not categorised

Iraq’s troubled history over the past 100 years starting with British interference after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WW1 through various coups and religious schisms culminating in George W Bush’s ‘shock and awe’ carnage in 2003 after 9/11 shows no signs of settling any time soon. Despite ISIS, who had stepped into the vacuum caused by the USA’s ill-thought out and mismanaged assault, being ejected in 2017, there are still ‘increased levels of violent terrorism and sectarian conflicts’ and wide-scale droughts since 2020 driven by climate change. Water flows in the Tigris and Euphrates are down 30-40%. Half the country’s farmland is at risk of desertification with nearly 40% of Iraq ” overtaken by blowing desert sands that claim tens of thousands of acres of arable land every year.”

 There are two charts for Iraq 23 August 1921 6am Baghdad; and 14 July 1958 4 am Baghdad – both of which work well tested against the Iraq Attack of 20 March 2003.

  The 1921 chart at that point in 2003 in addition to a sharp-shock tr Uranus opposition the Sun and square Midheaven; and the war-like tr Saturn opposition Pluto aspect the Solar Arc Midheaven – was a classic example of transiting Mars as a trigger – tr Mars was conjunct the SA Moon, conjunct the SA North Node and opposition the Iraq Pluto – all exactly.

  On the 1958 chart tr Uranus was exactly opposition the Pluto for a major upheaval; with the tr Saturn conjunct the Solar Arc Midheaven and tr Pluto was opposition.

 When the Iraq Attack took place on 20 March 2003 at 5.30 am Baghdad, tr Pluto was conjunct the Midheaven opposition Saturn in the 4^th square a Pisces Sun exactly conjunct the generally-unlucky Scheat. Saturn Pluto is associated with war and deprivation.

The North Node on the 2003 Attack was at 1 degree Gemini which will be rattled by tr Uranus moving into Gemini after this July; and at the moment the Solar Arc North Node is exactly conjunct the Saturn with Solar Arc Uranus square the Saturn; and tr Neptune is conjunct the Attack Sun throughout 2025. [I can’t quite see what repercussions there will be at this stage but that chart is reverberating to some strong undercurrents.]

Relocating the 2003 Attack chart to Washington, DC gave a grandstanding 5^th house Sun; and relocating the London gave a hard-working, under-appreciated 6^th house Saturn. The Attack chart itself lacked Earth with only Mars in Capricorn to look after practicalities.

Looking ahead nothing seems settled for either Iraq chart. The 1921 chart has its Mercury Sun in Leo catching the unsettled tr Uranus square throughout 2025 with a deprived/warlike SA Saturn opposition Pluto in 2028; and various upheavals into the start of the 2030s.

 The Iraq 1958 chart has a tumultuous tr Uranus square the Pluto from the middle of this year with again the turn of the decade giving hints of even more turmoil.

 Baghdad which rose to become the cultural centre of the Muslim world after its foundation in 762 AD has been crushed and risen again several times – and will no doubt do so again. The influence of that region from the time of the Sumerians back several thousand years has always been indisputable.

Riotous, unconventional, reckless lives are entertaining between the pages of a novel but the emotional damage they wreak is undeniable.

 Diana Melly, wife of the flamboyant jazz singer, journalist and libertine George Melly with whom she shared an open marriage that survived for “45 long years” has died aged 87.

 She was born 26 July 1937 in Southampton (no birth time) with a philanderer father and farmed out to a convent aged 4, then a godmother, leaving school early and working as a hostess in a cabaret club. By the time she met George Melly in 1961 she was 24, married to her second husband and the mother of two children. Her eldest son Patrick was sent to a creche each day,  often left at home alone and when he was two, was sent to live with her aunt in Essex and barely saw him again until he was six. He ultimately died of a heroin overdose aged 24.

 George Melly, 17 August 1926 9.15am Liverpool, was bisexual, sexually voracious and an epic drinker with a drug habit. As he tired of monogamy after their marriage he encouraged her to have an affair with a handsome 18-year-old school dropout while on holiday in France. Later in her mid-thirties, she took up with a blond drug addict of 17, amongst many others.

