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Edward de Bono, a self-styled genius who invented the term lateral thinking, has died. His 60 plus books and relentless stream of out-of-the-box ideas brought riches and withering criticism. One reviewer said he had “the great salesman’s gift of being fluent in the international language of gibberish. If his life and career teach us anything, it is that no one ever lost money blowing his own trumpet.” Another commentator rejected lateral thinking as “founded on nifty puzzles, a storehouse of anecdotes, an abundance of imperial generalities and no end of clunking analogies and neologisms”.

 One of his most quoted treasures was that Marmite could be a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict since the Middle Eastern unleavened bread lacked zinc which makes them irritable and belligerent. Feeding them Marmite would help create peace.

 Although he did have his supporters. Richard Branson called him “an inspiring man with brilliant ideas”. And he wasn’t wrong about education – “Schools waste two-thirds of the talent in society. The universities sterilise the rest,” he said.

  Born 19 May 1933 3am (biography) Valetta, Malta, he was inventive from an early age, took medical degrees in adult life while writing down his gems of wisdom as a second-string activity. His books eventually made him enough money to stop practising and he became rich with homes in London, Norfolk, Venice, Ireland, Malta and the Bahamas.

   He was a Sun Taurus – on this birth time in the financial 2^nd which would make sense; with an innovative, status-quo-upsetting Uranus in the 1^st square Pluto.

  What is intriguing about his not-very-interesting chart is his Neptune, Mars, Jupiter in Virgo which was shared with F Lee Bailey, the flamboyant lawyer and court bamboozler (see post below) and Joan Collins amongst others. Mars Jupiter is spilling over with energy and enthusiasm, is risk-taking, can lead to a might-makes-right approach and produces a campaigning, crusading spirit. Add Neptune into the mix and it becomes publicity-seeking as well as a dream-spinner.  He did have a scientifically inclined Saturn in Aquarius which would add a veneer of respectability to his theories.

 His global-renown 22^nd harmonic was strong; as was his get-it-together 5^th though it had a distinctly unique bent; and his breakthrough/exploration 13H.

Lindsey Buckingham, best known as lead guitarist and singer with Fleetwood Mac through its glory days, has announced a new solo album along with the news that he is divorcing his wife of 21 years Kristin Messner. Amidst tales of rolling melodrama and conflict he and Stevie Nicks, his romantic and musical partner of the time, raised the band to global heights in the 1970s/80s and after a decade’s break he returned in 1997 only to be fired in 2018. Rock n’ roll took its toll and he had open heart surgery in 2019.

  He was born 3 October 1949 1.53 am Palo Alto, California and has a Libra Sun, Mercury and Neptune which sounds easy-going enough. Except that his Sun is in a rebellious square to Uranus. He also has a high-octane, steamroller Mars Pluto in Leo square Venus in Scorpio which will make for super-intense emotional reactions. His 7^th house Aquarius Moon is the exact opposite, making him an odd mix of dependent and emotionally detached. A creature of opposites.

  His singing partnership with Stevie Nicks which was superlatively successful is intriguing astrologically since his megaton Mars Pluto was conjunct her Saturn Pluto in her 5^th which is some combination. With his Jupiter falling in her career 10^th boosting her chances of making it. And her Jupiter falls in his performing 5^th house.

   Although her Gemini Sun fits his Libra Sun and her Venus in Cancer was semi-OK with his watery Venus in Scorpio, it would be a tearing-flesh kind of connection, which eventually became too much to bear.

   His about-to-be-ex-wife Kristin Messner, a former photographer, does have her Pisces Sun and Mercury in his 7^th house which is a good crossover and her Venus in Pisces in his 8^th for a deep connection. Her Jupiter hovers around his IC which would be supportive at a family and domestic level. Though her Uranus conjunct his Sun would bring a few tensions and her Mercury opposition his Mars Pluto some bitter arguments. She has a powerfully determined Yod of Mars sextile Mercury inconjunct her Pluto so she would be a match for him.

  Their relationship chart is a mix of supportive, adventurous, affectionate and strained. The composite Sun, Mercury, Jupiter opposes Mars and trines Uranus which looks fun. The Moon probably conjunct Venus is comforting. But the Yod of Mars sextile Uranus inconjunct Venus would bring emotional tensions.

  Lindsey’s Sun/Moon midpoint at 19 Sagittarius has been catching the transiting Neptune square in the past two years; and Kristin’s Sun/Moon in the last decan of Capricorn will have suffered from the tr Uranus square tr Pluto of the past few years. And their relationship chart has had tr Neptune undermining the Jupiter, Mercury and Mars, as well as tr Pluto square tr Uranus hitting on the Venus in recent years.

