Astrology of Today’s News

A shoot-out and hostage situation at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida has left at least 50 dead and many injured. It started at 2am local time this morning when retrograde Mars was in the 8^th on the focal point of a Yod to Uranus sextile Venus Sun.  So vengeful Mars in Scorpio was very hyped up – in its natural home the 8^th, stressed and overly aggressive because of the Yod. Tierney remarks of a Yod focal point Mars: ‘He may exhibit displaced anger, aiming his hostility at inappropriate targets.’

The gunman was shot by police after three hours and although it is being marked at this stage as domestic terrorism, the motivation isn’t known.

Orlando was first incorporated on 31 July 1875. As befits a town called either City Beautiful or Theme Park Capital of the World attracting 60 million visitors a year, many of them families, it is Sun Leo square a filmic Neptune; with a frivolous Jupiter square Venus Mercury Moon in Cancer.

There were also a clutch of quincunxes at its inception. Jupiter was inconjunct Pluto; and there was a Yod of Mars sextile Saturn inconjunct Venus in Cancer. So there’s a darker, more strained underside.

Tr Uranus is exactly square that focal point Venus at the moment, bringing an emotional shock of some severity, triggering the Mars and Saturn quincunxes. Tr Uranus is also exactly semi-sextile the Orlando Pluto and sextile Saturn.

Usually when Yods are triggered by transits there is a distinct change of direction afterwards.

Writer Annie Proulx has another novel out, a 700 pager, and aged 81 seems as bright as ever. Her short story Brokeback Mountain was made into a movie; and The Shipping News which won her a Pulitzer was also filmed.

Born 22 August 1935 in Norwich, Connecticut, she has an unaspected Sun Leo of a reclusive variety, since she revels on living independently, until recently in isolated Wyoming.

She has a creative Saturn in Pisces opposition Mercury Neptune in Virgo perhaps square a Gemini Moon – so has the qualities of a writer with a Virgo/Gemini mix.  Her Mercury is also trine Uranus in Taurus, sextile an enthusiastic and confident Mars Jupiter in Scorpio, so her meticulous communication skills are highlighted.  Plus her Uranus trine Neptune is also blessed with an artistic bent.

She has a ‘Mystic’ Rectangle of Saturn opposition Mercury Neptune which is sextile/trine a Uranus opposition Mars (Jupiter). There’s nothing very mystic about the effect of this configuration. Often the oppositions are tricky to balance and she has had three failed marriages.

Her writers’ 21^st Harmonic is very strong with a T Square of Neptune opposition Venus Mars Uranus square Pluto – so passionately enthusiastic about her craft, a risk-taker, creative and influential. There’s also a Sun Saturn opposition Jupiter – serious and confident, though scared of failure.

EURO 2016, the European football championships start tonight in Paris at 9pm amidst terror threats as well as national strikes affecting transport and rubbish collection. Matches will be played at nine different locations across France including Marseille, which like Paris, has a large disaffected Muslim community.

The start chart does have tr Mars retrograde exactly conjunct the Mars on the France chart so a tense time. Mars will go direct on June 29^th, 12 days before the finish so be interesting to see if that has an effect.

Otherwise the neurotic Saturn square Neptune is exact, tied into a T square by Jupiter in Virgo, with scattered, edgy Saturn in Sagittarius leading, conjunct the Ascendant which will damp down enthusiasm. Unsettled Uranus is in the domestic 4^th which makes sense, square Pluto in the 2^nd which in turn trines Jupiter – so someone will be making money out of the chaos.  Mars in the hidden 12^th opposes Mercury – much argument, heated debate.

Though a charming, sociable Sun Venus in the 7^th square Jupiter will make for a veneer of enjoyment.

It will be tense since the Sun opposes the Mars/Pluto midpoint, which could point to accidents, violence (tho’ that could be drunken fans).  Both Saturn and Neptune are in aspect to the Sun/Moon midpoint which you sometimes see in disasters with relatives mourning loss.  Though that could also be football widows getting zero attention for a month as their husbands stay rooted to the game.

