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Gwen Berry, the US hammer thrower has responded to criticism after she turned away from the American flag on the podium at the Olympic trials medal ceremony, saying she “never said that I hated the country. All I said was I respect my people enough to not stand or acknowledge something that disrespects them.” She draped a T-shirt carrying the words “activist athlete” over her head. Joe Biden issued a statement saying that “part of the pride in our country means recognizing there are moments where we haven’t lived up to our highest ideals. And it means respecting the rights of people granted to them in the Constitution to peacefully protest.” Other athletes have offered support to her.

   In 2019, Berry lost some of her sponsorships after raising her fist in protest on the podium at the Pan American Games in Peru and received a 12-month probation from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee for the act. She has accused critics of her protest of favouring “patriotism over basic morality”.

  Born 29 June 1989 St Louis, Missouri, she has a Cancer Sun opposition the highly-strung, can-be-tinged-with-genius and also chaotic Saturn, Neptune, Uranus conjunction in Capricorn and trine Pluto. The Sun Neptune Pluto marks her out as more than usually ambitious. Her Pluto is also in an angry and aggravated square to Mars in flamboyant Leo with her Mars in an enthusiastic conjunction to Venus.  Plus she has her North Node in dedicated-to-a-cause Aquarius.

  She’s certainly determined, enraged, uncompromising and unpredictable. Her Moon is in stubborn and earthy Taurus. Tr Neptune square her Jupiter this year until early 2023 will dash a few of her hopes; the tr Saturn square tr Uranus will tug at her aggravated Mars square Pluto; and there are muddled, unhelpful Solar Arcs in 2022 so it won’t be easy in the immediate future.

  If I’m honest I’d have to admit to being conflicted. There are clearly huge and ongoing injustices that keep not being addressed which do damage to a goodly chunk of the population – and they need to be faced up to and brought under control.  I quite understand why those in a position to make a stand do so.

  And yet and yet – maybe its just compassion fatigue or oppression exhaustion – it does jar. As do the present run of USA TV police crime and medical series which have gone into propaganda mode. Which is perfectly understandable at one level given the inequities perpetrated against the black community.  And I am a huge believer in drama being a good vehicle for putting new ideas out into the culture. But but but – is it effective?  I’m not sure.

Pic: jenaragon94

Jill Biden has made it to the front cover of Vogue looking cheerful, energetic and capable with neither she nor Joe, as yet, giving any indication of the turbulence hinted at in the disruptive Inauguration chart.

  She’s an odd mix with her husband, having a chatty, argumentative Sun Mars in Gemini on the focal point of a go-ahead Jupiter in Aries trine Pluto. She’s no submissive, arm-candy wife.  Her Moon may be late Taurus/early Gemini.

  Her Sun, maybe Moon, fall in his 7^th house which is good for partnerships but her Sun Mars are conjunct his Saturn Uranus possibly her Moon as well, which will be scratchy if they are together for extended periods without the distraction of high-powered careers. Though her Moon may oppose his Sun Venus in Scorpio which will add an affectionate touch. Her Venus in Cancer is also conjunct his Jupiter which will smooth round rough edges. Her Saturn in hard-working Virgo sits in his 10^th so she will keep him organised.

  Their relationship chart has a confident and lucky composite Sun square Jupiter and a tied-together Saturn Pluto conjunction on the focal point of a look-on-the-bright-side mini-Grand Trine of Jupiter trine Neptune.

  The Solar and Lunar Eclipses this year are impacting her Sun Mars in Gemini especially the upcoming December Sagittarius Eclipse as she makes the tricky transition into a goldfish bowl existence. There will be arguments, crises, significant turning points now and until mid 2022. Where she will start to be uncertain will be when tr Neptune opposes her Saturn from May 2022, on and off into early 2023; and she also has a calamitous Solar Arc Mars conjunct her Pluto, hitting exact late 2022/early 2023.

