Astrology of Today’s News

Pippa Middleton was married yesterday to hedge-funder James Matthews, around midday. She looked wonderful in a classic wedding dress with mini-pages and bridesmaids and sister Kate in attendance to make last minute adjustments.

The wedding chart has a grandstanding Pluto in the 5^th square Jupiter in the 2^nd (no expense spared) in an indulgent and slightly frivolous opposition to Venus in Aries. So definitely for show.

There’s also an inspirational and attention-grabbing Fire Grand Trine of North Node in Leo trine Uranus trine Saturn, formed into a wide Kite by Saturn opposition Mars – so a mix of vitality plus, quite self-involving, adventurous and hard-edged.

There’s also an oddly out of sync Moon Neptune in Pisces in the 7^th which can be ethereal, and squaring Mars, also showbizzy and publicity seeking as well as glamorous, but is more for show than substance emotionally.

They are a good match with his Venus in Virgo conjunct her Sun, and his Sun in Leo conjunct her Venus (maybe Moon); and his Moon on her Descendant and his Sun in her 1^st (if her 4.40am birth time is correct).

Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus in an enthusiastic sextile to Mars; with a confident Pluto trine Jupiter, so in the minor power-couple league. The composite Saturn is conjunct Mercury, sextile Uranus, square Neptune and inconjunct Jupiter. A dollop of Saturn does give longevity. Too much suggests work gets in the way of personal time. Tr Neptune opposes the composite Saturn in 2017/18 so some worrying and undermining situations, perhaps to do with his business. He does look in for a rocky ride in 2017/18 with tr Uranus square his Saturn and then opposition his Uranus.

Julian Assange is in a defiant mood as Swedish authorities drop his rape charges saying he won’t forgive his incarceration in the Ecuador Embassy for five years. Though he’s not free and clear yet since he still faces charges in the UK for ducking bail which can carry a one year jail term, never mind any US moves to extradite him.

He’s got a successful and bullish tr Pluto trine his Sun/Jupiter through this June, and on and off till late 2018. But he’s also got tr Saturn square his Pluto and opposition his Venus now up to November this year which will damp his ardour.

2018 has some exuberant highs and some extremely anxious moments as well; with 2019 seeing tr Saturn opposition his Sun and square his Uranus; and tr Uranus opposition his Moon – so very jangled and discouraging.

Plus tr Saturn is now moving through his low-profile first quadrant for several years, with money shortages looming large in 2018/19/20, which is also a time when unresolved emotional issues tend to surface.

His relationship chart with the US looks insecure and volatile this year and more so in 2018/19 – deeply frustrating, quite scary and undermining. And his bad-tempered relationship chart with the UK also indicates 2018/19 as trigger points for more dislike and hostility.

Chris Cornell, 20 July 1964,  singer/songwriter and one of the architects of the grunge movement has died in an apparent suicide, although his widow has suggested it may have been more to do with his anxiety medication than a deliberate attempt to end his life.

He was a late Sun Cancer with a Sagittarius Moon; Saturn in Pisces opposition Uranus Pluto in Virgo; with a Fixed T Square of Jupiter in Taurus opposition Neptune square Mercury in Leo; and Mercury sextile a passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars conjunction in Gemini – so a curious mix of light and shade, high spirits and depression.

The Saturn opposition Pluto does have a tendency to the glooms; and a focal Fixed sign Mercury on the point of a T Square can be very one-track minded, and finds it difficult to recognize alternatives, or listen to feedback.

This year he has had his Solar Arc Uranus square his Sun which would be a major jolt; and his Secondary Progressed Mars was moving to conjunct his Sun, so a time of high-stress.

Houses will make a difference which we don’t know without a birth time.

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Former FBI Director under GWB and Obama, Robert Mueller, has been chosen by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to be Special Counsel looking into alleged Russian interference in the November 2016 presidential election, including possible co-ordination between Russia and members of the Trump campaign. He has also been instructed to look into any obstruction of the probe itself. So a wide-ranging remit. The appointment has been welcomed by both Democrats and Republicans, and has to some degree rescued Rosenstein’s reputation for having been used as a patsy to legitimise the firing of James Comey. According to reports, the White House didn’t know until the order was signed.

