Astrology of Today’s News

 

British-American actress Juliet Mills, daughter of Sir John Mills and sister of Haley, contracted her third marriage aged 39 in 1980, after two previous short-lived attempts, to actor Maxwell Caulfield, 18 years her junior. Everyone said it wouldn’t last but it still seems to be going strong.

Born 21 Nov 1941 10.45pm London, England, she has a 4^th house Scorpio Sun Mercury with her Sun opposition a 10^th house Saturn Uranus in Taurus, so intense, stubborn, erratic. She’s also got a 5^th house earthy Moon Venus in Capricorn square Mars in Aries, with her Mars trine Pluto – so feisty, alternately charming and impatient, very determined. Not the easiest of charts or individuals.

Maxwell Caulfield, 23 Nov 1959 England, is a Sagittarius Sun Mercury Jupiter so utterly different from her; with a Leo/Virgo Moon which is either conjunct Uranus in Leo or Pluto in Virgo. He’s also got Mars in Scorpio conjunct her Sun and opposition her Saturn, so not the smoothest of matches. His Saturn in Capricorn also squares her Mars – so a good deal of aggravation and even unkind treatment I’d imagine on one side or the other, or both.

What pulls it together in the relationship chart is a composite Sun Venus sextile Mars; and maybe a Water Grand Trine of Moon trine Saturn trine Uranus making it a fairly closeted emotional bond that outsiders don’t understand with enough separations from busy careers to make it sustainable.

Looking at other age-gap matches: Sam Taylor-Wood, 4 March 1967, with Aaron Johnson, 13 June 1990 – there’s also a composite Sun Venus in the relationship chart and again a Water Grand Trine of Jupiter trine Uranus trine North Node; with a Cardinal Grand Square as well – not without its ups and downs and rolling crises, I imagine, but enough positive to outweigh the negative.

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, she 16 years older, also had a composite Sun Venus and a Fire Grand Trine; but Uranus opposition composite Moon and square Sun Venus wouldn’t make it easy to hold that together, which it didn’t.

Joan Collins and Percy Gibson, she 22 years older – they’ve got a morale-boosting composite Sun Jupiter Mercury, so make each other feel good, though there’s less Venus involvement in that one.

Sian Phillips with Robin Sachs, she 18 years older – their relationship chart has a Fire Grand Trine of Sun Pluto Jupiter Saturn – so felt inspiring at the start, though a composite Saturn opposition Mars Uranus indicated trouble. When it split, she admitted it hadn’t been as rosy as it appeared in interviews. Which is always the thing to watch with showbiz marriages. They gloss up the outside but what’s inside is often hair-raising even in long-lasting marriages.

 

David Attenborough has been the voice and face of natural history for an incredible 60 years on BBC and aged 90 is still going strong. After a ten year gap Planet Earth 11, the lavish BBC blockbuster which he narrates, has become the most watched nature programme. After initially resisting the idea he has come round to see climate change as a major threat.

Born 8 May 1926 (less than three weeks before HM Queen) he has, like her, an extraordinarily Fixed chart. His Taurus Sun opposes obsessively conscientious Saturn in Scorpio square a humanitarian/cross-cultural Jupiter in Aquarius opposition a creative Neptune in Leo. So a Fixed Grand Cross which gives endurance, obstinacy aplenty, a tendency to assume the world and everyone in it will adapt to him rather than the other way round. Fixed personalities hate change and would prefer to plough the same furrow for ever – which he has done extraordinarily well.

His Taurus Sun, the only Earth planet,  fits him well into the natural world.

Not surprisingly he has a strong super-star 22^nd and the scientific 11^th; plus breakthrough 13^th; tough conditions 16^th; making-mark 17^th and 19^th. What is intriguing is his very heavily aspected 12H, the healing harmonic. We’ll miss his mellifluous voice when he finally gives up, though like the Queen no sign yet.

 

Guo Chuan was the first Chinese sailor to circumnavigate the globe solo and without stopping, setting a new record for a 40ft monohull of 138 days. He has died in the early stages of his next voyage an attempt on the 21-day solo record for the passage from San Francisco to Shanghai. It is thought he fell overboard and his body has not been found. His slogan for the project was “peace and sport”, a demonstration of friendship between Beijing and Washington, at a time of increasing tension between the two powers in the South China Sea. In one of his last radio messages he said he kept himself company by listening to a recording of his young son laughing. He called it “the most beautiful song in the world”.

He was born on 5 January 1965 and had a very earthy chart with a Capricorn Sun trine Uranus Pluto Mars in Virgo trine Jupiter in Taurus, formed into a Kite with Jupiter opposition Neptune – so very talented, attracted to danger with Mars tied into Pluto Uranus and Jupiter; and drawn by a Neptunian ideal or vision.

