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Venus, goddess of love and beauty, ruler of artistic refinement, social skills and all things sweet and nice, has a darker under-side when lust, greed, laziness and insincerity take precedence.

  Mythology has a variety of  associations relating the Roman Venus and her Greek counterpart Aphrodite to pleasure, passion, procreation, fertility, prosperity, and victory. Hesiod writes that Aphrodite arose from the sea out of the foam produced by Uranus’s genitals, which his son Cronus had severed and thrown into the sea. In one tale Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus (Vulkan), the god of fire, blacksmiths and metalworking. He worked tirelessly while she played, partied and was frequently unfaithful.

  Cupid is supposed to be the son of Venus and Mars, the god of war.

 Venereal diseases from the Middle English “relating to sexual intercourse” or “sexual love.”

 Though oddly the first known temple to Venus was supposedly funded by fines imposed on Roman women for sexual misdemeanours.

Aphrodite’s major symbols include seashells, myrtles, roses, doves, sparrows, and swans. The cult of Aphrodite was derived from the Phoenician goddess Astarte and the Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian cult of Inanna. Aphrodite was worshipped as a warrior goddess and in some places known as the patron goddess of prostitutes.

  In astrology not surprisingly Venus figures largely in charts from the arena of fashion (often with Jupiter in aspect = surface appearances matter) and design, as well as in public relations for the Venusian skill of accentuating the positive, putting sparkle on the surface (lipstick on a pig) and airbrushing out of sight unpleasantness and difficulties.

   Courtesans and the sexually promiscuous also figure largely with Venus in hard aspect to chilly Saturn (which sounds counter-intuitive but is a pattern); passionate and manipulative Pluto; revved-up Mars; and rebellious Uranus.

Some like Pamela Harriman, 20 March 1920, whose romantic involvements were legendary had her Venus conjunct Uranus in Pisces in a Water Grand trine to Mars in Scorpio and Pluto and opposition Saturn.

  Lady Jane Digby, 3 April 1807, equally renowned for her scandalous love life had her Venus in Taurus opposition Saturn and Uranus, trine Mars, inconjunct Neptune and square Jupiter.

  The Duke of Windsor had his Venus in Taurus conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol as did Princess Diana.

 John Travolta and Roger Moore whose early marriages were with older wives both had Moon Venus aspects which astrologer Richard Idemon associated with a sexualized mother relationship. Travolta Moon Pisces opposition Moon square Mars.  Roger Moore had a Moon Gemini opposition Saturn square Venus. [Oddly enough Emanuel Macron does not.]

While Venus conjunct Mars can have its positive side is also remarkably frequent amongst those with a less than restrained approach to sex/romance – Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Ghislaine Maxwell. In addition to ‘passionate enthusiasm’ Ebertin says it can have – ‘a strongly emotional and sexual life with disharmonious tendencies’; ‘in some cases inclination to polygamy.’

   Reynhard Sinaga, named as the world’s worst serial rapist, has an exact Venus Mars conjunction in Pisces square Neptune and inconjunct Pluto. But that is an extreme version.

 An unaspected Venus is self-contained, less sociable, can be single-minded and wobbles between not connecting emotionally and being intense, being undemonstrative yet reacting strongly when personally challenged.

   The main drawback to Venus apart from its rampant sexuality is its need to put an outer sheen on events. So desperate to maintain a harmonious atmosphere and sweep unpleasantness out of sight that it denies reality and comes across as insincere or hypocritical.

 If ever there was a cautionary tale of a Venus twisted by life events and dysfunctional mothering it is Brooke Shields.  She started modelling at 11 months old. Her first big film role, aged 11, was as a girl raised into sex work in Louis Malle’s Pretty Baby. A cover story from a 1977 issue of New York magazine was headlined, “Meet Teri and Brooke Shields: Brooke is 12. She poses nude. Teri is her mother (an alcoholic). She thinks it’s swell.” At 14, she starred in Blue Lagoon, playing a teenager coming of age on a deserted island. She said the director wanted “to sell my sexual awakening”. Amazingly she has turned out married with children and seemingly together.

