Astrology of Today’s News

Michael Gove, a Euro-sceptic, might step in to replace Dominic Raab if he can renegotiate the deal, otherwise he may leave the Cabinet. Though Barnier says no renegotiation is possible.

Born 26 August 1967, Gove is a Sun, Mercury, Venus in Virgo with Uranus Pluto also in Virgo sextile a tricky, slippery and vengeful Mars Neptune in Scorpio. He’s looking trapped, enraged, stuck and depressed mid December to mid January 2019 and mighty confused at the same time; grumpy over the New Year; facing losses in February and will be spinning like a top at the same time with nervous anxiety. He’ll start to pick up from  April 2019 onwards as tr Uranus starts to trine his Sun and then his Jupiter/Pluto and Jupiter/Uranus, on and off till early 2020.

Another Cabinet possible as a May replacement if she does fold or gets pushed is Jeremy Hunt, 1 November 1966, a charming, smarmy Sun Venus in Scorpio square Jupiter in Leo.  He’s facing a setback late this December and despite a couple of Jupiterian lucky blessings in 2019 is facing a run of crises and catastrophes from February onwards.

Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, 5 December 1969, is a Sagittarius with a hates-failure Jupiter in Libra opposition Saturn in Taurus; and a publicity-attracting Neptune square Mars in determinedly independent Aquarius. He’s feeling undermined and disappointed till late December with tr Neptune square his Sun. However he also has tr Uranus square his Jupiter in December/January 2019 which could give him a lucky break. But he’ll be bumping along a rocky road through 2019 with much discouragement and high tension.

Brexit is a poisoned chalice that no one sensible would want to pick up.

Melania Trump took the extraordinary step of issuing a press statement attacking Mira Ricardel, Deputy National Security Advisor, John Bolton’s assistant, and demanding her resignation. Normally a First Lady sticks the dagger in behind the scenes. The beef appeared to come from Melania’s Africa trip though Mira Ricardel has a long history of falling out with almost everyone and was suspected of leaking as well as being abrasive.

Born 5 July 1960, Ricardel comes, like Melania, from a Yugoslav immigrant family, which probably didn’t help. She has a Cancer Sun Venus opposition Saturn square Uranus – so has a tendency to be autocratic. But what really ramps her up is her Mars in Taurus opposition Neptune, square Uranus, trine Pluto and trine Saturn, sextile Sun Venus – ambitious, hyper-determined, volatile, dislikes interference, ruthless, hard-edged. And she may have a Scorpio Moon.

Ricardel’s afflicted Mars is conjunct Melania’s Saturn which makes for a bad-tempered interface.

Their relationship chart is very unstable with a composite Saturn opposition Uranus Pluto square the composite Sun, opposition North Node and maybe Moon, The composite Mars opposes Neptune for an ego-clash; with the composite Mars opposition Jupiter and widely trine Pluto which makes for a high-energy interface which can spill over into competitiveness.

If Melania is starting to throw her weight around with White House/Cabinet aides she thinks are a problem for Trump then John Kelly looks first on the list through this December/January 2019.

John Bolton can’t have been pleased at the intervention which saw his handpicked assistant depart – and he and Melania look further separated come February 2019.

James Mattis is increasingly at a distance with a freeze picking up late this December through January/February 2019.

Her relationship with Ivanka, never easy at the best of times, will see aggravations mounting from mid this December and tensions erupting in December/January. Melania dislikes Jared even more which will bring increasing criticism from her now and through December, with a definite sinking feeling between them.

Her relationship with Donald looks on edge and explosive/insecure this December/January; with a decided dip with uncertainty and a degree of panic come April 2019 (repeating on and off into 2020).

Melania does  have her Taurus Sun opposition Jupiter in Scorpio picking up the tr Uranus hard aspects now and through 2019 which will boost her confidence, prompting her to take more risks. Perhaps as his troubles mount from now onwards she’ll try to act more openly as a prop and protector. He is, amongst many other things, hopelessly impractical with no Earth signs, while she has four Taurus planets, Pluto in Virgo and probably a Capricorn Moon, so she’s much more grounded and certainly more than capable of standing her ground.

