not categorised

The fates have conspired to give Facebook the week from hell with a prolonged outage yesterday, wiping billions off share prices as well as a whistleblower accusing the company of placing “profit over safety” on primetime TV in advance of a hearing before US senators today. The six hour break in service was deemed to be an internal configuration fault which shut down not just the internet feed but also entry into the building for engineers trying to fix it.

     Francis Haugen, a former product manager, hired to help protect against election interference, who leaked a trove of internal company documents to the Wall Street Journal which have created its deepest crisis since the Cambridge Analytica scandal – has now stepped into the open. She said FB had lied to the public, exaggerating the progress it had made tackling hate, violence, and misinformation on its platform.

“There were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook. Over and over again, [it] chose to optimise for its own interests, like making more money.” FB’s shares have dipped 13 per cent since the WSJ began publishing its series in mid-September.

  Mark Zuckerburg, 14 May 1984 2.39pm White Plains New York, whose Taurus Sun is conjunct Algol, with Venus close by, opposing Mars Moon Saturn in Scorpio isn’t one to panic or over-react to pressure. But he’s in a long run of tr Uranus hard aspects to his Scorpio/Taurus planets, jangling him this year, more so in 2022/23/24. The Eclipses from this November’s Taurus Lunar Eclipse and on through 2022 into 2023 will also rattle up a good going series of crises, so he’ll have to change whether he likes it or not. His Progressed Mars will conjunct his 2nd house Saturn in 2022 which could see a major financial setback.

  What is odd about the Facebook IPO chart, 18 May 2012 11.31am is the Jupiter in Taurus which tr Pluto is trine at the moment and should be instilling confidence not the reverse. Though admittedly tr Saturn square the Midheaven won’t help and there will be disappointments with tr Neptune hitting the financial Venus and Mars/Uranus midpoint earlier this year and throughout 2022.

  There’s also a further calamity from 2^nd to 10^th December this year which shows up on Zuckerburg and the IPO chart.

 The original FB chart, 4 February 2004, is jolted, jangled and nerve-stretched this year and next with the disruptive and uncertain tr Saturn square tr Uranus hitting on the Neptune Sun in Aquarius; with financial woes in 2022/23 from tr Neptune conjunct the Venus; and worse problems in 2023/24 as the dead-halt tr Pluto squares the Mars in Taurus.

Kate Couric, a household name for her US news presentation across all three big networks, has written a “scorched earth” memoir which has drawn heavy criticism. She slags off other women she has worked with in the business and excuses men accused of sexual harassment like Roger Ailes, Weinstein, Matt Lauer etc. Her bubbly girl-next-door image has been smashed to smithereens.

  She was born 7 January 1957 11.55pm New York with an ambitious Capricorn Sun Mercury in the 4^th in an assertive square to Mars in Aries in the 7^th – so she’s no slouch when it comes to pushing forward her point of view. She’s also got a wide Fire Grand Trine of Uranus in the 10^th (= suits a TV career) trine Saturn in Sagittarius trine Mars and Moon in Aries, which is not only hard-edged but a surfeit of Fire can be attention-seeking, self-involved and not overly sensitive to others’ needs. In total she has five Fire signs with Venus in Sagittarius as well.  

  One theory is her book is a manoeuvre to gain relevance after her career has moved away from mainstream headlines. It won’t do her too many favours with tr Neptune opposition her Solar Arc Midheaven and a jangled November over publication as tr Uranus squares her calamity-prone Mars/Saturn midpoint and December brings a hopes-dashed tr Pluto conjunct her Mars/Neptune. With worse through 2022.

  At the moment her Progressed Mars is exactly (to within minutes) conjunct her South Node in Taurus which kind of suggests a backward slide.

  She’ll bounce up again by 2024 but clearly this book won’t do it for her.

Internal ructions within the Democratic Party appear to be more of a risk to Joe Biden’s gargantuan economic package and term in office than the Republicans. Two pass-remarkable Democrats – Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema – have set their faces against agreeing setting up a bruising month ahead of negotiations to find a compromise. Their motives are thought to be political self-preservation since they come from largely Republican strongholds. The New York Intelligencer commented “They are, in effect, holding the president’s priorities hostage to their personal whims—-“their stubbornness in the face of contemporary challenges reveals the bottomless emptiness of their brand of centrist politics.”

