Astrology of Today’s News

Renee Zellweger, best known as the bubbly air-head Bridget Jones has taken on a more tortured role as Judy Garland, the haunted and hugely talented American singer, dancer, actress who battled addiction and died of an overdose in her late 40s. The film Judy has been getting standing ovations at the Toronto Film Festival and warm reviews. Renee’s comment about Garland that there was “no room on the schedule for her sanity” is all the more poignant since she herself disappeared at the height of her fame in 2010 for an extended break to find space for herself away from fame.

Renee was born 25 April 1969 2.41 pm Baytown, Texas, and does not have an easy chart with an 8^th house Taurus Sun conjunct a forced-to-be-self-reliant Saturn in last degree Aries, with an intense Venus in Aries also in the 8^th trine a heated 4^th house Mars in Sagittarius and trine her Leo Moon in the hidden 12th. Mars in turn is in an intense, frustrating square to Pluto with Pluto in a confident conjunction to Jupiter. Emotionally and domestically not a recipe for a calm, committed romantic life. She was engaged to Jim Carrey, married very briefly to a musician and had other passing relationships.

Her early fame came with Jerry Maguire, and then Bridget Jones’s Diary attracting a stream of awards and nominations and the much-praised Cold Mountain in 2003.

Judy Garland, born 10 June 1922 6 am Minnesota, was a Sun Gemini opposition Mars in Sagittarius and widely opposition the Moon in Sagittarius which in turn opposed Mercury and squared a downbeat Saturn in her 4^th. She had a maverick Uranus in Pisces on her Midheaven square Mars and trine Pluto and Venus in Cancer – so she’d be prone to outbursts, mood fluctuations and nervous tension. She was a child star with the stage mother from hell and was put on prescription drugs early on to keep her weight down, and uppers and downers to cope with an exhausting movie schedule.

Their charts are not that similar though they share Mars in Sagittarius but there are enough emotional hard edges in both to give Renee an understanding of Judy’s anguished and fragile mental state.

Judy’s Sun falls in Renee’s 10^th so she’ll be a significant career influence on her with critics talking of possible Oscar nominations. She’s looking fairly agitated in the next few months but fairly upbeat at Oscars time in February, so she might be in with a chance.

In cinemas from late September.

There will be few tears shed as uber hawk John Bolton is trash-canned as Trump’s National Security Adviser. Bolton says he resigned and Trump says he fired him – watch this space since Bolton is not known for his discretion. The recent Taliban Camp David peace talk debacle appears to have been the final straw after a run of disagreements over Trump’s non-interventionist, placatory policies towards North Korea, Russia and Iran.

It was never going to be an easy mix with Bolton’s Scorpio Sun in an argumentative square to Trump’s Mars; and Bolton’s explosive and volatile Mars in Sagittarius opposition Uranus falling across Trump’s Moon and Sun.

Their relationship chart has a friendly enough composite Sun, Venus, Mercury conjunction; but also a disruptive, Mars trine Uranus. There’s nothing much, without Bolton’s birth time, affecting the relationship chart so it must be hitting the axis.

Bolton’s Term chart in the job always did look over stressed and prone to self-destruct with a composite Saturn Mars and Mars conjunct Pluto square the Sun and trine Venus – it was never going to be peace and harmony.

What is obvious from the astrology is that Trump’s relationship with Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defence, will go into an even more unstable phase than Trump/Bolton from late this December and through 2020 as tr Uranus returns to conjunct the composite Venus and then conjunct Saturn and oppose Mars just before mid 2020 onwards. That looks like serious rock n’ roll time, perhaps exacerbated by outside events. Iran and Russia look to be Pompeo hot spots.

John Bercow has announced he is standing down from his position as Speaker of the House of Commons (before he is pushed) after a decade which has seen him move from political right to being seen as a scourge of the Brexiteer Tories. Though the role is supposed to be impartial. He will preside over the most contentious two weeks in Westminster history in living memory from the Queen’s Speech on October 14^th to Boris’s do-or-die-in-a-ditch October 31^st EU exit date. He has been accused on having a bullying manner by MPs and by his own staff.

