Jacinda Ardern – a high-flying career come down to earth

 Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister since 2017, once revered as a progressive and a breed apart, a counter to populist, reactionary politics of Trump, Brexit, Boris et al, is to step down saying she has run out of steam.  In recent times she has been increasingly criticised for her hard-line Covid policies as New Zealand grapples with a cost of living crisis, a sharp rise in interest rates, lower house prices and a rise in crime.

  She was born 26 July 1980 in Hamilton, New Zealand with a rectified birth time of 1.59 pm. Her father was a police officer and she was raised in the Mormon faith. She has an entertaining and knowledgeable Sun Leo with a hard-working Capricorn Moon. Her Saturn in conscientious Virgo is on the focal point of a T square to a Venus opposition Neptune, so she will have had a tendency to over work and over worry – Saturn square Neptune also suggests a hope for a fairer society.  But she’s also go-ahead and assertive with her Moon opposition Mercury square Mars and Pluto so has a steely backbone.

  Tr Saturn on this birth time is now moving across her IC into her 4th house which makes sense of a change in her career and house move. She’ll also have been undermined and racked with uncertainty as tr Neptune opposed her Saturn through last year and as she exits. She’s unlikely to disappear into domestic retreat though the next two years look edgy.

  Her First Term 26 October 2017 chart with a Sun Jupiter conjunction was confident and lucky – though it indicates her departure with tr Pluto square the Uranus through till late 2022 when she made her decision. Her Second Term, 6 November 2020, was beset with difficulties from Saturn Pluto but if anything was a touch overly confident in laying down draconian Covid policies with a Jupiter, Pluto, Saturn conjunction.

  Her connection with New Zealand is a powerful one with their relationship chart having Pluto opposition Neptune square Sun Jupiter – and she did propel New Zealand onto the world stage but Jupiter Pluto relationships do have a habit of going wrong down the road.

  New Zealand is moving through one of the more difficult periods in its history with tr Pluto moving across the massively frustrating conjunction to its Capricorn Sun Mars from 2021 till late 2023; with the additional setback of Solar Arc Saturn square the Mars through 2023 and further compounded by a challenging tr Pluto square Pluto in 2023/24. Tr Neptune is also in an undermining square to the financial Venus through this year. With further hurdles to overcome as tr Pluto is in a destabilising square to the NZ Uranus in 2026 and then square the NZ Saturn. Into the 2030s New Zealand will be a transformed country though the process of getting there won’t be easy.  

31 thoughts on “Jacinda Ardern – a high-flying career come down to earth

  1. There is a long established link in psychology between social rejection and aggressive behaviour. Social media has brought many people together, but many studies have found a correlation between time spent on platforms like Facebook and feelings of isolation and loneliness.

    Those who feel engaged with society and accepted exhibit more prosocial behaviour than those who feel rejected or marginalised, particularly with strangers. Those who feel socially excluded are also more likely to perceived threat from other’s views and even inclined to be hostile to neutral information: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19210063/

    The niche cause you identify is probably key – perhaps the feeling that they have found a group where they can feel accepted. They could then become more and more extreme in identifying with that group and signaling aggressive behaviour as a way of gaining social reward within the group.

    • Thanks, that makes a great deal of sense.
      Though I am still puzzled by why some ‘niche’ injustices become such mainstream obsessions at certain times.

      • So am I, Marjorie, especially over the trans stuff, though Nicola Stutgeon has obliquely illustrated one aspect. She’s been desperate to provoke the UK into an us against them situation. Now with the gender law, she’s found it. I think an us against them frame of mind is a leitmotif of our time.
        Interestingly @Jane mentioned the Orson Welles hysteria in 1938. Aren’t there a lot of planetary parallels now with the 1938/39 period?

  2. SuHu, and Jeanie – Thank you for sharing your opinions regarding my post; though, I do respectfully disagree with your conclusions. Also, I think that as more peer-reviewed studies are published, draconian Covid-mandates will be seen to have done more harm than good.

    Lastly, conflating my comments with some type of anti-woman stance, is a red herring argument, and deflectional, at best; though, I do agree with Ms. Orr that Neptune and Pluto may well be in league to produce, what amounts to a spiritual fog of war – but, all to allow us to see our shadow-side; and hopefully then, with some measure of self-acceptance, move beyond knee-jerk ideology, and being excessively prodded by unconscious motivations.

