not categorised

Warmest best wishes all round for festive fun or relaxing peace and quiet. Whatever floats your boat.

  Bon chance et courage for 2025

James Bond fans will be chewing their fingernails at the delays over their next favourite movie as producer Barbara Broccoli and Amazon, the new owners of MGM, appear to be at a standoff.  Old school versus the algorithm generation don’t appear to be a good mix with no sign of a script or replacement for Daniel Craig in the offing.

 Barbara Broccoli, 18 June 1960 9.55am Santa Monica, California, who took over the franchise when her father Cubby died three decades back, is a confident, friendly 11^th house Sun Venus in Gemini opposition Jupiter in Sagittarius; with a feisty Moon Mars in Aries in her 9^th square Mercury in Cancer which in turn opposes Saturn in Capricorn. A lady who will fight her corner with vigour especially with a defiant and unconventional Uranus in Leo on her Ascendant.

  She is not at her best at the moment with tr Neptune square her Sun and Jupiter now till March 2025; and a confusing, disappointing Solar Arc Pluto conjunct her Neptune through 2025 as well. Plus her SA MC is conjunct her Saturn now for slow progress. Where her luck turns good will be by 2027 with tr Jupiter crossing her Ascendant and her SA Jupiter opposing her Pluto for a major confidence surge.

  Tr Uranus was crossing her Taurus midheaven when the Amazon MGM acquisition was signed in 2022 so it was always going to shift her career direction considerably.

 The first ever Bond which was Dr No, 5 October 1962, has Jupiter in Pisces opposition Uranus which happily coincides with her lucky spot in 2027.

Ariane Grande’s tumultuous love life strewn with a series of short-lived flings and a recent two year marriage followed by a divorce has managed to wreck another marriage. Co-star of her recent movie Wicked Ethan Slater left his childhood sweetheart, wife of several years and mother of his months’ old baby, to hook up with her.

 She was born 26 June 1993 9.15pm Boca Raton, Florida, and has a hard-working 6^th house Cancer Sun square an easy-going Moon Jupiter in her 9^th. But there is little overall that is laid-back about her chart. A highly-strung, unpredictable Uranus Neptune in Capricorn on her Ascendant opposes her Mercury. To call her mercurial would be an understatement. She has an influential and controlling 10^th house Pluto square her Sun/Moon midpoint and opposition Venus in Taurus making for overly-intense, high-passion relationships that sink under the strain. Most relevant of all is probably her 8^th house Mars opposition Saturn which hints at intergenerational trauma and deep-seated anger issues.

 He recent short lived marriage to Dalton Gomez, 7 August 1995, did have the advantage of his Leo Sun Venus falling in her 7^th house of partnership. But was always going to be a stormy affair with a composite Sun opposition Neptune Uranus, trine/sextile Mars and trine/sextile Pluto.

 Her present hope Ethan Slater probably has a Cancer Moon conjunct her Sun which is a good crossover; though his Mars in Aries squaring her Uranus Neptune will bring explosive differences. What is notable is that his Sun Venus in Gemini are conjunct her South Node and her Sun is conjunct his South Node – as if both pull each other back into less evolved patterns of behaviour.

  Their relationship chart is a wonder of complications with a yod of Pluto sextile Uranus Neptune inconjunct Sun South Node – a ‘fated’ connection that will define their lives. There is a composite Sun Mars conjunction (sparks of attraction fly early on but tend to turn to competitive arguments) and that is in an impulsive square to Jupiter. Venus opposing Pluto for passion squares a cold, blocked Saturn which may oppose the composite Moon. It won’t be an easy relationship to split.

 She is moving into a tricky patch ahead with tr Saturn moving through her low profile, less successful First Quadrant for several years. Tr Uranus will oppose her Pluto exactly now into March 2025 for an unsettled career patch with questions about future direction; and tr Uranus moving into Gemini will square her Saturn in July and by 2026 will be square her 8^th house Mars which will be emotionally and financially stressed. By 2026 as well tr Neptune Saturn in Aries will square her Sun for an uncertain disorienting time.

  What a tangled web.

See previous post: Ariane Grande 18th May 2021

The mind-numbing stories from Gaza of a starving, traumatized population in mid winter, described by an Oxfam director as “apocalyptic” with no help in sight from an international community seemingly incapable of taking action is a sobering indictment of the times. The Israeli liberal newspaper Haaretz, now sanctioned by the Netanyahu government, relates stories from IDF soldiers about civilians, even children, being treated as combatants. ‘The regime of arbitrary, even competitive killing, was described as “the wild west on steroids”. Hospitals and refugee camps are being bombed, aid convoys are being blocked. The independent Famine Review Committee (FRC), warned there is a “strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas” of the northern Gaza Strip with warnings that “starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing.” in north Gaza.

