Astrology of Today’s News

Repressive Saturn Pluto, historically associated with suppression of religious difference and the imposition of great hardship on underdogs, clearly won out over the more liberal minded Saturn Neptune. Trump’s victory may be taken as a victory for the little man against the capitalist overlords; but it is in part xenophobic and racist, a vote against those-not-like-me.

An astrological apology: It’s where getting invested in or repelled by one candidate rather than staying detached gets in the way of interpretations. Trump has his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Jupiter, exactly now and over the Inauguration. On anyone else’s chart I’d have said a win was a no-brainer. But it was so beyond unthinkable, I wriggled around trying to find other reasons for some other giant success in his life.

Tr Pluto is also back to square his Jupiter from early January, and repeating on and off till late 2017. This will puff up his self-importance and, as last year, push him into going a step too far, careering off like a loose cannon, making wild comments and assuming in his grandiosity that rules don’t apply to him. More minutiae in later days.

His aggravated/likely war zones are China with his Mars Descendant there. Libya and south through central Africa and north through eastern Europe where his Mars MC runs. And the eastern seaboard of the USA – relocating his chart to Washington DC puts his bombastic, over-bearing Mars in Leo exactly on his Ascendant.

Hopes for restraining him lie with Mike Pence, his VP, who made a decent showing at his debate – right-wing, evangelist, not pro-LGBT, but with political experience and spoke out against Trump’s more intemperate remarks about women and Muslims, and not a huge fan of Russia’s efforts to prop up Assad in Syria.

He could be well positioned in 2020 with tr Pluto sextile his Jupiter, having lived through some rough patches before then.

That just about puts the tin lid on this year. I could make some unwise comments about democracy being too important to be left to the mob, but probably I shouldn’t.

It’s anyone’s guess as the dreaded day is upon us after 575 days of campaigning and $2.1bn spent. The greatest ‘known unknown’ since whenever as it goes down to the wire, too close to call, with polls all over the place. Scandals galore tarnished both candidates, though in an odd way sticking more to Clinton than Trump – in the USA anyway. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, it awaits in horror at even the possibility of a Trump Presidency.

Hollande of France said: “His excesses end up giving a retching feeling.” Only North Korea described him as “a wise politician and a prescient presidential candidate.”

“It needs no underlining that a Trump win would be an indelible, eternal stain on the US. How a pussy-grabbing, race-baiting, tangerine-hued pantomime ogre with the attention span of a labrador puppy, the moral sensibilities of a slum landlord, the verbal dexterity of a stroke victim, and the default vindictiveness of a mafia capo could be so close to such an office remains indescribably hard to believe.” Matthew Norman, Independent uk.

But here we are. The midpoints for Election Day do give a clear indication of the over wrought nerves, alarm, consternation and trepidation around as the world awaits the verdict.

Sun = Saturn/Pluto – fanatical, mass struggle, cold, stuck.

Sun = Uranus/Neptune = Uranus/Node, which like Saturn/Pluto are all at 0 degrees Cardinal – upsets, confusion, can be violent, family quarrels, lack of self-control, highly strung.

Saturn conjunct Sun/Pluto and = Mars – ruthless striving for power, stuck, discouraging, angry.

Uranus square Mars/Pluto = Neptune – violence, calamity, cunning and deceit.

Pluto = Sun/Saturn – road blocked and depressed.

The Sun Saturn Pluto theme repeats in various combinations.

From the Astrological History of the World on Saturn Pluto:  “Tremendous resistance to adversity and a formidable defensiveness come to the fore when these two tough, essentially masculine energies come together. Their appearance in tandem is usually an invitation to a walk on the dark side of life. Saturn, rigidly disciplined, status-driven, melancholy and authoritarian, has no reason to mellow when combined with Pluto’s power–hungry need for control. If anything, both planets become more entrenched when their energies are merged. Achievements of substance can occur, but only through slow, patient hard labour and usually a good deal of suffering, too. Stamina counts when they are around; some sacrifice is always demanded. Liz Greene talks of the obsessiveness, intense frustration and self-destructive quality of the merging of these two energies.” Intimations of what is to come with the Saturn Pluto conjunction in Capricorn towards the middle and end of this Presidency.

Though for Clinton fans there is the hope of this year’s, now waning, Saturn square Neptune which usually favours women in power.

