Astrology of Today’s News

Tem Tarriktar has sadly died who started and ran The Mountain Astrologer (TMA) magazine for thirty years. It moved from being an 8 pager to the most highly respected astrology publication in the world with an international outreach which was no mean feat.

Born 7 August 1956 6.40 am Cleveland, Ohio, he had a Leo Sun sitting just above his Ascendant in the 12^th with Moon Pluto in Leo in his 1^st as well. He’d be an enigmatic as well as entertaining personality. And his Sun was exactly conjunct his Uranus/Pluto midpoint for a revolutionary spirit. A confident-communicator Mercury Jupiter in Virgo in his 1^st was trine his Taurus Midheaven, so he was well-designed to get the word out. His Uranus is hidden in the 12^th and square his MC as well as square Neptune. A focal point Fixed Uranus would make him a trail blazer and quite self-willed, so he’d walk his own path.

He obviously had a tough start in life with a cold/deprived Saturn in Scorpio in his 4^th square Moon Pluto and his Saturn also trine Mars in Pisces in his 8^th house.

His Mars was on the focal point of a Yod to Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct which wouldn’t be easy to live with in early adult life, tending to bring impulse decisions, anger issues and scattered energy though also focussing his attention on what lies buried deep beneath and beyond reality. Such a Yod usually brings a crisis point which forces a change of direction. Yods need to click into gear with a fated set of circumstances which puts the individual onto their destined track. Bil Tierney remarks of a Mars apex Yod: This new period compels the individual ‘ to undertake dynamic, pioneering new starts involving courage and daring.’ According to Astrodienst he went bankrupt in 1983. At that point there was enormous astro-pressure on his Mars from Solar Arc Pluto in opposition and Solar Arc Saturn square Mars. Four years later he started TMA.

The Mountain Astrologer had its first issue on 24 May 1987 when there was a fiery collection of Uranus Saturn Venus in Sagittarius trine Jupiter in Aries with a Sagittarius Sun as well. Saturn Uranus is innovative; Sagittarius is knowledgeable and well-travelled; Jupiter is lucky and bold in Aries. The North Node was also in Aries, usually a placing that demands the ability to stand alone and be a leader. There was a penetrating Mercury Pluto in Scorpio with Mars also in ultra-determined Scorpio.

Tem’s Harmonics are interesting and descriptive with a strong get-it-together 5H; a creative 7H; a break-through/genius 13H; and leaving-a-legacy 17H. He’ll be missed.

Alexander Acosta, Trump’s labor secretary and the US Department of Justice are facing tough questions about the deal which allowed Jeffrey Epstein to serve a minimal sentence for serious federal offences in 2007. During his sentence he unbelievably was free to work from his office six days a week. Attorney General William P. Barr said that he had recused himself from the present case because his former law firm, had represented Epstein in the past. Acosta said later he had been leant on at the time by Epstein’s heavyweight lawyers – amongst them Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr – and that decisions had been taken at ‘a very high level.’

Acosta, born 16 January 1969, is a Sun Capricorn square Saturn in Aries; and trine Pluto, sextile Neptune with Mars in determined Scorpio – he’s no softie that’s for sure. Self reliant, super-ambitious.

At the moment he has tr Neptune square his Sun/Mars midpoint which Ebertin describes as ‘the undermining of vocational position’ so a general slump in confidence; and running at the same time he has tr Pluto square his Mars/Uranus and conjunct his Mars/Node midpoints – both running several weeks ahead well into August – both of which are trapped and significantly disruptive.

Trump and the White House are ducking the issue at present though relations between Acosta and POTUS will deteriorate badly from mid August worsening in the autumn and over the New Year. The longer Acosta hogs the headlines for whatever reason the less popular he’s likely to get.

Could Trump get a second term? As the economy prospers, unemployment goes down and his approval ratings rise (slightly) it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility, however unthinkable for swathes of the population.

What strikes me astrologically is there is a long run of challenges to the USA 1776 chart’s Mercury in Cancer opposition Pluto in Capricorn which picked up in 2016 and doesn’t finish till 2024. Mercury opposition Pluto in itself exacerbates suspicion, paranoia, is associated with demagogues and those guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation, promotes over-intense debates with a drive for domination and little latitude for compromise, can teeter on the brink of nervous collapse through strain.

