not categorised

Dorothy Parker, the original Queen of Mean, with acerbic one liners that went down in history, eventually ended up in Hollywood. A new biography which relates her later years shows her as a brilliant wit and wasted talent, as she never overcame her addiction to carousing and alcohol.

  Behind the piercing wit she was sad, at times suicidal. But despite her best self-destructive efforts she lived to be 73. She was born 22 August 1893  at 9.50pm West End, New Jersey. Her mother died when she was four and she inherited a hated stepmother giving her a rebellious streak. Her convent school expelled her for announcing that “the Virgin Mary’s immaculate conception was likely a case of spontaneous combustion”. Her early career as a Vogue writer – “Brevity is the soul of lingerie, as the Petticoat said to the Chemise” saw her move smartly on to Vanity Fair as a savage theatre critic. Once in California she became politically engaged, helped establish the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, and travelled to Spain to report on the civil war. Later the FBI put her under surveillance for suspected communist tendencies.

 As her alcoholism took grip she ended up living in filth and eating raw bacon because she couldn’t be bothered to cook. Her second husband did his best to rescue her.

  She had an extraordinary chart with a Sun Mars in Virgo in her performing 5^th house, no doubt giving her the acerbic edge which brought her fame. Especially since that squared a Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune stellium in Gemini, which in turn was trine Venus and Saturn in Libra.

 Her Uranus in Scorpio was in an outspoken square to her Mercury in Leo; and she had a yod of Uranus sextile a Capricorn Moon inconjunct Pluto Neptune.

  That Neptune Pluto in Gemini did produce some singular talents but had a tendency to obsessiveness and was not entirely mentally stable.

  Odd about living in filth, eating raw bacon with a Virgo Sun.

Add On:  Her second marriage to actor/writer Alan Campbell, 21 February 1904, was tempestuous. She drank and he had a long-term affair with a married woman and was bi-sexual. They divorced in 1947, remarried in 1950, then separated in 1952, only reconcile in 1961 and collaborated on several unproduced projects until he died from a drug overdose in 1963.

 She had her Sun/Moon midpoint conjunct her Uranus natally so was not really designed for stable, committed monogamy. But even so their relationship chart was a train wreck of sado-masochistic fury and resentment with a composite Mars Pluto opposition Saturn and a needs-space composite Sun opposition Uranus.

  He was a Sun Pisces opposition her Virgo Sun Mars with his creative Venus conjunct her Midheaven so her successful career would be an attraction for him.

Dorothy Parker quotes.

“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”

“Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician.”

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, come sit by me.”

“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.”

“If you want to know what God thinks about money, just look at the people He gives it to.”

“Never throw mud: you can miss the target, but your hands will remain dirty.”

“The only dependable law of life – everything is always worse than you thought it was going to be.”

“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.”

If you wear a short enough skirt, the party will come to you.”

 “I like to have a martini/Two at the very most/After three I’m under the table/After four I’m under my host.”

“A hangover is the wrath of grapes.”

“I’m not a writer with a drinking problem, I’m a drinker with a writing problem.”

Add On: Just an en passant. Kim Keon-hee, the wife of the now impeached South Korea leader, is described as a Lady Macbeth figure, described as a “rich, outspoken, childless woman.” It is thought his disastrous move to impose martial law was a means of protecting his wife from investigation and potential prosecution.

  She was born 2 September 1972 and like Dorothy Parker has a Sun Mars conjunction in Virgo. 

An inauspicious start to 2025 with a logjammed Mars opposition Pluto on January 3^rd bringing high tensions in the days before will put a damper on New Year celebrations. Though nothing will stay the same for long in a fast-moving, ever-changing year.

Astro-details for the year ahead.

 Pluto is now firmly into Aquarius, staying till 2043/44, with whatever social changes that will bring; with Mars making another aggravated opposition to Pluto in late April and a square in time for the September Lunar Eclipse.

