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The Texas flash floods in the early hours of the 4^th July have claimed over a hundred dead, including a number of children at summer camp, with more than 160 people still missing and numbers rising.

 The previous Lunar Eclipse of March set for Texas has Neptune and (shipwrecking) Scheat on the IC with Moon close to the Midheaven, all of which make sense of a devastating watery disaster close to home. With a regretful Sun Saturn in Pisces trine an 8^th house Mars. [Houses are not supposed to matter for eclipses but my experience is the 8^th house often crops up for disasters.]

 The upcoming September Lunar Eclipse set for Texas has the Sun Mercury close to the Midheaven with Moon on the IC and an exact Uranus on the Descendant – with hard questions being asked in the aftermath about whether cuts to government agencies had led to damaging delays in alerting residents.

 The flood happened with the two aggravated Pluto and Mars yods still in place; and Venus Uranus conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol as well.

Zionism was the dream of Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl who believed antisemitism could not be defeated or cured, only avoided, and that the only way to avoid it was the establishment of a Jewish state. He argued that the Jewish people should leave Europe for Palestine, their historic homeland. They possessed a nationality; all they were missing was a nation and a state of their own. His ideas ran into opposition from members of the Orthodox community and those seeking to integrate in non-Jewish society. Earlier ideas for a homeland included South America and Africa.

 His public utterances tended to give the impression that the non-Jewish residents of a future Jewish state would be well treated as he tried to win international support for his idea. But in his diary he wrote: “We must expropriate gently the private property on the estates assigned to us. We shall try to spirit the penniless population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying it employment in our own country. Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly.’

 Which is not far removed from the present defence minister, Israel Katz’s stated plans for a “humanitarian city” into which  Palestinians in Gaza would be forced. Prof Amos Goldberg, a historian of the Holocaust, described it as “a concentration camp or a transit camp for Palestinians before they expel them”. The “emigration plan” which Mr Katz says “will happen”, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, is in fact an ethnic cleansing plan. No departure can be considered voluntary when the alternative is starvation or indefinite imprisonment in inhuman conditions.

  The World Zionist Organization was founded at the congress on 29 August 1897 in Basel, Switzerland and is its legislative authority. Its stated aim:- “Strengthening Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state and shaping it as an exemplary society with a unique moral and spiritual character, marked by mutual respect for the multi-faceted Jewish people, rooted in the vision of the prophets, striving for peace and contributing to the betterment of the world.”

 In more recent times, the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionist Party was formed with Bezazel Smotrich, the far-right settler leader at its head, and is driven by notions of Jewish supremacy and anti-Arab racism.

 Theodor Herzl, 2 May 1860 1.30 am Budapest, Hungary,  had an intense, determined Sun Pluto in Leo in his communicative 3^rd house widely square Saturn in wannabe-important Leo in his 7^th. He had an enthusiastic and motivating Jupiter in Cancer opposition Mars square Mercury; and a dreamer’s Neptune in Pisces opposition Moon square Venus in his 5th.

  With his North Node on his Aquarius Ascendant and Chiron in his 1^st house he would be lacking in self-esteem and obsessed with his image.

“He imagined himself as a great statesman creating a dynasty for his family in Palestine once a Jewish state was established, where his father would be its foundational senator, and his son a doge.”

 In the event he died young at 44, followed soon after by his wife, to whom it was reported he had given gonorrhea. His three children led troubled lives, one dying of a heroin overdose, one of suicide and one in a concentration camp during WW11.

  When Israel was founded four decades after his death his ‘ghost’ chart recorded a Saturn Return; with tr Uranus triggering his dreamers’ Neptunian T square in its Solar Arc Positions. His Solar Arc Sun was conjunct his South Node (exactly) which may have been a hint that his ego and vanity (SN in Leo) had won out over his humanitarian Aquarius North Node.