The earthiness of his chart reminded me of Chay Blyth, the Scottish solo yachtsman and rower. Born 14 May 1940 4.30am Hawick, Scotland, he had a Taurus Sun Uranus Mercury Saturn and Neptune in Virgo. I interviewed years ago when he set his records and he thought one thing which helped him with the dangers of solo sailing was his ‘lack of imagination’. An overloading of earth can produce a practical mind that doesn’t sail off into fantasy or paranoia and imagine the worst. It just gets on with doing what’s necessary.

Francis Chichester, an early solo sailor, 17 September 1901 had a Virgo Sun and Saturn Jupiter in Capricorn, though he had more Water in his chart.

Robin Knox-Johnston, another marine soloist, 17 March 1939 6.40am London, just to be un-useful, has a Water Fire chart with a Pisces Sun Jupiter opposition Neptune, and Pluto in Cancer; a focal point sporty Mars in Sagittarius; with only two earth planets, Neptune and Uranus.

So clearly different temperaments cope with the rigours in different ways. But not worrying about everything that could possibly go wrong, which most of us would, will be an asset.

 

The new First Lady, Melania Trump, the Slovenian third wife of Donald, is a jewellery designer and former model.

Born 26 April 1970, she’s a downbeat, tightly controlled Sun Saturn in Taurus trine a Capricorn Moon with her Sun opposition Jupiter in Scorpio; with Venus in late Taurus conjunct Mars in Gemini and Venus trine Pluto and Mars trine Uranus.   Her chart has several inconjuncts – a Yod of Uranus sextile Neptune inconjunct her Sun; and Mars inconjunct Jupiter – so she will experience a fair amount of strain, the sense of not quite fitting in. It’s a fairly materialistic chart with so much earth, especially four planets in Taurus and keen-on-money Scorpio, and not exactly emotional.

She’s the polar opposite of her husband with his Air Sun and Fire Moon.

It’s quite difficult to see from the relationship chart (without her birth time) what the attraction was/is. There’s a controlling composite Sun square Pluto; a frivolous, superficial-glitter Venus trine Jupiter and perhaps Moon opposition Venus.  Her Venus Mars falls in his 10^th so perhaps he found her beauty an asset.

Their wedding which was staggeringly ostentatious, saw her adorned in a $100,000 Dior dress with 300 feet of satin embroidered with 1500 rhinestones and pearls and a 13 foot train. The chart for 22 January 2005 at 7pm Palm Beach, FL has a cool Venus opposition Saturn; an intensely controlling Mars Pluto sextile an expansive Jupiter with a fairly unintegrated Moon.

They do seem fairly heated from the relationship chart this December with tr Pluto opposition the composite Mars and that repeats on and off through 2017; though with some relief from tr Uranus square Jupiter come March. She’s having highs and lows through 2017, and is facing real problems come 2018/19.

 

 

Roe versus Wade  was the landmark US ruling asserting a woman’s right to have an abortion up to the time of foetal viability and was agreed on 22 January 1973. It now looks to be at risk of being overturned with a new pro-life (and pro-gun!) right-wing administration.

There is concern writ large on this chart at the moment from tr Saturn conjunct the Mars exactly now and tr Neptune square the Saturn and Mars through 2017/2019. 2018/19 look to be the real danger points with ferocious argument from tr Uranus square Mercury in 2018 as well as a disappointing Solar Arc Neptune conjunct Jupiter; and then in 2019 a ‘shocking  collision’ Solar Arc Mars conjunct the Sun as well as a disruptive upheaval from tr Pluto square the Uranus. If it is was ever going to be overturned this looks like the time – though it did survive through the early 1990s triple conjunction in Capricorn. But this looks if anything more serious. Saturn Pluto in Capricorn’s repressive and heavily masculine energies may just do it.

 

Mexico has now been put on red alert with the news that Trump wasn’t flannelling about repatriating criminal illegals. He still intends to build a wall/fence and jail those he can’t toss back.

The Mexico 15 September 1910 11pm Dolores Hidalgo chart does have Mars in late Leo so it will catch the August Solar Eclipse which sits on the MC for Mexico City. Indeed the February 2017 Pisces Eclipse conjunct Neptune will conjunct the Mexico MC Pluto; and that Eclipse chart has Mars Uranus Venus on the Ascendant opposition Jupiter square Pluto (MC) – so a crisis-ridden year.

