Astrology of Today’s News

Is the USA in terminal decline? Or will the hysterical uncertainty created by Trump’s misrule along with the emergence of hate politics turn out to be a passing blip?

This is a potted rehash of previous posts from March 2017 and late December 2016.

There are two key astrological sign posts, both connected to the USA foundation chart of 1776, specifically to the USA Pluto in Capricorn opposition Mercury, which does harbour a dark, fanatical streak. Ebertin associates Mercury Pluto with: demagogues, plagiarists, those who fraudulently misrepresent, slyness and cunning, irritability, and psychological pressure. Kept under control it can be persuasive and insightful.

Tr Uranus is squaring this opposition through 2017, finishing mid April 2018. Previous occurrences oversaw VP Spiro Agnew resigning over tax fraud, followed by Watergate and Nixon’s fall; and one before that McCarthy was spitting venom in his catch-a-commie terror campaign, before being discredited. [See post December 26 2016]. It tends to bring out extreme right-wing elements and political scandals.

Tr Pluto will then start to oppose Mercury and make its First Pluto Return from 2020 till 2023 which will bring a longish period of intensity, fierce debate and mental strain.

Previous times of tr Pluto in hard aspect to Pluto Mercury saw bitter anti-slavery fights under a Democratic President, 1845 to 1851. The Great Depression, 1933 to 1938, Roosevelt’s New Deal and J. Edgar Hoover in the FBI.  The most recent – President Reagan’s swingeing tax cuts lead to a soaring budget deficit and high unemployment; a recession and he gets shot.

Much astro-talk has focused on Pluto’s conjunction to the natal US Pluto as bringing to an end the country’s superpower status. But looking to other countries, which have early enough start dates to have undergone Pluto Returns, roughly every 250 years, that wouldn’t be the case.

For example: Spain, 19 January 1479, – had certainly hit its peak power prior to the Pluto Return in 1724 but in the aftermath reached its greatest territorial extent. Next Pluto return in 1971 was four years before the dictator Franco died and Spain became a democracy thereafter.

England, 11 May 973, has had three Pluto Returns – 1216 saw the Magna Carta, supposedly the start of democracy with the king ceding power to the Barons. 1462 – War of the Roses saw a breakdown in the authority and power of the throne. 1708 – the Union with Scotland, leading ultimately a century later to the UK and the burgeoning British Empire.

Major turning points to be sure but not lethal.

The next US Presidential election will fall right in the middle of the above and occurs on the triple Jupiter Saturn Pluto in Capricorn conjunction. It will be fraught with strong-arm tactics, violence, ruthless and bullying. The Inauguration chart, assuming normal start dates/times, will be (hopefully) a mix of high idealism from Jupiter Saturn Sun in Aquarius, control-freaky with Pluto on the MC, and explosive with a 12^th house Mars Uranus square Saturn Jupiter Sun, with hints of subversion. To ne noted: Aquarius can be humanitarian, but it does appear regularly in the charts of fascists or extreme ideologues. Tr Neptune is also rapidly heading to square the US Mars from March 2021 for two years which usually accompanies a sense of panicky failure and plummeting morale.

Specifically on the Republican Party charts: 28 Feb 1854 9pm Ripon, Wisconsin and 22 Feb 1856 5pm Pittsburgh, PA – there are indications of a seismic upheaval from mid 2018 to late 2019 with tr Uranus conjunct the Pluto in Taurus. Both charts’ relationship with Trump will be undergoing upsetting and separating influences in 2018/19 and outright hostility by 2020.

Definitely a  page-turning moment in America’s history over the coming few years, with turmoil, angst and bitterness along the way. But it will settle – eventually.

Bashar Assad is being blamed for the failure of the Syria peace talks to bring an end to the civil war this week. He is accused of being unwilling to meet anyone who has a different opinion. The UN envoy in charge said: “a golden big opportunity” had been missed. With Putin, his main supporter, now withdrawing Russian troops, saying his job is done, and all western pressure for Assad to go having been dropped, it might seems as if he has won hands down.

