UK sewerage – the money men doing the dirty

 The insanities of the 2008 financial crash are well-matched by the latest greed bubble to burst in broken Britain in the unlikely arena of water and sewerage. The story starts in 1989 when Margaret Thatcher, against strong public feeling, fully privatized the water and sewerage systems, the only country in the world to do so. Financial scavenger investors were handed a debt-free monopoly and proceeded to load up debt to pay dividends and did nothing to fix the infrastructure with raw sewage dumped into rivers and water pipes leaking. More than three decades later they have a collective debt burden of £60bn.

 Thames Water, the largest, on the brink of being renationalized has been through several owners in three decades – first Germans who didn’t factor in maintenance/renovation costs, then Australian ‘vampire kangaroo’ McQuarie who ran up £10.6bn of debt, while extracting £3 bn for shareholders and paid corporation tax of just £100,000, followed by George Osborne-sourced Chinese investors and Canadian, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait money types. It reads like a  bad novel, with as per usual hapless governments and regulators looking the other way.  

‘Only when the tide goes out’, as Warren Buffett once observed, ‘do you learn who has been swimming naked.’

The financial health of up to four other English water companies is being monitored. Between 1989, when the Government sold off the 10 main regional water suppliers, and 2015, water bills rose by 40pc more than inflation. Customers have been told to brace for rises of another 30pc over the coming years. ‘It amounts to a massive transfer of wealth from bill payers to investors, while the country’s Victorian water system leaks a scarcely believable 3bn litres of water every single day – enough to meet the needs of more than 20m people – and Britain hasn’t built a new reservoir since 1989.’

  The Water Act was given Royal Assent on 6 July 1989 when the triple conjunction of Uranus, Saturn, Neptune were in place. The Saturn Neptune at that point being exactly conjunct the UK Capricorn Sun – which might have given a hint of the mayhem to follow. There was also a ruthless, brutally determined Mars in Leo square Pluto in Scorpio.  The Water Act Cancer Sun was trine Pluto and opposition Neptune Saturn hinting at overwhelming ambition.

  At the moment the Water Act Saturn Neptune has moved by Solar Arc to oppose the Mars and square Pluto for a major standoff, indeed terminal catastrophe – as the scandal has finally breached, with rising public pressure for restraints and fines on the water companies. But the horse has bolted and renationalization at this stage would land eye-curling debt on the taxpayer with decades of costs ahead to upgrade neglected infrastructure.

 Not normally a subject I would get excited about. Nor do I usually spit teeth about the Tories. But I will make an exception this time round. What an unholy screw up.

I suspect we have still not grasped the scale of the changes wrought by the late 1980/early 1990 triple conjunction which crossed the UK Sun. Historians looking back may well point to that as a key turning point – and not in an upward direction.

Madonna – rebelling against old father time

Madonna, on the eve of an 84-date “Celebrations” tour next month has had to postpone, as she was admitted into intensive care. She was reportedly found unresponsive in a hotel room with serious bacterial infection and was intubated for a time, remaining in ICU for several days.

  She had hip and knee injuries in 2020, a consequence of years of strenuous professional dancing and her brother died earlier this year, so not a good phase.

  She was born 16 August 1958 Bay City, Michigan with an unverified time of 7.05am; although she says she has an Aquarius Ascendant which would mean 7.05 pm or thereabouts which might make more sense.

   On either birth time she has her Progressed Mars square her Pluto now which tends to be a dead-halt aspect – and it hangs around for another two years or so ahead.  And tr Uranus will square her Sun from mid this August on and off into early 2024 which will bring sudden changes. She is at the end of an upbeat Solar Arc Sun conjunct her Jupiter which may have boosted her hopes too high and committed her to more than she can handle. Her Solar Arc Saturn is moving to a discouraging opposition to her Sun within a few months which will also face her with a few realities, delays and obstacles. Tr Pluto is moving to square her Neptune in 2024 and tr Uranus to square her Pluto in 2025 – muddled thinking followed by forced changes.  

