New Zealand & Australia – no easy answers ahead

New Zealand on the statistical front appears to be weathering the Covid economic storm but there’s no doubting the challenges ahead. The NZ 4th house Sun Mars in Capricorn is catching tr Pluto conjunct the Sun this year and next and moving on from early 2022 to conjunct the Mars which will be aggravating, trapped and frustrating till late 2023 on the domestic discontent front. The Solar Arc Saturn is also in a discouraging square to the NZ Sun this year and pointing towards considerable setbacks by 2023 when it squares the NZ Mars.

  From a previous post: New Zealand always was facing an exceptionally tough decade starting on its Uranus Return in 2019, followed by a series of heavy, challenging transits right through the 2020s. Tr Pluto moving into the 4th house this year and staying for many years ahead bringing internal disquiet and strains, will conjunct the NZ Capricorn Sun Mars and square the NZ Pluto from early 2021 to 2023; with the economically destabilising tr Uranus in Taurus square tr Saturn in Aquarius in 2021 hitting on the NZ (Uranus) Saturn. The Solar Arc Saturn will square the Sun in 2021, then Mars in 2023, then oppose Pluto in 2026 bringing a series of setbacks. By which time tr Pluto has moved into Taurus and will form a disruptive (revolutionary) conjunction to the Uranus and in a tough-slog conjunction with Saturn up to the end of the decade.

  There will be jolts, upheavals and upsets in 2023/2024 economically which show on the Bank of New Zealand, 1 August 1934 chart, but it isn’t as stressed ahead as the USA, UK or EU Central bank charts. It may be ripples from a global crisis or it could be the knock on from a deteriorating relationship with China – or maybe earthquake connected.

  This decade was always going to be one which changed New Zealand in a profound way.

  The Bank of Australia, 14 January 1960, is hinting at more obvious aggravation similar to USA, UK etc between 2023 and 2026 – with a devastating and confused Solar Arc Pluto conjunct Neptune late 2022/early 2023; then a panicky failed tr Neptune square the Mars in 2024/25; a dead-halt, scary Solar Arc Mars opposition Pluto in 2025 and a shock Solar Arc Sun square Mars in 2026.

  The Australia 1 January 1901 chart has an enthusiasm denting tr Neptune square the AU Jupiter in 2023/24 and a muddled square to Mercury in 2024. Tr Pluto will also cross the Midheaven, depending on the accuracy of the start time from 2023 to 2025, which can be a time of blocks on progress, necessitating a complete rethink of direction thereafter. It can sometimes accompany a loss of reputation or status as well. So tough times.   

Anti-vaxxers – ranting rebels losing traction

Anti-vaxxers are falling out of favour in the USA with infection rates spiralling and even the Republicans have now gone into fast reverse on the subject. But there are still a hard-core of fanatical activists, in the UK and France as well, objecting vociferously to being told what to do, as they see it.

  What is striking about four of the top screamers – Robert F Kennedy Jnr, Christiane Northrup, Joseph Mercola and UK’s Piers Corbyn – is how similar their charts are. Sun in hard aspect to Uranus for a contrary, rebellious and uncooperative streak. An afflicted angry Mars most often in aspect to Pluto, so hyper-sensitive to being bullied because of childhood experiences though, au naturellement, that’s what they turn in. And Uranus Neptune hard aspects which can give a fanatical streak and a tendency to hang on to batty ideas even when all the evidence points against their beliefs.

  Robert Kennedy Jnr, 17 January 1954 Washington is a Sun Venus in Capricorn opposition Uranus square Neptune. With Mars in Scorpio conjunct Saturn and square Pluto.

 Christiane Northrup, 4 October 1949, Sun Neptune mercury in Libra square Uranus; with a Mars Pluto conjunction in Leo square Venus.

Piers Corbyn, 10 March 1947, is a Sun Pisces square Uranus; with a focal point Mars in Pisces on a Yod inconjunct Saturn Pluto sextile Neptune; with Neptune trine Uranus.

  Joseph Mercola, 8 July 1954, is a Sun Cancer conjunct Uranus square Neptune; with Mars in strident Sagittarius trine Pluto Venus in Leo.

  There may also be an element of jumping on a bandwagon to grab the spotlight but a goodly chunk of it is venting their rage against an unfair world/daddy/big government and this just happens to be a convenient issue for them to sink their teeth into. And for some there may be the alternative medicine dislike of putting foreign substances into the body. A touch of the Jehovah Witness fervour against medical interference.   

See previous January 16 2020 post.