   Both, oddly enough, should get on with Biden. Sinema, 12 July 1976 12.10 pm Tucson, AZ, has her Cancer Sun, Mercury, Venus conjunct Biden’s Jupiter and her Jupiter opposition his Sun; though he controlling Pluto does sit in Biden’s 10^th which will gives her an eye for pulling his strings and there are a few scratchy aspects. Joe Manchin, 24 August 1947, has his Jupiter conjunct Biden’s Mercury and Sun.

  But the relationship charts indicate that Manchin and Biden will have a disappointing relationship this year and right through 2022 with disruptions and upheavals in January and February especially.

  Biden with Sinema looks no more cheering with discouraging Saturn blocks till late this month; and undermining Neptune hard aspects to the composite Jupiter and Sun through 2022 into 2023. So she’s likely to be a continuing problem.

For previous post on Biden see September 22 2021. It indicates it’ll be a long, fractious haul to the end of November.

One of the several mysteries around the when-will-it-go-into-the-desert-and-die saga of Prince Andrew is his mother’s continuing and obvious support, now footing a mega-million pound legal bill. For someone who has put duty to the crown above and beyond anything else in her long reign, her public devotion seems odd.

  Their relationship chart is drenched in Neptune with a composite Moon Neptune opposition Sun – so illusions, delusions and wishful thinking run rife. It took the full might of the tr Pluto in Capricorn square tr Uranus in Aries opposition tr Saturn in Libra in 2011 to build up sufficient power to make it clear that his associations with dodgy billionaires and politically corrupt individuals made his Trade post untenable. She would have had to OK the decision but it took two years plus before she eventually gave in. By that time he’d sold his Sunningdale marital home way above market price to a relative of the Kazakhstan President.

   Their relationship chart also has a Mars opposition Pluto indicating the immoveable hierarchy of the monarchical power structure. That aspect appears in other Royal relationships with the Queen as well – Charles for one, Princess Margaret also, Prince William in a muted form; ditto Meghan; but not Harry, Edward, Princess Anne.

  In Andrew’s case it is entrenched with the composite Pluto on the IC and Mars conjunct the composite MC – which arguably traps both of them. When he gave the ill-considered Newsnight interview in November 2019, tr Pluto was sitting exactly on the Queen’s Capricorn Ascendant so it was always going to affect her image. Tr Saturn following close behind began a slow descent into and through her 1^st house which can be a time of misjudgements when psychological quirks are exposed.

   Tr Uranus was also heading to rattle the composite Mars opposition Pluto with Andrew. With the scandal showing no signs of abating, he was finally forced to step down from all public roles in May 2020 when tr Uranus was exactly square their composite Pluto. Tr Saturn has now taken up the baton and will be opposition the composite Pluto and conjunct the composite Mars for the final time from mid November to mid December this year. And tr Uranus retrogrades to square the composite Midheaven from 29^th December to early February 2022.

  With a chart as fixed as the Queen’s nothing happens impulsively or immediately – but she’ll not be able to withstand the amount of pounding her relationship chart with Andrew is taking.

  What is intriguing is that Andrew’ Moon at 25 Scorpio sits on her Midheaven and dutiful Saturn – and is exactly where her father George V1’s Moon was. So there may be resonances of her father that connect her – though they are wildly different personalities. Andrew’ 2^nd house acquisitive Pluto is conjunct George V1’s South Node – so he does link in to a shadow side of the previous generation.

  She’ll have to throw him to the wolves at some point or end up wrecking her life’s work.   

The volcanic eruption on La Palma of the Canary Islands shows no sign of subsiding with further “intense” activity from a “much more aggressive” Cumbre Vieja volcano, opening up two new fissures, sending molten rock toward the sea. Hundreds of properties have been destroyed since September 19^th and thousands had to flee their homes. Scientists estimate it has so far emitted 80m cubic metres of molten rock and a new area of solidified lava extends over more than 20ha (50 acres).

  The previous Lunar Eclipse in late May located to the Canaries has disruptive Uranus on the Midheaven, which makes sense of such an event, square Saturn on the Descendant; with the brutally destructive Pluto opposition Mars in place as well.

   There are two possible dates for the Canary Islands though they should be treated with caution – 4 September 1479 and 12 January 1503, both JC.