  On the Aquarius Rising she has tr Saturn moving into her lower profile First Quadrant – the super-ambitious tend to ignore the signs and plough on regardless but then slip and slide on banana skins of bad judgement or run into health problems which force them to slow down and step back. Tr Saturn is also squaring the Midheaven on this chart this year which is usually a career setback.  On both tr Saturn will oppose her Pluto Mercury till the New Year which also points to a slow down.

  Not what she wants to hear but it comes to us all.   

Meghan – Hollywood is not for the faint-hearted

The Montecito roadshow appears to be hitting bump after bump with cancelled contracts, a coach-crash fandango on their recent New York trip with hysterical claims of death-defying paparazzi chases being firmly slapped down by the NY police and now being described as “grifters” and “talentless” by top industry types.

 Hilary Rose in the Times apt as ever remarks: “Their career over there seems to be following the same trajectory as over here: fanfare, adulation, trouble, recriminations, exit stage left in a huff.”

   Quite how much of the disaster is hitting home with Meghan is not overly obvious from her chart. Harry is certainly on a downhill slide through an obstacle course for the next two or three years and won’t climb out of his pit of woes until 2027 or so. [For previous Prince Harry post see May 9th.]

  But Meghan is on a different part of her journey, still fuelled by ambition and aiming upwards. She is certainly beset by irksome and discouraging Saturn transits to a plethora of midpoints this year and next. Saturn also opposes her Sun/Moon midpoint, the close relationship significator, in 2024 which hints at a marital chill.

  She has tr Uranus square her Solar Arc Midheaven (and Chiron) jolting her into a career change from early next month; with a catastrophe or two which even she can’t ignore from mid this August to mid September – and those two transits repeat on and off till mid 2024. Uranus then moves into her 11th house from 2024 onwards for seven years altering her future plans and changing her friendship circle.

  On second thoughts, although it is marginally obscure, her Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct her Chiron at the moment does suggest a painful change in career attitude, which can lead to healing, if a more spiritual direction is taken in future.  

  Tr Saturn through her 8th from December 2022 till early 2025 will throw her back on her own resources emotionally as well as money-wise. Reorganising her finances during this time will be a priority since there will be less generosity coming her way with tighter joint and business finances.

  However she does have tr Jupiter moving through her 10th house of career and public reputation from March 2023 to May 2024 which is generally successful and will help to offset the negatives. Her Progressed Moon will also start to move through her 10th from this September for three years which is a time of striving at work which usually brings results. By 2026 tr Saturn will reach her Midheaven to start an eight year phase of consolidation in her career with usually good results – though where there has not been good preparation in the years before it can be when chickens come home to roost.   

  She’ll have patches of good luck and new opportunities in 2024/25 alongside a few dashed hopes and failed plans. 2024 is also the time when her mid-life crisis peaks as tr Uranus opposes her Uranus – she may feel an urge to act recklessly and push to fulfil all the old ambitions which have not yet been realized.

  From 2026 tr Neptune and Saturn in Aries will oppose her Moon for a downbeat family and domestic phase, moving on to oppose her Saturn Jupiter and finally square her Mars by 2030 – making the second half of this decade emotionally troubled. Tr Pluto will cap it by opposing her Sun by 2030 which will be a challenging time of forced change.  

  She has strong 10th and 16th harmonics which are the self-defeating ones. The 10th is the wheel of fortune which brings success then the fall – much the same as her Jupiter Saturn conjunction (for those who aim too high). The 16th can bring dogged determination as well as shoot-in-the-foot tendencies. She also has a prominent 9th harmonic which can be humanitarian though also money minded. A well-aspected global-presence 22nd harmonic and her leadership Leo North Node suggest she can’t be written off just yet as a total waste of space. Though the astrology only provides the map, it needs a helping hand to make it live out its full potential.

  The MegHaz duet will splutter on for a while yet to provide media fodder and a diversion from weightier and gloomier matters elsewhere.