 The Zionist Congress 29 August 1897 in Basel, Switzerland, had a Virgo Sun square Pluto in Gemini and Jupiter in Virgo square Neptune – so was born out of the Neptune Pluto conjunction in Gemini of the time which produced visionary, religious and ambitious plans. Neptune and Pluto together create a fey, mystical mix of energies, both wonderful and terrifying at the same time. Neptune in its visionary aspect, mixing with Pluto’s power drive, creates a delusional though often devastatingly effective megalomania.

  There was also a can-be-autocratic Uranus Saturn in Scorpio which was inconjunct Neptune. With a devoted-to-a-cause Aquarius North Node.

 When Israel was founded in 1948 the Zionist Solar Arc Pluto as well as the transiting Pluto were conjunct its South Node in Leo – again promoting ego and selfish glory over humanitarianism.

  Much water flowed under the bridge after Herzl’s death with the 1917 Balfour Declaration agreeing to a Jewish homeland in Palestine though stipulating the rights of the indigenous population should not be affected; the rise of fascism and anti-semitism in Europe; increasing unrest in Palestine with an influx of Jewish immigrants and the rise of Jewish militant groups, the Arab-Jewish War of the mid 1930s, the Holocaust and on.

  There’s nothing new to say that has not been said here before with little indication of peace in Israel as tr Pluto in Aquarius makes its inexorable progress in opposition to the Israel Moon in 2026/27 – and through the 2030s opposing the 10^th house Saturn Pluto and eventually square the Israel Sun and opposition Mars before it exits in the early 2040s. That looks like an unending, recycling two decades of extreme pressure and jeopardy.

Repeating a thought from a previous post:

Savage ironies are writ large in the intractable, never-ending Dante’s Inferno of the Israel/Palestine saga. The Jewish people never forgot the homeland they had been ejected from two millenia ago and yet the Israelis set their faces obdurately against any suggestion that the 700,000 indigenous Palestinians who were forcibly severed from their homes after the creation of Israel should be allowed to return.  The 1948 order to expel an entire population “without attention to age” was signed by Yitzhak Rabin, a future prime minister. The lone voice of an opposition politician Meir Ya’ari spoke out against it. He noted “how easily” Israel’s leaders spoke of how it was “possible and permissible to take women, children and old men and to fill the road with them because such is the imperative of strategy. And this we say . . . who remember who used this means against our people during the [Second World] War . . . I am appalled.”

Richard Burton regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation was born 100 years ago. His memorable performance as Hamlet in 1964  cemented his promise as “the natural successor to Olivier”.  His failure to live up to those expectations disappointed many with his heavy drinking and much-publicised turbulent relationship with Liz Taylor leading to regret about a great performer who had wasted his talent.

 In his middle years he was smoking 100 cigarettes a day and drinking three to four bottles of hard liquor a day as well. He said that he turned to the bottle for solace “to burn up the flatness, the stale, empty, dull deadness that one feels when one goes offstage”. His unhealthy lifestyle led in his forties to cirrhosis of the liver and kidney disease. He died at 58.

 He was born 10 November 1925 3pm Neath, Wales, the twelfth of thirteen children with a coal miner father who was also a heavy drinker and gambler, and a barmaid mother who died when he was two years old. Richard was subsequently brought up by his elder sister.  He was the first member of his family to go to secondary school and had an excellent speaking and singing voice, with an interest in poetry as well as English and Welsh literature. A school master Philip Burton took him under his wing and nurtured his singing and acting talent.

He had a depressive and intense 8^th house exact Sun Saturn conjunction in a creative Water Grand Trine to a 12^th house Uranus in Pisces trine Pluto in Cancer in his 4^th, with his Pluto opposition Jupiter in Capricorn – a mix of emotional overload, self-doubt and supreme confidence. His charming Venus in Capricorn was in his career 10^th trine a Virgo Moon which sat with his Neptune in Leo in his 6^th house of health. A 6^th house Moon can connect emotional state to physical wellbeing – and a 6^th house Neptune needs to treat health with kindness, abuse of any kind has a damaging impact.

 He also had a wide yod of Mars in his 7^th sextile Neptune inconjunct his Uranus.

