track record hardly inspires confidence in his ability to manage the country’s coffers competently or honestly.