 Born 31 May 1965 1.45pm Manhattan, NY, she has a Moon Venus conjunction in Gemini conjunct her Midheaven (mother who flaunts her child’s sexuality to promote her career) in a tumultuous, cold-hearted square to  Saturn opposition a ruthless Mars Pluto (Uranus in Virgo).  

Josephine Baker, the American Folie Bergere dancer, who started life as a street kid in segregated Missouri and went on to become a World War II spy for France and resistance fighter as well, later, as a civil rights activist in the USA is the subject of a newly released memoir Fearless and Free. Originally published in 1949 it has been translated into English for the first time.

  Never reconciled to her homeland she found a resting place in the Pantheon, a monument to national heroes. She was the first black woman to receive the honour and will lie alongside  Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo and scientists Pierre and Marie Curie.

  Born 3 June 1906 St Louis, Missouri, 11 am (biography?) she never knew her father, started work at 8 as a live-in domestic for white families where she was abused and eventually ran away to marry twice in her teens, at 13 and 15, before moving to Paris. ‘An unaffected exhibitionist and a natural performer’ she became an icon of the city’s Jazz Age in the Roaring Twenties (Neptune in Leo), accentuating many African stereotypes of the colonial time in a banana skirt and little else. She became a French citizen after her marriage in 1937 to Jewish industrialist Jean Lion, a man who suffered from anti-Semitic laws; and at the outbreak of war offered her services to French counter-intelligence services and De Gaulle, working as an informant.  

  After the war, she became involved in USA anti-racist politics, fought against segregation during a 1951 performance tour of the US, causing her to be targeted by the FBI, labelled a communist and banned from her homeland for a decade. She spoke at the 1963 March on Washington where Dr Martin Luther King gave his famous “I have a dream” speech. Baker adopted 12 children from all over the world as part of a “Rainbow tribe”, living in a castle in the southwest of France.

  She had five planets in Gemini square Saturn in Pisces – her Sun, Mercury and upbeat Jupiter with her Jupiter conjunct a formidably courageous and attracted-to-danger Mars Pluto conjunction. The Saturn square would give her problems early on with low self-esteem and setbacks but would also instil a work ethic. She emerged from a brutal childhood to become her own woman.

  She also had a creative and idealistic Venus Neptune in Cancer in the signature opposition to Uranus of the time. Significantly she also had a ‘leadership; North Node in Leo so was never destined to spend a life like her mother in poverty.

  Her creative 5^th and especially her musical 7^th Harmonic charts were well aspected. But it was her victim/healer 12^th which is outstandingly strong, linking the Sun and Moon to a revolutionary Uranus Pluto and confident/lucky Jupiter.

Unity Mitford was one of five infamous debutante sisters of the 1930s, who developed an infatuation with Hitler. Her sister Diana, wife of Oswald Mosley of the British Fascist Party, spent the war in an internment camp because of Nazi sympathies. Unity’s diaries of her time in Germany between 1935 and 1939  have been published relating her intimate access to Hitler and she was viewed as his English girlfriend. Her dearest wish, friends said, was to become Mrs Hitler. Rabidly anti-Semitic, she wanted him to conquer the world.

   Her defiant wearing of a swastika badge got her stoned in Hyde Park and arrested and strip-searched in Czechoslovakia. Because of her, the Mosleys and the Duke of Windsor, Hitler was led to believe that the British upper classes would not only align with Nazism but have a popular following.

   At the outbreak of the war, she shot herself in the head from which she never recovered, dying in the UK in 1948.

 Born 8 August 1914 in London as World War 1 broke out, she was an attention-seeking Leo Sun opposition Jupiter, though more significantly she had Mars Venus conjunct in Virgo square Saturn in Gemini and Pluto in Cancer. Mars Venus can be promiscuous and would certainly have made her compulsive in her interests. Square Saturn adds a masochistic streak. Mars Pluto would attract her to powerful and ruthless men. Plus she had delusional Neptune Mercury in Cancer.

  Hitler’s Saturn in Leo was conjunct her Sun and opposition her Jupiter – she attempted to be his cheerleader while he kept her at arm’s length. Her Neptune in Cancer fell close to his Midheaven and square his Taurus Sun – illusions were rife. His manipulative 8^th house Neptune Pluto in Gemini, the subterranean influencer, tugged at her Mars Venus in trine. Her Venus Mars in earthy Virgo may well have been attracted to his Mars Venus in Taurus, unbelievable though it may sound.