  The strain on the Inauguration chart shows up around 2023 and 2024 with the Solar Arc Sun in a downbeat, stuck conjunction to Saturn early in 2023, followed by tr Pluto conjunct the Inauguration Sun from late March 2023 onwards, on and off till late 2024. Then Solar Arc Saturn closes the aggravated, accident-prone and explosive square to Mars and Uranus to exact in early and mid 2024.

  Joe Biden’s personal chart also hints at a gathering storm through 2023/24. The Scorpio/Taurus Eclipses of 2022 will pose some challenges with a rolling disaster or two from tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Pluto midpoint from April 2022 onwards for a year; and the pressures will mount in 2023 with confusion, indecision, vagueness with high hopes not producing results. With 2024 looking disaster strewn and again disappointing.

  Kamala Harris will be under rising pressures with tr Pluto square her Libra Sun through 2022/23; with panicky-failures in 2022, a significant setback around the fall of 2023 and high uncertainty and anxiety through 2024.

  The four years of the USA moving through its First Pluto Return will take its toll.  The USA chart also shows 2024/25 as troublesome, accident-prone and worrisome years with the Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the USA Mars and then square the USA Neptune.

See previous Post: 4 March 2020

Lebanon once dubbed the ‘Switzerland of the East’ for its financial prowess and the playboy-capital Beirut as the ‘Paris of the Middle East’ for its vibrant cultural and social life is in a sorry state. A ruinous civil war, wholesale corruption at a high level, an economic crisis with currency devaluation pushing the Lebanese pound to 16,000 to the dollar from 1,500 18 months ago, and a breakdown of public services largely due to an inability to form an effective government have reduced the country to rubble. ‘For many households, basic services including health, electricity, water, internet and education are almost out of reach, but this has made little impact on politicians intent on protecting a patronage system run along the sectarian lines that has undermined competent governance for decades.’

   The Lebanon, 1 January 1944 12 am chart, is riddled with three Yods with focal points Sun, Mercury, Saturn respectively so it was always going to plough a fairly unique furrow and be under periodic strain, even more so than most countries. The ‘leadership’ North Node is conjunct Pluto and the Part of Fortune which does suggest extremes of prosperity and the opposite as Pluto goes in for periodic purging phases – deconstruction and reconstruction. Although this modern chart only started in 1944, it will have resonances with the much older charts – and at one point three thousand years ago Lebanon was home to the Phoenicians who had an expansive maritime trade network that lasted over a millennium and was the dominant commercial power for much of classical antiquity. Like most empires it eventually crumbled only to rise up later and repeat.

  Last year’s mammoth explosion which was in part a result of corruption but was also a symbolic parallel for the present widespread destruction. It occurred when the Solar Arc Neptune was opposition the focal point Saturn and tr Pluto was moving across the focal point Mercury. Both these influences are still around this year.

    In the past the international community, in particular France, has always come to the rescue but there is a hardening of attitudes until there is internal reform of both the government and national finances. The Bank of Lebanon chart, 1 August 1963, is highly stressed until mid decade with a run of difficult Solar Arcs – so any attempts to put the country onto a sensible track won’t happen overnight. The country chart has a faint indication of better news come 2024 when the Solar Arc Mars Uranus is conjunct the Jupiter.

See previous post August 5 2020

Pic	User:BlingBling10

Sajid Javid has been made the new Health Secretary. He was formerly Home Secretary and latterly Chancellor until he resigned after disagreements with Boris about his independence in the role following a stand-off with bully-boy Dom Cummings.

   He was born 5 December 1969 in Rochdale, England with immigrant parents, had a comprehensive school education followed by provincial university and then a sparkling career in banking in New York and with Deutsche Bank, earning gzillions.

  He’s a Sun Sagittarius with a confident and adventurous Jupiter in Libra (and Moon) trine Mars in Aquarius, sextiling onto Mercury in outspoken Sagittarius. His Mercury is also in an intense and determined square to Pluto. It’s a chart that really needs a birth time to pull it together.

