not categorised

In the midst of the despair about there ever being a solution to the century-long Israel-Palestinian hostility, there are two sage media voices talking sense.

  William Hague in The Times says that sticking to the view that peace is inconceivable, as both sides do, will lead Hamas and its allies, ‘to draw the Israelis into a long war of attrition that turns more of the world into their sworn enemies.’ From the Israeli perspective the strategy will be to ‘wall off Gaza, to put it out of sight and mind, to create a no-man’s land so festooned with mines, traps, drones and patrols that even an insect would struggle to cross it.’

 ‘Military objectives do not remain secure without political progress. We all know what is likely to happen years down the line: a new, radicalised generation drawn to terror, with more advanced weapons, readying for another battle, creating another “do or die” moment for Israel.’

   His appeal is for the West to keep out. ‘While outside powers have always complicated the Middle East, solving its problems is now beyond them.’

   His view is that the Arab world, now in the midst of a seismic shift with Saudi Arabia at the helm, should take  ownership of a solution.

  No astrology pro tem but worth pondering.

  The other is Gideon Rachman in the FT who makes the cogent point that the US attempted to defeat “terrorism” through conventional military means after 9/11, launching wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that led to hundreds of thousands of deaths. ‘But more than 20 years after starting its war on terror, America is probably less powerful and respected around the world than it was in 2001. And its own society has been gravely wounded.’

  ‘A war on terror can also damage the society that wages it. More than 30,000 US troops died by suicide after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan: more than three times as many as died in battle. The anti-elite rage and the “American carnage” that led to the rise of Donald Trump in 2016 were closely connected to the social wreckage wrought by the wars America fought after 9/11. A war on terror unifies a country in the short term, but it can rip it apart over the longer term. That, too, is a lesson that a traumatised Israel needs to think about — before it is too late.’

   The key astrological indicator of 9/11 always seemed to me to be and undermining tr Neptune exactly opposition the USA ‘leadership’ Leo North Node, denting American pride. There were other nodal flags in the immediate years following. 2002 saw SA Neptune square the North Node as well and the SA North Node was square the USA Mars. 2003 as the War on Iraq started SA Mars was conjunct the US South Node. The Solar Arc Uranus then moved to conjunct the US Mercury in 2003 and the US Pluto by 2066 – and 2006 was the year the USA Mars went retrograde to stay that way for the next 80 years, which was always deemed to be a pointer that USA’s influence would start to diminish. Rachman is probably right that it was a turning point in US history.

   There is nothing similar on the Israel chart though their year started on the back of a Nodal Return conjunct Uranus and the Lunar Eclipse this week is square the 10^th house Moon for a major upset, followed in coming years by tr Pluto square the Moon and tr Uranus ratcheting up the Israel Mars and on and on and on – see previous post 30 December 2022 and others in SEARCH.

  As a spare thought, since World War 11 ended Britain’s super-power status, the nodes were activated in various ways. In 1939 when war was declared the UK Solar Arc North Node was opposition Pluto – an obscure point but might have been worth considering before leaping into a long war of attrition. Uncomfortably enough tr Uranus was at 21 degrees Taurus, as now, at that point. When the war ended in 1945 the transiting North Node in Cancer was just over the opposition to the UK Capricorn Sun with tr Neptune heading to square the Sun; and by 1947 the SA Neptune was conjunct the UK North Node.   By the end 380,000 British soldiers had been killed and 70,000 civilians and the country effectively bankrupted.  There is a stray argument that staying out of the war and allowing Hitler to implode might have saved a great deal of grief. But who knows? Except that the cost of even a righteous war is way too high.

Add ON: Further thought today in FT from John Sawers, former MI6 chief and UK Ambassador to the UN.

‘Israel must know that destroying Hamas is beyond its reach.’

‘The longer-term goal should be to stabilise Gaza and prevent the violence flaring into regional conflict.’

‘Through attacks like these, terrorist organisations want three things: to instil fear, to draw attention to their cause and to provoke overreaction. Terrorism alone doesn’t undermine an established state. Israel has every right to respond.’    

     ‘Urban warfare is tough.  Retaking Mosul from Isis — the only recent attempt to conduct such a campaign within the rules of war — took US-led forces nine months and cost thousands of civilian deaths. Israel doesn’t have that time: its military knows it will be up against demands for an early ceasefire.’