  The 1503 chart has the Solar Arc Jupiter opposition Pluto squaring the Sun now – which would describe a mega-powerful event.  And on a previous eruption, 24 June 1949, the Solar Arc Sun was square the Neptune – Neptune often being found around natural disasters which leave confusion in their wake.

  The 1479 chart was more precise about the 1949 eruption having tr Neptune square the Solar Arc Pluto. At the moment – or at least this year – tr Pluto is trine the Solar Arc Uranus Neptune.

  The two classic volcano/earthquake signatures are Pluto Neptune and Uranus Neptune.

Making a joke out of strip tease has been a serious business for Heather Sweet, a small town Michigan gal, who morphed into Dita von Teese, burlesque dancer extraordinaire. She grew up fascinated by the old, Golden Age-era Hollywood films, trained as a ballet dancer, indulged her fetish for lingerie by selling it in a store before moving on to become a stripper. Her career has been varied with her famous stage routines winning her the ‘Queen of the Burlesque’ title, as well as appearing in softcore and hardcore porn films, and as a bondage model as well as bit parts in mainstream TV, well-received films, music videos and fashion modelling.  

  There’s now a streaming film Night of Teese, going out tonight with guest performers male burlesque artist Jett Adore, hula-hoop virtuoso Marawa and the not-so-young Dirty Martini and Perle Noire.

  Heather was born 28 September 1972 in Rochester, MI, and has an intense chart with a Libra Sun conjunct Pluto and Mars in late Virgo square Jupiter. The Jupiter Pluto will give her confidence which a suppressed Sun, Mars, Pluto would otherwise have lacked. Mars Pluto with her Mars square Saturn as well will also boost her interest in bondage.

She’s got a highlighted Venus in flamboyant Leo on the focal point of a trine of Saturn (Moon) in Gemini trine Uranus – innovative, showy, emotionally cool.

  Clearly smart with a sense of humour, she’s made the best out of a difficult chart which could have sent her off down a very different track into dangerous territory.

 She was admittedly with Marilyn Manson at one point for seven years, married for one, but it fell apart due to his drug-taking and infidelity.

 That connection fed into her attraction for high-risk situations with his Pluto conjunct her Mars and his Uranus Jupiter conjunct her Sun Pluto. But it was always a volatile match with a composite no-compromise Mars Uranus conjunction and a blow hot, blow cold composite Venus Saturn opposition Jupiter Sun.

The Japanese Royal Family, who make the Brit bunch look like a walk in the park, are doing little to relieve the pressure on Princess Mako, the Emperor’s niece, in her bid for freedom in marrying a commoner. The wedding due on October 26^th has been delayed since 2018 largely because her intended, a Japanese lawyer with a career in the US, Kei Komuro, has been under attack for his mother’s financial affairs. It’s a nonsense scandal but has deluged tabloid disapproval on his and their head. According to Mako’s psychiatrist she is now suffering complex PTSD after years of negative coverage.

  Mako is the third generation of women in the imperial family to have suffered mental health problems. Her aunt, Empress Masako, 57, withdrew from public duties and was diagnosed with adjustment disorder after intense pressure to have a son. The former empress, Michiko, 86, suffered a nervous breakdown after alleged bullying by her mother-in-law, Empress Kojun, the latter a steely Pisces square Pluto; with a fearsomely chilly Air Grand Trine of Mars trine Pluto trine Mercury.  

  Princess Mako, 23 October 1991 11.41 pm Tokyo, has a shockingly difficult chart with her Taurus Moon on the Midheaven opposition Mars in Scorpio conjunct a late Libra Sun square a 6^th house Saturn – that that is one cruel childhood – scary, angry, suppressed.

 Her fiancée Kei Komuro, born only 18 days after her, is also a Sun Libra with his Mars in Libra conjunct her Sun; and his Virgo Moon Jupiter Venus conjunction chiming with her Jupiter Venus and her Taurus Moon.

   The relationship chart has a veneer of good feeling with a composite Jupiter Venus trine Uranus. But the Saturn square Mars hints at rough edges and a lop-sided partnership with one having to sacrifice a good deal to maintain cooperation.