Yet what his Presidency chart, 17 July 2000, indicates is that the worst is yet to come. Tr Pluto will oppose the Presidency Mars from February 2018 till late 2019, joined in 2019 by tr Saturn opposition Mars and then Sun. And tr Pluto will grind on in opposition to the Sun/Mars midpoint before reaching the exact hard aspect to the Sun in 2021/22.  All of that will find him trapped, enraged, completely devastated, at high-risk.

His own personal chart, 11 September 1965, looks no better with undermining Neptune transits conjunct his Saturn early and late 2018; and opposing his Uranus, Pluto, Sun from 2018 to late 2020.

Pressures are clearly coming in to weaken him further, perhaps catastrophically.

The rapper Eminem’s Revival album just out has had a mauling from the critics. “A mistake, a random mash of immaturity, vanilla attempts at atonement and random, sprinkles of magnificence.” “Witless beats and puns in a total rejection of hip-hop with acres of bad gags, filler and formulaic fury.” “He veers from sassy to self-deprecating, dependent to dismissive, murderous to politically conscious, uncontrollably lusty to borderline repentant, sometimes all within the same song. The album concludes with a new day dawning, and the sound of a toilet flushing.”

Which doesn’t mean his fans won’t buy it, but it can’t be doing his ego much good.

Born 17 October 1972 maybe 11.04 am Kansas City, MO, he had a fractured childhood with an absent father, constant moves and was bullied at school. He went on to perform the best-selling albums of the 2000s in the US, was known as the king of hip-hop and has continued to reach high sales and garner musical awards since.

He’s a Sun Uranus in Libra trine Saturn trine Moon in Aquarius, with Mars Pluto also in Libra; and a pushily confident Jupiter in money-magnet Capricorn square his Pluto. Not an easy chart, with a fairly blighted emotional life, though lots of drive and anger.

Tr Uranus is exactly opposition his Sun at the moment and tr Pluto is square his Uranus in 2017/2018, so a time of upheaval and change in his life. Which heaven knows has gone through enough already with a drug habit, court cases galore and on off relationships plus his mother suing him for slander. Tr Saturn moving through Capricorn will conjunct his Jupiter and square his Pluto in early January 2018 and in 2019 square his Uranus Sun, so a fair amount of coming-down-to-earth and facing reality in front of him. If his birth time is accurate then he’s moving into a less successful few years.

Jupiter will reign over Prince Harry’s wedding to his Meghan on 19 May 2018 in Windsor. Jupiter then in Scorpio will conjunct his midheaven exactly, thrusting him even more into the limelight that usual and pointing to a successful 12 months thereafter. Meghan has similar with tr Jupiter exactly opposition her Solar Arc midheaven.  Great for a very public appearance. Tr Jupiter will also be conjunct his Venus/Mars midpoint, which will be warm-hearted and passionate.

The Cancer Moon that day will be on her Ascendant bringing out her lunar charms. Though she’ll be slightly nerve-wracked and serious, having had a stressful few weeks preparation beforehand as tr Saturn squares her Moon, Jupiter, Saturn conjunction.

There’s an earthy Taurus Sun in a controlled trine to Pluto at the wedding, for what will be a test of stamina; with the Sun in aspect to the duty-bound Saturn/Pluto as well as trine a high-spirited Mars. Mars is also in square to Uranus and Mercury hinting that not everything will go without a hitch, since Uranus always produces unexpected surprises and short-fuse reactions. Though Saturn will be on hand to add a restraining brake. They did say they wanted an unconventional wedding and if they can manage to withstand courtier pressures for tradition that would soak up Uranus.

The Moon opposes Pluto for an intensely emotional feeling, perhaps some jealousy amongst family members.

It’s not possible to say without knowing a time though Royal weddings are usually late morning. If around midday it would put Saturn and Pluto in the 5^th house of children which might delay a family. But that will need to wait see for a definite schedule.

That’ll cheer the UK up – nothing like a Royal pomp and circumstance romance and fashion parade to distract from the drear.