Born 19 January 1963 he is a late degree Sun Capricorn; with a pushily-confident Jupiter opposition Pluto square Venus in Sagittarius – he can turn on the charm and does like to party but he can also be power-hungry. He also has a bad-tempered and hard Mars in flamboyant Leo opposition Saturn square an elusive, slippery Neptune (Moon) in Scorpio.

His Speaker’s chart, 22 June 2009, indicated he would be a controlling Speaker and divisive with Sun (Moon) opposition Pluto square Uranus. Plus a drama and argument-filled Venus Mars in Taurus trine Saturn. It was never going to be a peaceful run with rolling crises from Uranus square Pluto and emotional intensity from Venus Mars in Taurus.

Bercow’s relationship with Boris is under a dark cloud from mid August to late October with tr Saturn square the composite Sun Jupiter, which also tugs on the composite Mars. So there won’t be a rapprochement before he goes with some talk of the usual transition of the outgoing Speaker to the House of Lords being blocked.

Just a quickie since it turned up in Peaky Blinders and is a sterling example of Mars Venus. Oswald Mosley, the British fascist leader, took Lady Cynthia Curzon as his first wife in 1920 and embarked on a long affair with two of her sisters and her stepmother as well as other women. One of the sisters was also involved sexually with Prince George, Duke of Kent (see post below). Mosley went on, after Cynthia’s death, to marry one of the Mitford sisters in Germany in 1936 at Goebbels’ residence with Hitler as guest of honour. Mosley spent most of WW11 in prison as his party was banned.

Born 16 November 1896, he was a Sun, Saturn, Uranus in Scorpio – undoubtedly innovative, obsessive, stubborn to the nth degree, not a man for turning. His Moon was in Aries. And his Venus in Sagittarius was in an exact opposition to Mars in Gemini. Scorpio is always sexual even damped down by Saturn which can turn to perversion in certain cases. Plus the Venus Mars which Ebertin describes as ‘a disharmonious sex life, in some cases inclination to polygamy, infidelity.’

His son, Max Mosley, 13 April 1940, who has been involved in extensive litigation over media and internet exposure of his sex life – so one treads lightly – has a Venus Mars conjunction in Gemini.

Sarah and Todd Palin appear to be splitting up with divorce papers being filed in Alaska. Since resigning as Governor of Alaska and running as John McCain’s running mate in 2008, she’s written a best seller, appeared on a variety of TV shows and continued to voice support for the far-right including Trump.

She was born 11 February 1964 with a questionable birth time of 9.44 pm or 6 pm; Todd was born 6^th September 1964.

Neither of them are especially easy personalities and are very different energies. She’s a stubborn and emotionally detached Aquarius Sun, Mars, Saturn with an Aquarius Moon. He’s a practical, though scattered and contradictory Virgo Sun conjunct Pluto, Uranus with Venus Mars in Cancer and a Virgo Moon. He was an oil field production operative, commercial fisherman and is four time champion of the Iron Dog snow mobile race, in which he was badly injured three years back.

His Jupiter in Taurus does square her Sun, Mars, Saturn so he would bring some encouragement to her gloomier side initially.

Their relationship chart is reasonable with a (maybe) composite Sun Moon making them feel more whole when together in an affectionate opposition to Venus and in a cool, enduring square to Saturn. Plus an adventurous composite Jupiter Mars conjunction.

Their wedding chart of 29 August 1988 was riddled with quincunxes and three Yods onto focal points Pluto, Mars, Jupiter respectively – so their match was destined to be different, successful and riddled with drama and arguments.

The youngest of their five children, Trig, born 18 April 2008 at 6.30 am does have tr Saturn opposing his Sun/Moon midpoint within weeks which often shows up as parental issues; and he has his Aries Sun on the opposite side of his chart to a Libra Moon to start with, indicating parents of completely different, possibly incompatible types.

