Astrology of Today’s News

Ueli Steck, the greatest mountain climber of his generation, known as “the Swiss machine”, has died during the acclimatising phase of an attempt to climb a new route on Mount Everest. His extraordinary feats included solo speed ascents of the north face of the Eiger and climbing six of the 14 mountains over 8,000m (26,246ft), including Everest, without bottled oxygen. In 2015, he climbed all 82 of the Alps’ 4,000m peaks in 62 days, travelling between them by bicycle.

Born 4 October 1976 in Langnau, Switzerland, he was a Sun Pluto in Libra on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine of Neptune trine Saturn in Leo, so tough, overly-controlled, visionary and ambitious beyond the norm. His Mars was also in Libra in a high-adrenaline conjunction to Uranus in Scorpio. Only Mercury in Virgo in his chart was in an Earth sign. Although counter-intuitive for a very physical sport, it can suggest an ability to detach from the body and push it past its limits.

When he died he had tr Pluto square his Sun/Mars and Mars/Pluto midpoint, both of which are risky.

The gloves are coming off with the UK government being accused of ‘fantasy, illusion and living in a parallel universe’ as Theresa May’s negotiating demands for Brexit are laid out. And the EU coming back, with a rapidity rarely seen, to indicate flatly that a divorce bill must be paid, EU citizens’ rights secured and the Ireland question settled, before any trade deals are discussed.

Right on cue to dispel any illusions about the EU’s murky tactics, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has published his book: ‘Adults In The Room, My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment’. [URLs below] The dirty deals that pushed Greece into a decade of depression with unemployment running now at 45%, but saved the German and French banks, appears to have been firmly controlled by Merkel. The Telegraph reviews says: ‘What happened in Greece over those strange days in July 2015 raises disturbing questions about the character of Europe’s monetary union. One might conclude that when push comes to shove, the euro system is held together by fear rather than democratic consent.’

The EU chart is not only relentlessly Fixed and stubborn; but has Mars square  a 12^th house Pluto, which would certainly point to secret, ruthlessly coercive power brokers.

The UK is a different beast to Greece and not at risk of manufactured coups to topple governments, or oligarchic string-pulling behind the scenes, but it does raise huge questions about how power is wielded in the EU.

The relationship between Merkel and May is very Plutonic with a composite Sun Venus Pluto with Pluto conjunct Mercury; and perhaps square the composite Moon – so together they could change the world, but when their agendas differ there will be a bitter, protracted tug of war with neither giving an inch. Tr Uranus will be trine the composite Pluto from May 11^th onwards and opposing the composite Neptune at the same time, for an upheaval with fanatical overtones; and thence through the next three years with multiple bumps and jolts.

May’s relationship with the EU is surprisingly amiable and constructive at core, with a friendly composite Sun Venus, and a positive-change Uranus trine Saturn, sextile Jupiter. There will be upsets and outbursts in December 2017/January 2018 as tr Uranus squares the composite Mars; but the worst of the aggravation will be in 2020/21 when tr Pluto is conjunct the composite Mars for a total and infuriating stalemate. (That’s without May’s birth time, so there may be earlier influences from chart angles).

The EU/UK relationship chart is sagging and disappointing under tr Neptune square the composite Moon this year and next; and opposition the composite Jupiter in 2018/19, which will erode good feelings. Tr Pluto opposes the composite Saturn in 2018/19 which will bring very very slow progress in meeting agreements. The separating tr Saturn conjunct the composite Sun hits exact in December 2018.

The EU chart itself is in a tense and trapped phase in 2017/18 with tr Pluto square the Mars/Pluto midpoint; and waylaid by disasters to which they have no solution in Sept/Oct 2017, Jan/Feb 2018. They’ll have some luck in 2018 with tr Uranus opposition their Jupiter; but their real problems come in 2019 with Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the 2^nd house financial Neptune and Solar Arc MC conjunct Pluto; and into an exceptionally bumpy ride from 2021 as tr Uranus starts to hard aspect their Fixed (and financial) Grand Cross.

The European Central Bank will run into a shock and collision in late 2018 with Solar Arc MC conjunct their Mars; and in 2019 with Solar Arc Uranus opposition their Moon; and before then in 2017 has multiple discouraging Saturn transits to Solar Arc planets.

The economic hole that Brexit will leave will raise fear levels in the EU, and therefore hackles, and bring out punitive-protectionist tactics. Which as Varoufakis points out was the driving priority which saved the German and French banks at the expense of the bankrupted Greeks.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/04/29/yanis-varoufakis-inside-darkness-french-politics/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/04/29/unsettling-account-raises-disturbing-questions-europes-monetary/

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Brigitte Macron, the most likely next First Lady of France (though polls are drawing closer and much hinges on the turnout), was born 13 April 1953 3pm Amiens, France (Astro com BC). She hitched up with her husband Emmanuel when she was 39, then a married mother of three, and he was 16, which is a staggering age gap at that stage, after he appeared in a school play she was producing. His parents understandably took it badly and sent him away to school elsewhere, but the relationship continued. She divorced her husband ten years later and married Emmanuel in 2007.

