Marjorie

Comets in Astrology is a fascinating dive into an under researched topic but not for the faint of heart. The author Rod Chang having been asked eleven years ago where the icy celestial bodies that orbit the Sun known as comets, which appear periodically and erratically in the heavens, fit in with astrology, he decided to find out. There are 4,584 known comets but these are probably probably a very small fraction of the total potential comet population of maybe one trillion. Comets are known for their characteristic tails, which form as they approach the Sun.

  Unsurprisingly in ancient times they were seen as harbingers of disaster. While with endless numbers to play with they could be used to prove almost anything there are remarkable examples of comets appearing in the year of Julius Caesar’s birth and the year of his assassination. The best known – Halley’s comet – first appeared in 684 CE with a three month rainstorm following, plus an earthquake and an outbreak of the Black Death. It reappeared in 1066 which was a history-changing year for England; and again in the years when Mark Twain was born and the year he died.

  Old astrologers interpreted their meaning depending on the zodiac signs the comet passed through, by their shape and by colour.

 More recently French Andre Barbault described them as  messengers bringing information and insights from the outer edges of the solar system. The dark, freezing boundary of the solar system has been compared to the collective unconscious by Melanie Rhinehart and others. Rod Chang describes them as the rebels in the solar system displaying unpredictability and weird behaviour.

 In recent times sightings have been associated with evolutionary scientific, technological and political breakthroughs.  1882 the Great Comet of September was seen, the year when Thomas Edison switched on the first ever electrical generator in New York.

 Halley’s Comet is the only known short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing every 72–80 years, and was sighted in 1986 when the channel tunnel was agreed. Another one, Comet West was visible in 1976 when Steve Jobs and Wozniak sold first Apple computer.

 This highly commendable book is awash with examples from the charts of Steve Jobs, Julian Assange, Agatha Christie. And a plethora of examples from comet case studies of happenings during sighting years of prominent comets – Chernobyl, USSR Foundation, Princess Diana’s death, Edward V11 amongst many others.

 The author writes “I hope my observations can stimulate further research into this relatively unexplored subject.”

 It left me with two questions. One is how to sort through and prioritise amongst the increasing and potentially overwhelming amount of information available nowadays from planets, Fixed stars, centaurs, asteroids and now comets. The second is how am I going to fit it all into a chart. It’ll need a giant projection screen across a blank wall.

 For all my Virgo gripes, this well written and intriguing book is well worth reading as is getting to grips with a well-evidenced addition to the astrologer’s knowledge database.  

www.wessexastrologer.com

Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson are an unlikely romantic duo but are providing a cheering distraction with musings on their new found togetherness.  The 58-year-old Baywatch star and the 73-year-old Academy Award nominee held hands during interviews to promote their new comedy The Naked Gun, a sequel and reboot to the Leslie Nielsen-starring series of police-procedural spoofs.

  He said. ‘It was like I just felt an ease with her, you know, and we discovered a silliness with each other, which was terrific.’

  All of which is reflected in their relationship chart with a composite Sun Jupiter conjunction which will bring a sense of relaxation in each other’s company and is mutually supportive. The Sun Jupiter is in a lively trine to Mars for added zest and maybe trine a Moon opposition Uranus which would bring a sparkle of mischief.

 He was born 7 June 1952 Ballymena, Northern Ireland, no birth time, and she 1 July 1967 4.08am Ladysmith, BC, Canada. He has a Sun, Mercury, Venus in Gemini while she is Cancer – which may sound an odd match but I have seen it work well. His freedom-loving Uranus is conjunct her Sun and his Pluto is in a passionate conjunction to her Venus – so he will need his own space as well as closeness.

 She has an Aries Moon and he a Sagittarius Moon – so they will understand where each other is coming from.

 What is intriguing is their interaction with each other’s Nodes. His Jupiter in Taurus opposition Mars in Scorpio sits on her Taurus North/Scorpio South Node axis. And her Venus opposition Aquarius Midheaven dovetails with his North Node in Aquarius opposition South Node in Leo.

 Pamela Anderson has been married five times while he has remained unwed since his former wife Natasha Richardson was killed after a skiing accident in 2009.