Tr Uranus was square the USA Mercury opposition Pluto before and after the 2016 election – and previous occurrences of that influence on its own coincided with McCarthy in full rampage, Nixon and Watergate, and in the 1990s the Whitewater investigation. So paranoia, intransigence, intolerance running rampant.

This time round following on is tr Pluto which starts to oppose the USA Mercury from late February 2020 on and off till late 2021 and then moves onto the Pluto Return running until 2024. So 2020/21 are likely to be years of intense and often hostile debate and disagreement, mental strain and dogmatic obstinacy.

Pluto Returns are tricky to interpret since they happen so rarely. But for England a Pluto Return oversaw the humiliation of Suez in 1956 and loss of empire; and previous occurrences also came with failure in one area followed later by successful development in a different direction; as well as the gradual shift towards more democratic government from the 13^th century onwards. The deaths of Napoleon, Stalin and Franco were also clear Pluto Return markers of a break with one style of government in the old France, Russia and Spain charts.

See previous posts November 18 and 19 2018.

None of the above sound like a light, bright, all-systems-change, idealistic Democratic win in 2020.

Trump’s own chart:– if the birth time of 10.54 am is sound then he has a constructive tr Pluto trine his Midheaven over the 2020 election and a change-of-career-direction tr Uranus conjunct his Midheaven in late 2024. And he does have a relatively mild tr Pluto trine his successful Mars/Jupiter midpoint in November 2020. Though that’s nothing like as strong as the influences that coincided with his 2016 win.

On the downside and he does have a good many negative influences – over the election he’s also got a ratchety tr Pluto opposition his Mars/Uranus midpoint which can be health-related (at his age) or seriously bad-tempered, and it is followed by even more restrictive and enraging hard aspects to a Mars midpoint and his Saturn right through till after the Inauguration, when he’s definitely not feeling the love.

Then from March 2021 tr Neptune starts to square his Moon and Sun which will undermine his energy and his ego with confusing and worrying circumstances around the family; with an uncertain, neurotic Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his 2^nd house Neptune late 2021 which will bring financial worries just as his Progressed Moon starts a two-year trek through his 2^nd house, also bringing cash concerns. Late 2021 also has Solar Arc Neptune opposition his 10^th house Uranus which is likely to make him more doolally than he is at the moment mentally and bring career missteps. 2023 looks like his all-time horror year with Solar Arc Pluto square his Saturn and Solar Arc Mars square his Pluto – depression, insuperable barriers to progress, hemmed in, scared.

Elections are a horror to predict and there could be various scenarios elicited from the above. He could win a second term but lose both houses? Is that possible? He could win and then run smack into an even worse series of banana skins than his first term ending in impeachment or collapse of some sort by 2023. He’s certainly not a happy soul immediately after the election and before the inauguration, never mind what comes later.

The USA 1776 chart is showing up panicky-failure from March 2021 onwards with tr Neptune square the Mars as well as all the Mercury and Pluto being assaulted by tr Pluto.

And the 2021 Inauguration chart looks unstable at the very least and violently disruptive at worst with Mars Uranus in the 12^th square Saturn Jupiter in the 10^th with a control-freaky Pluto conjunct midheaven square Moon as well – feelings will be running very high indeed.

The USA clearly has some deep soul searching to do with the Pluto return coming up and since change never comes without crisis and force majeure it may be that a tempestuous next administration is what will precipitate hitting rock bottom (so to speak) which will then lead into a new direction.

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The unconscionable fuss over the leaked UK Ambassador’s private comments about the Trump Admin being inept and dysfunctional – milder by far than anything the Washington Post and NY Times prints every day – may well hasten his exit. He was intending to go by the end of the year anyway.

Born 30 April 1954 in Durham, his family was relatively poor but he won a scholarship to a private school and never looked back to become one of the most respected of British diplomats.

He’s a Sun Taurus opposition Saturn in Scorpio so unflappable; with a confident Pluto sextile Jupiter in Gemini; and a wide innovative T Square of Mercury in Aries opposition Neptune square Uranus opposition a Capricorn North Node – not short of initiative, suited, despite his Fixed planets, to a varied and fast-changing lifestyle.