Jon Hamm – wedding on the edge of the known world

Jon Hamm of Don Draper fame has married actress Anna Osceola in Big Sur, California, which was the setting for the Mad Men finale a few years back. 

  Born 10 March 1971, he is a Sun Pisces widely opposition Pluto and in a high-octane and determined square to Mars in Sagittarius; with his Venus in detached and friendly Aquarius in a wide square to Saturn; and a Leo/Virgo Moon.  

  His bride, 8 April 1988, is a Sun Aries with Venus in social-butterfly Gemini; and a powerfully confident Jupiter in indulgent Taurus opposition Pluto and Jupiter in a high vitality square to Mars in Aquarius. Her Moon is entangled with the triple conjunction of Uranus, Saturn, Neptune in Capricorn.

  Her North Node in Pisces is conjunct his Sun so it will be a strong connection though not easy since his Mars in Sagittarius is conjunct her Uranus, Saturn and maybe Moon with his Pluto in square for a few heated moments ahead. His Mars is also opposition her Chiron – working out anger issues will be crucial.  Her Mars is conjunct his Venus for attraction with her Pluto square his Venus bringing passion. But her Pluto opposition his Saturn will bring a few stubborn standoffs.

  Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus conjunction; with a power-couple Jupiter trine Pluto. But there is also a dominating Mars square Pluto hinting at a power imbalance which will ultimately lead to resentment.

  His previous long relationship with actress Jennifer Westfeldt, 2 February 1970, had certain similarities since her North Node was also in Pisces conjunct his Sun.  She was a Sun Venus in Aquarius which chimed with his Venus in Aquarius and her Chiron was conjunct his Chiron though it was also conjunct her Mars in Aries. Her Jupiter in Scorpio was, like Anna’s, square his Venus for an indulgent pairing.  Not a million miles different and he clearly likes a hint of Mars in his relationships.

    Hmm, now that I look the wedding was Saturday so just before an explosive Mars square Uranus which will be exact within a year. Tricky.  But it did have a heavenly send off with a beyond beautiful setting.

Jack Kerouac:

“Big Sur is the edge of the known world, the end of the continent.”

“There’s something about the beauty and solitude of Big Sur that makes you feel free.”

“The beauty of Big Sur is so overwhelming that it can leave you speechless.”

“There’s nowhere else in the world like Big Sur — the beauty, the peace, the silence, it’s all so unique.”

“Big Sur is where you go to find yourself and lose yourself all at the same time.”

“There’s magic in the air in Big Sur—you can feel it all around you.”

John Money – manipulating gender boosted his career

John Money, the catalyst for the recent trans furore, who popularized the term ‘gender identity’ and argued that ‘sexual orientation’ is ‘socially constructed’, ended up with a tarnished reputation as his two experimental subjects both committed suicide in adulthood.

  John Money, a NZ sex researcher migrated to the USA, was far from being filled with any Aquarian zeal which had seemed to lie behind the trans ideology. A ruthlessly manipulative Sun, Mars, Pluto in Cancer square Chiron, he experimented with callous disregard on twin boys, one of whom had been previously castrated during a circumcision gone wrong. Obsessed with proving his thesis that babies are born ‘gender-neutral’ and could be ‘streamed’, thanks to hormone injections and surgery, into either gender, he played god with their childhood, including abusing them with predictable results in later life. Money further blotted his copybook by suggesting that paedophile relationships were not damaging.

  I have a fascination for ideas, (manic movements), which grip a culture and the influencers who boost their reputation by injecting their fixation into public consciousness. No one is anything but sympathetic towards the small number of those suffering from genuine gender dysphoria but that never seemed to me to be the main motivation behind the furore fuelling trans activism and the self-identification craze.

   John Money born 8 July 1921 Hamilton, New Zealand, no birth time, in addition to his do-or-die determined Mars, Pluto, Sun in Cancer had an experimental Uranus in trine – and an earthy Jupiter Saturn conjunct in Virgo.  A few individuals with Jupiter Saturn do end up being raised onto pedestals by their society, usually to tumble at some point. Hubris.