  Their relationship chart had a perverse composite Venus, Mars, Saturn conjunction opposition Jupiter hinting at a decidedly one-side relationship with elements of cruelty in it.  There was also a composite Sun conjunct controlling Pluto on one side and illusory Neptune on the other.

 As war approached in 1939 tr Pluto crossed over her Mercury Neptune and tr Saturn in Taurus in square – putting immense pressure on her mental instability. And tr Neptune was square their composite Sun.

  What a weird, unbalanced woman.  Oddly enough Eva Braun, longtime companion and briefly wife of Hitler had her Aquarius Sun in his 4^th opposition his Saturn. His Taurus Sun sat on her Descendant which is good for relationships though her Uranus in square would make for tensions.

 Their relationship chart had a passionate though disruptive composite Venus Mercury opposition Uranus square Pluto; and a moody, changeable Jupiter opposition Saturn Neptune square Sun.

The US is holding its breath as Trump is inaugurated for the second time with fears that his wild and inflated promises will be followed through. Commentators are divided between downplaying the threat – ‘My counsel would be not to sweat what he says, but judge him by what he does.’ And doing the opposite ‘Nobody should kid themselves that he’s only ever bluffing. Donald Trump is a slob, a cheat, a lawbreaker, a bully, a careless liar, a cheap jingoist and a dangerous politician.’

   Before panicked outrage takes over it is helpful to take a hard look at America’s past – George H Bush actually did invade Panama and toppled the regime of Manuel Noriega. Reagan invaded Grenada, a member of the Commonwealth. There were wars in Indo-China pursued by John F Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, never mind the misbegotten “global war on terror” pursued by George W Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney. In comparison Trump may not be such an outlier and his previous record might suggest, for all his inflammatory rhetoric, he is not a war monger.

  His Inauguration chart of today is worrisome with a 10th house, control-freak Sun Pluto conjunction – akin to Kim Jong Un’s North Korea leadership chart, 29 December 2011 11.57am P’yonggang, NK,  with its 10^th house Sun Pluto in Capricorn.

 But other strongman dictators did not (where times are available) have Pluto in the 10^th. Al Sisi in Egypt, 8 June 2014 11.18am Cairo, did not. His administration chart has Pluto in the 5^th house which is admittedly strongly aspected being opposition Jupiter square Mars opposition Uranus. The Ayatollah Khameini’s Leadership chart has a Sun square Pluto. Gadaffi’s had Mars square Pluto.

  George W Bush whose first term oversaw 9/11 and the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq had a confused 10^th house Sun Neptune conjunction with admittedly an aggressive, explosive, vengeful Mars in the 7^th square Uranus in the 10th and more significantly even than that a hidden, dirty-dealing 8^th house Moon Pluto conjunction.

 The most recent Joe Biden administration had Pluto conjunct the Midheaven and 10^th house Sun, somewhat similar to this one – plus Jupiter Saturn in the 10^th square Mars Uranus – which looked ominous in advance though all things considered did not prove to be as tumultuous as it looked.

  Below has all been said before and will no doubt be said again ad nauseam – but here is a precis to keep in mind. The USA is labouring under Solar Arc Saturn conjunct its Mars 2024/early 2025) inducing fear and anger; followed by SA Saturn square the US Neptune exact late September 2025 and fading from early 2026 onwards. 2025 also sees tr Uranus square the Moon for an unsettled electorate. And tr Neptune square the financial Venus from mid 2025 onwards and tr Saturn square Neptune in 2026.

 Trump’s chart is both hyped up and mired into confusion. Tr Uranus will make a final square to his Mars late April to mid May 2025 for a shock, anger, insecurity and over-reactions.   This February, mid July to late August and December 2025 look quarrelsome in the extreme with bitter rows ongoing.  Throughout 2025 and 2026 Neptune will be undermining two of his Mercury midpoints and SA Neptune will conjunct his Moon soon and then opposes his Sun in late 2026 – none of which will clarify his thinking or make constructive progress with his plans easy.

