Anselm Kiefer – war painters and poets – Bak, Nash, Sassoon, T.E. Lawrence

Anselm Kiefer, the German painter, on exhibition in Oxford and 80 in a few weeks, has used his art to explore the infiltration of his country’s culture and psychology by Nazism and the far right. Born in 1945 he was one of the first generation of German artists to confront the country’s recent past head-on and to explore how art could keep history alive so that it would not be forgotten, or repeated.

  He was born 8 March 1945 in Donaueschingen in the Black Forest, in a hospital cellar as his home was being bombed and destroyed, and he grew up in the house next door to the ruins. An expansive Sun Pisces opposition Jupiter; he has his Mars in Aquarius opposition Pluto, trine/sextile Uranus – which would attract him to the darkness and danger of the past. His Chiron is conjunct Neptune which can produce compassion as well as a vibrant inner fantasy life.

 What intrigued me is that his Mars falls in the Germany creative 5th house and exactly square the Germany 8th house Pluto which points to a shadow and need for power at all costs in Germany’s deeper unconscious.  Kiefer’s Neptune Chiron falls on the Germany Libra Ascendant and Mars, and square the Germany Saturn, IC and Capricorn Sun. So he is intimately linked to his country’s identity and psychology. 

Another creative figure regarded as one of the most important in German-language literature of the post-World War II era was Paul Celan, 23 November 1920, a Romanian-born French poet and Holocaust survivor.

He speaks truly who speaks the shade.

A Sun Sagittarius square Uranus, he had his Mercury in Scorpio opposition the Germany 8th house Pluto and his Neptune is square. His Pluto fell on the Germany Midheaven and his Mars in Capricorn opposed the Germany 10th house Uranus.  His Chiron was closely conjunct the Germany Descendant.

   It got me thinking about other war artists and writers.

Samuel Bak, 12 August 1933, is a Jewish Lithuanian-American painter and writer, a Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Israel and then settled in the US. His work deals with the artistic expression of the destruction and dehumanization which make up his childhood memories. He has a Leo Sun which sits in Israel’s 10th house close to its Saturn and Mars. The horror and danger of his childhood experiences reflected into his destructive Mars in Libra opposition Uranus square Pluto sits firmly on the Israel Ascendant, Descendant and Midheaven making him a key figure for Israel.

 The painter Paul Nash whose iconic Menin Road  became a symbol for the destructiveness of World War One, also had his Pluto and Chiron on the UK’s Midheaven and his Jupiter conjunct the UK’s IC.

  Siegfried Sassoon, 8 September 1886, was one of the leading war poets of WW1:

“You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you’ll never know

The hell where youth and laughter go.” 

 A Virgo Sun, he had his Mars in Scorpio opposition the UK’s 8th house Mars, with his Saturn in the UK 10th exactly conjunct the Moon; with his Uranus Jupiter sitting on the UK Ascendant square the MC/IC axis.

 T.E. Lawrence, 16 August 1888, author of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, known for his role during the Arab Revolt and Sinai and Palestine campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the World War 1, like Sassoon never left his war experiences behind him.

   Also like Sassoon he had Mars in Scorpio opposition the UK’s 11th house Mars. He was a Sun Saturn in Leo with his Uranus falling in the UK 1st house conjunct the UK South Node exactly square the UK Sun and Moon. He was betrayed by the British and French top diplomats who ignored promises to the Arabs who had helped him defeat the Turks – which is maybe where the South Node comes in with perfidious Albion with garlic overtones doing their worst.

Not sure what all this adds up to except certain individuals have, for good or for ill, a destiny more closely intertwined with their country than most.

