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Emperor Akihito of Japan has abdicated for age and health reasons, handing over to his son Prince Naruhito.  Akihito took over in 1989 and did much to humanise the Royal Family, which he once described as ‘robots’; and to heal the wounds of  World War 11 damage.

Born 23 December 1933 6.39am Tokyo, he was well-suited to a life of pomp and show with an emphasised 10^th house Jupiter bringing him increasing respect the older he became, in square to an ultra-determined, courageous Mars opposition Pluto – and all tied into a Cardinal Grand Cross with Uranus. He wasn’t short of initiative and was good at handling crises.

His son Prince Naruhito, 23 February 1960 4.15 am (four days after Prince Andrew) is cut from a different cloth to his father, with a dependent 7^th house Pisces Sun opposition Pluto; though he does have an emphasised sociable Jupiter in the 5^th which along with his 7^th house Sun will give him a way with people.  He has a rebellious Uranus on his Ascendant so he will want to carve out his own path, not easy in the Chrysanthemum Court where old-style courtiers hold a good deal of power.

If the start time for Japan is right at 10.44 am his enthusiastic Venus Mars in Aquarius is conjunct the country’s midheaven which augurs well. Though his Uranus is conjunct the Japan 4^th house Saturn will run some of his reforms up against a rigid status quo.

His wife Princess Masako, 9 December 1963, before her marriage an independent career woman, has already suffered a good deal in the highly restrictive royal cage with additional pressures from not having produced a male heir, leading to depressive problems which pulled her into seclusion for some years.

She’s a Sun Sagittarius square Uranus Pluto in Virgo so will be prone to feeling trapped and reacting unpredictably. She’ll be in better spirits once tr Neptune moves off the square to her Sun by late year and has already said she feels insecure about her future role. Her relationship chart with her husband has an affectionate composite Sun Venus conjunction but is under considerable pressure for the next four years.

Prince Naruhito who will be enthroned in October looks emotionally intense and slightly conflicted with his Progressed Moon moving through his 8^th for another two years so he will feel the weight of the responsibility while not always being sure it’s what he wants. Tr Uranus cross his Midheaven in 2021/22 for a sharp change of direction in his life.

The zealots in the NRA gun lobby are at each other’s throats with accusations flying hither and thither about the organisation’s financial management (see URL below). The NY Attorney General has opened an investigation into its tax-exempt status, several lawsuits are running and there is concern about connections between the NRA and Russian officials. Oliver North has said he won’t stand for a second term as president; while Wayne LaPierre, the VP and long term NRA-er, is standing firm.

The NRA founded on 17 November 1871 looks mighty confused and under pressure this year with tr Pluto square the Neptune and the Solar Arc Sun. But it’ll be 2022 to 24 which sees the real clear out and turnaround as tr Uranus is conjunct the Pluto and opposition the Scorpio Sun, at the same time as the devastating Solar Arc Pluto conjunct Neptune. So there’ll be some major precipitating event which turns it upside down.

North, 7 October 1943, 12.43 am San Antonio, Texas, isn’t remotely happy this year with various loss-making transits; and he’s facing worse in 2020 with tr Neptune square his Mars and Solar Arc Neptune opposition his Mars as well.

LaPierre, 8 November 1948, is a formidably fixed and controlling Sun Scorpio square Pluto ; with a ruthless Pluto trine Mars. This year he has a depressing and blocked Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his Sun and square his Pluto, so boxed in every which way; with a panicky-failure tr Neptune square his Mars till late this year; though he’s also got some bullish transits so he won’t give in easily. 2021/22 are where he meets his nemesis.

See previous posts: May 8 2018 and February 22 2018.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/nra-battles-internal-strife-external-pressures-as-oliver-north-steps-down-as-president/2019/04/27/a15b27d6-6924-11e9-8985-4cf30147bdca_story.html?utm_term=.0d409c8ebb8f

David Icke, the conspiracy theorist, was recently denied an Australian visa forcing him to cancel a speaking tour. Despite denials, he is thought to be anti-Semitic as well as an anti-vaxxer.