  Gaza stays in mind where other atrocities like the Sudan, Myanamar, even Tibet fade, partly because they are further away and because they seem beyond help. But Gaza is a western-created problem instigated initially by the USA and Britain.

The incoming Trump administration is unlikely to improve matters for the Palestinians given son-in-law Jared Kushner’s suggestions earlier this year about moving Gaza residents into the desert and possibly into Egypt and salivating over the prospect of Gaza’s ‘very valuable’ seafront property. And there being no constructive steps taken to preventing West Bank Israeli settlers expanding their territory illegally and driving Palestinians out of their homes.  

 The Palestine Declaration of Independence, 15 November 1988 Algiers, with its Mars at one degree Aries square Saturn at zero Capricorn conjunct Uranus – is being heavily undermined by tr Neptune Saturn in hard aspect from early 2025 through till 2027; with the Solar Arc Sun conjunct the Saturn and square Mars  between 2025 and 2027. Disappointments and setbacks of considerable magnitude.

  Hamas, largely destroyed, though the bitterness will breed problems down the line, 14 December 1987, has the Solar Arc Mars conjunct the Sun exactly now – with the SA Mars Pluto moving across the Hamas Sun Saturn for the next three/four years for a dead-halt, scary, totally trapped phase.

 Hezbollah, 16 February 1985, has its Mars at 10 degrees Aries in line of the recent October Solar Eclipse and the late March 2025 one putting them in  a combative mood. Tr Uranus opposition Saturn and square the Hezbollah Sun all through 2025 suggests a tumultuous year. Though they may be pushing confidently ahead nonetheless in patches with tr Pluto conjunct their Jupiter. 2027/28 see their Solar Arc Sun conjunct their Mars and SA Pluto conjunct their Uranus which will be an almighty clash and turnaround so nothing settling soon on that front.

  The same goes for Israel which is facing years of challenge, stress and jeopardy ahead. Tr Uranus is now for the final time in a disruptive conjunction to the Israel 8^th house Taurus Sun picking up a couple of days ago and running till mid March 2025, followed by tr Uranus square the Israel 10^th house Mars late April to mid May 2025, the latter bringing a shock, sudden explosive turn of events with resulting insecurity and perhaps over hasty reactions.

 Through 2026/27 tr Pluto will square the Israel 10^th house Leo Moon putting pressure on the ruling classes from a mutinous population. The Solar Arc Mars square Pluto late 2025/26 will be blocked, high-risk, with no obvious way forward. That is mirrored in the Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct Neptune creating indecision and confusion about future direction around 2026/27.  The Solar Arc Neptune is opposition Uranus for a highly-strung 2025 and then in a dented-hopes conjunction to Jupiter by 2028. Tr Neptune Saturn square the Venus will make for international unpopularity and financial repercussions in  2026/27. The Bank of Israel is showing panic and losses through 2025 and beyond.

 Then into the early 2030s both tr Pluto and the Solar Arc Sun will start to exert pressure on the Israel 10^th house Pluto and then Saturn. Nothing that looks like peace anytime soon.

  The Israel/USA chart was never as seamlessly well matched as events might suggest with a fractious, differing-agendas composite Sun Uranus square Saturn plus an over-hopeful Jupiter Neptune conjunction. That latter will be undermined by tr Neptune Saturn opposition the Jupiter Neptune in 20925 and more in 2026 so some of the shine may come off.

 Trump is fairly well-chained together with Israel with a composite Saturn Pluto conjunction in the relationship chart. There will be a few cool moments in March/April 2025 with major jolt and perhaps eruption in May 2025 and again January to mid March 2026. That could be a difference of opinion or a joint reaction to an outside disruption.

  The most intractable conflict of the 20^th Century seems destined to drag on.

The Dalai Lama XIV evidently once remarked, “If a problem is fixable, then there is no need to worry. If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying”.

  Normally I would agree but in this instance it is deeply depressing. A Palestinian was quoted recently as saying only the leaders wanted to fight – the ordinary people just wanted to get on with their lives. Much the same in Northern Ireland and it partly took the mothers standing up to say enough before peace talks got under way – with substantial input from the USA. Much the same as the end of the Russia invasion of Afghanistan when a Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers stood up and made their voices heard.

The fallout from the doomed domestic violence movie It Ends with Us rolls on with Blake Lively making accusations against her former co-star/director Justin Baldoni, filing a legal complaint claiming sexual harassment and making allegations of a coordinated PR effort to damage her reputation.

