Seberg, out in UK cinemas this Friday, isn’t a straight biopic about Jean Seberg, the actress once described as “the golden sunflower girl” from the Midwest who went on to become the darling of the French New Wave cinema after Jean-Luc Godard immortalized her in Breathless. Its focus is her deadly entanglement with the FBI who admitted days after her suicide at 40 that, under J Edgar Hoover’s instruction, they had plotted to ruin her reputation because of her involvement in political causes and her support of the Black Panther Party. They planted the false rumour that Seberg was pregnant by a Black Panther Party member to “cheapen her image” with the American public. Gossip columnists followed the false leads and her life started to come apart, with the baby she was carrying, arriving prematurely and dying.

She had a stream of Hollywood hits including Otto Preminger’s Bonjour Tristesse but she became increasingly tormented by the FBI smear campaign. She was found dead from an overdose in her car in Paris aged 40, her body badly decomposed. It was written off as suicide though there were questions about whether she’d been helped.

She was born 13 November 1938 5.15 am Marshalltown, Iowa and started acting in her late teens. Her emotional life was complicated – with a brief early abusive marriage; then she hitched up with novelist Romain Gary and had a son; then she had a daughter who died by a student revolutionary; followed by a third husband whom she left for an Algerian who persuaded her to cash in her flat and give him the money before she died. There were stories of multiple failed suicide attempts before. Romain Gary blamed the FBI for her deteriorated mental state.

She was a Sun Scorpio opposition a 7^th house Uranus, which would go a long way to explain her constantly revolving partners. That opposition squared onto Jupiter in Aquarius so she did have confidence and would have felt no inclination to put limits on what she wanted. She also has a harsh, hard-edged Mars opposition Saturn, which would be why she kept attracting herself into abusive relationships. She also had an intensely possessive and controlling Moon Pluto in Leo on her Midheaven.

When she died tr Uranus in Scorpio was hovering around the opposition to her natal Uranus and moving to conjunct her Sun which would make her excessively restless. But more than that it was emotionally a very stressed and depressing time with her Solar Arc Venus square her destructive Mars and Saturn; and tr Saturn exactly conjunct her Solar Arc Moon (and Pluto).

Such a muddled life with a tragic and sordid end.

Add on: J Edgar Hover: 1 January 1895 7.30am Washington, DC.

Hoover’s deeply unpleasant and cruel Mars in Taurus opposition Saturn Midheaven in Scorpio squared onto her Moon Pluto Midheaven which would certainly set her up as a target for his destructive impulses and make them implacable enemies. His Capricorn Sun squared her Mars opposition Saturn which had already attracted to her abusive situations – and this was just another one of a different order. His Uranus was conjunct her Sun upending her life and image. And his scandal-prone Neptune Pluto fell in her 8^th for behind-the-scenes smears. A mismatch made in hell.

Adele having left a failed marriage has also shed three stone (42 pounds) to be a lithe shadow of her former self. Despite the usual snowflakey howls of fat-shaming about making comment, she does look much better and happier.

Born 5 May 1988 8.19 am London, she’s a Sun Jupiter in indulgent Taurus opposition Pluto square Mars; with her 6^th house Moon opposition Venus in the 12^th. Taurus is a great lover of food; Moon Venus will reach for sweet treats when emotional lacks loom large; and often women with Mars Pluto in their charts use weight as a defence against perceived threats.

She has had a rocky relationship with her father who split from her mother when she was three and in later years succumbed to alcoholism and a few years back made ill-advised remarks about her lack of a love life, after which they haven’t been in touch.

Her marriage to financier Simon Konecki, 17 April 1974, would be fraught and at times scary with his Mars Saturn in Gemini conjunct her Venus and opposition her Moon; and their relationship chart has an angry and frustrating composite Mars opposition Pluto which would make for exceptionally challenging chemistry. She also suffered from post-natal depression and anxiety disorder after the birth of her son seven years back. Her 6^th house Moon will make her especially prone to somatising her emotions, so her body will take the strain of what is bothering her.

