not categorised

Lee Miller’s genius as a fashion and war photographer was destined to stay a footnote in art-historical journals until her son found a vast archive of her work, more than 80,000 negatives in an attic, after her death in 1977. Since then a foundation has been set up, various exhibitions held and a documentary about her extraordinary and tragic life has brought her name to prominence.

  She graced the cover of Vogue as a model when she was 20, moved to Paris and began a professional and romantic relationship with artist Man Ray, which involved her with a Surrealist and modernist circle including Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and Salvador Dalí. Marriage to an Egyptian produced a striking series of desert photographs and when World War 11 broke out she came to London and was instrumental in Vogue’s switch from couture to war time subjects. In 1944 embedded with the US army, she saw the first use of napalm bombing, was present at the blitz, the chaos following D-Day, the liberation of Paris, the Battle of Alsace, and liberation of Buchenwald and Dachau.

  She had her first child at 40 in 1947 and her later years in England were marred by depression and alcoholism.  Her son knew little of her life and talent and said he believed the trauma she suffered as a child, being raped aged 7 and undergoing painful treatment for a sexually transmitted disease in the aftermath, were a key to understanding her later attraction to surrealism and war photography. He said: “She held incredible secrets right through her life.’ A friend described her as “a remarkable woman, completely unsentimental, and sometimes ruthless.” Another talker of her having a “chip of ice” in her heart.

  She was born 23 April 1907 4.15 pm Poughkeepsie, New York, and had a Taurus Sun on the cusp of the secretive 8^th house in an Earth Grand Trine to a 12^th house Moon in Virgo trine a 4^th house Mars Uranus in Capricorn. An Earth Grand Trine is practical and resourceful, a hard worker and inspired. Her Mars Uranus in the 4^th opposed a 10^th house Neptune Jupiter Midheaven in Cancer square Mercury in Aries which is a complex mix giving her strong creative talents from Neptune in her 10^th along with luck and success in her career. In part her restless direction in life was fuelled by her self-willed and intolerant father, who by choice or chance inclined her towards a peripatetic adult domestic life. He evidently took nude photos of her when she was an adolescent which can’t have helped. Her focal point Mercury would make her eternally curious, highly-strung, restless and impatient. Her Venus in sensitive Pisces (sign of the image/photographer) was conjunct Saturn and square Pluto which may have been in part why she was drawn to the camera in her career with its ability to spread the word (Pluto in the 9^th). Her photographs from Dachau were headed ‘Believe it’ as they were displayed to uninformed and disbelieving US and UK readers.

  Her creative 5^th Harmonic was exceptionally strong though with overtones of brutality, which would be why she was drawn to dark subjects. Her victim/healer 12H was also marked; as was her 13H associated with exploration, genius, breaking away from the orthodox.

  When she suffered her childhood assault tr Neptune in late Cancer was conjunct her North Node with tr Pluto moving to cross her Midheaven which can be a devastating change of life’s direction.  When she photographed Dachau, after several years of seeing a litany of war time horrors, her Solar Arc Pluto was just across the conjunction to her North Node and tr Saturn was on her Midheaven. Her Node was clearly key.

  Tragically, like many who suffered damaging traumas either from rape/abuse or war, and in her case both, the risk in later life is the darkness takes over unless there is therapeutic intervention. She never had a chance to heal.

Add ON: Her second husband Roland Penrose, 14 October 1900 London, whom she met in 1939 and married in 1947 was a historian, poet and associate of the Surrealists. He was a Sun Libra trine Pluto and trine/sextile a creative Neptune opposition Saturn; with an adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius square his Venus in Virgo and trine Mars.  He was a better match for her than Man Ray (see next post). His Venus was trine her Sun and conjunct her Moon and his Cancer Moon was conjunct her Jupiter.  

Naomi Wolf is in a full-on anti-vaxxer rant round the US at the moment. Although she garnered a respectable reputation initially as leader of the third wave of feminism, her scaremongering in recent years about government-led plots to establish a dictatorship and other conspiracy theories, has been described as “unhinged, damaging, and dangerous.”

  Born 12 November 1962 4.10 am San Francisco, California with an anthropologist mother and a gothic-horror scholar father, she is an intense Sun Venus Neptune and Mercury in Scorpio square a flamboyant Mars in Leo. She will come on strong to attract attention and be vague about facts. She’s also got a super-confident, over-pushy Jupiter opposition Pluto Uranus; and an intense and secretive Taurus Moon in the 8^th.

