not categorised

James Randi, the illusionist and magician turned paranormal sceptic, has died aged 92. He made a media career out of debunking healers, psychics, spoon benders, mind readers, fortune tellers, water dowsers, faith healers, lumping them altogether as fakes, frauds and cons.  He was co-founder of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), which despite its title was not a scientific organization. More of a propaganda movement, it had a damaging effect on parapsychology and retarded its development. Likewise astrology, which it attempted to blow out of the water by repeating Michel Gauquelin’s study showing that champion athletes are more likely to be born with Mars in certain positions in the sky. When the results of their study appeared to back up Gauquelin’s results, they fiddled their conclusions to prove the opposite.

  Randi was born 7 August 1928 in Toronto, Canada with an unverified time of 1.20 am. He had an entrepreneurial, attention-demanding Fire Grand Trine of a Leo Sun and Mercury trine Saturn in Sagittarius trine Uranus in Aries. A bulldozer Mars in Taurus (conjunct Algol) was square Venus Neptune in Leo. His Mercury was in an over-confident square to Jupiter in indulgent Taurus, so he’d over-promise. Not a subtle temperament.

   He made his name on television attacking and undermining spoon-bender Uri Geller, 20 December 1946 2.30 am Tel Aviv, Israel. Though Geller said he always regarded Randi as good publicity and it didn’t dent his career. It was more of a symbiotic relationship with Randi needing a windmill to tilt at. Protagonist and antagonist, one needs the other.

  Randi’s Sun was conjunct Geller’s 10^th house Pluto for an endless tussle.

   I would have to admit to a personal bias since I deeply disliked Randi. Not that there aren’t charlatans out there in the psychic field but in many ways he was as big a chancer as any of the flakes he puffed up his career exposing. I was in a TV chat show with him many years ago and sharply attacked his blanket denials of all matters paranormal and he completely deflated to the extent the show was never transmitted. I also tripped across him in the 1990s during a child sexual abuse campaign where he was on the ‘scientific’ board of the False Memory Movement, whose raison d’etre was to write off allegations of abuse as fantasy. The Memory Wars of the 1990s pitted dinosaurs whose careers were built on outdated theories of how the mind and memory work against trauma specialists generating a flood of new research. Randi was, for sure, not on an open-minded voyage of discovery about new evidence in science and did considerable damage.

ADD ON: The Sun, Baltimore on Saturday June 5, 1993 reported that a US Federal jury ruled that the “Amazing Randi”, a magician, defamed a Finksburg scientist by calling him a child molester and caused him to suffer humiliation, mental anguish, suffering and damage to his reputation because of the false statements.

 “The scientist’s lawyers sought to discredit Mr Randi by playing taped conversations of teen-age boys who called the magician’s home allegedly for sex.”      A copy of that tape is part of the court record. [ Byrd v Randi (Civil Action No. MJG-89-636 in the United States District for the Court for the District of Maryland.] Transcripts of the tape are also part of the court record in Geller v Randi, (Civil Action No 91-1014-SSH in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The transcripts are contained in Exhibit 40 to Exhibit U]. James Randi claimed that this tape sought to “blackmail” him.

Pope Francis has caused great excitement by saying that same-sex couples should be allowed to have “civil unions”. “Homosexual people have a right to be in a family,” he said in the film, which premiered this week. “They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or made miserable over it.” He took a similar stance when Archbishop of Buenos Aires and there is no indication of a doctrinal shift within the Church which regards gay relationships as deviant behaviour. And this despite some estimates that well over half if not up to 80% of Vatican priests are homosexual (not all practising).

  But it may also be that Francis is trying to shift the temperature of the debate towards liberalism in gradual steps.

  His Election chart, 13 March 2013 7.06 pm Rome, always did indicate an explosively divisive papacy with Mars Uranus in Aries sitting astride the Descendant.

   And he has faced massive problems in sorting out the Vatican’s tangled finances which he described as like “cleaning the Sphinx of Egypt with a toothbrush” – with indications from the recent unprecedented firing of Cardinal Becciu that he is losing patience with the speed of reforms. His efforts to tackle sex abuse amongst the clergy have also run into problems and not produced the results and transparency demanded by victims. Which again may be a reflection of intransigence within the Vatican. But he has been appointing cardinals who are on-side with his modernist views on a range of topics including on decentralizing power from Rome and who will elect his successor. So his legacy will live on.

  He is 83 now so he will not have the energy to take on the hundred-headed hydra that exists in the Vatican for ever. Tr Neptune is conjunct his papacy Venus this year and Sun in 2021/22; with a short-sharp-shock from Solar Arc Sun conjunct the Mars, exact in a few weeks but could have triggered early – either with this direct statement or even the firing of Becciu.