In 2016 tr Saturn started to move into and through her 6^th house of health which is always a time of getting serious about fitness, physical lifestyle and health.

She’ll probably always fight a battle of yo-yo-ing weight with Taurus and a sugary Venus Moon, but she must be pleased with herself at the moment.

Tr Saturn immediately and then tr Pluto next year will move into her 8^th house which will be a more sombre phase with a good deal ongoing either financial or in terms of other restrictions. She’ll need to battle on. By 2021 tr Uranus will start several years of hard aspects to her Fixed T Square of Pluto, Jupiter, Sun and Mars – there will be highs and lucky breaks as well as forced changes which she won’t find easy having such a Fixed chart.

Pic 2016: Mark E

Another same-day headliner with surprisingly similar astro-patterns to Sinaga is investment manager Neil Woodford. His company made heavy losses which trapped hundreds of thousands of investors without access to their cash and shrunk their capital by a considerable margin. Despite that he and his partner took out £13.8 million in the months before the company imploded, which brings a total of £112m in dividends to the pair since the Woodford Equity Income fund was launched in 2014. He was fired in 2019.

Born 2 March 1960 he’s a Sun Pisces opposition Pluto; with Venus Mars conjunct in Aquarius square Neptune; and a Taurus Moon. Not, I hasten to add, that there’s any suggestion of him having the same proclivities as Sinaga – just interesting to see how similar astrology can have a different outcome in practice. Passionate enthusiasm from Venus Mars with a Neptunian bent. A controlling Pisces with an Earthy, indulgent Moon.

Woodford does have an exceptionally strong 9^th Harmonic which is often found with those who prize money about morals – Madoff etc.

His Saturn in Capricorn is catching the two Cardinal Lunar Eclipses this year which might suggest he’ll get his comeuppance though he also has some undeservedly lucky Jupiter around. But 2021/22 are ‘collision’ years with tr Pluto conjunct his Mars/Saturn midpoint so he won’t escape unscathed.  Gordon Gekko lives on despite the crash.

Mike Pompeo appears to have taken ownership of the Soleimani killing alongside Trump and all matters of defence, as he dominates the airwaves, talking about troop deployments, deterrence and the likelihood of American bombs raining down on Iranian soil. He’s definitely pumped up by the upcoming January 10^th Lunar Eclipse at 20 degrees Cancer/Capricorn as it collides with his Mars in Capricorn opposition Cancer Moon, which will make him more combative and aggressive than usual. His Capricorn Sun would also get an over- confidence surge from the late December Capricorn Solar Eclipse conjunct Jupiter.

Moving ahead, March looks like an accident or disaster-prone month for him from 9^th to 28 with tr Uranus square his Mars/Saturn midpoint. Which is when there’s high alert on the Israel and Hezbollah charts as well as up in the celestial sphere (see post below – ME sandstorms January 5^th.)

On his Secretary of State chart, 26 April 2018 2pm, the ruthless Mars Pluto in Capricorn is catching this upcoming Lunar Eclipse almost exactly. He will be set back on his heels in April and then on a downhill slide of morale, confidence and popularity from late April to late August with tr Neptune hitting on two Jupiter midpoints, one Mars and one Uranus midpoint.

His relationship chart with Trump is far from being as cosy as it looks with a composite Saturn Venus opposition Mars – suited maybe to joint military activity, but with an underlying strand of resentment and aggravation which will erupt into the open in May and June as tr Uranus throws in a firecracker or two into the mix, with rumblings before then.

If the Iranian escapade backfires badly, Trump will toss him overboard without a second thought. And Trump is looking hemmed in every which way from late January onwards with risk attached. Pompeo’s chart relocated to Teheran has Mars on the IC which is not a propitious sign.