  Her Scorpio Mercury square Mars opposition Saturn is not dissimilar to UK actor and anti-woke activist Laurence Fox’s Mercury in Taurus opposition Uranus square Mars Saturn in Leo. She’s certainly bubbling with anger about authority figures and life in general; and likes to cause a stir if it puts her in the spotlight.

  Her next several years will be bumpy with tr Uranus opposition her Mercury and Neptune now and square her Mars from this July onwards and then opposing her Sun, Venus for a couple of years. 2023 will be devasting and confused.

The other communicator/influencer forever rattling out opinions that grate is Melanie Phillips of the UK Times. She used to support Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced promoter of the MMR vaccine scare story; but appears to be firmly on the side of the Covid vaccine. Over the years she has come out with – and been allowed to print – hair-raisingly extreme views against the Irish peace process, against Obama and pro-Trump, against civil partnerships for gay couples. Her inflammatory opinions have on several occasions managed to irritate both sides of an argument.   

   Her latest provocation is to suggest the ludicrously low convictions for rape in the UK may reflect false claimants and any attempts to amend the legal system would be a travesty of justice.  Born 4 June 1951, she’s a mouthy and argumentative New Moon and Mars in Gemini sextile Pluto; with a Jupiter in Aries opposition Neptune square Uranus. A focal point Uranus can be a trailblazer, or a creator of chaos and an obsessive contrarian. Jupiter Neptune has blind spots galore.

   Into 2022 tr Neptune will oppose her Saturn for an uncertain and panicky two years thereafter; with a high-risk, deeply frustrating Solar Arc Mars conjunct her Pluto late 2022 as well.

Faint hopes exist that Joe Biden may manage to exert enough pressure on Boris Johnson at the G7 summit to move the intractable Northern Ireland Protocol dispute towards a compromise. Biden has an Irish background and is alarmed at anything that would upset the Good Friday Agreement. Northern Irish businesses have called on UK and EU leaders to stop the Brexit “blame game” and end growing tensions over the checks on food and goods crossing the Irish Sea into the region. Though its difficult to see where the solutions will come from.

 ‘Nightclub bouncer’ David Frost, the UK negotiator, has weaselled out excuses about the government underestimating the problem though their own internal documents spelt out the consequences clearly in 2019 and he has been attempting to bully the EU, who have responded by threatening a trade war, including banning sausages going into Northern Ireland, if the UK acts unilaterally as it has done once in breach of its international legal obligations. Brussels has said they were prepared to make compromises but warned that “patience is wearing thin” and the EU wouldn’t be made a fool of.

  To say that Joe Biden and Boris Johnson are not natural buddies would be understating the hostility, suspicion, doubt and aggravation that exists in the chemistry between them.  Boris’s tinderbox Mars in Gemini is conjunct Biden’s Uranus with his Uranus Pluto square Biden’s Saturn; plus Boris’s slippery Neptune is conjunct Biden’s Mars Mercury. Their relationship chart has a bitter, power-struggle-to-the-death composite Mars Pluto and a differing agenda, undermining composite Saturn opposition Neptune square Uranus. There is admittedly a faint sheen of icing sugar from Sun Venus square Jupiter but it won’t make much inroads against the heavier negativities.

  Tr Neptune will be tugging away at their connection through 2021/22.  

  This has all been said before but just to reiterate. Frost’s relationship with the EU will be ratchety this year and worse in 2022/23. It really is 2022/23 to which everything points for a major escalation – maybe over Northern Ireland or maybe other toxic differences. Though the Good Friday Agreement chart does indicate the problem being unresolved as it is under heavy strain from early 2022 to late 2023.

   Frost is facing outright failure from April 2022 onwards with tr Neptune opposition his Mars. His relationship with Boris is under strain from this August onwards till late November with tr Pluto square the composite Mercury Venus but it is March 2022 onwards where it really backs into a very dark corner with tr Pluto opposition their composite Mars.

  The Johnson Government chart, 13 December 2019, is slipping and sliding this year and next with tr Neptune square the Sun and Solar Arc Sun – more so than the polls would indicate. And it is moving into logjam territory from May 2022 onwards with high insecurity, rash decisions and less wiggle room than has been on offer before with the pandemic obscuring the economic problems to come.  

And so it goes on. There are limits to how far Boris’s blustering obfuscations can get him. On the evidence pretty far, unbelievably, so far. But reality has to kick in somewhere down the line. The Gemini/Sagittarius Eclipses are making a valiant effort to get him to face up to his missteps and moving into 2022 and 2023 the shift to Taurus/Scorpio will highlight his slither-round-the-truth, Teflon-coated Neptune and Jupiter.