It’s probably been a long time coming but in a way it’s surprising it’s lasted this long given their respective independent-minded temperaments.

Pic: Gage Skidmore

The Martian jitterbug who infests No 10 presently has got himself tied in so many knots that even Houdini would be trapped. Something has to give sometime. No parliament sitting till mid October, no indication that EU negotiations are going anywhere with the EU leaders understandably irritable and bored to the back teeth with the whole farrago, the opposition refusing an election till NO-deal off the table, cabinet ministers heading for the door.

He is feeling panicked, undermined and quarrelsome now till early November with tr Neptune square his Mars/Node; and his Government chart looks deflated and confidence-dented September 29 to October 25th with tr Saturn square the Mars/Jupiter midpoint.

But it’s November when the sh** really hits the fan for himself, Cummings and his Government.

Boris’s chart: Tr Neptune squares his Sun/Mars midpoint 12 November to mid December – lack of vitality, not pro-active or plans don’t work out, low energy; with disappointments in his love life as it also squares his Venus/Mars which sometimes throws up health issues. What’s worse is the trapped, cornered, frustrating and enfuriated tr Pluto opposes his Mars/Pluto midpoint 11 November till mid December. Caged.

That’s the point at which Dominic Cummings looks fit to blow his circuit board with tr Pluto conjunct his Sun/Mars and his Mars/Neptune – absolutely nothing is working to plan, quite the reverse.

The Government chart has tr Neptune undercutting its delusional optimism as it squares the Jupiter from November 12^th to mid December; and has the catastrophe-strewn minefield of tr Uranus opposition its Mars/Pluto also November 12^th to 11 December.

Boris’s relationship with Cummings is aggravated in the extreme with tr Pluto square the composite Mars/Saturn and Mars/Node till mid November and then is in a totally-blocked square to the composite Mars from then till mid December; is sagging with disappointment in November from 12^th to mid December as tr Neptune opposes the composite Sun.

Ditto Bojo and Michael Gove, much the same effects and timings. With Carrie, his live-in girlfriend again November 12^th for a few weeks looks very tumultuous with tr Uranus opposition the composite Uranus and square Saturn.

He’s left himself absolutely no wiggle room and even given his propensity for flat-out lying it’s difficult to see how he wriggles back out of this with his job intact. His Solar Arc MC (birth time being accurate) is opposing his Saturn now which makes sense and within six months will be on the same degree as his Uranus, which could be the tipping point of his exit.

There does seem to be a major hiccup from mid December onwards till early February 2020 for Boris and his brigade when Uranus reaches 2 degrees; and the Neptune droop also runs through into February. So there’s no magic closure point.

Philip Hammond looks surprisingly confident mid November to mid December with tr Pluto square his Sun/Jupiter midpoint though he’s also in for a few major jolts with tr Uranus opposition his Mars in Scorpio – so he’ll be fit to blow a fuse – and that continues for him into and through January 2020.

Dominic Grieve, former Attorney General, who is pushing to block Boris’s NO-Deal option, is a rock-solid Gemini with Jupiter Pluto in Leo opposition Mars in Aquarius square Saturn in Scorpio. He’s understandably on edge and has Solar Arc Saturn opposition his Uranus this year; and a run of Saturn hard aspects to midpoints between now and December which could just be hard work but also slow progress. Though nothing too catastrophic, without a birth time. He certainly loathes Dominic Cummings with a composite Mars opposition Sun, Saturn, Uranus in their relationship chart and there’s no curing that.

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Pluto in Aquarius picking up in 2023 for twenty years, which recurs roughly every 250 years, has already overseen one seismic split between England and the European continent. It happened in 1533 when Henry V111 defied the Pope by ditching his first wife Catherine of Aragon and marrying Anne Boleyn. He was excommunicated for his trouble and thus started the great religious schism which marked England out as a separate entity.