Kitty Spencer – a wedding Diana would be proud of

An over-the-top socialite-marries-billionaire wedding on Saturday saw Lady Kitty Spencer, niece of Princess Diana, married to South African fashion-mogul Michael Lewis, who is twice her age and five years older than her father. She dazzled in a series of gowns made for her by Dolce & Gabbana, for whom she is a brand ambassador.

  The wedding chart for 6pm Frascati, nr Rome, has, not surprisingly, a frivolous, indulgent and extravagant Jupiter opposition Venus and Mars in flamboyant Leo – as befits a high fashion event. Though the Mars is also on the focal point of a Yod to Neptune sextile Pluto which will be tricky to balance. There’s also a cool, workmanlike Moon Saturn in Aquarius widely opposition Sun and on the other side square Uranus – so their domestic life is likely to be a touch ratchety and changeable. There’s also an intense Mercury opposition Pluto.

  She was born 28 December 1990, the eldest child of Earl Spencer, though not in line to inherit Althorp because of the weirdly behind-the-times aristo rules which hand it over to her younger brother. Her mother Victoria suffered from eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse during her six year marriage to Spencer, so Kitty would not have an easy start.

  She’s a rebellious and highly-strung Sun, Uranus Neptune in Capricorn with a sophisticated though cool Venus Saturn also in Capricorn. Plus she has an aggravated Moon Mars in Taurus opposition Pluto suggesting a more than difficult relationship to both parents.

  Her crossovers with her father are especially fraught with her determined Mars in Taurus conjunct his Sun and his unpredictable Uranus Pluto in Virgo trine her Sun Uranus Neptune.

  I have a birth date of 27 January 1959 for her husband Michael Lewis though I can’t remember where it came from. If accurate, he’s a Sun Aquarius opposition Uranus square Neptune; with Mars in Taurus opposition Jupiter in money-magnet Scorpio square a charming, good-for-frivolous-fashion Venus in Aquarius.  It sounds feasible.

  Her next two years look challenging and quite an uphill push with tr Pluto trine her Mars and Solar Arc Saturn square her Mars.

  A life out of the ordinary for sure.

USA & EU – a global financial hiccup ahead

Global patterns are beginning to emerge from the astrology about economies ahead which suggest it won’t be a smooth handover to the new celestial order towards and across the middle of the decade.

The USA is more problematic where it comes to pinning down the economics than the UK because there’s not an agreed start time and therefore houses are dubious. Though the USA Federal Reserve Bank, 16 November 1914 9am Washington, DC, does indicate a similar judder to the Bank of England chart between 2023 and 2026.

   Tr Pluto picks up the opposition to the FedRes Neptune in 2023 into 2024 which tends to be devastating and confusing; followed by an equally hair-raising tr Neptune Saturn in Aries square the Saturn Pluto in Cancer in 2025/2026 and tr Uranus tugging on the Neptune and then in opposition to the Mars in 2026/2027.

  The 2025 Inauguration chart, assuming it sticks to scheduled times, is challenging to put it politely with a 10th house Sun Pluto opposition a 4th house Mars – complete road block, frustrating, trapped, discontented electorate.

  The USA 4 July 1776 chart is marginally panicked this year with tr Neptune square the Mars; and trudging through the Pluto Return in 2022/23. There’s then a run of tricky Solar Arcs and transits between 2024 and 2027 – Solar Arc Saturn conjunct Mars in 2024 which is a sharp setback; tr Neptune Saturn square the US financial Venus in 2025 and Jupiter in 2027 which will be undermining economically and can be balloon-bursting with shocks from Solar Arc Sun square Mars and opposition Neptune in 2026/2027.

  So the much vaunted celestial gear shift of Pluto into Aquarius, Neptune into Aries and Uranus into Gemini may not be as uplifting as hoped, at least initially.

  The European Central Bank, 1 January 1999 chart won’t escape the strain either with a disastrous tr Pluto conjunct the Neptune in 2024/25; and marked disruptions and upheavals from Solar Arc Uranus square Pluto. The EU chart itself hints of failed plans in 2023/24 despite a massively over confident push in 2022/23. And will be completely poleaxed and stuck in 2025 as well as jolted all over the place with Solar Arc Pluto square the Uranus and opposition the Moon.

  No doubt the storms will – as ever – pass with rebuilding on the far side but it won’t be a seamless transition from Earth and Water Capricorn and Pisces to Air and Fire Aquarius and Aries for sure.

