Astrology of Today’s News

Boris the Brave is ducking a confrontation with TV inquisitor-in-chief Andrew Neil (for now). This comes a few days after Jeremy Corbyn was reduced to mincemeat in a train-wreck appearance in which he failed to apologise for anti-Semitism within Labour, and got in a tangle over the financing of pensions and other benefits.

Andrew Neil, 21 May 1949 9.45am Paisley, Scotland, was born only five days before Corbyn, so has the same heavyweight Mars in Taurus square Pluto. Neil also has the additional heft of a Taurus Sun square Saturn in Leo; while Corbyn’s slippery Gemini Sun trines an evasive/idealistic Neptune.

Their relationship chart has a defensive Sun Saturn square as well as the fight-to-the-death composite Mars square Pluto – so no surprises that ended in a knock out.

Boris’s relationship with Neil isn’t exactly a match of minds and hearts either. Boris’s head-in-the-clouds is square Neil’s uber-determined Pluto for a power struggle; with Boris’s afflicted Mars square Neil’s Saturn for a bad-tempered chemistry; and Neil’s Uranus conjunct Boris’s Sun Venus suggesting differing agendas and an ability on Neil’s part to throw a Uranian firecracker in to ruffle Boris’s charm and get under his skin. Boris’s chaotic Saturn opposition Uranus Pluto also squares Neil’s Venus in Gemini for an emotionally dampening and irritating effect.

Their relationship chart has a hostile composite Mars square Pluto and a resentful Saturn square Pluto. It’s under pressure at the moment from tr Pluto opposition the Sun/Pluto midpoint; and sagging from mid December onwards.

Neil and Sturgeon are a confused combo with her Neptune opposing his Taurus Sun so he’ll find her evasive. Their relationship chart has a competitive, argumentative composite Sun Mars. But it’s nothing like as tricky as with the two main leaders.

An interview with Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, is still to come. Her Aquarius Sun opposes Neil’s Pluto and squares his Mars which doesn’t sound an easy-going meet; with her Mars in Virgo square his Mercury and her Saturn in Virgo square his Uranus for tense outbursts. Their relationship chart has a heated and argumentative composite Sun square Mars; and a gritty Mars sextile Uranus Saturn Pluto. Any discussions between them will be mega-intense with tr Pluto square their composite Mercury till mid December.

Nigel Farage, for what its worth, since he’s only a bit player in all this, isn’t a great fit since each will regard the other as grandstanding; and they won’t be comfortable in each other’s space with a composite square Uranus in their relationship chart. They’re on a rocky road right through till next spring and beyond.

** Update: If Boris thought Andrew Marr would be a softer touch than Andrew Neil he was rudely awakened this morning on Marr’s Sunday morning TV show after a fiery clash in which Marr accused him of ‘chuntering’ (to talk in a low inarticulate way, ie. rambling on tediously about nothing much). And Boris objected to being interrupted.

Marr, 31 July 1959, is a Sun Leo with a Gemini Moon and a ferociously determined Mars Pluto in Virgo which is conjunct Boris’s Uranus Pluto opposition his Saturn and square his Mars for a very tetchy interface; and Marr’s Uranus squares onto Boris’s Jupiter opposition Neptune for another clash of agendas.

Their relationship chart has a competitive and argumentative composite Sun, Mars, Mercury and a cool, suspicious Venus opposition Saturn square Neptune. Tr Saturn is opposition the composite Sun Mercury exactly now and moving to oppose the Mars in December for more fireworks; with tr Uranus in a high-tension square to the composite Saturn.

Ooh what fun.

Gary Rhodes, the TV chef, died suddenly in Dubai while shooting a new TV cooking series after a fall which caused a subdural haematoma – bleeding on the brain. Prior to this he had been fit and healthy.

Born 22 April 1960 in London he started cooking for his family aged 13; became head chef at a Taunton hotel, where he retained its Michelin star at the age of 26; launched several London restaurants and opened his first overseas venture in 2004. He presented TV shows including MasterChef, MasterChef USA and his own series, Rhodes Around Britain; and also had his own line of cookware and bread mixes. Since 2007 he had been resident in Dubai with his wife and two children.

He was an indulgent Sun Taurus in an Earth Grand Trine to Pluto in Virgo and Jupiter in Capricorn – practical, good business head, a money-magnet, confident; and that was formed into an even more talented Kite by Sun opposition a creative Neptune.  He also had a Yod of Mars in Pisces sextile a hard-working Saturn in Capricorn inconjunct Uranus which would make him a trailblazer.