USA Treasury – moving into a cyclone

The US Treasury manages government revenue,  collects federal taxes through the IRS and manages U.S. government debt. It is headed by a secretary of the treasury, who is a member of the Cabinet, presently Scott Bessent, an investor and hedge fund manager, a major donor, fundraiser, and economic advisor for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

 The US Treasury chart, 2 September 1789, has a Sun Mercury in Virgo widely opposition Saturn in Pisces for practicality and detail. But it also has an expansive, confident/overly confident Jupiter opposition Pluto square a Scorpio North Node which makes sense of a financial body with considerable power.

    There is also a yod of Saturn inconjunct Neptune sextile Jupiter which requires self-discipline and maturity to operate well. That critically aspected Saturn is moving by Solar Arc to square the Jupiter opposition Pluto by mid to late 2026 suggesting a life-changing/history-changing crisis of enormous proportions – which will damp enthusiasm and confidence.  The Solar Arc Sun will also be in a disruptive square to the Uranus in 2026 with tr Pluto square the Uranus in 2027/28 – again pointing to turbulence, upheaval and turmoil.

 Scott Bessent has his Leo Sun conjunct Uranus sextile Mars in late Gemini – keen on money and speculation, volatile, innovative, not overly respectful of rules and regulations especially as his Uranus is conjunct Pluto and his Pluto is in a rules-don’t-apply-to-me opposition to Jupiter.

 He looks exceptionally uneasy moving ahead with a jolting tr Uranus square his Sun on and off till early 2026. Plus a panicky-failure tr Neptune square his Mars again on and off into early 2026.  Plus an explosive SA Mars conjunct his Uranus this year; and worse his Solar Arc Jupiter opposition Pluto colliding in hard aspect to his Neptune this year – that latter suggests over confidence leading to a scandal/or or a calamitous disappointment.  Tr Uranus will square his Uranus and then Uranus/Pluto midpoints until it reaches his Pluto in 2028 – so a turbulent passage ahead. 2027/28 look discouraging and deprived with tr Pluto conjunct his Saturn.

  His relationship chart with Trump is essentially unstable and then some, riddled with suspicion and rumbling with suppressed anger, with a composite Saturn opposition Neptune square Uranus, Sun, Mars; with an admittedly confident Pluto trine Jupiter. There’ll be an upheaval or two between them mid March to early April 2025 and some disappointed hopes through this year into early 2026. But nothing too dramatic (without his birth time).

 What is obscure but interesting is that the Bessent/Trump relationship chart, like the Trump/USA relationship chart has composite planets hovering around Procyon, the Fixed star, indicating a rise and then a fall.

 Trump’s financial track record hardly inspires confidence in his ability to manage the country’s coffers competently or honestly.

Panama Canal – up for grabs?

The Panama Canal, involved in a tug of war with an imperialist Trump who claims America built it and dislikes China’s growing influence in the area, is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway which connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It provides a shortcut which greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific and avoiding avoid the hazardous route around the southernmost tip of South America. Its construction was one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. Started by the French in 1881, they gave up and the US took over in 1904, eventually opening it in 1914.

Panama under pressure has decided to let its participation in China’s global infrastructure plan expire.

 The 15 August 1914 Panama Canal Inauguration with its expansive Leo Sun opposition Jupiter sitting alongside a bulldozer-strength Mars Venus square Pluto Saturn, perhaps a testament to the difficulty in building it, will be panicked and undermined as tr Neptune Saturn square the Saturn and then Pluto and oppose the Mars through 2025/26; with further arguments after that.

 The final handover to Panama on 31 December 1999 is equally stressed through late April into May this year, is mired in confusion and indecision in 2026/27 and at a dead halt by 2027.

 The Panama country chart, 3 November 1903 6pm, Panama, will be under great pressure with tr Pluto conjunct its Saturn in Aquarius in 2026/27 with a significant disappointment in 18 months – but that could be to do with anything,  However its relationship with Trump will be on edge as tr Uranus moves into Gemini from July onwards for several years.     