Tr Uranus is opposition his Saturn this year and into 2020 conjunct his Sun so it was always going to be a time of sudden surprises and forced change. This month’s Cancer Solar Eclipse is also conjunct his Solar Arc Sun and opposition his Solar Arc Saturn so a critical point at a crossroads.

Darroch’s stalwart and unbudgeable Sun opposition Saturn squares onto Trump’s 12^th house Pluto – so bulldozer meets brick wall. But he wasn’t in Washington to be BFFs with POTUS whatever the idiot Farage thinks who would clearly like the job for himself anyways.

Ghislaine Maxwell is mentioned as the closest to Jeffrey Epstein and perhaps most at risk as documents are unsealed. She is a Brit socialite, daughter of the late disgraced businessman Robert Maxwell who died after ‘falling’ off his boat nearly 30 years ago. He was Czech born and allegedly worked for Mossad and the KGB; Ghislaine thinks he was murdered. She has been vociferous in her denials of any illegal activity with Epstein vis a vis young girls and sued one who accused her. The lawsuit went against Maxwell and cost her millions. Records of that court case were sealed at the time and she has fought tooth and nail to keep them under wraps but this latest onslaught is likely to lay them open to scrutiny.

To be noted: UK libel laws are very tight so what can be said in the US or on twitter can’t necessarily be said from the UK. It’s a crazy world and the law hasn’t quite caught up with the internet yet. There will be wild conspiracy theories about her entrapping presidents, royals etc at the behest of foreign spymasters – which could be true. But they may well not be. The NXIVM trial of Keith Raniere recently made it very clear that many of his enablers were women, amongst them the Bronfman sisters.

Born 25 December 1961, Ghislaine is a Sun, Mars, Mercury in Capricorn trine Pluto Uranus in Virgo – ambitious, materialistic, chaotic, drawn to danger and risk. Her Sun sits exactly on her Saturn/Pluto midpoint which is tough and will make her cold-hearted, fanatical. Her Moon in flamboyant, five-star Leo almost certainly opposes Jupiter and squares Neptune – so she’ll be at home in the high-finance world and have her head in the clouds, not always realistic. Her Venus in Sagittarius is conjunct Mars Sun and trine Uranus so emotionally she thrives on excitement.

Venus Mars seems to run as a theme through charts of certain of those associated with Epstein. He has them conjunct himself in Pisces; Bill Clinton has them conjunct in Libra; Prince Andrew conjunct in Capricorn. Venus Mars is sensual, passionate, not always sensitive, never satisfied.

Robert Maxwell, her father, was a monster, a constant womaniser, capricious, bullying, immensely crude and very possessive of his children especially her. His Mars Pluto in Cancer opposed her Sun Mars Mercury so she’d be completely under his thumb and terrified as well as idolising him. Which is one thought about why she’d be associated with someone like Epstein, very wealthy and clearly controlling, though nothing like as nasty as her father. Her mother was exceedingly compliant, putting up with Robert M’s appalling behaviour without complaint. Epstein’s Jupiter in indulgent Taurus hooks into Ghislaine’s Moon T Square; and his Mars Venus opposes her Pluto – so she’d be attracted to the money and lifestyle and stirred by memories of her dominating father.

The relationship chart between Epstein and Ghislaine has a composite Venus Mars opposition Uranus so thrived on high passion and excitement with that opposition squaring onto a delusional, can-be-fanatical square to Neptune. With Saturn sextile trine the opposition as well. Mars Saturn Venus Neptune can be perverse. It’s being tossed up in the air for the next two years by tr Uranus square the composite Venus Mars opposition Uranus and opposing the Neptune.

