‘An act of state terrorism’ is how the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight going from Greece to Lithuania with a fake bomb threat in order to seize a Belarusian opposition activist on board is being described. Alexander Lukashenko, Europe’s last dictator, president of Belarus since 1994, has been facing increasing opposition since ‘deeply’ flawed elections last year led to huge protests over his economic mismanagement and handling of the pandemic. The hundreds of thousands of Belarusians who took to the streets were subject to a brutal crackdown.
Lukashenko, 30 August 1954, is a Sun Virgo trine Mars in Capricorn sextile Saturn in Scorpio – hard-edged, unsentimental. His Pluto is also in a ruthless trine to Mars. He’s got a lucky Jupiter Uranus in Cancer squaring a can-be-fanatical Neptune and Venus in Libra. Tr Pluto is square his Neptune and opposition his Uranus this year for confusion and disruption; with his nadir looking like 2023/24.
Though what will be more pertinent is his presidency chart, 20 July 1994, which has been badly tattled in recent times with tr Pluto conjunct the Neptune in 2019/2021 and has now moved to conjunct the Uranus for a potential turnaround or upset; with more pressure and challenges in 2022/23 from tr Pluto opposition the Sun.
The modern Belarus country chart, 25 August 1991, maybe 6pm, Minsk, is facing its greatest test in 2022 when there is a panicky-failure tr Neptune opposition the Mars from May onwards till late 2023 and tr Uranus will oppose the Pluto from June onwards for a year which will most likely lead to a rebellion, revolution, considerable public unrest. If the start time is accurate tr Uranus will move then into the 4th house stirring up domestic disruption and insistent pressure for change.
Roman Protasevich, who was dragged off the plane in fear of his life, was born, according to net sources, on 5 May 1995 which makes him a stalwart Sun Taurus with the highly-strung Neptune Uranus conjunction on the focal point of a tough-minded mini-Grand Trine between Pluto and Saturn. He also has one or maybe two Yods. His Saturn in Pisces is sextile Neptune and both are inconjunct Mars in Leo, making him assertive but also with a tendency to be erratic and disruptive. He also has his Jupiter inconjunct his Sun (yet another!) and perhaps sextile a Cancer Moon.
He’s having a confusing, devastating, nerve-stretching 2021 and much the same in a swampy, undermining 2022.
Stonewall, the LGBT rights charity, is coming under increasing attack for its support of militant transgender policies which have led to a cancel culture in universities aimed at gender critical academics. It has also lent its weight to the argument that would-be-trans children should be allowed to consent to surgical and chemical interference. None of which were in its original remit and bring it into headlong conflict with many of those whom it was set up to support. Prominent LGBT activists are now speaking out against Stonewall and some are even suing.
It’s slogan ‘Acceptance without exception’ – people should be treated as the ‘gender’ they say they are – has become big business as its ‘Stonewall Diversity Champions’ scheme is getting £3 million a year and charging organisations thousands of pounds a year for accreditation as ‘LGBT inclusive’; among those signed up are Government departments, local authorities, corporations, media companies, universities, police forces and even the British Army.
It was set up on 24 May 1989, named after the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York, when the turmoil of the triple conjunction in Capricorn was in place with a hard-edged Mars opposition Saturn and trine Pluto so there was no doubting the determination that fuelled its fire.
And really its work was done by 2014 when the Same Sex Marriage Act came in. At that point there was a reformist and upbeat tr Jupiter in Cancer opposition Pluto square Uranus which shook up the Stonewall Mars in Cancer opposition Saturn Neptune (Uranus). Though with tr Neptune having just crossed over the square to the Gemini Sun there may also have been a sinking feeling of an established organisation which no longer had a purpose. It became a campaign hunting for a cause and landed on transgender as its raison d’etre even though it clashed with many of its supporter’s views and interests.
This is the third chart in a row this week with a grandiose Jupiterian Yod – see Tony Hall under Bashir, and Franco Nero under Spacey. Stonewall’s Jupiter Venus in communicative Gemini are inconjunct Pluto sextile Saturn Neptune which brings an ability to make a difference in social and cultural affairs but also has the downside of a fickle and overblown Jupiter which can prove its undoing.