 She was a Sun Leo conjunct Pluto, a hint of a controlling and often absent father over whom she had no sway. Her Venus in frivolous Gemini was on the focal point of a strained yod inconjunct Mars in Scorpio sextile Jupiter in Capricorn. Her Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries was trine her Sun.  Her Pisces Moon may have been opposition Neptune.

  There was a hint of passionate attraction in the synastry with George Melly, his Venus in late Cancer conjunct her Pluto and Sun. But her Uranus fell in his 8^th house conjunct his subterranean Mars in Taurus which could stir up difficult feelings and erupt from time time to time in explosive arguments. Her Mars in Scorpio was also conjunct his Saturn which is an aggravating interface.  Her Saturn in his 7^th would produce loyalty and a sense of endurance with a joint interest in business – and she evidently looked after his administration. Her Chiron was exactly conjunct his midheaven so there would be a sense of coming together for each to heal wounds of the past.

 George Melly, had a creative and entertaining Sun Neptune conjunction in Leo opposition Jupiter in his performing 5^th house and square Saturn in Scorpio – the Neptune could explain his drug/drink habits and he would certainly have his down times with a Saturn square. His volatile 8^th house Mars in Taurus was square Mercury and widely opposition his Saturn which would also be a drive of his turbulent behaviour.  His Uranus in his 7^th trine Venus points to a need for emotional freedom; whereas his 10^th house Pluto in addition to give him influence made him controlling. A complicated man.

 Their relationship chart had a boisterous composite Sun Mercury opposition Jupiter Mars; and a harder Saturn (Moon) opposition Pluto square Uranus making for periodic upheavals as well as a sense of being chained together and resenting it.

  Bound together by their dysfunction.

Sweden is reeling from a mass shooting with eleven dead including the killer, a local man in his mid 30s who returned to a school he had attended which provided Swedish language classes for immigrants and adult education for people who did not finish primary or secondary school. ‘There is no obvious evidence of an ideological background or any connection to the gang wars that have driven the vast majority of Sweden’s shootings in recent years.’ Unconfirmed reports suggest he was reclusive and presumably suffering from mental problems.

  At a memorial service Queen Silvia asked “Where did the beautiful Sweden go?”. Sweden already has by far the highest gun murder rate of any rich European country. The blame is being laid on the recent open-door migration policy with no policy to help the newcomers integrate. ‘This has served as an incubator for crime, as gangs take over where society fails.’ About 20 percent of Sweden’s 10 million residents are foreign-born (double the rate in 2000), many of them refugees from war-torn countries including Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia and many of the adults are illiterate.

  Denmark has a tougher approach with a requirement that children of migrants learn the local language and values,  the dispersal of migrants to different regions, longer sentences for serious crimes, double penalties for gang members and special prisons for young offenders.

 There are two charts for Sweden.

 The 6 June 1523 JC 11.30 am Stockholm chart was going through its Pluto Return and Neptune Return in the middle of last decade when immigration started to peak with the refugee crisis – and by July this year will be on its Uranus Return as pressure for a less permissive approach is hardening. [For Pluto Returns see previous post in search: Pluto Returns – collapse and rebuild 17th October 2020.]

 The other is Sweden 7 December 1865 3.30 pm Stockholm,  which is heading for a Neptune Return in Aries by 2028.

  Both the Sweden charts are fairly Neptunian. The 1523 chart – Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, North Node in Pisces square Mercury Uranus. The 1865 chart has Neptune in Aries on the focal point of a Cardinal T Square to Uranus opposition Jupiter Mercury; with Neptune inconjunct Saturn. So their need to be and be seen to be compassionate is obvious.

  If the start times are accurate then they have Moon and Jupiter respectively in the chart area of partnerships with The Other so would be welcoming to incomers. 

  Whereas Denmark, 5 June 1849 12.15 pm Copenhagen, has a harder, less sympathetic chart with Mars Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries in their 7^th house. Denmark has some of the toughest immigration policies in Europe, which were initially seen as extreme but over recent years there is a move to follow its example elsewhere.

