not categorised

Learning astrology is a long drawn out process and it requires starting with the basics.

Books I found useful at the start:

Margaret Hone 1953 Modern Textbook of Astrology, out of print but some available second hand.

Sakoian & Acker – The Astrologers Handbook. Planets in signs and houses and in aspect.

Robert Hand – Transits.

Bil Tierney: Dynamics of Aspect Analysis – excellent on major configurations, yods, unaspected planets.

Martin Schulman: Karmic Astrology – the Moon’s Nodes.

Melanie Rhinehart: Chiron

Tracy Marks: Your Secret Self: Illuminating the Mysteries of the Twelfth House

Marcia Moore: Astrology book (beginner)

Sakaion and Acker: The Minor Aspects in Astrology.

Delphine Jay: The Dark Moon Lilith.

Bernadette Brady. The Eagle and the Lark (Eclipse Saros Series and much else.  Book of Fixed Stars.

Elsbeth Ebertin: Fixed Stars and Their Interpretation.

Vivian Robson: The Fixed Stars and Constellations (1923). It’s on archive.org.

Diana’s Fixed Stars, the website for the late Diana K Rosenberg.

Rodney Collins : The Theory of Celestial Influence.

Nick Campion: History of Astrology volumes.

Richard Tarnas: “Cosmos and Psyche”.

Erin Sullivan: Retrograde planets.

Noel Tyl: Solar Arcs is one of the books in this series. Good for advancing astrologers with a good foundation.

Sue Tompkins: Aspects in Astrology. Unmatched, in depth interpretations.

Celeste Teal: Predicting Events With Astrology’ – a good  foundational text on prediction.

NEXT TIER:

Stephen Arroyo: Astrology, Psychology and the Four Elements (Fire, Earth, Air, Water etc)

Astrology, Karma and Transformation.   He also has Chart Interpretation.

Liz Greene: Saturn especially but any of hers are excellent

Howard Sasportas ditto

RELATIONSHIPS:

Robert Hand – Planets in Composite

Sakoian & Acker – Synastry

HARMONICS:  David Hamblin

MIDPOINTS: Rheinhold Ebertin: Stellar Influences

AStROCARTOGRAPHY:

Jim Lewis & Kenneth Irving: The Psychology of Astro*carto*graphy

Erin Sullivan: Where in the World? Astro*Carto*Graphy & Relocation:

POLITICAL/COUNTRY ASTROLOGY:

Michael Harding, Michael Baigent:Working with Astrology – the psychology of midpoints, harmonics and ACG mapping techniques.

Nick Campion: World Horoscopes (countries birth dates).

Andre Barbault: Planetary Cycles is a good book if you are evaluating the value of astrology in looking at recurrent cycles in history.

Traditional and Horary Astrology: William Lilly, Olivia Barclay, Charles Carter and Deborah Houlding

Barbara H. Watters: Horary Astrology and the Judgment of Events(Valhalla 1973). It’s a workhorse of a book for students of horary.

Wessex Astrologer on the net has most of Liz Greene’s and is a good starting point in the UK.

PS. Some of these are older books since I started astrology in the late 1970s.  I am sure other astrologers will have their own favourites so do add comments. 

There are also useful astrology websites with the basics:

Café Astrology, Dark Pixie, Bob Marks come to mind.  Plus Astrology King for Fixed Stars.

Astrodienst (www.astro.com) set up by Swiss Alois Treindl who met and brought on board Liz Greene, Rob Hand and other renowned astrologers.
For magazines, recommend The Mountain Astrologer, The Astrological Journal.

For out of print books, you can check on Internet archive website, which is a virtual non profit library with millions of free texts. https://archive.org

www.addall.com/ is a good aggregator of used book sites.

The radiantly beautiful Halle Berry, a constant presence on the screen for 25 years, with an erratic romantic life, has raised eyebrows with an over-exposed outfit for the Met Gala and celebrating Mother’s Day with an Instagram post of herself naked in bed with her musician lover.

