not categorised

  Renowned and popular director and actor Rob Reiner has been killed along with his wife, mother of his four children, in a suspected double homicide in Hollywood. He came to prominence as Mike “Meathead” on the CBS sitcom All in the Family in the 1970s, and appeared in Sleepless in Seattle, The First Wives Club, Primary Colors and The Wolf of Wall Street amongst others. He also directed When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men and The Shawshank Redemption amongst many others.

 Born 6 March 1947 10pm New York, with a well-known actor father and mother, he had a filmic Pisces Sun and Mercury in his entertaining 5^th house opposition a Virgo Moon and square an 8^th house Uranus, making him inspired and innovative in directing and writing, as well as a talented performer. He had an influential and controlling Pluto on his Midheaven conjunct Saturn opposition Venus in Aquarius. 

  A communicative though hidden Air Grand Trine of a 12^th house Neptune trine Venus trine an 8^th house North Node, was formed into a Kite by Venus opposition Saturn, making Saturn his driving planet.

 His Saturn was being massively assaulted astrologically around now with tr Pluto in opposition (conjunct Venus), with his Progressed Mars being square his Saturn exactly and his Progressed Moon was conjunct his Saturn. Any one of those would be challenging but all together it would be over whelming. Tr Pluto opposition Saturn is depressing and heavy going. Progressed Mars square Saturn is high-risk and destructive, accident-prone and short tempered; with his Progressed Moon adding another layer of woe.

  His 5^th house Pisces Sun and Virgo Moon were also bring triggered by the September Lunar Eclipse at exactly the same degrees. The 5^th house rules children as well as creativity and entertainment.

  According to press reports his son Nick has been taken into custody and charged. Though nothing has been proved so comments should be reserved until there is a legal verdict.

Ten years ago there was a drama which documented Nick’s long struggle with addiction. Nick co-wrote the script with a friend from rehab, inspired by their experiences, while Rob directed the movie, drawing from what he went through as a father. In it the son resents the harsh way his father and mother are treating his addiction, with mandatory stints in rehab. At the end the  father issues an apology for the sometimes-unsympathetic way he treated his son.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/rob-reiner-nick-reiner-being-charlie-movie-1236450528

 Nick Reiner, 14 September 1993 is a Sun Virgo in an excitable trine to Uranus Neptune in Capricorn, sextile a determined Pluto in Scorpio. His Pluto is also on the focal point of a Fixed T square to Venus in Leo opposition Saturn in Aquarius – so an overloaded Pluto in Scorpio. His highly strung Uranus Neptune are also square a volatile and overly-impulsive Mars Jupiter conjunction in Libra. It is a chart that is spilling over with exuberant energy and immensely intense, battened down and repressed at the same time.

 His Solar Arc Mars is conjunct his Pluto exactly now which pulls together his two central configurations by Solar Arc which usually points to a life-changing moment – and Mars Pluto certainly indicates anger, frustration, high-risk. Whether or not he was involved the brutal slaying of his parents, it would have a enormous effect.

  But nothing is proved until it is proved in court.

 The Hollywood chart is also showing shock and fear from this tragedy with the Solar Arc Mars conjunct Saturn now and the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the South Node for a shocking event on home territory.

ADD ON: Astrologically speaking Rob Reiner and Trump were always going to be at cross purposes with RR’s Full Moon square Trump’s wayward Uranus in the 10^th. RR’s Mars was close to Trump’s Descendant for arguments and a fiery chemistry. RR’s Midheaven Pluto was conjunct Trump’s Pluto for a tug of war.

 That translated in the relationship chart into a struggle-for-the-upper-hand composite Sun opposition Jupiter square Pluto.

 Psychologically speaking it is Trump’s narcissism arguably inflating towards dementia. The narcissist can’t bear not being centre of attention – so inserts themselves into whatever scenario is ongoing – and in Trump’s case that embraces all headline news stories. He also harbours a cauldron of spite and hatred for anyone who stands against him. So sympathy for a murdered Rob Reiner is beyond his capability.

Odd thoughts from psychoanalytic literature on delusional narcissism.  

London psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas talks simultaneously of the pervert and the fascist as if they were interchangeable. He speaks of the “empty heart of the pervert”  – “On the verge of a moral vacuum, the mind splits off [its] dead core self and projects it into a victim” who then becomes “a disposable nonentity.”  The profoundly destructive processes are then denied by a form of delusional narcissism. There is a false idealization of the self, a delusional grandiosity in the perpetrator.