Mass Media – massage or message

 ‘The medium is the message’ or ‘massage’ as Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, the father of media studies, used to joke.  While the internet and before that television is blamed for negative social trends, there have often been periods of less than desirable effects from earlier mass communication, which has been around since the invention of the printing press in the mid 15th Century.

 ‘Sensationalism’ was the order of the day when Joseph Pulitzer purchased the New York World in 1883 and told his editors to use crusades against corruption, and lavish use of illustrations to boost readership. William Randolph Hearst retaliated with his rival New York Journal in 1895 resulting in an intense circulation war amongst the ’yellow press’.

John Logie Baird’s first television in 1926 took till after WW11 to become accessible to the public bringing drama and news into sitting rooms. Another phase started in the mid 1990s with the advent of cable and rolling 24 hour news. The 1990s also saw the worldwideweb kick off in 1991.

  The 1990s saw the Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn – and the combination of those two planets does seem to be a thread in the evolution of mass communication.  There was a Uranus Neptune conjunction in 1650 around the time newspapers started to appear. One conjunction before in 1478 printing presses were underway producing books and pamphlets. There was another conjunction in 1821 when the Manchester Guardian was founded. Marshall McLuhan was born with the Uranus opposition Neptune. The first public television demonstration by John Logie Baird on January 26, 1926 had a yod of Uranus sextile Mercury and South Node inconjunct Neptune.

  The ‘yellow press’ wars of the 1890s seems to have been more a Neptune Pluto in Gemini outcome.

  Uranus Neptune combines inventiveness and fantasy, insight and delusion. It can be creative, tinged with genius or off-the-wall. At a negative end it is associated with psychic confusion and neurosis, can be wilful and nervy, prone to intrigues and conspiracies, extremism, unreasonable attitudes even when faced with evidence to the contrary, scandal-prone.

William Randolph Hearst Sr, April 29, 1863 5.58am San Francisco, who developed America’s largest newspaper chain and media company. ‘His flamboyant methods of yellow journalism in violation of ethics and standards influenced the nation’s popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human-interest stories.’ He was a controlling Sun Pluto in Taurus in his 12th with an emphasized Neptune opposition Saturn in a publicity-attracting square to Mars.  

  His Uranus/Neptune midpoint intriguingly was conjunct his 12th house Pluto – and that is exactly the same as Trump with his Uranus/Neptune midpoint conjunct his 12th house Pluto.  Pluto in the 12th gives inner power as well as an inner raging storm, a tendency to wield power in secretive/devious ways – and all channelled into their Uranus Neptune tendencies.

  Marshall McLuhan, 21 July 1911 Edmonton, Canada, was a Sun Neptune in Cancer opposition Uranus so tuned into the trends of the moment.

  What follows is a psychological ramble. What strikes me as odd, and I am unsure whether it is a modern phenomenon, probably not, is the inability of people to manage complex thinking.  In very early baby psychological development (go read Melanie Klein) people are split into good and bad. Along the way of maturity, the penny drops that mom or dad are not perfect and have flaws, i.e. contain both good and bad, which causes temporary depression but later produces a realistic mindset.

 Political polarization makes life easier – I  like the GOP or the Democrats and everything they do and will treat with hostility the smallest criticism of them.   There is a hint of Pluto in the do-or-die desperation to block out the alternative view. As if admitting a flaw in the politician of your choice would —– what? Dent your over-idealized image? Or give hostages to fortune and hand ammunition to your enemies?

  It is in part what Rahm Emmanuel referred to when he said the Democrats had been talking to themselves and not listening to the electorate.

  For example: The Joe Biden camp (and centrist/left wing media) were wrong not to admit his mental deterioration much earlier. His subsequent anointment of Kamala Harris, whom no one thought much of before, was an act of petty spite. Trump is a deranged narcissist who will do damage but he has earned the startled respect of women alarmed by the inroads the trans-mania was making into their safety and status. Is it so hard?  

“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.” Winston S. Churchill. And equally even the brightest make mistakes.

