not categorised

Odd thoughts on South Nodes in synastry since it has come up twice in the past week – Saudi MBS’s South Node in Scorpio conjunct Joe Biden’s Mars and Woody Allen’s South Node conjunct Dylan Farrow’s Sun Mars. Additional examples more than welcome.

  The South Node is about the habits of a lifetime, our familiar comfort zone, old baggage, our overdeveloped character traits that are all too easy to fall back on, but will undermine development if hung onto for security.  Fear and discomfort is associated with South Node issues and it is often a point of great insecurity. The North Node is the unknown to which we must strive if we want to be fulfilled. But not everyone wants to develop or is capable of it and the pressure to pull away from bad habits often gives rise to resentment.

  Where the South Node on one individual chart is conjunct another person’s planet, the result is often a strong sense of a ‘meant’ connection but it can be draining as the South Node has a tendency to drag back into the past or into ingrained behaviour patterns and refuses to allow for growth in the relationship.

  So A’s Sun conjunct B’s South Node can feel draining for A, although the connection may feel strong.

With a Moon conjunction there will be a marked difference in values with the Moon seeing the South Node as negative and anti-social. 

A Mercury South Node conjunction across two charts produces an intellectual rapport. But it also tends to make the South Node type unreceptive to the Mercury types ideas, so they have to work extra hard. And it will give rise to miscommunications.

If Venus is involved the Venus type feels restrained and can find the South Node type cold. Victoria Beckham’s South node is conjunct David Beckham’s Venus and although they have a strong connection there have been many ups and downs in their relationship. Her fashion business has also been a financial drain on him.  

Mars – the South Node person will restrain the Mars individual so it tends to end up in a cold, indifferent, resentful or angry connection. The Mars type sees the Node individual as stuck in the past and as holding them back. 

Saturn – there’s a sense that the South Node individual is restrictive and the relationship is likely to be heavy as well as unbreakable. Each tends to reinforce the other’s negativity. Liz Taylor’s Saturn was conjunct Richard Burton’s Capricorn South Node and they divorced and remarried twice.

  Across the zodiac, the North Node connection can be a powerful one. The Queen’s Taurus Sun is conjunct Prince Charles’ 10^th house North Node Moon; and her relentless-work-ethic Pluto is conjunct Prince William’s so she arguably pushes both of them on to develop. On the other hand Meghan Markle’s Mars is conjunct Prince William’s North Node which clearly riles him, though her overly assertive stance may well have prompted him to develop his caring Cancerian side during the Covid months.

 A few more Node contacts – Hillary Clinton’s North Node in Taurus is conjunct Bill’s Moon in his 8^th – a strong connection. Michelle Obama’s Aquarius Moon may be (birth time allowing) conjunct Barack’s South Node in Aquarius. Trump’s bombastic Mars in Leo is conjunct Obama’s North Node for a combustible interface.

The influential young Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has been pointedly left off Joe Biden’s call list on moving into the White House as a rebuke for his complicity in ordering the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Analysts are asking how far the reset in diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia will go since implicating the kingdom’s de facto leader in an act of premeditated murder is a high-risk strategy.  Biden has already suspended weapons sales and military assistance to the open-ended and inhumane Saudi-led offensive in Yemen, known to its critics as “MBS’s war” so he clearly means business in a way that Trump and Jared Kushner didn’t – including raising human rights issues. Even before Trump, Saudi Arabia was handled with kid gloves because of oil and intelligence interests – it took 14 years for the 9/11 commission report’s missing pages exploring Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the hijackers to be released and even then they were heavily redacted.

  There’s no doubt that Joe Biden and MBS clash badly with JB’s Mercury, Sun, Venus in Scorpio conjunct MBS’s Saturn in Scorpio with MBS’s Mars Mercury in Leo in square. Not a happy mix.

  Joe Biden’s chart relocated to Riyadh has Mars in the 7^th so he won’t be backwards about putting his foot down.  

  But the relationship chart between Saudi Arabia and the USA always an enthusiastic one and well-knit together isn’t showing much apart from a few intense discussions in 2022/23 with tr Pluto square the composite Mercury then.

  MBS is the heir presumptive which could change but is thought unlikely though Biden is thought to be pressing for the release of other Princes imprisoned by MBS in his scorched-earth drive for supremacy. 2021 will dent his arrogance a touch with more pressure building in 2022 but nothing too disruptive (without a birth time.)

America’s confessional tour-de force Oprah Winfrey, having retired in 2011 from her top-ranking (for 24 years) talk show, has recently jumped back into the arena. She’s partnered with Apple TV for The Oprah Conversation which launched in 2020 as tr Uranus squared her Aquarius Sun Venus.  To date she’s interviewed Barack Obama, Stevie Wonder, Matthew McConaughey, Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey and others. On March 7^th she adds a Meghan Markle and Prince Harry special as another notch on her belt.