 A talented and tormented man.

 His relationship with his schoolmaster Philip Burton, 30 November 1904, was the pivotal one in his life with Philip Burton’s Uranus falling on his pupil’s Midheaven and his Pluto square Richard Burton’s Uranus and his Jupiter in RB’s 1^st – a catalyst who bolstered the youngster’s confidence and sent his life on a different track.

   Burton’s relationship with Liz Taylor was hardly well-starred with her Scorpio Moon conjunct his 8^th house Sun Saturn and his Virgo Moon conjunct her Neptune and opposition her Sun, Mercury, Mars in Pisces.

 Their relationship chart had a controlling/possessive composite Sun Mercury opposition Pluto which did not sit well with her need-for-constant-change Venus Uranus conjunction in Aries or his troubled-loner temperament. It also had a cruel-treatment, short-fused Mars Saturn conjunction. Couldn’t live with each other or without. Two marriages, two divorces.

  I’m not altogether convinced about her 2.30am birth time 27 February 1932 London (it is marked as birth certificate except England did not normally record birth times). It explains certain things with a powerfully influential 8^th house Pluto in a disruptive square to Venus Uranus in Aries in her 4^th pointing to a constantly changing domestic life. But it says little about the health problems which plagued her life.  She was a Sun Mars Mercury in Pisces opposition Neptune so well suited to the film business. And her Jupiter in flashy Leo clearly appreciated the high-life.

Norman Tebbit who has died aged 94, was a highly effective minister for Margaret Thatcher, regarded as a political bruiser and parliamentary thug and was once famously described by Michael Foot as a “semi-housetrained polecat”. He turned out to be a politician of substance, grudgingly admired even by those on the left.

 Born on 29 March 1931 into the Depression in London in a lower-middle class family, his father lost his job which gave rise to Tebbit’s oft quoted words, to “get on his bike and look for work”.

 His career was cut short by the IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the party’s 1984 conference. He was  severely injured and his wife Margaret – for whom he cared devotedly – was paralysed for life. He left the government prematurely in 1987 after a stint as party chairman to spend more time with her, and up to her death in 2020 he woke twice every night to turn her.

 ‘He came closest in her government to mirroring Mrs Thatcher’s visceral feelings, and he took pride in articulating them – to the delight of the man in the street. He shared her deep beliefs in the virtue of hard work, the need to take on the trade unions (he had himself been a union official), the damage to families resulting from sexual licence, the innate un-Britishness of Europe and the subversive nature of the BBC.’

He had an Aries Sun conjunct North Node Uranus in Aries conjunct the UK’s North Node so he would resonate with shared issues and be a catalyst for change. He also had a powerfully confident Jupiter Pluto in Cancer in a tough minded opposition to Saturn and squaring his innovative Sun Uranus; with his Mercury in Aries in an argumentative square to Mars in late Cancer. Pro-active, a go-getter, not subtle but to the point.

 He mirrored much of Maggie Thatcher’s chart, 13 October 1925 9am Grantham, England, with her Sun Mars in Libra square Pluto opposition Jupiter which could have turned out to be a tussle for the upper hand – but they held it together to make an influential couple.  Their relationship chart had a friendly composite Sun Venus in a possessive/controlling opposition to Pluto square Jupiter. Together they were a force to be reckoned with.

 The Brighton Bomb went off at 2.54 am on 12 October 1984 with the Taurus Moon was exactly conjunct the UK’s 8^th house Mars (to within five minutes of a degree). And the UK chart was on a Solar Arc Half Return putting the country on alert.

 There is not much showing on Norman Tebbit’s chart without a birth time. But it undoubtedly rattled Maggie badly. She was on her Second Saturn Return with tr Saturn crossing her Ascendant starting a downhill slide.

 Margaret Tebbit, his wife, paralysed from the chest down in the bombing, was born 24 May 1934 and died in 2020. Her Venus in Aries chimed with her husband’s Aries Sun and their relationship chart had a lively composite Uranus triune Jupiter sextile Mars with a workmanlike Sun square Saturn.