  At the moment he has both Pluto and Saturn moving through his 6^th house of health – tr Pluto had just moved in when he had heart surgery in early 2019 – so he will need to be cautious but if all is well then Saturn is heading in the right direction in terms of career for a few years ahead. Jupiter will also bring more money his way through 2022, moving through his 8^th and a good year success-wise in 2024.

Pic: Raph_PH

Lee Miller’s damaging childhood propelled her into adult life with an inclination towards risky, unstable though talented men. Man Ray, the photographer, 27 August 1890, who taught her and tried to control her, had a hair-raisingly difficult chart with Neptune Pluto in Gemini opposition Mars square Sun Saturn in Virgo – hard, angry, ruthless, unbalanced.

  Her Paris circle included Pablo Picasso, 25 October 1881 11.15 pm Malaga, Spain, who was a Scorpio Sun opposition Saturn with a pushily confident Jupiter Pluto and Neptune in Taurus opposition Mercury in Scorpio; with an insensitive Venus square Mars. A breaching whale of a personality.

 Salvador Dali, 11 May 1904 8.45am Figueras, Spain, was another Taurus with his Sun conjunct Mercury, Mars and Algol all squaring Saturn – cruel, stubborn, angry.  He also had a disruptive Pluto opposition Uranus.

   In Los Angeles she also mixed with physician George Hodel, thought to have been the Black Dahlia serial killer, who socialised with Man Ray and John Huston, the film director.

 Hodel, 10 October 1907 2pm Los Angeles, had an ego-centric Libra Sun on the focal point of a can-be-fanatical opposition of Uranus and Neptune. His Sun Venus were trine Pluto and his Venus was in an insensitive square to Mars in Capricorn; with his Pluto in a hard square to Saturn. Not an easy chart but less alarming than the three artists above.  

Lee Miller’s genius as a fashion and war photographer was destined to stay a footnote in art-historical journals until her son found a vast archive of her work, more than 80,000 negatives in an attic, after her death in 1977. Since then a foundation has been set up, various exhibitions held and a documentary about her extraordinary and tragic life has brought her name to prominence.

  She graced the cover of Vogue as a model when she was 20, moved to Paris and began a professional and romantic relationship with artist Man Ray, which involved her with a Surrealist and modernist circle including Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and Salvador Dalí. Marriage to an Egyptian produced a striking series of desert photographs and when World War 11 broke out she came to London and was instrumental in Vogue’s switch from couture to war time subjects. In 1944 embedded with the US army, she saw the first use of napalm bombing, was present at the blitz, the chaos following D-Day, the liberation of Paris, the Battle of Alsace, and liberation of Buchenwald and Dachau.

  She had her first child at 40 in 1947 and her later years in England were marred by depression and alcoholism.  Her son knew little of her life and talent and said he believed the trauma she suffered as a child, being raped aged 7 and undergoing painful treatment for a sexually transmitted disease in the aftermath, were a key to understanding her later attraction to surrealism and war photography. He said: “She held incredible secrets right through her life.’ A friend described her as “a remarkable woman, completely unsentimental, and sometimes ruthless.” Another talker of her having a “chip of ice” in her heart.

  She was born 23 April 1907 4.15 pm Poughkeepsie, New York, and had a Taurus Sun on the cusp of the secretive 8^th house in an Earth Grand Trine to a 12^th house Moon in Virgo trine a 4^th house Mars Uranus in Capricorn. An Earth Grand Trine is practical and resourceful, a hard worker and inspired. Her Mars Uranus in the 4^th opposed a 10^th house Neptune Jupiter Midheaven in Cancer square Mercury in Aries which is a complex mix giving her strong creative talents from Neptune in her 10^th along with luck and success in her career. In part her restless direction in life was fuelled by her self-willed and intolerant father, who by choice or chance inclined her towards a peripatetic adult domestic life. He evidently took nude photos of her when she was an adolescent which can’t have helped. Her focal point Mercury would make her eternally curious, highly-strung, restless and impatient. Her Venus in sensitive Pisces (sign of the image/photographer) was conjunct Saturn and square Pluto which may have been in part why she was drawn to the camera in her career with its ability to spread the word (Pluto in the 9^th). Her photographs from Dachau were headed ‘Believe it’ as they were displayed to uninformed and disbelieving US and UK readers.

