A dam in South Ukraine has been sabotaged flooding nearby towns and potentially jeopardising the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which depends on cooling water to run emergency diesel generators. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian troops of blowing up the plant “from inside” at 02:50 local time, while Moscow claims it was a “deliberate act of sabotage” by Kyiv. The BBC said it has not been able to verify either claim.

  The EU described it as a war crime and “a new sign of escalation, bringing the horrific and barbaric nature of Russian aggression against Ukraine to unprecedented levels.”

  The Ukraine 1991 chart, 24 August 1991 2.31pm Kiev, has the panicky-failure tr Neptune opposition Mars running throughout this year until February 2024. And the tough-slog, discouraging tr Pluto conjunct Saturn throughout 2023/24. There is a sign of cheer from June 2024 onwards which might bring some relief. Though the hostility with Russia will run on till late 2025 – which is hardly surprising, but whether that means the battle goes on or is the aftermath is not clear.

  Volodoymyr Zelensky, 25 January 1978 2pm Krivoj Rog,  never looked to be contented or in a progressive phase this year or next with tr Pluto in Aquarius opposition his Mars until December 2024 – which is high-risk, trapped, frustrating. Over-hopeful plans look undermined this year with tr Neptune square his Jupiter – and in many ways 2025 looks undermined as well and blocked with immense challenges running into 2026.  Which could mean a variety of outcomes – one of which is, when it all shakes down somehow, he may collapse in a heap or face a Churchill moment after WW11.

  Putin is facing an even more critical point in his destiny with his 4^th Term chart, 7 May 2018, now entering its most dangerous and most unstable phase as the Solar Arc Pluto closes the conjunction to the Mars to exact within weeks and in effect for several months – which could coincide with desperate, brutal retaliation; as well as tr Pluto square the Midheaven which can damage reputation and bring the house of cards tumbling down if not immediately then within the next eighteen months. Plus the topple-off-perch tr Pluto returning to square the Uranus from the middle of this month, on and off into and through 2024. Somewhere along that trajectory he will go – though there is no saying he won’t be replaced by a hardliner.

 Zelensky’s Term chart, 20 May 2019 10am Kiev, with its Mercury Sun in Taurus conjunct Algol is facing some disappointment this year and most pressure come 2025.

  The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, 1 April 1980, will face its greatest period of turbulence in 2024/25.

And so it goes on.

Princess Eugenie has announced the birth of her second child, another boy, named Ernest. who arrived on 30 May at 8.49am in London. He is going to be a mover and shaker with a power-packed chart with a flamboyant Mars in Leo in his 1^st house in an ultra-determined opposition to Pluto in his 7^th making his relationships and social interactions intense, all squaring onto a lucky, indulgent and acquisitive Jupiter conjunct North Node in Taurus in his 10^th. He won’t fail for want of trying.  His friendly 11^th house Gemini Sun does square an 8^th house Saturn, hinting at a discouraging and disheartening grandfather.

  His 4^th house Libra Moon is highlighted and not all in an easy way. It is trine his Sun and Pluto, forming an Air Grand Trine, making him emotionally detached and that forms onto a Kite with Pluto opposition Mars – putting his loud and colourful  Mars in Leo in the driving seat. His Moon is also on the point of a Yod inconjunct Saturn and Jupiter North Node – so he will be fairly disorganised emotionally, needing through life to build himself stronger emotional foundations.

  His Gemini Sun chimes with his father’s Venus in Gemini and his mother’s Moon, Venus, Mars in Aquarius and Aries Sun.

  His brother August, 9 February 2021 8.55am, has an Aquarius stellium in his 11^th house of Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn with a rebellious Mars Uranus in Taurus in his 1^st plus a secretive and intense Moon Pluto in Capricorn.

  They will be a fair handful.