What comes after? Israel has no appetite to occupy Gaza again. Some international administration of Gaza is called for. The UN has done this before in Namibia, Cambodia, Bosnia and East Timor. Mistakes were made, but in each case an administration kept the country going and an international military force held the ring so a new government with local support could emerge. 

  Any such presence would have to be led by Arab countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia that would be acceptable to Israel and have standing with the people of Gaza.’

  A far off possibility but a sliver of hope.  

27 October 2023

Add On 2:  ‘If we’re forbidden from looking history in the eye during this horrific war, we’re doomed to repeat it.’ Gaby Hinscliff.

“Is nobody to talk of history even now, in a conflict where both sides are shaped by memories handed down through generations: of persecution and exile, suffering and mourning, the Nakba (or Palestinian tragedy of displacement) and the Holocaust? These stories are too entwined to make sense of one without mentioning the other, and it should be possible to say so without being accused of making excuses for Hamas.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/27/israel-hamas-war-palestinians-un

The tragic life of opera singer Maria Callas, an unremitting tale of torment and suffering, is spotlighted in a new biopic with an eerily alike Angelina Jolie in the title role. The screenplay by Steven Knight, best known for Peaky Blinders, focuses on Callas’s final days, her heart broken by Aristotle Onassis, her voice gone and addicted to drugs which ultimately killed her at 53.

  Maria Callas was born 2 December 1923 6am New York, a replacement child but unwanted as a girl after the death of a previous son. Her ferociously ambitious and destructive mother saw her as solely there to maintain her. She pimped out her older sister and attempted to sell Maria’s virginity during the war to soldiers after they returned to Greece.

 Maria’s rise to fame in 1949 led to a decade of triumphs but strained her voice until audiences turned against her in the 1960s. Early on in her success she lost seven stone, had plastic surgery and capped her teeth to reinvent herself as a fashion icon. An early marriage fizzled out and she discovered too late he had squandered her money. Her career was turbulent with cancellations, rivalries, a public firing as her reputation as a prima donna obscured her talent.

  She met Onassis in 1959, when she was in a career dip and stayed as his partner on and off for nine years as he bedded Princess Lee Radziwill, the younger sister of Jacqueline Kennedy as well as being a client of Madame Claude’s Champs-Élysées brothel, before marrying Jackie.

  Deeply unhappy, Callas tried to end her life, the first of many suicide attempts. Returning to Onassis at one point, she suffered through his violent beatings, in part fuelled by the drugs he took including testosterone. “It was a co-dependency that neither could break.”

   After Onassis’s death in 1975, she retreated from public life and became addicted to the sedative Mandrax which she knew could be fatal, if mixed with alcohol. She died on September 16, 1977, aged 53.

  What leaps out of her chart is a Mars Saturn conjunction in Libra suggesting a life blighted by early cruelty to which she clearly became addicted – both destructive and self-destructive – like a moth to a flame. And Pluto in her 8^th suggesting a dramatic and potentially tragic life which gave her influence out in society and resourcefulness but one riddled by bitter entanglements.

  Her saving grace was her Sun, Jupiter and Mercury in Sagittarius which would give her a streak of optimism otherwise she’d never have survived the constant put downs throughout her life. A 4^th house Uranus would make it difficult to find a settled home life after the disruptions of her childhood.

  Her 10^th house Virgo Moon suited a public career.

 Aristotle Onassis, 20 January 1906 10 am Smyma, Turkey, had a Sun Venus in Capricorn with a Sagittarius Moon. His Moon was conjunct her Jupiter and Sun giving her a semblance of reassurance; but his Sun squared her masochistic Saturn Mars. And even more significantly his Neptune was conjunct her 8^th house Pluto and his Pluto was on the cusp of her 8^th  so he mesmerised, trapped and controlled her.

 Their relationship chart was ruinous with a composite Pluto opposition Mercury, Saturn, Sun, Mars – egregiously damaging and harmful. Only slightly ameliorated by a composite Moon trine Jupiter.

  Frankly it is a miracle she survived into her fifties. What a tempestuous, unhappy life.