  Sweden has its own identity crisis to negotiate with outer planet Returns prompting a radical re-evaluation of identity and direction. But the penalties of their lax immigration policies are causing a rethink elsewhere about the dangers of boundless and unregulated compassion with no thought of the likely consequences.

  Thoughtless permissiveness is catching a sharp reality check as the planets redirect their energies.

Add On: The shooter has been named as Rickard Andersson, 10 August 1989 Orebro, Sweden. This makes him an intense, controlling, attention-seeking Sun Leo square Pluto with a Scorpio Moon; plus the can-be-chaotic triple conjunction in Capricorn in a volatile trine to an angry Mars Mercury in Virgo and a confident though mentally up-and-down Jupiter opposition Uranus Saturn.  

  His Solar Arc Mars was exactly square his Saturn for an outburst of anger at frustrating circumstances when he shot and was killed; and his Progressed Mercury was in a confused square to his Neptune.

The Aga Khan who mystifyingly combined the role of spiritual leader and generous philanthropist with astonishing wealth and a turbulent, well-publicised romantic life has died aged 88. Well known for his racehorses, which included the 2016 Derby winner and the kidnapped Shergar, he owned the largest horse racing and breeding operation in France which brought him into regular, friendly contact with Queen Elizabeth 11.

 His charities are famous for their work in poor and war-torn parts of the world, working in over 30 countries with an annual budget of about $1 billion.

  His followers say he was a direct descendent of the Prophet Mohammed and he inherited his title from his grandfather Aga Khan 111 in 1957 aged just 20. His first wife was a British model and his second a German former pop singer.  

  Born 13 December 1936 7.15am Geneva, Switzerland, he had an upbeat first house Moon, Sun in Sagittarius square Neptune in the 9^th which latter may point to his international charitable work; with Neptune in a hope-for-a-better-society opposition to Saturn. His Jupiter was exactly conjunct Ceres  which would also bring a wish to care for others and an interest in nature (horses). He had Pluto in the 8^th, a hint of the intergenerational challenges and influence given to him which opposed Venus in Aquarius. His passionate Venus Pluto plus a 5^th house Uranus would point to a tumultuous romantic life.

  His father Prince Aly Khan, 13 June 1911 2pm Turin, Italy, a socialite, racehorse owner and third husband of actress Rita Hayworth, who did not inherit the title from his father had Saturn in the 8^th with Uranus in his 4^th opposition a 10^th house Neptune; plus a controlling/over-controlling father Sun Pluto in Gemini in his 9^th; and an over-expansive Jupiterian yod. His charming Venus in Leo was in a passionately enthusiastic trine to a 7^th house Mars and a frivolous square to his emphasized Jupiter.

 One generation back, Aga Khan 111 born 2 November 1877 6pm Karachi, Pakistan, promoted Muslim rights in India and like his grandson was keen to improve women’s education. In line with the family tradition he owned racehorses and had several marriages. He had a Scorpio Sun opposition Neptune in Taurus and trine a hard-edged Saturn Mars in Pisces. Pluto in Taurus in his 1^st squared Uranus in Leo on the cusp of his 5^th house so he would be a keen reformer. He had a lucky Jupiter Venus conjunction in his 8^th house.

 Prince Rahim, 12 October 1971 6pm Geneva, Switzerland, who is expected to become the new Aga Khan though it has not yet been announced –  also has Jupiter in his 8^th hinting at luck with inherited wealth, in his case conjunct Neptune  and opposition Saturn. He has been involved for many years with the Aga Khan Development Network, whose remit is to improve the quality of life in different regions of Asia and Africa. It focuses on health, education, culture, rural development, institution building, and economic development and providing opportunities for the poor without regard to faith, origin, or gender.

  Like his father he has a notable Saturn opposition Neptune which has an interest in fostering the weak and disadvantaged; and a full 6^th house with Pluto and his Libra Uranus Sun there which could point to a life of service.

