Astrology of Today’s News

Israel has struck out at Iran as Washington continued to attempt a negotiated agreement with Teheran in the face of possible nuclear escalation. The attack hit Iran’s missile bases and killed the military chief of staff, Hossein Salami, commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guards as well as several top nuclear scientists.

 Tr Uranus square the Israel Mars in Leo exactly now always did look like an explosion point and it repeats in December 2025 and March 2026, so the red alert will continue at high level. Solar Arc Neptune opposition the Israel Uranus exactly now also looks intransigent, highly-strung and triggering a risk-taking mood.

 Netanyahu’s Term chart, 29 December 2022 4.30pm looks even more bullish from the 18^th of this month into early July, repeating November and April 2026 and inclined to charge ahead regardless – but there are also hints of panic behind the scenes and sagging confidence with not all plans being successful with tr Neptune Saturn conjunct the Jupiter and Moon  now and into 2026; with a Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct Neptune by 2027.

 The Iran charts are less clear.

7 October 1906 looks ramped up emotionally, panicky, overly optimistic and more discouraged and at high risk through 2026/27.

 The Iran February 1 1979 9am chart has the same mix of volatile, over-hopeful and pushily confident. 

  The Israel/Iran 1979 relationship chart shows eruptions and extreme tension later this month into July plus undermining tr Neptune Saturn conjunct the composite Sun into 2026. The other Israel/Iran 1906 is much the same.

 What flags up in several charts is 4 degrees Cardinal which tr Neptune Saturn will square in 2026 so the tightrope act will continue.

Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump looks as if it blew up a few weeks back.

ADD ON: Washington’s efforts to distance themselves from Netanyahu’s actions may not work. The USA/Iran 1906 looks fraught and aggravated now and on till late 2026. The USA/Iran 1979 is equally on an extreme edge with tr Neptune Saturn opposing the composite Saturn Venus in late Virgo which is also being triggered by this autumn/s Solar Eclipse – plus a significant upheaval from tr Uranus square the composite Uranus.

 The USA/Israel relationship chart looks to be discouraged, disappointed with wishful thinking being stripped away as the cold light of reality dawns.

ADD ON: Looking at various start times for Israel 4.16pm when David Ben Gurion made his declaration makes most sense.

 When 7 October 2023 attack happened tr Mars was exactly on the late Libra Ascendant square tr Pluto conjunct the IC for a brutal attack on Israel’s territory; with the Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct the 12^th house Neptune for undermining panic. Tr Uranus was also conjunct the Taurus Sun with tr Jupiter conjunct the North Node in the ‘relationship’ 7^th – perhaps amplifying Israel’s neighbourly problems.

FT: “A protracted war of the cities” will be hard for either side to sustain should the US stay on the sidelines or peace talks failed to resume. A US intervention could be decisive, bringing bunker-busting ordnance, unavailable to the IDF, that are powerful enough to penetrate Fordow, a nuclear facility buried under a mountain.

While Israel can inflict more pain on Iran, the Islamic republic showed an ability to absorb huge losses during an eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s.

William Hague The Times: June 17 2025

 Keeping Iran nuclear-free is likely to require cycles of future war or years of diplomacy

By last week, an Israeli attack on Iran was easier to justify than at any previous time. The Iranians were deceiving international inspectors and, in all probability, moving to nuclear “breakout”. The circumstances warranted action. But it is important never to forget that Netanyahu’s preference for force over diplomacy at all times has been an important factor in creating those alarming circumstances. If the JCPoA of 2015 had been supported by Netanyahu and upheld by Trump, the danger to Israel would today be far less serious and today’s war would not be happening.

A London-bound Air India Boeing has crashed today into residential buildings with 242 people on board just after take-off at Ahmedabad at 8.08 am UTC today with no survivors and many dead from a doctors’ hostel. {Maybe one plane survivor miraculously.]