  Her charm and luminous looks along with a fair few successes have obscured just how rumbustious her personal life has been – with several very short lived marriages, descriptions of abusive relationships, financial law suits, custody suits and a domestic violence incident when a former husband had an altercation with a present boyfriend.

 Her career has seen similar highs and lows with Variety noting in 2017 about one lacklustre film: “It should be said that Berry has given some of the best and worst performances of the past quarter-century, but this is perhaps the only one that swings to both extremes in the same movie.”  She has recently moved into producing and directing.

  She was born 14 August 1966 11.59pm Cleveland, Ohio, and has a 4^th house Sun Leo with Mercury Moon in Leo and Venus in Cancer also in the 4^th house. A settled home life and privacy are important to her which makes her lifestyle all the more bizarre. Though admittedly she does have an emphasised house Uranus Pluto conjunction in Virgo with all its contradictions and attendant chaos in her romantic, emotional and dramatic 5th house.

  She has a creative, overly emotional Water Grand Trine of a passionately enthusiastic Venus, Mars, Jupiter conjunction in Cancer trine Saturn in Pisces trine Neptune South Node in Scorpio, formed into a Kite with Saturn opposition Uranus Pluto. Her Leo Sun is square Neptune opposition Taurus North Node on her Ascendant. The Taurus Node has a tendency to become involved in intense tugs of war financially and emotionally, and her Neptune plus a Water Grand Trine possibly makes her less self-aware than is helpful, since she’ll live in her own self-protective bubble of reality.

  At the moment tr Pluto is crossing her final degree Capricorn Midheaven to start moving through her career 10^th for many years. Sometimes Pluto on the MC can bring a reputation breakdown and career-collapse though it can also in a less dramatic fashion start a long period of searching for a new, more meaningful career direction. Tr Uranus since 2023 has been moving through her 1^st which is often a defiant time of making a stand for individuality and not caring what others think or say. Her Solar Return at the moment has Uranus on the Ascendant so she will be more rebellious even than usual.  

 Tr Pluto is also opposition her Moon Mercury in 2025/26 which will intensify her feelings with ongoing changes within the family. I can’t imagine her children will appreciate mom throwing caution and modesty to the winds.

  Her present romance is with musician Van Hunt, 8 March 1970. His passionate Sun Venus in Pisces opposition Pluto is a good connection with her Jupiter, Mars, Venus in Cancer but not with her Saturn in Pisces. And his hard-edged, short-tempered Mars Saturn in Taurus square her Moon Mercury does not look a good-news connection.

  It’ll be interesting to see what happens with tr Pluto crossing her Midheaven.

The historic Alien Enemies Act, used only three times since its adoption in 1798, during war time, has been resurrected as an excuse for the Trump administration to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants. The present acting direction of ICE, the immigration enforcement agency, Todd Lyons said he would like the agency to implement a system of trucks that rounds up immigrants for deportation in a system “Like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings”. “We need to get better at treating this like a business.”

 The Alien Enemies Act, 6 July 1798, had a hard Sun Saturn in Cancer trine Neptune trine Mars in Pisces with Mars opposition Uranus. Not awash with sympathy or sentiment.

 The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was created on 1 March 2003 by George W. Bush following the September 11 attacks to protect from cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety. It has a Pisces Sun with the tough, unfeeling, war-associated Saturn in Gemini opposition Pluto (conjunct Mars).

 Tr Saturn is square the ICE Mars earlier this year and on and off till January 2026; with a change-of-direction tr Uranus square Uranus this June into 2026.

 Todd Lyons, no birth time, took up his position on March 9 2025 which gives his term a Sun Saturn in Pisces trine Mars in Cancer, sextile Uranus – again unfeeling with a hint of cruelty.