  Angelina Jolie will resonate to her angst given her own troubled childhood, with her Moon Mars square Saturn and opposition Pluto.

  Just as a brief add on to be expanded when I find time to focus on the 8^th house.  Jackie Onassis, 28 July 1929 2.30pm Southampton, NY, horrified a public, shaken by JFK’s death and enamoured of her elegant image by marrying Ari Onassis. Oddly there are similarities with JFK – both he and Ari had Jupiter falling in her 7^th house of marriage. Ari has Pluto conjunct her 8^th house Venus and his Neptune also in her 8^th. JFK had his Venus on the cusp of her 8^th and his Pluto also in her 8^th.  She was attracted to unfaithful men. Perhaps like her father John Bouvier, 19 May 1891, whose Mars was conjunct her 8^th house Venus and his Neptune Pluto in Gemini were in her 7^th on the cusp of her 8^th. The old tangled patterns repeat especially when the 8^th house is involved.

Meryl Streep has joined the ranks of the stealth splitters announcing her four decade-long marriage to sculptor Don Gummer parted company six years ago.

  This is only a fleeting astro-comment but what is intriguing is that both have strongly Uranian charts. She was born 22 June 1949 8.05am Summit, NJ, and is a Sun conjunct Uranus in Cancer with her Sun/Moon midpoint conjunct her Mars – so she would always be revved up, keen to pursue her own interests and career and stalwart about defending independence. Her Taurus Moon which gives her stability is in her career 10^th.

  At the moment she has her Progressed Moon moving through her 7^th house and tr Pluto about to cross her Descendant as the split becomes final. Progressed Moon through the 7^th is when lacks in close relationships become obvious so it can be a make or break time.

  Don Gummer, 12 December 1946, no birth time, is a Sun Mars in Sagittarius opposition Uranus and has Saturn Pluto (Moon) in Leo with Jupiter Venus Mercury in Scorpio. Fire Water will make him creative, volatile, a live wire even with Saturn Pluto.  She is Water, Air, Earth – polar opposites in type and temperament which can work, until it doesn’t.

  Strongly Uranian matches can work well since each understands the other’s need for space. But they can drift apart ultimately since with too much space they lose the connection.  

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni is not having the best week with sexist and chauvinist remarks from her partner TV host Andrea Giambruno, father of her seven year old daughter, propositioning a female colleague for a threesome, leading to a split. And her latest budget is being compared to the ill-fated Truss budget which nearly tanked the UK economy a year ago. She has put off painful retrenchment until 2026 which veteran economists warned would lead to trouble, and so it has. Italy has become the eurozone’s weakest link. Moody’s has already cut Italian debt to one notch above junk, with a negative outlook.   

  Her Term chart, 22 October 2022 9.30am, does have Mars in the financial 8^th catching the tr Neptune square exactly now and repeating early in 2024 which usually coincides with outright panic and a sense of failure. Plus considerable pressure from tr Pluto square the Sun Venus and conjunct the Pluto until late this year. Her political fortunes may revive come late January 2024 with an upbeat push from tr Pluto sextile the Jupiter.

 Though the Bank of Italy chart, 10 August 1893, has a discouraging Solar Arc Saturn opposition Sun now and a rattled, insecure tr Uranus square the Mars at 26 Leo from next July into 2025 (which Fixed degree is beginning to haunt me since it appears all over the place.)

 Meloni, born 15 January 1977 6.30pm Rome, is an ambitious, hard-working 6^th house Capricorn Sun trine a confident and lucky 10^th house Jupiter in Taurus. She also has a do-or-die determined – and ruthless – Pluto square Mars in Capricorn; plus a can-be-autocratic Saturn in Leo on her Ascendant square Uranus. She also has two yods both tied into her 8^th house Venus in Pisces – Saturn sextile Pluto inconjunct Venus and Venus sextile Mars inconjunct Saturn.

  She’s definitely a lady who walks her own singular path in life though her romantic life will not have been uncomplicated with an 8^th house Venus.

 Tr Uranus conjunct her Jupiter will give her lucky career breaks right through until April 2024.