The approaching Mars square Uranus, exact this Sunday, is explosive, accident-prone and frequently present when there are equipment malfunctions and usually in effect in advance of the exact aspect. With Algol throwing its shadow into the mix as well.

 The India chart, 15 August 1947, also has tr Saturn just into Aries square the Mars at the moment which is prone to collisions and setbacks.

 The crash itself came just a day after the Sagittarius/Gemini Full Moon. Jupiter in Cancer in the 9^th conjunct the Midheaven (similar to 9/11) was conjunct Mercury opposition a Capricorn Moon square Saturn Neptune in Aries.

[I don’t mean this crash is terrorism related but it is eerie how seemingly beneficent Jupiter turns up prominently at disasters.]

 There are also a couple of yods onto a focal point Mars from Pluto sextile Saturn Neptune; and onto a focal point Pluto from Jupiter sextile Mars – so heavyweight and ominous.

Brian Wilson’s songs – Surfin’ USA, California Girls, I Get Around, Good Vibrations and God Only Knows – have become classics with music reviewers describing him as ‘one of pop music’s true geniuses.’ ‘His 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds remains a benchmark in pop culture, blending classical harmonic theory with melodious songcraft, baroque orchestrations and an audacious sound palette.’

 He has died at 82 after a life of professional highs and precarious mental health exacerbated by drugs and the after effects of a childhood blighted by a violent father. His clinical diagnosis was schizoaffective disorder (hearing voices) and manic depression.

 In later years he re-emerged in the new millennium to delight his old fans and capture a new generation of music lovers.

  He was born 20 June 1942 3.45 am Inglewood, California, with a birth chart split between Neptunian creative talents and anguished fears.  His Gemini Sun (a favourite pop singer/songwriter sign) was conjunct Jupiter and square a 5^th house Neptune which in turn was trine a 12^th house Venus in Taurus (rules the throat).  He was custom-built for lyrical happiness. But underlying that was the darker, desperately afraid and trapped Mars Pluto in Leo sextile Saturn Uranus in Gemini.  His highly-strung Virgo Moon conjunct North Node was square Saturn. Algol was conjunct his Ascendant. Gemini’s lightness and darkness magnified.

  Hia father Murry Wilson, a would-be songwriter who worked on the production line at the nearby Goodyear tyre factory, subjected all three sons to physical and mental abuse who lived out his thwarted ambitions through his sons while constantly belittling their achievements.

 Born 2 July 1917 3pm Hutchinson, Kansas, Murry Wilson had a controlling Sun Pluto in Cancer and deeply buried, volcanic Mars in the 8^th with a neurotic Neptune, Saturn, Venus conjunction sextile Jupiter. His relationship chart with Brian was extremely fraught with a ‘cruel’ composite Sun, Saturn Mars conjunction and a bullying, dominating composite Mars Pluto conjunction square Uranus.

Sly Stone, March 15, 1943, frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, has also died. He is credited as the founder of the “progressive soul” movement, playing a critical role in the development of psychedelic funk which fused soul, rock, psychedelia, and gospel in the 1960s and 1970s.

  His chart bears similarities to Brian Wilson though their style was different. Stone had a musical Pisces Sun opposition Neptune; with his Neptune in an Air Grand Trine to Saturn Uranus in Gemini trine Mars in Aquarius, formed into a Kite by Mars opposition Pluto. He also ended up with heavy drug problems and at one point in his later life ended up homeless.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ much vaunted spending review has led to accusations of spend now, pay later with investment in infrastructure like nuclear power stations. Boosts for Health and Defence budgets come at a cost to other departments like the police which is unlikely to go down well with the electorate. Investors are widely expecting that tax increases will be necessary in the autumn Budget given poor growth, rising borrowing costs, and the continued upward pressure on Nato defence budgets. All this in the context of Labour’s YouGov poll rating down at 22 per cent with Reeves’ own popularity nosediving.

Born 13 February 1979, Lewisham, England,  an uncompromising and determined Sun Mars Mercury in Aquarius square Uranus Reeves continues to look bullishly confident from late this August to mid December 2025 with the final hit of tr Pluto opposition her Jupiter in Leo. Though that can bring over optimism or arrogance that backfires.

