Astrology of Today’s News

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Russian oligarch who spent 10 years in a Russian jail after saying he would run against Putin, is now ensconced in London. The invasion of the Crimea made him break his promise to himself and his family not to re-enter politics. He says he is the anti-Putin and wants to replace him with a democracy; and is ready when Putin topples to step into the breach. He has given himself ten years for this to happen. Though the possibility of an assassination must always be an ever present concern.

Born 26 June 1963, he’s a Sun Cancer with Uranus (Moon) Pluto Mars in Virgo so not short of determination or courage. He’s also got a Yod of Mars sextile Neptune inconjunct Jupiter, which if handled well could allow him to pursue ideals which would have a favourable effect on his society. Though over-confidence and foolhardiness could be a downside.

Despite his brave words, he doesn’t look to be making much headway this year with tr Neptune opposition his Mars Pluto with tr Saturn square Mars Pluto; and a sinking Solar Arc Neptune opposition Sun this year into 2017 as well. Mishaps aside, he’ll be pushing on nonetheless with tr Pluto square his focal point Jupiter till the end of 2017.

His Saturn in Aquarius opposes Putin’s controlling Pluto MC – so it will be an unyielding battle of opposing attitudes. MK’s Mars Pluto and Uranus also fall in Putin’s 10^th (9.30am birth time) which would also suggest a tussle for power.

Their relationship chart has an explosive and at cross-purposes Mars Neptune square. There is a definite shift in their relationship this year as Khodorkovsky comes out of the shadows with tr Uranus trine the composite Sun. But it’ll be 2019/2020 when (all being equal) that trouble really brews between them, as tr Uranus then in Taurus starts to oppose the composite Mars Neptune, at the run up to the next Presidential election.

Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa, should face corruption charges over a 1999 arms deal, the High Court has ruled. The charges were dropped just weeks before the 2009 election which led to Jacob Zuma becoming president. It’s certainly a blow to Zuma though there is still doubt about whether it will go to trial.

His 2^nd term chart, 24 May 2014 11.35am, has the de-stabilising Solar Arc Pluto square Uranus, exact in just a few weeks’ time. That chart was always descriptive of a term of rolling crises with a Cardinal Grand Cross of Pluto opposition Jupiter square Mars opposition Uranus Moon. It certainly suggest riding roughshod across rules and regulations, bullish over-confidence but also good luck.

His personal chart has tr Uranus conjunct his Aries Sun exactly now and running on and off into 2017. With setbacks from tr Saturn opposition his buccaneering Mars Jupiter in Gemini later this year.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are entirely different personality types.

Hillary is very Fixed with Sun plus Venus Mercury in intense, secretive Scorpio; magnified by having Mercury Venus square a formidable Mars Pluto Saturn in Leo. So die-or-die determined, unbudgeable, built for the long haul, good in crises, a forceful speaker both on a platform and at close quarters. She’ll certainly be very defensive and controlling with all that Pluto and Scorpio. My impression – from a distance – was that she gained a fair few credits for her time as Secretary of State (apart from Benghazi) when she seemed tireless and not a publicity-seeker. One commentator described her as ‘more of a workhorse than a show pony.’

She’s a Water/Fire type – so more passionate and excitable than is allowed to show.

She’s certainly got a strong 9^th Harmonic which often goes with a lust for money; as well as the obsessive-dream 11H; and leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H. Europeans weren’t as fussed as Americans about the whole Bill/Monica and why-didn’t-Hillary-leave-him thing. In France it wouldn’t even have made the papers let alone an indictment.

Bernie Sanders on the other hand is fairly Mutable – with a Virgo Sun and Neptune, Jupiter and Uranus in Gemini – so more flexible but also more inclined to blow around in the prevailing breeze. His chart is Earth, Fire, Air and lacking in Water which is strange since he puts himself across as the compassionate one.

He’s also got a sociable and charming Venus in Libra trine Jupiter and opposition Mars Moon in Aries. That might make me wonder about a) superficiality (Venus Jupiter); and b) insensitivity (Moon Mars opp Venus). It’s not that I think Hillary is remotely sensitive but although she’s deeply secretive, in some ways she is what she is. While with him I might wonder whether there’s more hidden behind the reasonable facade than appears. He can certainly talk well with Mercury in Libra trine Uranus, sextile Pluto – but is also quite controlling. He’s also got a strong 11H and 17H.