  All of these placings could have been used in a different way. Eunice Shriver, JFK’s sister, born two days later, ploughed her ferociously driven energy into doing good works for those with physical and intellectual disabilities, being motivated by her sister Rose who had been tragically lobotomised.

  The fallacy that history means progress has its glaring examples in medicine and especially in the outpourings of sex researchers, who spurred on the sexual revolution. Alfred Kinsey covertly used a paedophile to establish his conclusions about children’s sexual behaviour. Born 23 June 1894, he was another Sun Cancer square Mars with the Neptune Pluto in Gemini of the time square Chiron and trine Saturn. He set in train the sexual liberation era that followed, not all of it with positive outcomes.

  Assuming for the sake of argument that John Money is the father of the trans mania then it may have less to do with the upcoming Pluto in Aquarius era and more to do with tr Pluto in Capricorn square Uranus in Aries of the last decade rattling up the energy of his chart. Which means it will continue to deflate as Pluto edges out of Capricorn.

  Apologies if this seems special pleading on my part. But it makes sense of one of the personalities in the ‘false memory’/ deny child abuse campaign of the 1990s. The late Richard Green, psychiatrist and sex researcher, heavily involved in the ‘false memory’ movement, worked at the London St George’s transgender clinic. He was a protegee of Money, pro-pornography, and allied himself mystifyingly with Tom O’Carroll, convicted ex head of the Paedophile Information Exchange. I could never quite square the transgender connection with the child abuse deniers. Still can’t, but it does seem interconnected in certain quarters.

Eclipses across North America – a wake up call

  The path of the October 2023 Solar Eclipse runs across the USA, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil and the path of the Total Solar Eclipse in  April 2024 across the USA and Canada. They fall at 21 degrees Libra and 19 degrees Libra respectively.

   This October eclipse is the trickier with a New Moon square Pluto; Pluto square Mars and trine Uranus; and the Sun on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Uranus. Pressured, challenging, power issues, high-risk/ruthless and trapped with a fated feel. It is in a Saros Series, according to Bernadette Brady,  pointing to immense power, anger and force. Huge obstacles will suddenly clear or a potential crisis will surface and events will move at great speed. Around before in 2005, 1987, 1969, 1951, 1922, 1915.

  The April 2024 Solar Eclipse is less stressed though it has a Mars Saturn conjunction hinting at restrictions and accidents though that sits side by side with an adventurous Jupiter Uranus and is in a Saros Series that demands freedom.

  Both eclipses impact on Canada’s Ascendant/Descendant axis so image and neighbourly relationships will be up for review. This October’s eclipse in Libra also impacts Canada’s Solar Arc Pluto which again points to partnership aggravations and power struggles.

  What I am puzzling over is Neptune on Canada’s Ascendant which is on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Saturn sextile North Node – it will also be drawn into the spotlight. A yodal Neptune tends to live in an ivory tower, yearns for calm and harmony and can be escapist. It also goes along with feelings of unworthiness which can lead to a defeatist attitude. (All of which is far from my own view of Canada which I always think of as robust and resourceful.) Eclipses are challenges to change in a particular area and clearly a rebrand on an outer level also requires serious inner work in parallel.

  The two eclipses also impact on the USA’s Saturn in Libra, the 2024 one more strongly than the 2023 one but it is still in orb.  Saturn in Libra puts an emphasis on cooperation and a responsible justice system – neither of which are too obvious at present. So maybe a wake up call to move towards a stance of integrity, decency, ethics and a willingness to take other’s viewpoints into consideration. Hmm. An eclipse on Saturn is a wake up call of a different order, usually accompanying a sharp reality check.-  

  What struck me looking at the USA chart, which is nothing to do with the eclipses, though it may be relevant to the eclipse path running across the USA is the Solar Arc Saturn moving to conjunct the US Mars in mid 2024 and the year later SA Saturn squares the Neptune.