  On midpoints she has a calamitous this July, early October to early November and again in May 2026. With a ratchety, panicked, blocked and confused run on several unfavourable aspects through 2026/27.

  Her relationship chart with Keir Starmer looks edgy and seriously rattled from this July onwards into 2026. With the September Solar Eclipse this year conjunct their composite Pluto which hints at either formidable pressures for change in their joint enterprise or a power struggle.

 Her relationship chart with the UK is strewn with three strained yods, suggesting she will, for good or ill, have an effect on the UK’s destiny. Given that tr Neptune Saturn are conjunct the composite Mars, tr Pluto is conjunct the composite Sun and tr Uranus is square the Saturn and opposition Neptune – through this year and 2026 as well – it does not look as if the ‘fated’ bond will end well.

 The Bank of England, 27 July 1694 JC 10 am London, is entering into panicky-failure territory with tr Neptune Saturn opposition its Mars now and into 2026, continuing on in 2026 to square the financial Venus and square the North Node in Capricorn.. By 2026 there is a Solar Arc Pluto square the Mars which is trapped, scary and completely grid locked. Once over that hurdle the BoE chart looks in better fettle and could be forging ahead.  

  The Rachel Reeves/BoE relationship chart could not be more fraught with a hostile, power-struggling Mars Mercury square Pluto Uranus and Jupiter square Saturn – all of which is under pressure in 2026 and on.

Astrology books, some older and difficult to obtain, are on offer from the library of the late Mary Vohryzek. She was a writer,  teacher and lecturer who translated Elsbeth and Reinhold Ebertin’s “Anatomical Correspondence to Zodiacal Degrees” and wrote the forward to Louise McWhirter’s 1988 book Astrology and stock market forecasting. Marc Penfield has said that when he moved to San Francisco in 1970, she was the first astrologer he met and taught him about Ebertin’s book on midpoints and his theory of cosmobiology, Johndro’s concept of geodetic equivalents, the Koch house system, Thyrza Escobar’s theory of Duads, and advanced systems of progressions.

 She died sadly in 1988 and one of her daughters is trying to find good homes for her books. List below.  If anyone is interested in any of the books let me know via the Contact Form and I will forward your email to Laura.

 Mary was born 20 May 1921 3.45pm and had a deep-thinking 8^th house Taurus Sun; with an influential Pluto on her Midheaven in an innovative trine to Uranus. Her Uranus opposed Jupiter Saturn in Virgo and squared an outspoken Mars Mercury in Gemini in her communicative 9^th making her an energetic teacher.

BOOKS:

1. Pluto Ephemeris 1900-2000 daily positions by Lynne Palmer, 1974.
   
   2. Raphael’s Tables of Houses for Northern Latitudes from the Equator to 50 N. 0 and also for Leningrad 59 N. 56. by W. Foulsham.
   
   3. The Approximate Longitude, Latitude and Declination of the Planet Neptune from 1800–1879. by W. Foulsham.
   
   4. Pluto Tabelle 1851-2000 by Ebertin,1972.
   
   5. Raphael’s Tables of Houses for Great Britain by Foulsham.
   
   6. 6 books Die Deutschland Ephemeride. 1931-1950, 1951-1960 (2 copies), 1961-1970 (2 copies), 1971-1980.  
   
   7. 6 books Google Tages Ephemeride. 1961-1965, 1966-1970, 1971-1975 (2 copies), 1976-1980 (2 copies).
   
   8.  Ephemeriden 1890-1950 by Verla Max S. Metz Zurich, 1971.
   
   9. Easy Tables with Examples by J. Allen Jones, Jr., 1977.
   
   10. Longitudes and Latitudes Throughout the World by Rugene Dernay published by American Federation of Astrologers in 1948.

