Astrology of Today’s News

 

 

An upcoming referendum in Italy on constitutional reform could prove an even greater shock to EU stability than Brexit, according to commentators. Italy is the eurozone’s most vulnerable region with bank stocks plunging by a third after the UK’s vote last week.

PM Matteo Renzi has wagered his job on the outcome of the referendum and in the meantime is prepared to defy the EU and pump billions of euros into its troubled banks. This would be a last-resort move that would smash through the EU’s new regime for handling ailing banks, which rules that creditors rather than taxpayers fund bank rescues.

The central Bank of Italy, 10 Aug 1893, is looking very panicked  now and through 2017 with tr Saturn square tr Neptune in hard aspect to the Neptune Pluto in Gemini square the financial Venus in Virgo. So no quick n simple solutions.  With a major upheaval come 2018 as Solar Arc Uranus squares Pluto, which begins several years of increasing instability thereafter

Matteo Renzi’s Term chart, 22 Feb 2014 11.30am Rome, does have the topple-off-the-edge Solar Arc Uranus square Pluto, exact in two months time, so he may succumb to the national whim. If he survives, he’s facing a punishing time ahead with tr Pluto opposition his Saturn till late year; with tr Uranus square his Capricorn Sun.

 

 

Kingston on Hull, a port in the north east of England sat at the top of the league table recently for ‘low wage, high welfare’. But there is now a 10 year master plan to bring in new business investment and Hull is to be City of Culture in 2017 which it is also hoped will give a lift.

The original charter for Hull, 1 April 1299 (OS), seems to work reasonably well, looking at what went on during World War 11 when the town took a massive blitz from German planes – 95% of houses were damaged or destroyed.

The chart has an Aries Sun opposition Neptune (maritime) squaring onto a tough-times Mars Saturn in Cancer, so not an easy energy. The Sun Neptune opposition is sextile/trine Pluto so again great ambitions and times of devastation. There is also an adventurous Jupiter in go-ahead Aries (Moon) opposition Uranus.

There’s nothing too cheerful in the next few years with the tr Uranus square tr Pluto wending its way in hard aspect round the Sun Neptune Mars Saturn T Square.  Tr Pluto lagging behind will square the Sun and oppose Mars in 2017/18 which is stuck and depressed and angry, before moving on to square Neptune and oppose Saturn up till late 2021.

Even if the master plan moves ahead despite Brexit, there will be more deprived years before the positive benefits of any transformation appear.

Please post below, fluffy and frothy as well as the other sort ………….

 

 

Bangladesh siege, at least 22 dead; today Baghdad bombs kill at least 125, injuring many more.

ISIL, which set out to establish a Caliphate, may be losing the war on the ground with their headquarters in Fallujah in Iraq falling last month, following on from Ramadi, and Palmyra in Syria in March. But they are now shifting over to the original al-Qaeda approach, of self-starter terrorist actions abroad, aimed at destabilising hostile countries in the Middle and Far East, Africa and Europe. A NATO official said that terrorists are trying to obtain biological and nuclear materials.

The so-called “Islamic State” may be on the way out, but global jihadism is only getting started, with Al Quaeda also beginning to become more effective again.

The ISIL 2006 chart has been getting violently shaken by tr Uranus opposition Venus Sun Mars over the past year, causing insecurity, and a kick-back gestures to prop up their bravado. But tr Uranus is also trine their Pluto and Saturn – hence the re-visioning of their aims and goals.

The September Eclipse will oppose their Uranus along with tr Neptune conjunct and tr Saturn square now and extending on into 2017. That suggests high-wire anxiety, tensions and set-backs. But it’s really 2018 where the heavy pressure starts with tr Pluto square their Libra Sun for two years. Unfortunately it is also sextile their Jupiter in Scorpio at the same time, so they are likely to be making a confident and probably successful push. 2020/21 is when they will probably meet their downfall when tr Pluto squares their Mars.

Al Quaeda, 11 Aug 1988, went quiet after Bin Laden’s death in 2011, when tr Pluto square tr Saturn was hitting on their Mars and Neptune. Their new leader does not have Bin Laden’s credentials but he has been building support across the region in Yemen and Syria. They look marginally deflated in 2017. But it is 2019 which sees another dead-halt for them when Solar Arc Mars opposes their stressed Pluto.

