not categorised

The ghosts of the Irish Troubles continue to prowl with a report on the notorious British spy ‘Stakeknife’, believed to be the senior IRA member Freddie Scappaticci, who was the perpetrator of 14 murders and 15 abductions during the Troubles.

The nine-year investigation was critical of the Army and the Security Services (MI5), finding that more lives were probably lost than saved through the operation of Stakeknife, who “committed grotesque, serious crime” including torture and murder.

  Colonel Tim Collins, a former British Army officer who served with the SAS and as commander of the Royal Irish Regiment during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, said agents such as Stakeknife helped prevent wider bloodshed. He said: “The report lays bare a catalogue of failures – operational, ethical and institutional – that cannot be ignored. But “the question is not whether agent-handling was perfect. It wasn’t. The question is whether it was necessary. And it was – because the alternative was far worse.”

 The report stated MI5 was “closely involved in his handling”.

 Freddie Scappaticci, 12 January 1946, Belfast born of Italian parents, who died in 2023, certainly had a chart hinting of the potential for abusive behaviour with a Capricorn Sun Venus opposition Saturn Mars in Cancer square an expansive Jupiter.  Over-confident, hard-edged, short-fused with a penchant for the military and cruelty. Mars Saturn is the historical astrological signature for assassinations. He also had a Taurus Moon square Pluto which would do nothing to soften his approach.

  What intrigues me is the chart for MI5 (the UK Security Services) founded 7 October 1909 which has a Cardinal Grand Cross of a Libra Sun Mercury opposition Saturn in Aries square Neptune in Cancer opposition Uranus. Cardinal Grand Crosses hint at a lifestyle of revolving crises, in this case involving subterfuge (Neptune) and fanaticism (Uranus Neptune).

  Even more pointed, is a Mutable T square of Mars in Pisces opposition Jupiter square Pluto – Mars Pluto for danger, ruthlessness and determination plus Mars Jupiter for opportunism and impulsive actions, often marketed as moral.  That T square is being undermined by tr Neptune Saturn in hard aspect in the final trudge through Pisces till early 2026. Which may not be a consequence of this report since they will have their hands full elsewhere with terrorists from various sources including Russia/China etc.  

 But what is eye-catching is the MI5 Mars in Pisces which is exactly conjunct Chariklo (= eternal suffering), Nessus (= lies and manipulation) and conjunct Eris, planet of discord, disruption and provocation as well as the unfortunate Scheat. All of which seem fitting.  It is a formidable chart.

 1909 with the same Fixed stars in place oversaw the laying of the Titanic hull – all four Fixed Stars were square Pluto. When it sank in 1912 the Fixed stars had moved to different positions but the late Pisces Moon was exactly conjunct Eris and within two degrees of Scheat, the shipwrecking Fixed star.

An assortment of obituaries of dissimilar notables.

  Ian Douglas Hamilton, protector of the African elephants, was born 16 August 1942 and dreamed as a child about saving animals. After an Oxford degree in zoology, he became the foremost expert on elephants and was the first to alert the world to the ivory poaching holocaust, bringing about the first global ivory trade ban in 1989.

 He had a Sun Leo close to his wounded healer Chiron, with a kindly Venus in Cancer sextile Neptune in Virgo. His Mercury Mars and North Node in Virgo were square both Saturn and Uranus in Gemini attracting him to excitement (Mars Uranus), animals (Virgo) and spreading the word. His Jupiter in Cancer was also trine Mars Mercury giving him an additional surge of enthusiasm. Plus a sociable Libra Moon.

 Martin Parr, 23 May 1952 Epsom, England, a photographer known for using harsh flash and saturated colours, and for imbuing his images with a sense of humour, captured the attention of an international fan base and celebrated the quirks and intricacies of everyday British life. He was more interested in photographing village fêtes than foreign wars.

 A curious and communicative Sun Gemini with a Gemini/Taurus Moon, he had a vibrant and enthusiastic Jupiter in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio. And a creative and affectionate Venus in Taurus on the focal point of a Fixed T square to opposition the North Node in Aquarius. He had the chart of a man on a mission.

   Sophie Kinsella, 12 December 1969 London, author of the bestselling Shopaholic series of novels, has died at of brain cancer. She wrote her first novel while working as a financial journalist which was acclaimed by critics and became a top 10 bestseller. Her most successful series started with The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic. Her books have sold over 50 million copies in more than 60 countries and have been translated into over 40 languages.