    • Oh dear Dean… for that to happen we need to stop seeing other people’s opinions/comments as a personal attack. That’s one of the things I like about living in the Netherlands. Someone else’s opinion is just that: their opinion. Take it or leave it. If you don’t agree you just let it pass. Something the Anglophone world could definitely benefit from, IMO!

      • No, I didn’t interpret your comments as a personal attack, as you seem to imply; but, it’s interesting you’d thought so.

        In fairness, Ms. Ardern certainly possesses a sympathetic personality; and sometimes it’s easy to conflate criticism of such characters – especially if said person is a woman – as a personal attack.

        But, the numbers speak for themselves; and if a reasonable person looks at the aggregate of fiscal, health and demographic data for New Zealand, the country has become diminished under her watch.

        I do agree, though, that everyone is entitled to their own opinion; but, not their own facts.

        • That may be so, but I doubt whether it can all be laid at her door. How did the previous regime and current opposition contribute to this state of affairs? I am willing to bet that partisanship and lack of cooperation have a major part. In a democracy no one individual will be responsible for all of it. And blaming the ‘leader’ is counterproductive, IMO!

  3. “The internet is very much a Uranus Neptune phenomenon which can be irrationally fixated on an opinion/belief.” Marjorie

    “At the risk of sounding a little biblical, there’s an intense ‘Devil’ energy in the air right now.” VirgoFlake

    I haven’t done a deep dive. But I couldn’t help but think of the mass hysteria of the witch hunts in Europe. For England, there’s the utterly mad Witchcraft Act of 1563 – Uranus in early Sagittarius opposes Neptune in Gemini that year. I don’t have an exact date for the Act, but a Uranus/Neptune atmosphere would have been around.

    The first witch trial in England to be widely known about from printed sources/pamphlets of the time was Agnes Waterhouse of Essex. She was executed on 29 July 1566. There’s a Mutable Grand Cross of Mars, 18 Virgo; Uranus 12 Sagittarius; Neptune 14 Gemini and Pluto 17 Pisces. Moon’s Nodes 18 Scorpio/Taurus – a degree we looked at last summer with the Mars/Uranus/Nodes conjunction. And the Uranus/Neptune theme continues.

    Also, thinking about current times, Neptune in late degrees of Pisces may link with this – along with the final degrees of Pluto in Capricorn. Do we feel and see these ‘influences’ more both at the beginning and the end of outer planet transits? And the ‘chiming’ of current planetary positions with 1938 (Orson Welles post) makes me uneasy too.

  4. Former prime minister Helen Clark, New Zealand’s first female elected leader, said that Ardern had faced “unprecedented” attacks during her tenure. “The pressures on prime ministers are always great, but in this era of social media, clickbait and 24/7 media cycles, Jacinda has faced a level of hatred and vitriol which in my experience is unprecedented in our country,” she said. “Our society could now usefully reflect on whether it wants to continue to tolerate the excessive polarisation which is making politics an increasingly unattractive calling.”
    Everyone who has commented here for and against has been civil – well the ones that got through anyway. What astonishes me is the level of near psychotic bile which the trolls spew out. One that I deleted described Jacinda as an ‘evil tyrant’. ‘We will see a human rights trial of these criminals in the future under the Geneva Convention that will call for their execution for the institutionalised abuse of Humanity and children that the world has ever seen. Evil will be punished.’
    It is just extraordinary. And the comments I dump over Meghan Markle posts are, if anything worse, accusing me of being a jealous old hag blah blah blah.
    Free access social media has given the tinfoil hat brigade a platform to spew their insane rage as they please. Levelling up to include the lowest common denominator drags everyone and everything down.
    What gives with all this primitive hatred? Trump, trans issues and Andrew Tate/ Incel – something very sick is going on out there.

    • Hi Marjorie – the ‘primitive hatred’ you cite is horrifying, I agree. Do you think it might be illuminating to look at the charts for the Internet’s ‘birthday’, and the first smartphone? The dates I’ve found are thought provoking – at a quick glance anyway. Internet is officially 1 January, 1983. That gives a square between Venus and Mercury in Capricorn (24 and 29), and Pluto at 29 Libra. With Saturn at 2 Scorpio, I’d add that to the Pluto. Quite intense and difficult aspects for harmony. The Nodes are 4 Cancer/Capricorn. Internet’s Moon in Leo will oppose Mars in Aquarius at some point that day – could symbolise the angry masses in some way?

