Astrology of Today’s News

High-end talent merges with luxury goods as Francois Henri Pinault, owner of a range of super-expensive brands –  Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Creed, Puma and Alexander McQueen – buys a majority stake in the powerhouse Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency. He is the husband of Mexican-American actress and film producer Salma Hayek, (his third marriage).  

“There’s no separation between fashion and entertainment anymore,” a luxury consultant said. Celebrities attract legions of followers primed to buy what they’re promoting. Salma Hayek wears Gucci and Balenciaga gowns on the red carpet and appears next to her husband at fashion shows.

 He was born 28 May 1962 3pm Rennes, France and has a powerfully ambitious chart, well-designed for the world of design, fashion and money. He has a creative and good-for-public-relations Venus in Cancer conjunct his Midheaven in a Water Grand Trine to Jupiter in Pisces trine Neptune, formed into a Kite by Jupiter opposition Pluto. His well-travelled 9^th house Gemini Sun is in a hard-working trine to Saturn and a controlling square to Pluto. A leadership Leo North Node in the house of society bodes well though it does oppose his Saturn which could be problematic. His Mars in Aries, doubly determined being on the cusp of the 8^th is in a risk-taking trine to Uranus.  He was never going to slide unnoticed through life.

  Salma Hayek, 2 September 1966, Mexico, no birth time,  has an unpredictable Virgo Sun, Pluto, Uranus conjunction which falls in his 12^th – so she will be an unsettling influence on him. Both of them have an Aries Moon so it will be a sparky union and with her Saturn conjunct his Moon she will either be defensive or work will get in the way. But her Moon falls in his 7^th so she will be a support and her Jupiter falls in his 10^th for success together.

  What is intriguing is that her Jupiter is conjunct his Part of Fortune and her Part of Fortune is conjunct his Midheaven – so they are a combination built for good luck.

  Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus conjunction and a look-on-the-bright-side Jupiter opposition Neptune. Though there is a power imbalance from a composite Mars square Pluto which could brew up a few issues in 2024 when tr Saturn is in hard aspect.

A disastrous flood in Libya after two dams burst has left over 5000 dead and at least 10,000 missing. Entire neighbourhoods in Derna, the Libyan port city have been washed away, with many bodies swept out to sea.

 A 2022 report in an academic journal had warned of flood danger but Libya has been riven by political infighting, corruption and external interference since the 2011 uprising which  toppled Muammar Gaddafi. In the years after 2014, it has been politically split between the internationally-recognised interim government in Tripoli (in the west), and the administration in Tobruk (in the east). Derna was for several years controlled by Islamist militant groups until it was captured in 2019 by Gen Khalifa Haftar, the warlord in charge of an army in the east.

  The Eclipses this year located to Libya have been triggering with the April 2023 Solar Eclipse having Mars on the IC and Jupiter on the Ascendant. The May 2023 Lunar Eclipse conjunct Uranus which rattled the Libya Venus for an emotional upset was also highlighted with the Full Moon falling across the Asc/Desc axis.

  The October 2023 Solar Eclipse at 21 degrees Libra is exactly conjunct the Libya Neptune which certainly fits a water disaster as well ass Uranus on the Ascendant.  And the October 2023 Lunar Eclipse located to Libya has Neptune conjunct the Midheaven.

  There is no indication that Libya’s woes, political and other, will resolve quickly with tr Pluto square the Moon this year and next for a beleaguered population; and an undermining tr Neptune Saturn square the Capricorn Sun in 2025/26 alongside a jarring, accident-prone SA Mars conjunct the Sun.

Chris Evans, ‘Captain America’ in a string of Marvel movies married Portuguese actress Alba Baptista on Saturday.

 He was born 13 June 1981 6.16 pm Boston, Massachusetts, and has a Gemini Sun on the cusp of the 8^th opposition Neptune and trine Pluto – so mega-ambitious as befits one of the highest paid actors in the world. He has Jupiter Saturn conjunct in his career 10^th house trine a 7^th house Mars in Gemini and an 8^th house Venus Mercury in Cancer trine a 12^th house Scorpio Moon. And last but not least an innovative Uranus on his Ascendant. A curious mix of detached Air and super-intensely emotional and private Water.

 Alba Baptista, 10 July 1997 Lisbon, Portugal, no birth time, is a Sun Cancer with a Virgo Moon so she connects with his Venus in Cancer and Scorpio Moon and offers a practical Earth Moon to compensate for his No Earth chart. Her Sun does square her Saturn in Aries opposition Mars so she will have had tough moments in her life which will have left her defensive but able to put up with challenging situations.  Her Venus in sociable Leo opposes Uranus and Jupiter in Aquarius which will help to offset the harder-edges of Saturn Mars. Like him she is Water Air which is a tricky balance to find between thinking and feeling.

