Astrology of Today’s News

John Le Carre’s The Night Manager made into a lavish BBC six-parter has been a ratings hit. Hugh Laurie, who played the amoral, sophisticated arms’ dealer, has added another success to his belt in a long and astonishingly varied career. Long gone is the hapless, witless Bertie Wooster morphed through grumpy genius Dr House which made Laurie the highest earning television actor for several years with multiple awards to boot and now a prime time baddie up there with Blofeld.

Born 11 June 1959 in London, tentative time 4.30pm, he’s a Sun Gemini, so no surprises about the breadth of his range. That sextiles onto a showy and unpredictable Moon Uranus in Leo. With Venus Mars also in flamboyant Leo in a creative, showbiz square to Neptune in Scorpio. Plus a hard-working Saturn in Capricorn opposition Mercury, trine/sextile Pluto – so a depressive though also highly conscientious streak. And a confident Pluto square Jupiter in money-attracting Scorpio.

His actor’s 15^th Harmonic is very strong.

He evidently bought the option on Le Carre’s book but it never made it to the screen so this time round he offered his services and was snapped up.

John Le Carre, 19 October 1931, former spy and spy writer extraordinaire, has a tough chart with a Libra Sun opposition Uranus square Pluto opposition Saturn in Capricorn. So one of the early Depression generation, whose mother abandoned the family when he was young and his con-man father didn’t give him an easy transition into adult life. His Pluto is trine Mars in Scorpio and his Uranus is trine Jupiter in Leo so it would stiffen his spine and give him a taste for adventure.

His Jupiter is conjunct Laurie’s Moon Uranus and Le Carre’s Mars is conjunct Laurie’s Jupiter – so a good connection for fun and enthusiasm.

Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor in the infamous OJ Simpson trial, was born 31 August 1953 12.35pm Oakland, California (ADB). She said the trial, which turned into a media circus and focused more on racial issues than two dead victims, ruined her life. So she wasn’t looking forward to seeing it all dragged up again in a new ten part television series. She was so disgusted by the verdict in 1995 she resigned from the law and wrote a book ‘Without a Doubt’ which is now sailing back up the best seller list, has written several crime novels and now handles some criminal appeals.

She has a very strong, ambitious and legal-orientated chart. Her Sun Mercury in Virgo are in her 10^th square a Gemini Moon at the end of the 7^th.  But it is her lawyerly 9^th house which is eye catching. An ultra-determined and relentless Mars Pluto in Leo are there on the midpoint of a mini-Grand Trine to Neptune Saturn in Libra trine Jupiter in Gemini. Uranus and creative Venus in Leo are also in her 9^th, often a writer’s house as well.

When the not guilty verdict was announced on 3 October 1995 she had tr Pluto square her MC which is often a devastating career setback; with an enfuriated and trapped tr Pluto square her Sun/Mars midpoint as well. Plus a disappointing tr Neptune opposition Mars/Jupiter and Jupiter/Pluto eroding her confidence and hopes.

In the aftermath tr Saturn in Pisces moved to square her Jupiter, dipping her enthusiasm further. Tr Neptune was also square her Neptune and Saturn, opposition her Uranus – so a troubled time especially for her belief in a fair world (Saturn Neptune).

At the moment she looks up and down with high hopes, great insecurity and some disillusionment. Tr Jupiter is moving through her 10^th across the transmission which will boost her profile. Tr Uranus has moved on a quarter of the zodiac to be opposing her Neptune Saturn and square her Uranus this year, as it was through the trial.

She’s a robust and redoubtable lady but with tr Saturn now into her 2^nd house, in a generally less successful patch of her life. She’ll have a major setback in about 18 months time and be changing direction again by 2018 with tr Uranus trine her MC.

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Bernie Sanders won all three states who were voting on Saturday, giving his campaign heart though he’ll still struggle to make up his delegate deficit. His uplift came with tr Uranus sextile his Jupiter which finishes on April 1^st.

He starts to look really uneasy from April 20^th and especially through May when tr Uranus opposes first his Venus and is then conjunct his Mars in Aries.

May and June are also where Donald Trump starts to pick up much more difficult, high-tension and jolting transits to his Saturn and also several Mars midpoints, some running through till early September.

Former Tory MP and aide to Margaret Thatcher, Matthew Parris, used his Times column to launch an attack on Boris Johnson which has sent the twittersphere into hyper-mode. He accused Johnson, Mayor of London and pro-Brexit leader, of ‘alleged dishonesty, vacuity, sexual impropriety and veiled homophobia’.

Parris, 7 Aug 1949 Johannesburg, South Africa; Boris Johnson 19 June 1964 2pm New York, USA.