  One obscure thought, his Progressed Mars will conjunct the USA’s Saturn in Libra exactly towards fall 2025 which is around the time the SA Saturn squares the US Neptune and when the Inauguration Sun Pluto conjunction is drawing close to exact.

ADD ON: If Trump’s 10.54 am birth time is sound then he also has tr Pluto entering his 6th house of health for years to come which can be pressured; plus tr Neptune into his 8th for financial deceptions/secrets emerging; and tr Uranus conjunct his Midheaven late this March into April which could suggest a jolting change of direction. Plus his Solar Midheaven conjunct his Pluto in the 12th within months which could suggest both an exaggerated push for influence through behind-the-scenes manipulation and a dead-halt since Pluto can have a destructive effect on career plans. But these are all dependent on an accurate birth time.

N.B. (Nota Bene = take notice)  I hate to sound like a nag BUT this is an astrology website, not a fan club or the opposite. Facts are helpful for context. Outraged opinions need to be directed elsewhere or they will be binned. Ranters and ravers will get blocked permanently.

Joan Plowright, one of Britain’s finest stage actresses, married for three decades to Laurence Olivier, has died aged 95. She garnered innumerable awards for her performances on screen as well, most recently for Tea with Mussolini where she played in an ensemble cast with Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.

 She was born 28 October 1929 in Brigg, England, (rectified by Starkman to 4.38am which works well) with her mother, a keen amateur actor prompting her onto her first stage performance aged 3.  In the early 1960s she met Olivier during a performance and was cautious since he was still in a high-profile marriage to the increasingly unstable Vivien Leigh and she was also married. He was 22 years older but after both divorced their previous spouses they made it work, producing three children, though he was not an easy temperament. She said, “He has extremes of behaviour, which you understand.  You just find a way not to be swept overboard by his demons.”

 She was a Sun Scorpio sextile Neptune with a Virgo Moon conjunct Neptune and an influential Pluto in her 10th conjunct her Midheaven – determined, creative, influential, controlling.  Her charming Venus and Mercury in Libra sat on her Ascendant opposition Uranus conjunct her Descendant, suiting her for an unconventional marriage. Despite her intensity she could be amiable and laid back at home.

  Her creative 5H, 13H and 22 harmonic charts are all strong for talent, influence and fame.

 Laurence Olivier, 22 May 1907 5am Dorking, England, had a 12^th house Taurus Sun Mercury with a Virgo Moon and a volatile, explosive 8^th house Uranus Mars in Capricorn. His Venus fell in her 7^th house of marriage for an affectionate bond and both had Virgo Moons so would understand each other’s moods.

 Their relationship chart had a workmanlike composite Sun opposition Saturn and an argumentative Moon square Mars, tied into the North Node – so their joint public careers would keep them on their toes. Assuming her rectified birth time is sound then the saving grace would be a strong friendship from Jupiter in the 11th.

Two astro-thoughts about a possible ceasefire in Gaza which no one is expecting to be the end of the conflict. One is that the original Hamas invasion chart of 7 October 2023 which was announced at 6.30am that morning had a brutal, ruthless Mars square Pluto. That has moved by Solar Arc to close the hard aspect to exact within a minute of a degree now which hardly suggests the bad feeling on either side has eased. That chart also has the disaster-prone Vindemiatrix, the widowmaker, exactly on the Ascendant and Algol in the 8^th.

   The other is the surprise of Trump’s emissary, an aggressive businessman Steven Witkoff sent in to give the hard word to Netanyahu. A change from the softly softly Anthony Blinken/Biden approach, he evidently put his foot down and insisted a ceasefire had to be agreed. Born 15 March 1957, Witkoff, is a Sun Pisces but more significantly has Mars in Taurus conjunct Algol square Pluto, making him even more intimidating than Netanyahu and Trump put together.  

 Netanyahu has a problem  with two of his coalition parties, Religious Zionism and Jewish Power, who are demanding he withdraw from the deal until Hamas have been completely destroyed.  

  Hamas may also sabotage the deal since the terms may insist their rival the Palestinian Authority take over Gaza. The second and third phases will only be discussed at least 16 days into the ceasefire.