  Finances look a preoccupation in 2021/22 with tr Uranus opposition the 2^nd house Saturn with tr Saturn in square.  With another emotional upset in 2022 when the Solar Arc Uranus is conjunct the Moon.

  His personal chart, 17 December 1936 9pm Buenos Aires, Argentina, is being rattled emotionally by tr Uranus square the Venus this year and early next; and in 2021 square the 8^th house Moon; with tr Saturn conjunct from early 2021. He will feel isolated and thrown back on his own resources with an undermining tr Neptune square his Sun by 2022.

  His relationship chart with the Vatican is slipping and sliding with a disappointing tr Neptune conjunct the Venus and Sun in 2020/21; as well as tr Pluto opposing the Pluto and squaring the Uranus before this year end turning everything upside down.

  It must be a real test of his metal to survive in a hostile Vatican while trying to push through much needed reforms and corruption-cleansing against heavy resistance.

   The Vatican is heading for a radical change of direction but not until the middle of this decade (if the 11am start time is accurate) – when tr Uranus is conjunct the Midheaven and thereafter Uranus in Gemini will conjunct the Moon, Sun and Mercury more or less at the same time as the Solar Arc Uranus will conjunct the Vatican Pluto in 2029 for a radical upheaval. Before then it will follow a winding path with jolts, jangles, setbacks and arguments in 2021 as tr Uranus and tr Saturn collide with its Mars in Leo; and in 2022 tr Saturn damps down enthusiasm and confidence as it opposes Neptune and squares the Jupiter and Midheaven – with a couple of overly optimistic and financial bubble-bursting Solar Arcs at the same time.

A surprise result in the Bolivia election put progressive Luis Arce way out in front of the right-wing candidates supported by the police-military coup of 2019. As the economic minister for more than a decade under President Evo Morales who was forced to flee the country in 2019, Arce was deemed to be the mastermind behind Bolivia’s rapid economic resurgence with a three-fold GDP increase and extreme poverty reduced from 38% to 15%.

  After the 2019 coup, security forces massacred dozens of unarmed supporters of Morales/Arce’s party and charged regime opponents with “terrorism” and “sedition”. Racism against the indigenous majority became overt. The transitional government cosied up to the Trump administration, deported 700 Cuban doctors who were providing public healthcare, and signalled its intention to pursue the old policies of privatisation and austerity.

  Bolivia, 6 August 1825, will face considerable financial headaches in 2021 extending into 2022 with its Leo Sun catching the economically unstable tr Saturn square tr Uranus. It looks fairly log-jammed at the moment with tr Pluto opposition the Mars until late this December with a panicky, uncertain tr Neptune square the Saturn in early 2021.

  The Bank of Bolivia, 20 July 1928, looks on high alert and nervy in 2021 with Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Bank Mercury; but it is 2022/23 which will be the major challenges with a testing tr Pluto opposition the Cancer Sun in 2022/23 and an insecure and ‘shocking’ tr Saturn square tr Uranus hitting its Mars in 2022 as well.

 Luis Arce, 28 September 1963, in addition to grappling with multiple political problems ahead is also recovering from severe kidney cancer so may have health worries on top. He’s a charming Sun Venus in Libra with a pro-active Jupiter in Aries; and a used-to-hardship Saturn in Aquarius square Mars Neptune in Scorpio. His 2021 looks confused and uncertain with tr Neptune opposition his Mercury; and the tr Uranus square tr Saturn is rattling up his Mars Neptune which looks highly stressed; with a dead-halt Solar Arc Pluto square his Mars in 2022 at the same time as a confidence-dampening Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his Jupiter.

  He’ll have his work cut out  

The Spanish flu epidemic is the one most often mentioned as a comparison for Covid-19. Though the present death rate of just over one million is a blip against the 50 million plus who died of the flu in four waves between 1918 to 1920. The second wave was the deadliest though again that doesn’t look to be the case now. What exacerbated the spread of the influenza back then were troops returning from World War One.

   It took hold in March 1918 on a Saturn Neptune conjunction (in Leo) which is a classic epidemic signature. Both planets were still in Leo though not conjunct by the third wave in early 1919. The third wave was less severe than the second wave but still more deadly than the first. The fourth wave in spring 2020 was in isolated patches but still with high death rates.