  Andrea Giambruno, 7 May 1981, has Mars, Sun, Venus and Mercury spread out through earthy Taurus all falling in her 10^th house – so joint ambitions will always have been a priority. But his Uranus is opposition his Venus for changeable affections and his Uranus is conjunct her 4^th house Sagittarius Moon which won’t make him a steady influence at home. Their relationship chart has a spark of passion from a composite Venus opposition Pluto; luck and adventure from Sun, Jupiter, Uranus in trine but with major aggravations from composite Mars opposition Saturn.

Dismal election results for the Tories as they lost two seats to Labour, one of them a previously safe seat with a 42% majority in 2019. The results according to political scientist John Curtice represent one of the worst by-election nights that any government has had to endure.  The Telegraph struggling to find a glimmer of light in a calamity suggested that the Farage’s right-wing populist Reform Party had cost the Tories a win.

  In the event Keir Starmer was jubilant though facing words of caution from Peter Mandelson about getting over confident.

  The Conservative Party chart, 9 May 1912, is moving through an exceptionally turbulent phase with both transiting Uranus and Solar Arc Uranus having rattled up their Sun two years back, now sitting on the Sun/Saturn midpoint before moving to form a jangled, disruptive conjunction to the Saturn by 2025.  At the moment the recent Libra Solar Eclipse is square their Neptune Mars for a panicky moment, plus tr Neptune square their Pluto this year on and off until early 2025 undermining their influence and power. Plus this month’s Lunar Eclipse in Taurus giving them an emotional upset as it is conjunct the Venus and square Uranus.

  Labour on the other hand, 12 February 1906, have a T Square of Sun Venus in Aquarius opposition North Node square Jupiter in Taurus which may well be picking up Jupiterian luck between now and 2025.

 Keir Starmer’s Leadership chart, 4 April 2020 10.45 am, has this month’s Solar Eclipse square the Jupiter Pluto conjunction and the Lunar Eclipse conjunct the Uranus for a morale boost and change of fortunes. But the way ahead is not exactly a slam dunk of success with the SA Saturn square the Uranus due in 2024 which might suggest a division between the old guard and the progressive elements.

 Starmer’s own chart has a deflating tr Saturn conjunct his Jupiter and opposition his Sun Pluto in 2024; with his SA Sun and SA Pluto conjunct his Neptune which will be a destiny-changing moment – and not necessarily of the positive variety towards the end of 2024 into 2025 – and a cataclysmic SA Mars conjunct his Pluto in late 2025.  Which may be events in his personal life and not a reflection on his party’s fortunes.

 Sunak’s Term chart, 25 October 2022, is on a run of failures now until mid February 2024 after which it will start to revive on confidence and drive.

  His personal chart, 12 May 1980, mirrors the Tory Party’s with a Sun Mercury in Taurus opposition Uranus in Scorpio, all being rattled now into 2024 by tr Uranus.

ADD ON:  Nigel Farage is having a surprise comeback with his ever-enthusiastic fans predicting victories ahead. He does have the lucky, confident tr Pluto square his Jupiter exactly now which finishes late this month not to return. He also has tr Jupiter moving through his career 10^th from June 2024 for a year which is usually successful and that allied to tr Saturn moving above his Descendant from March 2024 will also see him on an upward trajectory career-wise for years to come.

  Along the way of next year he also has majorly confusing, downbeat midpoints which suggest miscalculations, an argumentative and mishap strewn 2025 and a sense of panicky failure in 2026.

  The Reform Party, 23 November 2018, is in tremendous flux this year and next with hopeful signs in 2026  as tr Uranus opposes the Jupiter, but it may just be a flash in the pan stroke of luck rather than a resounding success.

  The leader, Richard Tice, 13 September 1964, is stuck this year and to a degree 2024 as well.  His two bright spots are tr Uranus conjunct his Jupiter at 26 Taurus for a lucky break next July/August, and again into 2025; and 2027 when his Solar Arc Jupiter is conjunct his Mars but that comes after a meltdown in 2026.

  All the usual pluses and minuses.

Rock Hudson, super-star matinee idol immortalised in Pillow Talk with co-star girl-next-door Doris Day, ultimately turned out in typical Hollywood style to have a private reality a million miles away from his public image. As indeed was the case with Doris Day (abusive/rip-off marriages). A new documentary about Hudson All That Heaven Allowed describes him as “a sexual gladiator”, famed for his reported carnal appetites in liaisons with rent boys though he never came out about his homosexuality which only emerged  after his death from AIDs.