 What is astro-intriguing are two coincidences.  One is that she was born 25 August 1987 5.07am Tarzana, California. That makes her a Sun Mars in Virgo conjunction, the same as Dorothy Parker, Peter Sellers and the wife of the Korean president. A synchronous month for Sun Mars in Virgos. Blake Lively does have a reputation for ‘mean girl behaviour.’ See previous post below.

  More than that, her stellium in Virgo of Sun, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Moon = earthy, highly-strung, critical and hard-working – sits across from  Baldoni’s Scorpio stellium. He was born 24 January 1984 8.30pm Los Angeles and has Pluto, Moon, Mars, Saturn in Scorpio square an Aquarius Sun.

 An overload of Virgo and the same of Scorpio might seem an uncomfortable combination given Virgo’s propensity, especially amongst the female of the species, to be self-sufficient. Scorpio needs intense closeness, almost enmeshment, which would put many Virgo’s need-space hackles on edge.  What makes it marginally odder here is that Blake Lively’s husband of 10 years Ryan Reynolds, 23 October 1976 4.30 am Canada, also has a stellium in Scorpio of Sun, Moon, Uranus, Mars like Baldoni in his 2^nd house.

  Baldoni seems a touch more full-on so he will take control to a different level than Reynolds whose Moon Uranus will give him an inclination at least some of the time to want space and freedom to suit himself. Baldoni may be a Sun Aquarius but his instincts and relationships with women will all be driven by his fiercely possessive, controlling Moon, Mars, Pluto in Scorpio. At some level he is deeply frightened of women so needs to keep them submissive – and a Sun Mars in Virgo is not a one to give way without an argument.

  Her Pluto in Scorpio hooks into both. A karmic magnet.

 Now that I look, Principal Photography on the movie started 5 May 2023 in NJ with a Scorpio Full Moon in place which seems fitting. The Scorpio Moon was close to the Scorpio South Node for an early morning start.

Previous post: Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds – Virgo Scorpio overload 16th August 2024

The battle of the egos between Elon Musk and Trump has not so far incurred any noticeable damage to their bro-romance. Though Musk’s $250 million contribution to the Trump campaign with an eye to more in the future no doubt plays a part. The recent kerfuffle over the spending deal had led some to conclude that Musk could be used as a effective weapon to pressure Congress and be a scapegoat for any backlash.

 Musk born 28 June 1971 7.30 am (biography) Pretoria, South Africa, has a Cancer Sun exactly conjunct the USA Jupiter and square his Uranus. He has a neurotic and changeable Saturn in Gemini opposition Neptune in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Scorpio; with his scandal-prone, overly-hopeful Jupiter Neptune in an influential, lucky sextile to Pluto. Plus an inordinately stubborn Mars and North Node in Aquarius in his financial 8^th which is square his 5^th house Jupiter (on this birth time).

Tr Uranus moving into Gemini will alter his trajectory considerably -initially with a lucky break from tr Uranus opposition his Jupiter in May and late in the year, though since it is tied into his Neptune it could blow up a scandal caused by his instability through midyear and into 2026 as it moves to conjunct his Saturn. By 2026 his Solar Arc Pluto will square his Mars for a dead-halt, high-risk, enraging meltdown. By 2027/28 tr Neptune will be undermining his Sun by square.

His relationship chart with Trump for all the protestations to the contrary is feeling the strain with a rattled tr Uranus opposition the composite Mars now till mid March 2025; plus an uncertain tr Neptune square the composite Saturn now till early February, and then square the composite Sun in March 2025 and again late October to January 2026. March to early July 2025 and again on and off throughout 2026 tr Pluto will square their composite Neptune for major confusion and panic.

  The UK is also in Musk’s sights though for the opposite reason as he warbles on about “Britain is going full Stalin” and opining that “Civil war is inevitable”. He is also promising to give £100 million to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party.

 Musk’s relationship chart  with the UK hints at distrust, competitiveness, dislike and irritation with a composite Sun conjunct Mars opposition Mercury Uranus; with Sun Uranus square Saturn. There will be ripples of discontent in late March through April 2025 and tr Neptune thereafter opposition the composite Mercury and conjunct the Mars from April onwards for several years will be accompanying a further deterioration in relations.

 His relationship chart with Farage has a composite Sun opposition Neptune which suggests a degree of delusion (misplaced idealism) leading to disappointment.

Strange times – a weird trailblazer/Pied Piper.