The other outer planets are also on the move.  Neptune moves into Aries on March 30^th staying till October 2025, then retrogrades into Pisces for a final time until late January 2026.

  In tandem Saturn moves into Aries on May 26 staying till early September 2025, then retrogrades into Pisces till mid February 2026. There will be one exact Neptune Saturn conjunction in the first half of August 2025 another late February 2026 into March 2026.

  Saturn Neptune together are associated with the rights of the underdog – whether workers or women’s, as well as health issues, either epidemics or medical advances. It can be creative though also neurotic as over-active imaginations brew up conspiracies.

  Jupiter moves out of Gemini into Cancer on June 10^th for a year thereafter which may bring a hint of calm in particular to family and domestic affairs.

Uranus moves out of earthy Fixed Taurus into communicative, scattered Gemini on July 7^th staying till early November 2025 then retrograding into Taurus until late April 2026. After which it proceeds through Gemini for seven years until 2032. Inventive ideas will fly, freethinking will be the name of the game. The mood will not always be realistic but hyper-alert.

  In August the Saturn Neptune conjunction will sextile Uranus and then aspect Pluto exactly late August through September. September through early October 2025 will be the first Uranus trine Pluto. So that August/September phase will be one to watch for game-changing moments. Not necessarily tumultuous but indicative of the times. Uranus trine Pluto brings insights which allow for constructive transformation if handled well.

The Eclipses: The North Node retrogrades into Pisces in early January 2025 and stays there till July 2026.

Solar Eclipse on 29 March at 9 degrees Aries in 9 New North Saros Series. Bernadette Brady says it is a physically expressive series, can be accident-prone or violent but also positive if energy used constructively.  Aspects are not upbeat but not overly stressed.

Lunar Eclipse March 14^th at 24 degrees Virgo  with a Sun Saturn opposition Moon in a Half Grand Sextile to Mars and Uranus looks downbeat and fractious.

Solar Eclipse  on September 21 at 29 degrees Virgo in 9 New South Saros Series – which is described as worrisome about responsibilities with paperwork or health news about others. Said to have a sense of destiny about it. A Mars square Pluto dominates  the chart with the New Moon opposition Neptune and Saturn trine Pluto and trine Uranus – so it carries the signature of the changing year.

Lunar Eclipse on September 7^th at 15 degrees Pisces.

  The year ends with Saturn Neptune back in Pisces and Uranus back in Taurus – albeit briefly – and encouraged by Jupiter in Cancer bringing a stabilizing trine to Saturn.

The changeover from materialistic, practical, nature/eco-focused Earth (Taurus/Capricorn) and overly emotional Water (Pisces) of recent times to enthusiastic, exuberant, not always realistic but rarely quiet Air Fire will be instructive to live through and should be more upbeat despite the uncertainties hanging around.

‘The gift that keeps on giving’ in the portly form of Prince Andrew must be delighting the anti-monarchy lobby with more revelations this time about a Chinese spy, once an invitee to an Andrew birthday party in recent years, now banned from entry to the UK as a security risk. He was evidently a close confident of the prince who was seeking investors in China. Letters and texts revealed in an inquiry showed the Chinese authorities regarded access to Windsor as a prize.

   There is stupid and stupider. Was no one keeping the hapless Royal under check?

  What is astrologically delightful is that relocating Andrew’s chart to Beijing puts his defiant, can-be-lawless Uranus (on the focal point of a yod) exactly conjunct his Midheaven and his Neptune exactly conjunct his Ascendant. With influential Pluto in the 10^th and Jupiter in the financial 2^nd.

  Maybe – finally – it might just be the tap that brings the dominoes tumbling over. After Kazakhstan, a risible international golfing/trade envoy job, various financial horrors, Epstein and a refusal to budge from his 37 room abode despite an inability to pay for its upkeep – even his guardian angel must be ready to throw in the towel. King Charles with his 4^th house Neptune will be less than enamoured about delivering the coup de grace that would see him knocked out of the frame for good. Though William is a different matter, of which more anon.