  Although tr Saturn is moving through her lower-profile, less hard-working First Quadrant for some years ahead, she’s clearly incapable of taking it easy. Though not everything she touches will turn out successfully. Luckily March 7^th looks good news en passant with tr Jupiter trine her Libra Midheaven. Though she’ll have a few sinking moments through this year and next.

  Meghan is a reasonable mix with her since Oprah’s Sun Venus fall in M’s 7^th for friendly co-operation and Oprah’s Moon is in M’s attention-grabbing 5^th. More pointedly Oprah’s do-or-die determined Pluto is in M’s 2^nd house of finances, so M will reckon Oprah could boost her income. Though it won’t all be plain sailing with Oprah’s Mars conjunct M’s rebellious Uranus; and Oprah’s Uranus square M’s Pluto so there will be hot spots and disruptions. The proof will be in the pudding as this year wears on with the Oprah/Meghan relationship chart catching the full brunt of the tr Uranus square tr Saturn tugging at and dampening their joint enthusiasm plus a few Neptunian disappointments as well.

   Harry is a different kind of mix with Oprah since his Taurus Moon (= childhood family) sit uncomfortably with her Mars in Scorpio square Pluto, making him feel threatened at an underlying level. Though his regal Jupiter in Capricorn is conjunct Oprah’s Ascendant so from her viewpoint he will be a catch that boosts her persona.

  See previous post 12 February 2021

A total trivia brief. Paris Hilton, old-style influencer and celebutante, supported by a business income selling her brand name in perfumes and boutiques, and making club appearances has announced her engagement – her fourth to date, none with marriage to follow – to entrepreneur and venture capitalist Carter Reum.

  The only point of interest is they were born within two weeks of each other. She 17 February 1981 and he 5 February, which means they are pretty much clones. Both have Sun Venus in Aquarius while she has Mercury in Aquarius and he has Mars and maybe Moon in Aquarius. And both have Saturn Jupiter conjunct and Pluto in Libra – so very Airy. Her Moon is in flashy Leo while his is Aquarius or Pisces.

  The Gunter Sachs astro-study found more people married their own sign than you might expect. But this is an even tighter match – almost mirror images of each other.  

Tiger Woods has suffered multiple, serious leg breaks in a car accident when he veered off the road in southern Los Angeles. It’s heart breaking given his struggle to recover from debilitating back trauma in recent years to return to relatively pain-free golfing and win.

  At the moment his Solar Arc Uranus is exactly conjunct his Sagittarius Moon which sits on his IC giving him an emotional shock and disrupting his life as it crosses the foundations of his chart. He’s also got tr Neptune squaring his Midheaven undermining his career, picking up within weeks and running through till late 2022, as well as a knocked-sideways tr Uranus square his Solar Arc Midheaven.

  When he had the car crash in November 2009, as the scandal of his infidelities emerged and broke up his marriage, tr Uranus was exactly square his Moon and IC – so it’s clearly a sensitive point in his chart.

When photographs of his arrest in 2017 for driving under the influence of prescription drugs emerged tr Uranus in Aries was exactly square his 5^th house sporting Mercury; and at the moment tr Pluto is conjunct his Mercury on and off for an intense and gloomy two years ahead.

  His Solar Return for this year has Mars in the 8^th square Pluto Saturn Jupiter in the 5^th which is heavyweight – the police said he was lucky to be alive.

  The other sensitive point in his chart is his Taurus North Node opposition Venus in Scorpio. At the moment tr Mars is exactly conjunct Algol and in opposition to his Sun/Pluto midpoint and on the Venus/Node midpoint, hinting he may be more prone to catastrophes than most.

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The sad and distressing tale of Woody Allen and the allegations against him of creepy inappropriate behaviour by his estranged adopted daughter Dylan is resurrected in a four-part HBO docu-series Allen v Farrow.  It wasn’t made at the instigation of the Farrow family who were only persuaded when further court evidence came to light from the original 1990s trial; and according to reviewers is damning of Allen’s attitude towards Dylan. He homed in on her, developing what was described as an obsession that went far beyond normal family boundaries. He and his long-time partner Soon-Yi, another of Mia Farrow’s adoptive children, deny the accusations.

  What was always odd about Woody Allen’s chart, 1 December 1935 10.55pm New York, who comes across as an unattractive wimp, is a megaton Mars in Capricorn in the attention-demanding 5^th house opposition Pluto squaring onto Venus in Libra. Mars Pluto makes him dominating, a scary control-freak; Mars square Venus tends to be insensitive to the needs of other; and Venus Pluto is intense and compulsive where affections are concerned.