Mike Pence has also been scuttling around doing his bit to cheerlead the Trump wagon train along. He has an undermining tr Neptune square his Gemini Sun until late this month and is more confused than he sounds with tr Pluto square his Neptune/Node till later this month as well. Then he’s got jolts, jangles and risk of violence mid February to early March from tr Uranus opposition his Saturn/Pluto midpoint and square his Mars; and more disruption with threat of violence or at least excessive stress late February till early July with tr Pluto square his Saturn/Uranus midpoint. His relationship with Trump will be chilly early March and starting a major slide into disappointment from late March to late April with tr Neptune square the composite Sun and that repeats on and off till early 2021. Tr Saturn is square his Mars across the Inauguration which usually brings a considerable setback.

For Eclipse watchers: Jared Kushner with a 20 degree Capricorn Sun, Eric Trump with a 15 degree Capricorn Sun; and Don Jnr with his Sun Venus in Capricorn square Pluto – are all in for a challenging year.

It’s not that the world isn’t a better place without Soleimani, to which many Iranians would agree, but doing it in such a flagrant, provocative way was narcissistic lunacy. Typical. Better to have used proxies with deniability which would have solved the S problem without giving rise to the inevitable explosive response.

A churchgoing PhD student has been named as the world’s worst serial rapist. Reynhard Sinaga, 36, preyed on at least 195 young men and incapacitated his mainly heterosexual victims with the date rape drug GHB before filming his attacks. He was convicted of 159 attacks, including 136 rapes, eight attempted rapes and 15 indecent assaults against 48 victims in Manchester after four trials were held over 18 months.

He was born on 19 February 1983 in Indonesia where homosexuality is either illegal or frowned on to a rich family. Their money allowed him to play the eternal student in the UK for the past 12 years.

He was a final degree Sun Aquarius or Pisces trine Pluto in Libra and Saturn in early Scorpio and sextile Neptune – so a hard, unyielding temperament with a delusional, tinged-with-megalomania Neptunian bent.

He doesn’t have the brutal Mars Pluto or cruel Mars Saturn you might expect. What he does have is an exact Venus conjunct Mars in Pisces – a placing he shares with Jeffrey Epstein. There was an odd grouping around Epstein who also shared Venus Mars conjunctions – Prince Andrew in Capricorn, Bill Clinton in Libra, Ghislaine Maxwell in Sagittarius/Capricorn. Venus Mars is usually described as ‘passionate enthusiasm’ but Ebertin also adds onto that – ‘a strongly emotional and sexual life with disharmonious tendencies’; ‘in some cases inclination to polygamy.’

In Sinaga’s case his Venus Mars are square Neptune which Ebertin further describes as: ‘pathological or abnormal craving in sex relationship, inclination to perversity.’    Plus he has a Taurus Moon which can be overly indulgent in matters of the flesh. Bill Clinton has a Venus Mars Neptune conjunction and a Taurus Moon though clearly houses will make a difference as well as other factors.

When Sinaga was first arrested in June 2017 after a victim became conscious, fled and reported him – tr Saturn was exactly square his Venus Mars and tr Uranus was moving to upset his applecart by opposing his Pluto.

His two strongest Harmonics are the 9^th (what gives him pleasure) and the 7^th (can-be-unhinged-mentally and attracted to drugs). Both have strong controlling Pluto connections to Mars Venus and his 7^th adds in a Mars Saturn link as well.

What an utterly depressing saga. Makes one despair about the state of the world – though it’s probably never been any different.

April 4^th is the headline day for announcing the new Labour leader to replace Jeremy Corbyn. There are five contenders so far with another likely. None have birth times so the usual caveats with missing info.

Rebecca Long Bailey, the Corbyn-clone candidate yet to announce but likely, born 22 September 1979, is a late Virgo Sun with Saturn also in Virgo and her Moon, Mercury, Venus and Pluto in Libra. She looks less than likely with tr Neptune opposition her Saturn running until late March as well as tr Neptune opposition her Sun/Node.

Angela Raynor, 28 March 1980, who is thought to be standing for Deputy on a double ticket with her, is a Sun Aries with a prominent Mars in flamboyant Leo. She’s also beset by too much Neptune squaring her Sun/Mars and Sun/Node in the run up; with tr Jupiter Pluto square her Mars/Neptune on the day which tends to go along with failed plans.