At the moment the Solar Arc Jupiter is conjunct the Stonewall Mars for an upsurge in energy and activity. But the triple conjunction has also moved to put the Solar Arc Saturn exactly square the Stonewall Pluto, followed next year by Solar Arc Neptune square Pluto which is a roadblock followed by devastation and confusion. With the overly expansive Jupiter at risk of going well over the score in late 2022/early 2023 as the Solar Arc Pluto opposes the apex Jupiter. That latter can accompany over-confident pushes which transgress established regulations and lead to battles with authorities which usually end up in failure. There will also be a jolting shock in 2022 from Solar Arc Sun opposition the Uranus.
At the risk of bringing down the ceiling on my head – I’ve always though there was a fundamentalist zeal about the more visible end of the transgender lobby that veered towards the pathological. It has turned into one of these over-heated cultural obsessions affecting a tiny number of people that at some point has to either run out of steam or be blown out of the water. Yes people suffering from gender dysphoria have to be accepted and treated with sympathy but that doesn’t mean the rights of others have to be put at risk.
Kevin Spacey, still facing possible charges of sexual harassment and buried under the ignominy of multiple cases of the same which couldn’t be prosecuted because the statute of limitations had run out, has never owned up to guilt or contrition. Now he is to star in a sex abuse drama playing a detective investigating spurious claims of paedophilia against a blind artist. It will co-star Vanessa Redgrave and be directed by her husband, acclaimed Italian film talent Franco Nero.
As film critic Robbie Collin in the Telegraph expostulated –“It’s not just unethical – it’s insane. Welcoming Spacey back would be a terrible moral and commercial decision.”
It would be Spacey’s first big screen feature since his 2017 fall from grace which led to the cancellation of his role in House of Cards and his replacement by Christopher Plummer in Ridley Scott’s All the Money. The only movie of his to be released in the aftermath, the Billionaire Boys Club, was a commercial disaster, making 600 dollars in its opening weekend.
Spacey, 27 July 1959 South Orange, New Jersey, (maybe 5.51am) had a violent, sexually abusive, racist Nazi- supporter father. He has an ego-centric Leo Sun square a filmic Neptune and possibly square a Taurus Moon. More significantly given his horrifying father, he has a rage-filled Mars Pluto in Virgo with his Mars conjunct Venus which would arguably divert his unbearable feelings towards sexual encounters. Hugely talented, very damaged and destructive as well as narcissistic.
He does have his Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Neptune now and Solar Pluto in a devastating conjunction to his Neptune by 2023 – so an odd moment to pick to step back out into the public arena.
Franco Nero, 23 November 1941 10.30pm is a Sun Sagittarius with a 10th house Saturn Uranus in Taurus so good executive and organisational material for an unconventional business. He also has Pluto in Leo on his Ascendant trine Mars in Aries and an Aquarius Moon – not a man for bending in the prevailing breeze. He’s also got a Jupiterian Yod onto Mercury sextile Venus – another of those can-be-influential-in-society placings if handled correctly. If not, self-righteous arrogance will prove its undoing.
Vanessa Redgrave, 30 January 1937 6pm London, from the well-known left-wing thespian family, has an Aquarius Sun squaring onto Mars in Scorpio opposition Uranus Midheaven in Taurus – so no slouch herself when it comes to digging in her heels and bracing against criticism. She’s being battered every which way this year by the tr Saturn square tr Uranus hitting her Sun, Mars and Midheaven – so everything could go up in the air.
Her relationship with Spacey is highly stressed this year and next; and Nero’s relationship with him is in a downhill slide from later this month for two years. It may never happen when the money men see the flak.
Roman Polanski may have been the example in mind when they decided to bring Spacey in from the cold, since he’s always been welcome in European cinema despite his earlier sins. But Spacey’s crimes may be too new, too raw and lacking in remorse from the perpetrator – as well as running against the grain of the present climate.
Centibillionaire and all-round mad genius Elon Musk is up to his old tricks sending Bitcoin on a wild ride with his tweets sparking a severe price crash, not helped by Chinese regulators announcing a cryptocurrency payment ban. Though the market stabilised after Musk confirmed that Tesla would not be selling its substantial bitcoin holdings.