[I don’t understand the Royal pecking order. I read that his birth pushes Prince Edward further down the list of succession. Not that it matters. But why Andrew’s children’s children should have a higher rating than Edward seems odd. ]

India’s worst train crash this century, with three trains colliding due to signal failure, has left nearly 300 dead and almost 1000 injured. This kind of tragedy is not as commonplace as it once was with heavy government investment in modernization in recent years which cut rails deaths to zero in the two years up to 2021, a staggering improvement on what went before.

  The crash happened on 2 June 2023 at 7pm in Odisha state when the massively strong and can-be-high-risk Mars opposition Pluto square Jupiter North Node was still in place. Jupiter on the point of the T square to that fairly brutal opposition was clearly in its expand-the-negative mode. There was a Water Grand Trine of Neptune in Pisces on the IC trine a hidden Venus in Cancer in the 8^th trine a Scorpio Moon on the cusp of the 12^th – bringing an upswelling of intense emotion.  

 And the recent May 5 Scorpio Lunar Eclipse located to this region has Mars conjunct the Descendant hinting at a shock or accident of sorts. The 20 April 2023 Solar Eclipse had an undermining/confused Neptune on the Midheaven.

  Often when there is a major natural or man-made disaster it is a precursor or a parallel to a significant shift in the country’s destiny. A synchronous happening.

  The India independence chart for 15 August 1947 does have tr Uranus aiming to square the 4^th house Leo Sun within a few days, on and off into 2024 which does suggest a shake-up phase of forced change ahead. Not that India will be the exception to the rule since everywhere else globally is creaking and groaning through the next three years.

  What always intrigues me is the earlier India chart of 1 January 1877 which is of the first unified India when Victoria took over as Empress, a reminder of the old colonial Raj that India would prefer to forget. That chart flagged up the disastrous Gujarat earthquake of 26 January 2001 which killed 20,000 and the Bhopal chemical disaster of 1984 more clearly than the later 1947 independence chart. Why that should be the case I have no idea, given the 1947 partition. The 1984 Bhopal disaster came hot on the heels of Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the Sikh massacre which followed.  

The epitome of English upper class chic and light-hearted devil-may-care wit, Noel Coward grew up in relative poverty and left school at nine to become a child performer. Prolific and versatile, he exuded effortless charm, acid wit and lauded a life of dilettante indulgence, while working like a Trojan writing 50 plays from his teens onwards. Many of his plays such as Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter, and Blithe Spirit, are still in the regular theatre repertoire. He also became renowned as a composer, director, actor, and singer.

  A new documentary ‘Mad about the Boy’ rollics through his life as he became a theatrical celebrity and a scandalous figure in the 1920s, a closet homosexual when it was never publicly acknowledged, having an affair it is thought with Prince George, Duke of Kent (Princess Alexandra’s bi-sexual father) – and working flat out. During WW11 he volunteered for the British propaganda war office. His career dipped and rose again as his resilience came to the rescue, pushing his talents out onto the public stage. He died in 1973.

  Coward was born 16 December 1899 2.30am Teddington, England, and had a singular, see-saw chart, which would constantly pull him between opposites, and he would struggle to find a balance. He had a quick-witted and communicative 3^rd house Sagittarius Sun conjunct a know-it-it-all and hard-working Saturn. His Saturn in Sagittarius was in a disciplined conjunction to Mars in Capricorn.  He also had a mischievous, outspoken Uranus and Mercury in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Scorpio in his financial 2^nd so he’d be good at attracting money and spending it.  All his Sagittarius planets in varying measure were opposition a Gemini Moon conjunct Pluto and Neptune in Gemini. A whirlwind Mutable chart, constantly on the go, multi-tasking, always searching.

  He would constantly wobble from one extreme to the other and search for AN Other to bring him fulfilment. Which finally came in the form of Graham Payn, a small time South African singer/actor, who was his life partner for three decades before he died and after his death took on the running of his estate.  Payn, 25 April 1918, had his Taurus Sun Mercury in Coward’s 7^th house of relationships which is ideal; and Payn’s North Node in Sagittarius was conjunct Coward’s Sun – so Coward was his destiny. Payn’s Venus was in Coward’s 5^th house of enjoyment and romance and squared Coward’s key oppositions so giving a balance to the wobbly see-saw.  Payn’s Saturn Neptune in Coward’s 10^th hints at his executor role after his death.