Andy Murray has finally made it to No 1 and be officially crowned the world’s leading male tennis player. He already has three Grand Slam wins and two Olympic gold medals and is now the first British man to have topped the ATP world rankings since they were launched 43 years ago.

Born 15 May 1987 2.10pm Glasgow, Scotland, he has a much-travelled 9^th house Taurus Sun; with an ambitious 10^th house Mars in Gemini in an emotionally volatile opposition to Uranus Moon Saturn in Sagittarius. He is heading within weeks for his first Saturn Return so it’s a great coming-of-age achievement after years as the challenger and outsider.

What’s around on his chart at the moment is tr Pluto trine his Solar Arc Jupiter and returning to square his 8^th house Jupiter in Aries in January and through 2017. So he’s in the midst of a very Jupiterian period – always good for success and money. But there’s very little showing on his midheaven or Solar Arc MC. Nor indeed is his Solar Return very instructive (birthday 2016 Rome, Italy) except admittedly for an Earth Grand Trine of Jupiter trine Pluto trine Venus – but with all the planets in hidden houses, so this year wouldn’t have leapt out as the pinnacle of his career.

What stands out amongst his Harmonics are his get-it-together 5H which is feisty. His obsessive 11H which has a power house Mars Sun Pluto trine Moon and Mars opposition Uranus giving him the grit and perseverance to follow his dream. Strongest of all is his ‘breakthrough’ 13H which requires adaptation to change to succeed – which he certainly has done.

King Salman, the 80 year-old monarch of Saudi Arabia, is reportedly suffering from pre-dementia or another form of brain damage, though, as ever, in the deeply secretive court and country, it is difficult to get accurate details.

He took over the throne on the death from pneumonia of his half-brother, the 90 year-old King Abdullah, at 1 am on 23 January 2015. This gives a rather flashy Jupiter in Leo on the MC, but more pointedly a muddled 4^th house Moon Neptune Mars in Pisces square Saturn. Subsequent events have made it clear how much game-playing is going on within the family, more so even than usual. The impetuous young Deputy Crown Prince bin Salman is evidently at odds with the steadier Crown Prince bin Nayef, though there were reports that bin Nayef was also ill – which has been hotly denied.

On King Salman’s reign chart, the Solar Arc Moon and Neptune are moving to conjunct the Mars exactly in 4 months and 8 months’ time respectively. Plus the late Feb 2017 Solar Eclipse in Pisces will conjunct that Moon Neptune Mars – so it will become even more confusing and undermining at an internal family level.

King Salman, 31 December 1935, does have tr Uranus square his Pluto from mid 2017 which could be destabilising for someone his age and in frail health.

The kingdom is suffering from a severe economic crisis with plummeting oil prices, is slashing public spending to plug the hole in its deficit and has issued an international bond for the first time to raise money. Plus Deputy Crown Prince bin Salman has become embroiled in an expensive and destructive, no-exit war in Yemen as well as in Syria. BND, the German intelligence agency, recently published a remarkable memo talking about “an impulsive policy of intervention”. It portrayed bin Salman as a political gambler who is destabilising the Arab world through proxy wars.

There’s certainly no love lost between the Crown Prince bin Nayef, 30 Aug 1959, and his Deputy bin Salman, 31 Aug 1985.

The elder has his Sun Pluto in Virgo conjunct the younger’s Virgo Sun. But bin Salman has an ultra-determined Pluto opposition North Node in Taurus square Jupiter in Aquarius, so he’s a man on a mission from which he won’t easily be diverted. Their relationship chart has an argumentative, suspicious, bad-tempered composite Sun Mars square Neptune Saturn – with the dislike being further exacerbated by tr Neptune over the next fifteen months. And indeed looks as if it is undergoing an upheaval at the moment with tr Pluto square the composite Uranus till late this month.

Saudi Arabia is rapidly heading towards tr Pluto conjunct its Saturn in Capricorn from mid March 2017 onwards for two years which is usually a sign of hardship and economic cutbacks. There’ll be some uplift from tr Uranus square Jupiter (and the Sun) in April and December/January 2018. But it’s going to be unaccustomed deprivation for a country which has always kept the peace by doling money and benefits out lavishly to its citizens. There’s also a raft of Saturn transits hitting the SArabia Pluto and Uranus before this year end and then the Moon from March to early May and again late November which could be a time of national mourning; as well as hitting on its Neptune later in 2017. So a very uncertain time.