On her own chart she looks severely jolted at the moment with Solar Arc Uranus square her Saturn as well as tr Uranus opposition her Sun/Pluto and Mars/Pluto midpoints which are disaster-prone through till early 2020, when she picks up a trapped, scary, enraged tr Pluto square her Mars/Node for two years. In 2020 as well she has a ‘shocking’ Solar Arc Mars opposition her Uranus which will be a major setback. She does have a bullishly confident tr Pluto conjunct her Sun/Jupiter now till late August and mid-November to mid-December so she won’t give in without a fight; and she also has Solar Arc Pluto square her Jupiter over coming months with the same effect. And she does have a lucky break tr Uranus square her Jupiter from mid-2020 for a year which might bring her some relief. But it looks devastating further on especially 2022/23 with tr Pluto conjunct her Saturn and a meltdown Solar Arc Pluto conjunct her Neptune in 2023. Her days of wine and roses are grinding to a halt.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article232385422.html

Open warfare has broken out at the top in Labour, according to media reports. A BBC Panorama this week will look at the inept or malign mishandling of anti-semitism and bullying claims within the party. Jeremy Corbyn, it is said, is trapped by his two aides, Milne and Murphy (shades of Theresa May) and they need to go with ultimatums being delivered by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and ally Diane Abbott, who insist Corbyn needs to back a new referendum on Brexit.

Both McDonnell and Abbott have relatively similar relationship charts with Corbyn, both having the composite Uranus conjunct the Cancer Solar Eclipse this week giving a sharp jolt; and the upcoming Lunar Eclipse is in close opposition to the composite Sun, Mercury, Venus in McDonnell’s case and the composite Venus in Abbot’s – so a month for relationship crises.

Diana Abbott, 27 September 1953, also has tr Uranus square the composite Sunwith Corbyn this year into next which will put strain on the connection plus tr Saturn dampening enthusiasm and good feelings as it moves in hard aspect to Neptune, Jupiter and Mars till the end of the year; with more angst in 2020 with tr Saturn Pluto opposing the composite Venus.

John McDonnell, 8 September 1951, has a panicky, uncertain tr Neptune opposition the composite Saturn with Corbyn till later this year; tr Saturn square Neptune; and again worse in 2020 with tr Pluto opposition the composite Mercury, Sun and then Venus.

Not happy campers.

See previous post June 29 2019.

Wealthy paedophile Jeffrey Epstein has been arrested for allegedly sex trafficking dozens of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005, and will appear in court in New York on Monday, according to law enforcement sources. The arrest by the FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force comes 12 years after he got a slap on the wrist for allegedly molesting dozens of underage girls in Florida – a plea deal agreed by Alexander Acosta, Trump’s secretary of labor. For more than a decade, Epstein’s alleged abuse of minors has been the subject of lawsuits brought by victims, investigations by local and federal authorities, and exposés in the press. See previous posts for full details: March 7 2019 and November 30 2018.

Epstein, 20 January 1953 does have the catastrophic and scary/trapped Solar Arc Mars square his Pluto exactly now. Plus he has a panicky, undermining tr Neptune conjunct his Venus Mars in Pisces, running since last year as pressure built with a Miami Herald expose and repeating later this year. The Cancer Eclipse this week was conjunct his Uranus for a jolt and he also has the mentally pressured and confused tr Pluto conjunct his Mercury and square his Neptune, which latter trails through next year and then moves on to the even more worrisome (for him) and depressing square to the Saturn/Neptune midpoint and then Saturn running ahead for several years.

Finally, he gets his comeuppance.

Be interesting to see who of those mentioned as associated will be dragged in as well – Ghislaine Maxwell, Alan Dershowitz, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Donald Trump have all been mentioned and all hotly deny any allegations. See previous post.

Mad, the satirical magazine, is winding down after 67 years having been losing circulation from its 1970s high of nearly 3 million readers. It started a tradition that spawned “Saturday Night Live,” “The Simpsons,” “South Park” and The Onion and influenced many comedians. One cartoonist said “For baby boomers, it was like the Bible. To my mind, it was where you found reality.”

The publisher who oversaw Mad for 40 years was William Gaines, 1 March 1922, who inherited a comic business from his father. He was a creative and quirky Sun Pisces conjunct Venus and Uranus in a defiant square to Mars in fiery Sagittarius. He may have had an entrepreneurial, inspirational Fire Grand Trine from Mars in a showbizzy trine to Neptune trine an Aries Moon. His communicative Mercury was in Aquarius which next to Sagittarius is a favourite comedian’s sign. His Mercury was in a confident trine to Jupiter and an artistic opposition to Neptune.