Batch 2

1. From Pioneer to Poet or The Twelve Great Gates by Isabelle M. Pagan, 1969.
   
   2. The Astrology of Rising Signs by Carl Sargent, 1985.
   
   3. The Technique of Prediction by R.C. Davison, 1972.
   
   4. Astrology and You by Julia and Derek Parker,1997.
   
   5. The Complete Planetary Ephemeris for 1950-2000 by Heiratic Publishing, 1975.
   
   6. The Astrolobe World Ephemeris 2001-2050 at Noon featuring longitudes and declination for the Sun, Moon, Planets, Chiron and thenAsteroids. Preface by Robert Hand, 1998.
   
   7. Applied Cosmobiology by Reinhold Ebertin, 1972.
   
   8. Astrology and its Practical Application by E.Parker, 1927 
   
   9. The Round Art – The Astrology of Time and Space by A.T.Mann, 1979.
   
   10.Chiron and the Healing Journey by Melanie Reinhart, 1989.
   
   

Batch 3

1.  Write your own horoscope by Joseph F Goodavage, paperback, 1968?

2.  Johfra Astrology, 1981.

3. Teach yourself books. Astrology by Jeff Mayo. 1973 (2 copies)

4.  Star signs for lovers by Liz Greene, 1980.

5. Relating, an astrological guide to living with others on a small planet by Liz Greene, 1978.

6. Saturn by Liz Greene, 1980.

7.  The Astrology of fate by Liz Greene, 1980.

8. Saturn Signs by Michael Lutin,1980.

9. Astrology, a key to personality by Jeff Mayo,1995.

10. Essays on Astrology by Robert Hand,1982.

Batch 4

1. The Astrology of human relations by Frances Sakoian and Louis S.Acker, 1989.
   
   2. The Astrologer’s Handbook by Frances Sakoian and Louis S Acker, 1989.
   
   3. Sun Signs by Linda Goodman, 1978.
   
   4.  Chart Interpretation Handbook by Stephen Arroyo, 1989.
   
   5.  Astrological insights into personality by Betty Lundsted, 1980.
   
   6.  Aspect Patterns by Stephanie Jean Clement, 2007.
   
   7. Astrology and its influence in the western world by Ellen McCaffery, 1970.
   
   8. Horoscope Symbols by Robert Hand, 1981.
   
   9.  Profiles of women by Lois Rodden,1979.
   
   10.Compendium of Astrology by Rose Lineman and Jan Popelka,1987.
   
   

Batch 5

1.  The New Astrology by Suzanne White, 1993.

2. The Lunation Cycle by Dane Rudhyar, 1986.

3. The Astrologer’s Handbook by Julia Parker, 1993.

4. A Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer by Michael R.Meyer,1974.

5.The Life Blueprint, Research Institute of Cosmobiology,1978.

6.Tales for Jung Folk by Richard Roberts, 1983.

7. The Planets and Human Behaviour by Jeff Mayo, 1972.

8. Your Fortune in your name or Kabalistic Astrology by Sepharial, 3rd edition.

9. Chiron, the new planet in your horoscope by Richard Nolle,1983.

10. Horary Astrology and the judgment of Events by Barbara H. Watters, 1973.

 

Batch 6

1. Astrology in modern language by Richard Blackmore Vaughan, 1972.
   
   2. The Wheel of life or scientific Astrology Volumes 1&2 by Maurice Wemyss, 1929.
   
   3. Asteroids in the USA by Emma Belle Donath, 1979.
   
   4. Alan Leo’s astrological manuals No.1 Everybody’s Astrology, 12th edition.
   
   5. Astrologically speaking by Ingrid Lind, 1981.
   
   6. Karmic Astrology, Joy and the part of fortune by Martin Schulman,1980.
   
   7. Relationships and life cycles by Stephen Arroyo, 1979.
   
   8. The sun and moon polarity in your horoscope by Robert A. Hughes, 1977.
   
   9. Astrological Keywords by Manly Palmer Hall, 1959.
   
   10. Raphael’s horary Astrology, 1909.
   
   11. The power of Pluto by Arlene Robertson and Margaret Wilson

12. The guide to horoscope interpretation by Marc Edmund Jones, 1969.

13. The Yod Book by Karen Hamaker-Zondag, 2000.

14. Astro-psychology by Karen Hamaker-Zondag, 1980.

Murmurs that Xi Jinping’s one-man-rule is showing signs of coming to an end may be wishful thinking though there are ominous hints of failure and concern on various charts in particular the Bank of China.