Jess Phillips, 9 October 1981, has her Sun, Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto in Libra with Mars in Leo. She has already backtracked on her suggestion at the weekend that under her leadership Labour could aim to rejoin the EU. She does have a lucky-break Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct her Uranus around now; but two debilitating Neptune hard aspects to her Mars/Saturn and Sun/Mars midpoints running into and over the due date, which aren’t great. She looks much more upbeat come late May.

Clive Lewis, 11 September 1971, is a Sun, Venus, Pluto in Virgo with an Air Grand Trine of Mars in uncompromising Aquarius trine Uranus trine Saturn (Moon) in Gemini. He has a real mixter maxter of good and not so great influences. Tr Neptune opposes his Sun in March which will be downbeat; his Solar Arc Mars is opposing his Pluto which will be road-blocked. But he also has a lucky Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his Jupiter; and tr Jupiter Pluto square his Sun/Jupiter midpoint which could give his chances a major boost.

Lisa Nandy, 9 August 1979, is an exuberant and charming Sun, Jupiter Venus in Leo sextile Pluto, square Uranus and trine Neptune – definitely showy, idealistic, a maverick with considerable ambition. She has a less than supportive tr Neptune opposition her Jupiter/Pluto in March; but on the day itself has tr Pluto opposition her Mars/Jupiter midpoint which suggests she won’t be unhappy with whoever is elected.

Emily Thornberry, 27 July 1960, is a Sun Leo square Neptune with Venus and Uranus also in Leo; with an excitable Uranus square Mars in determined Taurus and in an adventurous trine to Jupiter. She has one Jupiterian goodie at the election and a couple of sinkers from tr Neptune conjunct her Mars/Saturn midpoint and tr Jupiter Pluto square her Sun/Saturn midpoint.

Keir Starmer, 2 September 1962, is the early favourite which isn’t always a benefit, and he may not endear himself to the hard-left or indeed Labour’s northern heartlands. He is a Sun, Uranus Pluto in Virgo, with a healing Water Grand Trine of Mars in Cancer trine Neptune trine Jupiter in Pisces, formed into an even more talented Kite by Jupiter opposition Sun Pluto Uranus. There are certainly indications of a major change in his chart come April with tr Uranus opposing the Solar Arc position of his driving planets Sun and Pluto; and also a jolting tr Uranus square his Saturn in Aquarius. He is looking confident and enthusiastic from early May with tr Uranus sextile his Jupiter and tr Uranus conjunct his Mars/Jupiter midpoint; and then tr Uranus trine his Sun Pluto come June. If the election had been a month later I’d have said he was a cinch.

But as ever with elections – and no birth times – it’s speculative.

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For Royal and Eclipse watchers:-

Both Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, will be feeling the effects of the recent and about to occur eclipses.

Prince William with his Cancer New Moon catching the late December Capricorn Solar Eclipse conjunct Jupiter has just launched along with David Attenborough the “most prestigious environmental prize in history” – a multi-million pound competition to encourage the world’s greatest problem-solvers to find answers to Earth’s biggest environmental problems. He said the planet was now at a tipping point. That certainly sounds Jupiterian enough – visionary and very large. Though Jupiter has a habit of sometimes overdoing the stretch. And there may be other effects as well since this eclipse effect runs on for several months. By which time the June 21^st 2020 Cancer Solar Eclipse on his birthday will be exactly conjunct his Sun and near enough his Moon. This June eclipse Saros Series is difficult with restrictions and separations in the months following with progress being blocked; and the eclipsed New Moon is in an argumentative square to Mars and inconjunct Saturn, so much less upbeat than this recent one..

Kate with her Capricorn Sun opposition Cancer Moon square Mars and Saturn Pluto in Libra will catch the January 10^th Lunar Eclipse at 20 degrees Cancer which will conjunct her Moon and oppose her Sun; with the early July 2020 Capricorn Lunar Eclipse conjunct her Sun and opposition her Moon. So it’ll be a critical year for her as well in terms of relationships with partners as well as the public.