Add On: There’s an undercurrent of serious dislike on the J.D. Vance/Musk relationship chart with a power struggling Mars square Pluto. It would not come into play in any major way until 2027 – by which time Musk may well be out of the park.

Peter Sellers renowned for his comic skills in the “Pink Panther” series, as well as “The Mouse that Roared“, “Dr. Strangelove” and most notably in Being There is admired in a recent biography. Though reviews suggest it skips over what a monster he was in reality. He married four times; had four children, including one illegitimate daughter he never met. Once during a marital fight, he tried to kill a puppy. Haunted by death he took drugs to enhance sex and abused his friends, even writing his children out of his will. In the industry he was known as impossibly difficult and “basically not a nice man.”

 He was born 8 September 1925 6am (memory) Southsea, England, the only child of variety-show troupers and grew up in theatrical boarding houses. He was close to his overbearing mother. He started in vaudeville, and moved into variety shows, radio The Goon Show and into the movies.

  John Mortimer once described him as “a man who stood empty, waiting to be inhabited by other people”. Which he played to perfection in Being There as Chauncey Gardiner, a simple gardener who copies behaviour glimpsed on television screens.

  His Sun Mars in Virgo (like Dorothy Parker) sat at one angle of a Half Grand Sextile with a pushily confident Jupiter in Capricorn opposition Pluto, sextile/trine Saturn in Scorpio. Talented, arrogant, stubborn, sharp-tongued. His Taurus Moon was square a 12^th house Neptune Mercury, trine his Sun Mars and on one leg of a yod sextile Uranus inconjunct Venus – he’d be indulgent, stubborn, addictive-prone, escapist, head-in-the-clouds, evasive.

 He had a second yod onto a defiant, lawless Uranus in his 7th house of relationships inconjunct Neptune sextile Venus – consistency and commitment were never his strong point. Though such a Uranus can have the capacity to act as a catalyst because of its intolerance of convention and tendency to cause disruptions. He had planets in all three Water signs and all three Earth signs – too wide for Grand Trines but still giving him a balance of creative and practical energy.

 Sellers always sticks in mind from a comment in an astrology  book about harmonics about his 13H chart. 13 in numerology is ascribed to breakthrough genius – which would mirror his Uranus on a yod – but is also associated with not having a strong sense of identity.  His 13H has a Sun, Moon, Saturn conjunction square Jupiter – essentially depressed but given to highs as well. There was also a Pluto Uranus opposition Midheaven square Mars combining his disruptive streak with more than a touch of cruelty.

ADD ON: Robin Williams, 21 July 1951 1.34 pm Chicago, Illinois, had an upbeat 9^th house Cancer Sun sextile Saturn in Virgo; with an emphasized zany, unpredictable, explosive Uranus Mars in Cancer on the point of a T square to Jupiter opposition Neptune. His sensitive Pisces Moon opposed Venus in Virgo giving him a sweet-natured feel. His Moon was also trine his overly excitable Mars Uranus.

  His chart does not reflect depression so much as an over-stretched and chaotic nervous system.

Mexico in the full line of Trump’s wrath over immigrants and drugs could not be more star-crossed if their meeting was ruled by Kali, the goddess of destruction.

 Mexico, 15 September 1810 11 pm Dolores Hidalgo, has Trump’s Uranus sitting on its Ascendant, causing disruptions to its image, and square its 10^th house Pluto shaking up its control on power and direction. His underhand 12^th house Pluto is square the Mexico Uranus on the cusp of their work and health 6^th. His Neptune is conjunct the Mexico North Node for a slippery chemistry that is tricky to pin down. Both Trump and Mexico have a flamboyant Mars in Leo.

 The DT/Mexico relationship chart has an explosive composite Mars, Mercury, Uranus conjunction square Pluto = monumentally hostile. Tr Uranus will be square the Mars, Mercury, Uranus and opposing the Pluto throughout 2025 through till April 2026 – hurricane force storm.  Plut an uncertain and undermining tr Neptune and Saturn opposition the composite Saturn from mid 2025 into 2026. And more beyond.

 Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexico President, 24 June 1962, is equally a fractious and intransigent adversary for Trump with her uncompromising Uranus in Leo conjunct DT’s Mars square her Mars in stubborn Taurus. Her Fixed T Square of Venus North Node in Leo opposition Saturn square Neptune collides with his 12^th house Pluto.  The Mexico chart with tr Pluto square the Taurus Moon through this coming January and throughout the year will bring intense reactions; with an insecure, jolting tr Uranus square the Mexico Mars from later this month till mid March 2025. Then tr Uranus moving into Gemini mid 2025 starts a longish run of panic and tensions right through the Trump administration as it is conjunct the Mexico Jupiter opposition the Neptune and Saturn.