Writer Jane Austen is having a moment with the 250^th anniversary of her birth this year causing a flutter of excitement amongst her fans. Author of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield Park and others, she stands head and shoulders above other novelists having stood the test of time with constant revival TV and film renderings of her works. ‘Her use of social commentary, realism, wit, and irony have earned her acclaim amongst critics and scholars.’

 She was born 16 December 1775 11.45pm Basingstoke, England, with a rector father into a genteel though poor family. She started writing in childhood and never left her family, dying at 41 a spinster, having had little success or money from her books.

  She had a home-loving 4^th house Sagittarius Sun square Neptune on her Virgo Ascendant. Her Mercury in Sagittarius in her communicative 3^rd would give her a quick witted mind and ability to get her ideas across especially since it opposed Uranus and Jupiter in her 9^th house of ideas and publishing. Her Moon Saturn in Libra opposition a 7^th house Chiron hinted at a less than vibrant emotional life, especially since they also squared a frustrated, trapped, utterly determined Mars Pluto in Capricorn on the cusp of her 5^th house.  A Libra Moon conjunct Saturn square Mars Pluto might suggest health problems.

 What intrigued me about Austen’s chart is that modern-day novelist Iris Murdoch, 15 July 1919 8am Dublin, Ireland, also has a Mars Pluto conjunction, in her case in Cancer. She was a professor of philosophy, influenced by Sartre and had a skill for black comedy – “Under The Net,” “A Severed Head.” Very different from Austen but with the same driving determination which started her writing as a child, she wrote 26 novels, four plays, four books on philosophy and one book of poetry and had a long and happy marriage, dying ultimately of Alzheimers in her late 70s.

  Her Sun Jupiter in Cancer were in her creative 12^th house along with Neptune; and her 11^th house Mars Pluto was in a Water Grand Trine to Uranus and her IC. With her Uranus opposition Venus. With her Cancer Sun inconjunct an Aquarius Moon and her Venus in aspect to Mars Pluto and Uranus she would not be emotionally at ease – perhaps the wound out of which her writing came. Both she and Austen had their Chiron in Aries which can be a sign of a pioneer, one who leads the way as a compensation for feeling powerless or wounded in a the area of identity.

  It got me searching amongst other women writers and how many have afflicted Mars – Emily Dickinson, the influential American poet, 10 December 1839 4.50am Amherst, MA was another Sun Sagittarius with a Mars Pluto conjunction in Aries in her ‘entertaining’ 5^th house with her Mars Pluto sextile Uranus inconjunct a 10^th house Saturn.

 Charlotte Bronte was a Sun Taurus with her 10^th house Mars square Pluto and opposition Neptune with her Mars also trine Moon Saturn conjunct in Aquarius. Her sister Emily a Sun Leo had her Mars in Virgo opposition Saturn square Uranus.

 Which is not dissimilar to Doris Lessing (The Golden Notebook) with her Mars Saturn in Virgo sextile Pluto. Also Chiron in Aries as had PD James, the crime writer who also had a Mars in Scorpio North Node trine Pluto trine Uranus with Uranus opposition Saturn,

 Talent comes at a cost.

Add On: Poet Christina Rossetti, 5 December 1830 3.10 am London, was another Mars Pluto conjunction in her case in Aries in her 6^th house trine Venus Sun in Sagittarius; and her Saturn was inconjunct Mars Pluto sextile Uranus in a stressed yod. She had major health problems, spells of depression and a religious crisis.

 Fairly similar was poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 6 March 1806 7pm, Killoe, England, she had a Mars Pluto Sun Mercury conjunction in Pisces in her 6^th with her Libra Moon inconjunct Mars Pluto.

 Enid Blyton had an 8^th house Pluto square Mars Jupiter. Anita Brookner a Mars sextile Pluto Sun inconjunct Saturn. Arundati Roy – Sun Mars square Pluto Uranus.

 Agatha Christie had a tough chart with Saturn square Neptune Pluto and her Virgo Sun was square Mars – but no Mars Pluto.