  Outgoing Secretary of State Blinken is an unusually blunt farewell speech said: “I wish I could tell you that leaders in the region always put their people’s interests ahead of their own interests. They did not.” That was a message to Netanyahu and he criticised the illegal settlements on the West Bank. Far too little and far too late.

 The Israel chart has its 12^th house Neptune being rattled by the Libra/Aries Solar Eclipses late 2024 and through most of 2025; with the SA Midheaven moving to conjunct the Neptune by 2026/27 which is all indecision and confusion.  With the insecure, explosive tr Uranus square the Israel Mars before mid 2025 and tr Pluto opposition the 10^th house Moon in 2026/27 suggesting massive pressures on the Israeli government and a mutinous electorate. And worse the devastating, trapped and scary SA Mars is square the Israel Pluto, same degree within less than six months and exact over New Year into early 2026. So nothing suggesting relief at the end of hostilities.

  Trump’s relationship chart with Netanyahu will continue to be tumultuous through the early months of his administration. As will his relationship with Israel itself. He is not quite what they expected.  

 Ceasefire or no ceasefire there is no end in sight to the inhumane plight of the Palestinians which is what fuels the resistance.

 “The end is in the beginning and still we go on.” Beckett.

David Lynch, the film director, ‘the visionary of America’s subconscious’ and a ‘a singular auteur whose films found poetry in the ugly underbelly of American life’ has died. He ‘saw that if the US dreamed of safety and prosperity and the suburban drive and the picket fence, it also dreamed of the opposite: of escape, danger, adventure, sex and death. And the two collided and opened up chasms and sinkholes in the lost highway to happiness.’

 Best known for Twin Peaks, The Elephant Man, Dune, Blue Velvet he was described as ‘a purebred, corn-fed all-American surrealist and a man who insisted that below our manicured lawns and behind our tidy housefronts lay incomprehensible urges and unholy evil. In his work, the sunny American Dream and its nightmare subconscious were conjoined and inseparable, each unimaginable without the other.’

Blue Velvet for example was ‘a subversive coming-of-age tale in which the boyish naïf played by Kyle MacLachlan falls under the spell of a sexually masochistic chanteuse (Isabella Rossellini) and her brutal gangster lover (Dennis Hopper), it was wide-eyed and wondrous one moment, deeply disturbing the next.’

‘The movie haunts like a Freudian spectrograph of the country’s soul.’

 According to ADB his first film which won awards was about an abused, bed-wetting boy who grew a kindly grandmother from a seed.

 Despite the nightmares permeating his movies and creative subconscious he claimed to have had a happy childhood, albeit constantly moving because of his father’s job as a research scientist in agriculture.

 Born 20 January 1946 3am Missoula, Montana, he had a sharp-witted, communicative Capricorn Sun Venus conjunction and Mercury in his 3^rd house opposition Mars Saturn in Cancer in his 9^th square a 12^th house Jupiter.  

 Mars Saturn can be a destructive energy and juxtaposed with an amplified Jupiter may have given him his sense of a two-tier life/society. Jupiterian success and sunny smiles on the the one hand and ruthless/perverted Saturn Mars on the other. His Uranus in his 8^th would also give him a doorway into deeper realities as would his 8^th house North Node.

 His 10^th house Virgo Moon conjunct his Midheaven suited him for a career that brought him into contact with the public  But being unaspected would give him a sense of disconnection with his environment initially at home and later with society. It would make him vulnerable and feel unsupported, perhaps one reason he ‘let in’ the horrors that lurked below the surface which most manage to blot out.

 The legendary Bob Dylan has been given a Hollywood biopic which has been rapturously received by the upmarket film critics. “A Complete Unknown: Timothée Chalamet embodies Bob Dylan’s once-in-a-generation coolness.

“The rocker is too mercurial a figure for a biopic to ever fully capture him – but this gorgeous film comes as close as you could hope.”

“For anyone under 75, Dylan’s greatest hits have always been heirlooms: somehow just there. Amid the recreated past, the movie restores a sense of how seismic they would originally have been.”

“Timothée Chalamet shines as a brusque and brattish Bob Dylan.”

  Dylan, born 24 May 1941 9.05 pm Duluth, MN, was awarded the the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. His songs include Blowin’ in the Wind and The Times.