  His Sun will be in the line of fire from this coming December’s Solar Eclipse which will be challenging. But he does have a super-confident tr Pluto square his Jupiter from early 2022 till late 2023 which will help as he takes on the herculean task of overseeing the end of the pandemic and then catching up on the backlog of neglected health cases and overseeing reforms moving ahead. Where he looks less ebullient will be 2023/4.

  His relationship with Boris isn’t great at the best of times and is sliding and slipping through 2021/2022. He’ll be jousting with Michael Gove for supremacy as well with a few clashes.

  There’s positive and negative on his interface with the NHS as his Jupiter is trine the NHS Mercury, Uranus, Venus and Moon and his Mercury is conjunct the NHS Jupiter. But his Uranus is conjunct the NHS Neptune and square the NHS Cancer Sun and his Pluto is conjunct the NHS Mars and squares their Gemini planets – so there will be a fair amount of pushing and pulling, and resistance internally.

  The NHS is in a swampy phase with tr Neptune opposition the Mars, now till early 2023, and opposition the Venus, Uranus, Mercury until Neptune moves out of Pisces in 2025; with major bumps on the road from tr Uranus square tr Saturn hitting on the Pluto Saturn in Leo.

  Brexit hasn’t helped with curbs on foreign workers coming in on whom the NHS rely. And then there is the political hot potato which to date no one has dared to tackle – making people pay for at least part of their treatment. Most of Europe works on a basis of part state funded, part private insurance funded. Apart from anything else it would stop nuisance visits to GPs/A&E hospital units from time wasters.  

The shine has worn off the Trump family brand with even Ivanka and Jared reportedly jumping overboard after catching flak over the January 6^th outrage. Senior’s inability to let go his obsessive grievance and his hours-a-day ranting over ‘a stolen election’ is also evidently grating. Plus he’s jealous about Kushner’s “seven-figure” book deal and fears he’ll claim credit for pa-in-law’s achievements. Last but not least the Manhattan district attorney is circling the wagons with the first suggestion of possible criminal charges against the Trump Organization. The initial sally, which sounds minor enough, will put the spotlight on CFO Allen Weisselberg, whom they are trying to turn.

   The relationship charts between Trump and both Ivanka and Jared indicate there is the start of year-long phase of hyper-anxiety, confusion and paralysis from July 7^th with tr Uranus opposition the composite Neptune in both – even more jarring for Jared since that forms part of the composite Yod with his father-in-law. That Yod always hinted at two things – a relationship that would irrevocably change the lives of both and an underlying ego-battle where only one could win. That influence runs on and off into May 2022.

  This covers the time when Trump’s personal chart goes into financial and career meltdown. He has the chaotic, scandal-prone and physically undermining tr Pluto conjunct his Sun/Neptune midpoint July to mid August and again this December. Then he has two poleaxing Solar Arcs – his Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his 2^nd house Neptune and his Solar Arc Neptune opposing his 10^th house Uranus. They will both come exact in three months though can trigger early. From late this July tr Neptune returns to square his Sun and then retrogrades in aspect to his Moon and back again until March 2022. Returning with one final hit to his Sun in November 2022 to January 2023.  Plus the tr Uranus square tr Saturn is hitting on his Pluto and calamitous Mars/Saturn midpoint through this year into early 2022.

  There’s clearly more than ripples running through the family with the composite Suns of Ivanka with Don Jnr and Eric and even Jared all catching the upcoming December Sagittarius Eclipse head on – and that usually points to a crisis or two in the months after.

 Ivanka this year is still picking up the super-confident tr Pluto square her Jupiter though it could push her to take unnecessary risks which end up in conflict with authority figures. But she’s still having a discouraging uphill struggle with worse in 2022/23/24 when she runs in disasters and failures. Jared will also hit acute frustrations and aggravations in 2023/24.