What a tragedy for a slip that sounded so simple. It’s not often that the chart shows clearly a moment of passing but in his case tr Neptune was conjunct his Mars which was also conjunct his Solar Arc Saturn exactly – which is highly confusing and accident-prone. He was on his Second Saturn Return; and tr Saturn had just passed over the opposition to his Venus by a few days.

A groundswell of popular anti-government demonstrations in the Middle East – Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia even Iran – suggests the Arab Spring of 2011 isn’t over. South America is also rife with unrest in Chile, Ecuador, Argentina. The connecting thread is resentment against incompetent or corrupt governments whose policies have led to economic collapse, social woes and repression.

The initial Arab Spring uprisings coincided with the revolutionary tr Uranus square tr Pluto which has now moved on. But Pluto in Capricorn is still in place till 2023/24, part of whose purpose is to collapse outworn governmental systems, clear the decks and replace them eventually with better. The tr Saturn Pluto conjunction tends to be repressive but it may be that Pluto in Capricorn is refusing to be totally tramped under foot and will push on regardless.

Algeria is one arena of discord where peaceful ‘hirak’ protestors have called on Algerians to refrain from voting in the December 12^th elections because of the rigging of official candidates. Since gaining independence from France in 1962, the country has been run from the shadows by army chiefs, secret services officers, and older politicians. One voter said: “Our ancestors fought the French for independence, and we are fighting the Mafia that has confiscated that same independence.” The army has chosen or approved every single one of Algeria’s presidents since independence. The resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika earlier this year forced by the army in the face of public anger was followed by the appointment of an interim president overseen by the military with the prospect of more of the same after ‘elections.’

The Algeria Independence chart, 3 July 1962. 10.38am Algiers, has a Water Grand Trine of a Cancer Sun trine Neptune trine Jupiter in Pisces, formed into a Kite by Jupiter opposition Pluto and Ascendant. There’s potential there for great success and in an oil and gas-rich country there should be no problem in maintaining a booming economy. But the Algeria Mars is closely conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol, a hint perhaps of the brutality of the Franco-Algerian War out of which the modern Algeria was born; and there’s a suspicious Saturn opposition North Node in Leo square a slippery Neptune. And with Pluto the driving planet of the central Grand Trine who holds the power will always be an issue.

The recent July Solar Eclipse was exactly conjunct the Algeria Sun brewing up a crisis which is a challenge to change. And that will continue through 2020. There’ll be a highly strung, disruptive mood from July 2020 onwards with tr Uranus square the Saturn and opposition Neptune, with a clash between rigid authoritarians and idealists, with some fanatical overtones in the outbursts that will run on and off into early 2022. There’ll be no quick n’ easy way ahead with a blocked Solar Arc Sun conjunct Pluto in 2021. But the public aggravation won’t subside with tr Pluto opposition the Cancer Moon in 2022/23.

It’s the same rancid story the world over whether in emerging nations or supposedly civilized democracies. A cabal of unaccountable brokers hold the power.

Clive James –  critic, essayist, poet and novelist and TV performer – has finally died after a decade of parodying his imminently expected passing from leukaemia and emphysema. Described as “a beloved Australian, a supreme entertainer, and a polyvalent literary wizard” who “could put Rambo and Rimbaud in the same sentence, virtually invented TV criticism – and, from his epic poems to his chat show quips, shot an Aussie rocket into the English language.”

He once described Arnold Schwarzenegger as resembling “a large brown condom filled with walnuts”, Frank Sinatra’s hair transplant as looking like “a gorilla’s armpit”, and the tennis player Andrea Jaeger, who was then aged 15 and wore braces on her teeth, as having “a smile like a car crash”.

He was born 7 October 1939 9pm Sydney, Australia, to a serviceman he only saw once as a baby, who was taken prisoner during the fall of Singapore in 1942 and killed in an air crash on his way home three years later, which sent his mother into a nervous breakdown.

He had a Libra Sun and charming Venus in the performing 5^th house and there’s no doubt he loved the spotlight and an audience. He had a maverick, rebellious Uranus on his ascendant in a creative trine to Neptune. But what marks his chart out was a formidable Mars in Aquarius in the opinionated 9^th in a fearsome opposition to a Cancer Moon and Pluto squaring onto a forced-to-be-self-reliant Saturn in late Aries. Like many acerbic wits he was a deeply troubled soul.

Malta is in turmoil with the future of the prime minister, Joseph Muscat, hanging in the balance after his chief of staff and two ministers stepped down following a series of arrests connected to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, a renowned investigative reporter, killed by a car bomb in October 2017. She had been pursuing Maltese connections in the Panama Papers financial expose. Her revelations triggered a snap general election in 2017 and five months later she died.