Parris is a controlled/controlling Sun Pluto in Leo which sits square to Johnson’s head-in-the-clouds Jupiter in Taurus opposition Neptune so MP will find his BJ’s flights of fancy hard to stomach. MP’s meticulous Saturn in Virgo is also conjunct BJ’s maverick Uranus; and MP’s volatile Mars Uranus in Cancer is conjunct BJ’s North Node and MC. Mars on another’s MC can indicate rivalry and therefore envy.

Their relationship chart is a real mixture with a composite Sun trine Jupiter and square Neptune so blowing hot and cold, between liking (Jupiter) and distrusting (Neptune).With an envious Mars trine Neptune and a power-struggling Mars sextile Pluto. The composite Mars is also square Jupiter which often hints that the chemistry between the individuals prompts rash actions.

Radovan Karadzic, former Bosnian Serb leader has been convicted of genocide and war crimes and sentenced to 40 years in jail. He is the most senior political figure to face conviction over the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Almost 100,000 died in the Bosnian War (1992-95) and an especial horror for which Karadzic was held responsible was the Srebrenica massacre of 8000 Muslims men and boys.

Born 19 June 1945 (11.51am, Petnijica, Montenegro: astrotheme), he has Sun and Uranus in Gemini both square Jupiter in Virgo. What is significant about his chart, which shares some similarities with Adolf Hitler, is Mars Venus in Taurus sextile Saturn, square Pluto. Hitler also had Venus Mars conjunct in Taurus square Saturn; with Mars Venus trine Jupiter. Mars in Taurus can have a very unpleasant side.  At the moment he has his Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his Jupiter, dampening his confidence as he faces the rest of his life in prison.

Ratko Mladic, 12 March 1943, the former Bosnian Serb military leader, is also on trial at The Hague for similar crimes. He’s a Sun Pisces trine Jupiter; with an Air Grand Trine of Mars in Aquarius trine Uranus Saturn (Moon) in Gemini trine Neptune, formed into a Kite by Mars opposition Pluto. So chillingly cold, cruel and ruthless.  A surfeit of trines and sextiles in a chart can also surprisingly be cruel. His Gemini Moon is heavily linked to all four of the outer planets and Mars.

Najim Laachraoui, 18 May 1991, is one of the suspected Brussels bombers, still on the run, and thought to be the bomb maker there and for the Paris atrocities last year.

His Taurus Sun is conjunct the Fixed star Algol, the destroyer, (see Black Widow post below), and opposition Pluto so ultra-determined.  His chart has several oppositions – one from Mars (Moon) in Cancer opposition North Node Neptune (Uranus) in Capricorn; Venus in Cancer opposition Uranus Neptune; and Jupiter in Leo opposition Saturn. He’ll constantly be wobbling from side to side trying to find balance.

The ISIS 2006 focal point Jupiter is conjunct his Pluto, no doubt spurring him on; with the ISIS Mars square his Pluto.

He has an exuberant Solar Arc Uranus opposition his Jupiter now; though some high-risk and insecure Mars midpoint transits and Neptune midpoints this year and next.

Two brothers blew themselves up in Brussels. Khalid El Bakraoui, 12 January 1989, was a Sun Capricorn square Mars in Aries, trine Jupiter; with the triple conjunction of Uranus Saturn Neptune in Capricorn all conjunct Venus; and a Pisces Moon and North Node. He’d be impulsive, aggressive, confident and emotionally very high-wire and changeable. Several ISIS followers have the Pisces North Node or other planets there.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 9 October 1989, was a Sun Libra at 105 degrees to Mars in Aquarius and inconjunct Jupiter in Pisces; with Mars square Pluto Mercury in Scorpio. Again a stressed personality, angry, hugely frustrated with confidence that veered from over to under.

Salah Abdeslam, 15 September 1989, who took part in the Paris bombings but fled to Belgium and was arrested last week, has a Sun Mars in Virgo square Uranus; with Uranus conjunct Saturn Neptune opposition Jupiter; Venus Pluto in Scorpio; and a Pisces Moon.  So a similarly revved-up Mars plus emotional intensity.  His Sun Mars are conjunct the France North Node Sun in Virgo so it would be a particular flash point for him. He’s now being extradited back there.

Actor Laurence Fox and actress Billie Piper have announced their marriage with two children is splitting after eight years.

She was born 22 September 1982 10.20pm Swindon, England and he 26 May 1978.

She’s a Sun Venus in Virgo with Moon Mars Uranus conjunct in Sagittarius; while he is a Sun Gemini with a Moon in Capricorn/Aquarius, with Venus Jupiter in Cancer; a stressed Mars in Leo conjunct Saturn and square Uranus; and a Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Mercury in Taurus.