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Now that actress Meghan Markle seems to be a running possibility for Prince Harry (maybe) and not just a mirage in celebrity websites’ fondest hopes, it seemed worth a second look – if only to get away from political disasters on all sides.

Born 4 Aug 1981 Los Angeles, she’s an entertaining Sun Mercury in Leo; with an idealistic Jupiter Saturn (Moon) in Libra square Mars in excitable Cancer – so she’ll veer between high enthusiasm and the opposite fairly frequently. She’s also got Venus in Virgo which is picking up the tr Neptune opposition from April next year, running off and on till late 2018. This looks disappointing where love and romance are concerned. She’s also got a high-hopes ( and false happiness) tr Neptune opposition her Sun/Jupiter till January 2017 and opposition her Sun/Saturn at the same time – so she’ll be very up and down. Then has a run of confused, disruptive and very unsettled transits to midpoints through 2017. So she won’t find being in the spotlight of publicity surrounding a Royal romance as much fun as she might have expected.

‘Sources’ (usually unreliable) say she’s already met Prince Charles – that relationship looks argumentative with a composite Sun Mars; and communication-blocked with Saturn Pluto conjunct Mercury; and is sagging somewhat through 2017.

HM Queen looks half pleased and half horrified; with a composite Sun Venus opposition Jupiter as well as an awkward Mars opposition Saturn square Uranus.

Prince William looks quite enamoured of her with a composite Sun Venus square Jupiter Pluto; but won’t put up with any upstaging.

Kate Middleton looks less enchanted and would attempt to keep the upper hand as well as keeping her distance.

Prince Harry does have tr Uranus square his Sun/Moon midpoint from late February next year which can suggest separations in close relationships – or at least a major turnaround in his hopes and expectations of what he wants.

I do feel sorry for him having to play it all out in the spotlight and indeed having to find a partner who could survive that gilded cage.

The High Court judgement that Westminster must vote on whether the Government can trigger formal Article 50 notification of Brexit has put the cat amongst the pigeons. Though for all the yowling, it seems not unreasonable that in a parliamentary democracy, elected members should have their say and not be sidelined.

Theresa May does look very uptight at the moment with tr Saturn just off the square to her singleton Mars, now exactly square her intense Mercury/Pluto midpoint, then within a few days it will conjunct her Mars/Jupiter further dampening her enthusiasm. Tr Saturn then wends across a series of depressing squares to her Sun/Venus, Jupiter and her Sun/Pluto through this month into December.

It will go to a Supreme Court appeal which is likely to be December at the earliest.

She looks in full crisis mode next February with tr Pluto square her Sun/Neptune and tr Uranus square her Mars/Saturn – surrounded by confusion and finding that one deception or delusion is unravelling; and under great nervous pressure due to an unexpected shock. It needn’t all be down to Brexit negotiations. Her Term chart also looks seriously rattled at the same time.

Possibilities are an extended debate which would drag the uncertainty out further or an early election to give her a more workable majority. In either case she will have to reveal her Brexit plans which she has been noticeably reluctant to do to date – if they exist.

Will he or won’t he go? Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s President failed to stop publication of a report which pointed to evidence of possible corruption at the top level of his government. Disapproval of his seven years in office which has been marked by scandal and economic stagnation is being openly voiced by big business, major unions and even senior members of the ANC. The Nelson Mandela Foundation talked about the “wheels coming off” with him at the helm. It is reckoned that the rand might lift by 15% were he to go before 2019.

His 2^nd Term chart, 24 May 2014 11.35am Pretoria, is at its most precarious at the moment with the disruptive tr Pluto square Uranus and the even more destabilising Solar Arc Pluto closing the square to Uranus to exact. But that chart has a bullishly pushy Pluto opposition Jupiter (= rules don’t apply to me) so he could brass-neck it out.

His own personal chart, 12 April 1942, has a discouraging and confidence-dampening tr Saturn opposition his Jupiter Mars in late November and late December, followed by a jolting tr Uranus conjunct his Sun in February 2017 – so his wobbles will continue. Though he’s also got tr Pluto trine his Sun/Jupiter in 2017/18 which looks ominously confident.