  When it started to recede and then disappear in 1920 Saturn had moved from Leo into Virgo and was in an economically restrictive and unstable opposition to Uranus – the global recession of 1920/21 fitted the astro-pattern. And a similar effect will be repeated in different signs in 2021 as Uranus in Taurus squares Saturn in Aquarius.    What followed the recessionary dip was the Roaring Twenties with Neptune in Leo bringing a period of economic expansion and prosperity, most obvious in the USA, lasting until the 1929 crash and the Great Depression following.

  Nothing ever repeats exactly and the planets are in different signs but the parallels are interesting nonetheless. The Saturn Pluto conjunction which was the bringer of the plague this time round will separate by sign late this December and Saturn will move onto the square to Uranus for the economic pain which is undoubtedly coming in 2021.

See post on previous historic plagues: March 22 2020

ADD ON:
Previous Saturn Neptune conjunctions this century were in 1989 in Capricorn and in 1952 in Libra.

In the USA, the 1952 polio epidemic was the worst outbreak in the nation’s history, and is credited with focusing public awareness on the need for a vaccine. Of the 57,628 cases reported that year 3,145 died and
21,269 were left with mild to disabling paralysis. The vaccine had an immediate effect and since 1982 there have been no domestically acquired polio cases in the UK.

 1989/90 saw a small spike in influenza deaths, a localised USA measles outbreak and more cholera deaths in Africa though not at pandemic level.

  Previous Saturn Neptune conjunctions in Aries were in 1703 and 1056. There was an outbreak of  Yellow Fever in New York in 1702 and smallpox in Quebec in 1703 – though they were localised epidemics. Easier in those days when travel was relatively  limited.

1703 had Saturn Neptune in Aries square Uranus in Cancer and trine Pluto in Leo – and was the opener of a century that ushered into the Enlightenment as well as expanding slavery.

 

 

Support for Scottish independence has risen to 58% in a recent poll, much of this due to disapproval of the Boris botch-up over the pandemic and Brexit in comparison to Nicola Sturgeon’s steadier approach. Though, truth to tell, the Covid situation in both countries isn’t dissimilar and much of what Sturgeon blames Westminster for, is part of her devolved health responsibility.

  Whether the numbers would stay that high faced with economic realities is moot – of customs posts at the border, additional tariffs for Scotland’s main export market, currency problems with no GBP backing, and all in addition to rebuilding after the financial hit of the past year, and without the Barnett top up from Westminster.

  The Act of Union between England and Scotland came into being on 1 May 1707 JC and has survived for over three centuries. So it will have been rattled by planetary influences again and again during that time. It’s a glued-together, enduring chart with a Taurus Sun square Pluto Jupiter and, if a start time of 12 midnight is assumed, has Pluto Jupiter and Uranus in the 8^th – so it won’t budge easily.

  Tr Uranus is now back in Taurus as it was in the 1930s just after the Scottish National Party was formed. And indeed as it was in 1853 when the “Home Rule” movement for a Scottish Assembly was first taken up. So the present unrest is following the pattern which questions the 1707 agreement. Two decades after the first Uranus Return in the 1870s tr Pluto in Taurus put additional pressure on the bond in a conjunction to the Act of Union Sun and square the Pluto. And it survived both of those heavyweight influences without dissolving.

  There are some jolts on the Act of Union chart this year into spring 2021 with tr Uranus square the Uranus, and more in 2023 when tr Uranus is conjunct the Act Sun and square Pluto; with a raft of setbacks, uncertainties and dissolving Solar Arcs between 2023 and 2026/8.

   It would look more likely, if it is going to happen in some shape or form, to be in the aftermath of tr Pluto moving into Aquarius in 2023/24 and more so when the Saturn Neptune conjunction in Aries happens in 2026/27.  By that time tr Pluto has been trine the UK 1801 Uranus in 2024/25 for an upheaval and a rebellion; and separating tr Saturn moves into the 7^th house of close relationships in 2026, joined by tr Neptune in 2027.

  By 2023 as well tr Uranus, will be on the final leg of a destabilising roller-coaster round the UK’s financial and political planets, which starts in 2021 and extends on. By 2023 tr Uranus will square the 11^th house Saturn which rules the legislature so there may well be changes to Westminster and other political centres. The UK will be shaken and stirred with increasing confusion almost throughout this decade with the Solar Arc Midheaven squaring the financial Neptune by 2024; and then in the latter stages of the decade tr Neptune square the Capricorn Sun.

  What will help to bolster morale though it may or may not affect a Scot-exit is tr Pluto in opposition to the UK Jupiter in 2024/25 and moving into the UK 5^th after mid decade, both of which will revive UK morale and dynamic ambition.