Mexico’s relationship chart with Trump has a composite Mars Mercury Uranus in late Leo square Pluto, so it always going to be a troubled and explosive relationship – and it is certainly being keyed up before and after August 2017. With continuing aggravation as tr Uranus trines the composite Mars from May 2017 and Mercury Uranus in 2018.

Mexico’s economy has been stabilising and growing modestly in recent years though the rich poor gap is still stark; and the ongoing war with drug cartels have claimed around 80,000 lives in the decade up to 2015. Since the clamp down on Colombian cartels Mexico now dominate the illicit drug market, and control 90% of the cocaine entering the US.

2017/18 look very pressured for Mexico. Tr Saturn is exactly square the 10^th house Pluto at the moment, moving on to square the Virgo Sun in 2017; with a jolting Solar Arc Uranus opposition Saturn in 2017; and an even sharper shock coming from Solar Arc Mars opposition Sun in 2018.

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As ever, Donald Trump has been wildly erratic on the subject of Israel saying at the start of his campaign he’d do the impossible and broker a Palestine/Israel peace deal; and latterly telling the Israeli to build more settlements. And he’s being blamed for the rise of anti-Semitic attacks in the US. You can take your pick.

He’s not temperamentally a good fit with Benjamin Netanyahu since both have the bombastic, bullying Mars in Leo prominent in their charts; and BN’s Saturn is square DT’s unpredictable 10^th house Uranus. Their relationship chart is argumentative with a composite Sun Mars but also with a chained-together Saturn Pluto square Moon square Node. There’s a fair amount of unrest from April 2017 onwards between them, but that could be them facing a common enemy together.

Certainly Trump’s relationship with Palestine (1988) and Gaza (1917) looks ever more disappointing and undermined.

Though there’s no saying how much Trump’s policies – if any – will be the deciding factor since he may hand day-to-day decisions over to far-right, evangelist VP Pence and others and content himself grandstanding.

 

The Great American Total Solar Eclipse on 21 August 2017 at 28 degrees Leo will be seen across the USA, falling exactly on the midheaven through Houston, Texas, down through Mexico and due north up through Canada. It is in a Saros Series that was around previously in 1999, 1981, 1963, 1945, 1927, 1909. Usually this series places strains on personal relationships, induces hasty decisions on the basis of false information, and is associated with tiredness or health problems.

Set for Washington, DC, the Leo New Moon is 9^th house conjunct Node Mars also in Leo trine Saturn in Sagittarius trine Uranus in Capricorn – so a Fire Grand Trine; formed into a Kite by Uranus opposition Jupiter which is in turn square Venus opposition Pluto – a Cardinal Grand Cross.

The New Moon will be conjunct Trump’s Mars and Ascendant as well as (maybe) opposition the USA 1776 Aquarius Moon (depending on start time).

An eclipse conjunct Mars tends to stoke up anger, so can be argumentative if not violent, accident-prone and overly stressed. At that point Trump has another of his wild confidence tr Pluto square his Jupiter and a feeling-unloved tr Saturn conjunct his Moon – so he’s likely to be over-reacting.

A Fire Grand Trine tends also to be supremely confident, taking risks without much thought of what comes next, inducing selfish and ego-centred impulses. Burnout can be a problem.

On the absolutely best reading, this could be a magnificent entrepreneurial plan to Make America Great Again (sic). Though Mars Saturn Uranus tied into the Eclipse is aggravated and reckless, especially with a buccaneering Uranus opposition Jupiter.

Previous Eclipses in this Saros series, every 18.5 years,  make interesting if worrying reading with some events happening earlier than August and some the following year, as is customary with Eclipses which tend to cast a shadow in both directions.

1998/9 – Bill Clinton impeachment, Dec 98 to Feb 99.

1981 – Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in March.

1963 – Assassination of JFK in November.

1945 –August: Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs dropped. Death of FDR (by natural causes) in April.

1927: The Pineapple Primary (= hand grenades) took place in April 1928 in Illinois, during the administration of the notoriously corrupt Chicago Mayor “Big Bill” Thompson, whose re-election had gained the financial support of mobster Al Capone. In the six months prior to the primary (ie. 1927) there were 62 bombings in Chicago and 2 politicians killed. 500 federal marshals were drafted in by the Attorney General to protect voters on election day. ‘Underlying the violent campaign was the lucrative Prohibition-era bootlegging trade, a corrupt city government, politicians with ties to organized crime, and a deep-seated and bitter political rivalry between several of the Illinois Republican candidates.’ (wiki)

Calvin Coolidge, was in the White House, a Republican president since 1923, small-government conservative, supported racial equality, relatively scandal-free after predecessor Warren Harding’s less than stellar performance.