Brock Turner, 1 Aug 1995, a Stanford University student and swimmer, has been imprisoned for six months on three counts of sexual assault. Passing students found him having sex with an unconscious woman and rescued her. The charges were pled down from rape and his father’s pleas to the judge for leniency have been met by strong criticism.

He’s a Sun Venus and Mercury in Leo; with Sun Venus trine Jupiter (conjunct Pluto), sextiling onto Mars (Moon) in Libra. He’ll certainly be showy and lucky with Leo planets and Jupiter, with an athletic, competitive, assertive Mars highlighted; and confidence aplenty from Jupiter Pluto.  He’s also got a tough Saturn in Pisces trine Pluto sextiling onto a highly strung, can-be-fanatical Uranus Neptune in Capricorn.

Houses would make a difference as to how this energy is played out and the Moon position, if near Mars, would make for anger issues around women.

What are more enlightening and odd, are his midpoints. Both his Sun and Saturn are in aspect to his Neptune/Pluto midpoint which would certainly give him a tendency to over-indulge in alcohol. Neptune Pluto can be other-worldly, not quite rational and there is sometimes a hint of megalomania in the background.

More pointedly his Venus squares his Mars/Pluto midpoint. Mars Pluto is the rape signature in astrology. And his Pluto opposes his Venus/Saturn midpoint which suggests a core loneliness and is often seen in the charts of ‘sex addicts.’

His 7^th Harmonic which can sometimes point to instability has Saturn tied into Venus, Mars and Pluto which looks emotionally conflicted. His self-destructive 16^th Harmonic is very strong tying in Venus to Saturn and Uranus – so arguably autocratic; and Neptune to Pluto Mars which is perverse.

What a horrible world it has become for young people. We all drank too much at university but I don’t recollect any disastrous life changing consequences that seem to be almost common place now.

Where we are at now – with only six months to go. Hallelujah.

Hillary has become the first woman Presidential nominee for a major party in USA history. So good on her. Her ferociously Fixed chart with three Scorpio and three Leo planets certainly gives her stamina and endurance.

She’s also got tr Pluto back to sextile her Venus and her Sun/Jupiter midpoint for this month which will put her on a high and a charm offensive. That repeats in December.

There are some uncomfortable rumblings in the background with tr Uranus opposing her Solar Arc Mars Pluto which is running now right through till early October.

October looks uncertain and not exactly chipper for her but that may be the polls (curse them) running against her which may mean nothing since they have been consistently wrong everywhere for the past five years. Across the election she has tr Uranus trine her Saturn which could arguably be her making a constructive change.

Donald Trump has hit his sticky months and no mistake. Tr Uranus is square his Saturn at the moment as well as tr Uranus square his Mars/Node, repeating in September. Then tr Uranus moves to square his Sun/Mars, Mercury/Pluto and Venus/Saturn midpoints from June 25 to early Sept. Into October he has tr Uranus square his Mars/Uranus midpoint. All of which look high tension, volatile, explosive, mouthy, unhappy, under considerable mental strain. This month especially with tr Pluto also opposition his Sun/Pluto and his Mercury/Saturn he looks depressed, out of sorts and over stretched. He’s lost his powerhouse tr Pluto square Jupiter which boosted his confidence enormously earlier in the year.

His Solar Return from June 2016 for a year looks riddled with financial uncertainties with Neptune in the 8^th opposition Jupiter square a 5^th house Saturn. Perhaps some of his iffier past business dealings coming out into the open, certainly evasive about tax. Plus a pressured Pluto in the 6^th suggesting an over-heavy workload with perhaps health implications.

Bernie Sanders (speculative birth time, astotheme) has an insecure, irritable tr Uranus conjunct his Mars this month and repeating in September. He has a disappointing tr Saturn opposition his Jupiter/Uranus in July and tr Saturn opposition Jupiter/Saturn in August; both of which look like losses. Across the election he has tr Neptune square his Jupiter/Saturn which is pessimistic, feeling abandoned, and tr Saturn square his Virgo Sun – so he’s not happy with whatever result comes through. Though he also has tr Pluto trine his Sun mid July to early September which will make him feel he’s making a bit of a difference.

Please post below ……….