She has stepped out of her shell in the past year, spruced up her wardrobe style (mainly), and come across with more confidence. She’s been through a punishing few years with tr Pluto and tr Uranus bouncing off her Sun opposition Moon and Saturn. It has clearly been transformative – which is often the case with women who have heavily Plutonic charts since they often don’t come into their own until their forties – after the tr Pluto square natal Pluto – in her case not for another couple of years. But she has such a downbeat, hemmed-in chart, the recent battering has obviously cleared away some of what was suppressing her.

Someone on the forum mentioned early on that she appeared to be ‘on remote control’ which will have been the effect of an over-controlling Pluto from childhood leaving its mark.

Just goes to show that difficult outer planet transits, which in advance can be panic-inducing, can have a positive effect.

There may be a shift in the family dynamics and in their marriage since the eclipses are homing in on both their Sun/Moon midpoints. A necessary adjustment as they step up for what is likely to be an endurance test in years to come.

Sam Mendes took home best director for his epic war drama 1917 which was also crowned best film drama at the Golden Globes.  Born one day after J.K. Rowling on 1 August 1965, he had a novelist mother and academic father, directed plays when at Cambridge, and later at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Chichester. He has a special place in my respect for his regeneration of the tiny Donmar Theatre in London in the early 1990s where he put on a stream of superlative serious plays. As well as directing Lionel Bart’s Oliver with Cameron Mackintosh – and the list of stage triumphs goes on and on. On the movie front, most notably American Beauty with Kevin Spacey and the James Bond Skyfall and many others. He really has the golden touch.

He has a Leo Sun square filmic and musical Neptune; with the leading-edge, innovative Uranus Pluto in Virgo opposition Saturn in Pisces squaring onto a lucky Jupiter in Gemini. A Mutable T Square like this gives him a need for constant movement and stimulation. A focal point Jupiter will make him a natural teacher or spokesman and visionary but exceedingly restless with it – so a career full of constantly changing projects will suit him.

His Jupiter is also in a high-energy, adventurous and risk-taking trine to Mars in Libra. His Moon in probably Libra in contrast to Rowling’s Virgo Moon.

Other winners included a well-deserved Brad Pitt (see posts 30 August and 21 September 2019); Rene Zellwegger (post September 11 2019); Joaquin Phoenix (post September 28 2019); Olivia Coleman (post November 24 2018); and Quentin Tarantino (post May 27 2019).

Rod Stewart, one of the top selling musical artists of all time has been charged with battery after punching a security guard at a hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, on New Year’s Eve. His son Sean, appears to be a co-defendant and the affidavit says cctv footage indicated that they were the “primary aggressors” after the guard confronted them about crashing a private party. They could face a year in jail, the same time on probation or a £760 fine if found guilty at a hearing in February.

Rod born 10 January 1945 9.45pm London (time unverified) has a Capricorn Sun in the performing 5^th house in a confident trine to Jupiter in Virgo, with a maverick Uranus on his midheaven. More significantly he has a short-fuse Mars in Capricorn opposition Saturn in Cancer square Neptune. His Mars had the recent Solar Eclipse in Capricorn conjunct Jupiter firing it up, which has a tendency to produce arguments with Jupiter amplifying the effect. And he had tr Saturn in a frustrating square to his Mars/Pluto midpoint exactly which would also not improve his temper. Plus his Sun is going to catch the mid January Lunar Eclipse in Cancer/Capricorn which is always an indicator of critical events.

Sean, born 1 September 1980, from Rod’s first marriage to Alana spent 90 days in jail in 2002 after attacking a man outside a restaurant and in 2010 was arrested for driving with a suspended license. He’s a Sun Virgo with Mercury Jupiter and Saturn in Virgo all square Neptune in Sagittarius with a Gemini Moon – so a scattered and quite highly-strung temperament with so many mutable planets. And more pointedly he has Mars in Scorpio which doesn’t back down easy from confrontations which has tr Uranus in opposition at the moment which tends to provoke rash responses.

No doubt celebrity-obsessed Palm Beach will find a way of smoothing over the cracks.