Derek Jarman, artist, writer, designer, gardener and activist, who died thirty years ago, is celebrated in an exhibition of his ‘dark paintings’ in London and in the publication of a treatment for an unfinished film called The Assassination of Pier Paolo Pasolini in the Garden of Earthly Delights, which Jarman wrote in 1984 as he was struggling to get his film Caravaggio made.

  Best known to the general public for his peaceful garden in the shadow of the Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, now saved for the nation, his main oeuvre in contrast was often ‘angry, dark and disturbing.’

His black paintings came out of a period when he had been diagnosed with HIV and in the midst of the Thatcher backlash against homosexuality in the late 1980s. He died of complications from AIDs in 1994.

Jarman was born 31 January 1942 7.30am Northwood, England, had a 1^st house Aquarius Sun (and Venus) in an entertaining trine to a 5^th house Jupiter; and more pointedly opposition Pluto and square Mars in Taurus – ultra-determined, angry, stubborn and enduring. His Cancer Moon conjunct Pluto on one side and sextile Uranus and Saturn in Taurus in his 4th added to his super-determined temperament. Though a 7^th house Moon would yearn for the security of a close partner. Three planets in Taurus, two in his 4^th, would incline him towards nature in his home life, hence the garden. His 8^th/9^th house Neptune was in a creative, inspired trine to Uranus.

 A critic wrote: “There’s something galvanising about Jarman’s resourcefulness as well as his rage, his protean creativity, and his determination to live his life and make his work regardless of the forces of repression ranged against it. “He kept flying through the flak. He kept going forward and he was extremely unapologetic about who he was and what he liked to do. Shadowing his work is a great deal of distress and trauma, but you were very seldom aware of it in his company because he was immensely warm, positive and joyful.”

 Pier Paolo Pasolini, 5 March 1922 6.30am Bologna, Italy was poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright,  considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history. Openly gay, he became an avowed Marxist after the end of World War II, voicing harsh criticism of Italian petty bourgeoisie and what he saw as the Americanization, cultural degeneration, and greed-driven consumerism taking over Italian culture. ‘As a filmmaker, Pasolini often juxtaposed socio-political polemics with an extremely graphic and critical examination of taboo sexual matters.’  He was murdered aged 53 in 1975, with blame initially falling on a 17-year-old rent boy but the more likely culprit would be a far-right terrorist group, working with the tacit approval of the secret services.

 Pasolini was born 5 March 1922 6.30am Bologna, Italy, with a father who was a gambler and pro-fascist. He had rebellious, provocative Uranus Sun and Venus in Pisces in his 1^st house in a charismatic and determined trine to Pluto in his entertaining and creative 5^th house. His Neptune sextile Jupiter was inconjunct his Sun and Venus for a personality that was both charming and also unsure. His lively Mars in Sagittarius in his communicative, opinionated 9^th house was in a showbizzy trine to Neptune and sextile Saturn as well as inconjunct Pluto.

  His Taurus Moon was square Mercury but not well integrated into his chart.

My slight impression and it is hardly a statistical survey is that an afflicted Mars and poorly aspected Moon are a theme in this and the Edmund White/Genet charts as well.   

Edmund White, essayist, playwright, novelist and chronicler of gay life, has died aged 85, having suffered from HIV since 1984. He once said of his generation: “Gay fiction before that, Gore Vidal and Truman Capote, was written for straight readers. We had a gay readership in mind, and that made all the difference.” For several years he lived in France and went on to write admired biographies of Jean Genet – which won White a Pulitzer prize – as well as Marcel Proust and Arthur Rimbaud.

 He estimated he slept with three men a week for 20 years; in 1970s New York, he wrote: “I thought it was quite normal to take a break from writing at two in the morning, saunter down to the piers, and have sex with 20 men in a truck. When I wrote that I’d had sex over the years with 3,000 men, one of my contemporaries asked pityingly: ‘Why so few?’”