 Weisselberg, 15 August 1947, is into his bumpiest patch for years with the tr Uranus square tr Saturn hitting on his Pluto Saturn in Leo this year. He’s pretty rock solid and has shown no sign so far of flipping on Trump but their relationship chart is showing signs of acute stress this year with much much worse come 2022/23.  

See previous post February 28 2021.

The manifest failings of health secretary Matt Hancock have always been in plain sight – screw ups over PPE for health workers, and cronyism over contracts, Covid-infected hospital patients dumped back in care homes and a test-and-trace system that didn’t work. All of which caught him in Dom Cummings’ crosshairs and he was scud-missiled with an expose of Boris’s contempt for his abilities. All of which begged the question why is he still there? To which the answer was simple – he is Boris’s human shield, to deflect and soak up criticism.

  Whether this latest embarrassment – a “steamy clinch” with Gina Coladangelo, the lobbyist and long-term friend he took on as an aide last year (initially undeclared), who was subsequently given a paid non-executive directorship at the Department of Health, will be the final straw that broke the camel’s back is moot. And that last sentence contains at least three political transgressions that should bin him for good.

  There are conflicting views about what comes next. Some say No 10 would worry he might tell his own version of the past two years if freed of ministerial responsibility. Others despair that if he stays the government is seen as sleazy, hypocritical and arrogant –  one rule for them and another for the rest of us.

  Hancock born 2 October 1978 is a New Moon, Mercury, Pluto in Libra with an ultra-determined, risk-taking, seductive (and vengeful) Venus, Uranus, Mars in Scorpio. His Jupiter in flamboyant Leo is in an opportunistic square to Mars which in turn is exactly in opposition to Chiron. That hardly suits him for his present role but the emphasised Jupiter may explain his Teflonesque abilities to survive in the face of repeated failures.

   Within a few days tr Uranus will oppose his Uranus for his mid life crisis which may upend his life and ambitions; plus a panicky/confused/devastated tr Saturn square his Sun/Neptune midpoint now and square his Mars/Uranus midpoint also from July 7^th, which latter can accompany a violent separation.

  That coincides with tr Uranus squaring the composite North Node and Mercury on his relationship chart with Boris, which is surprisingly competitive, with hints of power struggles, and backs up the notion that he would be a risk if dumped onto the back benches.  He’s not quite the bland nonentity he looks. Whatever happens he’s in for a shockingly bad 2022/23 with tr Pluto square his Mars/Pluto and Saturn/Neptune midpoints.

Princess Charlene of Monaco is in a tumultuous year with her husband Prince Albert facing yet another paternity suit (denied) to add to his two previous illegitimate children. In addition she has been suffering from complications to a severe ear, nose and throat infection which has kept her in her native South Africa since January, though Albert and their twin children have visited her.

  It was always a marriage predicted to hit the skids after a respectable interval having produced an heir, with the bride in tears at the wedding, supposedly having bolted just before and always looking sad since.

  Their relationship chart is exceptionally stressed with a composite one-sided, unfair-treatment composite Mars Saturn conjunct Moon and trine Sun; with the Sun inconjunct Uranus and Mercury inconjunct Pluto. Admittedly the Sun is opposition Jupiter for superficial largesse and square Neptune giving it an ethereal aura but it was always going to end in disappointment.

  The ties that bind are starting to unravel this year with tr Neptune opposition the composite Pluto and aggravating challenges will mount through 2022 to 2025 as tr Pluto squares the composite Saturn, then Mars, then Moon. It won’t be a harmonious split with the children no doubt being a major stumbling block.

  Charlene, a charming Sun Venus in Aquarius with a Leo Moon  does have her marriage-significator Sun/Moon midpoint showing signs of separation and marital upsets throughout this year into early 2022; with emotional and family upheavals from mid 2022 onwards as tr Uranus squares her 4^th house Moon.  Intriguingly she has tr Uranus crossing her Ascendant and moving through her 1st house from this year onwards for seven years ahead – Princess Diana had similar when she made her bid for freedom.  And Charlene has also been making radical statements with her appearance, sporting a very un-Princess-like shaved hair-cut.

