Astrology of Today’s News

The English Civil War of 1642,  between Parliamentarians and Royalists vying for the power to govern, ended in a short-lived republic under Oliver Cromwell until King Charles 11 was restored to the throne. Casualty estimates for military and disease deaths indicate England suffered a 3.7% loss of population, Scotland a loss of 6%, while Ireland suffered a loss of 41% of its population.

The devastation is clearest on the England 11 May 973 AD chart with the natal Sun Mars square Pluto having moved by Solar Arc to collide with the England Saturn; and both the Solar Arc Neptune and transiting Neptune were hitting on the England Pluto which also pulled in hard aspects to the England Sun Mars – a perfect storm of military brutality, extreme hardship and mass devastation and confusion.

The England 25 December 1066 chart had Solar Arc Mars opposition Pluto; with tr Uranus exactly square the 1066 Mars.

The traditional civil war signature is tr Pluto conjunct the Sun which was in place for the break up of the USSR, though it wasn’t exactly a war. Tr Pluto was also square the Russia Saturn then.

Syria in 2015 when the civil war erupted had a tr Pluto square tr Saturn which often accompanies a war; with tr Pluto heading to conjunct the Syria Capricorn Sun as it got fully underway; and Solar Arc Neptune hovering around the opposition to the midpoint between the Syria Saturn and the Syria Mars Uranus conjunction.  Uranus had just moved into Aries preparing for the rebellious square to Pluto in the next few years.

British India 1 January 1877 12am Delhi, at the bloody partition with Pakistan in 1947 which led to 14 million being displaced and well over one million dead did have a tr Mars Uranus in place in August 47 though it’s a minor enough aspect. Tr Uranus was square the India Solar Arc midheaven for a sharp change of direction. The Solar Arc Pluto had been in the devastating/confused square to the India Neptune in the run up; and the Solar Arc North Node was exactly conjunct Pluto pulling on the Fixed Pluto opposition Mars square Uranus T Square.

Usually it takes more than one influence to catapult a country into civil breakdown. The USSR break up happened at the time of the triple conjunction in Capricorn. The 1848/1850s upheavals all over Europe and elsewhere also occurred on a triple conjunction of Uranus Pluto Saturn in Aries, then moving together into Taurus, so quite a whammy.  Indian partition happened around the bleak Saturn Pluto in Leo; the Syrian Civil War on Uranus square Pluto.

The USA had tr Pluto conjunct its Cancer Sun in the early 1920s and showed no sign of fragmenting. The UK had tr Pluto conjunct the Capricorn Sun in the run up to the Scotland Independence Referendum so it was a possibility.  The USA won’t get tr Uranus conjunct its Mars until 2030 – and those Uranian hard aspects occur roughly every twelve years, so it’s been through a few since 1776. The UK gets tr Uranus conjunct its Mars around 2021.

No real conclusions except that its much like individuals, you can never quite gauge from the swirling cycles of differing influences what will prove a tipping point or indeed how the reactions will manifest. Some stand steady in the eye of the hurricane; some don’t.

Is the USA heading for civil war? The inflammatory Steve Bannon is drawing comparisons with 1860 when the election of Abraham Lincoln led to the southern states seceding and the civil war followed a few months later. More serious and credible voices are also raising concerns that political instability is likely to worsen without reform of immigration and inequality, perhaps peaking around 2020, making the USA “particularly vulnerable to violent upheaval”. (See URL below).

Historian Victor Hanson commented that history has repeatedly shown that “zealous and sometimes warring tiny minorities can escalate tensions, nullify opposition and bully the silenced majority to sanction — or at least not object to — violence”.

The 2021 Inauguration chart certainly looks extremely volatile and combustible with a Mars Uranus square Sun, Saturn, Jupiter. But is nothing like as brutal as Abraham Lincoln’s Inauguration on 4 March 1861 which had a Mars Pluto in Taurus conjunction trine Saturn; and Uranus in early Gemini on its first Return to the USA 1776 chart in a conflicted square to Saturn.

The USA First President chart 30 April 1789 12.45pm shows up the Civil War most clearly with tr Pluto moving to conjunct the Taurus Sun which is a classic break-up influence; with the Solar Arc midheaven conjunct Uranus to within half a degree. There is certainly high anxiety on this chart in the run up to the 2020 election with tr Uranus conjunct the Sun from July 2020 onwards, into early 2021. Which isn’t as strong as tr Pluto in 1860/61, but will produce considerable tensions bringing troublemakers and revolutionary spirits to the fore.  There will also be major panic and concern from tr Neptune hovering around the conjunction to Solar Arc Uranus and the natal Saturn. With more upheavals as tr Pluto opposes the Uranus in 2023/204 and a serious setback in 2024 with Solar Arc Saturn opposing the Sun.