Born 28 June 1971, no BT, Pretoria, South Africa, He has a Cancer Sun Mercury square an innovative Uranus and a creative though also neurotic and see-saw Saturn in Gemini opposition Neptune in Sagittarius and Jupiter in late Scorpio. Plus a stubborn Mars in Aquarius in an adventurous and risk-taking square to Jupiter.
He’ll be in a confident, full-steam-ahead mood from early 2022 to late 2023 with tr Pluto sextile his Jupiter and square his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint though will be facing major frustrations at the same time with tr Pluto square his Sun/Mars midpoint. It’s 2023 which will run him into more major headaches with an undermining tr Neptune opposition his Pluto, a shocking/insecure tr Uranus square his Mars and a discouraging slog from tr Pluto opposition his Saturn/Pluto midpoint. Plus two nerve-twanging Solar Arcs in 2024/5 of his SA Uranus conjunct his Neptune and opposition his Saturn.
The Tesla 2003 and IPO charts look edgy and slumped in 2023/2024 so something will come off the rails however briefly.
The Bitcoin chart, 3 January 2009, looks very blocked this year with the Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Sun and an uncertain tr Neptune opposition Saturn. But will be on a confident high come 2023/24. Coinbase is facing a ropey two or three years ahead with the odd up and more downs.
ADD ON: Michael Burry, The Big Short investor, the first to foresee and profit from the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007/10 has disclosed a short position betting against Tesla Inc shares worth more than half a billion dollars. Born 19 June 1971 a few days before Musk he has a Sun Mercury in Gemini square Pluto in Virgo and Saturn Venus trine Uranus and opposition Neptune – more controlling than Musk but equally as inventive and imaginative. Like Musk his 2022/23 have definite Jupiterian uplift; with a lucky break late 2022/early 23 from Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his Jupiter. But 2023 is when his woes escalate with tr Neptune square his Sun and opposition his Pluto and tr Uranus squares his Mars.
Another pillar of the British establishment is about to take a pounding with the long awaited and now inexplicably delayed inquiry into police corruption and incompetence in the handling of the Daniel Morgan murder case. Despite five inquiries costing the taxpayer £50 million, no one has been brought to justice for his death in 1987. The latest inquiry which has taken an unbelievable eight years with the delay blamed on the failure of the Metropolitan police to disclose relevant files promptly has now been held up further by Home Secretary Priti Patel. The chairwoman of this inquiry panel said the latest Home Office review was “unnecessary and not consistent with the panel’s independence”. The Metropolitan Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick is expected to be personally criticised over Scotland Yard’s alleged obstruction as well as other senior officers.
Daniel Morgan was a private investigator on the verge, according to his family, of exposing police corruption when he was found with an axe in his head in a south London pub car park. He was also involved in allegations concerning the suspect conduct of journalists with the News of the World.
Born 3 November 1949 in Singapore, he was a determined Sun Scorpio square Pluto with his Neptune conjunct his South Node. Tr Pluto was almost exactly conjunct his Sun when he was killed with tr Uranus conjunct his Venus in Sagittarius and his Solar Arc Saturn was moving to a downbeat square to his Jupiter.
The Metropolitan Police, 29 September 1829, is not having a good year with worse to come in 2022/23. At the moment there’s a sinking-failure tr Neptune opposition the Mars and that runs into early 2023. This year also the Met Venus in Scorpio (exactly conjunct Morgan’s Sun) is being battered by tr Uranus in opposition and tr Saturn in square with tr Uranus moving to jangle the Saturn in wannabe-important Leo from this July into 2022. And following that there are two car-crash, shell-shocked Solar Arcs of Mars opposition Sun and then conjunct Pluto in 2022/23. It may not all be the fall-out from the Morgan Inquiry but their reputation will take a real trashing.
What dominates the Met chart is a controlling, power-hungry Sun opposition Pluto. And at the time of Morgan’s death on 10 March 1987 tr Neptune was exactly square the Met Pluto and retrograding back over the square to the Met Sun in the aftermath. Smokescreens and obfuscation as far as the eye could see.
What with a sleazy government, a shameless state broadcaster and a sweep-dirt-under-the-carpet police – the British bulldog isn’t doing well.