Jihadist terrorists are like the hundred-headed Hydra. Cut off one head, and another appears. The Sunni-Shia schism is one major factor; as are the disenfranchised and angry youth of many Middle Eastern and indeed European countries. A problem with no obvious solution.

 

Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust and Auschwitz survivor and Nobel peace laureate has died in the US, where he had been a citizen since the 1960s. His mother and one sister were killed in the Nazi death chambers. His father died of starvation and dysentery in Buchenwald. Two other sisters survived. After the war, he lived in a French orphanage and went on to become a journalist, writing more than 60 books, starting with Night, a memoir based on his experiences in the death camps. He dedicated his life to ensuring the atrocities committed under the Nazis were never forgotten.

Born 30 September 1928 12.21pm? Sighetul Marmatiei, Romania (astrotheme), he had a fair-minded Libra Sun opposition an independent Uranus. With Mars in talkative Gemini trine an intensely charming Venus Mercury in Scorpio which in turn opposed Jupiter in Taurus – so communication skills, backed with determination and confidence. His Aries Moon was trine Saturn and square Pluto in Cancer – so bleak experiences through his childhood and family relationships. His Saturn in Sagittarius, another communication and justice sign, was in an innovative trine to his Uranus, so he made a difference.

His Harmonics are in many ways more instructive than his natal chart. His constructing-a-life 5^th Harmonic has an idealistic-cause Sun Neptune Node. His determined 8^th Harmonic is focussed on the repressive Saturn Pluto duo and Mars Saturn; plus a trail-blazing Uranus. His victim/healer 12^th harmonic again links war, brutality, killings with Mars Saturn and Pluto. His breakthrough-genius 13H is strong; as is his writers’ 21H. His strong-leadership 22H is also marked.

 

 

 

Hillary Clinton has been interviewed by the FBI over the question of her use of a private email server for classified material during her time as Secretary of State. Significantly previous Secretary of States – Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice – appeared to have done the same thing.

Hillary’s chart does have tr Uranus opposition the Solar Arc Pluto exactly now which picked up late June, so a possible upheaval/disruption. This influence runs till early September, and she had the on-tenterhooks/insecure tr Uranus opposition Solar Arc Mars in the run up through June. These don’t recur until early 2017.

Assuming her 8.01 am birth time is accurate (?), she has Jupiter in her successful 10^th at the moment, moving into her optimistic and team-building 11^th from September. Tr Pluto moves into her 3^rd from early 2017 starting a protracted period of a heavily pressured everyday schedule; with disruptive (and independent-minded) Uranus moving into her 6^th house of health and work from mid 2017. Tr Pluto is sextile her Solar Arc MC in October, which is positive,  though could also be seen as across this year since it is very dependent on the birth time to the exact minute.

January 2017 sees tr Saturn square her Pisces Moon which can be gloomy or a house move. The September Solar Eclipse falls in her 10^th for a now-or-never bid for career success, but it can go either way, rise or fall.

She has sagging influences through this October with tr Saturn square her Mars/Neptune and then square her Neptune/Pluto and Jupiter/Uranus, but they disappear by late October. Over the election itself she has tr Uranus trine Saturn which is normally constructive change.

In December she regains her successful tr Pluto sextile Sun/Jupiter and Venus.

By late 2017 she has her Solar Arc Saturn (heavily aspected in a T Square) conjunct her Sun. So if she does make it, she’ll be swamped by problems.

 

 

 

There is now threatening to be a pandemic of breakaway movements who have taken heart from the Brit bungee jump (with less elastic than expected). Texit or Texodus, Calexit or CaLeavefornia, even NHexit in New Hampshire, are getting all roiled up about splitting away from the already federalised USA. There is no escape clause in the much cherished American Constitution and early attempts have been bounced back.

The USA 4 July 1776 chart does look unduly unsettled from this month till April 2018 with tr Uranus square Mercury at the moment and moving on to square the USA Pluto. So there may be much heated debate though it’s unlikely to lead to a King/Emperor/President in Texas.