The European council’s special rapporteur on Malta, Pieter Omtzigt, published a letter in which he urged Muscat to distance himself from proceedings. “The suspicions of Mr Muscat having a personal and political interest in the investigation are too strong for him to be involved with it,” A coalition of press freedom organisations, including Reporters Without Borders and Transparency International, issued a joint statement, saying ““We are concerned that the prime minister, by placing himself at the centre of the investigation, raises the spectre of undue executive interference in the investigation.”

Needless to say everyone denies everything.

The Malta chart, 21 September 1964 12am Valletta, had just started a debilitating five year run of heavy Neptune transits when the Panama Papers came out in 2016 and Galizia was killed a year later. Tr Neptune was opposing first the Malta Mercury, then Uranus and Pluto in Virgo and in 2020 is conjunct the Malta Moon until January 2021 – for a long run of undermining events. At the moment as well tr Uranus is exactly square the Malta Mars in Leo for a shocking surprise and high insecurity – and that repeats in February 2020.

Muscat’s 2^nd Term chart – after he was re-elected despite corruption allegations (which he denied) – has a slippery Gemini Sun in an exact square to Neptune; and a confidently pushy (over-confident) Jupiter square Pluto. The Term Pluto is about to catch the tr Saturn conjunction for a road block in early December. And the Uranus has moved by Solar Arc to exactly oppose the Moon in a few weeks time for an emotional upheaval and public disquiet.

His own chart, 22 January 1974, makes him a Sun, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter in Aquarius; with his Sun Venus Mercury square an ultra-determined and acquisitive Mars in Taurus and in a super-ambitious and controlling trine to Pluto, sextile Neptune. He also has a Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune onto Mars which will give him issues around controlling an impulsive streak. Tr Uranus is on a roller coaster ride as it squares his Sun over this New Year and then squares Venus and Mercury through 2020; plus tr Neptune will conjunct his Solar Arc Neptune for a slip-and-slide year in 2020. Worse in late 2020/early 2021 he has the ‘car-crash’ Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Saturn for a setback of considerable proportions.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was born, aptly enough, a mere month before Malta became independent on 26 August 1964. She had a Virgo Sun opposition Saturn square a confident Jupiter in late Taurus; with her Sun conjunct Uranus which was in turn conjunct Pluto Mercury all in Virgo – communicative, keen to upset the status quo; she also had a passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars in cancer trine an idealistic Neptune in Scorpio.

At the time she was killed her Solar Arc Mars Venus was exactly conjunct her Uranus; with tr Pluto moving to oppose her Mars within days, with tr Neptune opposition her rebellious Uranus/Pluto midpoint – so a high-risk, insecure and explosive time for her.

See previous posts: OCTOBER 17 2017 and APRIL 21 2018

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Prince Charles has arrived back from his seventeen day tour of New Zealand and the Pacific, which was completely overshadowed by Prince Andrew’s self-created Epstein furore. The Mail would have it he’s set for a showdown with his brother though quite how they know this is unclear. In recent years they have evidently mainly communicated through their households – aide talks to aide. But in this instance a face-to-face may be inevitable given the larger concern about the damage which has been done to the monarchy.

Charles has tr Saturn square his 4^th house Venus now till December 1^st which will throw a wet blanket over family relationships. Through 2020 Charles has a panicky, undermining tr Neptune square his Mars from late April onwards, on and off till late 2021. And his Solar Return from this month for the year ahead has the bleak Saturn Pluto in his SR domestic 4^th. So he’s not doing cartwheels of joy as he moves closer to the throne.

There’s not much indication of changes to his career trajectory instantly. Though his Progressed Moon is moving through his 5^th for the next two years which will make him more outgoing. Ironically the Andrew scandal has made him appear in a better light and will boost his popularity.

His relationship with Andrew, twelve years his junior, was never close and probably the coolness between them was exacerbated by the Queen’s obvious fondness for Andrew and Charles’ sense of resentment at being badly treated. Andrew’s Uranus is conjunct Charles’ Pluto which won’t help since the ’free-spirited’ younger brother will heighten Charles’ sense of being trapped by duty. And Andrew’s Sun opposes Charles’ Saturn with Andrew’s Pluto conjunct which is very downbeat. And Andrew’s Mars in an aggravated square to Charles’ 10^th house Moon.