 Xi Jinping, 15 June 1953, has his Mars at zero degrees Cancer sinking under the weight of tr Neptune Saturn now and into 2026. His 3^rd Term chart, 23 October 2022 has Jupiter at zero degrees Aries which is equally being undermined by tr Neptune Saturn.

 His First Presidency chart, with its over-confident Jupiterian yod, has its Mars at one degree Aries being rattled severely over the coming months; with a Solar Arc Sun approaching the conjunction to Uranus by late 2026 which looks risky.

 The China 1 January 1912 chart has an aggravated and stuck Progressed Mars opposition the Sun this year but apart from a few troublesome midpoints not much else apart from some relief after mid 2026 from tr Uranus opposition the Jupiter.

 What is flagging up major warning signals is the Bank of China chart, 1 December 1948, which shows 2026 as a confidence-denting, financial balloon-bursting time in a major way. The over confident Mars Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn not only has tr Saturn Neptune in square but Solar Arc Neptune conjunct as well. Plut a high-tension, jolted an jangled tr Uranus square the Saturn.

Political commentators say that China’s regime under Jinping cannot admit it’s not able to stand up to Washington; and that “the whispers of regime change are being replaced by louder, more coordinated leaks from inside the party. The consensus among party insiders? Xi Jinping stepping down is “pretty much a done deal.” “While the arrangement appears carefully negotiated, the risks are enormous. Xi’s departure would be the most dramatic power shift since the post-Tiananmen era.” “The post-Xi era may not mark a smooth transition — but rather the beginning of a larger unraveling.”

  How much of the above quotations is based on reality I have no way of knowing but there are certainly financial/economic sinkholes opening up and Xi Jinping does look discouraged and panicked.

Frederick Forsyth, author of The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File, whose former life as a spy and war reporter informed his meticulously researched and hugely successful  thrillers that sold more than 75 million copies, has died aged 86.

 An old style adventurer he sashayed from a teenage desire to be a matador into reporting for the BBC and Reuters from East Berlin at the height of the Cold War and Biafra during the civil war – and spying for MI6. By his early thirties, he was unemployed and heavily in debt so decided without much hope of success, to write a thriller. It took him 35 days to write, was turned down by four publishers but eventually sold millions.

 He went on to write 29 novels, each taking 55 days to complete, producing 4,000 words a day. Editing was minimal and changes to the manuscript were few. He was married twice, the second time for thirty years.

  He was born 25 August 1938 in Ashford, England, no birth time, the son of a rubber trader in Malaya, who lost his money and come home to England, where he married a furrier’s daughter.

 He had a Virgo Sun and Mercury as befits a writer and a Leo/Virgo Moon. What fuelled his need for excitement and danger was Mars in Leo opposition Jupiter square Uranus opposition North Node. Mars Uranus is attracted to risk and high-adrenaline situations, as is his military-action Mars trine Saturn, while Mars Jupiter has more enthusiasm than common sense.  His Saturn in self-reliant Aries was also on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Neptune sextile North Node.

 His chart ties him into the spirit of the age with such an integrated North Node – making it more likely that his novels would hit the mark and become popular.

 An unaspected Pluto may be what gave rise to his autobiography title The Outsider since he would tend to stand apart and isolate himself – and he would certainly need to develop ways of transforming his wilder, immature tendencies that permeated his early adult life.  When he wrote The Day of the Jackal his Solar Arc Saturn (on yod) had moved to aspect his Uranus and afterwards square his Mars. When two key chart configurations collide by Solar Arc there is usually a life changing moment of several years His Solar Arc Pluto was also just over the conjunction to his Sun. The pressure on him to change his lifestyle was considerable.