Strange how all of the above are awash with Water planets which are often erroneously deemed to be touchy-feely and soft hearted. The reality can often incline more in the direction of a strong need for self-protection which has the effect of coming across as selfish or cut off from human connection.

The Alien Enemies Act is running into trouble within a year with the Solar Arc Saturn Sun crossing the Pluto in 2026/2027. Todd Lyons term also looks to be running into a wall by 2027.

 Two astro thoughts, well three.  One: the Alien Enemies Act has its Saturn Sun in Cancer square the USA Saturn in fair-minded Libra so its stony-hearted approach will not sit easily with the USA’s basic ethos. Two: The ICE Saturn is exactly conjunct the USA 9^th house Mars and square its Neptune, hinting at the unease its measures bring.

 Secondly ICE, set up during the 2003 Saturn opposition Pluto links in closely with Trump’s chart. The ICE Saturn in Gemini being exactly conjunct his Sun with the ICE Pluto in opposition so there is something in his dark soul which embraces the war-time ethos which ICE represents. War time necessitates that certain peace-time legal niceties are dropped.

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Jack Draper, the UK tennis No 1, has admitted that “I get out of bed and I feel so angry some days” after smashing his racket during his recent win. “I’ve got to lose points, so I’ve got to go through those emotional ups and downs.” “It’s sometimes difficult to always be perfect.”

 Mars is what gives a competitive drive and it hates to lose so flare ups are difficult to avoid though some professionals manage better than others.

 Draper, 22 December 2001, has a Capricorn Sun and a peculiarly difficult Mutable T square of Saturn in Gemini opposition Pluto square Mars in Pisces. Mars Pluto is do-or-die-determined; Saturn Pluto won’t give in; and Mars Saturn is fractious, inclined to blow fuses every so often. He’ll give his all but find losing impossibly difficult.

 John McEnroe, famous for his on-court meltdowns in days gone by at umpires etc, 16 February 1959, 10.30 pm Weisbaden, Germany, has an 8^th house Mars opposition Jupiter square Pluto opposition Sun Mercury. A volcanic temper was hardly surprising given his burning need to stay on top and in control.

 Another young player of the moment French Corentin Moutet, 19 April 1999, Neuilly Sur Seine, is also renowned for his explosive temperament and he has Mars in Scorpio opposition Saturn with an intense Venus opposition Pluto.

  Andy Murray, 15 May 1987, now retired, who also looked less than delighted if he played below his best has Mars opposition Uranus, Moon, Saturn.

 Mars makes for great sportsmen but it can be like holding a tiger by the tail when things go wrong.   

The cultural obsession with Princess Diana, still ongoing nearly three decades after her death, is the subject of a new book – Dianaworld. Author Edward White gives ‘a deeply-researched account of the public fascination from royalists, republicans, lookalikes and sex workers and approaches Diana’s story through the people who saw themselves in her – the doppelgangers, opportunists and superfans who found parallels between the princess’s life of extraordinary privilege and their own.’

 Were they all “parasocial relationships”, one-sided, delusional versions of love or did she have an ability to mirror the problems of everyday people through her family dramas and connect through her outreach to AIDS suffers, the homeless and landmine victims. She was an antidote to the British stiff upper lip so stalwartly adhered to by the Royal Family and her death was a watershed moment for good or ill which unleashed a hidden reservoir of overwhelming sentiment.

‘Some grieved, while others found the public spectacle coercive, seeing it as synthetic as the plastic wrapping on all those flowers.’

  When she died on 31 August 1997, there were two astro-influences of note on the UK chart. The first was tr Saturn in Aries square the 10^th house Cancer Moon, representing the ruling classes, which would bring grief for the loss of a ‘maternal’ figure who dominated the national culture.

  Even more significantly – which was my strong sense living in London at the time – was the Solar Arc Neptune exactly square the UK Pluto. Ebertin describes it as ‘manias, self-torment, obsession, confusion, a grievous loss, peculiar states of soul experience.’ Neptune Pluto accompanies events of total devastation and has connections to the supernatural. There was a feeling in London as if something not quite real was ongoing –  almost a psychological disintegration as emotional controls collapsed, which can sound healthy, but is not a good outcome if the boundary walls with the unconscious are breached.