Moments which changed history – a friend of Princess Diana claimed if she had not been conned into the Martin Bashir November 1995 Panorama interview which the BBC regarded as the coup of the century she would not have been divorced from Charles and arguably not been killed in Paris. The Dyson Inquiry heard evidence that Bashir peddled a “series of preposterous lies” to secure the interview, including mocking up forged bank statements, and feeding Diana’s paranoia about being bugged by the security services and turning her against friends.
For full details see previous post November 3 2020.
Given that this was an epochal moment and a fated/karmic connection what is astro-intriguing is that Bashir Capricorn Sun conjunct his South Node are conjunct Diana’s Saturn. Saturn conjunct the other’s South Node makes for a heavy, serious pairing, which can feel like a fly trapped into sticky resin. One commentary suggests the ‘Saturn person’s lesson here is to work on their fears and need for control.’
Diana’s Saturn had the tr Uranus conjunction exact at that point which is high tension and jolting. With tr Neptune moving along behind to conjunct her Saturn in 1996 and over her death in September 1997 which would heighten her paranoia still further. At her death tr Uranus had moved to conjunct her Jupiter which is one of those oddities which in isolation might suggest relief from tension and a lucky break. But seen as part of a larger pattern it was her natal Jupiter Saturn conjunction being upended by the tr Uranus Neptune conjunction which kicked off in 1995 and extended through till the Paris crash.
Jupiter Saturn does have a connection through JFK and John Lennon to celebrity icons being cut down before their time.
There were other risky influences in her chart in 1997 including tr Pluto and her Solar Arc Pluto and indeed the Virgo Eclipse tugging on her Mars Pluto conjunction in Virgo.
The BBC and former chiefs are likely to be hammered by the findings given the cover-ups at the time and later and the dismissals of those who tried to expose Bashir’s wrongdoing.
The BBC’s stubbornly opinionated Mars in Aquarius is in the line of fire this year of the tr Saturn conjunction and tr Uranus square – as is Bashir’s Saturn in Aquarius which always made him a bad fit with the corporation despite their unwavering support for him over the years. Bashir has had a quadruple heart pass and is at present suffering from the aftereffects of a covid infection.
The BBC’s Water Grand Trine gives it a tendency to ignore unpleasant facts and three planets including the Sun in Scorpio lends an obdurate and arrogant streak in the face of criticism.
Add On:
Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother, 20 May 1964, is a final degree Taurus with Mercury, Mars, Jupiter also in Taurus and a Virgo Moon. His Venus is conjunct Dian’s Cancer Sun and her Venus is conjunct his Sun so there would be a good deal of affection between them. Though Diana’s rebellious, changeable Aquarius Moon opposition Uranus would clash at times with his steadier (and more controlling) Taurus Sun; and his Mars, Jupiter, Mercury opposition her Neptune wasn’t ideal. Pluses and minuses but still a strong bond. Both he and Harry share Taurus/Virgo Sun Moon crossovers which is also good.
When Martin Bashir’s Michael Jackson documentary appeared it would be a considerable shock for Jackson with a depressing tr Pluto conjunct his Saturn on his chart plus an upsetting tr Uranus opposition his Mercury and tr Neptune moving to a nerve-stretched opposition to his Uranus in the aftermath. When he died tr Neptune had moved to virtually the same degree in Aquarius as his Uranus had been over the Bashir doc. Not that I shed any tears for Michael Jackson but Bashir probably was a catalyst for his downward spiral – which would have happened one way or another.
In both Jackson and Diana’s case Bashir’s Pluto Uranus was conjunct their Pluto – so he had the capability and urge to upend their lives. A bit of a wrecker.
And in both relationship charts between Diana/Bashir and Jackson/Bashir there is a prominent Mars opposition Jupiter which suggests that both sides spurred the other on to take ‘adventurous’ risks.
Add ON: Tony Hall, former DG of the BBC who infamously described Martin Bashir as ‘honest and honourable’ has resigned as Chairman of the National Gallery with a pious statement about ‘believing that leadership involved responsibility’ as if his deciding to go was an indication of his moral superiority.