Both look fairly argumentative with a short fuse which may have been a problem. And additionally they have quite individualistic charts. She has all her planets bunched within a square from the 4^th house to her Descendant so she’ll be quite tunnel-visioned and with Neptune on her Desc will either attract Neptunian types who find commitment tricky or she’ll be the same. He isn’t too settled within himself with that Yod and afflicted Mars – very charming but constantly feeling out of step or held back.

Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus but also a power-struggling Mars Pluto conjunction; and a doubting Saturn square Neptune. It’s a shame since there was obviously a good deal of love there in the first place.

Billie Piper has tr Saturn aiming for her 7^th now and the March Pisces Solar Eclipse was opposition her Venus which is usually an emotional upset.

A suicide bomb went off at Brussels Airport just after 8am this morning and an hour later another at a metro station. At least 26 are thought to be dead with many more injured. This comes only four days after Salah Abdeslam, one of the Paris bombers, was arrested in Brussels.

The Lunar Eclipse tomorrow at 3 degrees Libra/Aries sits conjunct the MC/IC axis when located to Brussels so hugely significant.  The Full Moon is sextile/trine Mars in crusading Sagittarius So fiery, aggressive.

The first bomb went off as tr Pluto was conjunct the MC (for Brussels) and trine Jupiter Moon in Virgo in the 5^th – so audacious, destructive, controlling and attention-seeking.

Whether it was an ‘official’ ISIS atrocity or not, the perpetrators will undoubtedly be supporters. With pressure increasing on their Middle Eastern strongholds and finances, it was expected they would ‘diversify’ into covert random attacks on the European mainland.

The ISIS 15 Oct 2006 chart does show increasing pressure and also a radical change of direction this year with tr Uranus trine Saturn and trine Pluto. Tr Uranus has just moved over the opposition to the ISIS Venus, to which it returns until early 2017; plus tr Uranus opposing Sun Mars from April, through June and onwards till early 2018. So an explosive, disruptive time ahead; but also enough Jupiter natally and in transit to suggest it won’t be a sudden implosion, but will drag on and on.

It’s difficult to see how Europe – Belgium, France and the UK especially – with large pockets of poor, disenfranchised and bitter Muslim youth is going to cope.

The EU/ISIS relationship is aggravated and chilly this year, moving through a time of tension towards an even larger upset by 2018.

There’s a possible time of 1.52pm for the Belgium national chart, 4 October 1830. That puts the Libra Sun in the 9^th opposition Pluto square Jupiter conjunct the Capricorn Ascendant.   The Lunar Eclipse in Libra/Aries is certainly sparking off that T square. And the earlier Pisces Solar Eclipse this month was conjunct the Belgium Mars and opposition Venus pointing to a crisis, risk and emotional upset.

On that start time the Solar Arc Uranus is also exactly square the 13 Scorpio MC for a considerable shock and change of direction. Tr Pluto is also exactly square the Venus/MC midpoint and conjunct the Mars/MC – again an emotional shock, plus anger and destruction. Tr Neptune is square the Asc/MC midpoint so undermining the country’s sense of itself; and within less than a degree of being square the Jupiter/MC which again lowers confidence.  Plus a confused and highly anxious tr Saturn conjunct Neptune/MC.  So that time does seem to hold good.

Andy Grove, a Silicon Valley pioneer in semi-conductors, helped to raise Intel to be the largest of its kind in the world. His obituaries today sing his praises as being truly unique, talented, tenacious and innovative. Born 2 September 1936 to a Jewish family in Budapest, he survived the war by hiding with his mother, then had to suffer further hardship under the Communist invasion, escaping finally in 1956 to the USA.

He was a Sun Neptune in Virgo opposition Saturn (Moon) in Pisces square an optimistic Jupiter in Sagittarius. So idealistic, a great enthusiast, creative and also a worrier and regretful of his past. His Saturn was trine Pluto giving him a tough streak; and his Mars in Leo was trine Jupiter and square Uranus –  adventurous and not scared to take risks.

His Mercury in Libra was conjunct his successful, powerfully confident Jupiter/Pluto midpoint. And his Pluto was square his Sun/Jupiter midpoint so he had the drive to make his own luck.

His Harmonics are interesting with a disciplined and lively get-it-together 5^th Harmonic; a hard-driving  ‘obsessive dream’ 11H. A strong 13^th Harmonic – which is associated with upheaval, exploration, genius and breaking with the orthodox. An endurance 16H; a leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H; and a superstar 22H.