Their relationship chart has a competitive, argumentative composite Sun Mars; with a cold composite Moon square Saturn.  It’s already been under pressure last year from tr Saturn conjunct the composite Sun Mars and will be more stressed ahead. There’s a huge disruptive upheaval now till late December, followed by a calamitous five weeks thereafter – clearly fun festivities are off the agenda; with more humps and bumps from late March with a complete turnaround as tr Pluto opposes the composite Uranus – so the Royal foot may be firmly put down. With more and more after mid year with tr Uranus opposition the composite Saturn and into 2021 square the composite Moon. It’s not likely to thaw any time soon. Possibly made worse by the fact that neither Andrew nor his tone deaf family have any idea how to conduct themselves in this kind of a mess.  The intelligent response would be to disappear out of sight and stay under the radar for several years.

Words is that Prince William isn’t a great fan either and his relationship chart with his uncle has a nasty composite Mars, Neptune, Saturn which doesn’t suggest much sympathy coming from that quarter and even less from Kate.

The ubiquitous and evergreen Dolly Parton is having another resurgence with a new podcast, her jubilee performance at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry airing on NBC; and Heartstrings, a Neflix series dramatising the stories behind some of her songs. Last but not least the musical version of 9 to 5, for which she wrote the score is still going strong 11 years since it made its stage debut.

Over fifty years she’s managed to sidestep politics, mastermind a varied and successful career, appealed to a wide cross section of the public and presented what could be a caricature drag-image of a busty blonde and still come across as sympathetic and witty.

Born dirt poor, the fourth of twelve children, on 19 January 1946 8.25 pm Little River, Tennessee, she has an amazing chart with a charming and ambitious Sun Venus Mercury in Capricorn in her performing 5^th house opposition a tough Saturn Mars in Cancer square Jupiter in Libra in the 2^nd. Mars Saturn will give her discipline though it will have provided more than its fair share of setbacks and mishaps. All focused onto a 2^nd house Jupiter which will have attracted money her way.

Her maverick Uranus on her Midheaven trines Neptune and sextiles Pluto – giving her a unique talent, a need to control and the ability to have influence. All the planets in her chart bar one are tied up in those two configurations – a Cardinal T Square and a mini-Grand Trine. The odd one out is her sparsely aspected Virgo Moon in the 12^th which is sextile Jupiter and her North Node and inconjunct her Sun. That may contribute to her sense of aloneness – despite a long marriage, she’s almost never seen with her husband and they are apart for long stretches; and have no children.

She’s been under pressure in recent years with first tr Uranus in Aries elbowing its way round her Mars Saturn, Sun, Venus and then her Jupiter; followed by tr Pluto opposing her Mars Saturn for the past two years which would have been fairly punishing. Tr Pluto will wend its way on for another three years conjunct her Venus and Sun; with tr Saturn in Capricorn adding its words of caution in 2020. But as ever her Jupiter will win out with 2021/22 looking like bonanza years as her tr Pluto squares her Jupiter and her Solar Arc Pluto is conjunct her Jupiter.

She’s one tough lady and a national treasure.

John Roberts, chief justice on the US Supreme Court, is facing a slew of tricky decisions involving Trump from petitions to disclose his tax returns through to the impeachment if it happens. He has already made it clear, at least from his standpoint, that he and his fellow judges are not partisan. In November 2018 he said: “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked an appeals court ruling that required Trump’s accounting firm to turn over financial records to a House committee. This is fairly routine and requires Trump to file his petition seeking review by December 5. They could hear the case in the coming weeks and issue a decision by June. If it does then it would provide a major decision on the balance of power between Congress and the executive branch and on the role of the court in enforcing the separation of powers.

Roberts, 27 January 1955, is a Sun Aquarius sextile Mars in Aries; with a lucky Uranus Jupiter in Cancer square Neptune. More significantly he has a Fixed T Square of an intense and penetrating Mercury in Aquarius opposition Pluto square a conscientious Saturn in Scorpio, giving him executive ability, the capacity to be involved in grave matters of state; and relentless endurance. He’ll be fairly unbudgeable and not keen to be pushed around.

He’s not an easy fit with Trump despite his Venus in Sagittarius being close to Trump’s Moon. Roberts’ Mars squares Trump’s Mercury for a gritty, argumentative interface. Roberts’ Sun opposes Pluto’s power-hungry Pluto for a battle of wills; Roberts’ formidable and stubborn Fixed T Square of Mercury, Saturn Pluto clashes with Trump’s Mars in Leo for an even more bitter struggle for control; and Roberts’ Uranus Jupiter is in a jangled conjunction to Trump’s Saturn Venus.

Their relationship chart has an evasive composite Sun opposition Neptune with the Sun in a differing-agenda square to Uranus. The composite Mars is heavily aspected being sextile the Sun and Pluto, square Saturn and trine Neptune, so the potential for rolling, though muted, aggravation is clear.