United States – Pluto Return dims prospects

Could America’s Pluto Return be a hint of a slow moving collapse of global power and prestige? Loss of faith in US institutions could spiral towards a significant decline with the possibility of ‘a series of catastrophic governmental failures following key personnel having been fired and ‘dangerous lack of oversight of critical infrastructure, including nuclear reactors and cyber security.’ Culminating in a tech meltdown in 2030, due to institutional failures and growing concentration in the industry.

 A sobering, well argued piece in the FT by Nobel-winning economist Daron Acemoglu does not blame Trump. The cracks he says were visible long before 2016. ‘He was in many ways a symptom of those troubled times. But ‘ he quickly transitioned from being a symptom to being a cause, repeatedly breaking with democratic norms.’

  Does the astrology back up his economic argument? The USA chart is going through a few seismic upheavals at the moment through into 2026 with the Solar Arc Sun square Saturn colliding with the USA Mars square Neptune. Just after the turn of the decade in 2031/32 transiting Neptune will square the USA Sun and oppose the Saturn for loss of morale and great uncertainty; even before then having been on a long slide with tr Neptune square the USA financial Venus Jupiter and a Uranus Return in 2027/28.

 The USA Federal Reserve chart has considerable hitches and glitches, noticeably from the middle of this year and 2026 with tr Neptune Saturn square the FedRes Saturn Pluto; with an insecure tr Uranus opposition Mars in 2026. But it is 2031 when it is showing most jeopardy with a scary, trapped, catastrophic SA Mars square the Saturn Pluto.

 The ‘magnificent seven’ are also showing stress towards the end of the decade. These are companies commonly recognized for their market dominance, their technological impact, and their changes to consumer behavior and economic trends – Alphabet (GOOGL; GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Apple, META, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Tesla.

Nvidia is in a disappointing slump from 2028 onwards with tr Neptune opposing their Jupiter and conjunct the financial Venus. 2029 is jangled (SA Uranus opp Saturn), 2030 extremely uncertain (SA Neptune conjunct Saturn) and 2031 sees a calamitous setback with SA Mars opposition Saturn.

Microsoft is sagging in 2026/27 and facing potentially terminal problems by 2031/32.

Meta/Facebook – financially fraught with major setbacks in 2027; 2030 will be devastating.

Apple – a long, disappointing, panicky slide from 2027 onwards with extreme anxiety in 2030  and financial disappointment in 2031.

Google – again 2027 in disappointing financially and 2031/32 are flagged up as calamitous.

Amazon – again same pattern. 2027 is high anxiety. 2030/31 worse than they have known before.

Tesla – insecure jolts 2026 to 2028; with simultaneous uncertainty and disappointment from 2026 to 28/29 courtesy of tr Neptune. Failure in 2028 and major confusion by 2030.  

  Some of the above will be due to internal or disparate causes but there does seem to be a pattern which suggests that Daron Acemoglu might be right.

https://www.ft.com/content/4e3f1731-3d63-4b31-88ce-c3f5157d8170

What has history said of eminence without honor, wealth without wisdom, power and possessions without principle? The answer is reiterated in the overthrow of the mightiest empires of ancient times. Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome! The four successive, universal powers of the past. What and where are they?”  Orson F. Whitney

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.” Marcus Aurelius

America is an empire. I hope you know that now. All empires, by definition, are bumbling, shambolic, bullying, bureaucratic affairs, as certain of the rightness of their cause in infancy, as they are corrupted by power in their dotage.” Felix Dennis

“I love studying Ancient History and seeing how empires rise and fall, sowing the seeds of their own destruction.” Martin Scorsese

The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.” Woodrow Wilson

I complain about the United States not being Athens. I certainly say we are a very good Roman republic, and the lies are based upon the most advanced techniques of advertising, which is the only art form my country has ever created—the television commercial—and we sell soap and presidents in the same fashion. Once a country is habituated to liars, it takes generations to bring the truth back.”
Gore Vidal

See previous post in search: Pluto Returns 17 October 2020.