    There is nothing easy about the wedding chart if it does go ahead – with a hostile, trapped Mars square Pluto and a discouraging Sun square Saturn.  And the relationship chart is facing mountainous problems ahead with a frustrated, blocked tr Pluto square Mars in 2022/23, followed by a discouraging tr Pluto conjunct the composite Saturn in 2023/24. Which is also mirrored in both their individual charts, especially hers with tr Pluto conjunct her Saturn in 2023/24 and then square her Mars the following year.

   Poor kids, they can’t even escape to the relative freedom of the US without having the demons of the past haunting them. See previous post 9 July 2018.

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Andre Barbault, the renowned French astrologer, was born 100 years ago today and astonishingly only died in 2019. His in-depth study of mundane astrology and the great conjunctions of history led him to predict a major transformation of the Soviet system a year before Stalin’s death and its ultimate collapse in 1989. He also predicted the global economic crisis of 2008-2010. And said in 2011 that another pandemic was likely in 2020-2021.

  He had an intelligent view of what the outer planets coming together foretold. The impetus for change is strong but could be beneficial or the opposite depending on which viewpoint you take. The present pandemic has been destructive of life and businesses but from the point of view of global warming, biodiversity, excessive activity and travel, uncontrolled consumption, the quality of the environment and closer family relationships, could be seen to have brought silver linings.

  He was born 1 October 1921 at 5pm in Champignelles, France, on the day of a Solar Eclipse with the New Moon in Libra in his 8^th house conjunct Jupiter in his 7^th. The 8^th house would give him almost psychic abilities, certainly an interest in what ran below the surface of life – and a need to retreat into peace and quiet to shut out noise. His Jupiter was conjunct Saturn in the final degree of Virgo – so he had a balanced idealistic/practical drive. He also had a passionately enthusiastic and hard-working Venus Mars in Virgo in his 7th house. He wrote more than fifty books.

  He also had an attention demanding and creative Pluto in his 5^th in an inventive and rebellious square to a maverick Uranus in his 1^st.

 His get-it-together and creative 5^th harmonic chart was strong; as was his breakthrough/genius 13H; and more so his leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H.

  The deeply distressing tale of the gruesome rape and murder of Sarah Everard by policeman Wayne Couzens has been dominating the UK headlines since he was sentenced to life. It’s also dragged out of the woodwork a culture of misogynist, homophobic, racist and sexist attitudes amongst a section of the working police force, some of whom may now be investigated. And serious questions are being asked – again – about the Metropolitan Police, who employed (and continued to ) Couzens despite allegations of flashing.

  It hardly bears lingering on except for a few astrologically significant points. Couzens born 20 December 1972 is a Sun Sagittarius almost certainly opposition a Cancer/Gemini Moon square Pluto – a control freak. He also has Mars in vengeful Scorpio which was being triggered by his Solar Arc Pluto moving to conjunct this year. So the full weight of the central, power-hungry T square of his chart was brought to bear on his Mars in Scorpio, which was never going to be a happy state of affairs.

   Tr Jupiter was conjunct his Solar Arc Sun raising his confidence which is often seen with perpetrators around the time of an atrocity.  And tr Pluto was conjunct his Solar Arc Neptune for confusion, perhaps a hint of megalomania.

   Sarah Everard, 14 June 1987, was a Sun Gemini opposition Saturn Uranus in Sagittarius. When she was killed tr Pluto was opposition her Solar Arc Sun. Her Mars in Cancer was conjunct Couzens’ South Node and his Pluto was conjunct her South Node – so a strong pull backwards for both.

  Her ‘relationship’ chart with Couzens, though they had never met, has a stark Mars opposition Saturn Sun square Neptune which has overtones of cruelty and perversion. A fated connection that ended in a terrible tragedy for her.

  The other minor thought is that Cressida Dick, the benighted Met Police commissioner who seems to survive despite a litany of blunders over the years, started her term of office on 11 April 2017 when Mars was in Taurus conjunct Algol and in opposition to Couzens’ Mars; Saturn was in late Sagittarius conjunct Couzens’ Sun; and the Sun Uranus in Aries was opposition Couzens’ Uranus. In an eerie way her term is inextricably linked with the Couzens’s story. 

  Too much to hope at this late stage that she might fall on her sword and do the decent thing. See previous post on Met Police and Cressida Dick March 15 2021.

The Met Police chart has tr Neptune opposition the Mars till January 2023 so continuing to slide.  And exactly of this moment has its Solar Arc Venus at 23 Taurus conjunct Algol. Coincidences abound.