Jacob Rees Mogg is spearheading the Brexiteer attack on Theresa May’s  plan as the wrangling goes on in Cabinet. He’s an MP on the far-right of the Tory Party with an Eton, Oxford University and hedge fund background (he and wife deemed worth £100 million in 2016). A Roman Catholic he’s against abortion even in cases of rape, incest and foetal abnormality. He has said it could take a very long time to reap Brexit benefits, over the next fifty years.

Born 24 May 1969, he has a Gemini Sun opposition Neptune in late Scorpio and Mars in Sagittarius – communicative, scattered, idealistic but not always realistic, impulsive. His Sun opposition Neptune perhaps forming a T Square onto a late Leo/Virgo Moon. Plus a powerhouse Pluto, Jupiter, Uranus in Virgo.

He looks energised at the moment with tr Uranus square his Sun/Jupiter midpoint till early this December and again in February 2019.  December/January 2019 look nerve-stretched and confused. He’ll continue jangled and jittered through late March to mid April 2019 and in full catastrophe-mode in the second half of April. The rest of the year will jolt between confidence in June and high insecurity thereafter. With a car-crash Secondary Progressed Mars opposition his Sun in about 18 months from now.

He will get into top gear will be from February 2020 onwards for two or three years with tr Pluto trine his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint and then trine his Jupiter in 2021/22.

Boris Johnson looks very deflated over late this December, hugely frustrated mid January to mid February 2019, facing failure in February and March, but picking up again in April/May; then sagging badly in the second half of the year.

Matthew Whitaker, Trump’s bizarre pick to replace the ousted Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, effectively putting him in as overseer of the Mueller Investigation, is causing consternation. Not just because his appointment without confirmation may not be constitutional, but because he is in the Washington Post’s description, a crackpot.

He was involved in a company (WPM) that scammed US military veterans out of their life savings, for which fraud they were ordered to pay authorities $26m. During his time on the company’s advisory board, WPM claimed that “DNA evidence collected in 2013 proves that Bigfoot does exist,” had a website selling Bigfoot paraphernalia and planned a celebrity event called “You Have Been Squatched!” They tried to raise money using bitcoin for time-travel research – “relive moments from your past” or “visit your future.” And punted an extra-deep “masculine toilet” for the well-endowed.

He joins a long list of gruesomely unqualified Trump appointments – his adulatory WH doctor in to run the Department of Veterans Affairs; chief scientist at the Agriculture Department who isn’t a scientist; others include  a Mar-a-Lago member, a Car Care manager, a bartender, a cabana attendant, a truck driver and Eric Trump’s wedding planner.

Born 29 October 1969 in Iowa, Whitaker is a Sun Scorpio opposition Saturn in Taurus ; with an opportunistic Mars in money-minded Capricorn square Jupiter Mercury; and Mars also in an ultra- determined and fairly slippery trine to Pluto sextile Neptune.

He has one minor up ahead and everything else suggests a downward trajectory with a blocked Solar Arc Sun square his Pluto now-ish or into 2019; plus some Neptunian sinkers; and worse in 2020.

He’s not a good match with Trump since his Mars opposes Trump’s Saturn Venus and his Pluto squares Trump’s Sun – could be quite a damaging connection.  His relationship chart with Trump is sagging badly in January and bumping uncomfortably along from late March onwards.

Meg Ryan, a glittering success in the 1990s with When Harry met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, has become engaged to her on-off boyfriend heartland-rock musician John Mellencamp.

Both have had fairly complex emotional lives – he married and divorced three times, she married to Denis Quaid, affair with Russell Crowe etc. She’s been with Mellencamp, formerly Johnny Cougar, since 2010 but with separations along the way.

And I’m not remotely surprised from their astrology.

She was born 19 November 1961 10.36 am Fairfield, Connecticut, and has a 10^th house Scorpio Sun with Mercury Neptune and Venus in Scorpio conjunct her midheaven – well designed for a filmic career. Her Sun is conjunct Mars in Sagittarius square an 8^th house Uranus; with Mars also square an 8^th house Pluto – which is a bundle of emotional/psychological contradictions and challenges. She’s also got Saturn in Capricorn conjunct Jupiter in Aquarius both sextile her Sun Mars – disciplined, exuberant, but will be constantly swinging between optimism and doubt. And has an Aries Moon which won’t sit comfortably with all her Scorpio planets.