  There is a good deal of water to flow under many bridges between now and 2026 which could affect the outcome of an IndyRef – not at least of which in Scotland is the damaging spat between Sturgeon and Salmond and their respective supporters.

Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand PM has won a landslide victory in the general election and is projected to win a rare outright parliamentary majority. Her charisma carried her through her first term with a terrorist attack, a natural disaster and the pandemic, although she’s been criticised for not having a clear Covid-19 recovery plan. NZ is also, like elsewhere, in recession and the economy will be an uphill struggle ahead. 

  A while back the result looked as if it might be close but with her Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct her Pluto now she was on a winning streak. Plus tr Uranus is trine her Jupiter last month on and off throughout 2021 and into early 2022. So luck is on her side.

  Her Leo Sun sits in the NZ 10^th so she’s well-designed to boost the country’s ambitions and steer its direction; with her innovative Uranus changing NZ’s image as it sits in the NZ 1^st. There is a slight hint of finances being a foggy area for her with her Neptune opposition Venus falling across the NZ 2/8^th houses.

 Her relationship chart with NZ is powerful with a composite lucky, progressive Sun Jupiter conjunction square Pluto and Neptune – pushily confident together, with a hint of a slightly over-done aura of compassion.

 New Zealand is in for a tough time ahead there’s no doubt with tr Uranus in 2021 conjunct the Saturn and the Descendant – jolts, jangles, economic recession not letting up and trouble with neighbours. Plus the megaton tr Pluto conjunct the Capricorn Sun picking up from late February 2021 onwards, starting three to four years of colossal challenges as tr Pluto moves on to conjunct the NZ Mars and then square the Pluto. It’ll be one of the more testing phases in NZ’s history. With some downbeat patches later this year with tr Saturn conjunct Sun, Mars and square Pluto now till the end of the year.

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What goes up must come down. In the rollercoaster of history, empires and superpowers rise and ultimately fall, sometimes to rise again, sometimes not. Nothing lasts for ever. Spain, France and England/Britain once had empires of unimaginable size – and now they don’t. But they still exist and in varying ways attempt to reconcile themselves to the loss of their former status. Pluto Returns occurring roughly every 250 years can be one indicator of rises and falls. The USA is moving into its First Return in 2022/23. Below are examples from countries which have old enough charts to have experienced Pluto Returns. Thanks to Hugh for a detailed looked at the Roman Empire’s turbulent history over many centuries through the lens of its Pluto Returns.  

England 11 May 973 JC AD chart – Pluto 27 Leo. Pluto Returns in 1956; 1709/10; 1463/64; and 1217/18.  The Pluto Return of 1709/10 propelled the British Empire into existence after the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707 – at its height it was the largest empire in history. The Suez Crisis in 1956 was the consummate humiliation for Great Britain, signalling its fall from world super-power with the empire crumbling fast in the years before and after.

Spain 19 January 1479 JC – Pluto 1 Libra. The Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in history. From the late 15th century to the early 19th, Spain controlled vast overseas territories. One of the superpowers of the 16th and 17th centuries, it was known as “the empire on which the sun never sets” and reached its maximum extent in the 18th century. It moved through its first Pluto Return around 1724; and began a slow decline at a Pluto half Return in the 19^th Century. The most recent Pluto Return around 1972 saw the dictator Franco gradually relinquishing power, nominating a monarch as successor and handing over the Prime Ministership by 1973.

France 19 August 843 JC – Pluto 29 Pisces. Previous Pluto Returns: 1577, 1332, 1088. Around the second Pluto Return in 1337 and the start of the Hundred Years War, France was at the height of its mediaeval glory. The most recent Pluto Return in 1821 saw the death of Napoleon on the exact aspect and the government of France moved into instability thereafter, though the Second French Colonial Empire built up post-1830 became one of the largest empires in history.

Russia 28 March 1462 JC – Pluto 22 Leo. Previous Return 1708/9. The most recent Pluto Return was exact when Stalin died in early 1953. Previous Pluto Return was 1706.

Switzerland 26 May 1231 JC – most recent Pluto Return joined the Council of Europe. Before that 1726.

Austria 18 October 1221 JC – was angling to join the EEC on the most recent Pluto Return, managed it 6 years later. Before that 1714, 1468.

Scotland March 25 1005 JC – the second Pluto Return in 1745 saw the Jacobite Rebellion crushed by the English with savage repercussions. The next Pluto Return in 1991/2 saw Alex Salmond take over leadership of the Scottish National Party which led later to its rise to power. The Pluto Return first was 1252.