Belle Gibson, cons and cronies – Neptune, Jupiter and Aquarius

Con gullible victims out of thousands with heart-rending tales of illness, get prison sentence, get Netflix series. The most recent trickster felon Belle Gibson is star of Apple Cider Vinegar. A wellness guru, she falsely claimed to have been diagnosed with multiple cancer pathologies, including malignant brain cancer, which she said she was effectively managing through diet, exercise, natural medicine, and alternative medicine therapies.

  Born 8 October 1991 in Tasmania, Australia, she has a Libra Sun (Moon) exactly square Neptune North Node in Capricorn. Her Uranus Neptune in Capricorn is also square Mercury in Libra. A superficially charming Jupiter Venus in Virgo would make her good at selling her wares. Her evasive, smokescreening Neptune is ultra-strong amplified by the Uranus Neptune tendency to become obsessive. And an unaspected Pluto, according to Tierney can cause the individual to become ‘overshadowed by their shadows.’ Plus she had Saturn in Aquarius which as well as giving a scientific bent can also be emotionally cold. 

  There are several high-profile swindlers born around the same time. Anna Sorokin, 23 January 1991, a fraudster who posed as a wealthy heiress, is a Sun Aquarius in an overly expansive opposition to Jupiter in Leo (= wanting a flash lifestyle without any effort). Plus a seductively persuasive Venus in Aquarius square Pluto. And Uranus Neptune in Capricorn conjunct Mercury; with Mercury inconjunct Jupiter.

 Sam Bankman-Fried, 5 March 1992 9.51 am Stanford, California, a crypto-fraudster, is a Sun Pisces opposition Jupiter; with the Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn on the midpoint of a mini-Grand Trine of Sun trine Pluto. Very much of his generation. He also had a hard Mars, Saturn, Venus in Aquarius square Pluto.

 The three above all had a North Node in Capricorn.

 Simon Leviev, 27 September 1990, Israel, theft and forgery, starred in Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler. He was a Sun Libra trine Mars, and sextile Jupiter in Leo conjunct South Node – charming, confident and opportunistic. His Sun was square Uranus Neptune in Capricorn; and his Uranus Neptune were on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Jupiter sextile Mars. His North Node in Aquarius opposes his Jupiter which might suggest his taste in extravagances pulls him back onto his primitive side.

 Another health confidence trickster Amanda Riley, 24 June 1985, San Jose, California, was a Christian blogger, who attracted money and gifts for her piteous tales of suffering from cancer which she didn’t have and led to her conviction. ABC News Studios has her story in a four-part docuseries “Scamanda. She is a Sun and Mars in Cancer opposition Neptune and trine Pluto. She also has a Fixed T Square of indulgent Venus in Taurus exactly conjunct her North Node opposition Saturn in Scorpio square Jupiter in Aquarius.

 Elizabeth Holmes, 3 February 1984 Washington, DC was a fraud of a different order, a bio-tech entrepreneur who inflated claims about her blood-testing company and ended up convicted. She is a Sun Aquarius square a ruthless Mars Saturn in Scorpio; with a high-finance, overly optimistic Neptune Jupiter in Sagittarius.  With a superficially charming Venus Jupiuter conjunction.

  Not surprisingly Neptune is prominent throughout, and amongst the recent batch, close to Uranus. Neptune is a dream weaver, good at concocting fantasies. Uranus adds inventiveness and perhaps the use of modern technology with blogs etc. Charm clearly helps in cons so Venus Jupiter is not unexpected and heavily aspected Jupiter as well in its quest to gain for something for nothing. There is a recurrence of Aquarius through these charts – perhaps the emotional detachment of Aquarius helps when fleecing others. And I have known several Aquarians who were real hustlers so it is not always humanitarian, one-for-all and all-for-one in action.    