She has an 8^th house Sun, Venus Moon in Aries opposition Saturn Neptune, trine a 12^th house Pluto – so undoubtedly a powerful and charismatic personality. She also has an exuberant and determined Mars Jupiter in Taurus with Jupiter conjunct her MC.

He has Sun Venus Mercury and Neptune in Sagittarius which falls in her 4^th; and her Aries planets and Mars Jupiter fall in his 3^rd so there is undoubtedly a strong domestic and intellectual connection.

Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus MC conjunction square Neptune, so it would be loving, ethereal, idealistic but also prone to disappointment along the way. Neptunian relationships are tricky to hold at that head-in-the-clouds stage. A midheaven Sun would certainly put the focus on career, ambition and outside appearances. There’s also a harsh composite Saturn square Mars, and an unsettled Uranus Pluto in the 4^th so it won’t all have been sunshine and roses.

She looks stressed over the next three years with enormous pressures bearing down on her as tr Uranus opposes her Saturn into early 2018; and then in 2019/20 tr Pluto squares her Venus, Neptune and then Sun. It will set up considerable challenges in her relationship and possibly on her popularity with her Sun/Moon midpoint catching the tr Pluto square through 2018/19. But she’ll be back on confident top form by 2020 as tr Pluto is trine her Jupiter and following that her Midheaven.

Princess Beatrice is photographed continually at social events but still seems to be struggling to get her life together. Having left her umpteenth job to set up her own start-up company, she is reportedly not making much progress, having been badly affected by the split from long-time boyfriend Dave Clark. And the ongoing argument from her father that she should be given Royal duties isn’t making much headway with Prince Charles either, who feels a slimmed down monarchy is more suited to the modern day.

She really needs a partner with a 7^th house Sun Mercury in Leo; and children with Moon Venus in Cancer in the 5^th, but domestic bliss seems a while away. She’s in the middle of her Saturn Return this year so might well get her career knocked into shape hereafter. Though her Solar Arc MC conjunct her Neptune in 2018 doesn’t look too sprauncy; nor indeed does Solar Arc Pluto conjunct her MC. And 2019 looks log-jammed with Solar Arc Mars opposition Pluto. So a sticky time ahead.

Her Secondary Progressed Moon moves into her 7^th from late 2018 till early 2022, which is often a time people settle down to marriage. In 2019 her Sec Prog Moon will conjunct her Sun which might well be a possibility. And her Solar Arc Jupiter is conjunct her 5^th house Venus and then Moon in 2018 and 2021 respectively, which should be good for romance and children. But it still looks hugely challenging and pressured around that time.

Prince Charles’s relationship with his brother Andrew looks troubled in 2018/19/20 so that may have something to do with her angst.

There is also from photographs some froideur between Beatrice and the ever-immaculate, slim-line Duchess of Cambridge, who gets centre-stage attention. Their relationship chart is dire with an intense composite power-struggling Sun Pluto conjunction; and a Mars Neptune opposition Moon which will certainly leave one bruised ego and an irritable interface. That link will worsen considerably also in 2018/19/20.

Failure of security clearance will likely see Sebastian Gorka moved from his position in the White House, where he has been serving as a deputy assistant to the President and counter-terrorism adviser to the National Security Council.

Gorka, born 22 Oct 1970 in London to Hungarian parents, now a naturalised American, has raised controversy with his questionable academic credentials, vehement anti-Islamic views and connections to a far-right, anti-semitic Hungarian organisation – he denies the last of these and, if true, the failure to admit membership of said party could have seen him refused US citizenship. He is a former editor of Breitbart and friend of Stephen Bannon.

His relationship chart with Trump is sagging badly at the same time as the Bannon/Trump chart, both afflicted by tr Neptune opposing the composite Mars in the case of Gorka, and the composite Sun Saturn with Bannon, picking up from mid May (ie. in two weeks’ time) and running on and off till late 2018.

Gorka is a Sun Libra with Saturn in Taurus opposition Venus Neptune in Scorpio trine/sextile Pluto; with Pluto conjunct Mars. So fuelled by anger and frustration as well as paranoia from Saturn Neptune and fairly obsessive in his ideology.

The key question is how much trouble will the populist/nationalist base, who supported Trump to victory, will make as their favourites are either ousted or pushed onto the sidelines?

Film director Jonathan Demme, most notably of the multi-Oscar winning ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘Philadelphia’ about a lawyer with AIDS, has died from complications of cancer. Born 22 February 1944 in New York, he had unlikely beginnings in the business, working in lurid, low-quality B movies, but it taught him his trade.

