Astrology of Today’s News

A tangled web of claims and counter-claims has erupted in a surprising diplomatic clash between Canada and India over the murder in British Columbia in June of a Sikh separatist leader, wanted as a terrorist in India. Justin Trudeau has pointed a finger at Narendra Modi’s government as being behind the assassination.

  Canada’s support for Sikh secessionists – who want a homeland in the disputed Punjab region which was cut in half during the bodged partition of 1947 – goes back to Pierre Trudeau who refused to hand over a Sikh militant to India, who then went on  to be responsible for the Air India bomb on 23 June 1985 which killed 329 people.

 Canada is home to the largest Sikh population outside India, with about 770,000 people. Open incitement to violence against Indians has flourished in recent years with extremists, parading floats celebrating the assassination of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, who was killed by Sikh extremists. Trudeau says he respects freedom of expression and other constitutional rights and the rule of law.

  Given that India is Canada’s 10th-biggest trading partner in 2022 and growing;  and Canada’s top source of migrants practical politics will take over at some point.

  What is of interest is that the Canada/India relationship chart while superficially friendly at one level is also deeply suspicious and aggravated. When the 1985 Air India bomb exploded tr Pluto in early Scorpio was square the composite Mars. And that will repeat in 2024/2025 with tr Pluto in Aquarius opposition the Mars – with, as before, a high-tension run up as tr Pluto opposes the composite Sun this year. Relations won’t get back to anything resembling equanimity until 2026 – and will worsen before that happens.

Add On: With more emerging about Sikh supporters of the separatist movement abroad being targeted, it will put Western countries in a bind. India is becoming one of America’s most important foreign partners as a bulwark against China, with a raft of new deals on defence, high-tech manufacturing, artificial intelligence. The UK also is in advanced stages of negotiating one of its biggest post-Brexit free trade agreements with New Delhi. France is now India’s second-largest arms supplier and India is a member of the Quad strategic security initiative, which also includes Australia, the US, and Japan.

  If there is evidence of Delhi-backed assassinations abroad, there will be diplomatic and commercial challenges ahead.

  The USA/India relationship chart is faltering through this October to mid November and again in early 2024 with a disappointing tr Neptune square the composite Mars. And under immense pressure from this year through till 2026 with tr Pluto trine the composite Neptune and opposition the Mercury Sun and then square Pluto. There may well be a reset in relations but perhaps not the one that was first mooted.

  The UK relationship chart with India is confused through late this year with tr Pluto square the composite Neptune and then undergoing a total turnaround under pressure with tr Pluto square the composite Sun in 2023/24.  Australia ditto.

  Change was always expected of the positive variety but this looks more aggravated.  The India chart always hinted that financial worries would mount with tr Neptune square the 2^nd house Uranus Mars this year and worsening in 2025/26.

A diplomatic minefield.

Folk singer Roger Whittaker, best known for his baritone singing voice, trademark whistling ability and guitar skills, has died. His popular numbers were Durham Town, I Don’t Believe in If Anymore, New World in the Morning and The Last Farewell. He had his greatest successes and fan base latterly in Germany.

 He was born in Nairobi, Kenya on 22 March 1936 at 7.45 am and initially studied medicine, trained as a teacher and completed his National Service in the Kenya Regiment which he said sorted him out. He married in 1964 and had five children, 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

  He had a 12^th house Aries Sun with Mars in Aries conjunct his Ascendant from the 12^th and a rebellious and unconventional Uranus conjunct from the 1^st. The creative Neptune in Virgo opposition Saturn in Pisces of the mid 1930s falls across his performing 5^th and 11^th houses, with his Saturn conjunct Mercury and a Pisces Moon squaring onto an amiable, optimistic, laid-back Jupiter in Sagittarius in his much travelled 9^th house.  His Sun/Moon midpoint which is his marriage significator was exactly square his Jupiter which would make for a contented relationship and shared happiness.

  His Mars was square a 4^th house Pluto hinting at tensions in his childhood and a reservoir of anger which he said the army sorted out. In 1989, his parents still living in Kenya, were subjected to a brutal attack by a robbery gang in which his mother was tortured and his father was murdered. He  said of the incident: “It will affect me for the rest of my life, but I believe we should all live without hate if we can”.