Politicians (generalising wildly) are all flawed one way or another and you generally can’t tell till they are in office how they’ll cope.

May, and indeed June, will shake a few things out of the tree for Sanders and Trump, so be interesting to see what transpires.

Please post below ……………

Ted Cruz has picked Carly Fiorina as a putative running mate (he’s hopeful!). She’s best known for her tenure as CEO of Hewlett Packard, which was not a resounding success.

It’s not exactly a match made for harmony since her Mars in Capricorn is conjunct his Sun; and her Saturn in Scorpio is conjunct his Mars; and her Mercury in Virgo is conjunct his Pluto – so argumentative, potentially lots of bitter, no-win discussions. Admittedly her Jupiter Uranus falls in his 10^th if 1am is a sound birth time, which could give him a boost.

Their relationship chart isn’t reassuring either in chemistry or influences.  There’s a Sun Venus Neptune conjunction square Saturn – so friendliness obliterated by suspicion on both sides; plus an explosive, power-struggling composite Mars square Pluto Uranus.

Tr Neptune will start to oppose that Pluto from June 2^nd for the month and tr Saturn will also square Pluto – so undermined and blocked.

What bright spark decided to ask for public suggestions to name a new £200m polar research ship for the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)? It will be a beacon for the UK’s role at the forefront of climate and ocean research. The question unleashed the idiot mob who voted for Boaty MacBoatface – which one presumes they’ll duck once it gets to launch date.

The deal was signed with Birkenhead shipyard Cammell Laird late on November 19 2015; the first steel will be cut this June and completion aimed for 2019.

The deal chart has the anxiously uncertain Saturn square Neptune; a powerfully confident Jupiter trine Pluto; and a formidable Uranus opposition Venus (Mars) square Pluto. That last slightly suggests some mishaps along the way of the build with a frustrating Mars square Pluto; or worse, high-risk in 2025 when it will be seagoing.

All going to plan, the June hull laying again has the confident Jupiter trine Pluto; but also that tricky, sticky Saturn square Neptune, maybe formed into a T square by Mercury. So worrisome.

The launch date in 2019 will have the Saturn Pluto conjunction which is tough, which it would need to be to survive in arctic waters. But it could also point to delays; plus an over-hopeful and maybe over-budget Jupiter square Neptune.

Why oh why does it take decades before cover-ups and lies are uncovered? 27 years on an inquest jury has found the 96 victims of the crush at a Hillsborough football match were unlawfully killed and pinpointed police failures before and after the 1989 FA Cup semi-final. There are now calls for senior police officers to be held accountable for the deaths; and for perverting the course of justice, perjury and misconduct in public office, as they blamed drunkenness amongst fans as the cause for the disaster in the aftermath.

The disaster happened around 3.06pm on 15 April 1989 in Sheffield, England. The chart itself is not on first sight that descriptive. The potentially chaotic triple conjunction of Uranus Neptune Saturn in Capricorn certainly fell in the 5^th house of sport and entertainment. And there was a bleak sextile of Saturn to a 3^rd house Pluto which does reasonably describe pressures on getting about.

It does have Jupiter in the 10^th somewhat similar to 9/11 which has Jupiter conjunct MC, not exactly what you’d expect of expansive, lucky Jupiter. In the Hillsborough chart the Jupiter is further emphasised being square North Node opposition the Virgo Ascendant. Jupiter’s tendency to expand, exaggerating the bad as well as the good. The 10^th house Mars is also emphasised being on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine from an Aries Sun Venus trine Leo Moon.

The Hillsborough midpoints are more stark with Pluto = Mars/Uranus which is sudden destructive violence. And the North Node = Mars/Pluto = Sun/Saturn = Sun/Neptune which is brutal, muddled, rigidity (Saturn) leading to asphyxiation (Neptune).

Just out of interest tho’ I don’t normally pay that much attention to Fixed Stars I had a look since the chart itself seemed sparse on detail.

The Midheaven was conjunct Algol which has a reputation for violence and extreme danger.

Mars was conjunct Bellatrix indicating reckless behaviour leading to physical injury.

Mercury which is emphasised in the chart conjunct Hamal, associated with brutality and cruelty.

Venus which sits on the cusp of the legal 9^th house was conjunct Alpherg indicating success through determined effort. And it has certainly taken a relentless campaign by a small group of people for this to come to a conclusion albeit very very late in the day.

