not categorised

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the “Vatican Godfather,” who for three decades was the man no one dared to cross, has died aged 94. His influence and power, though discreet, were pervasive, and all the stronger for being nearly invisible. In the words of an onlooker “he practiced Machiavellian politics on a breathtaking scale.” He was implicated in many Church scandals but never brought to book.

  He shielded numerous abusers, most notoriously Marcial Maciel, the Mexican priest who founded the Legionaries of Christ, renowned for his financial corruption, multiple illegitimate families, drug abuse, and sexual abuse of seminarians and his own children. Maciel was only cast out when Ratzinger became Pope and up to the end Soldano who had been on the receiving end of Maciel’s generosity refused to acknowledge there was a case to answer. On the day of Soldano’s final exit from high position in the Vatican in 2019, the Legion investigation reported that 33 priests and 71 seminarians had sexually abused minors over the last 80 years.

   Pope John Paul II who elevated Soldano to the prime role of Vatican Secretary of State also bears heavy responsibility for Maciel not being brought to justice during his term.

  In 2010 Soldano was still castigating from the pulpit the “petty gossip of the moment” about priest abuse. He also stopped investigations into the Vienna Cardinal Groer accused of multiple instances of abuse over decades.

  Soldano was born 23 November 1927 in Rome and was a late Scorpio or Sagittarius Sun square Neptune; with an ultra-determined, secretive (and vengeful) Water Grand Trine of Mars, Moon, Mercury in Scorpio trine Pluto in Cancer trine Jupiter in Pisces. His Sun was conjunct his indefatigable and can-be-destructive Mars/Saturn midpoint with his Neptune square which is perverse and toxic. Not short of confidence or undeserved luck but spiritually suspect and ruthless.

  His synastry with the Vatican, 7 June 1929 11 am chart, is fascinating with his mob-boss Mars in Scorpio conjunct the Vatican South Node pulling it back to less evolved levels. And his bull-in-a-china-shop Gemini North Node was conjunct the Vatican Sun.

  Marcial Maciel Degollado, 10 March 1920, was born two months before Pope John Paul 11 and had the same Jupiter Neptune conjunction in Leo which can have a compassionate, visionary side but also an inclination to over-promising, overlooking what it prefers not to see and being scandal-prone.  Maciel was a Sun Pisces with a formidable and potentially cruel Water Grand Trine of Mars in Scorpio trine Pluto trine Uranus, formed into a Kite by an autocratic Uranus opposition Saturn. His Mars in Scorpio would chime with Soldano.

   When the final investigation was carried out in the abuses under Maciel’s reign after his death a Mexican Archbishop blamed Vatican authorities for defending him over the years in “a very large criminal cover-up” and a “criminal silence.”

  Soldano was probably single handedly the key blocker over the decades of Vatican reform – though the mystery is why he was allowed to maintain his grip through various popes.

Who’d have thought anti-liberal prude Mary Whitehouse would turn out to be (partly) right in her doom-laden warnings about the sexual revolution? As early as the mid 1970s she pointed to the potential corrosive impact of internet pornography on society, suggesting technology could become out of control and would ‘reach a point where man is incapable of arresting the forces which he has released.” She thought a porn (for men)-saturated culture could easily curtail women’s liberation rather than encourage it and fought relentlessly to protect children from exploitation.

She was also, it would have to be said, wildly homophobic with an unhinged religiosity (“direct line to God”) dictating her campaigns.

  Even the feminist lobby have come round to a grudging admiration. Author Louise Perry in her new book, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century leads the present-day argument pointing out that with a flood of pornography and hook-up culture, “rough sex” is seen as routine, prostitution is viewed as another career choice and there is the lowest rate of conviction for rape in a decade.  She comments that Whitehouse understood in advance how pornography would have “the effect of draining sexual relationships of love and of intimacy” in its pursuit of profit.

  Two recent BBC bio-docs on Whitehouse coincided with Perry’s book, hinting that a cultural shift might be under way with the pendulum swinging back against the worst excesses of the sexual revolution, which have turned out not to be liberating for women but in many cases damaging.

  Tracing back where it all started Freud stands out as an early trailblazer in bringing sexuality into mainstream culture even if he got goodly chunks of the theory wrong. He was writing about it in the late 19th Century during Neptune Pluto in Gemini, which has a scandalous and inspirational quality to it. In the midst of that, in 1894, Alfred Kinsey, the sex researcher, was born, who more than any other 20^th Century figure pushed the anything-goes line where sexuality was concerned in the 1950s. The contraceptive pill in full swing from 1960 onwards fully unlocked the flood gates. With later sex researchers Master & Johnson and Alex Comfort’s The Joy of Sex adding to the spirit of freedom.

      Kinsey, born 23 June 1894 focused his research on the biology of sex without considering the psychological or emotional components and laid himself open to severe criticism for certain of his methods. He was a Sun Cancer in a pro-active square Mars Node in Aries; with the fey Neptune Pluto in Gemini conjunct Jupiter, so greatly amplified and not always focused on accurate facts. His revolutionary Uranus was in a stressed inconjunct to Neptune Pluto. His studies were published in the 1950s during the Saturn Neptune in Libra square Uranus – often connected to the hippy culture.

  Mary Whitehouse, born 13 June 1910, also had Gemini strong in her chart in her case a Sun conjunct Pluto – she was evidently a skilled orator – and clearly controlling. She also had a no-compromise, fearsome, publicity-seeking and can-be-fanatical Mars Neptune in Cancer opposition Uranus with her Uranus inconjunct Pluto Sun. Certain striking similarities between two polar opposites.

  The pill came out with Pluto just into Virgo and aiming for the rollicking 1960s with the Uranus Pluto conjunction fostering change, revolution, turmoil and medical advances.

   The 1980s with Pluto in Scorpio saw feminists drag child abuse into the open.

 And, of course way back when, Pluto in Cancer 1912 to 1937 transformed the identity of women and changed motherhood and family life.

  Quite whether Pluto in Aquarius will bring back romance for women, stem the epidemic of porn, and lessen the perverse drive towards aggressive sex isn’t clear.

  This is a ramble with only tangential astro-links but I’ve long thought (like Suzanne Moore in today’s Telegraph) there was something wrong with the one-night stand culture and laddish behaviour for girls.  And wrong also the rigidly feminist line that men and women are exactly the same. You just have to watch a David Attenborough wildlife documentary to see the gender differences in the animal kingdom – and we haven’t moved that far from our roots that all of that has disappeared.

    Rom-Coms, Mills & Boon, Sally Rooney strike a feminine chord that a quick sh*** won’t measure up to.

The Ukraine invasion has reached a critical stage with early euphoria about shambolic Russia forces being in retreat and defeated is starting to evaporate. Russian reinforcements in the eastern segment of Donbas are capturing towns and causing heavy Ukrainian casualties. Joe Biden is dragging his feet about sending heavier weaponry for fear of it being used to attack Russian territory and trigger an international war. The EU are also watering down their sanctions to placate the pro-Putin Hungarian leader; and the lacklustre German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz is reneging on his earlier promises of supplying tanks and guns.

  The Ukraine 24 August 1991 2.31 pm Kiev chart, always did indicate a panicky slide from mid May with tr Neptune opposing the Ukraine Mars till mid October this year, returning next spring, autumn and in January 2024. Tr Uranus is opposing the 10^th house Ukraine Pluto from mid this June for a few weeks, returning in 2023 which will be disruptive and points to a change of direction. The November 2022 Lunar Eclipse at 16 Scorpio may also be critical since it will conjunct the Ukraine Pluto and indicates a crucial turning point in the months following.

  There’s nothing cheering in the Ukraine/Russia 1917 and 1991 relationship charts – which start off from a position of extreme hostility anyway; and that is being stoked up through 2023 to 2025. Nothing that suggests an early truce though admittedly toxic feelings would remain no matter when it finished.

 Volodymyr Zelensky’s own chart, 25 January 1978, hints at a worsening situation with a trapped, scary, infuriated tr Pluto opposition his Mars from March 2023 till late 2024 – and even after. His Uranus in Scorpio is catching not only the tr Uranus opposition this year but also the Eclipses, in particular the November Lunar Eclipse.

  The Invasion started on 23 February 2022 which has a Mars Pluto conjunction in Capricorn which suggests relentless brutality and wasn’t ever going to be a quick n’ easy event.

 Putin’s 4^th Term chart, 7 May 2018 11.05 am Moscow, also has a ruthless Pluto Mars in Capricorn which will close to exact by Solar Arc in 2023 which is when tr Pluto squares the Uranus – often a fall-off-perch point for an administration. The Pluto Uranus runs from early February 2023 till late 2024. But best guesses were always 2023 as Putin’s curtain call.

  However there are many months of bombardment between now and then which is heart-wrenching for the poor Ukrainians.   

The Democrats are chewing their fingernails in anticipation of the November Mid Terms since any hope of progressing Joe Biden’s agenda depends on the result. He has some lucky breaks beforehand July to mid October and a mild uplift in late November and has lost temporarily the catastrophe laden tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Pluto midpoint which is creating havoc earlier in the year and returns in 2023. He looks so so about the result and it is really 2023 when his problems mount precipitately. See previous post 11 February 2022.

 Kamala Harris, who has her own particular image problems, is labouring mightily in 2022/23 with tr Pluto square her Libra Sun and has a nerve-stretched tr Uranus opposition Neptune over the MidTerms – followed by a tempestuous 2023 which will knock even her stalwart temperament sideways. She’ll have a blip of luck in mid 2024, not exact over the election but returning in late November 2024.

  Nancy Pelosi, 26 March 1940, is an amazing 82, so other factors may be at play in her astrology – there’s nothing much showing over the Midterms this year and again 2023 looks to be the applecart-upsetting year with massively testing pressures on her as tr Pluto opposes her Pluto and squares her Saturn as well as tr Uranus jolts and jangles.

Chuck Schumer, 23 November 1950, the Senate Majority leader, again has not much of note over the Midterms though a blocked tr Saturn opposition his Pluto in late November suggests he will be weighed down by responsibilities. His 2023/2024 will be heavy going with more than a few disasters in 2024/25 – and not remotely happy over the 2025 Inauguration.

Pete Buttigieg, 19 January 1982, is in good spirits running across the Mid Terms, with some triumphs to savour. 2023/24 won’t be too inspiring for him with losses and anxiety; and the challenging tr Pluto conjunct his Sun to contend with as well. But 2024 will see him returning to confident form, determined to make a splash and his success will extend into and throughout 2025.

Bernie Sanders, 8 September 1941, again not much over this November; unsettled and disrupted in 2023, not altogether upbeat, but recapturing his optimism for an enthusiastic push in 2024/25.

Elizabeth Warren, 22 June 1949, startled and insecure through this November, so not comfortable with whatever happens. She’ll be trying to get her momentum back in 2023/24 with an enthusiastic, motivated tr Pluto conjunct her Jupiter; but is running into the sand by 2025 as tr Neptune squares her Sun Uranus in Cancer.

Beto O’Rourke, 26 September 1972, is cheerful through this November feeling pleased and that extends into early 2023. But from May 2023 onwards for several years he’s on a hiding to nothing – panicky failure and great confusion.

 Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, 13 October 1989, nothing over the Mid Terms, a mix of mountainous obstacles which make her feel trapped with a few blips of luck in 2023-2024 though she will begin to recover her mojo in mid 2024 – this is generally a tough phase for her.

  These above are not picked because they are possible contenders for anything, merely because they are leading Democrats and might be expected to show cheer or otherwise when their party does well.

Stacey Adams, 9 December 1973 4.44pm Madison, WI,  is not in a great year with tr Pluto square her Mars over the Mid Terms which is blocked and aggravated. Before then at the moment she’s uncertain and panicky and that comes back next year along with more frustrations. Though admittedly Jupiter is moving across her midheaven and 10^th now until early 2024 which usually is higher profile and brings some success. But these Pluto Mars aspects are tough to overcome.

One of the all-time racing greats, a favourite of the Queen and housewives round the country, jockey Lester Piggott has died aged 86. He won the Derby a record nine times, 30 British Classic races and had 4,493 winners overall from his first victory aged 12.

 Tall for a rider in flat racing at 5ft 8 inches, he spent much of his career on a punishing diet, heavy on champagne, cigars and constant saunas to keep his weight down to 8 st 5 lbs – about 30 lbs (14 kg) under his normal weight. Nothing got in the way of his ruthless desire to win – and make money. He was jailed for three years in 1987, being found guilty of tax fraud of more than £3m, though only served a year and returned to racing 12 days later to bag another winner in one of the world’s richest races. The Queen refused to cut off relations with him over his conviction.

  He was born 5 November 1935 into a racing family and was slightly deaf with a minor speech impediment giving him a taciturn reputation.

  He had a Scorpio Sun opposition Uranus so was super-determined and a maverick who’d go his own way. His Sun opposition Uranus formed a Half Grand Sextile to a tough-minded, disciplined and risk taking Mars in Capricorn and Saturn. He also had a confident/successful Pluto trine Jupiter in money-magnet Scorpio, sextile Venus in Virgo so he could turn on the charm when it suited him. His Mercury squared Pluto for a stubborn streak.

 There’s a tentative time of 1 am but it doesn’t look right putting a chatty Sun in the 3^rd.

 One of the tales about his tax evasion was that he had reached an agreement with the Revenue that would have kept him out of prison. Then he wrote a cheque to pay the back taxes from a Cayman Island account he had sworn didn’t exist. Not sensible.

His get-it-together 5th Harmonic is exceptionally well aspected with a zippy Jupiter opposition Mars Mercury square Sun; and a tough-minded Saturn Pluto. As is his perfectionist 7H.

His rise-and-fall, wheel of fortune 10th harmonic which can be self-defeating is notable; as is his 9H which is attracted to money.

Mitch McConnell, head honcho of the Republicans in the Senate, is going through his usual tap dance over gun control which means no change. So the US is heading for the MidTerm elections in November, when all 435 House of Congress seats and 34 of the 100 Senate seats are on the ballot, with abortion and mass shootings thrust centre stage as the flashpoint issues.

  The election falls on the same day as the Total Lunar Eclipse in Taurus with the Moon closely conjunct Uranus opposition Sun, Mercury, Venus in Scorpio square Saturn so tensions will be running extra high as the Uranian urge for progress and change runs into the rigid, emotionally cold Saturnine imperative to maintain the status quo. Below is a quick skip down the prominent Republicans, almost all without birth time, so only a rough guide.

 McConnell, 20 February 1942, is sensing the tectonic plates shifting under his feet as tr Pluto trines his Uranus over the election and he also has an unpopular tr Saturn squelching his Sun/Venus midpoint. And that is a forerunner to a catastrophic 2023 with his beyond-obstinate Mars Saturn in Taurus catching the tr Uranus conjunction. Possibly worse or a double/triple whammy is his Solar Arc Sun (a Yod focal point) conjunct his Mars in 2023 and his Saturn in 2024 – which will accompany a life-changing series of crises. Given his age that may not all be political and could involve health or other issues also. And he’s looking devastated by the 2024 elections.  

  Kevin McCarthy, the GOP Minority House leader, 26 January 1965, has a hint of confidence/good news running through this November but is generally in a year when he comes down to earth with a bump to face uncomfortable realities. With no birth time his Mars and Mars midpoints could be one degree or the next. If an early morning birth then his 2023 is a panicky failure which extends into 2024 and that could even cover the Presidential election.

 Ron DeSantis, 14 September 1978, is blocked, powerless and furious over the Midterms with tr Pluto square his Mars and dismayed before then with a series of Neptunian swamps. He’s in better shape in 2024 though facing a few disasters as well.

 Ted Cruz, 22 December 1970, is all-systems-go at points this year and next with tr Pluto square his successful/confident Jupiter/Pluto midpoint but across the MidTerms he’s aggravated and taking losses to heart.

Mitt Romney, 12 March 1947, in better spirits than some of his colleagues this year and next, though discouraged over the Mid Terms, seriously rattled in 2023; facing losses in 2024.

 Rand Paul, 7 January 1963, is having a dispiriting 2022/23 and an uphill struggle over the MidTerms to keep his morale high; jangled and nervy in 2023; but recovering his mojo in 2024/25.

Greg Abbott, 13 November 1957, is in better shape than most over the MidTerms with Jupiterian lift from two directions; and this despite the Eclipses jangling his Mars Neptune in Scorpio as well as his Sun. His 2023 is less progressive with more sinkholes and disruptions.

Ben Carson, 18 September 1951, is in a Neptunian funk from 2022 to 2024 with some cheer this year and next but is generally in a slipping and sliding phase until 2025.

Liz Cheney, 28 July 1966, is in good spirits across the Midterms from two Jupiter boosts though with some setbacks this year along the way. Less encouraged by events of 2024 with tr Neptune conjunct her Saturn into 2025. By 2026 she’s back on sparkling top form and winning or at least making significant progress.    

Donald Trump has the undermining tr Neptune square his Gemini Sun across the MidTerms and a logjammed and acutely frustrating Solar Arc Mars square Pluto so he will be exceptionally displeased with life in general.

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Actor Ray Liotta, who shot to fame as a gangster in Scorsese’s Good Fellas has died unexpectedly on location after a four decade-long career. More recently he starred as the dirty cop in the TV Shades of Blue with Jennifer Lopez.

 He was born 18 December 1954 6.07am Newark New Jersey, and handed in to an orphanage, being later adopted by parents who gave him a stable upbringing. He took his Italian immigrant adoptive father’s name and only in later years discovered his mother was Scottish. He tracked her down in his forties for a “disappointing” meeting which left him pleased he’d been handed on elsewhere.

  Despite his tough guy face and persona he said he was not a violent person and disliked being typecast.

  He had an ebullient 1^st house Sun Mercury in Sagittarius trine Pluto, sextile Neptune giving him super-charged ambition. He had a ‘public career’ 10^th house Moon, largely unaspected apart from an inconjunct to Mars in Pisces, which would give him a sense of emotional disconnect; as well as aggravated issues with mother figures. He said for years he was angry at being abandoned though later came to see it less negatively.

  He only married once in his forties which lasted a few years and produced a daughter.

  The hard-edged side of his personality is reflected in his Mars trine a 12^th house Saturn Venus in Scorpio, so he would have a simmering reservoir of anger which he kept well under control. He also had a lucky 8^th house Uranus Jupiter in Cancer square Neptune. That 1954 generation produced a fair few notables.

  His Solar Arc Venus Saturn had moved to oppose his Uranus; and his Progressed Mars over the past year or so had been opposing his Neptune and squaring his Uranus Jupiter – so a testing time. Tr Uranus was also just moving into his 6^th house of health along with his Solar Arc Mars.

  He had a DUI offence after a car crash some years back and had questions raised more recently about his drinking. Moon Mars was always flagged in traditional astrology as a no-no for alcohol consumption.

Breath-taking courage or foolhardy indifference to risk was the hallmark of intrepid travel writer Dervla Murphy’s life. She survived decades of trips on her bicycle to remote and untouched corners of the earth the world, many of them accompanied by her young daughter and wrote 20 books about her experiences. She fought off wolves, battled treacherous black ice in the mountains of eastern Europe, winds that blew her off her bike, debilitating dust storms in Pakistan, was forced to tie herself to a cow to get across a raging river, had her ribs cracked by the butt of a gun during a fracas on an Afghan bus. Nothing stopped her.

 She was born on 28 November 1931 in Waterford, Ireland and decided at 10 to cycle to India. But looking after her sick mother since she was pulled out of school at 14 tied her down for 16 years during which she smoked and drank heavily. Only in her thirties could she escape and the initial six-month journey, took her from deepest winter in northern France, across communist eastern Europe and the wilds of Iran and Afghanistan to monsoon-drenched India. She estimated she covered 3,000 miles, cycling an average of 70 to 80 miles a day.

  When she was 37, she had a daughter out of wedlock and stayed put for a few years, only starting to travel again when Rachel was 5, buying a retired polo pony to carry her along with camping gear for trips to the inhospitable regions of northern India. Her travelling was ceaseless and in her late seventies, accompanied by her daughter and three granddaughters, she was still on the move to Cuba and elsewhere. She died this week aged 90.

  What is delightful is how apt her chart is – could not be more descriptive.

  She has a traveller’s Sagittarius Sun square a visionary Neptune in Virgo – Neptune/Pisces oddly enough often being found with explorers. Even more significantly she has a passionately enthusiastic Venus, Mercury, Mars in Sagittarius in a Fire Grand Trine to Jupiter in Leo trine Uranus in Aries.  

  A Fire Grand Trine is inspirational and prone to launch wholeheartedly into exciting adventures with little fear. Tierney says: “A natural adventurous streak is found plus an appealing sense of innocence which allows this individual to take risks and gambles without much forethought.” “His faith in himself as well as his sense of personal protection from harm is so ingrained he may be willing and eager to attempt anything, disregarding impossible odds, to fulfil goals and objectives.”

  Along with a blind sense of luck which clearly paid off from an overdose of Fire, she had a tough-minded Pluto opposition Saturn in Capricorn square Uranus. She was designed for harsh conditions, deprivation and had grit and perseverance to spare. The emphasised Uranus made her a trailblazer, careless of the conventions of society and keen to strike out on her own independent path.  

  She lacked Air in her chart which may have helped since she wouldn’t stand back to reflect on the what ifs and what might have beens.

  An amazing woman and astonishing life – a moment of cheer in a dismal world for an eccentric who challenged the gods and stayed afloat.

Robert Graves was a towering figure in 20^th Century literature with his WW1 war memoirs (Goodbye to All That), poetry, historical novels (I, Claudius, The Golden Ass) and writing on mythology (The White Goddess). Yet he was irrevocably scarred by his experiences in World War One, where he was wounded at the Somme. He knew Siegfried Sassoon well and another writer Edmund Blunden, though both fell out with him over his recollections of the war in Goodbye to All That.

  Grave was physically fragile and mentally troubled after the war and embarked on a messy affair and menage a trois with his secretary and his wife. Laura Riding his secretary was none too stable either and she at one point threw herself off the balcony of the four-storey flat. Graves had to foot the bill for her hospital stay which prompted him to write his best-selling war memoir which he regarded as a pot-boiler.

  He was born 24 July 1895 4.26am Wimbledon, England, and had the signature generational Neptune Pluto in Gemini square his Venus which would not make for a settled or conventional emotional life. His ‘shell shock’ made him hyper-active sexually and his relentlessly prolific output suggests he was driven to write and create as well. The world got the benefit but he was not a contented man. He had a Leo Sun on his Ascendant square a 4^th house rigidly conscientious Saturn in Scorpio and he had an impatient Moon Mars in Leo.  

  That generation were marked by the Neptune Pluto conjunction which together creates a fey, mystical mix of energies, wonderful and terrifying at the same time. Historically the combination is connected with the rise of great powers with epically brutal leaders; with art, especially erotic literature; with scientific advances in such intangibles as electricity, radio and telephone; with religious events; and with scandals.

   His 12^th Harmonic chart of the sacrificial victim is marked with a Grand Trine, T Square and the brutal Mars opposition Pluto.  

 Edmund Blunden, 1 November 1896, was a writer and poet, who survived two years on the front through Ypres, Somme and Passchendaele without injury though he was gassed and suffered mentally for the rest of his life.

 He had his Sun in Scorpio with Uranus Saturn conjunct in Scorpio as well and probably his Virgo Moon square Neptune Pluto which opposed his Venus. His victim 12^th harmonic is also strongly aspected with a Neptunian Grand Trine and a stark Saturn opposition Jupiter square Pluto.  

Sassoon’s 12^th harmonic is similarly prominent with a Grand Trine, formed into a Kite by a war-like Saturn opposition Pluto and destructive Pluto square Mars.

  What is clear from Graves’ chart was the effect of tr Neptune moving into Leo which was moving to conjunct his Sun and and Ascendant and square his Saturn as the war got underway. And both Blunden and Sassoon were debilitated by tr Neptune in the immediate aftermath of the war when their psychological damage hit home. Neptune in Leo is traditionally associated with the Roaring Twenties and the giddy inflation and flamboyance which followed the carnage of WW1 but less so with its insidious effects on those with front line experience.