 She had an intriguing and tricky chart though seemed to have been happily married with five children, She had a controlled/controlling Sun Sagittarius square Pluto and two yods – Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Saturn in Taurus and Mars in Aquarius sextile Saturn inconjunct Pluto. She was designed to work exceptionally hard with an emphasis on money (Saturn in Taurus); and to be influential (Pluto). She also had a publicity-attracting Mars square Neptune.

What is the astrological signature for blinkers? A narrowing field of vision that only encompasses a handful of talking points. The news is an endless repetition of Trump, Putin, Gaza, Ukraine and a few Royal flim flam distractions. In an individual, a shrinking world can signal depression but this seems to have infected the entire western culture.

 Uranus in innovative Gemini should have broadened not shrunk our perspective. Pluto in Aquarius in trine had been expected to add another layer of enlightened growth and interest in different perspectives.

  Blame it all on Neptune? It was the driving planet of the recent Virgo Solar Eclipse trine Uranus trine Pluto and opposition Neptune and Saturn in Pisces.

  Neptune in mythology was god of the seas and earthquakes as well as horses. He controlled the waters and was believed to have the power to calm or stir up waves and storms, control the tides. In his rape of Medusa to get back at Athena he also exhibited sadism and a vengeful nature. But nothing much to suggest constricted vision.

  This is thinking in progress (muddled) but looking across the historical outcomes of Neptune Pluto, Saturn Neptune and Uranus Neptune conjunctions, we seem to be feeling the negative effects of them, despite them being in supposedly ‘easier’ trines and sextile aspects at the moment. My impression from working with country charts is they do respond to ‘easy’ aspects (sextile, trine) with much the same impact as hard (square, opposition, conjunction).

Taking the negative first:  

Neptune Pluto together historically produced megalomaniac dictators – Attila the Hun, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Tse Tung.  

Saturn Neptune undermines a solid grip on reality and induces paranoia.

Uranus together with imaginative Neptune lack common sense, can foster irrational and misleading thinking.

 All of the above aspects can have a constructive purpose but it seems blocked for the moment, perhaps waiting for Neptune to swim out of the remnants of Pisces – in late January 2026, followed by Saturn exiting the swamp in February and finally the North Node heading backwards into Aquarius in July 2026.

  I remember contemplating Neptune’s move into Pisces in 2012, being mistrustful of all the high flown, spiritual expectations that were floating around. It doubles up the trickier side of Neptune which includes a cruel streak with a dismissal of the real world and the body. Revenge and inhuman cruelty often sit side by side with extreme compassion, great creativity and strong religious yearnings. Financial and other scandals always have a whiff of Neptune about them, with its quality of deceptiveness and its persuasive sleights of hand. Confidence tricks come under Neptune’s banner, with its inability to set boundaries or to distinguish between thine and mine, and its tendency to lie and distort.

 Neptune puts the dream above reality, writes off human sacrifice as a necessary cost to gain the end.

  Even Uranus in aspect to Pluto is often often projected onto society’s scapegoats. The Jewish story, and black African-American history have strong connections to this pairing as Pluto’s need to annihilate separate identity as a threat to the power base emerges.

  The positive upside of all the above combinations can undermine obsolete structures in society to foster constructive change (Uranus Pluto), can be enlightened, civilized, cultured, creative (Uranus Neptune) and helpful to underdogs, giving women and workers a hand up (Saturn Neptune).

  But not much of the progressive energy seems to be breaking through. Those of a paranoid inclination might be tempted to think that the megalomaniacs in power have us brainwashed – Pluto controls and Neptune lies.   ‘The “Great Lie” refers to a propaganda technique described by Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf, where a massive, outrageous falsehood is repeated until people believe it, as they assume no one would dare invent such a huge deception.’

  Trump does have a capacity to ’soak up all the oxygen’ – me, me, me, me. And Putin is the ultimate shape-shifting trickster (as is Netanyahu).

 Maybe it is less to do with Neptune forcing us into narrow tunnel-vision and more the pernicious effect of Pluto exerting control.  ‘Thou shalt have no other authority – or focus of attention – than me’.

  Astrologers have a tendency to look on the bright side in advance which is understandable but it does bring disappointment when the good news is slow to emerge.

 Anyone with any other bright ideas do feel free to comment.

Add ON: One further thought.  World War 11 began to slowly turn round with Pluto in early Leo and Uranus in late Taurus in 1940 with the UK holding firm through the Battle of Britain; and Hitler miscalculating with the advance into Russia in mid 1941. Pearl Harbour in December 1941 happened with Uranus just into Gemini, bringing the US into the war. With more turning points in 1942 in North Africa and Stalingrad.