     The pervert/fascist mind purges itself of what it has contained. “The cleansing of the self suggests the possible birth of a new, forever empty self to be born …. with no past (which is severed) and with a future entirely of its own creation.”

Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel, the French analyst, writes eloquently both about perversion and group delusion. “He who does not think “she writes” as the group does is excluded, harassed, killed or declared insane.”

     The same process of denigration, character assassination, caricaturing is further described by Christopher Bollas, talking about The Fascist State of Mind –  one which he says “entertains no doubt or uncertainty”. Distortion of the views of opponents to render them less intelligible and credible is the first move. They have to be discredited because no separation of view is possible from the accepted one.

At least 15 are dead from a shooting on Bondi beach, Australia when 1000 people were in attendance to mark the start of Hanukkah.

 The shooting occurred around 6.40 pm December 14^th with explosive Uranus and destructive Algol in the 12^th house  and Mars in excitable Sagittarius on the cusp of the subterranean 8^th.  

** The asteroid Centaur Nessus was exactly on the Midheaven. According to Ben Belinsky while it is usually associated with deceit it also has a positive role, making us better equipped to deal with the risks and dangers we inevitably face. Nessus runs in an elliptical orbit between Saturn and Pluto, so carries a dark energy.

  Other thoughts on Nessus point to ancestral and collective trauma, the unaddressed pain and unresolved issues passed down through family lines or cultural groups. It points to shadow material that needs to be brought to light.

 The “Shirt of Nessus” story is a powerful symbol for something that slowly poisons or wounds a person, often stemming from a misguided hope or expectation. Despite all this, Nessus also presents the potential for profound healing in breaking the Cycle:. It encourages individuals to stand up against injustice and toxic patterns to ensure the past does not repeat itself, demanding that these hidden wounds be given voice and visibility.**  

On the shooting chart the Mars in Sagittarius square the publicity-attracting Mars in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces was activating the recent late Virgo Solar Eclipse. That September Eclipse set for Bondi had the New Moon on the Ascendant opposition Neptune on the Descendant so marking it up as a key location. It was an eclipse hinting at risk and jeopardy ahead with Mars on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Uranus; and Mars square Pluto.  

  At the moment tr Saturn is exactly square the Australia country chart’s Jupiter for a confidence-denting event with an uncertain tr Saturn square Neptune approaching fast. The Australia Solar Arc Pluto is exactly conjunct the Descendant on the country chart for an intense reaction. The Australians will not take kindly to an event such as this and are likely to respond forcefully.

  The Israel chart was always due a significant shock and jolt with tr Uranus square their Mars exactly this month, repeating next March. The Israel chart also looks deflated with tr Saturn moving to square their Jupiter in Sagittarius in January 2026 and sitting on the Jupiter/Uranus midpoint at the moment. Emotions will heighten through 2026/27 with tr Pluto opposition the Israel Moon.

 With no end in sight to the endless Israel/Palestine bloody stalemate, attacks on Jewish communities elsewhere globally are feeling the effects of hostility towards Israeli government policies.

  Everything has been said before endlessly about successive Israeli government policies towards the Palestinians which does raise legitimate criticism. Sympathy towards the October 7 Israeli hostages and their appalling treatment at the hands of Hamas is to a degree tempered by allegations about torture of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Not to mention the constant encroachment on Palestinian land in the West Bank by increasingly violent settlers.

  The US bears some responsibility for not putting the brakes on sooner, indeed from the start. In recent times Clinton tried, Biden didn’t and Trump is aiming for a lucrative real estate deal for Gaza which is beyond parody.  

  Is there an answer? At the moment it seems not. See previous post: Israel – the roots of ‘a sick and sorrowful conflict’ 10th October 2023. Journalist and world affairs commentator James Cameron wrote in 1976 “The introduction of the Jewish State into the Arab heartland exalted many hearts and broke many more. More than anything in this century it was a triumph and a desolation. Full of high hopes it produced the most intractable conflict of our times.”

   I dug out an old piece I pulled together in 2009 about a previous clash for anyone interested in the historical background of what seems to be an interminable and insoluble problem.

“This is a potted Jewish and Israel/Palestine history partly for my benefit as I try to wrestle with a horribly complex situation where there’s right and wrong on both sides, conflicting sympathies and no obvious solution.

   
The Jews have had a terrible and a tragic history. For centuries and centuries before the Holocaust they were subjected to persecution and forced exile from the countries in which they had settled – England, Spain, Russia, Poland, the Middle East etc etc.