The USA 1776 chart which lacks an accurate start time though I use 11 am had on this time tr Neptune conjunct the Descendant and square the midheaven over the start of the 1861 Civil War; with another high-tension Saturn Uranus collision.

The fanatical Mercury opposition Pluto in this chart which spawned Mcarthyism and Watergate amongst other eruptions when it was triggered, is directly in the line of fire of the tr Saturn Pluto Jupiter over the 2020 election.  And has tr Neptune square the USA Mars from March 2021 onwards into 2022 which is panicky failure. With indications of a destructive setback in 2024 when the Solar Arc Saturn in conjunct Mars. And the Pluto Return running in 2022/23.

So no solution in sight for a healing of the fault lines which have widened catastrophically with Trump’s hate rhetoric.

Bannon, 27 November 1953, who’s been jaunting round Europe stoking up the far-right populist parties, is becoming more fanatical over the next four years with his Uranus, North Node, Neptune T Square being pounded by tr Pluto – which could end up in devastation for him or megalomania running rampant. He looks disappointed now into early 2019; scattering wildly in 2019; pushing ahead with high confidence in 2020 but running into road blocks in 2021. Like Trump he’s always lived in excited and aggressive chaos, with his multiple schemes usually ending in failure. Which doesn’t mean he couldn’t cause damage before he implodes and moves on.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/america-is-edging-closer-to-civil-war-jqvnv8f0n

The worst anti-Semitic attack in US history yesterday left 11 worshippers dead and four policemen injured in a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. The killer Robert Bowers appears to be a pro-Nazi white supremacist who posted online about Jewish people running the government and bringing invaders (Muslims) into the USA via the migrant caravan. He wanted all Jews to die he told a policeman after his arrest since they were causing genocide to his people. He was using an AK-15 assault weapon and carried three additional guns.

The shooting occurred just after the 9.45 am start of the morning service and emergency services were called at 9.54am. That puts Jupiter Mercury and Scorpio Ascendant opposition the destructive Fixed star Algol. A defiant/disruptive Uranus was exactly square the Leo North Node and opposition Sun Venus – and that was one of the hallmarks of the recent run of Eclipses. The repressive Saturn/Pluto midpoint was exactly trine the midheaven. And a 7^th house Gemini Moon was on the focal point of a scattered T Square to a 4^th house Neptune opposition the midheaven, and the Moon also trined Mars.

The 11 August Leo Solar Eclipse located to Pittsburgh has Uranus conjunct the midheaven square Mars Descendant opposition Node Ascendant – so very angular. The 27 July Lunar Eclipse had Venus closely conjunct the midheaven opposition Neptune on the IC.

Net sources give his birth date as 4 September 1972. If accurate, it makes him an assertive Sun Mars in Virgo with his Sun exactly conjunct his can-be paranoid/neurotic Saturn/Neptune midpoint. His Mars is in an angry, hard-edged, square to Saturn. His Neptune is trine Venus in late Cancer and both sextile Pluto which could arguably add a man-on-a-mission slant to his emotional responses.

He would be exceptionally worked up in the past few weeks with tr Uranus square his Mars/Saturn, Sun/Saturn and opposition his Neptune/Pluto midpoints – which added together points to cruelty/killing (Mars/Saturn); tensions escalating (Saturn Uranus); and megalomania (Neptune/Pluto).

The Pittsburgh Incorporation chart of 18 March 1816  has tr Uranus conjunct the Mars/Pluto midpoint exactly now for ‘sudden disasters of great consequence’ and ‘brutality, cruelty’ according to Ebertin; as well as Solar Arc Mars square the Sun/Pluto midpoint which is much the same.

Brazil, the world’s fourth largest democracy, is on the brink of electing a far-right, pro-gun, dictatorship-praising populist as its president tomorrow. Haaretz writes: ‘Mix up fascist geopolitics, Pat Robertson’s LGBT hate, Bannon’s nationalism and Putin’s shills and you get Jair Bolsonaro, who’s nostalgic for the U.S.-backed dictatorship that tortured and killed thousands of leftists – and he’s about to come to power.’ Latest polls give Bolsonaro a 12-point lead over his leftist rival. He’s a former paratrooper known for his venomous rhetoric towards black, gay and indigenous people and women, an advocate of sterilization for the poor to stave off “chaos”, a fan of Pinochet and supported by the Evangelicals, who have been pouring money into the far-right in Brazil and the USA.