  What is of passing interest is that Coward’s chart has strong similarities to that of King George V1 (Queen Elizabeth’s father), 14 December 1895 3.05am.  He also had a 3^rd house Sagittarius Sun opposition the signature Neptune Pluto in Gemini of that generation, in his case in his 8^th.  George was weighted down by four Scorpio planets and that plus the trapped 8^th house emphasis would make him more introverted. But he clearly had a bright streak that was yearning to be let loose.

Noel Coward Quotes:

‘A perfect martini should be made by filling a glass with gin then waving it in the general direction of Italy.’

‘Work hard, do the best you can, don’t ever lose faith in yourself and take no notice of what other people say about you.’

‘It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.’

‘Familiarity breeds contempt, but without a little familiarity it’s impossible to breed anything.’

‘Consider the public. Never fear it nor despise it. Coax it, charm it, interest it, stimulate it, shock it now and then if you must, make it laugh, make it cry, but above all never, never, never bore the living hell out of it.’

‘Why do I drink Champagne for breakfast? Doesn’t everyone?’

‘Just say the lines and don’t trip over the furniture.’

‘People are wrong when they say opera is not what it used to be. It is what it used to be. That is what’s wrong with it.’

‘We have no reliable guarantee that the afterlife will be any less exasperating than this one, have we?’

‘Wit ought to be a glorious treat like caviar; never spread it about like marmalade.’

‘If he (Peter O’Toole) had been any prettier it would have been Florence of Arabia.’

Pic: Allan Warren

Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, voted the world’s greatest living composer in a 2019 survey by BBC Music Magazine, has died aged 70 of brain cancer.

Her ‘sinuously alluring’ music was acclaimed for its sparkling beauty – meditative, mystical and complex, often informed by the sound of the wind, footsteps in the snow or the rush of waves. She wrote concertos as well as opera scores.

  Her opera Innocence, based around the legacy of a school shooting, won plaudits when it came to Covent Garden, described by a reviewer as “a piece of modern music-drama worthy to stand in the rich tradition that stretches from Monteverdi to Britten and beyond” and “a truly great opera for our troubled times”.

  She was born 14 October 1952 in Helsinki and was a sickly child, often left alone listening to music. She had a Libra Sun conjunct Saturn and Neptune square Uranus – hard-working, creative, idealistic, and could be nervy and obsessive. Her Neptune square Uranus would give her an inventive streak.  Her charming Venus in Scorpio opposed Jupiter in indulgent Taurus and squared onto a controlling and influential Pluto. Her lack of self-worth from Saturn was balanced out by a confident and determined Jupiter Pluto.

  Her leaving-a-legacy-for-posterity 17^th harmonic is strong.

[Putin’s original birth date is only a week earlier but that puts his Mars in a ruthless trine to his Pluto. He also picks up the negative side of Sun Saturn Neptune which can be suspicious and neurotic. And houses will make all the difference.]

  One of her other operas La Passion de Simone (2006) recounted the life of the French philosopher Simone Weil, who supposedly starved herself to death in an English hospital in 1943 aged 34. Like Saariaho, Simone Weil had been a sickly child and campaigned constantly for a fairer society which may have rung a bell with the composer since her Saturn Neptune is also tuned into creating social improvements.

  Simone Weil, 3 February 1909 5am Paris, France, was a Sun Aquarius on one leg of a yod sextile Mars inconjunct Neptune Moon in Cancer – emotionally sensitive to an extreme degree. Her Mars was also in a fearful, frustrated opposition to Pluto. And like Saariaho, Weil had highly-strung Neptune Uranus aspects, in her case in opposition and tied into her Moon and Venus.

  Another musical icon gone.

Montenegro has a new president, replacing the strongman Đukanović, whose party held sway for three decades and whose abuse of power led the country to be designated a hybrid regime instead of a democracy.