  The astrology of the Jewish diaspora seems to resonate both to Saturn Uranus aspects and to Uranus Pluto. Plus of course Saturn Pluto under which Israel was born and which was the significator on the chart of Theodor Hertzl, who was the first to push for a Zionist state.

 
The first Jewish diaspora occurred under a Uranus Pluto conjunction in 70 AD when their revolt against the Romans failed and they were dispersed away from their homeland. In 691 AD on another Uranus Pluto the great mosque was built in Jerusalem. The first of the European Crusades to take back Jerusalem for the Christians was launched on a Uranus Pluto in 1095; as was the fourth failed Crusade in 1204. There were two significant Jewish massacres on Uranus Pluto conjunctions – the first in Rhineland 1095; the other in 1348 when Jews were blamed for the 25 million deaths from the Black Death plague. The Six Day War against Israel in 1967 was also a Uranus Pluto event.
Saturn Uranus oversaw the persecution and expulsion of the Jews in France in 1206; and was in place when Hitler decided on the ‘Final Solution’ in 1942.

 
 It is not surprising given their history that the Jewish people wanted a homeland of their own where they would be free of persecution. Since they had always regarded Judea as their historic homeland that seemed the place to be. The Russian pogroms of the late 19th century stepped up Jewish immigration to what is now Palestine. The First Zionist Conference in 1897 was under a Saturn Uranus conjunction in Scorpio. After the Balfour Declaration of 1917 (Saturn Uranus opposition) and under the British mandate in Palestine (Saturn Uranus opposition) there were increasing Arab attacks on Jewish settlers – and the British failed to protect them. The original Haganah (defence) party under Ben Gurion did not believe in retaliation. So the more militant Irgun split away in order to defend themselves more pro-actively.
Jewish immigration stepped up in the 1930s and 40s because of Fascist persecution of the Jews in Europe. The Arabs become more incensed leading to the Arab Revolt of 1936 (tail end of a Uranus Pluto square) in which 5000 Arabs were killed. The Jewish militia aided the British in quelling the revolt in which the Arab leaders were killed and their weaponry depleted.

  A UK policy of partition of Palestine was in place by 1939, followed by a similar UN mandate in 1947 which would have led to a Jewish State and a separate Palestinian state.
  There was a Palestine Civil War between the Jews and Palestinians in 1947 when the British were still nominally in charge – this was after Irgun bombed the British Military Command HQ the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 killing 91, many of them British secretariat staff (Uranus trine Jupiter sextile Pluto, Sun Saturn in Cancer). There was then a further Israel versus Arab war in 1948 with the Arabs at a disadvantage having been de-weaponised in the late 1930s. Because of indiscriminate and violent Jewish attacks pursuing a policy of expulsion on the Arab population between 1947 and 49 many Palestinian Arabs fled believing they would be able to return at some point.
  And it’s been pretty much downhill all the way since then. There have been Jewish atrocities – the massacre at Deir Yassin in April 1948 in which over 100 neutral Palestinian villagers were murdered by Jewish militia (New Moon in Aries trine Mars, Saturn Pluto in Leo sextile Uranus); the Sabra Chatila Palestinian refugee Camp Massacre in Beirut in 1982 for which direct personal responsibility was laid on Ariel Sharon (Saturn Pluto conjunction, Sun square Neptune); the Qana massacre in 1996 in Lebanon.

  As one journalist remarked Israel is like an organ transplant into a body whose immune system is determined to reject the intruders. He compared Israel to the Crusader Kingdom which lasted for 100 years in the Middle East before being destroyed by the Arabs.

What could have been done differently? The international community having decided to interfere in the region should then have policed its decisions – reined in the Jewish violence and the Arab anger – and found a humane, workable formula for a viable Palestinian State with adequate water supplies for agriculture. Instead of which the victimised Jewish nation, boosted and funded by USA sympathy for its tragic history, turned into the aggressor, playing decades-long dirty tricks games which only worsen with time. In 2009 they rained white phosphorus on Gaza. And the international community stumbled along doing not very much about constant Israeli breaches of UN Resolutions, their building of illegal settlements and the massively restrictive barrier, trying to starve the Palestinians into submission etc etc.

   All that is clear at the moment is that neither side is winning. The Jewish people do deserve a home and freedom from persecution but they knew by insisting on their historic homeland that they were picking a fight as they deliberately and knowingly displaced the Palestinians. They of all people should have known better.

  And here we are 16 years on from the above piece and fifty years on from James Cameron – with no viable solution any nearer.