  His Mars opposition Pluto squares onto Dylan’s Pluto with his Uranus in opposition to her Pluto – so he would make her feel disempowered and be a disruptive force in her life. There’s little affection or even passion showing up in the synastry. What is there is Dylan’s Sun Mars in Cancer conjunct Allen’s South Node. Connections to the South Node can feel immensely strong but there will be no potential for growth and can be draining for the Sun individual. 

  Mia Farrow evidently blames herself for putting her daughter in harm’s way and not being more perceptive as Dylan became withdrawn. Mia was previously in a brief marriage to a 30-years-older Frank Sinatra, then with a 15-years-older Andre Previn before settling into a decade plus relationship with Allen, which collapsed when she found nude pictures of her adoptive daughter Soon-Yi, then 21, emerged. Not great judgement about men.

  Though on the surface it wasn’t a bad match between Mia and Allen since her Aquarius Sun is conjunct his Moon; her Capricorn Sun is conjunct his North Node in his 5^th and her Jupiter trine his Midheaven. Both have Mars in Capricorn but in her case in an enthusiastic trine to Jupiter and in his the more ominous opposition to Pluto. But their relationship chart has a chained-together composite Saturn square Pluto in a power-struggling square to Jupiter; and a controlling, trapped, bitter-hostility Pluto opposition Mars.

  At the moment both have tr Pluto conjunct their Mars (and composite Mars) from the final day of this month till late June, and on and off till late 2022 – which is trapped, frustrating, enraging.

A never-ending and anguished saga. 

See previous post January 17 2018.

The fight-to-the-death battle between Alex Salmond and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is coming to a head. He has now accused Sturgeon’s husband of attempting to have him ‘imprisoned’ as part of conspiracy at the top of the SNP. Observers now think his long-cherished political aim of Scottish independence is taking second place to destroying Sturgeon.

  A confusion of claims and counterclaims over the recent past is too tedious to linger on, starting with accusations of sexual assault against Salmond by several women.  See previous post January 13 2021 for details. Salmond, now due to give evidence in Holyrood, thinks his testimony will prove that Sturgeon lied to the Scottish Parliament over what she knew. If she did break the ministerial code in this regard then she will have to resign. All of which cheers those who are against Scottish independence, though Sturgeon is still expected to win at the May election since there is no credible opposition, despite the SNP’s abysmal record over their terms in office in education, police and more recently the covid crisis.

   Peter Murrell, Sturgeon’s husband is leader of the SNP, 8 December 1964 and is a volatile Sagittarius Sun square Uranus, Mars, Pluto in Virgo. His Sun squares Salmond’s 10^th house Mars in Pisces and his Pluto Mars Uranus sit in Salmond’s 4^th house opposition his Mars – so no surprises they don’t get on, with Murrell being an aggravating and unsettling influence on Salmond’s career. Murrell’s Neptune is also conjunct Salmond’s Saturn in Scorpio on one leg of his Water Grand Trine which will also sow doubt and lead to fears of conspiracies.  Their relationship is, not surprisingly, sinking into a mire in coming two years with tr Neptune eroding good feelings.

  More significantly Salmond’s relationship with Sturgeon has four distinct strands – one is a friendly, sensible Sun Venus sextile Saturn. Then there is a power-couple composite Jupiter Pluto conjunction, which, while co-operation lasts, can move mountains but at some point usually turns into a struggle for the upper hand. There is also a hope-for-a-better-society Saturn square Neptune which again has an underside of doubt and suspicion. And last and most intriguing from an astro-view is a composite Mars conjunct the destructive Fixed Star Algol on the focal point of a T square to a volatile/no-compromise Uranus opposition Moon. That was always going to blow sky high – and tr Pluto is now on the trine to the composite Mars.

  Salmond isn’t looking remotely cheerful or successful in the next three years with tr Neptune conjunct his 10^th house Mars now and then across his Mars/Moon midpoint and Moon till late 2023 leading to a sense of panicky failure.

 Sturgeon has the challenging tr Pluto opposition her Cancer Sun from late this month across the May election, and on and off till late 2022; and is also facing devastating circumstances with tr Pluto square her Neptune/Pluto midpoint at the same time. She’ll face career losses in March and won’t be delirious before or after the election; but she does have minor uplift from a Jupiter midpoint in early May, so she may just squeak through though she’s panicked and downhill thereafter, running into a total dead halt and major frustration in 2022/23 from tr Pluto square her Mars to which she will respond with her customary undentable confidence.