The first issue of MAD came out in August 1952 with no date but it was a momentous month with Jupiter in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio square Pluto (maybe Sun) in Leo opposition a North Node in Aquarius – definitely designed for the long haul and for sharp satire.

The first editor was Harry Kurtzman, 3 October 1924. He was a Sun Libra with Mercury in communicative Virgo in a rebellious and outspoken opposition to Uranus. He had creative Venus Neptune in flamboyant Leo in a showbizzy and enthusiastic opposition to Mars in contrary Aquarius.

It was a good partnership for four years with a composite creative and successful Water Grand Trine of Jupiter trine Pluto trine Uranus, formed into a Kite with Pluto in a ruthlessly determined opposition to Mars and square Saturn – it wouldn’t all be sweetness and light and Kurtzman did leave but it kicked it off in good style.

Al Feldstein who went on to edit MAD for twenty years, 24 Oct 1925, was a Sun Scorpio with a creative Water Grand Trine Pluto trine Uranus trine Saturn formed into a Kite by Pluto opposition Jupiter which squared onto Mars – talented, confident and didn’t pull his punches.

A second larger 7.1 earthquake has struck southern California causing damage and injuries but no fatalities so far. The fear is that other quakes will follow which if they occur in heavily built up areas will do more damage. The 1994 6.7 Los Angeles quake killed 57 and cost many billions of dollars.

Earthquake prediction is an inexact science but notably the two largest 20th Century ones – the 1906 San Francisco quake and the 1994 LA one – happened with strong almost exact Uranus Neptune aspects, the first in opposition, the second in conjunction. There’s nothing like that astrologically around for many years to come.

On the California chart, 9 September 1850, both the 1906 and 1994 quakes had Solar Arc Neptune in hard aspect to the Uranus Pluto on the CA chart – the first conjunct and the second square. In both cases also the California Neptune in early Pisces was also badly rattled, in 1906 by tr Saturn in  Pisces and the Solar Eclipse conjunct; and in 1994 by Solar Arc Mars conjunct the CA Neptune. Neptune often crops up with natural disasters because of the confusion they cause; and in aspect to Pluto especially for devastation. Again there is nothing similar. And it may also ‘require’ more than one aspect to show up at the same time when the quake is activated.

On the Los Angeles chart, 4 September 1781, at the 1994 earthquake the Solar Eclipse three months previously was in Scorpio with the Eclipsed New Moon close to Pluto and all three conjunct the LA Jupiter. Again Jupiter often shows up at disasters – the amplification effect. There was also a Solar Arc Uranus just over the conjunction to the LA Pluto by a few months. The Solar Arc Saturn was moving towards the opposition to Mars which is accident prone.

The 1906 San Francisco 7.9 quake which killed 3000 people and destroyed 80% of the city, happened on the tr Neptune opposition Uranus in Capricorn which was sitting exactly on the San Fran Cancer Sun, 29 June 1776. Solar Arc Uranus was conjunct the SF Saturn for a massive jolt; and the Solar Arc Neptune was a year past the conjunction to the SF Pluto. The previous Solar Eclipse in early Pisces conjunct Saturn was square the SF Uranus and Solar Arc Pluto.

The California chart has Solar Arc Pluto Uranus opposition Saturn now; and Solar Arc Sun conjunct its Neptune in 15 months’ time. But its most tumultuous patch looks around 2023 when the late Aries Solar Eclipse will conjunct its Uranus Pluto with tr Pluto square and tr Neptune trine; and tr Saturn conjunct the Neptune; with Solar Arc Saturn moving from a hard aspect to Mars to Mercury. It may, of course, not be an earthquake, but it will be an exceptionally turbulent time.

The Los Angeles chart has a rebellious and unsettled tr Uranus square its Pluto this year and early in 2020; with Solar Arc Pluto in a confusing and devastating conjunction its Neptune in two years’ time. But nothing like as tricky as the early 1994 influences ahead.

The San Francisco chart has its Cancer Sun very close to the week’s Solar Eclipse with angular planets on the eclipse chart located there for a crisis or two. With tr Pluto trine Neptune this year and next; and an accident prone Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the SF Mars in 2021. But again not as strong as the 1906 influences.