Angelina Jolie continues to expand her portfolio of interests and talents to take up a visiting professorship at the London School of Economics, teaching a course on the impact of war on women in 2017. This in addition to making movies, and her humanitarian work as a UNHCR goodwill ambassador; and looking after a clutch of adopted children and producing rose wine at her South of France chateau with husband Brad Pitt.

She does have tr Pluto square her Jupiter and MC in 2016/2017 so her confidence will be high; though tr Pluto also opposing her 12^th house Saturn from the 6^th could raise flags about over straining her energy with too many commitments. But she’s made from fairly tough stuff with her Mars in Aries opposition Pluto.

Tr Saturn is squaring her Neptune opposition Gemini Sun this year which again is more work than play; and tr Neptune will square her Sun in 2017 which could be lack lustre energy-wise. But she looks to be enjoying her busy schedule with tr Jupiter about to move into her 3^rd for several months.  Tr Saturn has a good many years of building and building career-wise ahead so she’s unlikely to disappear in a hurry off the scene.

Mid 2017 onwards will see tr Uranus opposing her Uranus and squaring her Venus so there could be some home and emotional disruptions then.

There are gossip magazine stories about an imminent divorce from Brad Pitt but they usually have to be taken with a pinch of salt. It’s a partnership which has been through a great deal of strain over the years, and their actual belated wedding chart of 23 Aug 2014 always did look less than lyrical with a hard, unkind Mars Saturn conjunction and an illusory Sun opposition Neptune; plus a showy Venus Jupiter in Leo. So looked good on the outside, less so at a feeling level.

Tr Saturn will square their composite Sun late this year but they’ve survived through worse than that a few years back. Neither of their Sun/Moon midpoints are affected for years ahead. Though sometimes that just means the split has already occurred and they just haven’t admitted it. He certainly looked to be doing a good deal of hard questioning about his marriage prior to the wedding.

He’s got tr Saturn crossing for his Ascendant this year into his lower profile, less successful first quadrant for several years, while she seems to be doubling her workload. So that may cause some strain. He looks panicked about money this year with Solar Arc Neptune conjunct his Mars; and discouraged with Solar Arc Sun conjunct his Saturn, so he’s not entirely happy.

Though tr Jupiter moving across his 10^th from this August for a year will give his confidence a lift.  Tr Uranus is also square his 2^nd house Moon Venus across this year which will be financial and emotional ups and downs. He’s also got tr Uranus moving into his 5^th suggesting her wants more romantic freedom in the years ahead.

So it could happen or they could cobble it together for the sake of the children and put on a happy smile for the cameras.

Peter Shaffer, the playwright, has died who was a towering figure in both British and American theatre. His best known works were Equus about a damaged boy and his horse; Amadeus about Mozart and Salieri; and The Royal Hunt of the Sun. One obit said: ‘His daring, often deeply disturbing, plays plumbed the psychological depths of conflicts between opposing states of mind.’ He himself described the sense of struggle in his work as that of Apollonian and Dionysian forces. “There are those who are touched by the gods and others who are firmly rooted to the earth.”

Born 15 May 1926, a week after naturalist David Attenborough and two weeks after HM Queen, he had the same inordinately enduring, fixed chart as them. In his case his Taurus Sun opposed Saturn square Jupiter in Aquarius opposition Neptune.  So he would be continually playing with the idea of opposition and complexity.

Neptune would give him vision. Jupiter in Aquarius humanitarianism and a broad canvas for his rich creativity. Saturn in Scorpio an obsessive drive to get it right.

His chart is replete with quintiles and septiles – 5^th and 7^th Harmonics which are both highly creative.

Like David Attenborough, he had a talented brother, a barrister who also became a playwright with Sleuth.

Revisiting Muhammad Ali now that I’ve read more about his life, what is striking is how universally loved and admired he was despite his flaws. Top-class sportsmen tend to be deified and expected to be transcendent human beings, until such time as they start losing and turn out to be less than divine. As he disintegrated into Parkinson’s syndrome caused by years of taking punches, he seemed to become even more of an icon, his earlier transgressions airbrushed out.

There’s no doubt in his earlier years he was abusively unpleasant to Joe Frazier, Floyd Patterson and others before fights; he was vehemently against mixed marriages given his vocal dislike of the ‘white man’, the latter admittedly for good reason; and was a serial adulterer.