Boris Becker – blessed and cursed by the gods of chance

  Boris Becker, once wunderkind of the tennis world, is a salutary tale of great success followed by an abysmal fall. At 17 the youngest Wimbledon champion in history, he continued on through six-time grand slam wins, earning £100 million-plus through deals and sponsorships over the years. He retired in 2012, was declared bankrupt in 2017 and in 2022 was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, the culmination of decades of financial irregularities in breaking tax laws.

  He has been talking about his experiences, insisting he blames no one but himself for his decisions and says he has emerged better for his time inside.

 He was born 22 November 1967 8.45 am Leimen, Germany with a 12th house Sun Neptune in Scorpio  sitting on the midpoint of a trine from Mars in Capricorn in his financial 2nd trine a turbulent Uranus Pluto in Virgo. Certainly ultra-determined from Mars trine Pluto, volatile from Mars trine Uranus and evasive, unrealistic from a visionary Neptune.

    A money-minded Mars in Capricorn plus a not-always-attentive (though can bestow sporting prowess) Sun Neptune and an erratic Uranus Pluto would be part of the problem. 

  A yod of Jupiter sextile Mercury inconjunct Saturn in Aries would be another, since it demands maturity and self-discipline to work, otherwise it turns self-defeating.

 A third factor would be his Cancer Moon in his joint financial 8th house conjunct Procyon, the star which is both fortunate and unfortunate, often an indication of a rise followed by a fall. Pride can make the individual careless.  It trines his Sun Neptune conjunction and his Chiron and Scheat in late Pisces, formed into a Kite by Sun Neptune opposition Algol and Black Moon.  Aldebaran for those interested is exactly conjunct his Descendant, ruling close relationships.

 That is an astonishing collection of the less upbeat Fixed stars.

  His 10th harmonic, also indicative of a rise and fall, is marked; as is his sacrificial 12th harmonic and his needs-maturity 11H.

Interesting chart.

Iraq – western meddling, schisms and drought

Iraq’s troubled history over the past 100 years starting with British interference after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WW1 through various coups and religious schisms culminating in George W Bush’s ‘shock and awe’ carnage in 2003 after 9/11 shows no signs of settling any time soon. Despite ISIS, who had stepped into the vacuum caused by the USA’s ill-thought out and mismanaged assault, being ejected in 2017, there are still ‘increased levels of violent terrorism and sectarian conflicts’ and wide-scale droughts since 2020 driven by climate change. Water flows in the Tigris and Euphrates are down 30-40%. Half the country’s farmland is at risk of desertification with nearly 40% of Iraq ” overtaken by blowing desert sands that claim tens of thousands of acres of arable land every year.”

 There are two charts for Iraq 23 August 1921 6am Baghdad; and 14 July 1958 4 am Baghdad – both of which work well tested against the Iraq Attack of 20 March 2003.

  The 1921 chart at that point in 2003 in addition to a sharp-shock tr Uranus opposition the Sun and square Midheaven; and the war-like tr Saturn opposition Pluto aspect the Solar Arc Midheaven – was a classic example of transiting Mars as a trigger – tr Mars was conjunct the SA Moon, conjunct the SA North Node and opposition the Iraq Pluto – all exactly.

  On the 1958 chart tr Uranus was exactly opposition the Pluto for a major upheaval; with the tr Saturn conjunct the Solar Arc Midheaven and tr Pluto was opposition.

 When the Iraq Attack took place on 20 March 2003 at 5.30 am Baghdad, tr Pluto was conjunct the Midheaven opposition Saturn in the 4th square a Pisces Sun exactly conjunct the generally-unlucky Scheat. Saturn Pluto is associated with war and deprivation.

The North Node on the 2003 Attack was at 1 degree Gemini which will be rattled by tr Uranus moving into Gemini after this July; and at the moment the Solar Arc North Node is exactly conjunct the Saturn with Solar Arc Uranus square the Saturn; and tr Neptune is conjunct the Attack Sun throughout 2025. [I can’t quite see what repercussions there will be at this stage but that chart is reverberating to some strong undercurrents.]