Will the unthinkable happen and Trump get re-elected? Not only are sensible Americans agitated at the prospect so are the reasonables of the rest of the world. Only the dictators elsewhere are adjusting their plans in the hope of a fellow-traveller back in the White House. Putin may drag out the Ukraine campaign for that reason.

 This is not a detailed look at election fortunes since previous posts have covered Trump and Biden ad nauseam and will no doubt be reprised in future.

  But there are two factors of Astro-note. One of which is the Republican Convention on 15 July 2024 which looks fraught in the extreme with a Sun trine Saturn Neptune in Pisces sextile an exact, explosive Mars Uranus conjunction in Taurus  – edgy, uncertain with a clash of no-compromise attitudes.  Trump also has tr Uranus exactly square his Mars in Leo then – which can be a shock to self-esteem and tends to provoke an extreme reaction. In some older types it can also be health related (heart) but he seems to be immune to the vagaries that affect normal people.

  Exactly then on the USA chart the Solar Arc Saturn is conjunct the Mars to within a minute of a degree which usually accompanies a setback of considerable proportions. The Solar Arc Saturn then moves on to square the USA Neptune for high-anxiety and uncertainty in 2025.

  Also exactly in July 2024 Trump’s relationship chart with the USA has the composite Jupiter at 26 Leo which tr Uranus will be square – which is impossible to say which way it will go. Great relief that he is out of the running – or a lucky break for him.

  I fear the dread will continue on right through 2024 until and unless the GOP regain their sanity. But that may not happen. Not fun for worried Americans and global onlookers, but the astrology will be worth watching.

  William Hague in The Times yesterday;

“For British people, it is unthinkable that anyone indicted in relation to fraud, conspiracy, taking classified documents, paying hush money and attempting to overturn a legitimate election could ever be a serious candidate again. But to Americans — living in two separate worlds of their own newsfeeds, bitterly divided by race, wokeness, abortion and many other issues, using a system of primary elections in which name recognition is a huge advantage — it has become thinkable. Indeed, it is on the verge of becoming probable.”

Coco Chanel who initiated a revolutionary shift in women’s fashion away from the tyranny of the corset to become a leading light in couture, perfume and accessories had an extraordinary if not altogether edifying life. She rose from extreme poverty, slept with wealthy men who bankrolled her start in business, slid through the beds of British nobility which allowed her to duck out of accusations of spying for the Germans during World War 11 which earned her the protection of Churchill concerned she might expose the pro-nazi sympathies of Royals and others. She was according to French intelligence a ‘vicious anti-semite’ and a regular morphine user.   Though there is some documentation suggesting she might have also worked with the French Resistance.

  She was born 19 August 1883 4pm in Saumur in a poor house hospice with a laundrywoman mother and an itinerant street vendor father. Her mother died when she was 11 and she was sent to a convent orphanage where she learned to sew.

   She had a secretive 8^th house flamboyant Sun Venus in Leo square a creative 5^th house Neptune and also square Pluto in the attention-demanding 5^th. She had Mars in Gemini conjunct her Descendant so would attract fiery partners. She was the mistress of some of the most influential men of her time, including the Duke of Westminster, but never married.

  Her sensitive, self-protective Pisces Moon opposed Mercury and squared a hard-working Saturn in her 6^th house of work so she would be emotionally battened down. Her Sun/Moon midpoint was exactly conjunct her Chiron and close to both Pluto and Saturn – so a bleak relationship life despite the money and the luxury – or maybe one in which she was a habitual user of the men she attracted. Her Jupiter in the 7^th nearing the cusp of her 8^th would give her an ability to charm men of high standing and wealth.

  Her Uranus trine Neptune like her two 5^th house planets was creative, giving her ‘eureka’ moments of inspiration.  

  Her Scorpio North Node in the 10^th would push her on to succeed and acquire possessions but they would not offer satisfaction unless she was able to let go what she had built up and move away from the past which would have been painful and clearly did not happen. She evidently became tyrannical and lonely towards the end of her life.

 Her creative 5^th harmonic, breakthrough 13H; leaving-a-legacy 17h and global-fame 22^nd harmonic were all strong.

  All credit to her for having pulled herself up from unlikely beginnings but not, I fear, a pleasant woman.

Add ON: The other rags to riches French story was Edith Piaf, though she seemed a nicer sort. Like Chanel she had a strong get-it-together 5^th harmonic and an even stronger global-superstar 22^nd. Both harmonics with a strongly marked Venus.