Stanley Baxter, the comic actor whose female impersonations in his lavish TV spectaculars attracted vast audiences, has died at 99. ‘His breadth of talent was unmatched – satirist, stand-up comedian, singer, dancer, impressionist, wit, poet, panto dame, dramatic actor, writer and choreographer.’ His shows at their height were watch by 14 million viewers and involved often up to 45 costume changes as he mimicked Shirley Bassey, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland and others. Made with meticulous care and high production values, they were among the most expensive productions in the field of light entertainment.

 For all his success he was a troubled soul. He said in an interview “I’m still not quite sure who I really am, which makes it easier to play other people, but a lot harder to be convincing as Stanley Baxter.” He also struggled with his lifelong homosexuality, telling his biographer “I never wanted to be gay.”

   He was born 24 May 1926 2.15 am Glasgow, Scotland, with a timid insurance actuary father and a flamboyant mother who fostered his interest in the entertainment business from an early age and encouraged him to do Mae West impressions. After WW11 he did his National Service in the Far East, serving with fellow comedian Kenneth Williams who remained a close friend. He married an actress when he was 26 and remained married for nearly fifty years. She had mental health problems and died eventually of suicide. He spent the past 25 years as a virtual recluse in his first floor apartment in a Highgate Village art deco mansion. ‘He dreaded going out – believing himself to be decrepit, he feared being recognised and, worse, pitied.’

He was born a few days after after Robert Lifton, the psychiatrist who shed light on the darkest corners of human behaviour (see post 18 November 2025) three weeks after David Attenborough and a month after Queen Elizabeth 11, so he shared their stalwartly enduring Fixed chart. In his case he was Gemini rather than Taurus which fitted his communicative and quixotic temperament. But he did have the Fixed T Square of Jupiter in Aquarius in his 1^st opposition an uncommitted-about-relationships Neptune in his 7^th square an overly conscientious Saturn in his 9^th.

  Possibly most significant was his 5^th house Pluto in his chart area of entertainment conjunct Sirius, the brightest star in the sky which confers honours. It may be one reason for the number of eminent personalities from that year. (And Margaret Thatcher and Peter Sellers from 1925).

  Baxter’s deeply buried, intense 8^th house Moon in Libra opposed Venus (and Nessus) squaring Pluto pointed not only to a possessive mother – but might also be a clue to his talent for female impersonation with Nessus Venus = deceit about women at its crudest.  He also had a creative though unhappy Water Grand Trine of Mars in Pisces trine North Node (Pluto) in Cancer trine Saturn with Uranus in Pisces trine Saturn as an outlier.

 His Sun is virtually unaspected bar an out-of-element sextile to Uranus which would not bolster a strong sense of personal identity.

 A wonderful entertainer and a staple of my childhood visits to Christmas pantomimes in Glasgow with his double act along with Jimmy Logan.

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Football fans are up in arms about the “scandalous” ticket prices for the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico which are seven times more expensive than in the previous one in Qatar for the final. It will cost about £5,225 for a supporter to follow their team through to the final if they were to attend all eight matches in the cheapest ticket category. That rises to about £8,850 in the mid-price range, or £12,357 for the top tier.

FIFA, 21 May 1904, has three planets in Taurus, including the last degree Sun which is being triggered by tr Uranus conjunct across till next April – so there may well be ructions before the event. The first match kicks off in Mexico City on 11^th June when tr Uranus will conjunct the FIFA Mars so the federation will be on high alert.

 Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA since Sepp Blatter’s ignominious exit in 2015, 23 March 1970, is a Sun, Mercury, Venus in Aries opposition Uranus in Libra and Sun Mercury trine Neptune; with a hard-edged Mars Saturn conjunct in Taurus in an opportunistic opposition to Jupiter which won’t always give him good judgement.

 His Pluto in Virgo which opposes his Sun Mercury, is conjunct the FIFA North Node so he does have a strong, controlling impact on the organisation’s direction. He’s facing a few ups and downs ahead with an undermining Neptune (and Saturn) conjunct his Sun in early 2026 and later; and a nerve-stretched tr Uranus opposition his Neptune.

  His relationship chart with FIFA hints at feelings running high at the moment, with uncertainty running into January and pressures continuing on in 2027.

  Infantino has been accused of breaching his organisation’s rules on political neutrality in presenting Trump with a bizarre inaugural Fifa peace prize at the World Cup draw in Washington recently.  He is a Trump supporter though they are not natural allies with Infantino’s Mars Saturn in Taurus square DT’s Pluto; and GI’s Pluto square DT’s Sun and Moon – so there must be ulterior motives which are not clear at the moment.  The relationship chart has a needs-space, differing-agendas composite Sun square Uranus. By the time of the tournament in June tr Neptune will be square their composite Mars which suggests their mutual backslapping will be massively undermined.  