He was born 7 October 1951 in Indiana, and has his Libra Sun conjunct Neptune on one side and Mercury, Saturn in Libra on the other; with a Capricorn Moon.  She’s Water Fire; and he’s Air Earth, so very chalk and cheese pairing.

What’s fairly volcanic is his Mars falling in her 8^th conjunct her Uranus and square her Mars; and his Venus also in her 8^th conjunct her Pluto and square her Mars; with his Pluto in her 8^th conjunct her North Node and square her Sun. There will be a very deep connection but it looks of the can’t-live-with-them and can’t live-without-them variety.

Their relationship chart has a composite Sun Neptune trine Jupiter (Moon), sextile Pluto and square Uranus with the composite Pluto opposition Jupiter square Saturn. And that’s quite a tangle. Sun Neptune often ends in disappointment; Sun Uranus needs space and hints at no-compromise. Saturn square Pluto can end up feeling chained-together and Jupiter Pluto can end up in one-upmanship battles. It’ll be a rocky ride through the next two years with tr Uranus hitting on the composite Neptune Sun and Uranus and she looks conflicted relationship-wise in 2020.

Not an easy match.

The cultural icon Stan Lee, figurehead and artistic dynamo behind Marvel Comics, has died aged nearly 96. He created along with others The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Black Panther, the X-Men, Ant-Man, Iron Man and Thor. What he did was unique in the market in creating flawed super-heroes. He was the editor-in-chief of Marvel, later its publisher and chairman.

He said: “I used to think what I did was not very important. People are building bridges and engaging in medical research, and here I was doing stories about fictional people who do extraordinary, crazy things and wear costumes. But I suppose I have come to realize that entertainment is not easily dismissed.”

Born 28 December 1922 in New York, he started writing as a child, loved Robin Hood, went into comics early on and never looked back.  His Capricorn Sun was the driving planet of a Kite from a creative Water Grand Trine of Jupiter in Scorpio trine Pluto trine a feisty Mars Uranus in Pisces; with Pluto opposition his Sun – not short of talent, confidence or the courage to take risks. His Mercury in Capricorn was widely opposition Pluto and square Saturn in Libra so he had executive and organisational ability and a serious side.

His creative 5^th and 7^th Harmonics were strong; as was his writer’s 21^st Harmonic and his world-class 22H.

He was married for seventy years until his wife died in 2017; more recently there were stories of elder abuse, until a restraining order was issued earlier this year against his business manager.

Trump has called for recounts to stop in Florida’s votes for Senate and governor, handing victories to fellow Republicans Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis. He alleged without evidence that many ballots are missing and forged and that a valid tally is not possible. There is no evidence of criminal conduct according to the Florida secretary of state’s office, which is led by a Scott appointee. Military and overseas votes are still to be counted.

Bill Nelson, 29 September 1942, up against Scott, looks aggravated and held back till December 2^nd with tr Saturn square his Sun, Mars in Libra; though running at the same time he’s got a couple of helpful transits to Jupiter midpoints running through this month till December 5; and another mild Jupiter running through December and January. He’s on good form and pushing hard in 2019/2020.

Rick Scott, 1 December 1952 4.30am Bloomington, IL, if his birth time is accurate is labouring under a very sticky, prone-to-setback Solar Arc MC conjunct his Saturn now and for a few months. Even discounting the birth time he looks aggravated in the first ten days of December; and its pretty much all downhill for him in 2019/2020.

Ron DeSantis, 14 September 1978, looks blocked now from November 14^th to the 22^nd; with a highly uncertain tr Neptune opposition his Sun/Saturn midpoint till the New Year. Though he does have one mid Jupiter to buoy him up this month. 2019 is swampy for him.

Andrew Gillum, 26 July 1979, up against DeSantis, hasn’t much of note without a birth time, apart from a major amount of irritability and isn’t on good form in 2019.