Brazilians appear so fed up of politicians in general and particularly disenchanted with liberals and the left after the corruption scandals which impeached Dilma Rousseff and landed Luiz Lula da Silva in prison, that they’re willing to throw themselves at the mercy of a strong dictatorial leader who will ‘drain the swamp.’

Who’d have thought the Pluto in Capricorn’s deconstruction of governmental systems would end up with this? Transformation is a word lightly used, but change can mean for the worse. Pray heavens it’s Saturn Pluto at work which will have moved on by the early 2020s.

Bolsonaro, 21 March 1955, Sao Paulo, Brazil, is a Sun Aries or last degree Pisces, with a hard, ruthless, incredibly stubborn Mars in Taurus opposition Saturn square Pluto opposition Venus (Moon) in Aquarius; and a lucky Uranus Jupiter in Cancer in a can-be-fanatical square to Neptune. His Fixed Grand Cross and his Cardinal square are coming together now by Solar Arc to mix brutality with luck. Right place right time clearly. Often such a coming-together in a chart depicts a major life crisis. He was shot a few weeks ago and nearly died and there may be more turmoil to come as his Solar Arc Pluto moves to conjunct his Neptune which can be devastating; Solar Arc Saturn opposes his Uranus for a major jolt in 2019; though he’ll also get an uplift from Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Jupiter.

The Brazil 7 September 1822 4.30pm Piranga  chart looks undermined till January 2019 with tr Neptune opposition the Sun; and then moving through a highly aggravated three years as tr Uranus opposes the Mars in Scorpio for high-insecurity and maybe violence in 2019; as well as squaring the accident/assassination-prone Mars/Saturn; before making a tension-erupting conjunction to Saturn in 2020.

The 15 November 1889 Brazil chart looks no better with signs of a revolution in 18 months to two years’ time with Solar Arc Uranus square the Pluto; and tr Pluto square the Uranus in 2020/21.

And wouldn’t you know?  Trump will warm to him – with a composite friendly Sun, Venus, Mercury trine Jupiter in their relationship chart. There’s something very weird going on in the world just now.

See previous post September 11 2018.

Irish singer Sinead O’Connor has announced she’s become a Muslim, having previously been ordained as a priest in an independent Catholic group. She’s had serious mental health issues throughout her life, including suicide attempts.

She was born 8 December 1966 7.37am (unverified) Dublin, Ireland, to parents who split and she lived with her father in her teens until she was sent to the Magdalene Asylum after incidents of shoplifting and truancy. She later said she was abused by her mother, whom a brother agreed had been violent. She’s been married four times, has four children of whom she didn’t have custody, and has admitted to relationships with men and women.

She has the chaotic and depressive Uranus Pluto in Virgo opposition Saturn square her Sun Venus in Sagittarius, so she will find stability difficult to maintain. She also has an intense and vague Mercury Neptune in Scorpio opposition a Taurus Node, trine Saturn and sextile Uranus Pluto, which will exacerbate her inner turmoil.

What’s most noticeable on her chart at the moment is her Solar Arc Saturn exactly conjunct her Taurus North Node with Solar Arc Uranus Pluto moving across the conjunction to her South Node. It’s a touch obscure but it does bring together two key configurations in her chart – not easily, but it will be a time for deep reflection about her direction and how she can find the inner peace she craves which is what the Taurus Node represents. Whether Saturn plus Uranus Pluto is quite the vehicle for finding serenity is questionable.

She’s talented with a strong creative 5^th Harmonic; a stressed ‘victim’/healer 12H; a self-defeating 10H; and a massively strained 13H which is associated with upheaval and rebirth but needs real maturity to make it work well.

Cesar Sayoc has been arrested in Florida suspected of having mailed pipe bombs to various Democrat supporters amongst others. He has according to local police a lengthy criminal record, including an arrest for a bomb threat as well as larceny, grand theft and fraud. What appears to be his van was uploaded onto a police transport vehicle and shows pro-Trump/Pence posters as well as Hillary Clinton, Michael Moore and CNN in rifle sights.

According to net sources (which may be wrong) he was born 17 March 1962 which gives him a late Pisces Sun inconjunct Uranus; with an enraged Mars opposition Pluto; and a neurotic/paranoid Saturn square Neptune tied into the North Node.