  Their ‘fated’ North Node connection will have drawn them together and the Jupiter boost in their relationship chart is always a good sign since it softens rough edges and is morale-boosting in both directions. It will offer a strong friendship though need not necessarily translate into a happy-ever-after scenario.

  It may seem in ghoulish but it sparked a memory of Natasha Richardson’s untimely death after hitting her head in an accident in the snow in Canada. She was born 11 May 1963 5pm London. Relocating her chart to the location where she has her accident near Montreal put her Mars exactly on the Ascendant opposition Saturn on the Descendant. Mars Saturn can be accident prone and that location was clearly red-flagged.

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Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop appears to have gurgled in a southerly direction with the winds of change blowing. A Pluto in Capricorn creature it started with a newsletter in 2008, was incorporated in the UK in 2011 and went stratospheric. As well as promoting bizarre oddities like vagina eggs, coffee enemas and $15,000 sex toys, it stoked fear about “toxins”, seeding distrust in the medical establishment. A new unauthorized biography suggests she ‘paved the way for the conspiratorial, anti-expert, post-truth thinking now embedded in the White House. Both Paltrow and Robert F Kennedy Jr are fans of raw (unpasteurized) milk.

   The biography is none too complimentary portraying Paltrow as “a semi-sociopathic, privileged ice queen who courts people she needs with her charm, only to use and manipulate them for her advantage — and spit them out mercilessly when she’s done.” Though for all her flaws she undoubtedly has her  finger on the zeitgeist. Which might give one hope that sanity may start to prevail in the wellness business as she retreats from it.

 She was born 27 September 1972 5.25pm Los Angeles,  with an actress mother and producer-director father and has a formidably determined and lucky chart. Her 7^th house Libra Sun is conjunct a bulldozer Pluto and Mars in late Virgo all square a 10^th house Jupiter. Her cool Gemini Moon on her IC is conjunct Saturn and opposition a ‘spiritual’ 9^th house Neptune.

6 Air planets including an 8^th house Mercury Uranus conjunction in Libra make her a communicator; and her Venus in fashionable Leo in her 6^th would have inclined her towards pricey health products. But what she lacks in emotional warmth, she makes up for in self-belief. She told Vanity Fair that fame had felt to her “like a predestined thing” – that she had known her “whole life that this was going to happen”.

 When Goop turned into a solid venture post 2008 tr Saturn was rising above her Descendant. Now it has come half cycle to slide below her Ascendant into a lower profile, less successful phase of her life ahead for several years.

 With such a strong 7^th house – Mars, Pluto, Sun – it is hardly surprising she has at points drawn difficult men into her orbit. She found her professional home in Miramax Films, Harvey Weinstein’s production company, starring in Jane Austen’s Emma, followed by Shakespeare in Love, for which she won an Oscar after Weinstein’s lobbying. Though after #metoo exploded she was one of the first to speak out about him.

 Weinstein 19 March 1952 9.45pm New York has a late Pisces Sun with a ferocious and ruthless 1^st house Mars in Scorpio square Pluto on his Midheaven. There was a definite money and career connection between them with his Jupiter falling in her 2^nd house trine his Pluto MC conjunct her 6^th house Venus with both trine her Midheaven. Their relationship chart was awash with Fixed stars with Uranus Alphard opposition Jupiter Chiron square Venus Algol; and composite Moon conjunct Scheat. Pholus North Node were opposite Saturn square Neptune.

  The story for public consumption at the moment is that Paltrow is more content than she’s ever been, cooking “boyfriend breakfasts” for her husband, Brad Falchuk, while awaiting the January 2026 release of Marty Supreme, her first film after a seven-year hiatus. An American sports adventure comedy-drama film with Timothée Chalamet it is about a young man with a dream no one respects, who goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.

 I am not so sure her driving ambition will take kindly to tr Saturn sliding through her less successful First Quadrant for several years ahead with tr Saturn Neptune square her Jupiter and opposing her Mars, Pluto and then Sun from now until 2027. Her cast-iron certainty about her destiny will be going through uncertain times; with further emotional jolts as her Solar Arc Uranus opposes her Moon, on the same degree in six months’ time and extending through 2026.