Mueller, 7 Aug 1944, is a Sun Pluto in Leo; with Pluto on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine of Neptune trine Uranus. He also has Jupiter Mercury Mars in Virgo. Described as “no-nonsense” and “straitlaced”, he stood his ground during GWB’s term in a showdown with the president against illegal wiretapping. A colleague described him as “experienced, knowledgeable, capable” and “utterly incorruptible”. “He cannot be intimidated. At this stage in his career, he has nothing to prove, no reputation to burnish, no axe to grind. He is ramrod straight in his integrity.”

His relationship chart with Trump has a business-like and cool composite Sun Saturn conjunction. The composite Sun is under challenges from tr Pluto opposition in 2017/18; with tr Pluto opposing the Sun/Saturn midpoint later this year; plus two enthusiasm-denting squares from tr Saturn to the composite Jupiter over coming months; and a nervy tr Neptune square Uranus in 2018.

Mueller looks stressed at points through this year; and more so in 2018; and not altogether pleased from mid 2018 onwards with tr Neptune opposition his Mars. His Mars squares Trump’s 10^th house Uranus so there will be fireworks.  Though I’ve seen worse synastry and relationship charts.

For all the liberal media are chattering excitably about impending impeachment, it’s no easy, quick or inevitable matter. Trump’s fans are holding solid in their support, discounting all criticism as fake news and smears.

The Trump Term chart certainly looks like being jolted into a sudden change of direction at the moment with tr Uranus square the MC, on and off till early 2018. Where the Administration looks as its least stable is when tr Pluto closes the square to Uranus to exact which runs from February 2018 till late 2019. Though there will be setback after setback from the Mars square Saturn, which hits exact late this autumn – Octoberish.

One of the Hollywood greats, Cary Grant was debonair and sophisticated, an accomplished charmer on screen, but behind the false glitter of the movie business and his manufactured persona lay a sad story. Born 18 January 1904 1.07am, Bristol, England (biography), he had an alcoholic father, a mentally unstable mother who was despatched without warning to an asylum when he was 10, though before then she introduced him to song and dance. He was abandoned to grandparents when his father remarried, joined a vaudeville theatre company, and moved to the US when he was 16. His damaged childhood left him unable to form emotional attachments and he went through five marriages in his insecurity. At one point he used LSD repeatedly to blast through his defences which he said did transform his life.

He had a 3^rd house Sun Mercury in Capricorn with his Sun conjunct Moon at zero Aquarius. He had a troubled 4^th house of childhood with Saturn in Aquarius widely conjunct his Moon and Mars also in Aquarius. What dominates his chart and would be his saving grace was a T Square of Pluto in the 8^th opposition Venus Uranus square Jupiter in Pisces in his performing 5^th house. Movie stars often have either Pluto or Neptune in the 8^th, giving them great influence and the unconscious ability to project an aura; although with it comes a sense of being stuck in situations beyond their control. His emphasised Jupiter would bring him luck and optimism; and help him portray himself as a laid back, softly sweet personality.

On his astrocartography two of his Jupiter lines run either side of the USA. This isn’t quite as precise as Sean Connery, who also came from a poor background in Scotland and hit the heights in Hollywood, who has his Jupiter Pluto MC lines running through Los Angeles; and his Sun Neptune through New York. Connery’s Sun Neptune are in his 8^th.

Brit actor James Norton, 18 July 1985 London, seems destined for a great future. Having starred in a handful of UK’s best TV dramas – Happy Valley, Grantchester and War and Peace – he looks, according to colleagues, to be Hollywood bound. What’s interesting about his chart (without birth time) is that he has a Sun Mars conjunction in Cancer conjunct the Fixed star Procyon, which is changeable and unpredictable; can take people to great heights and bring them crashing down. It is associated with being hasty, single-minded, strong-willed and capable of putting thoughts and plans into action.

His Sun Mars are trine a determined Saturn in Scorpio; and his Moon may be late Cancer conjunct his Sun Mars or in Leo.

Tr Uranus is square his Sun Mars (and Procyon) this year into early 2018; with the August Leo Solar Eclipse conjunct his Solar Arc Sun Mars; tr Pluto is sextile Saturn for a discouraging 2018/19; and by 2021/22 tr Pluto will be in a deeply frustrating opposition to his Sun Mars. So be interesting to see how it all shakes down.