  Her creative 5^th Harmonic was exceptionally strong though with overtones of brutality, which would be why she was drawn to dark subjects. Her victim/healer 12H was also marked; as was her 13H associated with exploration, genius, breaking away from the orthodox.

  When she suffered her childhood assault tr Neptune in late Cancer was conjunct her North Node with tr Pluto moving to cross her Midheaven which can be a devastating change of life’s direction.  When she photographed Dachau, after several years of seeing a litany of war time horrors, her Solar Arc Pluto was just across the conjunction to her North Node and tr Saturn was on her Midheaven. Her Node was clearly key.

  Tragically, like many who suffered damaging traumas either from rape/abuse or war, and in her case both, the risk in later life is the darkness takes over unless there is therapeutic intervention. She never had a chance to heal.

Add ON: Her second husband Roland Penrose, 14 October 1900 London, whom she met in 1939 and married in 1947 was a historian, poet and associate of the Surrealists. He was a Sun Libra trine Pluto and trine/sextile a creative Neptune opposition Saturn; with an adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius square his Venus in Virgo and trine Mars.  He was a better match for her than Man Ray (see next post). His Venus was trine her Sun and conjunct her Moon and his Cancer Moon was conjunct her Jupiter.  

Naomi Wolf is in a full-on anti-vaxxer rant round the US at the moment. Although she garnered a respectable reputation initially as leader of the third wave of feminism, her scaremongering in recent years about government-led plots to establish a dictatorship and other conspiracy theories, has been described as “unhinged, damaging, and dangerous.”

  Born 12 November 1962 4.10 am San Francisco, California with an anthropologist mother and a gothic-horror scholar father, she is an intense Sun Venus Neptune and Mercury in Scorpio square a flamboyant Mars in Leo. She will come on strong to attract attention and be vague about facts. She’s also got a super-confident, over-pushy Jupiter opposition Pluto Uranus; and an intense and secretive Taurus Moon in the 8^th.

  Her Scorpio Mercury square Mars opposition Saturn is not dissimilar to UK actor and anti-woke activist Laurence Fox’s Mercury in Taurus opposition Uranus square Mars Saturn in Leo. She’s certainly bubbling with anger about authority figures and life in general; and likes to cause a stir if it puts her in the spotlight.

  Her next several years will be bumpy with tr Uranus opposition her Mercury and Neptune now and square her Mars from this July onwards and then opposing her Sun, Venus for a couple of years. 2023 will be devasting and confused.

The other communicator/influencer forever rattling out opinions that grate is Melanie Phillips of the UK Times. She used to support Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced promoter of the MMR vaccine scare story; but appears to be firmly on the side of the Covid vaccine. Over the years she has come out with – and been allowed to print – hair-raisingly extreme views against the Irish peace process, against Obama and pro-Trump, against civil partnerships for gay couples. Her inflammatory opinions have on several occasions managed to irritate both sides of an argument.   

   Her latest provocation is to suggest the ludicrously low convictions for rape in the UK may reflect false claimants and any attempts to amend the legal system would be a travesty of justice.  Born 4 June 1951, she’s a mouthy and argumentative New Moon and Mars in Gemini sextile Pluto; with a Jupiter in Aries opposition Neptune square Uranus. A focal point Uranus can be a trailblazer, or a creator of chaos and an obsessive contrarian. Jupiter Neptune has blind spots galore.

   Into 2022 tr Neptune will oppose her Saturn for an uncertain and panicky two years thereafter; with a high-risk, deeply frustrating Solar Arc Mars conjunct her Pluto late 2022 as well.

Faint hopes exist that Joe Biden may manage to exert enough pressure on Boris Johnson at the G7 summit to move the intractable Northern Ireland Protocol dispute towards a compromise. Biden has an Irish background and is alarmed at anything that would upset the Good Friday Agreement. Northern Irish businesses have called on UK and EU leaders to stop the Brexit “blame game” and end growing tensions over the checks on food and goods crossing the Irish Sea into the region. Though its difficult to see where the solutions will come from.

 ‘Nightclub bouncer’ David Frost, the UK negotiator, has weaselled out excuses about the government underestimating the problem though their own internal documents spelt out the consequences clearly in 2019 and he has been attempting to bully the EU, who have responded by threatening a trade war, including banning sausages going into Northern Ireland, if the UK acts unilaterally as it has done once in breach of its international legal obligations. Brussels has said they were prepared to make compromises but warned that “patience is wearing thin” and the EU wouldn’t be made a fool of.