Shades of Ivanka Trump. I’d forgotten that Chelsea Clinton had also acquired a father-in-law who did federal time for financial crimes. Her husband Marc Mezvinsky’s father embezzled more than $10 million dollars from people via a Ponzi scheme and a Nigerian email scam and ended up doing five years inside.

The two Chelsea Clinton babies – Charlotte 26 Sep 2014 7.03 pm New York, and Aidan 18 June 2016 7.41 am New York – don’t have the easiest of charts. Both admittedly have charming Sun Venus conjunctions which suggests an affectionate tie to their father. But their Moon and 10th house aspects suggest a more confused and tricky relationship with their mother. Charlotte has a Scorpio Moon trine Neptune, sextiling onto a 10^th house Pluto – so a mother who is both overly controlling and inaccessible, evasive or needs support. Aidan has a Moon Saturn opposition Mercury square Neptune opposition Jupiter and a 10^th house Uranus – so an over-hardworking mother, cool, rigid but also nervy and confused; and unpredictable, erratic and not always there.

Charlotte has Saturn and Mars both in the 8^th – so strong grandparental influence of a not productive variety.

The composite charts between Chelsea and both children are mainly challenging, with some uplift from Jupiter. With Charlotte, there’s a composite Sun trine Jupiter, sextiling on to a hard-edged Mars Saturn conjunction which is also square Neptune.

With Aidan, there’s a composite Sun trine Jupiter, inconjunct Pluto, opposition Saturn and square Neptune Uranus; with Moon Mars trine Uranus (Neptune) sextile Pluto – that’s a real guddle of a little positive and quite a lot of negative. I’d doubt if either of the children get much me-time. In neither case are the composite Venuses much aspected or integrated and the composite Moons aren’t great either, especially in Aidan’s case. So there’s a feeling disconnect.

Their father Marc, 15 Dec 1977, was a Goldman Sachs investment banker who co-founded his own hedge fund which now appears to be failing badly, having lost 90% of its value on an ill-timed bet on Greek economic recovery. How stupid was that??

Yet another book on Hillary Clinton by Ed Stein (Guilty as Sin) has dropped nuggets of gossip about the tangled relationships between Hillary, daughter Chelsea and aide Huma Abedin.

According to Stein, Chelsea dislikes Huma and Hillary is rarely warm towards Chelsea except in public. The relationship chart between Chelsea and ‘second daughter’ Huma is certainly rippling with dislike from a composite Mars Saturn; an uncompromising Sun opposition Uranus; and a game-playing for the upper hand Jupiter square Pluto. So that sounds accurate.

Chelsea, whose 9^th house Moon is unaspected apart from an awkward quincunx to her Pisces Sun, wouldn’t get much nurturing from either parent frankly. Her relationship chart with her mother has a composite Sun trine Saturn Uranus, so work first and fairly separated and erratic; and a gentler Moon trine Venus. But the composite Moon is also square Saturn (Uranus) – so not exactly overflowing with maternal feelings. Chelsea’s relationship with her father is just as sticky with a composite Sun square Saturn Uranus; and an aggravating, frustrating Mars Pluto sextile Venus – so it’ll blow very hot and cold between them.

Chelsea’s personal chart has tr Pluto square her Mars/Uranus and Jupiter/Uranus midpoints now and through till early December which is a mix of extreme pressure and nervous tension as well as great relief and good luck. But at the same time tr Neptune is opposition her Saturn/MC and square her Uranus/Neptune till January which is undermined and stressed. 2017 has some very disconcerting and discouraging Neptune transits to three of her Saturn midpoints.

Huma Abedin is having a panicky, failure-ridden 2017 with tr Neptune opposition her Mars which suggests this email scandal may not lie down and die quietly, given that she gave evidence she handed everything over months ago. She does look relieved late this month through till January but thereafter – not good. And her relationship with Hillary is certainly under sagging and separating stars ahead.

Oddly enough Huma’s Mars in Virgo is conjunct her former husband Anthony Weiner’s Sun Pluto Uranus in Virgo – which is a very aggravated mix. He’d completely stifle her or as well as throw her off balance.

Hillary’s relationship chart with Bill is not entirely lyrical through January 2017 with tr Neptune opposition the composite Mars, so disappointment there for whatever reason.

Political dynastic families are every bit as dysfunctional as Royal ones.