 He was born 13 January 1940 5.11pm Cincinnati, with an engineer/entrepreneur father and child psychologist mother who  divorced when he was seven. He came out as gay to himself at 12. His partner and husband of 30 years in an open relationship Michael Carroll is also a writer.

  White had a Capricorn Sun in his 7^th house of close partnerships in an Earth Grand Trine to Uranus in his 11^th trine Neptune in his 3rd making him a hard-worker and builder in life, keen on comfort and perhaps inclined to over gratify his physical appetites. He had a lucky, successful and high vitality Jupiter Mars conjunction in Aries conjunct his Midheaven giving him drive, ambition and motivation in his career. He also had Saturn in self-reliant Aries conjunct his South Node sextile Venus in Aquarius in his 8^th house inconjunct Neptune. Such a Neptune can be emotionally disorganized, escapist, tending to live in  a bubble of privacy and weighed down by feelings of unworthiness. Though ultimately it would give him healing as well as creative abilities. He was present at the Stonewall riots and the start of the gay moment and undoubtedly did a great deal of good in helping a marginalised community including gay writers.

 His Pisces Moon in his communicative 9^th was sparsely aspected being only sextile Mercury and widely sextile Uranus.

 His Chiron was conjunct his Cancer Ascendant and opposition his Sun giving him problems early on forming a strong sense of identity; though for some as a consequence it can become pioneering.

  Jean Genet about whom he wrote a monumental biography was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist, the son of a prostitute who became a vagabond and petty criminal, but later after spells in the Foreign Legion and prison he became a writer and playwright.  Acclaimed by Jean Cocteau, Jean-Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso, he escaped a mandatory prison sentence for repeat offences. His writings were controversial for their explicit and provocative portrayal of homosexuality and criminality. His aim was to subvert traditional moral values and celebrate a beauty in evil.

Latterly he became a political activist drawing attention to the living conditions of immigrants in France, protesting police brutality against Algerians, expressed solidarity for  Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof in the Red Army Faction, was involved with the Black Panthers in the US and the Palestinian cause, having been in Beirut during the Sabra Chatila Camp massacres.

 Born 19 December 1910 7.45 pm Paris France, he had an audience-attracting 5^th house Sagittarius Sun conjunct Venus in Capricorn, which was opposition Pluto and trine Saturn in self-reliant Aries on his Midheaven, adding a controlling and tough dimension to his temperament.

 His Mars in intense, all-or-nothing Scorpio was sextile Uranus inconjunct Pluto for a hint of the darkness in his outlook and obsessions. It gave him an extremist streak, a tendency to be overly forceful but also an ability to bring penetrating insights to bear that could be valuable in changing social values.

 His Uranus was in a high-wire, can-be-fanatical opposition to Neptune square his Midheaven and widely square his Saturn.

 His saving grace was Jupiter in his 4^th pointing to his supportive adoptive family though it did not keep him out of trouble. It squared onto a Leo Moon in his Ascendant. A complex personality, driven by an urge to shock.  

The Duke of Windsor’s wedding to ‘the woman I love’ Wallis Simpson, by all accounts a sad affair six months after his abdication with none of his family present took place in France. The vows were made at 11.47am in Conde en Brie, France on June 3 1937, with a self-protective Water Grand Trine of a Pisces Moon and Scheat in the Dependent 7^th house trine Mars in resentful Scorpio trine Pluto in Cancer, formed into two Kites by Mars opposition the destructive Fixed Star Algol and the Midheaven – and a rules-don’t-apply-to-us Pluto opposition Jupiter. Saturn was on the cusp of the 8^th hinting at financial restraints as well as emotional ones.

   A powerful, unhappy, bitter and self-defeating chart which set the path for what followed.

 Transiting Uranus at 11 degrees Taurus then was exactly conjunct the UK’s 8^th house Mars – as it was just after Prince Philip’s death in April 2021 and just before Queen Elizabeth 11’s death in September 2022.