Their connection looks under stress now till December 1^st as tr Saturn squares the composite Neptune; and also at the moment squares Trump’s 2^nd house Jupiter. Having his finances exposed has always been Trump’s worst nightmare which won’t happen in the next few days but jeopardy approaches. There won’t be much let up thereafter with a panicky and undermining tr Neptune square the composite Sun/Pluto mid December to late January at the same time as a discouraging tr Pluto trine the composite Saturn; and worsens considerably through February 2020 with tr Neptune square the composite Mars bringing real flutters of panic. That’s when Trump’s personal chart is showing mounting strain, frustration and fear.

Roberts’ chart is definitely living through ‘interesting times’ with a high-tension Solar Arc Saturn opposition his Uranus at the moment; with a confident and successful tr Pluto opposition Jupiter from late January and then opposition his lucky-break Jupiter/Uranus midpoint through till mid year and returning later. His will have the odd blips and glitches but he’s also looking upbeat for someone standing in the eye of the storm.

Colonial atrocities left their mark on Africa and nowhere more obviously than in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A recently announced movie to be directed by Ben Affleck and produced by Martin Scorsese based on Adam Hochschild’s best-selling book King Leopold’s Ghost will throw a bleak spotlight on what was truly the heart of darkness in the centre of the continent.

In the late 19^th Century King Leopold of Belgium founded and was sole owner of the Congo Free State which he ran for his personal gain. The vast sums he made exploiting ivory and then rubber were used for public and private construction projects in Belgium. His administration was characterised by murder, torture and systematic brutality, extreme even by the standards of the times. Millions died: modern estimates range from 1 million to 15 million deaths. Eventually the reports of deaths and abuse forced the international community to demand he hand the country to the Belgian state.

Yet only now is his legacy being challenged in Belgium where roads named after to him are being renamed and memorials removed.

Not that the USA’s hands are entirely clean since post-Leopold they acquired a strategic stake in the enormous natural wealth of the Congo, following use of the uranium from Congolese mines to manufacture the first atomic weapons, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. During the Cold War, fear of strategic raw materials falling into the hands of the Soviets led directly to the assassination of Patrick Lumumba, the first prime minister after independence, who wanted full control over the country’s resources to improve the living conditions of the people.

Leopold was born 9 April 1835 at 1.30am Brussels, a first cousin of Queen Victoria, although reportedly a retiring personality, had a starkly ruthless chart with an Aries Sun and Pluto opposition Saturn square Mars in Cancer. He ruled for 44 years and was unpopular as monarch. He took many mistresses after separating from his wife, latterly a 16 year old French prostitute whom he married just before his death.

His chart is reflected – tragically – in the Democratic Republic of Congo Independence chart of 30 June 1960 – which has a brutal Grand Trine of Pluto trine Mars in Taurus trine Saturn, formed into a Kite by Saturn opposition Sun Venus in Cancer.

Despite its vast natural resources, it remains poor, under-developed, rife with corruption, with high levels of starvation and displacement of people from constant fighting. DR Congo’s level of human development was ranked 176th out of 187 countries by the Human Development Index.

Ben Affleck has spent many years campaigning to improve living conditions in the Congo. On his astrocartography his Sun and Mercury Midheaven lines run through central Africa, making it a prime area of interest for him.

He was born 15 August 1972 2.53 am Berkeley, California, and has a Leo Sun trine Jupiter in Sagittarius with a Scorpio Moon. He doesn’t have a particularly heavy chart considering his interest in deprivation in the Congo. Angelina Jolie who also works in disadvantaged and conflict-zones has a Mars, Pluto, Saturn in her chart; as does the author Adam Hochschild, 15 October 1942, who has a Sun Mars in Libra trine Saturn, sextile Pluto.

Affleck’s healing 12^th Harmonic is more descriptive with Mars Pluto opposition Uranus square Sun; and his get-it-together 5^th Harmonic is also gritty with Mars Saturn square Venus and inconjunct Pluto.

He’s in for a tough couple of years with tr Pluto opposition his Mars/Saturn midpoint which suggests shooting the film won’t go without mishaps; and he’ll have more than his fair share of worries with tr Neptune square his Saturn and conjunct his midheaven in 2020 as well. However he’ll bounce with more enthusiasm 2021 to 2024 as tr Pluto squares his Sun/Jupiter and Mars/Jupiter midpoints.

The tragedy of colonialism apart from the appalling mistreatment at the time was there was no effort to develop a social infrastructure with an educated middle class. So when the colonials left there was a vacuum into which stepped the gangster governments which are the curse of the continent now.