  Her Sun falls in his 8^th for a deep connection with her Moon in his career 10^th. But her Saturn in his 5^th may damp spontaneity especially since it opposes his Pluto. Her Pluto on his Ascendant could find her trying to control his image and since her Pluto opposes his Mars it could lead to differences.

  Assuming the birth dates are sound, it is an odd match with the relationship chart having a composite Sun Saturn opposition Neptune Uranus – too much work, some doubt and suspicion, needs space. Plus a composite Mars square Pluto which suggests a power imbalance. There is at least an enthusiastic Mars trine Jupiter to balance up the trickier elements. The second half of this decade with tr Neptune and Saturn in Aries square their composite Sun etc will see a fair few wrinkles needing to be ironed out.

The Poland elections on October 15 are being seen as pivotal to the future of the EU and the outcome of the war in Ukraine as well as the most important election in Poland since 1989. “Depending on the outcome, the country will either reorientate itself as a euro-enthusiastic rising democracy or will commit further to an illiberal turn at loggerheads with Europe over the rule of law and enlargement.”

  The right-wing populist Law and Justice Party in power since 2015 has polarized political debate, ramping up the kind of identity politics which have dominated the US, UK and elsewhere. Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader, and Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister, face opposition leader Donald Tusk.  Commentators reckon the result will be so narrow that fresh elections will be required within a minimum of two years.

 The Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, 20 June 1968 2.15pm Wroclaw, Poland, a Sun, Mercury, Venus Mars in Gemini square Uranus Pluto in Virgo, looks deflated over the election with tr Saturn opposition his Jupiter and in for a sudden change with his SA Midheaven conjunct his Uranus. And has a mixture ahead of undermining Neptune through into 2025; and some upbeat influences late this year into 2024.

Jarosław Kaczyński, 18 June 1949, another Sun, Mercury, Mars in Gemini, looks seriously aggravated at the moment, with tensions rising later in the year. He would not give in easy since Pluto is conjunct his Jupiter through till late 2024 but he is not in a progressive phase.

  Donald Tusk, 22 April 1957, whose main policy is to oppose the government, is a Sun, Venus, Mercury in Taurus so should in theory be heled by Jupiter moving through Taurus But he is looking jangled and jolted now, downbeat and devastated in 2024. With maybe just maybe a glimmer of uplift in later 2024.

   What may be an indicator is that tr Uranus is now trine tr Pluto suggesting the beginnings of a shift into a new scenario – which may not come immediately for Poland but will make its influence felt over time.

  I keep trying to work out why we have been cursed with all these yowling, damage-wreaking, rabble-rousing Geminis since the middle of last decade – Trump, Boris etc etc etc.  It must be something in the celestial waters.

Mo Farah, the British-Somali long-distance runner, considered one of the greatest of all time with four Olympic and six World titles to his credit, has officially retired after his last race.

  What makes his story even more extraordinary was that his father was killed in Somalia in a genocide when he was four, after which he became separated from his mother and was illegally trafficked to the UK aged 9 and forced to work as a domestic servant. When he was 11 he started attending school and confided in a teacher who arranged to have him fostered by another family. That was when he started competing in athletics. He told Sky News: “In what I went through as a child, sport has saved me, to become the man I have become.” In adult life he reconnected with his mother and two brothers.

  Born 23 March 1983, he has a top athlete’s chart with a prominent Neptune opposition North Node square an Aries Sun and Mercury in Pisces. Neptune is surprisingly common in competitive performers’ charts. His pro-active Aries on the focal point of a T square would give him with the confidence despite his rocky start in life to push ahead. Plus he has a do-or-die determined Mars in Aries opposition Pluto stemming from his high-risk childhood which faced him with rolling crises and danger. His Chiron in Taurus is conjunct Algol which is tricky to interpret but it puts his woundedness close to the heart of darkness is the best I can do.

  His Sun Mercury are quincunx a Pluto Saturn conjunction which suggests immense strain trying to balance the hardship of his beginnings with his inspirational Fire Sun.  What lightens his burden is a lucky, adventurous Jupiter Uranus conjunction in Sagittarius trine his Sun which would give him a crazy optimism that his luck would hold good – which it did.

  He won’t find the transition to retirement too easy with tr Pluto squaring his Pluto and Saturn and tr Neptune Saturn squaring his Mercury Sun over the next two or three years. But he’s nothing if not resilient. Once he gets over the upheaval of his SA Pluto conjunct his Uranus next year he has a super-confident SA Pluto conjunct his Jupiter which will help him over the next hurdle.

 His leaving-a-legacy 17^th harmonic is well aspected and confident as is his 5H.   