The Duke of Windsor, 23 June 1894 9.55pm Richmond, England.  Tr Uranus was also exactly opposition the Duke of Windsor’s yod focal point Uranus (inconjunct Pluto Neptune sextile North Node in Aries) – for a mid-life crisis of considerable proportions, sending his life onto a totally different trajectory courtesy of his yod. His Solar Arc Mars was also exactly opposition his Uranus as he caused an explosive and irrevocable rift with his family and country.

Tr Pluto was conjunct his Mercury in Cancer having just moved across his Descendant which fits with impassioned and hostile discussions with family members. The Gemini Sun that day was conjunct his Neptune in Gemini.

Wallis Simpson, 19 June 1896 10.30pm Blue Ridge, Pennsylvania, was another Sun Gemini, also with a Uranian yod inconjunct Mars sextile Neptune Venus. Her Saturn in Scorpio was also inconjunct her Pluto – and tr Uranus was moving to a disruptive, high tension opposition to her Saturn within days. Tr Pluto opposition tr Jupiter was colliding with her Solar Arc Neptune as well for a forcibly confident and delusional move.

 Their relationship chart not surprisingly was also dominated by a yod onto Uranus in the 9^th inconjunct Mars sextile Pluto Neptune – which indicates a life-altering relationship, one which changed both their destinies – not necessarily for the better as it turned out.

Very descriptive charts which marched to the celestial dance.

Add On: Mary of Teck, his mother, 26 May 1867 11.59pm London, was a tough cookie. She did have a family-oriented 4^th house Gemini Sun square Jupiter Moon in Pisces in her 1^st which would give a semblance of empathy. But what dominates her chart is a ramrod rigid Saturn in Scorpio opposition Pluto in a harsh square to Mars in Leo – she did not have an easy life and would offer no sympathy for the Duke of Windsor’s dereliction of duty. She evidently was a great mentor and role model for Queen Elizabeth 11, instilling an ethos of sacrifice and duty above all else.

 Her Fixed T square clashes badly with the Duke’s Uranus on the focal point of a yod so no surprises his bid for freedom went down so badly with her.  Their relationship chart had a volatile composite Moon opposition Uranus square Mars.

 If she was his female role model no surprises he made a bad choice.   

Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders has withdrawn his party from the government, over a row about immigration bringing down the governing coalition after less than a year.

There was shock and anger among political leaders, many of whom pointed out that several of Wilders’ demands are similar to policies already in the coalition agreement. Many of the additional proposals put forward by Wilders had been dismissed because of legal concerns.

A political commentator said Wilders wanted the government to collapse as the support for his Freedom Party is dropping in the polls and any forthcoming snap elections are likely to put him at the centre of the campaign. Though there are no guarantees that his gamble will pay off.

 Wilders, 6 September 1963 Venio, Netherlands, no birth time, is an unpredictable Virgo Sun, Venus, Uranus, Pluto; with his Sun Venus on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Saturn in Aquarius sextile Jupiter in impulsive Aries – giving him an erratic tendency to overblow his importance. Plus his Saturn is in a can-be neurotic square to Neptune. And his Jupiter (Moon) are in a headstrong, opportunistic opposition to Mars in Libra. His Mars is also on the focal point of a Cardinal T square to the Cancer North Node/Capricorn South Node axis making him overly assertive, at times reckless – and clearly needing to move towards his empathetic Cancer North Node rather than sliding back into Capricorn.

 There’s nothing upbeat for him ahead with a confused Solar Arc Pluto conjunct his Neptune; a downbeat SA Saturn conjunct his Jupiter, both this year with tr Neptune Saturn bringing calamities according to his midpoints now until 2027; and tr Uranus causing stresses and strains from this July.  Dead halt by late decade.

 His Freedom Party, 22 February 2006, is equally beset by less than cheerful influences especially in 2026/2027 – tr Uranus conjunct Mars and square Sun plus tr Pluto square Saturn.

 The Dick Schoof cobbled-together coalition prime ministerial term, 2 July 2024 10.26am, started on an exact Moon Uranus conjunction conjunct Algol which sat midway in a trine of Mercury trine Neptune Scheat – little has evidently been achieved.

 Nothing much is registering on either Netherland charts – 26 July 1581 or 16 March 1815.