   Looking back to see what happened on the previous Solar Arc Saturn  hard aspects to the USA Mars, climactic extremes appear to be one outcome:-  

1935 – 1937: Solar Arc Saturn square Mars and opposition Neptune:- The Dust Bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures in Chicago to a record-high 109 °F (43 °C). The strongest hurricane makes landfall in the Upper Florida Keys killing 423.

1936  A tornado hits Tupelo, Mississippi, killing 216 and injuring over 700 (the 4th deadliest tornado in U.S. history). Two tornadoes strike Gainesville, Georgia. 203 die and 1,600 are injured in the 5th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

A major heat wave strikes North America; high temperature records are set and thousands die. Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana all set new state records for high temperature.

  And as SA Saturn squares the US Neptune exactly in early 1937 – the worst school disaster in American history as the New London School in Texas suffers a catastrophic natural gas explosion, killing in excess 399 students and teachers.

The previous SA Saturn hard aspect in opposition to the US Mars and square Neptune: – 1845: Texas joined the US which led to the Mexican-American War and contributed to the growing divide over slavery that led to the Civil War in 1861.

The Great Fire of Pittsburgh destroys much of the American city of Pittsburgh. The Great New York City Fire breaks out in Lower Manhattan.

  It won’t be exactly the same but disaster and accidents tend to be Saturn Mars events and military involvements as well.

   I just noticed that this April’s Solar Eclipse at 29 degrees Aries was exactly conjunct the Uranus on Putin’s 4th Term chart – and that certainly is having an effect.

  Studying eclipses could be a full time occupation and then some.

Russia – Putin’s rabid dog turns on his master + Belarus ++ Lukashenko/Prigo

Putin’s pet mercenary thug and, believe it or not, catering chef, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has turned to bite the hand that brought him to power and wealth. Putin has accused him of mutiny as he marched onto Russian territory with his hardened band of convict killers and threatened to topple Russian military leaders.

  Rumblings of discontent from YP have been swelling in recent weeks but it still feels like a black swan of improbability that changes all calculations as to the course of the Ukraine invasion.

  Birth dates of individuals are not always reliable but Putin’s 4th Term, 7 May 2018 11.05pm is sound. It described a brutally ruthless and violent administration but one that was prone to revolution and destabilization with Mars Pluto in Capricorn square Uranus.  Tr Pluto started to square the Uranus this February, repeating now and extending on and off, into and throughout 2024. This is a classic topple-off-perch moment for a leader. Worse still the Solar Arc Pluto is conjunct the Mars exactly now and in effect for a few months which is trapped, high-risk, enraging, paralysed.

  The Russia 8 November 1917 2.12am Leningrad chart has had tr Uranus shaking up the Fixed T Square of Saturn opposition Uranus square the Scorpio Sun Mercury since 2021 – and tr Uranus is now on the final leg of being square the Uranus, repeating for a final time over this coming New Year. Such a Fixed chart will take a fair battering before it shifts trajectory and maybe this is when critical mass is reached which will jolt the country into significant change. This year as well the Solar Arc Sun is in a car-crash collision with the Russia Mars which tr Saturn is also opposing throughout this year.

  The Russia 8 December 1991 7.45pm chart is also showing signs of disruption and upheaval with tr Uranus opposition the Pluto exactly now and repeating into 2024.  Aggravations and setbacks are indicated from tr Saturn square the Mars and more so with SA Saturn square the Mars in 2024/25.

 The 14 October 2023 Solar Eclipse has Saturn sitting on the Midheaven located to Moscow for a moment of hard reality.  The April Solar Eclipse had Pluto conjunct the Midheaven from the 9th located to Moscow which could point to a meltdown.

  Yevgeny Prigozhin was born 1 June 1961 according to wiki, spent time in prison for teenage stealing and became rich through Russia’s reinvention in the early 1990s, running restaurants which supplied the Kremlin and government officials. His Wagner mercenary military started around the time of the Crimea invasion and now has interests in several African countries and the Middle East. His internet companies are also alleged to have interfered in the US elections.    