 The key to his heterosexual dreamboat character, say several observers in the documentary is the flicker of insecurity that he brings to his performances. “I think him being gay was the secret ingredient that made it all work,” one says. “There’s nothing threatening about Rock Hudson for them. He’s your best friend, but you get to smooch him on camera. That’s why people were drawn to his sensitivity.”

  He was born 17 November 1925 2.15 am Winneika, Illinois, with a fractured childhood, divorced parents and an unhappy relationship with a stepfather. His breakout role in acting in Magnificent Obsession in 1954 set him on a road to success, with romantic comedies marking the 1960s. The 1970s saw a slow decline into TV work – MacMillan and Wife and eventually Dynasty. In the early 1980s, after years of heavy drinking and smoking, he had a heart attack and quintuple heart bypass surgery.

 He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984 and after seeking treatment in France found all the airlines refused to fly him home because of his illness. He was forced to hire a private Air France 747 at a cost of $250,000. Despite his reticence about coming out, his death changed perceptions around Aids victims and forced the subject into the mainstream, as he became a focal point for the messaging of fundraisers round the world.

  He did have a secretive, intense and controlling chart – all hidden behind a charming, light-hearted Libra Ascendant, an upbeat Sagittarius Moon and a sugary-sweet Venus Jupiter in Capricorn. His 10^th house Pluto was in a Water Grand Trine to Saturn Sun in Scorpio trine Uranus in Pisces; with his Pluto in a super-confident and persuasive opposition to Jupiter and Venus. A Water Grand Trine is creative – and healing for others – and tends to live in its own bubble of reality. His Sun was also in a creative, filmic and evasive square to Neptune in his 11^th giving him a an ethereal image out in society. His Neptune was further emphasized being on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Uranus sextile Jupiter which would accentuate his escapist, detached-from-reality streak. And it amplified his Scorpio need for secrecy by adding an urge for privacy.  His Mars in Scorpio in his 2^nd would give him financial ambitions and being unaspected may have fed into his unrestrained, non-stop sexual appetites.

  He died 2 October 1985 9am Los Angeles when tr Pluto in Scorpio was just over the conjunction to his Mars; tr Saturn was just over the conjunction to his Sun and tr Neptune was conjunct his IC.

  Pluto moving into Scorpio in the early 1980s not only turned a spotlight on hidden homosexuality and the AIDs plague but also on child sexual abuse – so it altered society’s perceptions in a significant way.

ADD ON; Doris Day and he became firm friends after Pillow Talk until his death. On the surface they could not have been more different. She was Aries with a Gemini Moon with a Fire/Air chart and he was a heavyweight Scorpio with a Water, Earth, Fire chart. His Sagittarius Moon would help and her 8^th house Venus which had a Scorpionic feel. Her Sun fell in his 7^th for good partnership material and his Venus Jupiter in her 4^th for a comforting feel. Her Saturn was conjunct his Ascendant so she may have brought ‘respectability’ to his image in prejudiced times. There is also an interesting tangle with Chiron. Her Sun was exactly conjunct Chiron falling in his 7^th and his Chiron was conjunct her Venus in her 8^th.  They may have been each other’s port-in-a-storm – she from abusive husbands and he from a turbulent private life.

 

And so it has come to pass. The explosive turn of events that was aways going to mark Joe Biden’s term, much pondered at the time of the inauguration, has arrived on cue – with the Term Solar Arc Sun closing the conjunction with Saturn to exact and SA Saturn closing the square to Mars Uranus to exact. Saturn = weighty matters and heavy responsibility. Mars Uranus Saturn = a volatile, high-risk and destructive situation.

  The Taurus Lunar Eclipse late this month will also conjunct the Term Mars Uranus adding to the challenge and danger. Ebertin describes Mars Uranus as violent people, fighters for freedom, revolutionaries, a test of nerves and a sudden intervention (sometimes an operation).

  Biden took the almost unprecedented step for a US President of visiting a war zone, offering full support to Israel but that was conditional on aid getting into Gaza, with cautions about not repeating the same mistakes as the US by taking a vengeance spree post 9/11. He called for respect for the rules of war and for the innocent lives on both sides who might be put at risk in the conflict. He backed his support for Israel by sending two carrier battle groups into the region – no doubt with a wary eye on Iran. 