A shock result in the Polish presidential election has seen a right-wing historian, a former boxer with a background in football hooliganism and no political experience voted in. Karol Nawrocki is likely to oppose the prime minister Donald Tusk’s centrist pro-EU and pro-Ukraine agenda. The outcome is a rare win for Donald Trump’s Maga movement abroad, following election defeats for rightwing politicians aligned with the US president in Canada, Australia and Romania.

Radical candidates on both ends of the political spectrum fared better than expected in the first round, endorsed in particular by younger voters. “The fight pitting liberal internationalists against pro-Trump, pro-Orbán populists is being joined, and Poland is one of the more important battlegrounds in what is likely a generational struggle within the world’s leading democracies.”

  What brought Nawrocki to a slender win was the backing of Jarosław Kaczynski’s Law and Justice (PiS) party, a ruthless and effective populist electoral machines. “His approach  – one can call it nationalistic: emphasising the exceptional heroism and martyrdom of Poles in the 20th century.”

 Karol Nawrocki, 3 March 1983, Gdansk, is a Sun Pisces square a lucky, risk-taking, adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Sagittarius which might have suggested a more liberal mindset. But his Mars in Aries, conjunct Venus, inconjunct Saturn in Scorpio conjunct Pluto points to a darker, more ruthless side to his personality. Especially since his Neptune opposition the North Node squares onto his Mars in Aries. Neptune on his South Node in Capricorn and a focal point Mars in warrior-like and aggressive Aries won’t be awash with sympathy and sentiment.

 He is not in for an easy ride ahead with 2026 having tr Neptune Saturn conjunct his Mars for setbacks and failure and tr Pluto square his Saturn into 2027 as well for a grinding uphill struggle.

 His relationship with Donald Tusk is one of polar opposites with a composite Uranus opposition Sun Mercury which is being undermined by tr Saturn Neptune in 2026 and later; and a highly-strung tr Uranus opposition the composite Neptune from this July.

Donald Tusk’s Term chart as PM, 13 December 2023 10am is being jolted onto a new track by tr Uranus opposition the Midheaven from this June onwards into 2026; and a high-tension tr Uranus square the Saturn from this August into 2026.

 Nawrocki’s relationship with his mentor Jaroslaw Kaczynski, 18 June 1949, won’t be plain sailing, to put it mildly, with tr Neptune Saturn causing uncertainty and undermining joint confidence as well as running into major roadblocks from this July on for three years.

 Nawrocki’s relationship with both Poland charts, 1918 and 1989, will be significantly unsettled right through till 2027 as well.

 The Poland 24 August 1989 1.05pm chart will be facing the uncertainty of tr Neptune Saturn square the Uranus, Saturn, Neptune in Capricorn and Jupiter in Cancer from now and on effectively till late decade, though 2026/27 are likely to be the most worrisome. The 1918 chart looks panicked and undermined now and into 2026 with tr Neptune Saturn square the Mars in final degree Sagittarius.

“Operation Spider’s Web”, a drone attack planned and executed by Ukraine has wreaked considerable damage at two of Russia’s most major airfields. The two remote military airfields are key to Russia’s nuclear strike capability and were considered untouchable.  

  The operation took eighteen months to organise and was personally overseen by Zelensky, with drones being smuggled into Russia. The attack happened around 2pm Kiev time which puts Jupiter conjunct the Midheaven; the Leo Moon conjunct Mars; and perhaps most significantly Saturn conjunct Neptune in Aries – which last sits midway between a Uranus Algol trine Pluto. Successful, daring, showy – and a hint of the new era.

 The Russia 8 December 1991 7.45pm chart has a 3 degree Saturn in Aquarius which is catching the tr Pluto conjunction exactly now – and on and off till late 2026, which hints at tough conditions and an uphill struggle. Putin’s initial Presidency chart, 31 December 1999, which is the start of his reign, has Neptune at 3 degrees Aquarius which reflects this attack as completely devastating – which influence continues on till late 2026. This chart hints at 2026 as a year when his grip on power could be overthrown with a Solar Arc square the Pluto. His 5^th term chart, 7 May 2024, also shows 2026 as a year of failure and setbacks.