His stressed Uranus (on this birth date) is conjunct Trump’s bombastic and inflammatory Mars in Leo, with Sayoc’s Jupiter conjunct Trump’s Descendant opposition his Mars – so he would be aroused and enthused by Trump.

Their relationship chart (tho’ they’ve never met I imagine) has an empowering composite Jupiter trine Pluto; with a passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars; and a complicated tie up of Uranus, Neptune and Saturn. Tr Uranus is conjunct the composite Saturn exactly now for what is undoubtedly an unwelcome surprise for Trump on the eve of the mid terms.

Not been a great week or so for POTUS and his war-to-the-death with the media, with this coming hard on the heels of Khashoggi’s death. Rather blows out of the water the notion that this was a ‘fake news’ stunt dreamt up by the Dems to harm GOP chances at the mid terms.

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Angela Merkel is facing a critical regional election this Sunday in Hesse which is being seen as make-or-break for her political future. Her party did less well than expected at last year’s general election and earlier this month there was a big drop in support for her Bavarian allies. Questions are being raised about whether she will seek another two-year term as her CDU party’s leader when they hold their congress this December. She shows no sign of wilting but the tide is not running in her favour.

Exactly now (to within five minutes of a degree = one twelfth) she has a car-crash Solar Arc Sun square her Mars in Sagittarius. With tr Neptune just this week picking up the debilitating square to her Ascendant, running through till late December, which will undermine her image.

She has tr Saturn downers in this December and early January;  and major upheavals and disruptions from late March 2019 on and off till late 2019 with tr Pluto in a confusing square to her Neptune and opposition her Uranus.

She’s remarkably tough and steady with four 8^th house planets including her Sun; and a Mars trine Pluto. But tr Saturn now about to hit the nadir of her low-profile First Quadrant moving into her 2^nd now and that is usually bad news for politicians’ ambitions for the next two years. Plus a panicky-failure Solar Arc Neptune conjunct her Mars in later 2019 and another shock from Solar Arc Uranus square her Mars also in 2019.

See previous post July 3 2018.

Democrat Paulette Jordan is deemed to have a reasonable outside chance of becoming Governor of Idaho, which if she wins would make her the first Native American and first woman governor of what has always been a right-wing, conservative state.  She is pro-Medicaid expansion, clean energy, pro decriminalizing of marijuana possession and the legalization of medical marijuana; and is personally pro-life, but supports abortion politically. She also holds a conservative view on gun control. There appears to have been some rumpus in her campaign recently with sudden staffer resignations and sharp comments made, which may tell against her.

Born 7 December 1970 Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, she’s a Sun Neptune in Sagittarius sextile Pluto with Neptune square Saturn in hard-working Virgo – idealistic, adventurous, a worrier. She’s also got a passionately enthusiastic Mars Jupiter in Virgo trine Venus in Capricorn; as well as an outspoken Mercury Uranus in Scorpio, which may on occasion cause her problems.

Over the election she’s got upbeat influences with tr Pluto square her Solar Arc Jupiter and tr Jupiter conjunct her Solar Arc Pluto, so she won’t be displeased with the outcome. Though she’ll slip and slide from late November and through 2019. She’ll be on a real high by 2020 when her Solar Arc Jupiter is conjunct her Pluto and tr Uranus trines her Jupiter – which look remarkably successful.

In Yemen a third of children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition with almost 50,000 dying last year from extreme hunger and disease. And the situation has worsened since then, with a humanitarian co-ordinator saying nearly 14 million people are in danger of famine which was “much bigger than anything any professional in this field has seen during their working lives.”

Yemen has been devastated by a conflict that escalated in 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition sent by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman intervened, after the rebel Houthi movement seized control and forced the President to flee abroad. A partial blockade by the coalition has left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid, creating the world’s largest food security emergency, and it led to a cholera outbreak that has affected 1.1 million people.

The Yemen Republic chart 22 May 1990 has been under acute pressure since the tr Uranus square tr Pluto started to move in hard aspect to its Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn from 2012 onwards, worsening when their Neptune was devastated around the time of the Saudi intervention. There’s nothing that looks cheerful in the immediate future. Tr Pluto will sextile the Mars in 2019/2020 for more brutality; tr Pluto is also moving across the midpoints to Saturn in Capricorn for hardship and deprivation up till late 2022/23.

If the furore over Jamal Khashoggi’s murder does nothing else one might have hoped for a change of attitude from a humbled Saudi Arabia. They didn’t start the civil war but everything that has been done since 2015 has made a bad situation irretrievably worse.