  Princess Diana, 1 July 1961 7.45pm Sandringham, England, (birth time Debbie Frank, her personal astrologer) did have her Mars in Virgo opposition the UK 5^th house Pluto. Given that her ‘leadership’ North Node in Virgo and her ‘desperate, trapped’ Mars Pluto opposition Chiron also connected strongly with the UK Pluto her plight would arguably trigger strong feelings within the country.  I confess I tend to overlook the UK’s Pluto but since it sits on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Jupiter sextile Uranus, it clearly plays a powerful role in the country’s psyche and destiny. [All the more important to pay attention to it since tr Uranus will square it in 2026.]  

  And now that I look her relationship chart with the UK also has a Plutonic yod of Moon Jupiter sextile Mars inconjunct Pluto – perhaps one reason the ‘relationship’ with her is so hard to let go. Pluto relationships never split easily or quickly. And the composite yod makes it a peculiarly fated connection.

  Diana’s Cancer Sun also sat exactly on the UK’s Midheaven opposition the Sun and square the Libra Ascendant so she was a pivotal figure in other ways as well for the country’s direction and image.

  She died three days before a Solar Eclipse in the 18^th North Saros Series which has particular relevance for the Royal Family, not all negative . Its most recent occurrence in 2015 saw Queen Elizabeth break Victoria’s record as the longest monarch on the throne.

 In 1997 when Diana died tr Pluto was also exactly square the UK yod focal point Pluto, having just squared Diana’s Mars with the UK Solar Arc Neptune in exact hard aspect as well. So quite a pile up of devastating influences.

Helpful to revisit old events and spot other angles.

Stephen Miller, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, has stirred up another dust storm suggesting the Trump administration is considering whether it can suspend habeas corpus, the right of an individual to challenge their detention in court. Trump has repeatedly asserted the U.S. is facing an “invasion” requiring the deportation of undocumented migrants under the Alien Enemies Act, a law that would allow the deportation of noncitizens with little to no due process. Stephen Miller has been known as far-right and anti-immigration since his student days and was a speech writer during Trump’s first term.

  He was born 23 August 1985 4.53 pm Santa Monica, California, with his great-grandparents having emigrated from Belarus to the States in the early part of the 20^th Century, not speaking any English.

 Miller has an 8^th house Virgo Sun trine Neptune in his 12th; with Mars Mercury in Leo also in his 8th, hinting at a strong intergenerational bond. His upbeat and restless Sagittarius Moon is conjunct Uranus and he has a controlling and influential Pluto on his Midheaven in a confident square to Jupiter. His conscientious, well-organized Saturn in Scorpio in his 10^th squares his Mars for a hard-edged, unsympathetic streak.  A 4^th house Taurus Node suggests that he would do better to focus less on his career and more on building realistic emotional foundations for his life.

 He’s not having a great year with three fairly negative solar arcs almost exact. SA Neptune conjunct Jupiter = disappointment, undermining great expectations. SA Saturn conjunct Neptune = uncertain, panicky, the dream is not delivering. SA Pluto conjunct Moon = emotionally fraught, divisive team relationships – which moves onto a period of significant upheaval with SA Midheaven conjunct his Uranus followed by SA Pluto conjunct his Uranus in 2026/27.  Tr Uranus will also square his 8^th house Virgo Sun with jolts, jangles and sudden surprises from this July into 2026. Through 2026/27 tr Pluto squares his Midheaven which could bring a career meltdown or at the very least intolerable pressure giving way to forced change.

 His relationship chart with Trump is not showing anything too obvious except for tr Uranus moving into the composite 8^th which may hint at subterranean forces bringing tensions to the surface.