 The rise of 20^th century fascism is credited to Italian ‘Il Duce’ Benito Mussolini, who is noted as an inspiration behind Adolf Hitler’s plans for Germany with the Nazi Party. Mussolini is the subject of an 8 part television drama starting tonight based on Antonio Scurati’s bestselling novel following his path from the founding of Fasci Italiani in 1919, to prime minister from 1922 to 1925, before becoming a fascist dictator. His rule ended in 1943 and he was executed in 1945.

  He regarded himself as an intellectual and after he moved away from an early Marxist socialist approach he studied Friedrich Nietzsche amongst others, becoming convinced that ‘overthrowing decadent liberal democracy and capitalism by the use of violence’ was necessary. He admired Plato’s The Republic, which promoted ideas such as rule by an elite promoting the state as the ultimate end, opposition to democracy, protecting the class system, rejection of egalitarianism, promoting the militarisation of a nation by creating a class of warriors. Biological racism was less prominent in Italian Fascism than in National Socialism, though it had a strong racist undercurrent.

  Born 29 July 1883 2pm Predappio, Italy, the son of a militant socialist blacksmith father and named Benito after a Mexican revolutionary, he had a knowledgeable and ‘visionary’ 9^th house Leo Sun and Mercury with a sociable Venus conjunct Jupiter in Cancer also in his 9th. His freedom-loving, rebellious Uranus in his 10^th was in an innovative trine to Neptune in Taurus in his 7^th.  His 7^th house was packed with a tough minded, argumentative and volatile Pluto, Chiron, Saturn, Moon and Mars there so he would have a powerful effect on other people.

 He is described as having ‘an imposing physicality and rhetorical power’ speaking directly to the populace in his rallies making them feel heard. Like a true Leo he was a consummate actor turning the political arena into a theatre and casting himself as its star. In 1922 his take-over of the Italian government was a blatant bluff when he and his thuggish private militia confronted the king and government without any electoral support or the military strength to defeat the army. He chanced his arm and won.

       His chart is not as overtly brutal as Hitler’s who had an unpleasant Venus Mars in Taurus square Saturn, but Mussolini’s ‘serial killer’ 18^th harmonic was strong.

 Mussolini’s superficially charming Jupiter Venus in Cancer was conjunct the Italy 17 March 1861 12 am Turin, South Node with his formidable collection of Pluto, Saturn, Moon, Mars falling in the Italy 7^th conjunct the Italy revolutionary Uranus.  When he became PM in 1922 tr Neptune in Leo was conjunct the Italy Jupiter for a moment of delusional optimism. Tr Pluto was half way through Cancer which was the most destructive of the early 20^th century influences starting as WW1 began and extending to the late 1930s.

  Mussolini’s Leo Sun was conjunct Hitler’s Midheaven so he would be a shining light for him in what came afterwards. Though they were hardly temperamentally compatible with a composite Neptune Mars Pluto trine Uranus in their relationship chart – ego-clashing, hostile, argumentative.

 When Mussolini was executed in 1945 tr Pluto in Leo was just across the conjunction to his Sun with tr Pluto conjunct his Solar Arc Moon Saturn which was also crossing his Sun for a savage moment in his destiny.

Who said ? – “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”

ADD ON: Of other 20^th Century dictators of whom there were an unholy bunch – three like Hitler came out of the Neptune Pluto in Gemini conjunction of the late 19th century – Mao Tse Tung, General Franco and Tito of Yugoslavia.

  Historically Neptune Pluto is associated with megalomaniacs and brutal dictators from Attila the Hun onwards.

 Joseph Stalin, 18 December 1878, no birth time, was born just before when Neptune and Pluto were both in Taurus; with his Pluto exactly conjunct Algol in a ruthless opposition to vengeful Mars in Scorpio. His Sagittarius Sun Venus were square Saturn and Scheat in Pisces; and his Libra Moon may have been conjunct Vindemiatrix (the widowmaker). Fire Earth – a bulldozer.

 Mao Tse Tung, 26 December 1893 7.30am Siangtan, China had his Neptune Pluto in Gemini in a yod sextile North Node inconjunct – a reformer, lawless, defiant, a wrecker of the past, intolerant. He had a 12^th house Capricorn Sun with a Fixed Grand Cross of Mars in Scorpio opposition Jupiter square Venus opposition a Leo Moon.