  Joe Biden’s personal chart has Mars exactly on the Descendant for Iran so it is very much his warzone hotspot. 

  Biden’s personal Mars/Uranus midpoint is on red alert over this crisis and for another few days; with a similar tr Uranus opposition his Sun/Mars midpoint picking up mid this November to mid December. He’s facing a panicky disaster just after mid November to late December with tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Pluto when he won’t have the energy or wherewithal to handle calamities decisively. He’ll get back into confident gear from late February 2024 onwards with tr Uranus square his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint.  

  But will be seriously rattled come July 2024 as tr Uranus squares his Mars/Saturn midpoint = which may be when the Middle East moves into an even more perilous phase with another major atrocity. (Or admittedly in his case could be a million different things.)  But that period certainly flags up on Netanyahu’s chart and his relationship with Mohammed bin Salman, as as well as MBS’s relationship with Israel. (And Trump and the GOP Convention.)

  It also flags up on Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s chart. He is doing sterling service at present zipping from capital to capital backing up Biden’s message. Born 16 April 1962 New York, he is experiencing the same extreme turbulence with his Solar Arc Mars square his Uranus and SA Uranus opposition his Sun now. And his Aries Sun is opposition the recent Solar Eclipse for a crisis. Next June he has tr Uranus opposition his Saturn/Pluto midpoint and then in July tr Uranus square his Uranus and his Pluto/North Node midpoint – which points to him being under maximum pressure in a potentially war-like situation.

  There is a blackly humorous and depressingly on-point cartoon today by Martyn Turner. The Bleedin’ Obvious: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results…” Israel – More force will put manners on them. Hamas – Kill more and they’ll go away.

  From the look of Israel’s chart this one is not going to go away for several years ahead. Indeed the situation is much as James Cameron pointed out 50 years ago and nothing much essential has altered since.  See post 10^th October. 

  See previous post on Netanyahu 11 October, and also previous post on Biden 2 July 2023.

ADD ON:

Kamala Harris, as ever waits in the wings, a stand-in if the unthinkable happens and Biden becomes incapable for whatever reason. Born 20 October 1964 9.28 pm Oakland, California, she has a Libra Sun about to emerge from a gruelling two years of a blocked tr Pluto moving through her 8^th house square her Sun from late this month which has put her through the wringer. Tr Saturn is now hovering around her Midheaven beginning eight years of heavier responsibility, hard work and possibly promotion ahead in whatever she does. The key complication from an astrological interpretation viewpoint is her Fixed T Square of a sharp-edged and prone-to-setbacks Saturn in Aquarius opposition Mars in Leo square a lucky, though overly confident and acquisitive Jupiter in Taurus. Such a Fixed T Square will give her stamina and the potential to be an enlightened political spokesman though Jupiterian excesses in terms of arrogance, inertia and intolerance can interfere with progress.

 Tr Uranus is in hard aspect shaking up this T Square, first in an edgy, insecure square to Mars late this month to mid November and again next April which can come about because of a sudden surprise change of circumstances and will also bring arguments. Tr Uranus then is conjunct her Jupiter late May to mid June 2024, late November to mid December 2024 and again March 2025.   On its own tr Uranus conjunct Jupiter brings lucky breaks and new opportunities. But tugging on that accident-prone Mars Saturn, it could well lead to an entirely different outcome. [As was obvious from individuals with Jupiter opposition Neptune in their chart who failed rather than succeeded when their Jupiter was triggered since their over-hopeful Neptune was pulled into play.]

 Her Mars/Saturn midpoint will be triggered at the same time as her Jupiter in June 2024 and December 2024 and into 2025. This could bring a fortunate separation, a silver lining in a major setback or having to concentrate extra hard on a complex and risky problem.

  Around the high-agitation phase in mid July/early August 2024 she has tr Uranus square her Sun/Node which suggests upsets within her community.

  What is marginally alarming is her relationship chart with Donald Trump – whom she was never going to blend with at the best of times with his Mars in Leo clashing with her Mars in Leo plus Saturn Jupiter. Their composite shows up with a bitterly hostile Mars, Sun, Pluto which is being severely aggravated from June onwards, peaking in June/July and extending on through into 2025. Which rather suggests he is still in the game.