  To say that Joe Biden and Boris Johnson are not natural buddies would be understating the hostility, suspicion, doubt and aggravation that exists in the chemistry between them.  Boris’s tinderbox Mars in Gemini is conjunct Biden’s Uranus with his Uranus Pluto square Biden’s Saturn; plus Boris’s slippery Neptune is conjunct Biden’s Mars Mercury. Their relationship chart has a bitter, power-struggle-to-the-death composite Mars Pluto and a differing agenda, undermining composite Saturn opposition Neptune square Uranus. There is admittedly a faint sheen of icing sugar from Sun Venus square Jupiter but it won’t make much inroads against the heavier negativities.

  Tr Neptune will be tugging away at their connection through 2021/22.  

  This has all been said before but just to reiterate. Frost’s relationship with the EU will be ratchety this year and worse in 2022/23. It really is 2022/23 to which everything points for a major escalation – maybe over Northern Ireland or maybe other toxic differences. Though the Good Friday Agreement chart does indicate the problem being unresolved as it is under heavy strain from early 2022 to late 2023.

   Frost is facing outright failure from April 2022 onwards with tr Neptune opposition his Mars. His relationship with Boris is under strain from this August onwards till late November with tr Pluto square the composite Mercury Venus but it is March 2022 onwards where it really backs into a very dark corner with tr Pluto opposition their composite Mars.

  The Johnson Government chart, 13 December 2019, is slipping and sliding this year and next with tr Neptune square the Sun and Solar Arc Sun – more so than the polls would indicate. And it is moving into logjam territory from May 2022 onwards with high insecurity, rash decisions and less wiggle room than has been on offer before with the pandemic obscuring the economic problems to come.  

And so it goes on. There are limits to how far Boris’s blustering obfuscations can get him. On the evidence pretty far, unbelievably, so far. But reality has to kick in somewhere down the line. The Gemini/Sagittarius Eclipses are making a valiant effort to get him to face up to his missteps and moving into 2022 and 2023 the shift to Taurus/Scorpio will highlight his slither-round-the-truth, Teflon-coated Neptune and Jupiter.

See previous post February 2 2021

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Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor arrived on Friday at 11.40 am in Santa Barbara, California. She has a public-career oriented and communicative 10^th house Gemini Sun in a sensible, hard-working trine to Saturn in her 6^th house, sextile a secretive, intense 8^th house Moon in Aries. Her Saturn is in an erratic, can-be-dictatorial square to Uranus in the 9^th, hinting she’ll be pulled between alternative philosophies and conventional ways.

   Both her Saturn and Uranus hard aspect her Sun/Moon midpoint so marriage and close relationships will not be easy despite her laid-back, expansive Jupiter conjunct her Descendant. She’s also got a megaton Mars in Cancer opposition Pluto which may initially make her bury her anger and assertiveness though once/if she gets the right end of it she’ll have driving determination.

A 10^th house Sun is associated with a public career and points to a need to fulfil the mother‘s ambitions rather than her own. Though with Lili’s Saturn and Uranus clashing with Meghan’s Leo Sun, and Lili’s Mars squaring Meg’s controlling 4^th house Pluto it won’t be an easy combination.

  It’s a different chart from her older brother Archie, 6 May 2019 5.26 am London, who has a Taurus Sun conjunct his Ascendant trine an overly-dutiful and gloomy 10^th house Saturn Pluto conjunction. His Gemini Moon isn’t well-integrated into his chart.

  Lili’s 8^th house Moon is a hint of more than normal grandparental ties and the name selected is no doubt a nod in that direction. Though my first reaction was it was a crass choice, designed to curry favour/smooth over family hurt/set the Royal connection in cement.  If it was intended as an olive branch it isn’t working, with the close family relationships going from bad to worse ahead.  See previous post April 24 2021 below.

Add ON: In some ways Harry should be a better fit with Archie since H’s Taurus Moon chimes with A’s Sun. But Harry’s relationship chart with Lili is expansive, easy-going and supportive with a composite Sun opposition Jupiter and square the Moon.

  What is intriguing is that Lili’s ferociously determined Mars opposition Pluto falls across both her parents’ 1^st/7^th houses which looks argumentative and then some.

Justin Trudeau has called for the Catholic Church who ran 60% of the residential schools in Canada to “step up” and take responsibility for its role in the deaths of indigenous children. In 2017 he asked the Pope to consider an apology for its part on the government-sponsored establishments but that hasn’t been forthcoming. Though Trudeau himself has been ducking questions about fully implementing all the recommendations of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation inquiry which condemned the treatment as ‘cultural genocide.’ Ditto and ditto for the 1996 Commission into the same.