      For the smartphone, the first one’s birthday is said to be 23 November, 1992 (from Verdict.co.uk). It was made by IBM, and first available for purchase in 1994.
      What’s interesting is the Mercury Rx at 28 Scorpio, conjunct Pluto 23 Scorpio, trine Mars in Cancer, 27. Venus, in Capricorn (kerching!) is conjunct techie Uranus in Capricorn, and Neptune in Capricorn. Jupiter at 8 Libra squares the Venus etc. The Nodes are 21 Sagittarius/Gemini. Smartphone’s Moon is in Scorpio, and that day will have squared its Saturn at 13 Aquarius – not very tolerant or joyful?
      Smartphone potentially passive-agressive Mars 27 Cancer opposes/squares those Capricorn and Libran planets in the Internet’s chart. It’s all having a Pluto transit now. Perhaps there’s some hope for a positive change? Maybe the Uranus transits will help shake a few things loose?

      In the analogue past, there are many instances of mass hysteria of various shapes and kinds. So something inside human beings responds to ‘the madness of crowds’ – and in a virtual landscape, has run riot.

      • And perhaps of interest is the hysteria generated by the War of the Worlds Orson Welles radio broadcast, 30 October 1938. A good example of fake news, since some of the audience for this radio broadcast believed Earth was being invaded by ruthless killer Martians. Understandably, they panicked.

        “In the days after the adaptation, widespread outrage was expressed in the media. The program’s news-bulletin format was described as deceptive by some newspapers and public figures, leading to an outcry against the broadcasters and calls for regulation by the FCC. Welles apologized at a hastily-called news conference the next morning, and no punitive action was taken. The broadcast and subsequent publicity brought the 23-year-old Welles to the attention of the general public and gave him the reputation of an innovative storyteller and “trickster”. Wikipedia

        The astrology is intriguing. A Mercury in Scorpio conjunct the ‘masses’ Nodes in Scorpio opposes Uranus at 16 Taurus. This event – and era – is being activated now by transits to its Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, Nodes, Mercury, Jupiter. Pluto at 1 Leo will soon receive an opposition. Could be relevant?

      • The internet is very much a Uranus Neptune phenomenon which can be irrationally fixated on an opinion/belief. But as you say these bouts of hysterical hatred have probably always been there. What I find odd is how they focus on what are – I hate to call them niche problems – but really not THE MOST IMPORTANT things in the universe.
        Trans for instance is a miniscule matter demographically. Further back animal liberation got the activists wound up to fever pitch when most people said yeah you have a point but what about world poverty, abused kids – there are bigger problems.
        But at the moment the creep into politics is a pain – you can’t have a civilised disagreement and agree to differ. The red mists descend.

    • Marjorie…
      thank you for sharing this part of what you do to keep this forum alive and well. Even just beginning to read a post such as you describe means it touches you and that is no small thing.

      I, too, am drawn to wonder about this mass mind that is so vicious. “Spewing” ugliness and blame. Scapegoating. From my own health practice, I do see that most people do not venture deeply into their OWN Shadow… the deep Pluto in themselves. When you can do this, see your responsibility for Right Action in your own life, I think it is projected out less. This is such hard work.

      I have Pluto in the 8th. A long family history of War in multiple generations. Displacement and death.. Life happening TO them in terrible ways. I am the FIRST to take a good hard look at that legacy!! Everyone else just tried to forget.

      Maybe we’ve reached some kind of critical mass with this? Decades ago I read something about a soldier of Genghis Khan’s… his thrill in raping and pillaging villages… his words! In a moment my heart sank into my stomach because I realized that we have ALL had some kind of history of being on either side of this scenario. It’s in our DNA, this memory.

      Rwanda’s terrible civil war also struck me deeply… this rip in the fabric that unleashes such horror.
      We just don’t have a successful way to navigate through this ugliness in the collective. It’s hard enough to do in one single life.

      anyways… Marjorie. Please take care of your own heart.

      • I think now that we’re in the final degrees of Pluto in Capricorn, this ugly, shadow stuff is erupting. At the risk of sounding a little biblical, there’s an intense ‘Devil’ energy in the air right now. Marjorie mentions Andrew Tate and Trump, there’s Putin with his merciless nihilism, there’s Harry with his reckless Trumpian ‘truths’ and we’re now in the midst of an exposé of the very institutions which are supposed to keep us safe (the Met), with even more horrors to be revealed. And how easy it is to hurl accusations when you have the advantage of anonymity over your target.

        The world saw that Jacinda Ardern showing compassion to the victims of the Christchurch Mosque killings, embracing the families with warmth and fellow feeling. If you have a problem with that, and feel the need to go on SM and call this woman an evil tyrant, it’s time to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

        “People are crazy and times are strange” to quote Bob Dylan.