  Relocating her chart to the Middle East, Saudi Arabia looks most stressed with her Mars close to her Midheaven there – definitely argumentative.  Her relationship with Mohammed bin Salman, is rattled at the moment and if she is still in situ 2025 onwards it will deteriorate.

  The mystery of the disappearance of explorer and archaeologist Percy Fawcett in an Amazonian jungle in 1925 led initially to tentative explanations of him being shot by Indians, killed by a jaguar or starved to death. Another bizarre reason has emerged recently which alludes to him being lured by a native she-god or spirit guide, leading him to plan a freedom commune in the jungle, based on a bizarre cult.

  For once the astrology has relatively clear indications about his demise and even the location. 

   He was born 31 August 1867 at 8am Torquay, England, and served in the army in Hong Kong, Malta and Ceylon, worked in Africa in the British Secret Service pursuing his main interest of surveying and mapmaking. Along the way he became friends with authors Sir Henry Rider Haggard and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; the latter used Fawcett’s Amazonian field reports as inspiration for his novel The Lost World.

He went on several expeditions to South America from 1906 onwards, charting unexplored jungle; and developed an idea about a “lost city” of an ancient civilization somewhere in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil. On his second trip to find it in 1925 he disappeared along with his eldest son, Jack, and a friend.

  Percy Fawcett was a Sun, Venus in Virgo in the 12^th in an expansive and confident opposition to Jupiter in Pisces. But his chart is marked by two key configurations.  One was an innovative/rebellious Uranus in his career 10^th square Mars opposition Neptune, giving him a liking for thrills, excitement and a touch of glamour/publicity.  The other was an 8^th house Pluto opposition Saturn in Scorpio making him beyond stubborn and enduring; as well as fascinated by exploring the furthest reaches of experience.

  He had been to Brazil several times but it was a risky area for him since it put his Pluto on his Midheaven, usually regarded as a location in which to be wary. All the usual Pluto issues tend to be raised on such a line – running into power struggles and opponents, facing danger. What would undoubtedly trigger high-risk/accident or misadventure was tr Pluto conjunct his natal Mars as well as his Solar Arc Pluto square his Mars exactly and reverberating round his explosive Mars Uranus Neptune T square. Tr Mercury was also exactly conjunct his Pluto on the day he disappeared.

  It was a troubled area for him. Where before he had escaped life-threatening problems, this time destructive transits on his chart triggered a disaster. What made that period in his life even more stressed was that his two tricky configurations – Saturn opposition Pluto and his Mars Uranus Neptune T square had collided by Solar Arc directions – and that usually keys up a life changing crisis.

   Even his son Jack, 19 May 1903 (no birth time) had his Solar Arc sun conjunct his Pluto, SA Uranus square his North Node and Progressed Mars square his Neptune – all exact – when he disappeared – hugely pressured, wrong place wrong time and panic creating.

  Jim Lewis is spot on in his Astrocartography book about Pluto Midheaven locations – a battle for personal autonomy and freedom from coercion, engaging in hero worship, anti-social behaviour which would all fit with his escape-to-Brazil cult idea. It also tends to bring situations of victimization ‘by organized mobs.’ Maybe the Indians got him after all.

  Before anyone comments that wiki have a different August birthdate – this one works perfectly and comes from ADB.

Jim Jordan’s far-right supporters are putting on an intimidation campaign to twist the arms of reluctant Republican congresspersons before the vote for him to become Speaker on Tuesday. If he wins they will have elected a speaker who opposes Ukraine funding and wanted then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject Joe Biden electoral votes. In addition it means that Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s strategy will have been successful, as a small group (four percent) of House Republicans will have unilaterally ousted a House speaker — and replaced him with their chosen successor.

  “Several of Mr. Jordan’s supporters have posted the phone numbers of mainstream G.O.P. lawmakers they count as holdouts,” according to The New York Times.

  He was born 17 February 1964 in Troy, Ohio, was a wrestler in college, became a congressman in 2007 and recently has been an all-out, vociferously supportive pro-Trumper.