The inevitable Brexit stalemate appears to be reaching a crescendo. No one wants a hard Brexit or a Brino (Brexit in Name Only). But neither UK party can make up its mind what policy to follow as they flounder around contradicting themselves. The EU are, as expected and understandably, not only bored with the whole charade they’re sticking to their principles of no cherry-picking.

Two dates to look out for are: December 2nd to 11^th this year when tr Saturn squares Theresa May’s Libra Sun and her Solar Arc Uranus, as she labours at the same time under the panicky-failure tr Neptune conjunct her Mars (through this month and next).

Her own and her Government chart look flummoxed at the moment with Uranus Neptune aspects.

The other is when the UK/EU relationship chart picks up the separating tr Saturn conjunct the composite Sun this December 20^th to 28^th. Which also affects both the UK and the EU Suns individually. The TM Government chart looks excessively stuck over New Year. And the EU/UK chart is very bad tempered through January.

There’s nothing that looks remotely like a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. TMay is all downhill from now onwards but even a new Tory leader wouldn’t fix the unfixable problem; and she’ll never get even her cobbled-together plan through Westminster.

Any alternative – revoking Article 50 to push back the March 29 2019 date or granting a People’s Vote would just stretch out the agony.

The UK chart is looking surprisingly chipper from mid January for a few weeks. The only thing that’s clear is dislike/disgust of politicians with Solar Arc Moon opposition the 11^th house legislative Saturn.

For more detail see post October 18 2018.

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Roald Dahl known as one of the 20^th century’s greatest storytellers for children – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory amongst others – has been turned down by the Royal Mint for a commemorative coin because of his anti-Semitic views. His books which have sold more than 250,000 million copies worldwide were often macabre, darkly comic and unsentimental.

He was born 13 September 1916 in Cardiff, Wales to Norwegian parents and had an extraordinary and tragedy-strewn life. His sister died at 7 (appendicitis) as did one of his own daughters (measles). His father died the same year as his sister when he was 3, and he had an unhappy public school upbringing. He went on to have a high-risk World War 11 as a fighter pilot, surviving a horrific crash; became an air attache in Washington sleeping with the wives of influential men to obtain secrets of the UK Secret Service. And  ultimately married Patricia Neal, a well-known Hollywood actress when she was on the rebound from an affair with Gary Cooper. His first child, a boy, was brain damaged in a car accident at four months old; two years later his daughter died; and three years after that his wife, Patricia Neal, took a near terminal stroke while pregnant.

He had an unaspected Sun Virgo with an outspoken Mercury in Libra trine Uranus. But what marks out his chart as reckless, dark and sometimes cruel was a Mars in Scorpio trine Pluto, and opposition Jupiter square Venus Neptune in Leo. He liked the high life, could be charming though also stubborn and was emotionally a  complex mess. Not an easy man to live with.

Patricia Neal was born 20 Jan 1926 at 4.40 am Gatliff, KY, USA. She was a Sun Capricorn conjunct Jupiter in Aquarius with a hugely complicated chart. She has a bleak, though persevering, self-protective and creative Water Grand Trine of Saturn in Scorpio trine an 7^th house Pluto trine Uranus. She also had an inspirational, confident Fire Grand Trine of Mars in Sagittarius trine an Aries Moon trine an 8^th house Neptune in Leo, formed into a Kite by Venus opposition Neptune. A Fire Earth chart is highly combustible, excitable, impulsive and is relatively common in creative/entertainment business types.

Their marriage had been a disaster since the start though they stuck it out and he bullied her mercilessly after her stroke to improve her motor skills; until after 30 years he left her for a younger model.

Their relationship chart was combative and grim with a  composite Sun, Mars, Mercury sextile Saturn; with an up-and-down Saturn opposition Jupiter; and an illusory Venus square Neptune leading to disappointment.

His creative 5^th and 7^th Harmonics were strong though with a dark streak of cruelty and wayward determination.

Astonishing that he became so popular for children’s stories – modern Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Shades of Enid Blyton who wrote pleasanter kids’ tales but was a thoroughly unpleasant person.