Texas is leading the charge and the Texas 2 March 1836/USA relationship chart is riven with dispute over the next few years as first tr Uranus is conjunct Mars and then opposition Saturn. But with a 12 degree Pisces Sun, the oil baron state doesn’t look to be winning much for a couple of years.

California, 9 Sept 1850, already has a revolutionary-prone Uranus Pluto in Aries conjunction natally in its joining chart. That is being keyed up by tr Uranus conjunct Pluto Uranus in 2018/19 so they’re like to be in the mood to disrupt and cause some unrest.  The California/USA relationship chart does have tr Pluto trine Uranus in 2017/18 which could shake a few apples out of the tree.

But the likelihood of a full scale civil war between states and Washington seems unlikely.

 

 

 

The 9 degree Virgo Solar Eclipse of 1 September upcoming is conjunct the North Node opposition Neptune and square a Saturn Mars conjunction in Sagittarius so will be significant in its effect – spreading unease from Saturn Neptune, aggravation, bad temper and accidents from Saturn Mars. The exact Mars Saturn conjunction is August 23^rd at 9 degrees Sagittarius – so there will be a pre-Eclipse spike and a lingering post-Eclipse hangover.

Mars Saturn has a variety of meanings – associations with the military, with assassinations, harmful and destructive energy, but it is also a bringer of discipline (through gritted teeth), has a capacity to overcome obstacles through sheer will power. Admittedly it also tends to erect the hurdle course over which we will, all in different ways, have to negotiate our way.

The Virgo Eclipse is in a Saros cycle, 19 North, which is about coming down to earth with a bump, seeing a situation for what it really is, a good time for facing the truth.

Setting the Eclipse chart for London it puts Uranus in the 7^th conjunct the Descendant = splitting of a close partnership; with the afflicted Mars Saturn in the 2^nd house of personal finances.

The Cancer Ingress chart for 20^th June 2016, set for London, has Saturn on the MC and Pluto in the 12^th. Both these placings were on the Cancer Ingress for 1939 just pre-the outbreak of World War 11, though it had the much more brutal Pluto opposition Mars square Saturn MC. This 2016 Cancer Ingress has Moon in the 11^th = uncertainty about an unknown, insecure future; Neptune in 1^st = uncertainty about identity; Neptune opposition Jupiter = cloud cuckoo land hopes bring disappointment; unpredictable Uranus in the financial 2^nd quincunx vengeful Mars in the foreign 9^th.  Plus a 5^th house Sun Venus = a Leonine sense of self-importance, though since it fell on a Full Moon, also a split population, with head going one way, heart another.

 

I’m still chewing over quite why such a cataclysmic and game-changing event wasn’t clearer on the charts.  The UK joining the EEC chart 1 Jan 1973 12am, was never that happy with a controlling Sun square Pluto, a mutually non-supportive Mars Neptune and a suspicious, doubt-ridden Neptune Venus opposition Saturn. Plus an ‘adventurous’, leap-in-the-dark and hope-for-the-best Uranus square Jupiter.

Tr Uranus moving through the 7^th is opposition the UKEEC Uranus (a Half Return) this year, exact through the run up in May, so would be a time for a rethink and perhaps a rebellion. In individual charts the Uranus opposition Uranus brings a mid-life crisis when people do crazy things, kick over the traces and act like teenagers. Tr Uranus was also trine the Solar Arc MC over the referendum which would suggest a change of direction. Though tr Uranus in Pisces in 2005 was trine the MC – and nothing split then.

So maybe a combination of influences building up to a critical mass. Tr Pluto moved into the 4^th for many years ahead in 2012, then crossed the Sun and is now sitting exactly conjunct the North Node in the 4^th – so a time of domestic mutiny and resentment about the old ways not working. Plus tr Uranus in the separating-relationships 7^th since 2013.

What is being elbowed sharply this year is the UKEEC Uranus square Jupiter, with tr Uranus tugging at one end and tr Pluto at the other. It would certainly suggest a strong desire for freedom and hang the consequences. Uranus Jupiter is nothing if not a gambler.