   Andrew’s chart, 19 February 1960 3.38pm London, has his Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his 4^th house Neptune exactly now and tr Uranus opposition his 4^th house Scorpio Moon on and off between June 2024 and April 2025 = family meltdown and major pressure to uproot and move, against heavy Scorpionic resistance. Plus his Progressed Mars is exactly conjunct his 8^th house Mercury now for a financial and otherwise shock with accompanying arguments; and an undermining tr Neptune square his Solar Arc Midheaven throughout 2025 as well as in a financially disappointing and confidence-denting square to his Jupiter in February 2025. On from there his SA Neptune will bring uncertainty as it is conjunct his Saturn in Capricorn in late 2025/early 2026.  As per usual he has a couple of Jupiterian lucky breaks boosting his confidence in 2025 so he may well attempt to bullsh** his way out of a tight corner at times.

  King Charles’ relationship chart with his brother Andrew has a competitive Sun Mars hard aspect, similar to William and Harry.  

 But it is William and uncle Andrew’s relationship chart which is fascinating with a composite Sun on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Mars conjunction. And that is a pile up of bad feelings which has been under acute pressure through 2023/24 with tr Pluto square the composite Sun – and will explode out into the open with some vigour as tr Uranus moves into Gemini opposing the composite Saturn, conjunct the composite Ascendant from July 2025 and then in 2026 opposes the composite Neptune Mars. Oceans of separation.

ADD ON: The oddity was always Queen Elizabeth’s unshaken support for her errant second son. On the synastry his enthusiastic Mars Venus in Capricorn was conjunct her Ascendant and his Moon was on her Midheaven both of which suggest a significant connection. But his yod focal point disruptive Uranus was in her 7^th house of close relationships, and his controlling Pluto fell in her 8^th, so she’d be constantly pushed and pulled. His Moon was conjunct her Saturn which hints at her overly dutiful approach interfered with his nurturing which may have given her a guilty conscience. His Saturn fell in her 12^th opposition her dedicated 6^th house Pluto which is chained together though not altogether comfortable.

 What I have always struggled with is their relationship chart with a composite Sun opposition Neptune Moon – illusion, delusion and fantasy. A relationship guaranteed to bring disappointment when reality seeped in – though by all accounts Queen Elizabeth never really faced up to the calamity that was Andrew.

Selena Gomez, singer, actress and businesswoman, is on a roll with two Golden Globe nominations this week for the operatic musical Emilia Pérez and the other for TV’s Only Murders in the Building. This year she also joined the billionaire celebrity rich list, amassing a $1.3bn (£1bn) fortune, mainly from her Rare Beauty make-up company. And has just announced her engagement to record producer Benny Blanco, which happy news she shared with her 423 million Instagram followers.

 Not a lady who doers anything by halves. She started life as a child actress on Barney and Disney Channel and had an on off relationship previously with Justin Bieber.

Born 22 July 1992 7.19am (?) Grand Prairie, Texas, she has a creative 12^th house Cancer Sun square an Aries Moon conjunct her Midheaven from the 9^th; with a charming, Venus Mercury in Leo on her Ascendant. She also has an ambitious and determined Mars in Taurus in her 10^th conjunct Algol opposition Pluto in her 4^th with her Pluto square Saturn in Aquarius opposition Mercury.

 It is an enormously strong chart, enduring, stubborn, not too flexible but giving her the strength to carry the burden of such extreme levels of wealth and fame.   Plus she has the generational Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn trine her Jupiter in Virgo – inspired and lucky.

 Benny Blanco, 8 March 1988, who is a Sun Pisces with the triple conjunction in Capricorn plus Mars, making him highly strung, marginally chaotic; with an emotionally intense and possessive Moon Pluto in Scorpio. His charming Venus Jupiter in Taurus sit on her midheaven (birth time being accurate) for a looks-good and will be career-helpful connection. Though it won’t all be easy emotionally.