 Coco Chanel’s 5^th and 22^nd both had an afflicted Mars – the 5H tied into Saturn Neptune which is fairly perverse. In the 22^nd a yod of Mars inconjunct Pluto sextile Jupiter – ruthlessly ambitious.

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Australia’s showbusiness power-couple Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness have announced a surprise separation in their 27 year marriage after years of proclaiming eternal bliss. They met in 1995 on the set of the Australian TV series Corelli, with Deb, already an established actress, and Hugh, then an actor fresh out of drama school and married less than a year later. They have two adopted children.

 He was born 12 October 1968 and she 30 November 1955, both in Australia neither with birth times.

  He is an amiable though downbeat and hard-working Libra Sun opposition Saturn in Aries, while she is a confident, upbeat and independent-minded Sun Sagittarius trine square Jupiter with an ultra-determined Saturn in Scorpio square Pluto.

  Various matters of Astro-interest. Both have a pushily confident Jupiter Pluto conjunction which then reappears in their relationship chart – classic for a power couple. Togetherness they exude self-assurance and success.  Both have a Gemini Moon and both have Jupiter in Virgo – so have certain similar traits and will understand where the other is coming from.

  Less helpful is her Saturn conjunct his dreamy Venus Neptune conjunction in Scorpio – she will bring him down to earth and will be the stronger of the pair. Her Mars Neptune is conjunct his Mercury so there will be at times an argumentative mood.

  Like Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell their relationship chart has a ‘finger of destiny’ yod in their case from a  composite Sun Neptune sextile Jupiter Pluto inconjunct Saturn.  Sun Neptune does suggest a relationship designed for a creative business but can suggest lack of commitment at some level, wanting perfection and feeling the reality doesn’t match up.  Jupiter Pluto works well while there is togetherness, less well when they start to follow individual agendas. The yod would make their relationship feel ‘meant’ though would involve hard work and take maturity for it to hold together.

  She has tr Pluto square her Mars in Scorpio this year and next as well as tr Saturn square her Sun, Mercury and opposition her Jupiter so not entirely contented. He’s been through tough times recently with tr Pluto and Uranus rattling up his Sun opposition Saturn – with several surgeries for skin cancer. His North Node in Aries which is being triggered by the Solar Eclipses through into 2025 hints that independence and even a time in isolation is what he needs for spiritual development.

Russell Brand, the anti-establishment comedian and hugely successful alt-right podcaster with a troubled past has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and abuse. All of which he firmly denies and is being supported by Andrew Tate and Elon Musk.

  He was born 4 June 1975 12.01 am Basildon, England, with his parents separating when he was six and his mother becoming seriously ill with cancer when he was eight. In his teens he struggled with bulimia and started taking drugs. He has been open about his fraught relationship with his father whom he claims took him to visit a prostitute during a trip to Thailand. His autobiography My Booky Wook, details his drug abuse, promiscuity and sex addiction. His comedy career moved from the fringes to mainstream until he disgraced himself leaving lewd messages for Andrew Sachs which got him suspended from the BBC.

  He featured on a Royal Variety Show, later moved to Hollywood and is now an online influencer, wellness guru and conspiracy theorist, with six million subscribers. He shares Covid-19 misinformation, anti-vaccine talking points and pro-Russian conspiracies in relation to Ukraine.

  What is intriguing is he was born on the same day as Angelina Jolie, who had a similarly turbulent childhood with drug issues.

  Like her, Brand has a Gemini Sun with an Aries Moon conjunct Mars and opposition Pluto – which suggests an underground reservoir of volcanic anger. His Sun is trine an 8^th house Pluto and opposition a 10^th house shapeshifting Neptune, making him mega-ambitious and giving him the potential to exert unseen influence. His Saturn in the hard-working 6^th is square his Jupiter, with his Jupiter conjunct Mars – so he’s a curious mix of exuberantly confident and downbeat. He’ll be very up and down in mood, swinging from highs to lows. His Venus in Cancer square Uranus which will make his feelings changeable. 

  At the moment tr Pluto is exactly square his Uranus and opposition his Solar Arc Sun for a hugely disruptive event. And tr Pluto is also exactly conjunct his Capricorn Ascendant hinting at Pluto’s destructive powers being brought to bear on his image. His Progressed Moon is also exactly conjunct his SA Midheaven and both are exactly opposition his Saturn for a discouraging setback of considerable proportions. [12.07 am looks remarkably spot on for a birth time.]