Josip Tito of Yugoslavia, 7 May 1892 10 am Croatia – a Sun Taurus with Neptune Pluto in Gemini trine Mars in Aquarius with Mars square Uranus.

General Franco of Spain, 4 December 1892 12.30am – a Sagittarius Sun opposition Pluto, Neptune, Moon in Gemini square Mars in Pisces.

N.B. The birth dates above may be iffy.

The ultimate stress test of Donald Trump’s trade war tariffs will be in the effect on the US economy. Described by the FT as an “absurdity” it is regarded as a pointless self-inflicted injury which will raise prices for American families and deliver a shock to North American and world economies. “They are being used as a coercive tool to further Trump’s domestic political agenda and extract concessions from American neighbours that may be beyond their power to give.”

  There is a backlash from business groups and some Republicans warning that the new tariffs  would push up prices for ordinary Americans and cause chaos in supply chains. “The president is right to focus on major problems like our broken border and the scourge of fentanyl, but the imposition of tariffs . . . won’t solve these problems” said John Murphy, senior vice-president of the US Chamber of Commerce, the US’s largest business group. 

  The US Federal Reserve Bank, 16 November 1914 9 am Washington, is under greater pressure than it has seen for decades as tr Neptune Saturn squares the Saturn Pluto at one degree Cancer from May 2025 onwards till early 2027 which will be panicky and uncertain. With added shocks and insecurity from tr Uranus opposition the Mars from June 2026 into 2027. 2026/27 also have tr Pluto square the Uranus/Neptune midpoint which tends to be associated with calamities and catastrophes.

  Trump won’t care about other stock markets but the UK FTSE, 3 January 1984 10 am London rather ominously has its Solar Arc Saturn moving to dampen its high-flying Jupiter Neptune within weeks on the same degree and then on for several years – so not a progressive phase.

  Equally the German DAX, 1 July 1998, is unnerved this month with tr Pluto conjunct the Neptune and square Saturn, returning later in the year; with an unsettled 2026.

 The Bank of Canada, 11 March 1935, isn’t showing much before a jangled 2026. The Toronto Stock Exchange is pressured through this year and next.

Relations between Canada and the USA are not surprisingly under heavy pressure this year and worse in 2026 with tr Pluto square the composite Saturn and then tr Neptune Saturn square the composite Neptune.  

 Relations between Canada and the UK are confused and undermined at the moment and throughout 2025 with tr Pluto conjunct the composite Neptune – and worse in 2026 and on for a few years. With tr Neptune opposition the composite Saturn and then conjunct the Sun Pluto. Not an amiable end to the decade.

American democracy is a failed experiment according to blogger Curis Yarvin, an inaugural-gala invitee due to his “outsize influence over the Trumpian right.” He founded the anti-egalitarian and anti-democratic philosophical movement known as the Dark Enlightenment or neo-reactionary movement in which he argues that the present system should be replaced by an accountable monarchy, similar to the governance structure of corporations. He “sees liberalism as creating a Matrix-like totalitarian system” and his thinking has influenced some prominent Silicon Valley investors and Republican politicians amongst them  Steve Bannon and VP JD Vance.

 Born 25 June 1973 in New York he has an angry, ruthless, ultra-determined Mars in upfront Aries opposition Pluto square a Cancer Sun and Saturn in late Gemini opposition North Node – tough, driven, lacking in empathy (to put it mildly). His unconventional, mould-breaking Uranus is trine Jupiter on one side and trine Saturn on the other and widely square Venus and Mercury in Cancer.

 His North Node in Capricorn is probably significant – looking for a father figure.

 Tr Neptune and tr Saturn moving into Aries will bring losses and disappointment his way from this May/June onwards as they start to hard aspect his Cardinal Grand Cross first opposing his Pluto and in 2026 moving to hard aspect his Mars and Sun.