Prince – another musical casualty

Five years after his death from an accidental fentanyl opioid overdose Prince’s estate is issuing a never-before-heard album recorded in 2010, which offers a prophetic window into present day social struggles – racism, political division, technology and disinformation.

  Regarded as one of the greatest musicians of all time, he often played most or all instruments on his recordings and was known for his flamboyant and androgynous persona and wide vocal range. He was also a career activist, advocating for the empowerment of Black people in the recording industry and beyond. His sudden death left a tangled estate behind with no will and his six siblings squabbling with the administrator, lawyers and now the IRS who reckon the valuation of $80 million was ways too low.

   He was born 7 June 1958 at 6.17pm in Minneapolis, Minnesota into a musical family with his parents divorcing when he was young.

  He had an extremely complex chart with an 8th house Gemini Sun in a downbeat opposition to Saturn in his 2nd. His 4th house Pisces Moon opposed Pluto on his Midheaven squaring into Mercury in Gemini – emotionally intense, highly-strung, nervy. With his 12th house Neptune opposition Venus square Uranus – certainly innovative, could be confused or fanatical, mystical and not always stable. Most significantly he had a high-octane 5th house performing Mars in pro-active and impetuous Aries on the focal point of a Yod to Neptune sextile Pluto Midheaven – vitality plus but could be self-defeating, tending to shoot into top gear with maximum vigour. Part of his use of painkillers may have come from his wild physical antics on stage causing injuries to his hips and legs, which can almost certainly be ascribed to that no holds-barred Mars in his 5th – not helped by having no Earth in his chart. 

A 12th house Neptune can have a tendency to addiction and it was trine an afflicted Pisces Moon so he would feel the need to take the edge off his hyper-active mental and emotional state.

  When he died from counterfeit pills, which have never been traced, his Progressed Mars was exactly square his focal point Uranus which is an explosive combination – and he was on his Second Saturn Return.  Oddly he also had tr Uranus opposition his 12th house Jupiter exactly which usually brings relief and a lucky break.  Jupiter often turns up around death.

UK economy – tracking the astrology

The latest UK economic figures are uncomfortable in fiscal terms but do back up the astrology, which in a perverse way is reassuring. Statistics up at stratospheric levels tend not to mean much but the gross debt is £2.2 trillion as of December 2020, equivalent to 104.5 per cent of GDP and 13.7 per cent above the average across EU states. UK indebtedness as a proportion of GDP is two-and a half times higher than at the height of the 2008 crash and UK government debt is now at a rate not seen since the early 1960s. The UK’s national debt has grown far faster than its European neighbours, with the 2008 crisis hitting the UK harder than elsewhere.

   In 2020 – ‘the UK recorded the fourth-largest rise in government borrowing among 35 large economies last year, after experiencing one of the worst recessions in the group and suffering among the highest coronavirus infection rates.’

    Taxpayers will be liable for the cost of the government’s pandemic measures circa £372bn in May, with billions likely on bad loans, as well as eye-watering amounts thrown at PPE, substantial amounts of which are useless, not arrived or not unpacked.

  What was always a concern was tr Uranus moving into the UK’s financial 8th house from 2019 onwards till circa 2027 which is normally erratic and unpredictable in terms of economic and trade stability. What makes it more complicated for the UK is the 8th house Mars in Taurus opposition Neptune in the personal financial 2nd house square Venus in Aquarius in the speculative 5th opposition Saturn in the 11th. So all the financial houses populated by Fixed planets are due for a Uranus shake-up, jolting and jangling from this year for the next four or five.

   Tr Uranus is conjunct the Mars this year into early 2022; and then moves to square the Venus and opposes the Neptune in 2022 into 2023. There also a road-blocked Solar Arc Pluto square the UK Sun late 2022/early 2023; with a disruptive Solar Arc Saturn opposition Uranus in 2023; and more financial disruptions of a major order in 2024/25 with Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the UK 8th house Mars.

  2023 with tr Uranus square the Saturn could also see radical changes to the legislature in Parliament as well as sudden changes of future direction.

  The Bank of England chart, 27 July 1694 JC, points to 2023 to 2026 as the fraught, high-risk and nerve-stretching years. A gloss may be thrown over harsh realities initially in 2023 with Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct the financial Venus. But what follows won’t be disguisable. Tr Pluto is in a trapped, frustrating, scary square to the BofE Mars in 2023/2024 (the first Pluto hard aspect since 2008), along with a discouraging, deprived, dead-halt Solar Arc Pluto opposition Saturn also in 2023. Then the Saturn Neptune conjunction in Aries of 2025/26 opposes the Mars which won’t be fun either; having been square the Saturn the year before.