  The recent April Solar Eclipse at 30 Aries was opposition his Uranus and the two 2024 Solar Eclipses will rattle his Jupiter and Mars – the October 2024 one being the most aggravating.

   As ever caution is advised in commenting since the allegations have not gone to court or produced a conviction.  Though I can’t imagine the papers would go to town the way they have without rock solid evidence.

Ukraine has launched the biggest attack of the war on the home of the Russian navy’s Black Sea fleet in the Crimean city of Sevastopol damaging two Russian naval ships beyond repair. “The demilitarisation of the Russian Black Sea fleet is a real long-term guarantee of security for regional trade routes and the ‘grain corridor’” said a Ukrainian adviser. Putin recently said he would not renew a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea until the west met Moscow’s demands concerning its own agricultural exports. Another key objective is to weaken Russian logistical supplies for their defence lines in the south. Re-taking Crimea may also be a hope down the line but with Russia having turned Crimea into a fortress that prospect may be a long way off – unless Putin or a successor gives up and withdraws.

   The Crimea Invasion started on 20 February 2014 with an Annexation Declaration on 18 March 2014.

  One line of argument might be that the Ukraine Invasion which kicked off on 23 February 2022 spelled the eventual death knell for the Russia Crimea snatch. The 2022 Pluto in Capricorn in place over the Ukraine Invasion was square the earlier Crimea Invasion Mars.  The two Crimea grab charts from 2014 also have Saturn in Scorpio at 23 degrees which is being severely rattled at the moment by tr Uranus in opposition, running into early 2024. The Annexation chart also has an undermining tr Neptune conjunct the Sun now so it may not hold long term. Though any collapse of the Russian stranglehold may not be immediate – with 2026 looking like a possibility.

  The Ukraine chart, 24 August 1991 2.31pm Kiev, has the edgy, uncertain, debilitating tr Neptune opposition Mars on and off until mid February 2024. There is Pluto conjunct the Saturn through 2024/25 which will be a hard slog with deprivation. Though there will be higher hopes and a stroke of luck from June 2024 onwards as tr Uranus squares the Jupiter, boosting national morale into early 2025.

  Zelensky’s Swearing In chart, 20 May 2019 will face its/his greatest challenging in 2025 with tr Uranus conjunct the Sun and tr Neptune square the Mars as well as tr Saturn square the Jupiter.  Though he will be beyond exhausted and that may coincide with a Winston Churchill type departure to recharge his batteries.  His personal chart, 25 January 1978, looks frustrated and blocked in 2023/24 with tr Pluto opposition the Mars with more challenges in the two years thereafter with tr Pluto conjunct his Sun Venus. But his destiny and Ukraine’s may not always be so intertwined.

Footnote: Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen warlord and Putin ally, is according to reports critically ill. If he goes Putin’s position gets even draughtier with Prigozhin gone as well.  If his birthdate is sound, 5 October 1976, his Mars in late Libra has been taking a fair pounding from tr Pluto in square and Solar Arc Neptune in square last year. So it may well be true.

  For Putin see previous posts 24 August 2023, 12 April 2023.

 Add On: The Crimean War starting in 1853 pitted the Russian Empire (who lost) against the UK, France and the Ottoman Empire. It marked a turning point for the Russian Empire, weakening the Russian Army, draining the treasury and undermined Russia’s influence in Europe. ‘The empire would take decades to recover. Russia’s humiliation forced its educated elites to identify its problems and to recognise the need for fundamental reforms. They saw rapid modernisation as the sole way to recover the empire’s status as a European power. The war thus became a catalyst for reforms of Russia’s social institutions, including the abolition of serfdom and overhauls in the justice system, local self-government, education and military service.’

  When The Crimea War finished in 1856, Pluto was in early Taurus and Uranus in mid Taurus with Jupiter Neptune in Pisces square Saturn in Gemini. The chart I have for old Russia, 28 March 1462 did have key nodal influences. The transiting South Node in Libra was exactly conjunct the Russia Neptune as it ended. There is similar at the moment with the Solar Eclipses this October and next April being in Libra/Aries and triggering the Russia Neptune.  In 1856 tr Saturn was also conjunct the Russia North Node in Gemini. Again a slight similarity at the moment with tr Neptune square the Russia North Node.