  What is astrologically striking is her megaton Pluto which prompts her to hand out contemptuous opinions about others and simultaneously attracts corrosive judgements about herself. Not a women to warm to easily.

In the unending horror of Gaza, there are two significant developments. One is Arab countries – Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – calling for Hamas to disband and play no further part in the governing of Palestine, the first time they have done so.

 The other, inside Israel is the rising number of serving and retired senior army officers who are turning against Benjamin Netanyahu’s war. One said “I think the main reason for a prolonged war in Gaza is political expediency.” Eran Etzion, a former deputy head of Israel’s national security council, was even blunter. “By now it has long been clear to most Israelis that the main reason the Gaza campaign lingers on is because of Netanyahu’s political, personal and judicial interests, and he needs the war to go on in order to sustain and even enhance his grip on power.”

Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s chief of staff, is said to have argued that there is little more to be gained by continuing the campaign.

 Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister (2006 -2009), has described Netanyahu’s plan for a ‘humanitarian city’ in Rafah as a concentration camp for Palestinians and that mass forced displacement of people into the camp would be ethnic cleansing. He added that anger at Israel over Gaza war is not all down to antisemitism. Israeli human rights lawyers and scholars have described the plan as a blueprint for crimes against humanity and some have warned that if implemented, “under certain conditions it could amount to the crime of genocide”.

 Hamas, if the start date of 14 December 1987 is sound, then its demise (at least in its present form) could be two years off in 2027 when the Solar Arc Pluto is conjunct the natal Sun and SA Mars is conjunct the natal Saturn. That suggests they won’t go quietly or easily into submission or withdrawal. But when they do go it will be a total annihilation.

  Across the IDF chart, and the Netanyahu relationship with their commander and with the IDF, there are increasing ruptures from this August onwards, worsening through November and April 2026. The IDF chart, 26 May 1948, and BN’s relationship with senior brass look increasingly agitated after mid 2026 into 2027.

 The Israel/Netanyahu relationship chart will jolt, jangle and suffer shocks from now onwards through this winter. There is nothing outstanding either his own chart or his recent term chart to indicate major changes any time soon.

 One outcome of the past two years in Gaza is a new wave of radicalization.  Fundamentalist groups are on a recruitment drive. Inside Israel/Gaza, terrorist networks are replacing dead Hamas fighters at a rate of five to one. A British security source told Reuters that the Gaza war is “likely to become the biggest recruiter for Islamist militants since 2003”. The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism warned that such conditions are “active incubators for the next generation of extremist operatives”.

ADD ON: The Palestine Declaration of Independence, 15 November 1988 12.40am Algiers, Algeria, points to a raft of difficulties, failures and panic ahead with tr Neptune Saturn conjunct the Mars now into 2026 and square the Uranus Saturn also over the winter. The one chink of relief might come from tr Uranus conjunct the Jupiter from June 2026 till early 2027. But it looks like getting a whole lot worse before it gets there.

  Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah administration for the West Bank supposedly a replacement in Gaza when Hamas is removed is described as discredited and corrupt.   He took over on 15 January 2005 and has avoided elections ever since. That chart looks paralysed at the moment with Solar Arc Saturn opposition the Neptune and is facing a rocky 2026 with tr Uranus square the Uranus after mid year.  Abbas, himself, 26 March 1935, will be similarly jolted, jangled and undercut from mid 2026 onwards with tr Neptune (and before that tr Saturn) conjunct his Aries Sun, tr Pluto square Venus and tr Uranus square his Saturn.

 Nothing looks likely to settle immediately. One of the many tragedies of the Palestinians is they have always been badly led.

Out of the bin into a resurrected-possible, leftwing Jeremy Corbyn has attracted half a million signatories for his new, as yet, unnamed party.

 His partner in the venture Zarah Sultana says their policies will include “democratic public ownership of key industries, universal free childcare, rent controls, free public transport and much more”. Corbyn, added there is “huge appetite for the policies that are needed to fix society”, including “wealth redistribution, housing justice, and a foreign policy based on peace and human rights”.