  Prince Albert, a downbeat and Saturnine Pisces with a hidden Capricorn Moon has been in a trapped phase since his 2011 marriage, a belated affair in his fifties so clearly not his favoured state, with tr Pluto moving through his 8^th.  Pluto will conjunct his 8^th house Mars from early 2022 to late 2023 which will be depressing and totally road-blocked emotionally, financially and psychologically; and even before then tr Neptune is in an undermining conjunction to his Sun exactly now repeating to early 2023 and will move to square his 7^th house Saturn from mid 2022 onwards.   

Hong Kong’s last remaining free-speech outlet has been suppressed as Beijing exerted maximum political pressure on the most outspoken and popular newspaper Apple Daily. The assets were frozen, the founder and chairman, Jimmy Lai, is in prison on national security charges and a welter of public order offences and six staff have been arrested on suspicion of collusion with foreign powers to endanger national security. After Lai’s arrest, the company’s stock price surged 1,000% in two days. After the money tap was turned off, for its final issue, a million were printed, ten times more than normal, and Hong Kongers were queuing up to buy a copy.

   There’s not much to add to last year’s post, see below.  Hong Kong is facing a phase of several years ahead of loss of control and confusion as tr Pluto is conjunct the Solar Arc Midheaven this year and next and then the Neptune come 2023/24. Relations with China will worsen from this year through till 2024 and beyond with tr Pluto square the composite Neptune this year and opposition the Mars in 2023/24 when aggravation will be at its peak. 2024/2025/26 will be high-tension years with tr Pluto in hard aspect to the composite Saturn and Uranus.

  China itself is due a revolution or major disruptive upheaval through 2022/23 with tr Pluto conjunct the China 1912 Uranus. Xi Jinping’s 2^nd term chart, 24 October 2017 12.30pm, is also about to undergo a turnaround with Solar Arc Uranus opposition the Sun in mid 2022, but there is Jupiterian unearned good luck in there which may make the turbulence less damaging. Though there is also an uncertain tr Neptune square the Term Saturn now until early 2023.

  Even if Xi Jinping fell off his perch there’s no saying any replacement would be better.

  The Apple Daily chart, 20 June 1995, does have a Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune Uranus inconjunct a Gemini Sun which in turn squares Saturn – so it was always destined to be the one who walked alone and be regretful about the past. There is devastation and muddle written over its chart this year and for the next three years. I suppose it is too much to hope it might be revived in some form on the internet. Though journalism is becoming a dangerous occupation in the territory.

 Xi Jinping was born 15 June 1953 (wiki) and is a Gemini with his Sun trine Neptune Saturn and sextile Pluto – so fitting into the megalomaniac, super-ambitious mould with Sun Neptune Pluto (see post below) and control-freaky as well with a focal point Pluto.

  His Sun is conjunct Mars in Cancer making him assertive and emotionally volatile. Saturn Neptune can give him the impetus to work towards a better society though can also be neurotic/paranoid and in square to Uranus can be autocratic and fanatical. Tr Neptune is opposing his Sun now, on and off till early 2023 which will be indecisive and lacklustre. He has a catastrophic Pluto transit to a Mars midpoint through this July to mid August and again through this December. And mid October 2021 to mid January 2022 there’s another slipping and slithering disaster.  Late 2022/early 2023 he’ll get a considerable jolt from his Solar Arc Uranus square his Sun which reflects the turmoil and disturbances on his Term chart. With 2023/4 looking especially fraught. But running a country the size of China will bring running crises and he lived through several in 2018/2019 when his Solar Arc Saturn and Neptune opposed his Sun – and survived those.

  Where his relationship chart with China is showing strain is around 2025 with tr Neptune and Saturn conjunct the composite Sun and tr Pluto is opposition the composite Saturn.