1927 also saw various natural and man-made disasters of historic proportions – St Louis tornado, Vermont floods, Pittsburgh gas explosion. In 1928 a California dam fails with 400 dead, Florida hurricane kills 2500.

 

1909: Assassination attempt against President William Howard Taft while on a visit to Mexico. He was Republican anti-African-American, said in his inaugural address he wouldn’t appoint them to federal jobs; anti-conservationist, protectionist; broke with many of his predecessor Theodore Roosevelt’s policies. Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the following election.

So certainly this Eclipse presages violence in one form or another.

In general there will be a huge amount of unrest in the US in 2017 with tr Uranus square the USA 1776 Mercury opposition Pluto – and tr Uranus is in August 2017 reversing back to square the US Pluto again; with tr Saturn exactly opposition the US Mars which is at least accident-prone if not militarily involved.

There’s not much on the Inauguration (Trump 1^st Term) chart at that point. Though the foreign relationship charts (see post below) look nerve-wracked and insecure from May 2017 onwards. Eclipses do cover events in advance of the due date.

From a previous post on events connected to tr Uranus square the USA Mercury opposition Pluto.

‘The USA 1776 chart has only one opposition of Mercury in Cancer opposition Pluto in Capricorn – and tr Uranus started to pick up the square to Mercury mid 2016 and continues on till early 2018. Mercury Pluto is overly intense and tr Uranus throws an excitable firecracker into the mix.

Looking back on previous tr Uranus hard aspects to that opposition, it is really interesting. Oct 1973 to Oct 1974 – VP Spiro Agnew resigns faced with tax evasion charges. Watergate is raging, escalating and ends with Nixon’s resignation to avoid impeachment charges, as tr Uranus squares the US Mercury for the final time in August 1974, tugging on the US Pluto.

During tr Uranus in Cancer conjunct the US Mercury and opposition the US Pluto in 1953/54, the McCarthy sniff-out-a-commie hearings were in full swing, along with increasingly vociferous criticism of his bullying and witch-hunting tactics which led Ed Murrow to ask “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?”

On a previous occasion – April 1933 to April 1933 – President Franklin D Roosevelt declares a national emergency to come off the Gold Standard; and the Business Plot was uncovered which was an attempted coup d’etat against the government and Roosevelt’s progressive policies, by a group of fascist veterans and wealthy businessmen, wanting to ally themselves to Hitler’s Germany and Italy. At the time it was written off as a hoax but there did seem to be some wild scheme in place.

So this influence definitely attacks both the government and US democracy, either by dragging scandals into the open or letting loose hard right-wing fanatics

Just a final caveat. The 1999 Solar Eclipse which had worse aspects than this one ran across the UK and all manner of dire predictions were sparked off. In the event it was a damp squib at the time; though a series of catastrophes did ensure 18 months later when the aspects repeated.

 

 

 

The legendary poet, songwriter and artist Leonard Cohen has died aged 82. He was known as a dark visionary who became a cultural icon through the 60s and 70s and his career extended on. Although born Jewish, he became a Zen buddhist, retreating into silence for several years in the 1990s. On re-entering the world, he found his manager had embezzled his retirement fund, so he went on an extraordinary five year world tour. He never married but had a rolling succession of intense relationships, which resulted in two children.

Born 21 September 1934 6.45am Montreal, Canada into a well-to-do family, he credited his mother, a Russian émigré, with encouraging his poetic and musical aspirations and described how she would, as she went through her day, sing Yiddish and Russian folk songs she had learned as a child. He described her as romantic, beautiful, sensitive, and emotional, given to bouts of both joyfulness and melancholy. His father died when he was 9, and he initially became a poet and writer, turning to music when that failed to make him a living.

He had a Virgo Sun on his Ascendant and his chart was dominated by an Air Grand Trine of Jupiter in Libra trine Saturn in Aquarius trine a Gemini Midheaven – so he was designed to be a communicator. He also had an emotional Pisces Moon opposition a 12^th house Venus Neptune in Virgo – a testament to his sensitive mother. His Jupiter opposed an 8^th house Uranus squaring onto Pluto in Cancer – so influential, but in many ways a man ahead of his time.  It’s not an easy chart for emotional relationships with a controlling/ scared of being controlled focal point Pluto; an erratic 8th house Uranus; and a wants-to-merge, though uncommitted Venus Moon Neptune.

His musical and artistic Neptune in the hidden creative 12^th was well integrated into his chart being conjunct his Venus and his confident Jupiter/Pluto midpoint and square his rebellious Uranus/Pluto. Not surprisingly his chart is replete with creative quintiles and septiles, though with a melancholy streak running through them. His 17H – leaving-a-legacy-for-history was also strongly aspected.