Gertrude Stein, the controversial American novelist and playwright, an eccentric and colorful figure in the post-World War I literary scene has had her life and talents spotlighted in a well-reviewed biography After Life. She was a character of “bewildering contradictions”. Depending on who you spoke to, she was either a genius or a charlatan.

 She was born 3 February 1874 7.55am Allegheny, Pennsylvania, the youngest daughter of an upper-middle class Jewish family and became one of the first female students admitted to Harvard to  study medicine and psychology under William James, but rapidly tired of the field. A successful older brother Michael gave her a generous stipend to live comfortably for the rest of her life. Along with her brother Leo she became a central figure of the Roaring ’20s in Paris, presiding over an artistic salon. Without their patronage, Matisse and Picasso might have floundered early in their careers. She was a mentor to Fitzgerald and Hemingway so was at the cutting edge of the aesthetic revolution.

 She is described as ‘a genius, imprimatur and often quite difficult person.’

 Four years after she moved to Paris in her late twenties she  met Alice B. Toklas, part of the Paris avant-garde and it was love at first sight for both. They ended up devoted life partners, with Toklas missing Stein for 21 years after her death.

 Stein’s reputation was damaged in World War 11 by her admiration for Petain, head of the collaborationist Vichy government, responsible for the deportation of  over 75,000 Jews to Nazi Germany. Both Stein and Toklas of Jewish heritage, survived in large part thanks to the refusal of their neighbours in Bilignin to shop them to the Nazis.

 Gertrude Stein had a stellium in Aquarius of Saturn, Venus, Mercury, Sun opposition Uranus square North Node in Taurus; with her Sun Mercury square Pluto in Taurus. Fixed, enduring, stubborn, quite autocratic, unconventional, defiant. An emphasized North Node would draw her to the zeitgeist, the spirit of the time in the social order.  Her Mars in creative Pisces was opposition Jupiter for high enthusiasm though lacking in common sense. An unaspected Virgo Moon in her 7^th would give her vulnerability and sense of emotional disconnection although she desperately needed a partner being in the 7^th.

  Her writing style often met with derision but her biographer argues for an understanding of what she was trying to do. ‘You may feel baffled by the repetitions, the anchorless strangeness: but what helps the wary reader is that Stein wanted to do to language what Picasso, who owed her so much, was doing to visual representation in Cubism.’

 Alice B. Toklas, 30 April 1877, San Francisco was not an intuitively good mix with her. She had a Taurus Sun, Venus and Neptune square Mars in Aquarius which tangled fairly noisily with Stein’s Aquarius planets and her Uranus. Although Toklas’ Sun was exactly conjunct Stein’s North Node drawing them into the centre of the social action of the day. And Toklas’s Taurus Sun, Venus, Neptune trine Stein’s Moon would help with her South Node conjunct Stein’s Moon as well. Toklas’s eternally optimistic Sagittarius Moon falling in Stein’s 10^th would be helpful on the career front.

 Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus conjunction; with a power-couple Pluto opposition Jupiter square a dutiful Saturn – with Jupiter Pluto square an unconventional Uranus. Saturn Pluto would chain them together. Saturn conjunct Mars suggests one partner would have to constantly bite their tongue to fit in which presumably would be Toklas.

 Not an easy bond but it clearly worked well enough to hold them together for decades.

Louis Theroux’s documentary on settler violence in the West Bank follows on from Basel Adra’s Oscar winning documentary No Other Land – both focusing on the worsening situation in the West Bank. After the October 7^th Hamas attack  settlers have been armed by the government and granted policing powers and have forced at least 18 Palestinian communities – more than 1,000 people – to flee their homes

“The line between settler and state violence has blurred to a vanishing point,” the UN Human Rights Office said last year.