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Salma Hayek, the Mexican American actress and producer has been relating some blood-curdling tales about Harvey Weinstein’s behaviour on the set of Frido, her breakthrough movie which garnered her multiple awards and nominations. She described him as a bully and a master manipulator and said in an interview: “I don’t think he hated anything more than the word ‘no’… And with every refusal came Harvey’s Machiavellian rage.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-harvey-weinstein-and-donald-trump-retaliated-against-salma-hayek

Born 2 September 1966 in Mexico, she’s a Sun, Mercury, Uranus, Pluto in Virgo; with a charming Venus in Leo square Neptune in Scorpio. His ruthless Pluto (square Mars in vengeful Scorpio) is conjunct her Venus with his Mars conjunct her Neptune, so he would be attracted to her and want to control her, but find her Neptunian evasions enraging. Venus at odds with Mars also points to an insensitivity in approach. Plus her Saturn in Pisces is conjunct his Sun, so she’d put barriers up against him; and his autocratic Saturn square Uranus bounced off her Aries Moon.

Their relationship chart has an argumentative composite Sun Mercury square Mars; and a struggle-for-the-upper-hand Pluto square Jupiter; and a chained-together-and-resenting-it Saturn trine Pluto, since she was committed to the movie and couldn’t get out.

Rex Tillerson pushes for diplomacy over North Korea and is promptly contradicted by his White House boss. Presumably he just chooses the ignore the views of the man he reputedly called ‘a moron’ and do what seems sensible. Though this is the third time in several months he’s been publicly at odds with Trump. One wonders how far Tillerson’s sang froid will go before the elastic snaps?

He looks depressed at the moment with tr Neptune square his Sun/Pluto and at a very low ebb with Trump with tr Neptune opposing the composite Mars/Pluto midpoint. By mid January 2018 tr Saturn will square his Aries Sun and the Mars on his Swearing-In chart (1 February 2017 7.25pm). February into late March he looks martyred and confused. With a blow-out of bad temper with Trump in February. His Term chart as Secretary of State will go into an even more unstable phase from late March onwards. Though he, personally, looks fairly bullish at that point as well as ready to make radical changes.

He may hope to stay lashed to the mast, praying fervently for a change at the top before his stamina and self-control give up. But it’ll be a close run thing.

Muddle and mayhem wherever you look. May wins and then loses. Merkel still can’t form a government. And the great Juncker is getting snarled up in an old wiretapping scandal from his Luxembourg PM days, refusing multiple dates to turn up to give court evidence claiming he’s too busy.

Want to see Neptune in action out in the real world? Look at Theresa May’s government, launched on a Full Moon of Gemini Sun opposition Moon square Neptune. A focal point Mutable Neptune is disorganized, absent-minded, refuses to face facts, lacks will-power, is credulous and constantly shape-shifting – and the Full Moon suggests a constant struggle to pull two opposing forces together. Admittedly May’s obsessive Saturn in Scorpio square Pluto gives her stamina, but her natal Neptune and its midpoints hook into many of her other planets – she’s quite a chameleon herself. She has more swampy, ground-dissolving-under-her-feet Neptunian transits to come in 2018/19/20. Plus some truly catastrophic Pluto transits to Mars midpoints in 2018/19 (see post December 2017).  Though oddly enough the May Government chart apart from a gigantic hiccup in May 2018 and again in Nov/Dec will be keeping its spirits up courtesy of two Jupiter midpoints.

Merkel will continue to slide in energy, motivation and popularity, with a major jolt after mid 2018 and a facing-failure few months in late 2019. Martin Schulz, the pro-EU more-integration SDP leader on the other hand has a good deal going his way at least over the next two years. This despite the fact the German business/financiers and voters will resist strenuously any prospect of being drawn into a closer union that forces them to foot other country’s financial losses.

Jean-Claude Juncker had to resign as Luxembourg prime minister in 2013 in the wake of the scandal in which Luxembourg intelligence chiefs were accused of the unauthorised tapping of phones, bugging politicians and keeping some 13,000 secret files. Hot denials all round but fresh evidence has emerged suggesting that members of his staff had tampered with crucial evidence.

He’s got tr Neptune square his Sagittarius Sun from early May 2018, on and off into 2019, which won’t improve his morale, but his lucky Uranus Jupiter in Cancer may fish him out of some sinkholes. His presidency chart has a ruthless Mars Pluto conjunction which is catching the tr Saturn conjunction from late January 2018 which will throw a few obstacles in his path, returning late in the year into 2019. And Pluto squares Uranus on that chart which was always going to make it a crisis-ridden term.