Born 3 March 1951, what is interesting about his chart is a Jupiterian Yod which can give a capacity for social influence but if mishandled has all the downsides of Jupiter – self-righteousness and arrogance. Tierney talks of the ‘fateful consequences often brought about by the individual’s own self-aggrandizement.’ His Jupiter in Pisces conjunct the Sun is inconjunct Pluto sextile Neptune. His Pluto on one leg of that Yod is exactly conjunct the BBC’s slippery and overblown Neptune in Leo – and indeed Bashir’s attention-seeking Mars in Leo
Hall is an irrelevance in the grander scheme of things but interesting astrologically and his pattern of superiority certainly fits the BBC.
David Frost, the UK Brexit negotiator, said the government underestimated the impact Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol would have on businesses and that the disruption to trade between the UK and Northern Ireland had been greater than expected. He said talks so far had not been “hugely productive” and the government would “have to see how far we can take it”, accusing the EU of being “purist”, indulging in point-scoring and lacking in sense about the issue. He threatened that the UK could soon take drastic action over concerns about violence and disruption. Breaching international law by tearing up the protocol was understood not to be under consideration, though there are hints of triggering Article 16 to suspend checks being an option.
At the time of Frost’s controversial promotion into the Cabinet, which breached the constitutional principle that a government adviser should not have a seat in legislature, he was described as a nightclub bouncer not a diplomat. His bully-boy tactics seem to be winning as few friends as before, indeed creating problems with his abrasive approach.
Born 21 February 1965, he’s a Sun Saturn in Pisces with a volatile collection of Uranus, Pluto and Mars in Virgo; with Boris’s Teflon-coated, none-too-practical, overly-hopeful Neptune opposition Jupiter which in his case squares onto Venus in Aquarius.
He’s not exactly thriving this year with a variety of Neptunian sinkers hitting various midpoints this year but it will be 2022 which expose his failures from April onwards, with a discouraging run up of several weeks.
His relationship with Boris will be under strain from mid this August till late November and moving into enraged, trapped and high-risk territory from March 2022 onwards for two years as tr Pluto opposes the composite Mars.
Frost’s Term chart, 1 March 2021, has a destructive and combative 7th house Mars in Taurus conjunct Algol trine Pluto in the 3rd – which is as far removed from diplomatic as you can get. It is sagging badly in morale from the middle of this August, discouraged in early 2022 and road-blocked from March 2022 onwards for two years.
Singer Ariane Grande has finally taken the plunge after a series of relationships and one short-lived engagement, and married real estate agent Dalton Gomez.
Born 26 June 1993 9.15 pm Boca Raton, Florida, she has a hard-working 6th house Cancer Sun trine Saturn in her financial 2nd and square a sociable and light-hearted Moon Jupiter in Libra. She also has the highly-strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn on her Ascendant opposition Mercury and a passionately intense Venus in Taurus opposition a controlling and influential Pluto in her 10th. Her Saturn is also opposition an 8th house Mars in Virgo – a complicated lady, strong in some ways but also prone to getting over stressed.
Her previous engagement to comedian Pete Davidson, 16 November 1993, a Sun Pluto in Scorpio square Saturn was never designed to be a long-term prospect and split after a few months. See post June 13 2018.
Dalton Gomez, 7 August 1995, in California, has a charming Sun Venus in Leo which falls in her 7th house of marriage which is ideal. His Sun Venus are sextile Mars in Libra and trine Jupiter in Sagittarius – he’s definitely a looker on the bright side.
Their relationship chart has the composite Sun opposition Neptune Uranus in Capricorn so it will be changeable, muddled at times and both will need their own space. Though a possible Moon Pluto conjunction hints at possessiveness and a Sun trine Pluto, sextile Mars will make for some high voltage moments. A Jupiter trine Venus will smooth a few rough edges but it will be a drama-filled partnership.