 So it took Uranus in Gemini sextile Pluto in Leo a while before it brought liberation and cessation of the conflict in gradual stages through 1943/44, before the final closure  in 1945 – though the seeds were sown before Uranus exited Taurus.

  The mistake at the moment may be expecting instant relief and a rapid entry into better times. It has to be fought for.

The enigma that is Nick Cave – post-punk, gothic rock, profane and religious – is having a moment with a documentary  about him – Veiled Worlds – coinciding with the tv version of his novel The Death of Bunny Munro. Known musically for his obsessions with death, religion, love, and violence, he has had an eclectic career with constantly changing themes from the 1970s though he has always been preoccupied with Old Testament notions of good versus evil. The death of one of his sons aged 15, ten years ago who fell off a cliff when high on LSD understandably had a profound effect on him. Another son died in 2022, aged 31, following a long history of mental illness.

  Nick Cave born 22 September 1957 at 12.20pm (unverified) Warracknabeal, Australia, has a Sun conjunct Mars in late Virgo opposition Scheat – on this birth time on his Midheaven. He has a musical Venus Neptune in Scorpio with Venus square Uranus; and a tough-minded, bleak Saturn square Pluto Moon. Not an easy emotional life but not quite as ‘dark’ a chart as his work and obsessions might suggest. Though different birth time and houses would change a good deal.

 But on this chart he has the storm-tossed Scheat and Eris, planet of discord in his 4th house of family and the unfortunate Nessus in his 5^th house of children.

 When his son Arthur died in 2015 his Solar Arc Pluto was conjunct his Venus and about to square his Uranus for an intense and tumultuous experience with tr Pluto was crossing his Ascendant forcing him to re-evaluate who he was.

 His 2009 novel The Death of Bunny Munro focuses on a middle-aged lothario, whose constant womanising and alcohol abuse comes to a head after his wife’s suicide. A travelling door-to-door beauty-product salesman, he and his son go on an increasingly out-of-control road trip around Brighton, over which looms the shadow of a serial killer making his way towards Brighton, as well as Bunny’s own mortality.

A tortured soul. Though he is keen, as one reviewer said, to show that the devil does not have all the best tunes even if his musical fans would prefer him to keep his religious beliefs out of sight.  

  Mobland, the gritty drama about warring crime families in London now filming season 2, appears to be strained on set as well as on screen. Stories have emerged that Helen Mirren’s professional and disciplined approach clashes with Tom Hardy’s lateness and swaggering attitude.

  Creative types tend to be volatile but interesting to see the astro-dynamics. She was born 26 July 1945 2am (biography) London and he, 15 September 1977, London.

 Helen Mirren is a determined Sun Pluto in Leo with an Aquarius Moon. While he is a Sun Virgo square Neptune, with Venus Saturn conjunct in Leo and a boisterous Mars Jupiter in Cancer.  His Sun is conjunct her Jupiter which should be a positive connection but his Uranus is square her Pluto so he will fight against her controlled approach. What is possibly the crux of the matter is his Mars in Cancer exactly conjunct her North Node. His Mars brings force into the relationship and will push her to change which given her controlling Sun Pluto won’t be received kindly.

 Their relationship chart has a stark, exact composite Sun, Uranus, North Node conjunction hinting at two strong individuals who won’t compromise easily with each other and need space to pursue their own path. There may also be an emotionally stressed composite Moon opposition Mars square Pluto; with a dogmatic, unyielding Pluto conjunct Mercury.

  According to the Daily Mail, Tom Hardy also clashed with South African actress Charlize Theron during filming Mad Max: Fury Road, which released in 2015, ‘due to creative differences, lateness and his immersive acting style, leading to a tense environment.’

 Born 7 August 1975 8.23am Benoni, South Africa, Charlize Theron is a vibrant, attention-attracting Sun Leo like Helen Mirren, with her Moon and Mercury also in Leo. Her New Moon is square Hardy’s Uranus so he would be at cross-purposes to her; and her Mercury is conjunct Hardy’s Saturn for difficulty in communicating. Her Pluto is also square his Mars Jupiter conjunction in Cancer so he would feel his exuberance being over controlled.

 Their relationship chart was not quite as difficult as his with Helen Mirren. With Charlize Theron there is a composite Sun Venus square Jupiter = superficially friendly; but also a tension-inducing composite Saturn square Uranus; and a power-struggling composite Mars trine Pluto.

   Drama and melodrama on and off screen.  Virgo versus Leo may also be part of the problem.