A tawdry modern tale of warped social media fandom features a 23 year old OnlyFans and porn star Lily Phillips who catapulted to the TikTok viral stratosphere in October after having sex with 101 men in a single day.

  Born 23 July 2001 in England, she made it to Sheffield University but dropped out when she started in the adult entertainment industry. She has made a reputed £2 million from OnlyFans.

 A story I would normally avoid except her chart is worth a glimpse. A Sun Leo opposition Neptune makes sense of an attention-seeking entertainer in the film business. What is startling is a harsh Mars Pluto conjunction in Sagittarius opposition Saturn Venus in Gemini. That hints at cruel, terrifying and perverse experiences early in her life.

  A classic example of Freud’s repetition compulsion in action – renacting earlier horrors in the hope of taking control of them rather than being crushed.

 Tr Pluto is opposition her Sun at the moment and moving to square her Sun/Neptune and then conjunct her Neptune over the next few years which will bring considerable confusion. Her Solar Arc Mars/Pluto midpoint and then Pluto will conjunct her Capricorn South Node this year and next.  She may drag herself backwards before she hauls herself towards her Cancerian North Node.

 What a tragic and depressing drama. PS Further details suggests she had no idea how HIV is transmitted – with a Virgo Moon?

Add On: Bonnie Blue, 14 May 1999, is another of similar moral turpitude who has filmed and posted explicit content with young men, claiming to earn £600,000 a month. She insists her actions are legal and no one under 18 is involved but has been called a predator, with her actions targeting young men regarded as dehumanizing.

 Born 14 May 1999 her chart is less self-destructive and more opportunistic than Lily Phillip’s. She has a stellium in earthy, acquisitive Taurus with both Sun and Moon there along with Mercury, Saturn. She has her Uranus exactly conjunct her South Node square her Sun and Mercury Saturn so she will be defiant about upsetting conventions of behaviour Her Neptune squares Saturn and possibly Moon.

  She has a yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Venus in Cancer which hints initially at a difficulty in connecting emotionally and being out of step with social values. She also has Mars opposition Jupiter which can be self-interested and aggressive in promoting her beliefs – and seeking to make actions sound acceptable when they only serve her own wishes – in this case money and sexual satisfaction.

  She’ll run into a major setback in 2026/27 when her Solar Arc Mars opposes her Sun alongside a devastating tr Pluto conjunct her Neptune.

 The risks of cervical cancer never mind an array of venereal diseases even with condoms are staggeringly high.

Guilty of raping a minor or a brazen shakedown for cash? The media frenzy around allegations against Jay-z, furiously denied, have so far muddied the water and drawn Jennifer Lopez, once part of a Diddy Combs twosome into the story. It appears to be a civil not criminal complaint with the accuser staying out of the limelight.

 Jay-Z, 4 December 1969, no birth time, had a downbeat tr Saturn square his Sagittarius Sun when the story surfaced. 2025 sees some emotional upsets with tr Uranus opposition his Neptune Venus and a discouraging tr Pluto square his Saturn.

 His relationship chart with Diddy Combs, 4 November 1969, looks seriously rattled through 2025 with tr Uranus opposing the composite Sun, Neptune, Mercury and tr Pluto square their composite Saturn.

  Jennifer Lopez, 24 July 1969 in the aftermath of another marriage breakdown, is not at her best through 2025 with tr Uranus opposition her Neptune Moon and Mars conjunction (running into 2027) plus tr Pluto opposition her Sun; and tr Neptune Saturn opposition her Uranus Jupiter in Libra. Her relationship chart with Diddy Coombs is similarly stressed and unsettled through 2025.

Beyonce, 4 September 1981 has tr Pluto opposition her Mars throughout 2025 with an unsettled tr Uranus opposition her Uranus. Her relationship with Jay-z which is very bound together will be undergoing an upheaval and disruption through this year.

  All or some of which may be due to other factors in play and nothing to do with this entanglement.