  They are an odd couple. JC, 26 May 1949, is a Sun, Venus, Mercury and Uranus in Gemini with Neptune in Libra and Jupiter in Aquarius – very airy and ideological. With a tough-minded Mars (Moon) in Taurus square Pluto  and Saturn in Leo.

ZS, 31 October 1993, on the other hand has a ferocious collection of Mercury, Mars, Pluto square Saturn in Aquarius with her Sun in Scorpio as well plus a Taurus Moon.

  JC is having a high-tension, argumentative winter with tr Uranus square his Saturn in November/December and April 20026 – and tr Uranus conjunct his Sun from  July 2026 onwards into 2027. Uranus being a trickster changes in his life could go either way. His midpoints don’t look cheerful until 2028 and even then there are major pitfalls. 2026/27 look depressed/unpopular with his Solar Arc Venus conjunct his Saturn.

 ZS also looks in turmoil and insecure across this winter with a hard push thereafter.

 Corbyn’s relationship with the UK does not leap out as being overly positive with a hostile Mars Pluto square Uranus Saturn and a pie-in-the-sky composite Jupiter opposition Neptune.  The UK and ZS is also fraught with composite Uranus opposition Saturn square Mars – plus a marginally more upbeat Jupiter trine Pluto.

 The launch, such as it was, on 24 July 2025 12.22pm London is very much aligned to the new era with Pluto trine Uranus sextile Saturn Neptune. Pluto in the 4^th opposition the Sun Moon hints internal problems within the party of control and domination with divisions over finances (Uranus in the 8^th) and problematic policies over employment and health.

 Procyon, Fixed planet of rise and fall sits close to the Midheaven and 10^th house Moon. Tr Jupiter moving through the 10^th from late this September to October 2026 (and a hint into June 2027) could suggest an early surge of  popularity which then dissipates.

  What it will do is split the Labour vote and Reform is splitting the right wing sector. So who knows? All into the melting pot.

 My prejudices are probably showing but having lived through the Cold War and seen the disaster of left wing economics I am no fan of Corbyn and his ilk. Starmer may be awful but further left would be worse. And yes, I know the right are horrific in a different way on economics but there are gradations of calamities.

A maths prodigy with a satirical sense of humour, ‘who revelled in writing tongue-twisting songs of discerning bad taste’, Tom Lehrer has died aged 97.

  An acclaimed musical satirist of the cold war era he became one of America’s favorite prophets of doom building up a cult following before retreating to academia. His dazzling prowess at the piano reflecting his love for up-tempo Broadway show tunes came to a glorious climax in his 1959 recitation of the chemical elements in the periodic table (102 at the time) to the tune of A Modern Major General from the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance.

‘Well ahead of his time on issues including pollution and nuclear proliferation, Lehrer made his mark with biting humor and zany rhymes. He was also wickedly funny on random subjects including murder, conjugal discord, chemistry and his distaste for pigeons.

Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, one of his signature tunes, conjures up a couple enjoying a spring pastime of slaughtering pigeons with strychnine – “It just takes a smidgen!”

Born on 9 April 1928 in New York to a secular Jewish family, he inherited his love of music from his mother as well as his mischievous sense of humour. He entered Harvard at 15, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in mathematics three years later though he kept up his musical interests throughout. He retired from the entertainment scene after the 1960s into teaching maths at MIT, Harvard and elsewhere.

 In 2022, uniquely for a recording artist, he announced on his website that he was relinquishing all copyright claims on his work, putting all his songs into the public domain.

 He had an upfront Sun Jupiter in Aries square Pluto and in a Fire Grand Trine to Neptune in Leo trine Saturn (and Moon) in Sagittarius. Fiery, inspirational, rarely doubting his abilities. A prominent Neptune is not only musical but oddly enough mathematical; and in his case was in a showbizzy opposition to Mars. His Saturn was square Venus Mercury and possibly conjunct his Moon – he never married and described himself as a loner.

A taste of his lyrics:

 “I ache for the touch of your lips, dear. But much more for the touch of your whips, dear./ You can raise welts/ Like nobody else/ As we dance to the Masochism Tango.”