  Montenegro is  part of the Balkans, bordered by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Croatia and the Adriatic Sea. It formally became a member of NATO and has been in negotiations to join the EU since 2012, with 2025 being the putative date of entry. It is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the Central European Free Trade Agreement.

  ‘Montenegro has historically stood at the crossroads of multiculturalism and over centuries this has shaped its unique co-existence between Muslim and Christian populations. Despite tensions between religious groups during the Bosnian War, Montenegro remained fairly stable, mainly due to its population’s perspective on religious tolerance and faith diversity.’ (wiki)

  The new President Jakov Milatovic, 7 December 1986, Milatović, who campaigned on a pro-EU and anti-corruption platform, won around 60 percent of the vote in the presidential runoff according to local pollsters.

  He was sworn in on 20 May 2023 at 12.24pm Podgorica, and faces a challenging term. There is a last degree Taurus Sun on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine of Mars in Cancer trine Neptune. That will be under a frustrating, trapped, somewhat risky tr Pluto opposition the Mars in 2023/4 and then there is a disruptive tr Uranus conjunct the Sun in 2025. There is also a high-octane and perhaps overly forceful T square of Pluto opposition Mars square Jupiter North Node in Taurus so he will have luck but over confidence may trip him up.

  He is a serious though changeable Sun, Saturn and Uranus in Sagittarius with his Sun Saturn square an exuberant Mars Jupiter in Pisces. Plus he has a persuasively charming Pluto Venus in Scorpio.

  Montenegro independence was proclaimed 3 June 2006 8.28pm Podgorica, which gives a Gemini Sun on the cusp of the 7^th  = keen on cooperating with neighbours. But the Sun squares onto a Moon opposition Uranus so settling down to alliances and committed relationships won’t be easy. Plus there is an exceptionally difficult Mars conjunct Saturn in the 8^th house square Venus opposition Jupiter – a country where frivolity and darkness sit side by side and where the ancestral past weights heavily on present events.

  The Mars in the country chart is the same degree of Cancer as it is on Milatovic’s Presidency chart – suggesting a tough, financially frustrating two years ahead as tr Pluto opposes the Mars – and a challenging few years thereafter as tr Pluto moves to oppose the Saturn.

Milo Dukanovic, the ousted president, who had been at the top as prime minister or president for decades, tunes into the darker side of Montenegro. Born 15 February 1962 6.55am Niksic, he has an emphasized Saturn, Mercury, Mars in Aquarius on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct Pluto and a Cancer Moon – might makes right, cold, determined.  He also has a Sun Jupiter in Aquarius opposition Uranus in Leo – very Fixed.  The not-so-humanitarian, light-and-love-to-all facet of Aquarius – in negative aspect it can be obsessive, fanatical, extreme in its views.

In the land of the beautiful people, backbiting and vicious rumours lurk a millimetre below the glossy exterior. The news that British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, long thought to be the steely Anna Wintour’s successor as editor-in-chief, is to move out and up into the Conde Nast stratosphere, has led to suggestions of a rift – all denied.   

  He was vaunted as an editor for the new age – working class, black, gay, keen to push diversity with a transgender model, a first man on the cover, disabled stars, Dame Judi Dench at 85 the oldest cover star, a Braille edition launched for the first time and the Duchess of Sussex as guest-editor in 2019.

  He was born 22 February 1972 11.55pm (from memory) Takoradi, Ghana, with a seamstress mother who gave him a love for fabric and colour. He became a model at 16, a fashion director at 18, and has worked with Italian and American Vogue. His 2008 “Black Issue” for Vogue Italia, which featured only black models was so successful Condé Nast was forced to print another 40,000 copies.

  He has an artistic, image-making Pisces Sun Mercury on the focal point of a Mutable T Square to a creative and nervy Saturn opposition Neptune. His Jupiter in money-magnet Capricorn in his 2^nd is in a super-confident square to Pluto and a dynamic trine to a hard-working Mars in Taurus in his 6th. His design-conscious Venus in Aries in his entertaining/performing 5^th house opposes an inventive Uranus.