    • The unpleasant truth of our so called civilised society is that it is based on a culture of bullying. In public disguised by a thin layer of civility but the anonymity offered by the internet and social media in general seems to give some people permission to reveal their naked aggression. Bullying or threatening others in order to feel for a moment self justified. Ever since I became the victim of trolls on SM for my anti-Brexit views I have made an informal study of the phenomenon. Reading about other women who suffered extreme threats and abuse and how some were courageous enough to track down and confront the perpetrators. What I learned was that the perpetrators were often sad individuals who regretted what they had said/threatened when the recipient asked them what they thought to achieve. In many cases the frustration they felt was misdirected and had nothing to do with either the person or the subject matter but something else entirely in their lives. A woman MP in Italy has one assistant whose sole job it is to unmask the bullies threatening to rape or otherwise abuse her and place their vile comments on a public website with the individual’s full name and home town. The Assistant has had perpetrators in tears on the phone begging him to take down their insults once they have been unmasked. And I think that is the clue really. I don’t see this level of insanity changing until we do away with anonymity on all public fora. It means more policing (by all of us) but maybe we have to control those who can’t or won’t control themselves.

      • Bullies are always cowards. But the near psychotic levels of bile do suggest mental imbalance and/or 10th rate losers who puff themselves up since they have an anonymous gateway and really they are less-than-nothing-types throwing toddler tantrums.

    • Marjorie, there does seem to be something strange afoot regarding primitive hatred.

      This is related to the trans issue you mentioned above.

      On the weekend there was a drag queen story hour at a public library in Coquitlam Canada. About sixty or so supporters were marshalled in bright colours chanting love is power etc. This was happening as ten or so black clad, masked thugs assaulted members of the twelve or so, gays against groomers protesting the event.

      Moments earlier the anti fa thugs were standing next to the local MLA for Coquitlam, Selina Robinson.

      It was astonishing to witness the crowd chanting” love is power” while across the street, in full view, people were being isolated, swarmed and assaulted. The local RCMP stood on the sidelines.

      The media was there but neglected coverage of the assaults. Instead responding by writing about the rise of intolerance to the rainbow brigade.

      The whole scene brought to mind the “two minutes hate” described in Orewell’s 1984.

    • hello marjorie,

      I know people in New zealand.
      What has happened in New Zealand is that the population has been compulsorily ” vaccinated” with pfizer only. No choice of other products. Vax pfizer or lose your job. Or home arrest for undefinite time. Now everybody who read international press know by now that this has caused a lot of health trouble. I am very cautious in my expressing what i read.
      Mrs Arden has mars conjunct pluto. To me it says: bully

      • Aline, as a Kiwi living in New Zealand, that was not my experience. I remain grateful for the decisions made to keep the population as safe as we were. No doubt there were mistakes made – overly generous subsidies to business some of which scammed the system, etc. It is so easy to criticize via hindsight but given the death toll in other western countries and not knowing how damaging the next variant might be, the government took a pre-emptive approach, rather than reactive one. Thousands of us are alive today because of those decisive actions.

  5. Jacinda absolutely did the right thing when she immediately locked down the country until a vaccine was available. I’m also an older NZlander and am eternally grateful that she saved so many of us from the horror that was going on overseas.

  6. Jacinda Adern Neptune opposite Venus square to the nodes–very idealistic karma. something she’ll continue to work out in her lifetime: idealism vs. practicality. I think she was was a great leader!

    With that North Node at the MC, she won’t disappear for long.

  7. Neat analysis, Ms. Orr; thank you! Though, I take issue with the Ardern apologists, because, as someone from NZ, who also has much family there, the rosy picture the Ms. Arden supporters paint is far from complete.

    Firstly, her vaccine-mandate, and the ‘report your neighbors approach’ that she used has created a very divided society; plus, housing has risen 58% in just five years, child poverty has not improved (one-in-five NZ children live in poverty), and homelessness is epidemic (26,000 people waiting for ‘social housing,’ up from 5,000 five years ago) – and all during her tenure.

    Worst of all, studies are starting to show that the number of deaths prevented by draconian Covid-measures, may pale in comparison to the number of deaths that have occurred due to unavailable medical care, and suicide.

    Biologist are also saying that being hidden-away for two years has taken a generational toll on people’s mental health, as well as weakening everyone’s immune-system – not to mention the world is now clearly headed into an economic downturn due to all the closures (with Ms. Arden, and the Aussies leading the pack).