A romantic song becomes a lament from a lover who has murdered his girlfriend and cut off her hand as a keepsake: “The night you died I cut it off/ I really don’t know why./ For now each time I kiss it/ I get bloodstains on my tie.”

[“You know,” he said later, off all the songs I have ever sung, that is the one I’ve had the most requests not to”. ]

After he retreated from the musical scene, when people asked him to write a new song about current issues, he likened it to “asking a resident of Pompeii for some humorous comments about lava”.

Rapture greeted the England Women’s Football team – the Lionesses – win over Spain in the Euro 25. A nail-biting finish saw them seize the trophy.

For Sarina Wiegman, the Dutch manager of the England women’s national team since 2021 it is another triumph. She is the first-ever men’s or women’s manager to reach five consecutive major international tournament finals.

 Born 26 October 1969 she has a stalwart Scorpio Sun opposition Saturn in Taurus with a formidably determined Mars in Capricorn trine Pluto; and serendipitously was born less than a week before the first Women’s Football Association meeting in London on 1 November 1969.

Lucy Bronze, 28 October 1991 was singled out for special mention since she played on a fractured tibia throughout. She has a Sun conjunct Mars in Scorpio trine Uranus (North Node Neptune in Capricorn; with Mercury Pluto conjunct in Scorpio as well – all of which gives her steely, not so say super-human, resolve. Her Sun Mars sit midway of an adventurous Jupiter in Virgo trine Uranus.

Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, 16 November 2000, yet another Sun Scorpio opposition Saturn in Taurus, has her Mars in Libra sextile Pluto, square Venus in Capricorn and trine Neptune Uranus in Aquarius. A mix of rock solid and hyper-active.

Chloe Kelly, 15 January 1998, who scored the final penalty for England has her Capricorn Sun conjunct Venus and Neptune with her Mars in Aquarius.

 The youngest player Michelle Agyeman, 3 February 2006, has an Aquarius Sun conjunct Neptune Mercury on the focal point of a Fixed T square to a Jupiter in Scorpio opposition Mars in Taurus.

  Not sure Lioness is the accurate title for them. Scorpions with a hint of goats (from Capricorn).

  Stories of Royal illegitimate children can usually be discounted as a fantasist or opportunist claims for fame. But the recurring rumours of Queen Victoria’s romantic relationship with servant John Brown after Prince Albert died persist. With a further twist as suggestions are being made that there was a child, spirited away to New Zealand by Brown’s brother.

  Victoria, 24 May 1819 4.15.am London, reigned for 63 years over the UK at the height of its powers commercially and globally. She produced 9 children, 42 grandchildren whose marriages she arranged tying the Royal Houses of Europe together.

   She had an extraordinarily difficult chart. A 12^th house Gemini New Moon conjunct Ascendant is sextile a tough-minded Saturn Pluto conjunction in late Pisces, which is turn is square a Uranus Neptune conjunction in Sagittarius. She would be restless, nervy, highly strung, stubborn, autocratic, rebellious, neurotic and communicative with a sharp, bright mind. What softened the rougher edges of her chart and her life was a successful Jupiter in Aquarius in the 10^th on the point of a mini grand trine to Mars in Aries trine Uranus in Sag – so she would be adventurous. Her Venus was in upfront Aries so behind the austerity was a sparky emotional nature.

  Her childhood was scholastic but restricted by her oppressive mother who feared assassination attempts on her life and wanted to control her every move to promote her own interests in money and power. Victoria said later her tough childhood prepared her for what came next and on succeeding to the throne she banished her mother to separate accommodation.

  She proposed to and married her cousin Prince Albert, 26 August 1819 6am Rosenfeld, Germany, which was portrayed as a great love affair producing nine children. He had a Virgo Sun with a Scorpio Moon; and Mars in Gemini opposition Uranus Neptune square Saturn Pluto so would be a curious combination of highly strung and utterly determined, probably given to depression. His Venus in Leo was trine Victoria’s Venus in Aries which hints at good feelings between them and his Sun falls in her 4^th house which would bring her home comfort as well as a solid base for his life. Her Gemini New Moon is conjunct his midheaven so she undoubtedly helped him to prominence and shaped his career. 