Savage ironies are writ large in the intractable, never-ending Dante’s Inferno of the Israel/Palestine saga. The Jewish people never forgot the homeland they had been ejected from two millenia ago and yet the Israelis set their faces obdurately against any suggestion that the 700,000 indigenous Palestinians who were forcibly severed from their homes after the creation of Israel should be allowed to return. The 1948 order to expel an entire population “without attention to age” was signed by Yitzhak Rabin, a future prime minister. The lone voice of an opposition politician Meir Ya’ari spoke out against it. He noted “how easily” Israel’s leaders spoke of how it was “possible and permissible to take women, children and old men and to fill the road with them because such is the imperative of strategy. And this we say . . . who remember who used this means against our people during the [Second World] War . . . I am appalled.”
The other mystery is how a people traumatised and brutalised by the Holocaust can justify acting in such a callous way towards victimised Palestinians. Well it’s not exactly mystifying – bad experiences do not necessarily make good people – but the hypocrisy rankles.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister, recently boosted by Trump’s support, is getting the blame for leading the country towards this latest bloody impasse. He has been courting the far-right and stoking up settlers in his efforts to stay in power and signing treaties with other Middle Eastern countries with the hope that the Palestinians would lose the will to resist. He has been proved spectacularly wrong as this clash has brought the conflict inside the borders of Israel itself. It involves not only Hamas in Gaza but also Israeli-Arabs, who make up 20 per cent of the population, who have been clashing with Jewish demonstrators, with talks of an impending civil war.
Looking at the Israel chart, it’s difficult to see how it will ever shift. An 8th house Taurus Sun conjunct Algol is square not only the unyielding Saturn Pluto in Leo but also Mars in Leo – it is stubborn to the nth degree. Endurance up to a point can be an advantage but there are times when flexibility is called for and an ability to change with the times, which Israel lacks. There’s also a Yod of Uranus sextile Mars inconjunct Jupiter, which can be influential but does require tolerance to work well. Arrogance and grandiosity can bring about a downfall.
At the moment the Solar Arc Saturn Pluto is moving across the Ascendant – which brings tough conditions, deprivation and has associations with war. The tr Uranus square tr Saturn is colliding with the 10th house Israel Pluto shifting the balance of power in the country and threatening to unleash turmoil. That runs into early 2022 when tr Saturn in Aquarius is in downbeat hard aspects to all the Fixed Israel planets including the Sun throughout the year and tr Uranus increases tension in square to the Saturn, before moving on in 2023 to conjunct the Sun until early 2025 and thence on to an explosive, insecure square to the Israel Mars in 2025/26.
As if that wasn’t enough battering there will be further disappointments in 2022/23/24 as tr Neptune moves to square the Yod apex Jupiter and its super-sensitive opposition Uranus, which will bring into question Israel’s pretensions to superiority. Plus the Eclipses are shifting from this late November’s Lunar Eclipse to an emphasis on Taurus/Scorpio which will bring rolling crises into 2023 and a good deal of soul searching.
Almost all of the charts of those involved are incredibly Fixed. Theodor Herzl, the initial proponent of a homeland for a persecuted Jewish people, was a Sun Pluto in Taurus square Saturn in Leo. The British mandate of Palestine in 1920 is a Sun Taurus square Jupiter Neptune in Leo. Gaza 9 November 1917 is a Sun Mercury in Scorpio square Uranus in Aquarius and square Saturn Neptune in Leo. The Palestine Declaration of Independence 1988 is a Sun Mercury Pluto in Scorpio. Hamas has Mars Pluto in Scorpio. Netanyahu has Mars Pluto in Leo. Not much give anywhere. Oddly enough the start of the Jewish-Roman wars in 66 CE which led to the initial expulsion started with Pluto in early Aquarius. The Arab Revolt of 1936 which led to the three years war of Palestinian Arabs against the British authorities for allowing open-ended Jewish immigration in preparation for a Jewish national home started with Uranus in early Taurus.
Netanyahu’s relationship chart with Israel is under serious stress from now on, despite this conflict having saved him from an ignominious departure to face corruption charges, at least initially. The composite Sun Mercury are being battered this year by tr Uranus square tr Saturn; and more so the composite Pluto in 2022, which should loosen the ties that bind.
Joe Biden having just signed an arms deal with Israel is under increasing pressure from within the Democratic Party to be more pro-active in his condemnations of the violence but is clearly reluctant to be dragged in. He won’t avoid it from next week with tr Uranus turning the Biden/Netanyahu composite Sun square Pluto on its head.