Luigi Mangione arrested for the shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson appears to have been born 6 May 1998 in Pennsylvania. Lauded by some as a folk hero for standing up against an avaricious health care system, he has been condemned by others. His writings glorified Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, a domestic terrorist who believed that killing was justifiable in pursuit of his campaign against advancing technology and the destruction of the natural environment.

Mangione’s grandfather Nicholas, 17 February 1925, was an Italian immigrant who lived the American dream to become rich but was also apparently prone to lash out against the system.

 Birth data being sound, Luigi is a volatile and aggressively stubborn Sun Mars in Taurus square Uranus in Aquarius. What was notable at the killing was his Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his South Node in Pisces with his Progressed Mars moving to square his South Node.

 His grandfather Nicholas was a Sun Aquarius opposition Neptune with Mercury Venus in Aquarius square a hard-headed Mars in Taurus opposition Saturn in Scorpio.  So some similarities.

 Ted Kaczynski, 22 May 1942 4pm Chicago, Illinois, weas a highly-strung Sun, Uranus, Saturn in Gemini and also had his South Node in Pisces close to Luigi’s.  A Pisces South Node tends to bring an overdose of gloom about problems and life’s sorrows with an over developed sense of sympathy for suffering. So he may have been driven like Kaczynski by the right ideas but used the wrong methods to publicise them.

  Brian Thompson’s flamboyant Mars in Leo  clashed with Luigi’s angry Mars Sun in Taurus; and his evasive Neptune was conjunct Luigi’s Pluto.  Both oddly had Jupiter in Pisces.

  The killing has caught the public imagination at a time when feelings and paranoia are running high. But whether it is significant as a history-changing moment is questionable. May be just a sad, short-fused boy with serious back problems interfering with his life and destabilising his mental balance finds a target for his rage. In a country where violence and guns are prevalent and seen as a viable option.

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Trump is threatening the January 6 Capitol Hill riot investigation committee members with prison in the same breath as he insists he will pardon the convicted lawbreakers.

 This is the rapidest look at four relevant charts. Liz Cheney, 28 July 1966 11.57pm Washington, DC, with tr Neptune conjunct her Saturn throughout 2025 won’t be anything but uncertain and discouraged in the immediate future. Though her Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct her Pluto and then Uranus late 2026 and 2027 looks like a lucky break of considerable proportions. No telling quite what will lift her spirits but she will be on better form.

Adam Schiff, another Jan 6 Committee member, 22 June 1960 6.13 am Framingham, MA, looks equally undermined in 2025 with tr Neptune Saturn square his Cancer Sun Venus and that extends into 2026 alongside a devastating SA Pluto conjunct his Neptune. He also has tr Pluto square his Mars for a trapped 2025 and continues on to square his Mars/Neptune and then Neptune right through the next administration. None of which he will enjoy.

 What is marginally curious -if the dates are sound – are that neither the Proud Boys, 5 September 2016, or the Oath Keepers, 22 October 2009, some of whose members were incarcerated, look cheered. The Proud Boys will be blocked across the Inauguration with tr Saturn square the Mars and although tr Uranus will trine their Jupiter for a hint of cheer before mid year, tr Neptune opposes Jupiter as well for high hopes dented through till early 2026.

 The Oath Keepers look even less enlivened with an uncertain tr Neptune opposition the Saturn till early 2026; a muddled tr Uranus square Neptune later this month to mid March 2025; a seriously blocked and aggravated tr Pluto opposition their Mars in 2025/26; and tr Saturn Neptune square the Pluto undermining their influence in 2025/26.

The fall of the House of Assad has turned the spotlight back on the mafia state in Syria which crushed dissent for decades, killed countless hundreds of thousands and wrecked a country rich in natural resources, with an ancient history and a strategic position on the Mediterranean.

 Hafez Assad, 6 October 1930, described as “a cold and calculated political and security operative” – a Mars, Pluto, Jupiter in Cancer trine Venus in Scorpio which was opposition Algol; with a Libra Sun opposition Uranus – took over in 1970.