    Her natal Mars in Taurus (square Saturn) was conjunct Algol both of which were catching the approaching tr North Node in Taurus in 1984, pulling her into one of the worst political atrocities on the UK mainland.

Tracking the staging posts in life through the cycles of the outer planets in square, opposition and for some Returns to their natal position on a birth chart is an interesting exercise. In a long lifespan there will be three Saturn Returns at 29, 58 and 87; a Uranus Return at 84 and before that two Uranus squares at around 21 and 63 and one mid-life Uranus opposition around 42; as well as a Pluto square and a Neptune square in the early forties, and Pluto and Neptune opposition their natal position in the 80s. Plus a North Node Half Return around 47 and full Return in the late 70s.

  Although they individually have the same general meaning, their impact to some extent will depend on the make-up of the chart. A throw-life-in-the-air-and-be-reckless tr Uranus opposition Uranus at the midlife crisis in late 30s/40 will have a more extreme reaction in a highly Uranian temperament that has been itching to kick over the traces and equally will be resisted by those of more stolid temperament.

  Saturn Returns will have a stronger effect when there are lessons to be learnt and shirked responsibilities faced.

  It will also depend on what other natal planets aspect the outer planet at a critical point in its cycle and indeed whether there are additional transits in the celestial sphere impeding or exaggerating its effect.  Nothing happens in isolation.

  What has always struck me is transiting Pluto which in a lifetime will only make half a cycle and thus only cast its transformational influence over six houses in a natal chart.

 For example, anyone born with a 10^th house Pluto will feel its effect through their 11^th, 12^th, 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4th houses (depending slightly on the chart’s make up). They therefore never have Pluto through the 5^th to 9^th house. In this instance their challenges will be more directed towards changes within themselves as an individual.

 Where someone born with a 4^th house Pluto will feel its effects through their 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, 9^th and 10^th houses – which being western hemisphere will bring adjustments in relating to others.

  These are obvious examples but a natal Pluto in any house will only effect its influence on the following six houses. The same goes for Neptune.

The Saturn Returns are unsurprisingly about growing up, getting real, taking on responsibilities in the first return; and in the latter two being pragmatic about the limitations of age. Making sensible plans.

The first Uranus square at 20/21 is youthful rebellion time, expressing individual needs not always sensibly, reacting against authority and restrictions. The Uranus mid-life opposition late 30s/40 comes when lives have settled into a rut, youthful dreams have not been fulfilled and regrets surface. It is a wake-up call and can lead to reckless decisions – in extremis leave marriage/job and take off on a Jack Kerouac road trip. The next Uranus square in the early 60s is a nudge not to settle into zimmer frame and hearing aids mindset, but keep a youthful outlook.

  The mid-life crisis so beloved of Carl Jung from late 30s to early forties encompasses Uranus opposition Uranus, Pluto square Pluto and Neptune square Neptune. The Pluto square Pluto is a challenge to let go the past and whatever is outmoded, and can coincide with a tug-of-war as AnOther in life decides to hold firm to the old ways and the individual needs to fight to clear away what is no longer necessary for the future.

  The midlife crisis is a refresher, upending what has become stagnant and could stay that way if not given a revitalizing jolt.

  The North Nodal square, opposition and Return are inner staging posts when there needs to be a review of what progress has been made in the life’s journey from the familiar (lazy option) South Node to the challenging development of the unfamiliar North Node.

  Naturally none of these occurs in isolation since the outer planets moving into new houses or quadrants in a chart will also have a considerable effect.

  Pondering on my own chart – my first Saturn Return (and I have a very Saturnine chart with it on my Midheaven) – I was ill with an indefinable slump for several months, which forced a change in my unhealthy lifestyle, after which my career took off like a rocket.  My Second Saturn Return was also a jolt, this time financially as someone I trusted screwed up, leaving me to cope with a mess. NB (nota bene) from Saturn = do it yourself! Which I have done thereafter.