From hero to zero, Elon Musk’s troubled trajectory is a dizzying pinball run from highs to self-defeating failures. Though the latest outcry about him cutting off Ukraine’s Starlink service in Crimea to aid the Russians does not appear to be true. It was already deactivated there, and he refused the Ukrainians’ emergency request to activate it so they could carry out the attack, for fear of it leading to a nuclear war.

  A new biography attempts to pin down what has forged his oddball character and extraordinary talent. Born 28 June 1971 Pretoria, South Africa with no birth time but a rectified one by Starkman of 8.42 pm, he was a headstrong child brought up in an ‘abusive, friendless childhood’ who read science fiction novels and superhero comics and bossed his younger siblings and cousins around. His parents split when he was nine and he elected to live with his wealthy father, an electromechanical engineer, which he later regretted. His interest in computers started when he was 10 and aged 12 he sold his first video game.

  Recently Musk has lurched rightwards, embracing conspiracy theories, railing against restrictions, fouled up Twitter, been accused of sexual misdeeds and had his array of multiple children exposed. His biographer thinks he may be going the way of his father who has apparently moved into paranoia, conspiracism and overt racism.

Elon Musk, like Julian Assange born a few days later, is a Sun Cancer square an innovative and rebellious Uranus. He has a creative though can-be-neurotic Saturn opposition Neptune (Jupiter) and a contrary, inordinately stubborn Mars in Aquarius conjunct his North Node. Sakoian & Acker presciently remark in their handbook published in the 1970s that 1971 when there was a long station of Mars in Aquarius was a year when “many souls came into the world who will spearhead a new way of life.”  Such a Mars is reformist, deaf to advice, has to learn through their own mistakes and can throw out the old order before having a suitable replacement organized. So it can be destructive as well as constructive.

  If Starkman’s rectified time is sound then Elon Musk‘s ornery Mars North Node is conjunct his Ascendant for a full-on assertive/aggressive approach. His Cancer Sun is in the flamboyant, attention-seeking and children-focused 5^th; his Jupiter Neptune of visionary dreams and success is in his career 10^th; and his Pluto and Uranus are in his 8^th giving him access to his deeper unconscious with potentially positive and potentially negative outcomes – inspired but mentally balanced on a fine edge.

 Neither of his parents were easy temperaments. Father Errol, 25 May 1946 (net sources) was a Sun Gemini with an dominating Mars Pluto in Leo.  His mother Maye, 19 April 1948, was a Sun Aries/Taurus with Saturn, Pluto and Mars in Leo. Both parents sparked off his Mars which would fuel his anger and defiance.

  On his Harmonics – his get-it-together 5^th is creative. His leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H is confident, lucky and notable. But so is his self-defeating, highs and lows 10^th harmonic which suggests that wild overconfidence and lawlessness could be the undoing of him.  

Add On: There is also a birthtime from his biography  of 7.30am which puts his contrary, angry Mars in Aquarius in his 8^th house of business finances and unconscious drives with Jupiter Neptune in his 5^th house of children and romance – which could also fit. Whichever birth time is accurate or neither – he is in trouble come 2026/27 with SA Pluto square his Mars and tr Saturn Neptune in Aries square his Sun.  That is around the time Twitter is in real trouble. See post 26 April 2022.

A powerful 6.8 earthquake in central Morocco has killed more than 2,000 people. It caused major disruption in Marrakesh and many of the deaths were said to be in hard-to-reach mountain areas. The quake struck just after 23:00 local time 8 September 2023.

  The recent Lunar Eclipse of May 2023 has Mars in Cancer conjunct the Midheaven set for Marrakech square Jupiter on the Descendant. Planets on the angles mark a location out as a potential crisis region.  The April 2023 Solar Eclipse has Neptune close to the Ascendant.

 The two upcoming Eclipses in this coming October both look critical as well with Saturn conjunct Midheaven on the Lunar and the Eclipsed New Moon exactly conjunct the Descendant on the other.

 The Morocco country chart, 28 May 1956 11am Rabat, Morocco, moved into a period of considerable turmoil and disruption this year and on for two years ahead. Exactly now tr Pluto is square the Solar Arc Neptune which is the classic earthquake/natural disaster indicator for devastation, confusion and chaotic conditions. That influences comes back again later in the year which doesn’t mean a repeat, just that the mayhem will run on.

  Tr Uranus is also exactly square the Morocco Jupiter which is itself could be a lucky influence but since the Jupiter is conjunct Pluto opposition Mars and square Saturn it has the effect of tr Uranus in an upending square to Pluto, and a ‘shocking’ accident prone square to Mars and a high-tension opposition to Saturn – and that Uranian roller coaster runs on into 2025. Plus tr Saturn square the Gemini Sun this year and a destabilizing tr Pluto opposition the Uranus last year and this year – not so much a perfect storm as challenging phase of turbulence and tumult.     