But he hit the zeitgeist at the right time in the 1960s in the midst of the civil rights and Vietnam War turmoil, when television was beginning to make its mark and stood up for his right to be himself and take charge of his own destiny, no matter the cost.

Hugh McIlvanney wrote in the Sunday Times: ‘His appeal owed at least as much to the effect of a beautiful and magnetising physical presence and an essentially unsophisticated but uniquely captivating personality.’

‘Ali was never remotely convincing as a hater and his admirers didn’t feel they were being naive in claiming to recognise, beyond what they saw as outrageous role-playing, the lovable core of an intrinsically good man.’ ‘He could be genuinely witty and his best comedic rifts were extraordinarily, lyrically, imaginative.’

Additional thoughts to the previous post. His three planets in Aquarius – Moon Mercury Venus would lend him a quirky humour. Initially it had a sledgehammer punch with Mercury widely opposition Pluto square Mars, with the rougher edges smoothed out by the trine to Jupiter and no doubt by maturity. Though Frazier never forgave him for his insults.  Venus in the 7^th gave him great charm.

There’s a sense of tremendous control and endurance in his chart with that Earth Grand Trine, onto a Kite focal point Pluto, which would stand him in good stead through tough years of training and fighting. As would those seven Fixed planets.

Fixed planets by their nature have an acquisitive streak, as does an Earth Grand Trine. It’s arguable his fighting on, against medical advice that he was heading for irreversible brain damage, was the downside of his striving and indeed his stubbornness. He couldn’t stop. Even in latter years when he wasn’t running his own affairs, he was wheeled out as a kind of brand commodity as a symbol of goodwill.

His Neptune is well aspected in his chart, trine his Sun and Saturn Uranus and sextile his Pluto and he undoubtedly was a force for good, coming to represent the embodiment of self-determination, which encouraged and motivated others.

Apart from his fight wins, the two key moments in his life were his refusal to serve in Vietnam when tr Neptune was opposing his Saturn Uranus (and thus shaking his Grand Trine). And his Solar Arc Neptune was moving to square his Sun.

The second was the moment when he shakily lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta in 1996 and all his past controversial behaviour was forgiven. That was when tr Neptune was conjunct his Sun (and rippling round the Grand Trine again) and his Solar Arc Pluto was conjunct his Neptune.

So Neptune softened down what is potentially quite a hard chart, bringing his healing energy to the fore, boosted by the tremendous strength which underpinned his personality.

Born around the same time as him were: Rene Angelil, the husband/manager of Celine Dion, born the day before.  And singing star and actor Michael Crawford born two days after. Stephen Hawking, the physicist with motor neurone disease, was born a week earlier.

Muhammad Ali has died, renowned as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, with fulsome tributes flowing in universally, led by Barack Obama.

He was larger than life in personality as well as physically, stood up for his beliefs in refusing to fight in the Vietnam War, joined the Black Muslims and ranted like an ego-maniac to psych himself up before fights; and had a complicated emotional life. But he was still loved and admired and gained an iconic status even after he retired from the ring, too late to prevent brain damage.

Born 17 January 1942 6.35 pm Louisville, Kentucky, he had a very Earthy and Fixed chart. His hard-working 6^th house Capricorn Sun was trine Saturn Uranus in Taurus in the 10^th trine Neptune in Virgo, formed into a Kite by Sun opposition Pluto – so powerful, influential, controlling. His Pluto was also opposition an Aquarius Moon Mercury square Mars in Taurus – so he packed a very solid punch.

He also had Venus in Aquarius in his 7^th so exceedingly charming, despite a chart which could have turned him bad. The Moon Mercury Venus in Aquarius trine Jupiter in Gemini in the 10^th undoubtedly helped to soften the edges of what was quite a brutal chart.

His get-it-together 5^th Harmonic was strong with an accented Uranus and he did try to make a difference, and succeeded in bringing racism to public attention. His determined 8H and his victim/healer 12H were also strong; as was his genius 13H. But most notable is his leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17.

What a tragedy he didn’t retire from the ring earlier.