   China is also in line for the Trump tariff assault and his relationship chart with China 1912 will be undermined as tr Neptune Saturn in Aries are conjunct the composite Sun from mid 2025 into 2026; with a highly strung tr Uranus square the composite Neptune from before mid 2025 as well into 2026.

 Trump’s relationship with the EU will be no better – latest demand is for 5% on EU defence spending – and that relationship chart has tr Saturn Uranus conjunct the composite Sun and opposition Mercury and then Saturn in the coming few years.

 DT’s relationship chart with the UK is equally holed below the water line with tr Saturn Neptune conjunct the composite Sun and then square Mars in 2026/27. DT’s relationship with Starmer if anything is worse with tr Pluto opposing the composite Sun Mars through this January and throughout 2025 as well.

 The outer planet shift is working in mysterious ways causing rifts in many relationships as Trump, the chaos-bringer, sows his seeds of disruption. In some instances though it takes an effort to admit it he may not be altogether wrong.

The Capricorn Ingress tomorrow – the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere –  has a sparsely aspected Sun square Neptune Scheat and the Aries North Node. Uranus still close to Algol is sextile Neptune Scheat.

  There is a Mutable Grand Cross of Jupiter opposition Mercury square a Virgo Moon opposition Saturn for a highly-strung, overly-impressionable, scattered, changeable, up-and-down mood as fast-changing events shift the focus in several directions at once.

 The dominant factor is the Mars in Leo opposition Pluto sitting across a disjointed chart – perhaps the rogue factor that creates chaos in different areas. The Mutable Grand Cross certainly has the capacity to act like a windmill in a hurricane spinning in all directions at once.

   The frustrating, trapped, high-risk Mars opposition Pluto will be most obvious in effect down through central North America on a North South line through Denver Colorado. It runs approx between 103 west and 108 west covering Saskatchewan, Prince Albert, Regina in Canada, down through Colorado to New Mexico and west Mexico in the south. India will also get another dose of Mars Pluto in reverse.

The Sun will be at the midheaven putting Moscow in the spotlight – as well as the Middle East as the Sun MC travels due south.

 The Capricorn Sun, sign of the mountain goat, is associated with Janus, the two faced god – looking back to the old year and forward to the new.

All eyes are on Russia with the upcoming Saturn Neptune conjunction, a marker of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, of Stalin’s death in 1953 and the break up of the USSR in 1990. If the same astro-pattern holds good then Saturn overtaking Neptune will be the crucial period which means mid 2026 to early 2027.

 That coincides with flags on several of the related charts.

 The Russia 8 December 1991 7.45pm Moscow chart, has a ‘shocking’, explosive, insecure Solar Arc Mars conjunct Uranus mid to late 2026, followed by an equally edgy tr Uranus opposition the Russia Mars in 2027/28.

The Russia 8 November 1917 chart hints at a considerable setback now; a stroke of luck in late 2025 from SA Uranus conjunct the Jupiter; and a similar as above sudden shock tr Uranus square Mars in 2026/27.

 Both charts are showing stress on their respective financial Venuses through 2025/2026.

 Vladimir Putin’s original presidency chart of 31 December 1999 looks due for a major upset late 2025 into early 2026 with Solar Arc Uranus square the Pluto. That could see him topple off his perch (though Kim Jong Un survived through one of these aspects years ago when he very nearly lost control). If that does not do for Putin then the Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the Sun by 2027 could well see him hit the buffers.

 His personal chart, 7 October 1952, is showing alarm at a setback exactly now as Syria’s Assad collapses.

 The Bank of Russia chart 13 July 1990 has been under pressure in the past two years from tr Pluto square the Mars and will continue on edge throughout this year.

Add on: Useful piece in Telegraph January 2 2025.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/02/putin-failed-every-objective-in-ukraine-in-2024-russia-war/

“What was planned as a three-day “special operation” has turned into a three-year nightmare. Russia has made only limited territorial gains and Putin’s air defences have been unable to halt Ukrainian strikes inside Russia. The Russian navy has been humiliated, losing control of the Black Sea and unable to strangle Ukraine’s grain exports. Upwards of 15 of its ships have been sunk by sea drones with more damaged. The human toll has been immense with an estimated 427,000 Russian casualties in 2024 alone.

Interest rates have hit 23 per cent with inflation at 9 per cent making long-term economic stagnation seem inevitable.

Putin has risked turning the country into a dependency of the Chinese. The conditions are being set for Moscow’s subordination to Beijing.