Add On: The  Royal Palace has remained mostly silent in the early days of the crisis with little sign of government-promised rescue teams initially and offers of international help being only selectively accepted. The worst-hit provinces are among the poorest in Morocco, with some lacking electricity or running water, even in better times. An American academic commentator said: “The reality is that the moment you step out of Marrakesh, the people are essentially living as if they are back in the Middle Ages because of the absence of the state.”

 King Mohammed, 21 August 1963 who acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, is the richest king in Africa and the fifth wealthiest monarch in the world with an estimated fortune of many billions. In 2020, he purchased an €80 million mansion in Paris from the Saudi royal family.

   His Accession chart has tr Pluto opposition the zero degree Leo Sun this year and next, so this starts the most challenging phase of his rulership though he doesn’t seem to be rising to the test. His rulership chart is exceedingly Fixed with Sun Mercury in Leo opposition Neptune square Jupiter in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio – acquisitive, indulgent, unrealistic, scandal-prone, unbudgeable. Plus Uranus in Aquarius square Saturn in Taurus and a Leo North Node = autocratic. Mohammed did shift marginally after the Arab Spring in 2011 to reform the constitution but he still retains complete control over the armed forces and the judiciary,  retains the authority to appoint and dismiss prime ministers. Criticizing or directly opposing the king is still punishable with prison.

  His way ahead looks troubled with a devastating 2025, indeed now and 2024 as well, given that the Sun opposes Neptune so they will both be triggered by this quake and what comes next.

 His own chart with a flashy Sun Venus in Leo opposition Saturn in Aquarius with Neptune in Scorpio is equally stubborn and is also on a bumpy ride with tr Uranus hard aspects over the next two years; as well as tr Saturn opposition his Uranus Pluto. His Solar Arc Saturn is tugging on his opportunistic Mars opposition Uranus since 2021 through till 2025 – for a discouraging, accident-prone and enthusiasm-denting run.

   His ‘caring’ North Node in Cancer needs a serious prod.

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Songwriter Bernie Taupin is the other half of Elton John’s super-stardom and between them they have sold more than 300 million records worldwide and collaborated on more than 30 albums to date. They met in their late teens and have not been apart musically for long since. “We were joined at the hip. It was me and him against the world,” Taupin says. “We were both incredibly shy introverts: two separate pieces that, joined together, made a whole.” Elton said of him “He was the glue that held me together.”

  What is fascinating astrologically is that Bernie, 22 May 1950, has his Gemini Sun conjunct Elton’s North Node and Elton, 25 March 1947 3.28pm, has his Aries Sun conjunct Bernie’s North Node. So two Sun North Node crossovers that brought them together by chance and they have not looked back since.

 Bernie lives with his wife and two children in California and describes Elton as “his spiritual boyfriend.”

  Their relationship chart has an entrepreneurial, inspirational Fire Grand Trine and Jupiter on the focal point of a composite T Square. A recipe for togetherness in creativity, spirit and success.

  Bernie Taupin’s memoir is out this coming week.

I just love astrology when it works so well.

Singer Joe Jonas and Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner are to divorce after four years of marriage and two children. There are reports she felt trapped having been tied down so young and he was left to look after the children when on tour. Marriage breakdowns are always a tragedy especially with children involved but it is instructive to survey the astrological compatibility and ask why the inevitable wasn’t obvious from the start.

  Joe Jonas born 15 August 1989 9.58 am Casa Grande, Arizona, has a friendly 11^th house Leo Sun conjunct his South Node with his Aquarius North Node in his 5^th house of children and entertainment. He has a pronounced Pluto in Scorpio conjunct his Sun/Moon midpoint which is the marriage significator as well as square his 4^th house Moon and on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine of Mars in Virgo trine Saturn Neptune in Capricorn. Possessiveness and control will be issues for him to overcome especially in close and family relationships.

  Sophie Turner, 21 February 1996 8.10 am (time may be iffy) Northampton, England, has a 12^th house Sun Mars in Pisces square an 8^th house Pluto which will make her feel trapped no matter where she is until she comes to terms with her psychological makeup (whether birth time is right or not). She also has her North Node in Libra in her 7^th so forging cooperative one-to-one relationships will be one of her challenges through life.  Her Aries Moon is trine Pluto and sextile Uranus – she’ll veer between wanting closeness and wanting freedom.

  Their relationship chart has a dominant composite Sun opposition Pluto Mercury with Pluto square Saturn – it would be a chained-together relationship, which possibly felt ‘meant’ at the start but Pluto always brings control and possessiveness issues to the fore. And makes splits usually a long, difficult process.

  Their first wedding in Las Vegas, 1 May 2019, had a needs-space, disruptive Sun Uranus; a bleak Saturn Pluto; and an adventurous but unrealistic Mars opposition Jupiter square Neptune.

  Lessons to learn for both of them and maybe his 4^th house Moon might make him a supportive father.