Trump rampages on like a bull on the loose threatening to break up the EU, stop bolstering Europe’s defences, cosy up to Russia and withdraw from NATO. As with many of his wild demands there is a nugget of sense in a sliver of them. Europe does need to step up on the defence front. But there are indications he is not carrying the support of senior Republican lawmakers with him. The Republican-led House and Senate Armed Services Committees weighed confirmed a defense policy bill reaffirming U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO and restricting the Pentagon’s ability to reduce U.S. troop levels in Europe.

 A former US ambassador said: “A large majority of Republicans … in the Senate and the House believe Russians are adversaries of the United States, that Moscow’s war on Ukraine is a Russian aggression that must not succeed.”

 The relationship charts between the USA and the two Russia charts of 1917 and 1991 also suggest the US as a country is mistrustful of Russia with anxiety and setbacks across this winter. More so than with the EU – the USA/EU chart is fairly locked together.

  The USA/NATO chart is more problematic with indications of growing challenges and tensions through 2026, more so in 2027 – though that also could involve other factors such as outside aggressors. One of Trump’s supporters politician  Thomas Massie recently said: ‘NATO is a Cold War relic. We should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our own country, not socialist countries.’

 Massie, 13 January 1971, a Sun Capricorn trine Saturn in Taurus on one side and trine Pluto on the other looks blocked in February 2026 and upbeat though over hopeful by April. His relationship chart with Trump is locked together by a composite yod and heading for confusing, disappointing times in 2026/27.

 The EU is under extreme pressure now and on for a few months with Solar Arc Pluto opposition the Moon and square Uranus but that should ease off through 2026; with a muddled-about-direction tr Neptune Saturn in late Pisces square the Midheaven till February 2026 and conjunct the Descendant causing havoc in neighbourly relations ahead.  There’ll be some discouragement in a face-reality 2026 with the Solar Arc Sun square Saturn and financial disappointment with tr Pluto square the Neptune; good news and a lucky break in 2028 with SA Jupiter conjunct the Sun but more significant challenges as tr Pluto squares the Moon and opposes the Uranus in 2029/30 hinting at forced changes of future plans. Ups and downs.

 Trump will continue to hammer away at the EU through 2026/27 pushing for a split but it looks more confused than terminal.

 Putin’s birth date is not confirmed but on the October 1952 date his relationship with Trump would seem to be powering ahead through 2026 with tr Pluto opposition the composite Jupiter – though that could also hint at a power play, as Putin pulls DT’s strings. With mayhem and tensions breaking out in May and after July 2026.

  I am not sure how well they work but having sifted through a few earlier political global partnerships, the relationship chart between Trump’s Admin chart and Putin’s 5^th Term look both overly confident as a pair and mired in confusion, evasion, deceit and excessive expectations. That chart will jolt and jangle through the winter and April 2026 looks fairly explosive.   

See previous post: UN, WHO, NATO, ICC – upending the global order 26th February 2025

John Candy, much beloved star of Uncle Buck, Stripes, Splash , Brewster’s Millions, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Cool Runnings has had a celebratory documentary made, thirty years after his death.

 Renowned for being helpful in real life as well as portraying likable and buoyant screen personalities, he had another side to him with self-admitted mental health problems with severe anxiety and panic attacks. He also had an obesity problem as well as an alcohol, cigarette and cocaine habit – all of which contributed to his death at 43 from a heart attack.  

 He was born 31 October 1950 in Toronto, Canada, with his father dying of heart problems, aged 35, when John Candy was five. He had wanted to be a professional footballer but an injury put an end to that dream and he started acting when in college.

He had an intense and charming Sun, Mercury, Venus in Scorpio in a mischievous and freedom-loving trine to Uranus (Moon) in Cancer. His Uranus (Moon) were square Neptune which can be highly strung. And there was a complex dance between his Pluto, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn. His Pluto opposed Jupiter for confidence and trined Mars for super-determination though with an underlying element of fear. His Saturn opposition a Pisces North Node squared Mars for a self-destructive streak and fear about the dangers of life; with his Jupiter inconjunct Saturn for a constant wobble between highs and lows.

  When he died suddenly in his sleep on 4 March 1994 there was a pressured tr Pluto North Node opposition Algol square Mars; with Mars approaching a conjunction to his Saturn a few days later. His difficult stars were all congregating together.

  Comedians always do seem driven by inner troubles.

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.