  What will help reboot morale on the UK chart is tr Pluto square the Jupiter and trine Uranus in 2024/2025. At that point green shoots will appear.

Sarah Ferguson – finding her magnetic spot

Sarah Ferguson aka Duchess of York has continued on her voyage of self-discovery by writing a Mills & Boon bodice-ripper ‘Her Heart for a Compass’ based on the life of her great-great-aunt, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott. She said in an interview: “Personally, I feel more robust, authentic, confident in myself and who I am and where I’m going than ever, and that feeling is very much reflected at the end of Margaret’s journey.’ Another book is planned with her ‘collaborator and co-author’ Marguerite Kaye, known for her hot historical romances.

  Whatever you think of Fergie, you have to take your hat off to her incessant industry – 77 books so far, mainly for children, and endless forays into commerce. She has stuck close to her divorced-but-together ex-Prince Andrew for three decades and is supporting him through the Epstein scandal, which will loom large with Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial now due late November into December this year (if not further delayed).

  She was born 15 October 1959 9.03am (from memory) London, and despite her blundering manner or maybe because of it she is directly descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch, Abercorn and Devonshire.

   She has an impulsive Sun Mars in Libra with an equally impetuous 5th house Moon in Aries. Plus a controlling, can-be-influential and superficially charming Pluto Venus on her Midheaven in a pushily confident square to Jupiter in Sagittarius. Her brash, uninhibited streak probably comes from her Pluto Jupiter plus a Fire Moon and Sun Mars. She doesn’t appear to have too many internal brakes.  Though she has a disconcerting habit of talking about herself in the third person which sounds frankly dissociated.  The Duchess, Fergie, Sarah – a handful of alter egos to toss around.

   This is not her shining hour with tr Pluto in a trapped frustrated square to her Mars now till mid August and again through this December. 2022/23 doesn’t look like a walk in the park either with confused and devastated Pluto transits to three substantial midpoints; with more blockages and gloom in 2023 and a run of disasters in 2024/25. Her Progressed Moon continues to limp through her emotionally intense and conflicted 8th house for another ten months. What’s intriguing is tr Uranus moving above her Descendant from mid 2022 onwards for several years which could suggest a split in a close relationship. Her relationship chart with Andrew will hit a rock n’ roll patch from mid 2022 with losses or disappointments into 2023.

  If anything she dislikes Ghislaine Maxwell more than Andrew and that pairing looks highly stressed until 2025.  Though that may not be the only blot on the horizon since with the Queen winding down, Andrew’s situation will be left to Charles’s tender mercies. The brothers do not exactly get on with a chilly composite Moon square Saturn and a competitive Sun Mars in their relationship chart; and Sarah even less well with Princes Charles – and she looks persona non grata with him in future years.

  Two key influences are plaguing Andrew’s chart. One is tr Neptune going through his 8th which not only has an undermining effect on finances, it can also drag secrets out into the open. The 8th ruling sexuality as well as money.

  The other is his 6th house Mars Venus in Capricorn which is catching the tr Pluto conjunction from early 2022 to late 2023 and the Solar Arc Moon is also conjunct in 2022/23. This could be health related but his Venus Mars is very Epstein-connected as well.

   He also has his Progressed Moon moving into his 8th within weeks and staying until after mid 2023 which is a long drag. And fairly catastrophic midpoint Uranus transits from June 2022 for a year.

  What is strange in the midst of all this disaster is his Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct his 7th house Sun in 8 months and relatively upbeat Solar Arc from birthday February 2021. Mind you he is so arrogant what would humiliate most people into a puddle of shame probably slides off his back.

   His posthumous relationship chart with Epstein looks shaken and stirred and not in a good way until 2025.    

Tokyo Olympics – putting on a brave face

  The Tokyo Olympics, postponed from 2020, kicked off last evening with the torch being lit at 11.48pm to an echoing stadium empty of spectators, banned because of Covid. What was supposed to be a bright new start and boost for Japan has turned into an economic disaster, with costs rocketing to around £11.3bn with not much benefit in sight.

 Public disapproval is high with infection rates rising this year and only 23% of the population being vaccinated.