 Russia is, of course, sensitive to Saturn Neptune conjunctions with the 1917 Revolution happening with Neptune Saturn at 7 and 14 Leo; and Stalin’s death in 1953 with Saturn Neptune conjunct in the last decan of Libra.

  The Russia 8 November 1917 chart has tr Uranus square the late Leo Moon now; and emotionally downbeat tr Saturn Neptune square Venus now and into 2026; and an insecure tr Uranus square Mars in 2026 along with a devastating tr Neptune Saturn square Pluto.

 The Russia 8 December 1991 7.45pm chart is rattled at the moment with SA Venus conjunct the Mars; and heading into an explosive phase later in 2026; with a meltdown in 2027.

 Ukraine, 24 August 1991 2.31pm will be on edge and expecting upheavals with tr Uranus square the Venus exactly now and moving to square the Sun from early July. At best it could lift tensions but Uranus being a trickster can go either way. And there is a hint from one Russian military top brass that using nuclear weapons might be the response. Not that anything so devastating shows up on the Ukraine chart but there is nothing looking too settled ahead.

 Zelensky’s Swearing in chart, 20 May 2019 10am, is being jolted by tr Uranus conjunct the Taurus Sun exactly now for a definite turning point but from the 9^th of this month till late July tr Neptune square the Mars will lead to a sense of failure and disappointment – and that continues through 2026.

See previous post May 1 2025.

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Loretta Swit, the actress best known for playing head nurse Major “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the superlatively successful TV war comedy drama M*A*S*H has died. It ran between 1972 and 1983, and its finale drew one of the largest TV audiences of all time: 125 million people.  She won two Emmys and numerous nominations in her 11 years in the series about army doctors in the Korean War, though it was regarded as an anti-establishment critique of the Vietnam War. It was a pioneering show that explored issues such as PTSD, sexism and racism.

   Alan Alda also came to fame playing Captain “Hawkeye” Pierce in the drama.

She was born 4 November 1937 7.50 am Passaic, New Jersey to Polish immigrant parents, and had a 12^th house Scorpio Sun and Mercury opposition Uranus; with her Scorpio Moon conjunct her Ascendant making her intense and charismatic. She had filmic Neptune in her 10^th in a creative opposition to Saturn in Pisces. And an enthusiastic, high-vitality Jupiter Mars conjunction in Capricorn square Venus in Libra – not a personality to miss making an impression.

 She would have a not-always-easy relationship with Aquarian Alan Alda – 28 January 1936 5.07 am New York –  since his Pluto opposed her Mars but their relationship chart had a composite Sun exactly conjunct the North Node opposition Chiron square Neptune opposition Saturn – which brilliantly describes a medical drama that caught the spirit of the age and became a cultural landmark.

  Launched on 17 September 1972, M*A*S*H had a health-oriented Virgo Sun Mars conjunct Pluto trine North Node and square a successful Jupiter helping it stay a family favourite for a decade plus.

The horrifying spectacle in Liverpool when a car deliberately rammed into a post-football crowd injuring 79 was partially alleviated when remarkably no one was killed (as yet). What makes it all the stranger was the culprit charged yesterday by the CPS appeared to be a decent family man. Comments on his birth chart – 4 November 1971 – will have to wait till he is tried since contempt of court laws for prejudicing trials are strict in the UK.

 I am struggling to articulate a vague thought – but his background is very odd for this kind of atrocity.

  It follows on from a tragic fire accident near Oxford in the middle of May when two firefighters and a member of the public were killed in a fire, which also struck me as significant in a way I could not put a finger on. In the UK firefighter deaths on duty are rare. There were no such fatalities on duty in 2023, with only 3 reported in the past decade. That too is odd and as yet no explanations have been given.

  All that comes out of the UK chart is the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the 8^th house Mars, exact this month, which did suggest a catastrophe though mercifully on the Liverpool occasion it did not result in mass deaths.