Venturing down the rabbit hole to plumb Trump’s motivations is a doomed task with Venezuela the most immediate mystery. Damaging the fentanyl trade is a worthy cause except that would mean targeting Mexico not further south; and even cocaine mainly sourced out of Colombia comes into the USA from other places. Oil is a possibility since Venezuela has almost a fifth of all known global reserves – but it accounts for less than 1% of world production. Most of Venezuela’s reserves are “heavy sour” crude, which is expensive to extract.

 Regime change appeals to Trump since the main allies of Venezuela are China, Russia and Iran. Immigration is another excuse since millions of Venezuelans have fled the economic crisis and political repression there with hundreds of thousands going to the US.

But none of the above really explain why Trump is so intent on  Maduro’s capture or why US warships are within striking distance of Venezuela, with dozens already killed in attacks on boats alleged to have been transporting drugs.

[My own tuppence worth is he is play acting what he thinks a president ought to be. In typically contrary fashion he wants a Nobel Peace Prize for Gaza, Ukraine etc etc to even up with Obama; and at the same time he wants to bestride the globe like a latter day Alexander the Great.]

  His dutiful bagman Pete Hegseth, the hapless Defence Secretary, loyally following his whims has been accused of  war crimes in killing survivors of bombed ships. Democrats called him  “incompetent, reckless, and a threat to the lives of the men and women who serve in the armed forces”. “He has lied, dodged, deflected, and shockingly scapegoated his subordinates.” He also violated Pentagon policies by sharing sensitive details via the Signal messaging app hours before airstrikes in Yemen.

 Maduro is looking highly unsettled with tr Uranus opposition his Sun Mercury, more so after July with Uranus square his Uranus and a discouraging Solar Arc Sun conjunct his Saturn in 2026 as well.

 His relationship chart with Trump is implicitly hostile with a composite power-struggling Mars Pluto conjunction just below the horizon. Which may be another reason for the attacks – Trump always needs someone on whom to vent his spleen. Maduro just happens to be handy. On the relationship chart it looks to be rumbling on certainly throughout 2026.

 Pete Hegseth, 6 June 1980 8.28pm Forest Lake Minnesota, shows no signs of budging immediately though tr Saturn in late March and then tr Neptune opposition his Midheaven in July onwards may take the ground out from under his feet. He does have his Solar Arc Pluto square his Jupiter at the moment which can either mean he is brass-necking it out or running into conflicts with authorities – in Congress maybe. He is in calamity territory this month and again  mid March to mid April and will have a few down moments in late January 2026 as tr Saturn squares his Venus and opposes his Moon.

 Where his relationship with Trump may blow up is July/August 2026 and on when tr Uranus squares their composite Mars Jupiter. Hegseth’s relationship chart with Maduro is exceedingly stressed from now right through 2026 and beyond.

For details, charts etc see previous post September 17 2025 Venezuela

Frank Gehry, the Canadian–American architect who made magic with crumpled titanium and fish curves in buildings like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, has died. He was inspired by pop art, what he called ‘cheapskate aesthetic’, to create buildings that were almost art, almost sculpture – and at times an assemblage of a hardware store. His increasing use of the computer latterly was used to realise extraordinarily complex and innovative forms.

 Born 28 February 1929 in Toronto he was the son of Jewish immigrants, and moved to California in his late teens. After a stint as a lorry driver, he gained an architecture degree, did military service, and had a slow start in the building design field. By the mid 1980s he produced the California Aerospace Museum with a F104 Starfighter hovering over a giant door; and a restaurant, Rebecca’s, in Venice, California  featured giant trees, an octopus, alligator and several fish hanging about its interior.

 In the late 1990s the Bilbao Guggenheim put him on the world map and was hailed as the leading example of the new  computer-led design – a piece of urban sculpture, writhing along the riverbank, part palazzo, part ship. In two years, his museum was said to have added $400m to the city’s fortunes.

  Fish were a constant theme in his work which with a Pisces Sun and a creative Water Grand Trine with Pluto and a Scorpio Moon is maybe not surprising. He also significantly had an inspirational, attention-demanding Fire Grand Trine of Neptune in Leo trine Saturn in Sagittarius trine Venus in Aries, formed into a Kite by Saturn opposition Mars in Gemini, making Mars his driving planet. His Sun was also trine Pluto and sextile Jupiter in Taurus. He would rarely doubt his ideas or his ability to succeed. His Mercury in forward-looking Aquarius may have been on the focal point of a Fixed T square to Jupiter opposition his Scorpio Moon. His chart oozes confidence.