Previous post: AUGUST 10 2020

Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong media tycoon and staunch pro-democracy activist has been arrested by under suspicion of colluding with foreign forces. It is the most high-profile arrest since Beijing’s national security laws were imposed on Hong Kong in late June.  He has been arrested before but the fear this time is he will face an unfair judicial process, with potential transfer to mainland China for trial. Hundreds of police also raided Lai’s Apply Daily tabloid newspaper.

  In June, he said the national security law would make the operation of a free press not just difficult but dangerous. “But we have no choice but to go on with it. We don’t think about the consequences, we just have to carry on what we are doing. If we let the fear frighten us we won’t be able to do anything.” Brave man.

  Born 8 December 1948 on mainland China he fled for Hong Kong aged 12, worked in sweatshops, learned English, became a self-made entrepreneur in clothing before turning to journalism, establishing Next media and founding Apple Daily in 1995.  He reportedly became politicised and a critic of Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

  He’s a Sun Mercury in Sagittarius square Saturn in hard-working Virgo. He has a go-getting and risk-taking Mars Jupiter in Capricorn opposition Uranus; and his Pluto is in a determined trine to his Sun Mercury and squares his Venus in Scorpio.

  When Tiananmen Square protests happened in 1989 and were brutally put down, tr Uranus was conjunct his Jupiter for a moment of enlightenment with his Solar Arc Jupiter opposition his Pluto for a surge of confidence. The tr Saturn Neptune in Capricorn were also moving to square his idealistic Neptune.

  There’s nothing much ahead which looks optimistic. He will be determinedly cheerful through 2021/22 though it’ll be an uphill struggle. Where he looks to be running into more serious difficulties is in 18 months to 2 years’ time with a couple of worrisome and risky/blocked Solar Arcs and acute frustrations in 2022/23 and failed-plans after that.

  His relationship chart with China 1949 is at a critical point now with the recent Eclipse conjunct the composite Uranus and aggravated in 2021/22/ It’s much the same with the China 1912 chart.

  The Apple Daily tabloid newspaper was launched 20 June 1995, with a journalistic Gemini Sun on the focal point of a strained Yod inconjunct Pluto sextile the highly-strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn; with Saturn square Sun and trine Pluto; and a focal point angry and argumentative Mars in Virgo square a Venus Mercury in Gemini opposition Jupiter in Sagittarius – not short of guts and strong opinions, but it was always going to have a difficult furrow to plough. Tr Pluto conjunct the Neptune Uranus this year and on till 2024 will rock it on its foundations; with tr Neptune bring major uncertainty 2022 till 2025 with tr Neptune conjunct the Saturn and then square the Sun. So nothing much of cheer until 2026 if it still exists then.

     When you look at what happened to Tibet, there’s not much to give one hope of the Chinese becoming more civilized. Which makes his and the journalists’ stance all the more courageous.

Laurel Hubbard’s acceptance as the first openly transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics has raised considerable controversy. The 43 year old took part in men’s competition before transitioning in 2013. Suppressing testosterone, required for Olympic competition does not remove the advantages of physical development from having undergone puberty as a male – bigger heart, bigger lungs, more muscle mass.

 She was born 9 February 1978 in Auckland, New Zealand and extraordinarily has no earth in her chart. Her Aquarius Sun Venus are in a wide Air Grand Trine to Jupiter and Pluto, formed into a Kite by Saturn Venus opposition Saturn in Leo. She also has a high-octane Mars in Cancer on the focal point of a Yod to Sun Venus sextile Neptune so was always destined to walk a singular path on life.

  She is looking frustrated and angry in the run up to the late July Olympics with tr Pluto opposition her focal point Mars from late June into August and repeating in December; and setbacks from her Mars/Saturn midpoint and Neptune undermining her Saturn/Pluto as well.

  A tricky year all round into early 2022.