 Uranus is trickier since my Moon and Sun are in close hard aspect to my natal Uranus so the Uranus aspects tend to rattle everything in my chart up – which I don’t object to since I like constant movement. During my first Uranus square I was sitting my finals at University in a very heavy degree. It was a tr Uranus Pluto conjunction that was around hitting  my Sun, Mercury, Moon, Uranus and I thought Armageddon was coming. It didn’t, I passed – if not with flying colours at least adequately – and I tumbled out of academia swearing never to sit another exam ever again.

 My midlife Uranus opposition oversaw a crazy relationship; with a home move and marriage (to someone else) through the Pluto square Pluto etc. The Second Uranus square – not much.

 My Nodal Half Return saw me upsticks and relocate home/country. But that was alongside tr Pluto opposition tr Saturn in Gemini upending my Moon Uranus, Sun etc.

  Looking back at my list the Saturn Returns stand out and the Nodal squares, oppositions and Return. The major landmarks in  my life – moving house, job etc – are not always obvious from the cycles themselves and I would track them through transits to my chart axis, houses and planets. But everyone’s chart is different and certain transits will have more impact depending on individual placings.

“There is beauty to be found in the changing of the earth’s seasons, and an inner grace in honouring the cycles of life.” Jack Kornfield

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein

“It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over.” Edna St. Vincent Millay

“Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.” Charles M. Schulz

“Unconscious of your story, you are in its grasp; but with consciousness, an alchemical process begins: The solidity of the complex dissolves and you can open up to the arrival of a new archetype, the birth of a new cycle of life. In the shadow, then, lies our myth and our fate.” Connie Zweig

“I see that the greatest thing about getting older is how your judgment changes and how you come to understand the cycles of life. And you keep having these amazing flashes of understanding.” Erica Jong

Popular protests against the Serbian regime and its leader Aleksandar Vučić have been met with increasingly brutal repression. What started as student movement has become a broader citizens’ movement which is calling for civil disobedience and demanding a new election. ‘A large section of Serbians have long been uneasy with his “strongman” style of leadership, since he came to power in 2012. But others have accepted his party’s firm grip on state institutions and much of the media as a trade-off for strong economic growth and improvements in infrastructure.’

 Serbia 13 July 1878 2.58 pm Belgrade, has been rattled through this year with tr Uranus conjunct the Pluto in Taurus and square Uranus and Alphard – with the tension-erupting Solar Arc Sturn conjunct the Serbia Uranus at the moment. Which latter is classic Saturnine repression of a rebellious Uranus Pluto uprising.

 Mid this month till late July and again in 2025 tr Neptune will conjunct the Serbia Saturn, undermining the rule of law and causing widespread uncertainty. In 2026 it is followed by a Saturn Return hinting at the need to pause for a rethink.

Aleksandar Vučić, 5 March 1970, is a Sun and Venus in Pisces with Venus opposition Pluto in late Virgo which is catching this September’s Solar Eclipse for a change-or-else-warning. It will be all the more pointed since his Pluto is on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Mercury sextile Mars; and he also has another yod onto Saturn in Taurus which is being put under major pressure in 2026/27 by tr Pluto square Saturn.

  His 1^st Presidency chart of 31 May 2017 – which has North Node, Moon, Alphard conjunct the Serbia Uranus Alphard  – has a destabilizing Solar Arc Pluto square the Uranus now; as well as tr Saturn square the Mars across the winter hinting at aggravating setbacks.

His 2^nd Presidency chart, 31 May 2022, is pressured this year and in serious trouble in 2026 with failure in the air.

Erin Patterson has been found guilty of poisoning several of her relatives with wild mushrooms in a trial that has gripped Australia for nine weeks. She prepared a lunch of beef wellington on differently coloured plates allowing her to avoid the tainted food herself – within a week, three former in-laws would be dead, a fourth would be fighting for his life

There was a startling backdrop to the story which was disallowed in court but the Daily Mail (typically) has it all, having somehow blocked those stories in the Australia edition.