See previous post February 2 2021

Please add below. Older posts under News on top bar.

Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor arrived on Friday at 11.40 am in Santa Barbara, California. She has a public-career oriented and communicative 10^th house Gemini Sun in a sensible, hard-working trine to Saturn in her 6^th house, sextile a secretive, intense 8^th house Moon in Aries. Her Saturn is in an erratic, can-be-dictatorial square to Uranus in the 9^th, hinting she’ll be pulled between alternative philosophies and conventional ways.

   Both her Saturn and Uranus hard aspect her Sun/Moon midpoint so marriage and close relationships will not be easy despite her laid-back, expansive Jupiter conjunct her Descendant. She’s also got a megaton Mars in Cancer opposition Pluto which may initially make her bury her anger and assertiveness though once/if she gets the right end of it she’ll have driving determination.

A 10^th house Sun is associated with a public career and points to a need to fulfil the mother‘s ambitions rather than her own. Though with Lili’s Saturn and Uranus clashing with Meghan’s Leo Sun, and Lili’s Mars squaring Meg’s controlling 4^th house Pluto it won’t be an easy combination.

  It’s a different chart from her older brother Archie, 6 May 2019 5.26 am London, who has a Taurus Sun conjunct his Ascendant trine an overly-dutiful and gloomy 10^th house Saturn Pluto conjunction. His Gemini Moon isn’t well-integrated into his chart.

  Lili’s 8^th house Moon is a hint of more than normal grandparental ties and the name selected is no doubt a nod in that direction. Though my first reaction was it was a crass choice, designed to curry favour/smooth over family hurt/set the Royal connection in cement.  If it was intended as an olive branch it isn’t working, with the close family relationships going from bad to worse ahead.  See previous post April 24 2021 below.

Add ON: In some ways Harry should be a better fit with Archie since H’s Taurus Moon chimes with A’s Sun. But Harry’s relationship chart with Lili is expansive, easy-going and supportive with a composite Sun opposition Jupiter and square the Moon.

  What is intriguing is that Lili’s ferociously determined Mars opposition Pluto falls across both her parents’ 1^st/7^th houses which looks argumentative and then some.

Justin Trudeau has called for the Catholic Church who ran 60% of the residential schools in Canada to “step up” and take responsibility for its role in the deaths of indigenous children. In 2017 he asked the Pope to consider an apology for its part on the government-sponsored establishments but that hasn’t been forthcoming. Though Trudeau himself has been ducking questions about fully implementing all the recommendations of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation inquiry which condemned the treatment as ‘cultural genocide.’ Ditto and ditto for the 1996 Commission into the same.

  His latest Term, sworn in 20 November 2019 at 1.30pm, has a sugary-sweet and lucky Jupiter Neptune in the 10^th. Though there’s a slippery, elusive, evasive, smoke-screening Neptune on the Pisces Ascendant. Plus a tough Saturn Pluto in Capricorn. And more significantly Mars Mercury in Scorpio in the 8^th opposition Uranus, hinting not just at financial disruptions but also behind-the-scene manoeuvrings, some of which may come to light when there is a car-crash exact Mars Uranus opposition by Solar Arc in late 2022. Before then, the shine and optimism will be wearing off with tr Neptune square the Midheaven and Venus this year and next, then forming a bubble-bursting square to Jupiter.

   His personal chart, 25 December 1971 9.27pm Ottawa, is also Neptunian with an Air Grand Trine of Saturn in his 10^th trine Pluto trine Venus, with Saturn opposition Neptune, making it the driving planet. Charming when it suits him, a good organiser, can-be-neurotic, not always realistic or decisive. What belies his lighter side is a do-or-die-determined Pluto opposition Mars on the cusp of his 8^th. That Mars Pluto may be why he’s attracted three ethics investigations so far. He’s also got a third opposition of Moon to Uranus – so he’ll be constantly on a see-saw, torn by internal struggles, desperate to find balance but never quite succeeding.

  His Solar Arc Midheaven will square his Uranus exact in four months which will be a career wake-up call with more than a hint that a change of direction is needed. Then tr Uranus will reach his Midheaven by 2024 which is when a whole new vocation may be beckoning, whether by choice or the whims of fate. That is when tr Neptune is conjunct his Mars as well, so it may accompany a financial scandal.  