  The start chart has a pressured 4th house Leo Sun conjunct the IC opposition Pluto Moon in Capricorn. There also a strained Yod of Neptune sextile Pluto Moon inconjunct Mars in Leo, which can be self-defeating or overly forceful in terms of will power and tends to attract crisis situations.  Plus a serious, well-organised Saturn in the 10th in a can-be-autocratic and erratic square to Uranus.  It’ll be showy with Sun Mars in Leo, Mars conjunct Venus with an icing sugar coating from Venus opposition Jupiter.

  The caveat being that Olympics charts usually are hugely stressed and most often nothing much happens apart from the usual sporting glitches.

  Japan is heading into a tricky few years ahead – though so is every other country – but the Olympic costs won’t help. The Solar Arc Saturn moving through the Japan 8th will oppose the 2nd house financial Moon in 2022 which will impact on the public; with tr Uranus square tr Saturn will be tugging o the Japan 4th house Saturn in 2022 as well which suggests a discontented electorate.  And tr Neptune will conjunct the Mars in Pisces for a sense of failure. A grinding, jolting and confusing changes follow from 2023 to 2026 as first tr Uranus squares the Sun and then tr Pluto trines the Neptune and Pluto.

  Just a couple of sporting names that caught my eye – sport not being my thing. One is Charlotte Dujardin, the British dressage rider who won Olympic golds in 2012 and 2016 plus much else besides, reckoned the preeminent rider of her era, 13 July 1985.  She’s a Sun Mars in Cancer trine an obsessive Saturn in Scorpio; with a Yod of Uranus sextile Jupiter in Aquarius inconjunct Sun, which latter would suggest she would tread a singular path in life.  Tr Uranus is square her Jupiter over the Olympics and trine her lucky Jupiter/Uranus midpoint – and her trainer Carl Hester looks similarly upbeat.

    Simone Biles, 14 March 1997, the American gymnast, another multi-Olympic and World Champion medal winner several times over and again dominant in her field. She has a Sun, Venus, Mercury in Pisces opposition Mars in Virgo sextile/trine Neptune – and an adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Aquarius. She doesn’t have quite as much Jupiterian uplift on transits showing as Dujardin but there’s no birth time and that may not mean much since what often shows up on sporting charts is the strain rather than the triumph.  And she does have a super-confident, usually successful Solar Arc Jupiter square her Pluto which may do it for her.

  What is worth noting is that Charlotte Dujardin has her Jupiter at 14 Aquarius which is that odd mid Aquarius degree which often turns up in top class sporting charts. Simone Biles born 12 years later has her Jupiter at 11 Aquarius.

See previous post June 4 2021.

Amy Winehouse – a meteor that faded

Amy Winehouse, the soulful singer and songwriter known for her haunting soul, rhythm and blues and jazz performances, who soared then crashed and burned is being remembered ten years on from her death. Born into a musical family on 14 September 1983 10.25pm (from memory), London, she started performing early and by 24 had six Grammy nominations. She also by that stage had a violent co-dependent husband in jail and paparazzi hounding her through well-publicised drug, alcohol and mental health problems. Her death at 27 was deemed accidental alcohol poisoning since she was off drugs then.

 Her Neptune, planet of music, creativity and escapism was the key planet in her chart being square her Virgo Sun Mercury, conjunct her Capricorn Moon, trine Mars Venus in Leo and sextile Pluto Saturn. She had the heavyweight Saturn Pluto in her 5th house of entertainment and performance. I’d hazard a guess that her birth time might be a touch earlier since she was close to a grandmother and an 8th house Moon, even Neptune, would make sense – and would move her Sun towards her 5th house.

   She also had North Node in Gemini on her Ascendant so she would be troubled by a lack of a strong sense of her own identity. Her Moon in the 7th suggests she needed a partner for security and would be dependent.

  Her creative 5th Harmonic was strong as was her genius/breakthrough 13H. But so were her self-defeating 10H and 16H harmonics and her victim 12H.

  When she died tr Pluto was on the cusp of her 8th house conjunct her Progressed Moon, so she was on the verge of a critical and potentially transformative, but hugely challenging time. Her Solar Arc Moon was square her Pluto which would do nothing to help lighten her mood.

Several others died at 27 – Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison. It is the North Nodal Half Return – usually a hint to take stock and rebalance life. The nearest astrological pointer to Amy Winehouse’s demise was Janis Joplin, born 19 January 1943, died 4 October 1970 of an accidental heroin overdose. At the point of her death she had her Solar Arc Moon conjunct her Pluto, and tr Pluto on the cusp of her 8th house. 

Many people soldier on through Pluto transiting their 8th house which isn’t easy but does require grit and stamina. It may have been too much for fragile physical and mental health damaged by years of abuse.