 Erin Patterson who was tripped up in various lies in court was born 30 September 1974 and has an ultra-determined, probably grudge-carrying Libra Sun conjunct Pluto and Mars inconjunct Jupiter in Pisces. With her Mars in an edgy, can-be-bad-tempered square to Saturn. Her Neptune in Sagittarius conjunct North Node squares her Jupiter.

  Looking at other notable poisoners:

Mary Ann Cotton, 31 October 1832, Durham England was convicted and executed for poisoning her stepson though she is believed to have killed others including 11 of her 13 children and three of her four husbands for their life insurance policies.  She had a Scorpio Sun inconjunct Pluto sextile Mars – which is not that dissimilar to Erin Patterson – and she also had Jupiter in Pisces.

  Although poisoning is supposed to be a woman’s crime, William Palmer, 6 August 1824 Stafford, England,  tops the list as the Prince of Poisoners. An English doctor he was convicted and hanged for one poisoning case but suspected of poisoning others including his brother, mother-in-law and  four of his children before their first birthdays. He made large sums of money from the deaths all of which he lost by gambling on horses.

 He had two yods of a coercive, cold-blooded Pluto sextile Saturn inconjunct Mars; and a lawless Uranus inconjunct a Leo Sun sextile Saturn. His Jupiter is in Cancer – what gives with supposedly compassionate Jupiters? All three in Water signs and not even in Scorpio.

  All three have notable 18^th harmonics which is often the case with serial killers though it can have other meanings. 18 is two time 9 – and 9 in negative mode is acquisitive.

 Why the three above should be riddled by quincunxes is an oddity – it can create a sense of not fitting in though can also produce a singular purpose in life which does not normally lead to wholesale slaughter.   

A memorial service is being held for the July 7 2005 London bombings which killed 52 people and injured 800. Four co-ordinated suicide attacks on London’s public transport during the morning rush hour were carried out by Islamist terrorists.

 The attacks happened when the Solar Arc Mars was square Pluto on the UK 1801 chart which does describe a brutal, deadly event and the explosions happened at 8.51 am when the transiting Midheaven was conjunct the UK’s 8^th house Mars which is a sensitive trigger point for calamities.

London 7/7 bombings. What is intriguing is that the Fixed Star Alphard was conjunct the 26 degree Leo Ascendant when the bombings took place. Alphard is in the Hydra constellation, the single star in the neck of the Water Snake. It has also been called the heart of the snake. On the positive side it can give wisdom, musical and artistic appreciation but in negative mode can lead to turbulence, lack of self-control, immorality, revolting deeds and self-destruction. ‘The danger is marked if either Sun, Moon, Mars, Neptune, Ascendant or MC are linked up with this star.’ (Astrology King.) 

   Looking through the archives at other disasters, man-made and natural, Alphard does crop up in some through not all.

The Fukushima nuclear meltdown of 11 March 2011 was precipitated by an earthquake which resulted in a tsunami 50 minutes later which overwhelmed the nuclear power station around 3.36pm when Alphard was conjunct the Ascendant.

The Bhopal gas tragedy, considered the world’s worst industrial disaster, when 500,000 people in the vicinity of the Union Carbide pesticide plant in India were exposed to a highly toxic gas.  It eventually poisoned more than half a million people and caused as many as 16,000 deaths. Children have become second and third generation victims suffering from cerebral palsy, autism, muscular dystrophy and serious disabilities. Support groups estimate as many as 150,000 people were suffering chronic, debilitating diseases such as cancer, lung problems and neurological disorders.

  The first hint of problems at the Bhopal factory occurred around 11pm on 2 December 1984 when gauges recorded abnormal levels. At that point Alphard was conjunct the Leo Ascendant.

The Gujarat earthquake of 26 January 2001, 7.6 on the scale, killed at least 20,023 people, injured another 166,000 and destroyed about 400,000 buildings. Timed at 8.46 am, it had Alphard closely conjunct the Descendant.