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The Los Angeles riots against Trump’s draconian measures on immigration which put the country on a war footing are being seen as a seminal moment. He sent in the National Guard for the first time in decades to suppress citizens on domestic soil against the wishes of a state’s governor, using a rarely invoked anti-foreign invasion law. And Pete Hegseth, defence secretary, even threatened to send in the marines to quell the unrest over raids against suspected illegal migrants. Critics warn the administration is increasingly ruling in defiance of US Constitution and political norms.

One commentator wrote: “We are witnessing the first stages of a Trump police state. Now that Donald Trump’s tariffs have been halted, his big, beautiful bill has been stymied, and his multi-billionaire tech bro has turned on him, how does he demonstrate his power?”

“History shows that once an authoritarian ruler establishes the infrastructure of a police state, that same infrastructure can be turned on anyone.”

Other political analysts suggest “The most consequential political life at stake here is that of Donald Trump himself – whose ultra-adversarial, bully-like tactics have yet to be tested as they are right now in California. There has never been anything quite like the anti-ICE protests during either of Trump’s terms. The Women’s Marches and BLM protests of his first administration may have, at times, turned rowdy and chaotic – but their violence was never directed at the White House like it is right now. This moment is different. Very different.” “This is a level of pushback practically without precedent – risky and uncertain amid an atmosphere of anti-Trumpism whose long-anticipated #resistance has finally materialised.”

  Since 2018, California has been a “sanctuary state” that limits official cooperation with federal immigration authorities. At present, there are more than 600 sanctuary states, counties and cities, including Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New York City, Atlanta and Washington DC.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, about a dozen states – including Texas, Florida and North Carolina – have laws prohibiting their cities from adopting sanctuary policies.

  The Los Angeles 4 September 1781 chart has tr Neptune squaring the Uranus for a nerve-stretching few weeks starting exactly now running into July and repeating into 2026; plus its Virgo Sun will catch this autumn’s Pisces Lunar Eclipse for an unsettled crisis. With greater pressures and uncertainty through 2026/7 as tr Pluto makes its Pluto Return and tr Neptune tr Saturn square the Neptune and then Venus into 2027/28. The relationship with Trump which is ramped-up, power-struggling and hostile at the best of times is under serious pressure this year with high anxiety in 2026 and worse in 2027/8. There is a suspicious Saturn Neptune conjunction; a bitterly determined Mars Pluto Jupiter square Sun Mercury; and Algol conjunct the composite North Node. So LA could indeed be the eye of the storm. The Los Angeles Incorporated 4 April 1850 chart looks rattled now with the Solar Arc Uranus opposition the Aries Sun and the Solar Eclipses this year catching the Saturn in Aries.  

  The relationship with Trump is aggravated this year with tensions erupting in 2026.

 Gavin Newsom, the California governor, 10 October 1967 5.13 am San Francisco, CA, a Sun Libra opposition Saturn; with a determined Mars in Sagittarius square Pluto Uranus in Virgo which latter clashes with Trump’s Gemini Sun and Sag Moon.

  He has threatened to sue President for calling the National Guard into the state which he described as “illegal, immoral and unconstitutional”.

 His relationship with Trump has a chained-together and resenting it composite Saturn square Pluto which is being tested to the limits at the moment with tr Uranus square the composite Pluto and moving to conjunct the composite Saturn from July onwards into 2026.

 One theory is that Trump wants to damage Newsom’s chances of running in 2028. It’s unlikely that

Newsom will since there’s nothing cheerful on his chart then.

ADD ON: California, 9 September 1850 – has been itching for a fight with the recent Aries Solar Eclipse opposition its Mars. The next September Lunar Eclipse will rattle its Virgo Sun and the Virgo Solar Eclipse will conjunct its Jupiter which could bring highs and lows, over optimism and disappointment.