Russell Brand, the controversialist and comedian, morphed into political activist, has been mouthing off about lack of transparency in government about coronavirus. After a chequered career on radio, stage and TV marked by scandals over promiscuity, drugs and his bad behaviour, he has taken up arms in recent years about wealth inequality, addiction, corporate capitalism, climate change, and media bias.

  He was born on 4^th June 1975 at midnight according to his biography though it isn’t clear whether start or finish of the 4^th. Either time leaves the chart axis and planetary positions much the same and both with an Aries Moon.  It gives a Gemini Sun on the cusp of the performing 5^th house opposition a creative 10^th house Neptune and trine an 8^th house Pluto.

 He was born the same day as Angelina Jolie so has her ferociously difficult and angry Pluto opposition Mars Moon Jupiter widely square Saturn in Cancer. Like Jolie he had a messy childhood with his parents splitting when he was a baby and his mother was ill for a period when he was young. He was abused at school – diagnosed ADHD and bi-polar, had drug problems and self-harmed. Which is similar to Jolie’s experience and reactions.  

  However difficult the astrology was, there are quite a cluster of go-getters born around then – Marissa Mayer (Yahoo etc) May 30; Mel Brown May 29; Jamie Oliver May 27; Shilpa Shetty June 8. What probably makes a difference apart from the obsessive, make-or-break determination of the Mars opposition Pluto, is the Sun opposition Neptune trine Pluto. Neptune and Pluto carry associations of megalomania or at a mundane level soaring ambition and that plus a pro-active Jupiter in Aries would make a difference.

  In Brand’s case his 8^th house Pluto would make him feel held back by circumstances beyond his control but it also, if handled well, gives him an ability to influence the masses. The two central oppositions in his chart of Sun Neptune and Pluto Mars form a (misnamed) Mystic Rectangle which is difficult to balance. A hard Mars Pluto aspect, he shares with David Icke and others who are driven to tilt against the establishment as a way of expressing their deep-seated anger, stemming from father and authority issues. Uranus in the 9^th will give him a leaning towards alternative ideas or rebel movements. Money will be an issue for him with strong 2^nd and 8^th house emphasis.

  The Eclipses last year and this will be prompting him to re-evaluate his direction and with tr Pluto aiming to square his Uranus from early 2022 to late 2023, he’ll be heading into another major life’s transition which may involve a significant emotional event. His Solar Arc Sun will conjunct his Venus next year which coincides with tr Pluto opposition his Venus so his relationships could get steamy. If his birth time is accurate tr Saturn is also disappearing into his lower profile First Quadrant for several years so whether by choice or not he will be less visible if not instantly then over time.   

Flashy showmanship in court gave F. Lee Bailey, the celebrity criminal lawyer, an infamous reputation for bamboozling juries into reasonable doubt which allowed many to walk free including  O.J. Simpson, the army commander at the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, Dr Sam Sheppard (The Fugitive) and the Torso Murderer (later convicted of another killing). He failed in his defence of Patty Hearst and the Boston Strangler.

  His New York Times obituary said: “He was a riveting courtroom performer, a stocky badger-like man with a cleft chin, intimidating blue eyes —. He had the ventriloquist’s trick of directing questions at the witness box but throwing his points at the jury box. He had an actor’s voice, by turns bullying, cajoling, sarcastic or sympathetic, searching for seams of doubt. Under his reductions, a prosecutor’s “fact” could be whittled down to a probability, then to a mere possibility or just a silly idea.”

  He flew warplanes, sailed yachts, wrote books, touted himself on television, was profiled in countless newspapers, ran a detective agency, married four times, carried a gun, courted trouble and was finally disbarred in 2001 for misappropriating millions from a drug-trafficker client.

  He was born on the 10 June 1933 at 2am (from memory) in Waltham, Massachusetts, just days after Joan Collins, the actress. His communicative Gemini Sun in his 3rd house was revved up by a square to a super-confident and risk-taking 6^th house Mars Jupiter in Virgo. His Mars sextile Pluto, attracting him to danger and the darker side of humanity, was in a tricky fated Yod inconjunct Saturn in Aquarius. His Saturn was also trine his Sun. Despite his devil-may-care reputation he was obviously a hard-worker.

“Behind every performance lay enormous preparation: a gathering of facts by his private investigators, hours of legal analysis, all crammed into the encyclopaedic Bailey memory.”

  He was also a status-quo-upsetter with a 4^th house Pluto opposition a 10^th house Capricorn Moon square Uranus in his 1^st. He was designed for a public role as a trailblazer and rebel.