He has a Sun Venus in Gemini, a common sign amongst popular singers, with the Sun conjunct Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus, all in the 6^th house of work.  He’s got a stellium in Taurus – Saturn Moon in the performing 5^th plus Jupiter Uranus, all in an inspired, creative trine to Neptune and North Node in Virgo. His Mercury in Gemini conjunct his Descendant makes him a communicator; and Pluto in his 8^th sextile his Sun gives him depth and the ability to influence widely. His Sun also squares a 3^rd house Mars in Pisces, so he is assertive, can be get angry about issues.

 His super-star 22^nd Harmonic is strong; as is his literary 21H; and that curious 13^th Harmonic. ‘This number is associated with exploration, genius and breaking with the orthodox. It warns against the unknown and the unexpected. It requires adaptation to change to be successful.’

  Timothee Chalamet, 27 December 1995 9.16 pm Manhattan, NY, has a packed performing 5^th house with a Capricorn stellium of Sun, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Uranus  – with his Sun like Dylan conjunct Jupiter sitting late in the sign before.  Chalamet like Dylan has a Moon conjunct Saturn though in his case in Pisces and his Pluto in the 4^th has certain similarities to Dylan’s Pluto in the 8th.

 Dylan’s Jupiter Uranus is conjunct Chalamet’s Midheaven so definitely a lucky connection on the carer front.

  Their relationship chart has a composite Sun Jupiter conjunction in the 5^th which is also fortunate.

Michelle Obama was conspicuous by her absence from Jimmy Carter’s funeral and evidently does not intend to attend Trump’s Inauguration.  Reasons proffered in the media are that she does not do hypocrisy and refuses to put on a false smile to applaud a man who has directly insulted them and she thinks is a danger to democracy. Barack is reckoned to be a supporter of ‘unity’.  [LBJ’s “Better inside the tent p***ing out than outside pi**ing in.”]

  Michelle certainly harbours a strong hostility to Trump with an aggravated composite Saturn Venus opposition Mars in their relationship chart – with the composite Sun at 9 Aries catching the Solar Eclipses right through late 2024 and most of 2025 for rolling jolts plus another from tr Uranus square the composite Pluto before mid year.

 Her Saturn (Moon) in Aquarius opposes DT’s bombastic Mars in Leo and her Capricorn Sun opposes DT’s Saturn – aggravating and chilly.

 Barack and Trump’s relationship chart has a forced acceptance composite Saturn trine Pluto; and a suspicious, doubt-ridden, chilly composite Sun Uranus squaring a Saturn opposition Neptune. Not exactly cosy but the dislike is more battened down.

  Michelle is looking horror struck at the moment with tr Uranus opposition her Mars/Pluto midpoint till mid March; and has a frustratingly stuck trapped, fearful tr Pluto conjunct her Mars from this March on and off till late 2026. Plus a confused, devastating SA Pluto conjunct her Neptune in 2027.

 Barack has his Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct his Jupiter in coming months so looks less stressed; though tr Uranus moving into his 4^th house before mid 2025 will be unsettled domestically and where the family is concerned. He does look emotionally on edge with tr Uranus moving to conjunct his 4^th house Gemini Moon in 2026/27; and even before then tr Neptune Saturn square his 5^th house Venus in Cancer from mid 2025 into 2026. Plus a considerably jolt where partnerships are concerned in 2026 from SA Mars square his 7^th house Uranus.

 He has tr Saturn heading for the nadir of his First Quadrant so he won’t be as motivated or ambitious as in the past and will be keen to step back and give personal matters more attention. 

  There’s no verified birthtime for Michelle though Starkman puts it at 1.56am which puts her at a different phase of life career-wise to Barack. But she also has a few emotional ups and downs coming with tr Uranus square her Moon (?) soon and then square her 4^th house Venus after mid 2025.

 There could be strains on their relationship through this year and the next several, with their composite Venus opposition Sun square Saturn feeling the full weight of tr Pluto hard aspects through till late 2029. Plus aggravations this year with tr Uranus opposition the Mars and tr Uranus square the composite Pluto in 2026/27. So very rock n’ roll and not in tune.