Trump’s chart relocated to Los Angeles puts a downbeat Saturn on his Ascendant so not a zone where he can flaunt his peacock feathers and be admired.

Erica Jong, an icon of second wave feminism wrote an autobiographical novel Fear of Flying which made her famous in 1973. Her candid depiction of women’s sexual desires was shocking at the time, boosting its sales to 20m copies. John Updike compared it to The Catcher in the Rye and Portnoy’s Complaint.

  Her daughter Molly Jong-Fast has written a poignantly sad, insightful and strangely witty memoir about her mother, now suffering from dementia, and her own disjointed childhood.

“My mother was a famous feminist writer known for her candour and wit. But she was also a fantasist who couldn’t be bothered to spend time raising me.”

“My mother coined an expression for casual sex: the “zipless fuck”. Now think about being the offspring of the person who wrote that sentence.”

“The reason I knew Mom was a liar was because her story always changed. Sometimes it was one thing, then sometimes it was an entirely different story. This shifting reality, this strange post-truth ecosystem she inhabited, and that for a time I inhabited, too, made me completely unable to know what was real and what was a lie with her. It was a kind of gaslighting by proxy, like Munchausen syndrome, but somehow much, much stupider.”

“ My glamorous mom didn’t believe in the rules. Rules were for boring, unfamous people who balanced their cheque books. Rules were for normal people. My mother was not normal, nor did she want to be.”

“Between her divorce from my father (husband No 3) and her marriage to my stepfather (husband No 4), there were numerous fiances. I couldn’t help but envision each one as a possible father.”  

“I had spent my entire life trying to get away from the loneliness of being abandoned by my parents.”

Erica Jong, born 26 March 1942 10.25 am New York, is an Aries Sun on the cusp of her 11^th trine Pluto. With Venus in Aquarius conjunct her Midheaven from the 9^th in a chilly, unpredictable square to Saturn Uranus in her 12^th. Aquarius being a favourite sign of writers who focus on sex. Her Cancer Moon in her financial 2^nd is the middle point of a trine between Saturn Uranus in Taurus trine a 4^th house Neptune in Virgo. She also had a high-vitality, super-enthusiastic Mars Jupiter conjunct in Gemini in her 12^th just above her Descendant.

  Such a strong and troubled 12^th house would need a degree of self-awareness to function well as a parent and her 4^th house North Node hints strongly about the need to build solid emotional foundations rather than aim sky high for inflated ambitions. Clearly neither happened.

 Erica Jong’s own mother Eda Mirsky, 10 December 1911, a painter and designer, was a complicated mix with her daughter. Eda had a Sagittarius Sun and Leo Moon which fitted well; but her Saturn and Mars in Taurus clashed badly with Erica’s Saturn Uranus conjunction.  Down the generations it comes.

  Molly Jong-Fast, born 19 August 1978, five years after Fear of Flying was published, now herself a novelist, journalist and political commentator, had a loving and protective nanny but that did not help her avoid obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia and an alcohol and cocaine addiction as she lurched through the constant chaos of her mother’s fame, remarriage, lovers and alcoholism. After rehab at 19, she has stayed sober since.

   She is a Sun Leo conjunct Saturn in early Virgo with a super-determined Mars, Venus, Pluto conjunction in Libra and a sensitive Pisces Moon maybe square Neptune, trine Uranus and inconjunct Pluto. Emotionally fraught with bereft Moon issues.

 Her relationship with her mother will be conflicted since Molly’s Jupiter is conjunct Erica’s Moon for forgiveness and good feelings. But Molly’s Leo Sun is square Erica’s Saturn Uranus making her feeling rejected and blocked out. Great and not so great.

  She does seem to have risen above or rather worked her way through the chaos of her childhood to become perceptive and able to regard it with a degree of irony and wit.

 Her mother sadly never seemed to recover from her later days of not being famous any longer.     

 “How to Lose Your Mother” by Molly Jong-Fast