  Oddly enough he had no 9^th house planets which is the legal arena so he was arguably not driven by a thirst for justice but more for a platform to display his verbal skills and cause chaos.

  His can-be-self-defeating 10^th and 16^th Harmonics were strong as was his money-making 9H.

A tornado of a personality for whom winning was the only goal.

Pic: John Matthew Smith.

The shifting sands of Royal favour have thrust Sophie Wessex and Prince Edward into the foreground after the death of Prince Philip and Megxit. But the reasons behind their elevation may tell against them when the Queen hands over. Sophie has become the Queen’s trusted support and Edward was evidently (oddly) Philip’s favourite. Whether they will stay as popular when the next generation steps up is questionable. Charles is notoriously prickly and the younger two Royals, Andrew and Edward, undoubtedly received more of their parents’ attention which will have stoked up more than a hint of sibling animosity.

   Edward’s relationship chart to his father was affectionate, supportive and exceptionally close; with his mother much the same though to a lesser extent. Sophie’s bond with the Queen is supportive, enthusiastic and emotionally close.

  On the other hand Edward’s relationship with his elder brother Charles is edgy, explosive, power-struggling for the upper hand, and will come under immense pressure with considerable upheavals in 2024/25 and on.  Edward’s relationship with Prince William is part friendly and part aggravated with bad feelings underling the polite smiles – and will sag from this year onwards for several years.  Sophie gets on even less well with William, which may not be obvious on the surface, but there is an undertow of hostility – which again may become more obvious in 2024/25.

  Edward and Sophie’s marriage, of all the Royals seemed the oddest match and yet it has been the only one to survive.  They were married on a Uranus square Saturn and their relationship chart is very Saturnine – with a composite Sun Saturn and Venus Saturn conjunction and Saturn square the composite Moon. Saturn puts work first, emphasises duty and gives longevity if cutting down on warmth. The composite Venus is also opposition Uranus Pluto so it will be emotionally changeable.

  But there are reasonable crossovers with her Aquarius Moon chiming with his Aquarius Moon and her Venus in Capricorn trine his Venus in Taurus. Though it will be argumentative since both their Mars oppose the other’s Sun and Moon respectively.

  Their two children see them as very different personalities. Lady Louise (8 Nov 2003 23.32hrs, Surrey) , was born on a Full Moon of a 4^th house Scorpio Sun opposition a 10^th house Taurus Moon. James, Viscount Severn (17 Dec 2007 16.20 hrs Surrey), who is a powerhouse of confidence and probably arrogance and a risk-taker, has his Sagittarius Sun square his Moon. He’ll be one to watch.  Lady Louise has Uranus and Mars in her 7^th as well as a Full Moon and two Yods in her chart so won’t settle easily or quickly into a settled marriage; and will need to carve out her own unique path in life.

Despite strong public disapproval in Japan the Olympics appear to be going ahead for a July 23^rd kick-off without international spectators. The suspicion is that the IOC, arrogant as ever, and the sponsors, have backed the Japanese Government into a corner. Cancelling would cost it is reckoned $17 billion, but that is less than the cost of the economic damage if an infection surge leads to another state of emergency.

  The start date is fraught with a blocked, high-tension Sun opposition Pluto and, in many ways worse, a strained and aggravated Yod from Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Mars in Leo. Though it would have to be said all Olympic charts from the past have had hair-raising aspects and mainly managed to totter through unscathed – with the exception of Munich.

  The Japan country chart, 11 February 1889 10.44 am Tokio, will be discouraged and on edge with tr Saturn exactly square the composite Jupiter and tr Pluto sextile the Japan Mars.

  The IOC, 23 June 1894, Lausanne, Switzerland, has an argumentative Sun Cancer square a pro-active Mars. There’s the signature Pluto Neptune conjunction in Gemini of the time close to Jupiter. That Gemini trio is being rattled at the moment by the recent May Lunar, this June’s Solar and the December Solar eclipses – so is having a bumpy year with the risk of over-confidence or inflexibility attracting problems. The IOC Uranus which is on the focal point of a sort-of Yod to Pluto Neptune sextile Node is also getting a severe shaking up from tr Saturn in square to the Uranus and tr Uranus in opposition this year and next. A change of direction may be indicated.

  Though the president Thomas Bach, 29 December 1943, is Sun Capricorn sextile Saturn Mars in Scorpio, so doesn’t look too easily moved.

Not sure what all this adds up to – except that modern sport has become too embroiled with money and in danger of strangling itself.