 His relationship with Trump will run into a swamp of confusion by 2026 with a few glitches before then. See:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/21/curtis-yarvin-trump

 Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, 24 June 1974 Lafayette, Louisiana, another Sun Cancer conjunct Saturn square Pluto. Soon after Roberts joined Heritage in late 2021, the organization established the controversial Project 2025, an expansive plan to overhaul the government under the new Republican administration. He looks rattled this June with tr Uranus conjunct his Venus in Taurus and more so when tr Neptune squares his Sun in July August 2025; and worse in 2026 with tr Saturn joining in And it’s a long slide thereafter until tr Neptune clears the square to his Saturn by early 2029. 2028/2029 will be trapped and scary for him. The Trump term will not bring him into the promised land.

  Elon Musk who appears to have a free hand to run riot through government departments will feel the full weight of tr Uranus moving into Gemini in July 2025 as it collides with his can-be-neurotic Saturn opposition Neptune. Even before then tr Uranus will oppose his Jupiter in May, probably bringing a surge of over-confidence as it lights up his natal Jupiter Neptune conjunction – only to bring him crashing down as tr Uranus is opposition his Neptune in July and conjunct his Saturn in August (and so on into 2026). It won’t do much for his mental balance. By 2026 tr Neptune Saturn are square his Cancer Sun for losses and disappointment.

 What gives with all these way out Cancerians??

  There is not a huge amount of point in looking at their relationships with Trump since he has a track record of falling out with even fervent supporters. But for what it is worth – Mitch McConnell and DT are on a downer through 2025, with a serious low point in May/June. With Mike Johnson and Chuck Schummer there will be differences and discouragement with DT through 2025, with 2026 ramping up the aggravation between them.

  Points to watch this year from the Inauguration chart – late July the Progressed Moon will square the Mars on the IC exactly for angry clashes. Towards early November the controlling Sun Pluto conjunction will have moved by Solar Arc Directions to exact; and the unloved/unpopular Saturn Venus (financial restrictions) conjunction also will be together.  

Add On: Russell Vought, March 26, 1976, a political analyst, self-described Christian nationalist, who has played a significant role in Project 2025, an initiative led by the Heritage Foundation that aims to reshape the federal government.

He is a Sun Aries opposition Pluto square Mars in Cancer so not unlike Yarvin. He’ll have some successes and cheering moments but tr Neptune Saturn square his 3 degree Mars in Cancer in 2026/27 will be failure-ridden, undermining, panicky and that will slide on for several years.

Neptune leaving a sign oversees the deaths of prominent musical and film icons. But it also ushers in new creative and political talent. As Neptune prepared to exit Taurus in the late 1880s, painters Georgia O’Keefe and Marcel Duchamp were born as was war poet Rupert Brooke, architect Le Corbusier, and actors Chico Marx and Boris Karloff. Amongst leaders were Chiang Kai-shek, David Ben Gurion, Field Marshal Montgomery and the Norwegian Quisling.

 Amongst other notables was Nobel Prize–winning physicist Erwin Schrodinger, the Austrian who developed fundamental results in quantum theory. Born 12 August 1887 Vienna, no birth time, he had a Leo Sun conjunct a leadership North Node with a final degree Neptune in Taurus conjunct Pluto and inconjunct Jupiter. Plus a disciplined, hard-edged Mars Saturn conjunction in Cancer. His Neptune Pluto would mark him out as ambitious and Pluto trine Uranus as an original thinker. His Mars Saturn may also depending on houses have marked him out for a destructive attitude towards relationships.

His Venus widely conjunct Uranus and trine Pluto would make for a passionate though unpredictable and changeable emotional temperament. According to wiki he “always kept a number of relationships going at once – and made no secret of his fascination with preadolescent girls”. He fathered children with at least two students.

His 13^th harmonic, the mark of a breakthrough genius,  was notable with a revolutionary Uranus opposition Pluto connected to Sun and Venus as well as a Jupiterian yod. His leaving-a-legacy 17H was also well aspected.

  Another late Neptune in Taurus with beyond-bizarre notions from another angle about young sexuality was Kurt Hahn, the once revered headmaster of Gordonstoun where the Royal children, Charles, Andrew and Edward were educated. He believed he could “cure” boys from reaching puberty to maintain the “freshness and charm” of childhood through cold showers and physical exertions. Former students attest that Hahn personally bathed boys and supervised them as they showered, provoking claims that his conduct was “deeply disturbing and inappropriate”. It has now emerged he was forced to retire in 1953 as his mental health disintegrated.