  His needs-a-cause North Node in Aquarius is in an Air Grand Trine to a tough Saturn trine Pluto – so he’ll never be happier than when he is fighting for the suppressed and deprived.

  If his birth time is accurate than his Solar Arc Midheaven is conjunct his Uranus for a sudden change of direction, mirrored in tr Uranus square his Leo Midheaven in 2024. Tr Saturn in Pisces is depressing his Pisces Sun Mercury and the Mutable T Square throughout this year. The transition won’t be easy with a discouraging tr Pluto trine his Saturn this year and his Pluto in 2024/25 – but he’ll find a new cause in the years thereafter.

  He and Anna Wintour are a clashing combination with her formidable Scorpio Sun opposition his stubborn Mars in Taurus and her Mars in Virgo opposition his Sun – Mars in synastry is competitive.  Her Uranus is square his Pluto for a disruptive feel, her elusive Neptune is conjunct his Uranus and opposition his Venus and her critical, cool Saturn is square his Gemini Moon.

  This is repeated in their relationship chart with a composite Sun Mercury opposition Mars and trine Pluto – making for arguments and power struggles. There are positives in terms of a business-oriented Earth Grand Trine, a power couple Jupiter trine Pluto and a creative Moon opposition Neptune – but all of that may end up barbecued by the sparring Mars and controlling Pluto.

  At the moment tr Uranus is exactly square the composite Venus for an emotional upset and that will rock n’ roll through 2024 with tr Uranus square the composite Uranus as well.

  All of it a trifle in comparison to Ukraine, China, Russia, debt ceilings, AI panics and dodgy doings in Westminster but the astrology is informative.  

Please add below. Older posts under news on top bar.

‘Astrology is a language of symbols, like dreams, myths, religious narratives and fairy tales.  A chart is an architecture of metaphors. With symbols it is not possible to have a simple and clear definition. Symbols are magical doors.’

  A new astrology book takes the cook-book journey through planets, signs and houses but in a Neptunian soul-full way. A magical mystery tour both deceptively simple and insightful as it weaves connections and dances a thread between opposites and the evolution of the signs and elements.  

  It took my Saturnine temperament a while before I acclimatized to the stream of consciousness approach of Jean-Marc Pierson, the author – a Sun Neptune in Scorpio. But there are nuggets of gold in there with his constantly shifting perspective from one to the opposite and it brought me several ‘aha’ moments as he threw a new light onto the building blocks of astrology.

 ‘Aries jumps on the stage and fights for a place. The show goes on with Leo holding the space: this is who I am. Sagittarius takes some distance and wonders: But who am I?’

‘Aries energy, Taurus substance, Gemini information.’

‘Air signs: Gemini comes first to create links with no strings attached. Libra binds. But she operates in Air. She binds from a distance, she casts spells, she enchants, she charms.’

 ‘Taurus is gain: Scorpio is loss.  Holding on or letting go. Demons and angels fight for the throne. Scorpio is the other side of Taurus.’

    ‘Pisces: Where there is a saviour, there are victims; where there is a healer there are sick people. Where there is a redeemer there is a fallen angel. Demons are spiritual beings too.’

‘Aquarius in the Capricorn of the future.’ Revolutionaries get their way and then create new structures.

Houses: In the first house we simply are. In the second we become flesh. In the third house we start asking questions.

 11^th house  – hopes and wishes – ‘the most complex kinds of hopes and wishes are called Ideologies. They involve the vision of a bright future for a humanity freed of its chains.’  

The sixth house serves you. It is your inner slave. Your inner servant.

Planets: ‘With Neptune we want to go to heaven. Pluto is Neptune’s shadow in the world of below. Pluto is the naked and unbearable truth: we are not in heaven. We are fallen angels. We have demons within.’

‘Jupiter is a Miracle Grow energy (plant food). Saturn is a crystallizing energy. Uranus is shake and change.’