Relocating the 2003 Attack chart to Washington, DC gave a grandstanding 5th house Sun; and relocating the London gave a hard-working, under-appreciated 6th house Saturn. The Attack chart itself lacked Earth with only Mars in Capricorn to look after practicalities.

Looking ahead nothing seems settled for either Iraq chart. The 1921 chart has its Mercury Sun in Leo catching the unsettled tr Uranus square throughout 2025 with a deprived/warlike SA Saturn opposition Pluto in 2028; and various upheavals into the start of the 2030s.

 The Iraq 1958 chart has a tumultuous tr Uranus square the Pluto from the middle of this year with again the turn of the decade giving hints of even more turmoil.

 Baghdad which rose to become the cultural centre of the Muslim world after its foundation in 762 AD has been crushed and risen again several times – and will no doubt do so again. The influence of that region from the time of the Sumerians back several thousand years has always been indisputable.

Diana Melly – survivor of a stormy marriage

Riotous, unconventional, reckless lives are entertaining between the pages of a novel but the emotional damage they wreak is undeniable.

 Diana Melly, wife of the flamboyant jazz singer, journalist and libertine George Melly with whom she shared an open marriage that survived for “45 long years” has died aged 87.

 She was born 26 July 1937 in Southampton (no birth time) with a philanderer father and farmed out to a convent aged 4, then a godmother, leaving school early and working as a hostess in a cabaret club. By the time she met George Melly in 1961 she was 24, married to her second husband and the mother of two children. Her eldest son Patrick was sent to a creche each day,  often left at home alone and when he was two, was sent to live with her aunt in Essex and barely saw him again until he was six. He ultimately died of a heroin overdose aged 24.

 George Melly, 17 August 1926 9.15am Liverpool, was bisexual, sexually voracious and an epic drinker with a drug habit. As he tired of monogamy after their marriage he encouraged her to have an affair with a handsome 18-year-old school dropout while on holiday in France. Later in her mid-thirties, she took up with a blond drug addict of 17, amongst many others.

 She was a Sun Leo conjunct Pluto, a hint of a controlling and often absent father over whom she had no sway. Her Venus in frivolous Gemini was on the focal point of a strained yod inconjunct Mars in Scorpio sextile Jupiter in Capricorn. Her Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries was trine her Sun.  Her Pisces Moon may have been opposition Neptune.

  There was a hint of passionate attraction in the synastry with George Melly, his Venus in late Cancer conjunct her Pluto and Sun. But her Uranus fell in his 8th house conjunct his subterranean Mars in Taurus which could stir up difficult feelings and erupt from time time to time in explosive arguments. Her Mars in Scorpio was also conjunct his Saturn which is an aggravating interface.  Her Saturn in his 7th would produce loyalty and a sense of endurance with a joint interest in business – and she evidently looked after his administration. Her Chiron was exactly conjunct his midheaven so there would be a sense of coming together for each to heal wounds of the past.

 George Melly, had a creative and entertaining Sun Neptune conjunction in Leo opposition Jupiter in his performing 5th house and square Saturn in Scorpio – the Neptune could explain his drug/drink habits and he would certainly have his down times with a Saturn square. His volatile 8th house Mars in Taurus was square Mercury and widely opposition his Saturn which would also be a drive of his turbulent behaviour.  His Uranus in his 7th trine Venus points to a need for emotional freedom; whereas his 10th house Pluto in addition to give him influence made him controlling. A complicated man.

 Their relationship chart had a boisterous composite Sun Mercury opposition Jupiter Mars; and a harder Saturn (Moon) opposition Pluto square Uranus making for periodic upheavals as well as a sense of being chained together and resenting it.

  Bound together by their dysfunction.