He was succeeded by his second son Bashir ably assisted in his kleptocratic dictatorship by his brother Maher and wife Asma — a London-born ex-JP Morgan banker. Maher, head of the army’s notoriously brutal fourth division, ran weapons, oil smuggling, alcohol and sales of the illegal amphetamine Captagon. Asma consolidated control over the aid sector, a huge — and rare — source of clean cash into Syria.

 Summarised from a previous post on Asma – “a greedy profiteer who amassed billions for herself and her family out of the bloodied ruins of starving country. She controlled the economic levers consolidating the Assad’s grip on Syria, shaking down the rich merchant class (imprison in hotel and extort a la MBS in Saudi) and even – horrifyingly – crafting a corrupt humanitarian assistance system, monetising NGOs and the aid sector which takes in international money.  The economy is teetering on the brink of collapse and what little still exists appears to be controlled by Asma Assad and family across multiple sectors, including real estate, banking and telecommunications. “For any new business to get done today, Asma [and her people] take a cut,” says a relative. 

  Wives of dictators tend to get an easy ride in the media but her chart, 11 August 1975 with its Mars, South Node and Algol clustered in late Taurus was always an ominous sign. Her Leo Sun falls in his husbands 7^th for a good partnership with her controlling Pluto in his 8^th as she pulled the economic strings. Her Mars Algol fell in Bashir’s 4^th conjunct his IC so she’d be a dominant force in his home life.

 Not surprisingly her life is in turmoil with tr Uranus conjunct his Mars South Node and Algol through till mid 2025. With her Solar Arc Venus conjunct her Uranus for an upset – and a high-risk, acutely frustrated and trapped 2025 ahead of her.

  Indications on Bashir’s relationship chart with Putin (birth data being accurate) hints at a deteriorating association as tr Neptune Saturn move into Aries and oppose the composite Sun and square Saturn; with muddles and disappointment in 2025/26.

Skipping across a few other wives of strongman rulers, some of whom went on to succeed them, Taurus features widely and, on some, Algol.

 Imelda Marcos, 2 July 1929 2.30pm Maluso, Philippines, was a Sun Pluto in Cancer with Venus conjunct Ceres, Algol and North Node square Mars Neptune in Leo.

Eva Peron, 7 May 1919 5am Buenos Aires, Argentina, a determined and acquisitive Sun Mars in Taurus with confident Jupiter Pluto in Cancer trine Uranus.

Grace Mugabe, 23 July 1964 Harare, Zimbabwe, a Sun Leo with Jupiter in Taurus conjunct Algol and widely trine Pluto.

Farah Pahlavi, widow of the exiled Shah of Iran, 14 October 1938, is a Sun Libra, with Uranus South Node in Taurus trine Mars Neptune in Virgo – and Ceres conjunct Algol.

 Catherine The Great of Russia, 2 May 1729 2.30am, came to power after overthrowing her husband King Peter. She, like Eva Person, was a Sun Mars conjunct in Taurus in her case sextile Saturn and inconjunct a yod focal point Pluto. With her Pluto square Jupiter.

 Forget the weaker sex – these relationships are either folie a deux with two sociopaths meeting their twin or as may be the case with the Assads, the wife being the stronger half.  The relationship chart between Asma and Bashir has a chained-together power-couple Jupiter and Saturn trine Pluto plus a one sided, can-be-cruel Mars square Saturn. It’s a toss up which of them had to suppress their identity to make it work.

ADD ON: Asma Assad according to reports if they are to be believed is thinking of divorce plus a return to the UK or is suffering from leukaemia and not expected to pull through. Throughout 2025 she has tr Uranus conjunct her Mars, South Node and Algol running until March 2026 which tends to accompany shocks and high insecurity. Plus her Solar Arc Sun will conjunct her Pluto in 2025 which will be blocked; and worse in 2026 with SA Pluto opposition her Mars. Nothing lightening up anytime soon.