 Theroux interviewed one settler who declared in his view that the Palestinian people “don’t exist”. Another Daniella Weiss, described as the “godmother” of the settler project who promotes a vision of an entirely Israeli-ruled region, with the Palestinians pushed to either accept it or leave – to Turkey, to Canada – anywhere else. She explained that Lebanon, Jordan and parts of Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq were all part of Greater Israel.  A prominent rabbi, Dov Lior spoke of the need to “cleanse” the land of “camel riders”.

Louis Theroux, 20 May 1970, Singapore, has a Taurus Sun square the Israel Mars and close to the Israel 8^th house Sun so does have a deep insight into the situation and Israeli mindset. His Mars Venus square Pluto also collide with Israel’s defiant and devil-may-care Uranus opposition Jupiter.

 Basel Adra, 13 June 1996 Yattah, Israel, also has Mars in Gemini opposition Pluto and his Gemini Sun conjunct the Israel Uranus so will have a similar reaction to Israeli actions.

  I am intrigued by their synastry with the Israel 9^th house Uranus opposition Jupiter. At best that could suggest an open-mindedness about alternative philosophies and an upbeat, adventurous streak. Sakoian & Acker however say although it can be idealistic and well-meaning, it can also be ‘one of the most dangerous of all aspects.’ With unbridled flights of imagination with no basis in reality. Blunt and undiplomatic leading to disharmony and unpopularity. Uranus in the 9^th in its negative mode can be fanatical.

 Daniela Weiss, 30 August 1945, a Sun Virgo has her excitable, uncompromising Mars (Uranus) conjunct the Israel Uranus exactly; with her Saturn on the Israel Midheaven and her Pluto Mercury in the Israel 10^th with her Neptune Jupiter in Libra conjunct the Israel 12^th house Neptune. She shares the strong views of Israel, wishes to be a respected leader and influential in Israel’s direction and her idealistic/unrealistic Neptune Jupiter hooks into Israel’s 12^th house dream.

 Dov Lior, 30 October 1933,  a Sun Scorpio square Saturn in Aquarius has his Pluto conjunct the Israel Midheaven and his Jupiter conjunct the Israel 12^th house Neptune, with his Venus in Sagittarius opposition the Israel Uranus.

  The two far-right Israeli politicians also have notable synastry.

Bezazel Smotrich, 27 February 1980, has his Neptune in Sagittarius square Saturn in Virgo tugging on the Israeli Uranus and his Pluto on the Israel Ascendant.

 Itamar Ben Gvir, 6 May 1976, has his Mars Saturn conjunct the Israel Midheaven and his Pluto conjunct the Israel 12^th house Neptune.

 All the far-righters are driven to control Israel’s direction and image. But also home in on the 9^th house can-be-fanatical Uranus and 12^th house Neptune which can be neurotically preoccupied with the problems of the past and mentally confused.

  The USA has been one of Israel’s most fervent supporters – with the USA Mars in Gemini square Neptune in Virgo aspecting the Israel Uranus which might suggest that any friction is glossed over by Neptunian sympathy. The USA Pluto is also conjunct the Israel IC – hinting at foundational support.  But even that alliance is beginning to sag.

‘A Gallup survey taken in March this year found only 46% of Americans expressed support for Israel (the lowest level in 25 years of Gallup’s annual tracking) while 33% now said they sympathised with the Palestinians – the highest ever reading of that measure. Between 2022 and 2025, the Pew Research Center found that the proportion of Republicans who said they had unfavourable views of Israel rose from 27% to 37% (younger Republicans, aged under 49, drove most of that change).’

 The USA/Israel relationship chart will feel the effect of tr Saturn Neptune in Aries keenly as it opposes the composite Neptune Jupiter now into 2026 and squares the composite Mercury Venus on into 2027; with tr Pluto and tr Uranus trine the composite Neptune Jupiter. It does not suggest anything like a split but a pulling away from past solidarities as the stark reality of right-wing Israeli policies are dragged centre stage.

See previous post: Israel and Palestine – no end in sight to suffering. 3rd April 2025 

Add On: From today’s Times May 11 2025 Matthew Parris:

“Why are we closing our eyes to Gaza’s horror?