He was a creatively inventive Sun Pisces square Uranus; with an Air Grand Trine of Venus in Aquarius trine Neptune trine Uranus, formed into an even more talented Kite by Venus opposition Pluto and North Node in Leo – so influential. He also had a ‘hard’ Mars Saturn in Gemini trine Mercury which would draw him to the dark side and to underdogs.

He was described as being ‘one of the nicest: the compassionate sensibility that lent his work its warmth and musicality was no put-on.‘ Part of that may have stemmed from his vibrant Jupiter in Leo opposition his Mercury (Moon in Aquarius), and sextile his Mars Saturn.

Ed Balls, once an unpopular Labour Cabinet minister, has reinvented himself having lost his seat at the last election. His ungainly but good-humoured attempts in Strictly Come Dancing saw him through to the 10^th round against the odds. Although he won’t run this election, there’s a suspicion he might be tempted back in future.

Born 25 Feb 1967 in Norwich, he’s a Sun Pisces trine Mars in determined Scorpio; with a Water Grand Trine of Saturn in Pisces (conjunct Venus in Aries) trine Neptune trine Jupiter in Cancer, formed into a reformist Kite with Saturn opposition Uranus in Virgo.

Tr Uranus is at the moment exactly square his Jupiter giving him a surge of enthusiasm and shaking his Grand Trine onto a new track sometime soon. And in 2021 when the next election is due, he’ll have tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter, with Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct his Pluto – so a double whammy of confidence and success, which his present piecemeal academic career is unlikely to bring.

George Osborne, a not entirely popular UK Tory Cabinet Minister, is resigning his parliamentary seat (for now) to commit himself fully to his new and unlikely job of editing the London Evening Standard newspaper plus a few financial consultancies no doubt as well.

Born 23 May 1971, London, he’s a Gemini Sun conjunct Saturn in late Taurus opposition a high-finance Neptune Jupiter in Sagittarius; with a tough Saturn trine Pluto; and a wide Air Grand Trine of Saturn trine Uranus trine Mars in Aquarius – so an ideologue, a thinker, emotionally detached, sometimes given to flights of fantasy.

He’s not having a smooth ride ahead with tr Saturn square his Pluto till later this year; a few ups in 2018 courtesy of tr Uranus opposition his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint though mired in confusion as well; and coming to a grinding halt by late 2019 as his Solar Arc Mars opposes his Pluto at the same time as tr Uranus makes an insecure square to his Mars. By 2021 tr Pluto is opposing his Saturn/Pluto which looks discouraging. He won’t hit his stride again until tr Pluto moves into Aquarius from 2024 onwards.

Donald Trump, scrambling to get a headline-grabber on his 100 day mark, after the failure of the Affordable Act repeal and the border wall funding, has pushed up his tax reform plans faster than Washington and economists think is wise, before details have been thrashed out. He has pledged that the tax cut in total would be the largest in U.S. history, and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary has said: “The plan will pay for itself with growth.” Which goes against all experience and almost certainly would send the deficit soaring, which means it probably won’t get voted through.

Mnuchin’s relationship chart with Trump has an over-hopeful Sun opposition Venus square Jupiter; probably a fantasy-bubble Water Grand Trine of Sun Uranus Moon; and a potentially hostile, going-to-extremes, power-obsessed Mars Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Sun. This chart has dampening Saturn transits conjunct the composite Jupiter exact now and in May square the composite Sun; with a highly strung and disruptive tr Uranus opposition Neptune at the moment and square Uranus in May. And those run on and off till late 2017 for Saturn and early 2018 for Uranus.

Gary Cohn, Director of the NEC, 27 Aug 1960, ex-Goldman Sachs CEO, intimately involved in the tax reform plans, is a tough Sun Pluto Mercury in Virgo trine Saturn. He also has a fraught relationship chart with Trump. There’s a composite volatile  and explosive Uranus Mars Sun conjunction trine Jupiter and square Saturn Neptune; and Jupiter square Pluto Venus – so a complex mix of over-hopeful, deeply suspicious and power-struggling.

Cohn’s personal chart looks stressed at the moment and insecure with tr Uranus square his Sun/Mars this month and worse in a catastrophic square to his Mars/Pluto in May, repeating till early 2018; and a disastrous tr Pluto opposition his Mars/Uranus now and on and off till late 2018. So huge pressures. His relationship chart with Trump is a major uphill struggle this year with tr Pluto square Saturn, square Saturn/Neptune at the moment and worsening through 2018.

Paul Ryan who will be tasked with getting the Tax Reform vote through, is also not going well vis a vis Trump’s approval with their composite Mars Saturn conjunction now starting a long two year run of undermining Neptune squares. There’s one ‘whew’ of relief in May and later in the year, but generally their relationship is on a downhill slide. [See Trump timeline April 17 post.]