  Started as a blog it comes in bite size pieces and will give a beginner struggling to understand the basics a grasp of the difference between Fire and Water, between Cardinal and Mutable and the other zodiacal ingredients. For hoary old veterans, it brings a jolt of awareness – I never thought of Venus Libra as ‘glue’ but it make sense of its binding quality (at a distance.) As does Capricorn emerging from water with its fishy tail and evolving onto land.  Aquarius/Air ideologues being hopeful travellers. Taurus, the throat, I eat I sing.

   The author Jean-Marc Pierson, a devotee of Howard Sasportas and Liz Greene as well as Stephen Arroyo, studied psychology at university, has worked on farms and in gardens, as an actor and storyteller. He was born 4 November 1961 at 9.30pm, Laxou, France. He uses Placidus house system which is what I have used here.

  It puts his Sun Neptune conjunction in Scorpio as well as Mars in Scorpio in his entertaining and performing 5^th house. And Uranus Pluto, widely conjunct in Virgo in his 3^rd house. His image-making Neptune draws him to magic and mystery, using language to tantalise, paint pictures, weave patterns. Uranus Pluto in the communication 3^rd house was guaranteed to produce a quirky approach.

  His ‘leadership’ Leo North Node does suggest he will go places.

https://www.wessexastrologer.com/

‘A cup of tea changes bitter to better’ must be a slogan Sarah, Duchess of York, is clinging to fervently as she launches her ‘Tea Talks’ podcast relating her ‘hilarious misadventures’ and sets the record straight.  No doubt she hopes it will drown out the bad news over the unexplained £500k loans made to her by her failed media investment firm, Gate Ventures. She is among a group of directors being pursued by liquidators with a £19 million lawsuit in the offing.

  Plus, of course, Prince Andrew’s will he/won’t he exit his palatial 39 bedroom abode and downsize to a five bedroom shoebox with no separate wing for the Duchess. Plus plus  more Epstein and Sarah/Andrew breadcrumbs emerging.

  Trying times.

  Born 15 October 1959 9.03am (from memory) London, she is an impulsive Sun Mars in Libra sextile Uranus with an impetuous Aries Moon in her exuberant 5^th house which also rules children from whom she seeks nurturing. Her Moon is on the focal point of a yod to Pluto sextile Neptune which will make her emotionally disorganized, affected by her childhood malfunctions more than most (her mother left the parental marriage when she was in her teens.) 

  She has Venus Pluto in Virgo on her Midheaven which gives her a certain persuasive charm but also makes her controlling, overly indulgent, manipulative. Her Venus Pluto are trine Saturn and sextile an evasive, delusional 12^th house Neptune Mercury in Scorpio. Her Pluto Venus are also square a 1^st house Jupiter giving her an over confident streak that prompts her to act as if rules don’t apply to her.

  For all her devil-may-care jollity she’s not in an upbeat time

    Not only is transiting Saturn opposition her Pluto this year and her Midheaven, so is her Solar Arc Saturn in opposition to Pluto – road blocked all round. With tr Saturn also square her Jupiter this year which will put a damper on her self-confidence and her finances.

  Next year tr Saturn moving into her 4^th does indicate a house move – as does Prince Andrew’s tr Uranus opposition his Scorpio Moon (see post 2nd March 2023). She’ll get a shock of significant proportions late 2024 when her Solar Arc Uranus is conjunct her Mars; and another considerable setback in 2025 with SA Mars conjunct her 2^nd house financial Saturn at the same time as tr Neptune and Saturn in Aries are square her Saturn – which will bring a money meltdown of some proportions. Though 2025 also sees Jupiter moving through her 8^th for a year so there may be generosity coming her way in cash and in kind.

Her relations with the senior Royals are not great to start with – chilly with William, an underlying hostility with Charles and more so with Camilla. There looks to be some sort of ructions this August onwards and more upheavals in 2024.  So any hopes of being welcomed back into the royal embrace look questionable.

  Her ill-defined relationship with Prince Andrew will be undermined this year with a confused tr Neptune square the composite Sun with more enthusiasm-dampeners in 2024. Not a terminal split but not contented either.