 Otherwise the Progressed Moon has been moving through the UK’s 12^th house since May 2023 – which is usually a time of endings and introspection. The start coincided with Charles’s coronation in May 2023. His Cancer diagnosis was announced in February 2024.

   The injured Cavalry black and white horses of April 2024 had the Progressed Moon midway through the 12^th. That was when a Taurus Sun was opposition Scorpio Moon square Pluto.

 The Southport dance class killings of children in late July 2024 which led to anti-immigration riots may also fit the pattern.

  These latest incidents in May 2025 had the Progressed Moon at 2 degrees Libra just over the conjunction to the UK Uranus and  moving to cross the UK Ascendant this September/October.

 Not sure if that adds up to much but there is a sense of out-of-the-ordinary events forming a pattern that is difficult to pin down or articulate.

 The Liverpool chart, 28 August 1207 JC (thanks Jane) is certainly on edge with challenging, can-be-brutal tr Pluto square the Mars this year; and a Neptune Return with a worrisome tr Neptune Saturn conjunct the Neptune and opposition Venus; plus a tr Uranus square Uranus upheaval.

  The Liverpool Football Club, 3 June 1892, whose post-match celebration was wrecked, has its Uranus in Scorpio under pressure this year from tr Pluto in square; and its Mars in Aquarius at 11 degrees square the UK’s 8^th house Mars in Taurus. More upheavals will come since the Solar Arc Saturn is square the Uranus in 2026.

The Liverpool Solar Arc Sun is exactly opposition the Liverpool FC Neptune Pluto in Gemini at the moment linking their destiny.

 Strange times – not as horrific as the Kings Cross Fire or Zebrugge disaster when tr Pluto was opposition the UK Mars – but definitely strange, scary as well as damaging.

Justin and Hailey Bieber are catching headlines with the billion dollar sale of her make up brand and his increasingly bedraggled appearance, which hint at trouble in paradise for the power couple. He has had mental health issues, perhaps concerns about the Diddy Coombs trial because of an earlier friendship and confusion over the success of his wife which threatens to overshadow his need for attention.

 Hailey has also come through health issues, including a ‘mini stroke,’ in January 2023, and a life-threatening post-partum hemorrhage which she suffered after giving birth in August of last year.

  She was born 22 November 1996 8.15am Tucson, Arizona, and is a determined Sun Pluto in Sagittarius in her 12^th trine a 4^th house Saturn so tough minded and persevering. She has a money-oriented Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus in her financial 2^nd house. A 5^th house Aries Moon points to children being an important part of her life though it is inconjunct her Sun Pluto hinting at a need for constant adjustment between doing and being, work and her personal life.

 With her Solar Arc Saturn conjunct her Moon now she will be less than enchanted with her home life and at lack of emotional support. And with tr Saturn Neptune both crossing her IC into her 4^th this year she will be facing up to more disappointment and contemplating a domestic move ahead – and all on her First Saturn Return.

Justin Bieber, 1 March 1994 12.56am Stratford, Ontario, Canada, a downbeat Sun Saturn in Pisces with a Libra Moon is also facing the prospect of upheavals and significant changes in his closest relationship with tr Uranus aiming to conjunct his Descendant and move into his 7^th next month and oppose his Pluto as well. His Sun/Moon midpoint at 2 degrees Capricorn will also be undermined by tr Neptune Saturn into 2026.

  They were married somewhere around September 2018 when Mars was just into Aquarius, Uranus just into Taurus and Saturn just into Capricorn – all of which will be undermined and jangled in the next two years.

  Their relationship chart has a highly-strung composite Sun Neptune Uranus in Capricorn – differing needs plus illusions leading to disappointment. With Uranus opposition Moon (birth times being accurate) so constant ups and downs. Worst of all a composite Pluto Mars conjunction which suggests a power struggle for dominance with underlying hostility. Tr Uranus will oppose the composite Pluto from this July onwards and thence on to the opposition to the Mars as well in 2026 – which will almost certainly lead to a messy and long-drawn out split.