I’m never entirely convinced about the value of political party charts but for what it’s worth, the UK Conservative Party started on 12 Nov 1867. There is a confident and optimistic tr Pluto conjunct Mercury/Jupiter over the upcoming election; and in general through 2017/18 with tr Pluto sextile the Scorpio Sun, a sense of constructive progress. Where it starts to run into trouble is 2019 with tr Pluto in a frustrating square to Mars/Node and trine Mars/Uranus; and a high-hopes undermined tr Pluto sextile Jupiter/Neptune. There will be some triumphs in 2019 with tr Uranus trine Jupiter/Uranus and Sun/Jupiter; as well as tr Uranus sextile Jupiter in 2018. But the 2021/22 patch looks discouraging and a real slog; with a ‘collapse’ upheaval come 2022 with tr Uranus conjunct the Pluto – which will be when the next election is if this government runs to term.

So the humps, bumps and glitches of the Brexit will take its toll; perhaps with a revamped or breakaway Labour Party of some complexion more in contention.

Moors Murderer Ian Brady, who tortured and killed five children with Myra Hindley in crimes which sent him to prison for five decades has died. He buried four of his victims in graves on Saddleworth Moor, Greater Manchester, though he refused to reveal where one of the bodies was buried.

Born 2 January 1938 12.40pm Glasgow, Scotland, to a single mother with unknown father and brought up by another couple, he was in trouble with the police through his teens, in and out of detention. He was surprisingly intelligent, read Mein Kampf and books about Nazi atrocities; and was diagnosed as a psychopath in the mental hospital when he spent the rest of his life.

He had his Sun Venus in Mercury in Capricorn in the well-read 9^th; and a Capricorn Moon conjunct his MC in his 10^th; with a pushily confident Jupiter also in the 10^th opposition Pluto. His Pluto was also in a bleak, tough-minded trine to Saturn in Pisces, which in turn was in a creative though also paranoid/neurotic opposition to Neptune – so an (ironically misnamed) Mystic Rectangle. He had maverick Uranus in Taurus conjunct his Ascendant from the 12^th trine Mercury Venus, sextile Mars in Pisces – emphasising Mars.

Where his sadistic tendencies become clearer is in his Harmonic charts. His 9^th = what brings pleasure – is especially brutal with Saturn Pluto Uranus opposition Mars square Moon. His can-be-mad 7H has Mercury Pluto Venus Neptune trine Saturn trine Moon, with Moon opposition Sun – so quite warped. Also his 12H connected with sacrifice, usually as a victim or a healer, but in his case obviously the perpetrator – with Mars Uranus trine Saturn Pluto trine Moon.

When he died Solar Arc Uranus was just over a conjunction to his Pluto, which in older people can point to health issues; with Solar Arc Pluto square his Moon exactly (to within two minutes of a degree), and tr Pluto conjunct his Moon.

His partner in crime, Myra Hindley, who died in prison in 2002, was born 23 July 1942 2.45am Lancaster, England, with an alcoholic father who beat her and taught her to fight back when she was bullied at school. Some commentators tried to excuse her behaviour as a result of her childhood brutalisation but she said she was worse than Brady since she enticed the children into the car.

She was a last degree Cancer Sun conjunct Pluto, with Pluto on her IC sextile Uranus Saturn in Gemini; and an aggressive Mars in Leo in her 4^th which squared a Scorpio Moon.

Brady’s Capricorn planets including his Sun fell in her 8^th, so a deep connection; with his controlling and determined Pluto exactly conjunct her Sun. Her Moon fell in his 7^th and her Jupiter in his 3^rd, so she would provide support as well as encouragement.

Orrin Hatch, the respected elder Republican Senator for Utah, is third in line for the presidency if Trump and Pence should fall. One political blog (but only one) suggests he is getting security briefings in preparation for a defenestration at the White House after the firing of James Comey. How much of this is heated conspiracy theorising, I don’t know.

Born 22 March 1934 1pm Homestead Park, Pennsylvania, he’s a Sun Mars in Aries; with an Air Grand Trine of a Gemini Moon trine Saturn, North Node, Venus in Aquarius trine Jupiter in Libra, formed into a Kite by Jupiter opposition a 10^th house Uranus which squares onto Pluto and Ascendant in Cancer. He certainly fits with the mood of the moment with the present Uranus opposition Jupiter square Pluto in Capricorn.

He does look to be facing a shake up in his direction with tr Uranus conjunct his Uranus, running till early 2018. But given his age that could mean several things. There’s nothing much on his MC or Solar Returns to suggest such a considerable leap.

His relationship chart with Trump is uncertain and chilly till late October with tr Saturn square the composite Neptune Moon; and turning on its head in 2018.

Such rumours won’t do Trump’s paranoia any good.