  He was born three days after John Gotti Jnr, (the convicted former mobster’s son), six days after Sarah Palin and 7 days after Glen Beck (right-wing conspiracy theorist jock.) All of them have similar charts – a ferociously hard-edged and aggressive Sun Mars Saturn in Aquarius with Neptune in Scorpio in square. Plus a Yod of Neptune sextile Pluto inconjunct Jupiter (Moon) in Aries. A yod apex Jupiter can be influential  on social affairs but tends to be undone by self-aggrandisement. He has another Yod of Mercury in Aquarius sextile Venus in Aries inconjunct Uranus – can be a trailblazer but is also divisive and tends to cause rifts.

  His Jupiter and maybe Moon (not known because no birth time) was opposition this week’s Solar Eclipse which could hint at wild over-confidence but there is nothing other than that showing on his chart for or against victory or defeat at the moment and ditto Matt Gaetz. What, however, is eye-catching is a considerable upset on his chart in July 2024 which he will regard as a cataclysmic disaster. His relationship chart with Donald Trump will also be seriously shaken at the same time by a devastating turn of events as their composite Pluto square Mars gets elbowed sharply by tr Uranus in hard aspect, continuing into 2025.

  That is also when tr Uranus squares Trump’s Mars in Leo over the 2024 Republican Convention which looks to be a shock n’ awe event with a Uranus Mars conjunction on the opening day.

  Jordan looks deflated in 2025, his confidence dented and ambitious plans undermined.  

DNA testing could prove the guilt or innocence of Bruno Hauptmann convicted and executed for the kidnap and murder of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s baby 90 years ago. There has been no DNA testing or forensic testing of any kind in recent decades and the case largely rested on circumstantial – admittedly overwhelming – evidence. A group of researchers is pressing its legal fight to reexamine the case evidence using rapidly developing DNA technology.  Marked bills from the kidnapping ransom were found in his garage. Wood from the kidnapping ladder was found to be from his attic.  But there are queries as to whether he had an accomplice. When he went to the electric chair in 1936, he was still maintaining his innocence, refusing to sign a confession that might have saved his life. 

Bruno Hauptmann, 26 November 1899 1pm Kamenz, Germany, was a carpenter, an illegal immigrant who came to the USA after the First World War in which his father and two brothers died and he himself was gassed and suffered a head injury. After the war, he and a friend robbed two women wheeling a baby carriage and he served time for burglaries including one using a ladder.

  He had a stellium of six planets spread out through Sagittarius with Sun conjunct Uranus, Uranus conjunct Mars and Venus, Mercury, Saturn all conjunct. His explosive Mars Uranus was opposition Pluto and square a Virgo Moon which suggests a volcanic reservoir of anger against women, no doubt from his own infant experiences.  His Venus, Mercury, Saturn opposed Neptune and again squared his Moon – emotionally incredibly unstable. Plus his Mars was conjunct Chiron which can have problems controlling aggression.

  Tragically and ironically the baby Charles Lindbergh 111 also had his Mars conjunct Chiron, deeply buried in in Taurus in his 8^th house. Born 22 June 1930 2.10pm Englewood, New Jersey, he may have had a lucky, expansive Sun Cancer conjunct Jupiter in his 9^th house but he did not have an easy chart with an over-controlled 10^th house Pluto square a 7^th house Uranus and his Mars Chiron conjunct his Moon. Had he survived the kidnapping or even without it, he would not have had an untroubled life.

  His father, Charles Lindbergh 11, 4 February 1902 1.30 am Detroit, Michigan, was a super-determined Sun and Mars in Aquarius with a controlling Pluto in his 8th opposition Uranus and Neptune also in his 8th Taurus. His Moon in Sagittarius was conjunct Uranus and opposition both Pluto and Neptune – so not emotionally stable or calm. His Sun was square the baby’s 8th house Mars exactly so a connection that would tend to flare up easily.

  The baby’s mother Anne Morrow Lindbergh, another aviator, 22 June 1906 11.15 am Englewood, NJ, also had a revved up Mars with her Cancer Sun conjunct Mars, Moon, Neptune opposition Uranus – and that would have been explosive.

  There is nothing much on any of the charts to give any indication of involvement on 1 March 1932 when the baby disappeared.

  But there is an extraordinarily strong Mars theme running through all the charts.