Add ON: The heat is rising fast with more twists and turns. Andrew Neil in the Mail gives a reasonable precis of the convoluted story line under the headline:

“Censorship, bullying, threats of jail… how Nicola Sturgeon’s storm troops turned Scotland into a banana republic without the bananas.”

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9297015/ANDREW-NEIL-Nicola-Sturgeons-storm-troops-turned-Scotland-banana-republic.html

The Telegraph pronounces: “The useless and authoritarian SNP is turning Scotland into a failed state.” And the Guardian’s Martin Kettle remarks: “The SNP has certainly always had its cult-like qualities. Public argument is almost as rare in the SNP as it is in Sinn Féin. But the familiar internal discipline has been breaking down. [Sturgeon’s] supporters were reported this week to think Salmond has now “gone the full Donald Trump”.

  The Scotland 25 March 1005 chart has a hard-edged, short-fused Mars in Aries square Saturn in Cancer, which will give both military prowess and a tendency to take grievances to heart.  Tr Pluto is exactly square the Mars now and throughout this year, moving to oppose the Saturn in 2022/23 – which will be a discouraging slog. Both Salmond and Sturgeon slot into this chart astrologically with her Cancer Sun square Jupiter on the same degrees; and Salmond’s Jupiter Uranus in Cancer also in close aspect. But both their relationship charts with Scotland are under sinking stars this year and next.

 The SNP amalgamation chart of 14 December 1933 is also sagging badly this year with tr Neptune square the Sagittarius Sun on and off till January 2023; and there’ll be much pushing and pulling and jolting from tr Saturn conjunct and tr Uranus square the Saturn.

Poland is heading towards another battle over EU values with a proposed tax on media advertising being seen as the latest in a series of steps by the ruling conservative party with strong ties to the influential Catholic Church, to curb independent journalism. Since the Law and Order Party (PiS) took office in 2015, Poland has tumbled from 18th to 62nd place in the World Press Freedom Index — below Niger and Armenia. And there have been other EU conflicts over sweeping changes to the judiciary that critics say have subverted democracy and the rule of law as well as a controversial court ruling that all but outlawed abortions.

 Some Polish journalists fear that the EU’s fifth biggest state could end up following a similar path to Hungary, where Viktor Orban’s government has suffocated much of the country’s independent media.

  And there are Geminis as far as the eye can see. Orban has a Gemini Sun; as does Mateusz Morawiecki , the Polish PM with his Boris-like collection of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars in Gemini square Uranus Pluto in Virgo; as does Jaroslaw Kaczynski, firebrand founder and leader of PiS and now Deputy PM with his Sun and Mars in Gemini. Who’d have thought free-roaming Geminis would turn out – in some cases – to have such a dictatorial, narrow-minded, retrograde mindset? Mind you the Vatican 1929 chart has a New Moon and Mercury in Gemini which always struck me as odd.

  The modern Poland 24 August 1989 1.05pm Warsaw chart, is in a mega-confusing, not to say devastating year with the Solar Arc Neptune square the Pluto, with the tr Uranus square tr Saturn banging against the Pluto as well – upheavals, disruptions, rebellions, logjammed.

The EU Accession chart of 1 May 2004 looks equally rattled with a separating tr Saturn square the Taurus Sun and tr Uranus conjunct, picking up next month and continuing on throughout the year. A totally blocked Solar Arc Pluto opposition the Saturn late 2021. And there’s an undermining tr Neptune square the Pluto and Venus before moving onto an even more panicky-failure square to the Mars in 2022/23.

  Diplomatic relations won’t be getting any easier anytime soon with the EU already threatening to withhold funds if community values are not upheld. In 2018 Poland was a net recipient of EU funds to the tune of twelve and a half billion euros.

Marina Hyde, the Guardian comment wit, is a bright spot in the political and celebrity arena, pulling icons off pedestals and rubbishing parliamentary poseurs. Along the way she usually gives a helpful precis of complicated stories. Occasionally she goes too far with a few serous complaints against her but they are far outweighed by her awards.

  She was born 13 May 1974, daughter of a double-barrelled Tory baronet, so an unlikely left-wing rebel. She has a stalwart Taurus Sun on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct Uranus sextile North Node – which fits.  Plus a penetrating Mercury in Gemini trine Pluto and opposition Neptune – Neptune Pluto aspects usually bring sizeable ambitions. She also has Venus in pro-active Aries opposition Pluto squaring onto both Saturn and Mars in Cancer, which will give her an angry and cutting edge. And she may have, depending on an early birth time, a communicative Air Grand Trine of Mercury trine a mischief-making Aquarius Moon trine Pluto.

  An interesting astro-vignette.