The 8^th and 16^th Harmonics are strong, unpleasantly so which is to be expected. The 8H is especially has a T Square of Saturn opposition Mars square Sun; two Mystic Rectangles made up from Mars opposition Saturn, Pluto opposition Jupiter and Venus opposition Uranus which are sextile/trine each other And Sun inconjunct Pluto. So an unholy mix of sudden violence and destruction with emotional shocks.

At the moment tr Pluto is opposition the disaster Solar Arc Mars; and tr Uranus sextile Mars as the excruciatingly slow process moves on a decisive step. Whatever charges now ensue may come in 2017/18 as tr Uranus is conjunct the disaster Sun and then Venus, trining the Moon, bringing relief for the families of victims.

Philip Green,  wealthy businessman and darling of Tony Blair and David Cameron, is facing calls that he lose his knighthood and be made to repay the £400 million he took out of retailer British Home Stores in dividends in the years before he sold it for £1. It has now collapsed with a £571 million pension fund deficit. What were the pension regulators doing? That money is kept in a separate fund.

Green, 15 March 1952, is a Sun Pisces (same as Rupert Murdoch). In his case it is on the focal point of a Yod to a Pluto sextile Neptune in Libra – so an ego that veers around erratically. He’s also got an innovative focal point Uranus in Cardinal Cancer square Mercury in Aries opposition Saturn – so a tendency to push against boundaries and can be both a reformer as well as a catalyst for chaos. His Mars (Moon) in Scorpio is in an ultra-determined square to Pluto and trine Uranus – not scared to take risks.

His 9^th Harmonic, often strong when money is involved, does indeed have a eye-popping and formidably determined as well as lucky Jupiter Pluto Uranus conjunction trine Saturn; with an accented Neptune as well.

At the moment he’s got a frustrating and irritable tr Pluto sextile his Mars and tr Uranus opposition his Neptune exact at the moment, shaking his Yod. Solar Arc Mars is in a panicky square to his Neptune this year; with a swampy, dissolving Solar Arc Neptune square his Sun in 2017, also triggering his Yod. So a time of significant challenge for him.

The whacko North Korean leader Kim-Jong Un has been test firing missiles from a rickety submarine in what is meant to be a show of force. Though those most at risk are probably the poor sailors on board. His people are starving yet he’s sunk millions if not billions into military spending to boost his status. As well as bumping off an increasing number of high-level officials internally, leading some commentators to suggest that a breaking point for a mutiny or coup is coming sometime soon.

His Leadership chart, 29 Dec 2011 11.57am Pyonggang, does look at its most precarious through 2017/2018 as the control-freak Sun Pluto conjunction comes exact to the square to Uranus by Solar Arc. From mid 2017 tr Uranus opposes the Leadership Saturn and throughout 2017/18 tr Pluto will trine Mars – so high tensions erupting, and high risk.

The North Korea chart, 9 Sept 1948 5.27pm?, has a 16 degree Virgo Sun so is up and down this year with tr Jupiter conjunct and tr Saturn in square. There could be some movement towards improvements from mid 2017 with tr Uranus trine the NK Saturn though it’s unlikely to happen without major disruption. And by 2018 tr Neptune will oppose the NK Sun for an undermining time right through till early 2020. If he does go, what replaces him may not be that wonderful.

So not much respite for the poor downtrodden peasants, those who are still alive.

As Hillary Clinton draws closer to clinching the Democratic nomination, a possible FBI indictment looms larger, for use of a private email server to handle classified information when she was secretary of state. Immunity has recently been granted to an aide who set up her private email server, which in normal circumstances means charges are in the offing. Insider murmurs are that political pressure will be/has been brought to bear to side track any charges, since she is regarded as Obama Mark 3, leading some to suggest the FBI may leak their findings.

At the moment (April 21 to 7 May) she has tr Uranus opposition her Sun/Neptune midpoint which Ebertin describes as ‘nervousness, sudden excitements or upsets, crisis, mourning, illness.’ That repeats late October across the election. It could just be nervous exhaustion since Ebertin does tend to dramatise a touch.

However her relationship charts with FBI (26 July 1908); and FBI (22 March 1935) – both show huge stress this year, especially the FBI 1935 with tr Pluto conjunct the composite Sun through June to mid July. That could be make or break time.

Tr Uranus is also opposition her Solar Arc Mars Pluto conjunction from late May right through till early October, across the Democratic convention. That could overturn her applecart altogether. At the very least it’ll be extremely testing.

Whatever possessed her to do something that stupid??