  Intriguingly Zaha Hadid, an Iraqi/British architect, recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st century, 31 October 1950, had a marked Mars Saturn hard aspect in her chart like Gehry. She was a Sun, Mercury, Venus in Scorpio trine Uranus (Moon) in Cancer so a similarly Water-heavy chart to him. She had marginally less Fire though her Pluto in Leo trine Mars in Sagittarius would give her drive with Jupiter in Aquarius sextile Mars and opposition Pluto for confidence. Her Mars was also square Saturn in Virgo.

 Norman Foster, the UK architect, 1 June 1935, has a New Moon in Gemini square a creative Saturn in Pisces opposition Neptune, and trine Mars. He has his Mars on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Saturn sextile Uranus – so Mars Saturn is a key component of his talent.

 Mars Saturn gets a bad reputation as destructive and accident-prone or prone to abusive/cruel behaviour. But it must be its ability to concentrate energy and perhaps its associations with bones and structure which comes into play with architects. That plus the self-discipline which it also instils.  

 Frank Lloyd Wright, the American architect had a Mars square Saturn. Though oddly Le Corbusier, known for his ‘brutalist’ designs did not though his Saturn and Mars were both in Leo, widely separated – his North Node fell on the midpoint of Mars and Saturn.

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The Montecito car-crash scenario hits another bump on the road with Meghan’s heavily slated, vacuous Christmas special making much of family love and togetherness. With uncanny and tragic timing it coincides with her estranged father in hospital with an amputated leg seriously ill.  He has not seen his daughter since before the 2018 wedding nor her children and has been in poor health in recent years with two heart attacks and a stroke.

  Family friction can run deep but she will regret it personally (I think) and more so professionally if she does not see him before it is too late.

 There was (and astrologically is) a strong connection between Meghan and her father with his Cancer Sun sitting exactly on her Ascendant which gives a deep link though it can turn competitive. His Chiron is conjunct her Venus in Virgo which will trigger deep insecurity in him about his loveability. ”It’s a powerful “wounded healer” connection, where one person’s presence illuminates the other’s deepest pain, offering a chance for profound transformation but requiring courage to navigate vulnerabilities and transform wounds into wisdom.”

 Thomas’s Pluto falls close to her Sun – so there will have been issues of control in the past.

 Their relationship chart has a high vitality though also argumentative composite Sun Mars Mercury conjunction. With a power couple composite Jupiter Pluto conjunction though that has clearly turned into an internal power-struggling conflict between the pair.

 Looking at her chart from a fresh angle she does have Eris, planet of chaos and discord conjunct her Midheaven. It  disrupts, provokes and shatters illusions. To date the turnover of staff in California has been remarkably high with 25 having come and gone in recent years. She also has Nessus, which has a reputation for manipulation, lying and double dealing exactly on her Ascendant close to the rise-and-fall Procyon.

 Both Eris and Nessus can be used constructively but like Prince Harry she does not appear to have found a way of turning them to good use.

  There is something slightly epic about her/their trajectory. It reminds me of the hero’s tragic flaw in Greek drama – a deep-seated character defect or error in judgment that leads to downfall, making them relatable yet ultimately doomed, often stemming from traits like excessive pride, ambition, jealousy, or indecision. It’s the internal weakness that sets off a chain reaction, causing a reversal of fortune from good to disaster, even for noble figures. 

 Just to add a detail, Meghan’s 10th house Chiron is conjunct Harry’s 4^th house Taurus Moon – which stretching a point might suggest that instead of digging deep to find her own potential and true vocation she fell back into Harry’s Royal roots to give her validation.

And so it rumbles on.

The Eurovision Song Contest is brewing up for a turbulent winter as Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia have already indicated they will boycott it after Israel was cleared to compete. Ireland’s RTÉ said it felt that its “participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk.” There were also allegations of unfair voting practices.

 The first Eurovision, 24 May 1956 in Switzerland 7pm, started on a Full Moon with the Gemini Sun opposition the Sagittarius Moon. There was also a super-confident Jupiter Pluto conjunction in Leo in an enduring and stubborn Fixed T Square opposition Mars in Aquarius square Saturn in Scorpio. Unbudgeable normally – except that tr Uranus which opposed the Saturn last month will return for the same in April 2026, one month before the competition which runs 12 to 16 May 2026.

  The Taurus Sun for the first semi final on May 12th 2026 will move cross the square to the 1956 Jupiter and Mars before ending up just short of being square the Pluto at the final four days later. The mood will be heightened and there may be repercussions in the aftermath with tr Uranus moving to hard aspect the 1956 Full Moon from mid June 2026 onwards into 2027.