Henry, despite his six wives and reputation for gluttony, didn’t have that lustful or greedy a chart. Born 23 June 1491 JC 8.45 am he was a Sun Cancer with a hidden Aries Moon, Venus in social butterfly Gemini in a cool trine to Saturn; and admittedly an impulsive Jupiter opposition Neptune square Mars in Virgo.

There are not many recorded birth dates for his various wives and the available two may be iffy. Catherine of Aragon, 16 December 1485 Madrid, was a Sun Capricorn conjunct Uranus with a downtrodden Mars Saturn in Sagittarius. 7 of her planets fell in his 4^th so she’d very much part of his domestic life though an unsettling presence there as she failed to produce him a male heir and was dispensed with.

Anne Boleyn, 5 May 1507 11.30 am, was a confident and stubborn Taurus square Saturn in Leo with Jupiter trine Pluto. She resisted his seductions until he married her and then gave birth to Elizabeth but no boy and turned into a shrew so was eventually beheaded. Her Venus in Aries fell in his 8^th for a deep connection and was in the same sign as his Moon; and her Libra Moon was trine his Jupiter – but it really wasn’t that strong a bond. Except for the Yod in the relationship chart of Neptune sextile Saturn inconjunct the composite Sun. Usually when Yods appear in relationships the individuals are fated to come together to irrevocably change their lives and broader destinies. She ended up minus her head; and he altered the course of English history.

The next spin round of Pluto in Aquarius 1778 -1797 coincided with the Brits in retreat from the American colonies having lost the War of Independence.

Lurid Royal scandals don’t come any more outrageous than those that swirled around the Queen’s uncle, Prince George, Duke of Kent, fourth son of King George V and younger brother to the Duke of Windsor and King George V1.

According to wiki – there were “strong rumours” that he had affairs with musical star Jessie Matthews, writer Cecil Roberts and Noël Coward. The security services “reported that Coward and Kent had been seen parading together through the streets of London, dressed and made up as women, and had once been arrested by the police for suspected prostitution”. Kent is rumoured to have been addicted to drugs, especially morphine and cocaine, a rumour that reputedly originated with his friendship with American socialite and member of the Happy Valley set, Kiki Preston. Reportedly, he shared Kiki in a ménage à trois with Argentinian Jorge Ferrara; and she bore him an illegitimate son. Other alleged sexual liaisons were with the art historian and Soviet spy Anthony Blunt, Indira Raje, Maharani of Cooch Behar, and José Uriburu, son of the Argentinian ambassador to the Court of St James’s.

He was Grand Master in the Freemasons and was killed in a plane crash in 1942 while serving in the RAF, the first time a member of the Royal Family had been killed on active service in 450 years. He had three children – the present Duke of Kent, also a Freemason Grand Master, Princess Alexandra and Prince Michael born a few weeks before his death. His father George V preferred a dull middle-class life, opting for a small house before his elevation and stamp collecting; his mother Mary of Teck was described as ‘cold and hard.’ Though both were solid monarchs when the time came.

Prince George, 20 December 1902 7.35 pm Sandringham, had a fairly riotous chart – with a fiery Sagittarius Sun in the party-loving 5^th house along with a maverick Uranus and Mercury Venus in Capricorn. His Uranus (Sun) opposed Pluto and squared a Virgo Moon, making him emotionally unpredictable and highly strung. His Mars squared his Sun, Mercury, Venus so he’d be impetuous, reckless and not overly sensitive about others’ feelings with Mars Venus in square.

There does seem to be a recurring Venus Mars theme – Queen Victoria had Venus and Mars both in Aries though wide-ish for a conjunction. Her son Edward V11 and grandson George V had Venus square Mars as had Prince George, Duke of Kent and the present Duke of Kent – and Prince Andrew has a Venus Mars conjunction in Capricorn – which is a recurring theme through the main players in the Epstein saga. See post August 14 2019 on Ghislaine Maxwell.