  The effort to stave off puberty it is assumed was an attempt to deny his own adult sexuality of which he was clearly deeply ashamed.

 He was born 5 June 1888 with a Gemini Sun conjunct Chiron square Mars in Virgo; with an ever-optimistic Neptune in late Taurus trine Jupiter; and an experimental Pluto Mercury trine Uranus.  And a Cancer Moon.

  Prince Philip, another Sun Mars Gemini square Jupiter in Virgo (so not dissimilar) was a great supporter but the regime Hahn left behind undoubtedly damaged Prince Charles who described his time there as a prison sentence.

  Hahn was gone when Charles was sent there in 1962 but his ethos hung over the establishment. The Charles’/ Hahn relationship chart was horrific with a perverse, destructive, hostile composite Mars trine Pluto sextile Sun and Mars square Saturn Neptune. Andrew’s relationship with the Hahn approach had marginally more emotional resonances but was still riddled with power and domination issues with a composite Venus trine Pluto trine Mars Jupiter with Venus opposition Uranus and a composite yod of Uranus sextile Jupiter inconjunct Saturn – and look how he turned out.

Last year the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry found that sexual and physical abuse became endemic in the school Hahn founded to promote “honesty, integrity and service”. Lady Smith, its chairwoman, wrote, “a dreadfully abusive and, in some houses, extremely violent culture was allowed to take root.”

  It can’t all be blamed on Neptune in its dying days in a sign but intriguing.

  Trump has moved the Israel-Hamas-Gaza situation on a smidgeon but there are no hopeful indicators moving forward of a long term solution. Netanyahu is caught in a double bind having promised to destroy Hamas but even after 47,000 Palestinians killed and Gaza effectively destroyed, the green headbands were defiantly on display as hostages were released. Trump is pressuring Netanyahu to withdraw troops but his finance minister, the far-right Bezazel Smotrich says he’ll collapse his ruling coalition by withdrawing if he does so. Trump talks of clearing out the 2.2 million remaining Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan but they and other Middle Eastern countries are alarmed about what they regard as ethnic cleansing which could destabilise the region.

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates met on Saturday in Cairo and declared their opposition to any plan to move Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank. Saudi Arabia insists on the creation of an “irreversible” path to a Palestinian state.

     There are various schemes floated by the US’s Arab allies such as Egypt and the UAE to create an internationally-backed transitional body backed by the Palestinian Authority to reassert civilian control over the enclave.

Trump and Netanyahu who dislike each other will meet this week with some saying the future shape of the Middle East may hang on it.

 Both Trump and Netanyahu have a bombastic Mars in Leo at the same degree which is being rattled badly by tr Uranus in April/May this year, suggesting a shock surprise resulting in an over- reaction; with a dash of tr Saturn square the composite Uranus to raise tension levels in April 2025. Their composite Neptune at 10 Libra catching the late March Solar Eclipse hints that the dither and confusion may stretch on for another few months. Netanyahu’s relationship chart with MBS of Saudi Arabia is rattled also this coming April as is Trump’s with MBS. General Abdel Al Sisi of Egypt is also in for a turbulent phase in May this year with tr Uranus opposition his Scorpio Sun and square his Pluto. So another toxic hotspot is approaching.

 There are too many charts to cover in detail but the main Middle Eastern country charts all look unsettled especially in 2026/27.

 Hamas is heading for a total dead halt around 2027. Hezbollah will be pushing to restore lost ground in 2025 and in combative mood, having to negotiate a tumultuous year into early 2026; with 2028 bringing fresh clashes.

 The Israel chart gives every indication of being under siege mentality for a decade plus to come, indeed almost worse by the last 2030s when tr Pluto in Aquarius squares the Taurus Sun and opposes the Israel Mars in Leo.

 Intractable, unwinnable, the impossible dream – from either side.