    So, Jacinda Ardern is getting out just as her policies are bearing rotten fruit; and those in NZ will pay the price for her hubris for years to come.

    • Sorry Dean, but this is happening everywhere – rising poverty and homelessness, crime, etc. I think it’s very narrow minded to blame ‘leaders’ for things they have no control over. We see the same here in the Netherlands where I live, “Rutte should go” for exactly the same things you cite. Pluto in Capricorn is showing us precisely where the real power lies and it’s not with government but the dark forces of capitalism. It’s time we all step up and take more personal responsibility by recognising how our actions affect others, whether we be landlords charging exorbitant rents or just shoppers contributing to the ‘throw away’ society. Sure, policies can help but they are not the answer.
      Good luck finding your ‘flawless’ leader! I thought she was a beacon of light among the world’s corrupt, pity she’s only human – and a woman too. As Sam Neil says, it’s disgraceful the way she has been treated.

    • Dean W, being a NZer who also lived in the US for many years, I couldn’t disagree with your comment more. Much of the angst and false narratives during covid were being energetically driven by financial and idealogical supporters of Trump and Bannon acolytes – as well as american trained and affiliated perverted ‘prosperity theology’ evangelists who would like nothing more than a theocracy, as long as they are in charge. NZers on the whole have been known to be trusting in the past and a bit naive – too many became useful idiots to spread conspiracies and toxic narratives by way of social media.
      The current social problems have arisen in large part because of a) the gutting of social housing and health funding for decades by prior governments; b) the insidious infiltration of drugs and gangs – partly due to NZ born criminals who have lived in Australia since childhood, being dumped back as adults for NZ to deal with; and c) toxic social media.
      The housing problem has been exacerbated by the fact that the booming real estate market has become the ‘in’ thing and wealthy people are acquiring the less expensive houses as they come up for sale. Building and insurance costs have skyrocketed – that’s market driven, not political policy.
      The hospital health issues have arisen because of covid cases in both staff and patients, forcing slowdowns and/or cancellation of surgeries and other procedures. After the first hard lockdown was lifted and people began to travel allowing the virus to spread, the situation actually got worse.
      Inflation issues are global, covid issues are global, toxic social media is global, creating the perfect global storm, affecting not just NZ.
      I for one, being an older NZer, am very grateful for the sensible health policies that were put in place. The people that complained and shouted the loudest, were those on the neverending addictive hunt for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and love to play the blame game if they don’t get what they want.
      They failed to note, without health, there can be no commerce.

  8. As an older New Zealander I am so appreciative of the actions that Jacinda Adern and her government took over the covid crisis. Yes, there were some strict laws put in place but the result has been a much lower death rate than in many other nations and for most of us the compassionate responses by the government have been of great benefit. We were kept fully informed and food and medical services were always available. Having to wear a mask is not a great inconvenience and while not visiting hospitals and aged care homes caused problems for those involved, it saved many lives. Being an island nation far from neighbouring countries, our lockdowns and the closure of our borders gave us time in which to procure the medical supplies we needed, and for the testing and provisioning of vaccines.

    The government made it a principle to follow the advice of the medical profession as much as possible rather than adopt usual political expediency but they were sufficiently pragmatic to open the borders earlier than many of the medical profession wanted.

    Sacrificing our individual needs and wants for the welfare of the greater community is an unfamiliar experience in modern western societies and all that came as a challenge for some of us.

    The other contribution that is notable but may not be familiar to people overseas is the timely and compassionate response to the Mosque shootings and the volcanic erruption. In addition, whilst not always appreciated by people who are not of Maori heritage, Jacinda has lead a government that has put in place policies and structures that give recognition and resources to the development of Maori life and society. This has been a brave and in my opinion honourable stance as it has disturbed individuals and powerful groups within the country.

    For myself and my family and friends, Jacinda is one of our nation’s heros. She will be remembered and lauded in our history unlike many of our country’s leaders.

    • Thank you for your insight. I’ve always admired her. She seems like a gutsy, dynamic woman with great empathy and leadership skills. I’ve envied New Zealand for having her as your leader.

  9. Still… this news brought tears to my eyes.
    A strong, decent and kind person no longer a leader of a country. Is there anyone left?

    I am very worried about Canada. Your last posts on Justin Trudeau and Canada indicated an equally difficult road ahead for this country. He’s certainly hasn’t been perfect, and not of the ilk of Jacinda, but our other choices frighten me.

    anyways… I am happy for Jacinda….and what an elegant and honest exit!

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