  In their relationship chart the composite Venus is opposition Uranus Neptune and square Saturn Pluto which looks very difficult – though a Royal lifestyle probably needs a tough approach. Venus was in the 1^st so there would be an appearance of love though many separations (Ur Nep in 7^th) and far too much duty (Sat Pl). There is admittedly an 8^th house Jupiter (good for money and sex) squaring onto Mars, opposition Moon which would provide a few indulgences.

  When he died Victoria’s Solar Arc Neptune was conjunct her natal Saturn Pluto conjunction she would be devastated. And her Solar Arc Pluto just into her natal 12^th was conjunct her Mercury making for the deep depression which sent her into seclusion for years thereafter.

  At which point John Brown, the Scottish servant, 8 December 1826, Perth, Scotland, seven years younger than Victoria, arrived to become an intimate confidante and supporter. He was a Sagittarius with an Aries Moon so picked up her passionate Mars and Venus in Aries. His Mars in Aquarius was also conjunct her Jupiter which would boost her morale and perhaps lead both into taking risks; and his Jupiter falling in her 5th house of fun would undoubtedly help.  His Venus Neptune fell in her 8^th for a passionate connection. Most significantly his Sun fell in her 7^th house of close relationships which is ideal for a marriage.

The relationship chart had an affectionate Venus Sun conjunction with the Sun also conjunct Mars and an adventurous Jupiter square to Mars and Sun. In many ways it was a more affectionate and vital relationship than the one she had with her husband. But also one which was able to survive in secret without the constraints of a burdensome Royal existence.

[Two things surprise me about Victoria – one was her reputation for enjoying the pleasures of the bedchamber which is not entirely obvious from her chart – producing children being an unwanted distraction. Secondly how ‘Victorian’ came to be emblematic of an uptight, moralistic culture when she clearly lived a more indulgent lifestyle behind the scenes.]

A fleeting astrological titbit, based on marginally dubious birth times but with intriguing coincidences – comes from two UK celebrities, who rose from poor beginnings to success and money and have gone bankrupt twice.

 Martine McCutcheon, 14 May 1976 7.40am London, had a tough childhood with little money and a violent, abusive father, became a sit-com actress, then on screen with Hugh Grant in Love Actually, then on stage in My Fair Lady. Despite the headline successes, her career has been patchy and she has gained a reputation for being tricky to work. Now she has been declared bankrupt for the second time.

The other is glamour model Katie Price, 22 May 1978 8.30am (rectified) Brighton, England, who is addicted to cosmetic surgery and has had a chaotic emotional and financial life – also with two bankruptcies.

 MM is an acquisitive Sun, Venus, Jupiter South Node in Taurus and KP is Gemini – but there are similarities in that both have a Saturn Mars conjunction in their 2^nd house of finances, both have Pluto in the 4^th house of childhood, both have Chiron in the 10^th, both have Jupiter Venus conjunctions and both have Scorpio Moons opposition their Sun.

Jupiter Venus is frivolous, keen on outer appearance – especially true in Taurus and Cancer for Katie Price. Pluto in the 4^th hints at a scary childhood.

   Chiron in the 10^th hints at childhood issues affecting later ambitions, often leading to an unsettled career. What intrigues me is the Mars Saturn conjunction, signifier of a childhood in which unfairness played a significant role. There was little room for fun or for fulfilling personal needs and wants.

  While intuitively I might have assumed Mars Saturn in the 2^nd to be disciplined about money, hoarding it to ensure a security that was not there at the start, here it obviously works in a different way. Anger about childhood deprivation is acted out by compensating for lacks by refusing to put limits on spending and temptations.  Martine was evidently once quoted as saying: ‘I love nice things – I consider Ralph Lauren sheets to be a necessity, not a luxury – but I’ve known what it’s like to be poor.’ There may also be an eerie sense, courtesy of Freud’s repetition compulsion, of an unconscious pull to getting back to where it all started in an attempt to regain control of a childhood out-of-control situation. Start broke, end broke

 An oddity but might have a nugget of truth about it.