  His latest Term, sworn in 20 November 2019 at 1.30pm, has a sugary-sweet and lucky Jupiter Neptune in the 10^th. Though there’s a slippery, elusive, evasive, smoke-screening Neptune on the Pisces Ascendant. Plus a tough Saturn Pluto in Capricorn. And more significantly Mars Mercury in Scorpio in the 8^th opposition Uranus, hinting not just at financial disruptions but also behind-the-scene manoeuvrings, some of which may come to light when there is a car-crash exact Mars Uranus opposition by Solar Arc in late 2022. Before then, the shine and optimism will be wearing off with tr Neptune square the Midheaven and Venus this year and next, then forming a bubble-bursting square to Jupiter.

   His personal chart, 25 December 1971 9.27pm Ottawa, is also Neptunian with an Air Grand Trine of Saturn in his 10^th trine Pluto trine Venus, with Saturn opposition Neptune, making it the driving planet. Charming when it suits him, a good organiser, can-be-neurotic, not always realistic or decisive. What belies his lighter side is a do-or-die-determined Pluto opposition Mars on the cusp of his 8^th. That Mars Pluto may be why he’s attracted three ethics investigations so far. He’s also got a third opposition of Moon to Uranus – so he’ll be constantly on a see-saw, torn by internal struggles, desperate to find balance but never quite succeeding.

  His Solar Arc Midheaven will square his Uranus exact in four months which will be a career wake-up call with more than a hint that a change of direction is needed. Then tr Uranus will reach his Midheaven by 2024 which is when a whole new vocation may be beckoning, whether by choice or the whims of fate. That is when tr Neptune is conjunct his Mars as well, so it may accompany a financial scandal.  

Russell Brand, the controversialist and comedian, morphed into political activist, has been mouthing off about lack of transparency in government about coronavirus. After a chequered career on radio, stage and TV marked by scandals over promiscuity, drugs and his bad behaviour, he has taken up arms in recent years about wealth inequality, addiction, corporate capitalism, climate change, and media bias.

  He was born on 4^th June 1975 at midnight according to his biography though it isn’t clear whether start or finish of the 4^th. Either time leaves the chart axis and planetary positions much the same and both with an Aries Moon.  It gives a Gemini Sun on the cusp of the performing 5^th house opposition a creative 10^th house Neptune and trine an 8^th house Pluto.

 He was born the same day as Angelina Jolie so has her ferociously difficult and angry Pluto opposition Mars Moon Jupiter widely square Saturn in Cancer. Like Jolie he had a messy childhood with his parents splitting when he was a baby and his mother was ill for a period when he was young. He was abused at school – diagnosed ADHD and bi-polar, had drug problems and self-harmed. Which is similar to Jolie’s experience and reactions.  

  However difficult the astrology was, there are quite a cluster of go-getters born around then – Marissa Mayer (Yahoo etc) May 30; Mel Brown May 29; Jamie Oliver May 27; Shilpa Shetty June 8. What probably makes a difference apart from the obsessive, make-or-break determination of the Mars opposition Pluto, is the Sun opposition Neptune trine Pluto. Neptune and Pluto carry associations of megalomania or at a mundane level soaring ambition and that plus a pro-active Jupiter in Aries would make a difference.

  In Brand’s case his 8^th house Pluto would make him feel held back by circumstances beyond his control but it also, if handled well, gives him an ability to influence the masses. The two central oppositions in his chart of Sun Neptune and Pluto Mars form a (misnamed) Mystic Rectangle which is difficult to balance. A hard Mars Pluto aspect, he shares with David Icke and others who are driven to tilt against the establishment as a way of expressing their deep-seated anger, stemming from father and authority issues. Uranus in the 9^th will give him a leaning towards alternative ideas or rebel movements. Money will be an issue for him with strong 2^nd and 8^th house emphasis.

  The Eclipses last year and this will be prompting him to re-evaluate his direction and with tr Pluto aiming to square his Uranus from early 2022 to late 2023, he’ll be heading into another major life’s transition which may involve a significant emotional event. His Solar Arc Sun will conjunct his Venus next year which coincides with tr Pluto opposition his Venus so his relationships could get steamy. If his birth time is accurate tr Saturn is also disappearing into his lower profile First Quadrant for several years so whether by choice or not he will be less visible if not instantly then over time.