Khalil Gibran, the Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist, wrote The Prophet, one of the best-selling books of all time, translated into more than 100 languages which became celebrated by the counter-culture and New Age movements in the 1960s. Elvis had a copy, John Lennon, Johnny Cash and David Bowie all used his philosophical poetic thoughts.

 Gibran’s life has been described as one “caught between Nietzschean rebellion, Blakean pantheism and Sufi mysticism.” He was born 6 January 1883 4am Bsharri, Lebanon into a Maronite Christian family and spent part of his childhood in the USA. He suffered ill health throughout a good deal of his life.

  What is surprising about his chart for such a reflective individual is how weighted down it is with Earth signs. He had a Capricorn Sun which can be highly creative, the stander on the threshold between the realm of ideas and the real world. It was conjunct Mars in Capricorn with Mercury at the far end of Capricorn. His Sun was trine Uranus and trine Neptune, South Node and Saturn in Taurus. His Mercury trine Uranus was trine Pluto in Taurus. Neptune conjunct Saturn is also a creative combination as is Uranus trine Neptune.

His Fire Sagittarius Moon Venus would lighten his temperament marginally as would an unaspected Jupiter in Gemini. Tierney says of an unaspected Jupiter: “Even if intensely philosophical  his self-containment suggests he is a loner in his search for higher meaning and ultimate truth. His vision could be very unique because of it.”

  He left behind memorably insightful musings on the human condition.

Quotes:

ON CHILDREN

“Your children are not your children.

     They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

     They come through you but not from you,

     And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

     You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

     For they have their own thoughts.

     You may house their bodies but not their souls,

     For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

     You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

     For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

     You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

ON LOVE:

When love beckons to you, follow him,

     Though his ways are hard and steep.

     And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

     Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

     And when he speaks to you believe in him,

     Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

     For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

ON PAIN

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses

your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its

heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

JOY AND SORROW

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the self-same well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, ‘Joy is greater than sorrow,’ and others say, ‘Nay, sorrow is the greater.’

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Actress Goldie Hawn has been with Kurt Russell since 1984 and never married which is a perpetual source of questioning by the celeb magazines. Exploring their Astro-connection indicates an unusual bond, not as you might expect.

  She born 21 November 1945 9.20am Washington, DC, she is a Sun and Venus in Scorpio with her Sun trine Saturn; and Moon and Uranus in Gemini, Jupiter in Libra on her Midheaven and a heavyweight Mars Pluto in Leo in her 8^th.

He was born 17 March 1951 10.42 am Springfield, Massachusetts and is a Sun Jupiter in Pisces opposition Saturn with an independent-minded/rebellious Uranus on his Cancer Ascendant. His Cancer Moon is in a showbusiness square to Neptune opposition a 10^th house ambitious Mars. With a yod of Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Jupiter. He needs a public audience with a T square focal point Moon and her Gemini Moon will be happy enough to share him with the masses.

  His Pisces Sun Jupiter fits well with her Scorpio Sun and his Cancer Moon squares her Jupiter. Her Gemini Moon squares his Sun Jupiter which is OK and squares his Saturn for work getting in the way of relaxation. His Moon opposes her Saturn which says much the same. Saturn can cut down warmth but does give longevity. His Mars in Aries is trine her Pluto for the odd tension.

  His Uranus falls in her 7^th so freedom will be what they both bring to the domestic table; especially since her North Node falls in her 7^th as well, so she’ll be happy enough at times to slide back into being her own person (1^st house) and not just part of a duo.  And since both have Jupiter in their respective 10^th houses of career, their individual success will keep them glowing.

  The relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus conjunction; a jointly successful Jupiter in the 10^th; a communicative Air Grand Trine of Mars trine Venus Mercury trine Neptune – and possibly most significant of all a yod onto the Sun inconjunct Saturn sextile Uranus. Composite yods do bring together couples who irrevocably change the destiny of the other – not always for the better it would have to be said but in this case it works. So there will feel as if there is a fated connection.

  His Part of Fortune falls on her Midheaven and her Part of Fortune is trine his Sun and Jupiter – which may also help.

  The Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward relationship chart also had two fated, interlinked yods and their marriage held together through thick and thin – with some of the reality emerging only after his death. See previous posts Oct 30 2022, 27 July 2022.  Joanne W’s Part of Fortune was conjunct his Sun – no idea how it works in synastry so will explore. It was highlighted in the Pinault Hayek marriage see post below, so obviously is a key factor.

“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”
― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet