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The unveiling of the (aesthetically unexciting) Diana statue went off without a duel on the lawn between the Royal brothers to sighs of relief all round. Only for a documentary to pop up ‘Harry & William: What Went Wrong?’ on ITV tonight with the omnipresent Omid Scobie, the Harry & Meghan “Finding Freedom” biographer, stirring up more ripples by suggesting William’s aides had briefed against Harry, highlighting worries about his mental health.

   There are two astro-influences of interest in the dynamic between the brothers.  One:- On the relationship chart alongside friendly affection, fun-loving and chained-together by circumstances influences, is a composite Sun square Mars which is competitive and argumentative.  I used to look at it in years gone by when they were seemingly getting along wondering quite how it played out. Robert Hand calls it “a difficult aspect for almost any relationship. Usually these energies surface as intense ego competition, disputes, disagreements and other forms of hostility.” For it to work he suggests the pair need a common goal.

  The other is Harry’s Pluto sitting on William’s Midheaven and Jupiter which suggests that Harry wants control over William’s career and again it can easily turn into a struggle for supremacy. There could be a better outcome if both worked again towards a joint professional goal but the Pluto individual does have the inclination/ability to transform the Midheaven one’s reputation for good or ill.

  There’s nothing to suggest a rapprochement anytime soon. Indeed their rift is almost at peak aggravation right now with tr Uranus opposition the composite Mars in their relationship chart and both tr Saturn and tr Uranus zig zagging backwards and forwards across the composite Sun and Mars until April 2022. And tr Pluto will exert significant pressure in a square to the composite Pluto and Saturn between 2022 and 2024.

  Harry’s personal chart is not remotely happy over the next several years with a lacklustre, indecisive tr Neptune opposition his Virgo Sun and square his Solar Arc Midheaven in 2021/22. With more family upsets from June 2022 as tr Uranus moves across his IC into his 4^th house beginning several years of domestic changes, emotional jolts and insights.

   Family pressures and strains will continue to be at the forefront of his relationship with Meghan in 2022/2023 as tr Pluto opposes their composite Moon which is in a square to composite Saturn Pluto. If – heaven forfend – their entire families were wiped out they would have to grapple with what that dynamic is really all about at a personal level between them. The families act as a convenient dartboard to express their frustration. But take that away and they would be left – with themselves.

  William is not at his peak effectiveness with tr Saturn moving through his First Quadrant for several years which can either be less ambitious/lower profile or a time of misjudgements and having to face up to unresolved psychological issues. But on the whole he’s in a better place than Harry.

In the background there may be that irksome argument which was always proffered by the supporters of Princess Margaret – that it was difficult for her always to walk behind her older sister – which excused everything. The reality is that 99.99% of the population are down some pecking order or other and live with it. Margaret had wealth, status, houses, entrée to any society she wanted and she could have pursued any number of activities had she chosen. Some restrictions obviously but compared to most people the opportunities open to her were unimaginable.

Add ON: More astro-nuggets from the Meghan Will synastry. Meg’s Mars in Cancer falls in Will’s 7^th which suggests open enmity and a competitive chemistry (and that’s also the case with Harry so when their relationship flips it’ll get nasty.).  Will’s ratchety, short-fused Saturn Mars falls on Meg’s IC and is conjunct her Moon so his abrasive approach would upset her plans for her family life and she would see him as a threat. Will’s Saturn in Meg’s 4^th indicate that his professional interests clash with her domestic concerns and she’d find him unfeeling and unsympathetic.

  The relationship chart has two key drawbacks for a harmonious combo. One is a marked composite Pluto Jupiter conjunction squaring the Sun Venus, so a double whammy of a struggle-for-the-upper-hand, oneupmanship energy – they’d be constantly trying to outdo each other. And there is also an explosive and impatient Moon Mars square Uranus, suggesting radically divergent agendas with no possibility of compromise on either side.

  Meg’s rebellious 5^th house Uranus also opposes Will’s Venus in Taurus which is on the focal point of a Yod so will be an especially sensitive point for him as she threatens to upset his emotional applecart. Indeed her Uranus falls in Harry’s 10^th opposition his Taurus Moon, pulling him away from his family and changing the trajectory of his life/career. And now that I look, Meg’s maverick Uranus is also conjunct the Queen’s obsessively conscientious and dedicated Saturn Midheaven in Scorpio – so the Royals embody everything that cramps Meghan’s demands for an unrestrained lifestyle where she can go her own independent way.

   Quite what Harry represents for her I can’t work out – but it’s not money and power so much as family life and children. His Venus, Pluto and Saturn fall in her 4^th and his wayward, overly excitable Uranus and Mars in her 5^th house of children and social fun. These are not ideal placings for a contented emotional life but in her muddled way it was what she was aiming at, trying to fill the gaps left by a dysfunctional childhood.

  There’s no real sign of Meghan wanting to elbow in on William’s role as Harry does. She just dislikes her plans being interfered with by William and the Queen’s duty-first approach.

Michael Gove, a close Cabinet colleague of Boris Johnson through Brexit and the pandemic though a questionable friend, has announced a surprise split from his wife of 20 years Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine. He has been talked of as a possible future Tory leader though he has lost in his last two attempts and there’s not much in his astrology to indicate success ahead.

  Born on 26 August 1967 in Aberdeen, he was in care until four months old after which he was adopted by a Labour-supporting family and only switched to Tory when at Oxford University. He is an understated Sun, Mercury, Venus in Virgo with a forced-to-be-self-reliant Saturn in Aries; a publicity-seeking and tricky Mars Neptune in Scorpio in an opportunistic square to Jupiter in flashy Leo, perhaps formed into a T Square by a Taurus Moon. His North Node in Aries points to a need to stand on his own two feet and not be dependent on a partner to do the heavy lifting.

  It was always an odd match with his wife, 16 April 1967, since she is a go-ahead, super-assertive Sun Aries opposition Mars in Libra square Jupiter in Cancer. Though admittedly  they both have focal point Jupiters which can point to high ideals and skills as social administrators, or grandiosity and over-confidence.

  Their relationship chart is mixter maxter with a needs-space composite Sun square Uranus; a steady Jupiter trine Saturn and an impulsive Mars square Jupiter; with a high-hopes though unrealistic Neptune trine Venus.  She has certainly been under pressure in the past eighteen months with tr Pluto square her Mars and her Sun and opposition her Jupiter but looks in better shape than he does in the next several years.

  He’s got a run of confidence-undermining Neptune transits to emotional and professional midpoints through the next three years and a catastrophic 2024/25 with tr Pluto conjunct his Mars/Saturn and Saturn/Neptune midpoints.

  His relationship with Boris has never been brilliant since he withdrew his support for Johnson in 2016, hours before the deadline of the Tory leadership election, after which Boris declined to run. The Daily Telegraph said it constituted “the most spectacular political assassination in a generation” while The Guardian labelled it as a “Machiavellian move”. Mars Neptune in Scorpio? Plus his Virgo Sun, Mercury and Venus in Virgo colliding with Boris’s aggressively competitive Mars in Gemini and the rest of his chaotic T square of Saturn, Uranus and Pluto. It’s a miracle they were ever in partnership in the first place let alone coming back together after the betrayal.

  His relationship with Boris is on the slide this year with tr Neptune conjunct the composite Saturn and worsening dramatically in 2023/2024.

Bill Cosby, convicted in 2018 of drugging and assaulting a woman, has been released from prison on a legal technicality. A screw-up by a former prosecutor gave the defence a lever which the judge acknowledged was a rare occurrence.  More than 50 women came forward with similar stories and his trial was the first significant celebrity conviction of the #MeToo era, widely seen as symbolic of how powerful men could finally be held to account. He had served more than two years of his sentence and vowed to serve all 10 years rather than acknowledge any remorse for his actions.

 He was born 12 July 1937 12.30 am Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and had a six decade showbusiness career as a stand-up comedian and TV actor with his own The Cosby Show.  Like Rumsfeld (oddly enough or maybe not) he also has a Cancer Sun conjunct Pluto though in his case it is 4^th rather than 8^th house. His Sun, Mercury, Pluto are in a pushily confident opposition to Jupiter in his 10^th which latter brought him success and a shining reputation, but the opposition also engendered a sense that rules weren’t meant for him. He would push social niceties to one side to get what he wanted. His Sun, Mercury, Pluto were also in a harsh trine to Mars in vengeful Scorpio; with his Mars in turn in a no-compromise opposition to Uranus. He was not a man who brooked interference with his wishes.

   He’s got a successful tr Pluto square his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint exactly now and repeating in December but that apart he’s not facing an inspiring three years ahead with disappointments this September – and catastrophes littering 2022/23 which may be health related since he looks frail.

Donald Rumsfeld, Defence Secretary under GW Bush and principal architect of the calamitous Iraq invasion post 9/11, has died.  Kissinger called him the most ruthless man he ever met. John McCain called Rumsfeld “one of the worst secretaries of defence in history”. He had the unique distinction of being both the youngest (under Gerald Ford) and oldest man to be US secretary of defence and served four presidents in different roles.

  His arrogant refusal to acknowledge intelligence or listen to military advice plunged Iraq into civil war, that cost trillions of dollars and caused the deaths of 4,500 US soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. The US occupation fomented international terrorism, making America more of a target while undermining its global stature. Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay were also blots on his record. GWB finally fired him. Rumsfeld He never expressed remorse or regret for his actions, lies or mistakes subsequently.

 He was born 9 July 1932 5.40pm Chicago, Illinois and had an intense, deeply buried and controlling 8^th house Sun Pluto in Cancer in a disruptive square to Uranus – he relished wielding power behind the scenes and upsetting the status quo. He also had an assertive/argumentative Mars in Gemini on his Descendant which was widely trine Saturn in cool Aquarius trine a Libra Moon conjunct his Midheaven.

  When 9/11 happened tr Pluto in Sagittarius was exactly opposition his Mars and tr Saturn in Gemini was conjunct so the destructiveness of 9/11 aroused his anger and brought him to the fore. His Solar Arc Pluto was also conjunct his Midheaven then boosting his propensity for ruthlessness and control freakery.

  His relationship chart with the USA 1776 has a hard-edged, can-be-damaging composite Mars opposition Saturn Moon which was also in the line of fire of the war-mongering tr Saturn opposition tr Pluto.

  His relationship chart with the hapless GW Bush had a monstrously difficult, bullying and calamitous composite Pluto Venus Mars square Saturn.

  He and the other Iraq-attack promoter Dick Cheney made an unpleasant pair. Cheney, 30 January 1941 7.30pm Lincoln, NE, is a Sun Aquarius opposition Pluto square Jupiter Saturn in Taurus – driven by power and money.  His Neptune is conjunct Rumsfeld’s Midheaven for a slippery and ultimately harmful connection.

Dozens of people have died in Canada amid an unprecedented heatwave with temperatures up to 20 degrees above average. Lytton in British Columbia reached a record 49.6C on Tuesday, more than five degrees hotter than Canada’s former highest temperature, which, until this week, stood for 84 years.

 The Canada national chart isn’t too informative but the recent 10 June Solar Eclipse set for Vancouver certainly is. It puts a can-be-destructive Pluto conjunct the Midheaven in a brutal opposition to Mars in the domestic 4^th.

  The Lunar Eclipse of 24 May, still in effect, is much the same with Pluto in the 10^th opposition Mars in the 4^th on the IC; and disruptive and ‘unique’ Uranus on the Ascendant.

  Vancouver itself was incorporated on 6 April 1886 and it has a ‘collision’ Solar Arc Mars square the Sun exactly now. British Columbia, 20 July 1871,  is in a tumultuous time of change picking up last year with tr Pluto opposition the Uranus and in a confused square to Neptune, continuing through this year and then tr Pluto opposing the Sun in 2022/23 so there will be challenges ahead.  

  For events like this often Eclipse charts are the most useful.  

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Gwen Berry, the US hammer thrower has responded to criticism after she turned away from the American flag on the podium at the Olympic trials medal ceremony, saying she “never said that I hated the country. All I said was I respect my people enough to not stand or acknowledge something that disrespects them.” She draped a T-shirt carrying the words “activist athlete” over her head. Joe Biden issued a statement saying that “part of the pride in our country means recognizing there are moments where we haven’t lived up to our highest ideals. And it means respecting the rights of people granted to them in the Constitution to peacefully protest.” Other athletes have offered support to her.

   In 2019, Berry lost some of her sponsorships after raising her fist in protest on the podium at the Pan American Games in Peru and received a 12-month probation from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee for the act. She has accused critics of her protest of favouring “patriotism over basic morality”.

  Born 29 June 1989 St Louis, Missouri, she has a Cancer Sun opposition the highly-strung, can-be-tinged-with-genius and also chaotic Saturn, Neptune, Uranus conjunction in Capricorn and trine Pluto. The Sun Neptune Pluto marks her out as more than usually ambitious. Her Pluto is also in an angry and aggravated square to Mars in flamboyant Leo with her Mars in an enthusiastic conjunction to Venus.  Plus she has her North Node in dedicated-to-a-cause Aquarius.

  She’s certainly determined, enraged, uncompromising and unpredictable. Her Moon is in stubborn and earthy Taurus. Tr Neptune square her Jupiter this year until early 2023 will dash a few of her hopes; the tr Saturn square tr Uranus will tug at her aggravated Mars square Pluto; and there are muddled, unhelpful Solar Arcs in 2022 so it won’t be easy in the immediate future.

  If I’m honest I’d have to admit to being conflicted. There are clearly huge and ongoing injustices that keep not being addressed which do damage to a goodly chunk of the population – and they need to be faced up to and brought under control.  I quite understand why those in a position to make a stand do so.

  And yet and yet – maybe its just compassion fatigue or oppression exhaustion – it does jar. As do the present run of USA TV police crime and medical series which have gone into propaganda mode. Which is perfectly understandable at one level given the inequities perpetrated against the black community.  And I am a huge believer in drama being a good vehicle for putting new ideas out into the culture. But but but – is it effective?  I’m not sure.

Pic: jenaragon94

Jill Biden has made it to the front cover of Vogue looking cheerful, energetic and capable with neither she nor Joe, as yet, giving any indication of the turbulence hinted at in the disruptive Inauguration chart.

  She’s an odd mix with her husband, having a chatty, argumentative Sun Mars in Gemini on the focal point of a go-ahead Jupiter in Aries trine Pluto. She’s no submissive, arm-candy wife.  Her Moon may be late Taurus/early Gemini.

  Her Sun, maybe Moon, fall in his 7^th house which is good for partnerships but her Sun Mars are conjunct his Saturn Uranus possibly her Moon as well, which will be scratchy if they are together for extended periods without the distraction of high-powered careers. Though her Moon may oppose his Sun Venus in Scorpio which will add an affectionate touch. Her Venus in Cancer is also conjunct his Jupiter which will smooth round rough edges. Her Saturn in hard-working Virgo sits in his 10^th so she will keep him organised.

  Their relationship chart has a confident and lucky composite Sun square Jupiter and a tied-together Saturn Pluto conjunction on the focal point of a look-on-the-bright-side mini-Grand Trine of Jupiter trine Neptune.

  The Solar and Lunar Eclipses this year are impacting her Sun Mars in Gemini especially the upcoming December Sagittarius Eclipse as she makes the tricky transition into a goldfish bowl existence. There will be arguments, crises, significant turning points now and until mid 2022. Where she will start to be uncertain will be when tr Neptune opposes her Saturn from May 2022, on and off into early 2023; and she also has a calamitous Solar Arc Mars conjunct her Pluto, hitting exact late 2022/early 2023.

  The strain on the Inauguration chart shows up around 2023 and 2024 with the Solar Arc Sun in a downbeat, stuck conjunction to Saturn early in 2023, followed by tr Pluto conjunct the Inauguration Sun from late March 2023 onwards, on and off till late 2024. Then Solar Arc Saturn closes the aggravated, accident-prone and explosive square to Mars and Uranus to exact in early and mid 2024.

  Joe Biden’s personal chart also hints at a gathering storm through 2023/24. The Scorpio/Taurus Eclipses of 2022 will pose some challenges with a rolling disaster or two from tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Pluto midpoint from April 2022 onwards for a year; and the pressures will mount in 2023 with confusion, indecision, vagueness with high hopes not producing results. With 2024 looking disaster strewn and again disappointing.

  Kamala Harris will be under rising pressures with tr Pluto square her Libra Sun through 2022/23; with panicky-failures in 2022, a significant setback around the fall of 2023 and high uncertainty and anxiety through 2024.

  The four years of the USA moving through its First Pluto Return will take its toll.  The USA chart also shows 2024/25 as troublesome, accident-prone and worrisome years with the Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the USA Mars and then square the USA Neptune.

See previous Post: 4 March 2020

Lebanon once dubbed the ‘Switzerland of the East’ for its financial prowess and the playboy-capital Beirut as the ‘Paris of the Middle East’ for its vibrant cultural and social life is in a sorry state. A ruinous civil war, wholesale corruption at a high level, an economic crisis with currency devaluation pushing the Lebanese pound to 16,000 to the dollar from 1,500 18 months ago, and a breakdown of public services largely due to an inability to form an effective government have reduced the country to rubble. ‘For many households, basic services including health, electricity, water, internet and education are almost out of reach, but this has made little impact on politicians intent on protecting a patronage system run along the sectarian lines that has undermined competent governance for decades.’

   The Lebanon, 1 January 1944 12 am chart, is riddled with three Yods with focal points Sun, Mercury, Saturn respectively so it was always going to plough a fairly unique furrow and be under periodic strain, even more so than most countries. The ‘leadership’ North Node is conjunct Pluto and the Part of Fortune which does suggest extremes of prosperity and the opposite as Pluto goes in for periodic purging phases – deconstruction and reconstruction. Although this modern chart only started in 1944, it will have resonances with the much older charts – and at one point three thousand years ago Lebanon was home to the Phoenicians who had an expansive maritime trade network that lasted over a millennium and was the dominant commercial power for much of classical antiquity. Like most empires it eventually crumbled only to rise up later and repeat.

  Last year’s mammoth explosion which was in part a result of corruption but was also a symbolic parallel for the present widespread destruction. It occurred when the Solar Arc Neptune was opposition the focal point Saturn and tr Pluto was moving across the focal point Mercury. Both these influences are still around this year.

    In the past the international community, in particular France, has always come to the rescue but there is a hardening of attitudes until there is internal reform of both the government and national finances. The Bank of Lebanon chart, 1 August 1963, is highly stressed until mid decade with a run of difficult Solar Arcs – so any attempts to put the country onto a sensible track won’t happen overnight. The country chart has a faint indication of better news come 2024 when the Solar Arc Mars Uranus is conjunct the Jupiter.

See previous post August 5 2020

Pic	User:BlingBling10

Sajid Javid has been made the new Health Secretary. He was formerly Home Secretary and latterly Chancellor until he resigned after disagreements with Boris about his independence in the role following a stand-off with bully-boy Dom Cummings.

   He was born 5 December 1969 in Rochdale, England with immigrant parents, had a comprehensive school education followed by provincial university and then a sparkling career in banking in New York and with Deutsche Bank, earning gzillions.

  He’s a Sun Sagittarius with a confident and adventurous Jupiter in Libra (and Moon) trine Mars in Aquarius, sextiling onto Mercury in outspoken Sagittarius. His Mercury is also in an intense and determined square to Pluto. It’s a chart that really needs a birth time to pull it together.

  His Sun will be in the line of fire from this coming December’s Solar Eclipse which will be challenging. But he does have a super-confident tr Pluto square his Jupiter from early 2022 till late 2023 which will help as he takes on the herculean task of overseeing the end of the pandemic and then catching up on the backlog of neglected health cases and overseeing reforms moving ahead. Where he looks less ebullient will be 2023/4.

  His relationship with Boris isn’t great at the best of times and is sliding and slipping through 2021/2022. He’ll be jousting with Michael Gove for supremacy as well with a few clashes.

  There’s positive and negative on his interface with the NHS as his Jupiter is trine the NHS Mercury, Uranus, Venus and Moon and his Mercury is conjunct the NHS Jupiter. But his Uranus is conjunct the NHS Neptune and square the NHS Cancer Sun and his Pluto is conjunct the NHS Mars and squares their Gemini planets – so there will be a fair amount of pushing and pulling, and resistance internally.

  The NHS is in a swampy phase with tr Neptune opposition the Mars, now till early 2023, and opposition the Venus, Uranus, Mercury until Neptune moves out of Pisces in 2025; with major bumps on the road from tr Uranus square tr Saturn hitting on the Pluto Saturn in Leo.

  Brexit hasn’t helped with curbs on foreign workers coming in on whom the NHS rely. And then there is the political hot potato which to date no one has dared to tackle – making people pay for at least part of their treatment. Most of Europe works on a basis of part state funded, part private insurance funded. Apart from anything else it would stop nuisance visits to GPs/A&E hospital units from time wasters.