He seems to have been less visible in recent years but doesn’t seem to have diluted his views about the coming fascist reptilian empire.

Born 29 April 1952 5.15 pm Leicester, he has a deeply buried Taurus Sun in the 8^th, to be expected from someone in touch with realms beyond reality. His Sun opposes an intense, ultra-determined Mars in Scorpio in his financial 2^nd, made doubly so by a Mars square to Pluto. He’s driven by anger, well rage really as conspiracy theorists often are, leading them to rail against authority figures. He’s also got an inventive, rebellious Uranus Moon in Cancer on his midheaven in a can-be-autocratic square to Saturn Ascendant opposition Mercury in Aries – keen on upsetting the status quo and well fitted for a public career.

Tr Saturn is now out of his low profile first quadrant where it’s been for a few years so he’ll want to be more visible. This year apart from a couple of swampy patches looks upbeat. 2020/2021/22 will be more challenging and discouraging with a few humps and bumps from tr Uranus conjunct his Sun and opposition his Mars, as well as a couple of midpoints getting hammered by tr Pluto.

Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of a 22 film series, appears to have pulled off the magic double by pleasing critics and the general public alike. It has broken box office records and was expected to have paid its costs within five days which is unheard of. In India one million tickets were sold within the first day and China managed that number in six hours in pre-sales.

Principal Photography started at Pinewood, England on 10 August 2017 with a highlighted Jupiter on the point of a T Square to Venus opposition Pluto which augured well for the finances; plus a Yod apex Sun Mars in Leo for flamboyance. The 22 April 2019 Premiere in LA also had Jupiter well-starred opposition Mars square Neptune.

The directors Cancerian Anthony (3 Feb 1970) and Aquarian Joe Russo (8 July 1971) both look to be having a Jupiterian year. Both have Jupiter in Scorpio so are well suited to the commercial arena.

Robert Downey Jnr, the lead actor of an ensemble cast,  a sociable Sun Venus in Aries with a rumbustious Mars, Uranus, Pluto in Virgo, is also getting a boost this year from tr Uranus conjunct his Sun/Jupiter midpoint and tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter/Pluto.

The talented and beautiful Idris Elba – The Wire, Luther, Mandela – has married his Canadian model girlfriend Sabrina Dhowre in a lavish three day Moroccan feste. This is his third marriage.

Born 6 September 1972 in London he’s a dynamic Sun Mars in Virgo in a hard-edged square to Saturn in Gemini with Jupiter and Neptune in Sagittarius so very Mutable, and changeable, suited to a varied and fast-changing career.

His Venus in Cancer is conjunct Sabrina’s Sun Mercury in Cancer for an affectionate bond – 16 July 1989; and her Moon may be conjunct his Jupiter; with her Venus in Leo perhaps conjunct his Moon. So lots of pluses. Though her Uranus, Saturn, Neptune in Capricorn is square his Pluto and trine his Sun Mars, so there will be fiery moments and a few compromises to work out. Both are fairly unpredictable personalities.

The wedding chart has a Sun Uranus conjunction probably square an Aquarius Moon so it won’t be a conventional marriage. Both are independent-minded people and need space.

This is mirrored in the relationship chart which has a wide affectionate Sun Venus with the composite Sun in a close sextile to Pluto but also a needs-elbow-room square to Uranus.

The much revered Mo Farah, the most successful UK track athlete ever, winner of four Olympic Golds, is embroiled in an extraordinary tit for tat argument on the eve of the London Marathon tomorrow where he hopes to topple champion Eliud Kipchoge. Farah said he had thousands of pounds stolen when he was staying in an Ethiopian hotel owned by former long-distance runner Haile Gebreselassie; and in response there are allegations of a physical fist fight involving Farah and allegations about his association with a coach being investigated in an anti-doping operation, both of which he denies.

He’s only an outside chance of beating Kipchoge who set the world record of two hours one minute 39 seconds in Berlin in September – three and a half minutes faster than Farah’s best.