  If his birth date is accurate, he is a Gemini Sun square Pluto, inconjunct Neptune and trine Jupiter – super-ambitious, controlling and lucky. He also has an excitable, uncompromising and explosive Mars Uranus in Leo; an over hopeful Jupiter conjunct Saturn and square Neptune.

  Tr Pluto is conjunct his Saturn exactly now for a determined push against great odds, fuelled by a highly-confident tr Uranus opposition his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint. He’ll hit a bumpy patch of upheavals and upsets from early this July, on and off into early 2024, as tr Uranus squares his Uranus.  He’ll meet road blocks through this year as well as tr Saturn opposes his Pluto. But it is 2024 which looks disastrous and high risk for him.

  His relationship charts with both Russia 1917 and 1991 don’t show much love for his homeland with 2024/25 being the years of greatest strain. His relationship chart with Putin 1952 looks devastated and not improving over the next three years. With Putin’s 1950 birth date it looks more clearly a time of reversal with tr Pluto opposition the composite Uranus at zero degrees Leo, followed by tr Pluto in a devastating square to the Neptune across this summer and later in the year; and if it survives that long extreme turbulence in 2024/25.

Add On: Belarus, where the military appear to have increasingly come under Kremlin control recently with Putin threatening to send nuclear warheads there, is on red alert. There are unconfirmed reports the authoritarian president Lukashenko has gone to Turkey but it may just be his family. His 6th Term chart, 23 September 2020, is deadlocked at the moment with the Solar Arc Pluto conjunct Saturn and square Mercury now – under immense strain – with a complete dead-halt and maybe termination come 2024 if not before as SA Pluto squares the Mars.

  Lukashenko, 30 August 1954, looks to be dissolving into panic with his SA Neptune conjunct his Mars now and worse in 2024. The Belarus country chart, 25 August 1991, looks depressed and panicked with transiting and SA Saturn opposition the Sun this year and tr Neptune opposition the Mars all year as well.

  The shock waves will ripple in several directions.  

Add On: Thoughts from the Telegraph.

Belarus leader may ‘live to regret’ Wagner deal, say experts.

Under the deal brokered by Lukashenko, Prigozhin will in future live in exile in Belarus. It still remains unclear if he will be bringing members of the Wagner militia with him. One analyst said it was likely that Prigozhin was “dumped” on Lukashenko by Putin. “The only plus that there could be for Lukashenko is he may want to use Prigozhin as personal army against any potential revolt.”

 They do not make happy bedmates with Prigo’s control-freak Pluto conjunct Luka’s Virgo Sun; Prigo’s tough-minded Saturn square Luka’s Neptune and opposition his Uranus which will induce high nervous tension; and worse still Prigo’s Uranus conjunct Luka’s controlling Pluto which could upset his applecart in Belarus.

  Their relationship chart is competitive and heading for muddle and mayhem in 2024 with tr Pluto square the composite Neptune. With a fair amount of pushing and pulling and oneupmanship games through this year as well as tr Pluto squares the composite Jupiter.

Titanic – a dangerous attraction ++ Oceangate ++ Stockton Rush & Titanic Captain ++ Explosion ++ Nargeolet

The Titanic’s hull was laid down on 31 March 1909 – which is a better chart than the launch chart of 31 May 2011. And it sank on 14 April 1912 at 11.40pm off the Canadian coast.

  The initial chart has a tough Sun Saturn conjunction in Aries with an explosive/disruptive Mars Uranus in Capricorn opposition Neptune and inconjunct Pluto and North Node in Gemini. When it sank tr Neptune had moved to close the opposition to Uranus (and Mars) to exact. With the tr North Node in Aries also square the Mars Uranus.