We have reached the point at which Israel’s western allies must say ‘enough of this savagery’ — and actually mean it

Why does the world look away? Are we simply bored, or do we flinch from the wreckage, the famine and the blood in Gaza? Are these horrors beyond the bandwidth of modern Britain as we burble about the woes of Prince Harry or the loss of heating allowances and wallow in a military victory that almost nobody today can even remember? VE Day was 1945.

This is 2025. As we speak, two million human beings face starvation at the hands of our close ally, Israel. As we speak, all hell is being rained down — rained down now. Within days, new atrocities may be imminent in a promised new offensive. Yet this hell on Earth has all but dropped from our headlines and we British continue to supply military kit, share intelligence and more. Why?”

Peter Pan and the Admiral Crichton are the two memorable successes of novelist and playwright J.M.Barrie whose birthday was yesterday in 1860.

 Born at 6.30am in Kirriemuir, Scotland, he was the ninth child of ten in a Calvinist family of a modestly successful weaver. He was, in the way of those days in Scotland, exceptionally well educated at school, spending some time away from home. The significant event of his childhood which marked his life and paradoxically led to his greatest triumph was the accidental death of an older teenage sibling, his mother’s favourite, when he was six. In order to reassure his grieving mother and perhaps gain her attention he tried to become the brother who would never grow old. She found comfort in the fact that her dead son would remain a boy forever, never to grow up and leave her.

 Barrie himself left home twice in his childhood to go to different schools, always wanted to be a writer and started early as a journalist after university, moving ultimately to London and mixed with the litterati of the day  – H. G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, P. G. Wodehouse, Jerome K. Jerome, G. K. Chesterton, A. A. Milne and others.

 He had an 11^th house Taurus Sun and Pluto with a creative Neptune in his career 10^th. His 7^th house Capricorn Moon opposition Venus and trine Pluto spoke to his close affectionate bond with his mother.

  But the key configuration in his chart was an 8^th house Mars in Capricorn opposition Jupiter square Mercury in Aries. When his brother died, tr Pluto in Cancer was opposition his Mars and tr Uranus in Aries was square his Mars and conjunct his Mercury – so turning his life upside down with a massive explosion which affected him at the deepest level. He only grew to five foot 3 inches and was said to suffer from a psychosocial dwarfism -a rare form of growth disorder, caused by emotional deprivation or stress which leads to growth failure due to hormonal disruptions. If true it clearly did not affect his intellectual development.

 When Peter Pan was put on stage in 1904 to become a world-wide success tr Jupiter in Aries was conjunct his Mercury and breathing new life into his Cardinal T square – with tr Saturn also heading for his Midheaven.

  His personal life was fairly stunted with a short lived marriage to an actress, reportedly unconsummated; and his friendships with a variety of children which later raised questions about his motives. Though one of them later said “He was an innocent which is why he could write Peter Pan.”  

He was a generous benefactor to friends and their families, even his divorced wife. And he handed over the rights to Peter Pan to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

Antarctica explorer Robert Falcon Scott was amongst his many friends. Barrie was godfather to Scott’s son Peter and was one of the seven people to whom Scott wrote letters in the final hours of his life during his expedition to the South Pole, asking Barrie to take care of his wife and son.

His secretary latterly was Cynthia Asquith, the daughter-in-law of the British Prime Minister.  In the 1930s, Barrie met and told stories to the young daughters of the Duke of York, the future Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. After meeting him, the three-year-old Princess Margaret announced, “He is my greatest friend and I am his greatest friend”.

Despite his elevated circle of friends – courtesy of his 11^th house Sun and influential 11th house Pluto, his Admiral Crichton was a socially subversive play (later film with Kenneth More) which elevated a shipwrecked butler to become ‘the governor’ and the aristocrats and erstwhile employers were reduced to underlings.