Farah was born 23 March 1983 in Somalia and came to the UK when he was 8. He’s a Sun Aries in a lucky and adventurous trine to Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius. But what marks his chart out and stiffens his spine is an ultra-determined, ruthless Mars in Aries opposition Pluto; with his Pluto in an unyielding conjunction to Saturn in obsessive Scorpio opposition Venus in Taurus. He appears to thrive on crises.

He certainly looks fairly teeth-gritted over the next several years with some hitches and glitches early next month from tr Uranus opposition his Saturn and then conjunct his Venus; plus a Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his Uranus this year;  and the tail end of a frustrating tr Pluto square his Mars also this year. 2020/21/22/23 look nerve stretched and exceptionally pressured.

Eliud Kipchoge, known as the greatest marathon runner of modern times has won 11 out of the 12 distance races he has entered.  Born 5 November 1984, Kenya, he’s no slouch with an ultra-determined Sun Saturn in Scorpio sextile Mars; and Pluto sextile Jupiter; with Uranus, Venus, Neptune in sporty Sagittarius.

Chris Packham, the naturalist and BBC TV presenter of SpringWatch, has ended up with dead crows attached to his gate after he successfully campaigned for a change in the law which farmers and others fear will stop them keeping pests like pigeons and magpies under control.

He was born 4 May 1961 in Southampton, and has talked openly about his Aspergers and depression. He has a chart similar in some regards to David Attenborough with both having an earthy Taurus Sun in aspect to idealistic and filmic Neptune and expansive Jupiter in Aquarius. Though Packham is more of a revolutionary with his Sun Mercury square Uranus; and he has an angry, hard-edged Mars in Cancer opposition Saturn.

Attenborough has very marked ‘master number’ 11 and superstar 22^nd harmonics and a leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H; which Packham doesn’t have.

Packham looks to be pleased this July onwards into 2020 with tr Uranus square his Jupiter but in general he looks deflated and confused ahead for several years with transiting Neptune hitting on half a dozen significant midpoints plus tr Uranus opposition his Neptune; and then he has a really tough tr Pluto conjunct his Saturn opposition his Mars in 2023/24.

I would have to confess I find him a touch extreme in his views at times. Keeping the ecosystems in balance means culling. Getting sentimental about furry and feathered creatures and letting them run rampant often causes them more harm in the long run.

Protests in Morocco over unemployment and corruption which have been running since 2016 have resulted in a “new social deal” with many workers promised a pay rise. Though police have been using water cannons against teachers’ protests.  It’s a country with glaring social and territorial inequalities, and high youth unemployment. Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament though the King, Mohammed V1, holds vast executive and legislative powers.

It gained independence on 28 May 1956 11 am Rabat, which gives a 10^th house Sun Mercury in Gemini and an exceptionally tough-minded and stubbornly enduring Jupiter Pluto in Leo on the Ascendant opposition Mars square Saturn in Scorpio. So an image which is flamboyant and entertaining, an aggressive stance towards neighbours; and rigid as well as cold when it comes to domestic matters. With a can-be fanatical Neptune square Uranus.

Change won’t come easily with a chart as fixed as this but it’ll take a fair battering from tr Uranus before it exits Taurus around 2024/26; and there’ll be some considerable stresses and strains before then in 2021 and 22 from several undermining and disruptive Solar Arcs, one of which may point to a natural disaster of some magnitude in 2021.

King Mohammed’s Accession chart, 23 July 1999, is also very fixed with a Leo Sun Mercury opposition Neptune square Mars in Scorpio opposition Jupiter; with Uranus in Aquarius opposition North Node square Saturn in Taurus – so his rulership is equally resistant to change and finds adapting to new circumstances very tricky. The pressures on this chart picked up when tr Uranus moved into Taurus late last year squaring the Sun and it will continue to be unsettled and even insecure as tr Uranus moves its way round Mars, Saturn and Uranus for the next few years.

There’s disputed territory in the Western Sahara, a sparsely populated region with a semi-recognised government which controls one fifth of it. Relations between SADR and Morocco look increasingly stressed over the next few years till the mid 2020s. But there’s nothing indicating great success for a breakaway in the near future.

The Middle Eastern and North African countries will find it increasingly difficult to stick to the old ways as their young populations grow ever more restive.

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