Hamish Harding, the billionaire on board the lost submersible, was born only five days after Boris Johnson, 24 June 1964, and has the same reckless, ramped-up Mars in Gemini on the focal point of a whirlwind T Square to Saturn opposition Pluto Uranus; and the over-hopeful Jupiter opposition Neptune.  His Sun North Node in Cancer is square the Titanic’s Venus and his Venus in Genii is conjunct the Titanic’s Pluto – which explains the attraction.

  I can’t find any dates at the moment for Oceangate whose tin can sub it is – except for 2009 set up – it started on Pluto’s entry into Capricorn and exited at the end.

  Hideous beyond belief. And the warning bells were ringing loud and clear beforehand. The volunteers must have had a delusional sense of invulnerability.

Add On: Thanks to Xhane for Oceangate 31 August 2009.

  Not only does it have the over-optimistic Jupiter Neptune conjunct, the Solar Arc Neptune is now exactly opposition the Virgo Sun and tr Uranus is square the Jupiter/Neptune midpoint = coming down to earth with a bump (having to face cold reality.) Tr Neptune is also conjunct the Uranus this year and the SA Sun is moving to conjunct the Saturn within months –  nothing good coming out of all that.

Add On: Stockton Rush, March 31, 1962, San Francisco, chief executive and founder of OceanGate, the pilot of the Titan submersible, was always an adventurer. He was believed to be the world’s youngest jet-transport-rated pilot and initially wanted to travel to Mars. Instead he went underwater. He was descended on his father’s side from two signers of the Declaration of Independence, and his wife’s great-great-grandparents died on the Titanic.

  He had an Aries adventuring (and impractical) Sun on the focal point of an ego-centric yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Neptune  – Tierney describes such a yod Sun as inclined to ‘abuse of personal will and authority.’ He also had a rules-don’t-apply-to-me Pluto opposition Jupiter and a do-or-die determined Pluto opposition Mars. And a stubborn Saturn in Aquarius (Moon) opposition North Node square Neptune.

   There is a line where audacious courage crosses over into hubris and therein lies delusion and disaster.

  His midpoints are also instructive. His Sun opposition his Neptune/Pluto midpoint hints at megalomaniac ambitions wrapped round deceptive fantasies.

  The Titanic movie director James Cameron said Rush was like the Titanic Captain who sailed ahead despite warnings. Edward Smith, born 27 January 1850 in England, was a Sun Aquarius with most notably Uranus Pluto in Aries inconjunct Jupiter. When the Titanic sank with him on board the transiting North Node was then at 21 degrees Aries about to conjunct his Uranus. That degree is being rattled up at the moment by the Eclipses this year. At the moment also his Solar Arc Sun is posthumously square his Pluto and his SA Neptune opposition his North Node – disturbing his rest.

 There are unconfirmed birth dates for other passengers – Shahzada Dawood, 12 February 1975 and his son Suleman, 18 June 2004, both Karachi, Pakistan. If accurate, Aquarian senior looks hard-driving with Saturn in Cancer opposition Mars square Pluto. His son has a late Gemini Sun conjunct Betelgeuse which tr Neptune is square now. It opposes Pluto natally. His Mars is conjunct Procyon.

Add On: The explosion happened just under two hours after launch on 18 June – chart above.  

Add On: Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 2 March 1946, Chamonix, France, the oceanographer, was also on board. He was known as “Mr Titanic” having visited it more than 30 times, and salvaged artefacts from the ocean floor which did not meet with the approval of relatives of the dead.

  Like Rushton he had his Sun on the focal point of a Yod to Pluto sextile Neptune, in his case a Pisces Sun which squared a maverick Uranus. He also had a hard-edged Mars Saturn in Cancer, which had faint resonances with Dawood senior’s Saturn Mars Pluto T square.  His North Node was at 27 degrees Gemini which seems to keep repeating as a significant point through several charts.

Chiron – in love, hate and loneliness

Chiron’s saintly aura as the wounded healer, selflessly dispensing compassion for others, has its shadow side of rage, envy, vindictive spite, self-pity and resentment laid bare in Liz Greene’s latest book Chiron in Love.