Sweden 1523 – Pluto 14 Capricorn. In the 17^th Century Sweden became a great power but had started to lose land and status fifty years before the next Pluto Return in 1768/9. The latest Pluto return of 2015/16 was during European refugee crisis.

Thanks to Hugh for the Roman Empire ups and downs of Pluto:

Rome – the traditional founding date is 753 BCE – Pluto 17 Leo.

The first Pluto Return in 509 BCE the Roman Republic was founded.

The Second Pluto Return coincided with the start of the Punic Wars circa 269 BCE.

The Third Pluto Return oversaw the second settlement of the Augustan Principate around 23 BCE.

The Fourth Pluto Return – 220s CE – the end of the Severan dynasty and the beginning of the 3rd Century Crisis of the Roman Empire which saw near constant civil wars.

The Fifth Pluto Return – 470 CE which saw the end of the Western Empire.

The Sixth Pluto Return – 717-718 CE oversaw the failed Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in (one of the most important events in European History).

9^th Pluto Return – 1204 – the Sack of Constantinople by Latin armies in 1204 (an event that fatally weakened the Byzantine world).

10^th Pluto Return  – 1453 CE when the former Christian capital Constantinople fell to the Ottomans.

Hugh: “I find that a remarkable set of repeated major turning points stretching over 2000 years. I would say those run of events indicate that Pluto Returns played a not insignificant role in the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.”

See November 18 2018 post for more detail on England.

Sweden is under pressure not just from their lax Covid strategy resulting in worse rates of infection and death but from burgeoning internal crime and an external Russian threat. Having opened their doors to refugees five years ago, they unwittingly let in about 40 criminal clans from the Middle East, north Africa and the Balkans who are pushing up crime, with 257 bombings and 300 shootings last year. In these clans, the extended family raises the children to take over the organized crime activities and they have no ambitions to become integrated into Swedish mainstream society. It’s grist to the right-wing politicos but is also a genuine problem which the standard Swedish libertarian approach is not well designed to root out.

  Sweden is also upping military spending by 40% in the next five years as it aims to strengthen its defence amid concerns over increasing Russian activity in the Baltic Sea and heightened tensions in Belarus following a disputed election.

  The Sweden chart, 7 December 1865 3.30 pm Stockholm, is in a scarily tight corner exactly now with a totally blocked and risky Solar Arc Mars conjunct the Sweden Pluto; and an explosive, insecure Solar Arc Uranus conjunct its 6^th house Mars, exact in two months.

  Tr Uranus started to oppose the Sweden Saturn from late May this year for a series of tension-erupting jolts and that repeats across late this month to late November and will then increase in strength through 2021 and 2022. Tr Uranus will conjunct the 11^th house Sweden Pluto from late May 2021 suggesting not only a radical change of trajectory as far as future plans are concerned; but also a serious shake-up in the structure of their once peaceful society. Tr Saturn will also add its own downbeat reality checks along the way. That extends into 2022 by which time tr Uranus will be square the 4^th house Moon with tr Saturn in opposition which suggests more domestic upsets and outbursts of emotion as safety and security become priorities.

  The Sweden Russia relationship chart  also looks under discouraging influences with tr Pluto trine the composite Saturn in 2021/22 with a significant diplomatic upset as tr Pluto also squares the composite Uranus at the same time. And the Eclipses from later this year and throughout 2021 rattling the relationship chart brewing up crises.

Margaret Ferrier, the MP condemned for travelling by train from London to Scotland despite testing positive to Covid, is still sitting though ousted from the SNP. She describes her actions as a “blip” and “out of character”. After being tested but before results came in she attended church, then travelled for five and a half hours on the train to London. Then having found she was positive she reversed her journey since she didn’t want to self-isolate in a hotel.

  Born 10 September 1960, she has an ego-centric and nervy Virgo Sun and Mercury on the point of a T square to an adventurous/opportunistic Jupiter in Sagittarius opposition Mars in Gemini. She also has an unyielding Pluto trine Saturn in Capricorn; and a stubborn and indulgent Taurus Moon. Her Jupiter is also in a risk-taking and lucky trine to Uranus.

   At the moment she has tr Uranus opposition her Saturn/Pluto midpoint which Ebertin describes as “the ability to make sudden decisions in the most difficult situation”. From late November for a few weeks she has a mix of luck and stress; with more upbeat Jupiters into 2021. 2022 may be a different matter with more of a slide downhill thereafter.

  Nothing succeeds like brass neck. This does appear to be the era of shamelessness. It’s difficult to embarrass those who don’t have a sense of honour or integrity.