 

Looking at the UK 1801 chart again with the benefit of, not just hindsight but, distance, following the old Arab astrologers’ belief that the primary function of astrology was in understanding the past, it does become slightly clearer.

The 1801 chart has two major configurations. One is a Cardinal Grand Cross of Capricorn Sun opposition Moon MC square North Node opposition Ascendant, the other is a wide Fixed Grand Cross of Mars in Taurus opposition Neptune square Venus opposition Saturn. All bar three planets are tied into these two configurations.

When a major configuration moves by Solar Arc to hard aspect another, then a life-changing crisis occurs. It pulls together almost the entire chart into one compacted bundle. At the moment Solar Arc Sun is square the UK Mars, and Solar Arc MC is square Mars from the other side.

The UK’s Fixed Grand Cross is heavily resistant to change, but here it gets enough of a dunt from the Cardinal Grand Cross , moved by Solar Arc, to take the initiative to shift. There was certainly a major shake-up and shock when the Solar Arc Moon squared Mars in 2007/08, but clearly not enough to take the decisive step. Or perhaps that was a necessary forerunner, laying the ground for this.  So first the 2008 financial collapse (Mars in 8^th) with no constructive steps taken afterwards, except old style governments entrenching the status quo by propping up the banksters who’d caused the problem.  This is stage two. It’ll be another couple of decades before these configurations pull apart with the focus until the mid 2020s being on the financial ramifications. Only latterly will Saturn in the 11^th = the legislature, get a radical rethink.

 

A statue to Mary Jane Seacole, voted in 2004 as the greatest black Briton, has been unveiled at St Thomas Hospital in London. Born to a Scottish soldier father and a free Jamaican mother who was a herbalist, she went to tend the sick during the Crimean War at her own expense. She became destitute on her return to the UK and was helped by service personnel who raised money for her. In her later years she returned to Jamaica and then to London where she moved on the periphery of royal circles.

Born 23 Nov 1805 in Kingston, Jamaica, she was a Sun Mercury Jupiter in Sagittarius square Pluto; with Jupiter conjunct Mars also in Sag. So not short of determination or a yen for travel, though not perhaps blessed with practical sense about money. She also had an innovative and courageous Saturn Uranus in Libra sextile Mars. After her death, she was forgotten for almost a century.

Florence Nightingale 12 May 1820 2pm Florence, Italy who also organised nurses during the Crimean War and became a social reformer has tended to get all the glory. She was a New Moon in Taurus in the travelling 9^th house sextile both Jupiter and Pluto in Pisces – so confident and determined. Her Mars in Leo was trine Saturn in self-reliant Aries, so brave, disciplined, suited to military associations.

 

Absolutely Fabulous, the movie, has just launched, a Brit comedy about fashionista desperation, with a pair of drunken ladies d’un certain age, embarrassing themselves on a spree across Europe. Written, like the original successful TV series by Jennifer Saunders, she co-stars with Joanna Lumley and the original cast plus Kate Moss and a zillion other celeb cameos. Reviews suggest it may be just what a battered UK needs to divert attention from existential meltdown.

Principal Photography and the Premiere were both launched on the Jupiter in Virgo trine Pluto, with the start of filming having an enthusiastic Venus Mars and Jupiter trine Pluto and a Libra new Moon, which had to give it head wind. Other less helpful aspects, of course, since nothing is simple these days.

The multi-talented, Jennifer Saunders, 6 July 1958, is a Sun Cancer square Mars in Aries opposition Jupiter, so not short of an adventurous spirit, with a Pisces Moon.

Joanna Lumley, 1 May 1946 7.30pm Srinagar, India, is a New Moon in Taurus square Mars Pluto in Leo, so not quite the flighty air-head she usually plays.

Both she and Saunders share Jupiter in Libra which in both cases is getting the tr Uranus opposition this year into early 2017 which is good news.  Both also have social-butterfly Venus in Gemini.

Their relationship chart has an energetic and argumentative composite Sun Mars Mercury Venus trine sensible Saturn and creative Neptune. It won’t all be sweetness and light since Saunders’ Sun square Mars hits on Lumley’s Saturn. But clearly there’s enough right to give them on-screen chemistry.