 Alphard is relevant at the moment because of its prominence in Donald Trump’s chart – natally conjunct his Mars and his Ascendant – and equally natally conjunct Netanyahu’s Mars and the Israel Mars in Leo as well.

  The Bhopal disaster registered on the India 15 August 1947 chart with a panicky tr Neptune exactly opposition the India Mars, Solar Arc Mars conjunct the Mercury and it was on a Nodal Return which should have been a wake up call though it did not seem to have that effect in terms of damage clean up on the site and help for those affected which was very slow in coming.

 [What intrigues me astrologically speaking and I don’t know what to make of it. Both the Bhopal Disaster and the Gujarat earthquake show up clearly as damaging events on the united India 1 January 1877 chart, which politically no longer exists after the 1947 partition. It has a a fearsome Mars in Scorpio opposition Pluto Algol square Uranus in Leo conjunct Alphard.

   At the Gujarat earthquake tr Saturn in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio square Uranus Moon Mercury in Aquarius was colliding with the India 1877 Fixed T Square. At the Bhopal disaster tr Saturn in Scorpio was in hard aspect to the 1877 Fixed T square with Solar Arc Neptune square Mars; and two South Node aspects as well.]

And that odd but seemingly significant accident in London on 24 April 2024 when two cavalry horses were injured and a blood-covered white and black horse took off galloping through traffic. It happened at 8.40am when Alphard was closely conjunct the IC and opposition the Midheaven.

As mentioned above Alphard is not always prominent at calamities but it was conjunct the Ascendant when Laki, the Icelandic volcano started to blow on 8 June 1783 and continued for several months sending a haze across Europe, and killing people and livestock in Iceland.

 The Afghan War began 10 October 2001 with Alphard conjunct the IC. 

The My Lai massacre in Vietnam on 16 April 1968 had Jupiter conjunct Alphard. William Calley, the officer responsible for the unlawful killings of 22 civilians, 8 June 1943 6.12pm Miami, Florida had Alphard conjunct his Midheaven.

Worth looking out for.  

Jennifer Aniston is gearing up to play a ‘monster of a stage mother’ in the film version of Jeanette McCurdy’s best selling memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died which details her experiences as a child actress living with a ‘narcissistic’ parent. It will be all the more poignant for Aniston since she had a 15 year estrangement from her own model/actress mother Nancy Dow with whom she had a turbulent relationship. She was left with deep insecurities after her mother called her ‘fat, ugly and too Greek-looking’ as a child and constantly criticised her weight. A friend latterly said Nancy was jealous of Jennifer’s success since her own career never flourished and she remained unrepentant about writing a memoir about Jennifer which was seen as a betrayal. They did spend some time together before her death in 2016.

 Jennifer Aniston, born 11 February 1969 10.22 pm Los Angeles, has a tricky chart with an Aquarius Sun on the cusp of her 5^th house square a showbizzy Mars Neptune in Scorpio. She has Saturn in Aries on the cusp of her 7^th house on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Mars Neptune which is a tough yod to handle well. Her Sagittarius Moon, ruler of her 10^th, is trine Saturn and square Pluto giving her a cold and possessive mother.

  Intriguingly her need-to-be-independent Aries North Node in the working 6^th is conjunct Chiron – and highlighted at the moment by tr Saturn Neptune moving into Aries. This position of Chiron will bring a focus on issues of suffering and healing into the public arena.

 Her mother Nancy Dow, 22 July 1936, had a fearsome Cancer Sun, Mercury, Pluto (and Mars) conjunct Jennifer’s Midheaven and inconjunct Jennifer’s Sun so she would be driven to control her daughter – and put her down to feed her narcissism. Nancy’s Uranus was also in Jennifer’s 7^th creating a divisive atmosphere. Not that Jennifer’s actor father, John Aniston, 24 July 1933, was exactly a great help either with his Pluto on her Midheaven and his Uranus on her Descendant but on balance was not quite as damaging as her mother.