The EU is muddling its way towards a worrisome, financially- disastrous and blocked 2019 when it picks up tr Saturn conjunct Sun, Solar Arc Pluto conjunct its 2^nd house Neptune, and Solar Arc MC conjunct Pluto, followed in 2020/21 by a hugely uncertain tr Neptune square Saturn. 2019 also sees tr Uranus start to tug mightily on the EU Fixed T Square when it opposes the 2^nd house Neptune and moves on to square Uranus and conjunct the 8^th house Moon in 2020/2021. With 2021 also having the Solar Arc Mars square the Moon and opposition Uranus. And that looks like a whole heap of financial woes, in a rolling series of disruptions, shocks and upheavals.

Keith Chegwin, a much-loved children’s TV presenter with a cheeky grin, high-pitched enthusiasm and psychedelic jumpers has died aged 60. He turns out, like many comic characters who are the life and soul of the party, to have been fighting demons. He was an alcoholic much of his life and a heavy smoker. His career sagged after he grew too old to fit the kid’s scene and he sank to playing in the reality TV show Naked Jungle – without his signature knitwear.

Born 17 January 1957 1.35pm Walton, England, he had an intense 8^th house Capricorn Sun inconjunct Pluto; square Mars in Aries and Neptune in his entertaining 5^th house – so well suited to showbiz, starting in end-of-the-pier entertainment. His Mars was trine a 4^th house Pluto hinting at a stressed childhood which left him with lingering deep-seated frustrations and resentment. Saturn in his 6^th house of health hints at a constitution which would not cope with excess.

But his 7^th house Mercury Venus in Capricorn would make him a charming companion; and his well-aspected Uranus in the 3^rd sextile his Jupiter and trine his Saturn would make him mischievous.

Evidently he was self-deprecating, always putting himself down as he entertained others.

Sarah Paulson, playing in The Post as the Editor’s wife and much-awarded for American Horror Story, has been opening up about her relationship with 74 year old actress Holland Taylor, known for The Practice and Two and a Half Men. They got together in 2015 and she was warned it might not be career friendly, but it doesn’t seem to have stopped her getting juicy roles. Her next, Ocean’s 8, is due out in 2018.

Helps to get birth date right.  Sarah Paulson was born 17 December 1974 11.05 pm Tampa, Florida and grew up with divorced parents. She has an enthusiastic and confident 7^th house Jupiter in Pisces on her Descendant making her fun company. Her Sagittarius Sun sits in her 4^th house which makes her private and family-oriented, along with Mars Neptune in Sagittarius straddling her IC, so she’ll want a glamourous dream home but will be a fairly restless bird in the nest with dynamic Mars there. Her Aquarius Sun is trine Pluto making her fairly possessive and also edgy about being controlled.

Holland Taylor, 14 January 1943 in Philadelphia, is an expansive and earthy Sun Capricorn opposition Jupiter in Cancer with a Taurus Moon. They are very different types with Sarah being Fire Air, so constantly rattling along on ideas and enthusiasm. Where Holland is an Earth Earth type, more grounded, more physical, which may not suit Sarah’s Aquarius Moon over time.

There are plus points with Holland’s Sun falling in Sarah’s entertaining/romantic 5^th house, so they’ll play well together. Their Jupiters chime in two Water signs; and Sarah has an Aquarius Moon and Venus in Capricorn to match Holland’s Venus Aquarius and Capricorn Sun. But that apart it isn’t easy. Holland’s Saturn Uranus in Gemini opposes Sarah’s Mars Neptune which is gritty and confusing. Holland’s Mars is conjunct Sarah’s Sun which can spark up passion initially but usually turns argumentative and competitive.

Their relationship chart has a highly positive Earth Grand Trine of Sun to Jupiter and Pluto, so it will be mutually supportive, and quite the power couple. But the Mars aspects aren’t great, bringing underlying aggravations or perhaps fears.

Sarah said in an interview:  “There’s a poignancy to being with someone older. I think there’s a greater appreciation of time and what you have together and what’s important, and it can make the little things seem very small.”