   What tends to get forgotten – we know it but it gets blithely skipped over – is that the centaur’s wound is poisoned and can never heal, a point she hammers home again and again. Only by giving up his divine immortality (and ultimately dying) can Chiron ever be released from his unending pain.  

 ‘Repetition and cyclical return to the place of suffering are characteristic of the inner world of Chiron.’

  The mythological background to Chiron is covered extensively. As son of earthy Kronos (Saturn) and grandson of the sky god Ouranus, he bridges worlds, standing between the instinctual and the divine.  Abandoned as a baby he was brought up by Apollo and was already a healer when he was wounded by accident.   

  Crime and punishment, blame and the victim culture belong in Saturn’s realm as the giver of laws. But there is no culpability in Chiron’s domain which is a difficult concept to grapple with. ‘Life is unfair, humans are fallible and imperfect.’  ‘A just verdict in the outer world won’t heal the wound in the inner world.’ The victimizer can often have been victimized themselves.

  It is a harsh, nihilistic view of a random universe (shit happens) and human evil, not likely to sit comfortably with a happy-clappy, everything-happens-for-a-good-reason outlook. We need, Greene thinks, to move beyond the endless self-pity party to discover how difficult it is to be human. This is the beginning of compassion.

  The chapter on synastry suggests that relationships where there are Chiron crossovers offer a chance of change but often end badly. ‘Great expectations and their inevitable disappointment lie at the heart of Chiron’s story.’

 As cases in point –  King Charles’ Chiron squared Princess Diana’s Moon and Meghan’s Chiron is conjunct Harry’s Moon – in both cases hinting at the high hopes of the Chiron individual for the Moon person to provide endless warmth and unconditional support since they have not learned to nourish their own emotional needs.

  Chiron sparring with the other’s Mars can begin with sexual excitement and not surprisingly ends badly – with Johnny Depp (Mars) and Amber Heard (Chiron) as well as Princess Margaret (Chiron) and Anthony Armstrong Jones (Mars) as prime examples. Mars wants to conquer and win; and challenge can be an aphrodisiac. But pushy Mars hitting Chiron’s defensiveness can trigger violence as the wounded Chiron lashes out.

 Chiron on the other’s Mercury makes the Chiron person feel unintelligent. A Venus cross over makes the Chiron individual feel unloveable. She points to both Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson who both had Chiron Neptune aspects natally.

  Chiron close to the Sun natally – King Charles, Greta Thunberg, Carl Jung – brings loneliness, a chronic sense of being an outsider, a painful and enduring sense of isolation and low-self-esteem. ‘Often people with with a strong natal Sun Chiron aspect feel both damaged and chosen.’ ‘Jung wrote at length about the loneliness of increased consciousness and the suffering of the outsider burdened with being able to see too much yet unable to communicate it to those who did not comprehend it.’  

  The book is an amalgam of various seminars from 2005 and more recently in 2020 as the victim-culture got into full swing which perhaps explains her repeated emphasis on a no-one-to-blame Chiron. It is in no way an Astro-cook book with easy-to-find lists of interpretations of Chiron aspects. But it is thought-provoking and adds a darker, deeper dimension to Chiron which is generally overlooked and will prompt me to look more closely in future at the wandering centaur’s hoof prints.

 [One jarring note for me, though not on the astrology, came with a sideswipe at the Cleveland Child Abuse ‘scandal’ which Greene wrote off as a ‘creating-victims-where-none-existed’ scenario. A little research would have shown that independent experts under the guidance of the Department of Health later found that at least 70 per cent of the diagnoses made by the much-criticised paediatricians had been correct. The experts report added that this was “contrary to general public understanding of the accuracy of the diagnoses”. Butler-Sloss who wrote the original report (think Lord Hutton on David Kelly and Robert Mueller on Trump) did nothing later to disabuse the public. In Saturn’s realm it was a botch up.] 

 Chiron in Love: Liz Greene – 20 September 2023.

www.wessexastrologer.com