Absolute power has been claimed by Chinese President Xi Jinping as his rulership has been extended for a third five year term. It breaks the precedent set after Mao’s demise to limit the power of any one individual leader.  Despite being the son of a relatively liberal father and having seen his family punished through the insanities of the 1960s/1970s Cultural Revolution, he has steadily built himself up as a Stalinist strongman, shored up the authority of the Communist party and cultivated a personality cult, combining repression and surveillance at home with aggression abroad.

  His 3^rd Term chart, 23 October 2022 5.08pm Beijing, has dictatorship written all over it with a 10^th house controlling Pluto square Sun and Pluto in a ruthless quincunx to Mars. His Mars is in a publicity-attracting but not always decisive square to Neptune; and there’s an inflexible Saturn in Aquarius in a conflicted square to Uranus.

  He’s facing a momentous struggle ahead to overcome considerable obstacles with tr Pluto square the Term Sun and Venus through 2023 until late 2024; a panicky-failure tr Neptune square Mars in 2023; and worse by 2025/6 when the tr Neptune Saturn conjunction in Aries are in a confidence and enthusiasm-denting conjunction with the Term Jupiter.

  The China economy is already ailing amid greater state meddling and the fallout from Covid, there is domestic discontent over the handling of the pandemic, and tensions with the west have been rising for years over trade and the treatment of Uyghurs as well as worries about military expansion in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and ramped up threats against Taiwan.

  The Term chart echoes themes on his personal chart, 15 June 1953, with an undermining tr Neptune square his Sun this year into 2023, and worsening as tr Neptune squares his Sun/Mars midpoint and finally makes a failure-ridden square to his Mars at zero Cancer in 2025/26. Plus a disruptive tr Uranus opposition his emphasised Pluto in Leo in 2023.

  The China 1 January 1912 chart has the same Pluto focal point Yod as the UK, in this case inconjunct Uranus sextile Venus. The Pluto will be undermined by tr Neptune square from May 2023 to late 2024 which could undermine China’s global influence. Certainly things are changing with tr Pluto conjunct the Uranus in 2022/23 so there could be a potential for disruption and rebellion; with shocks and jolts in 2024 with tr Uranus conjunct the Mars and opposition Venus. There may be an over confident drive for power and influence in 2024 which could well backfire.

Behind every comedy there’s often a tragedy. Matthew Perry, the wisecracking Chandler of Friends, the most popular TV show of all time, has revealed all about his relentless addiction problems over decades. It saw him in and out of 15 rehabs and almost killed him in 2018 when his colon burst due to the overuse of opioid drugs, putting him in a coma for two weeks with a 2% survival chance and required a colostomy bag for nine months. During one low point during Friends he was taking 55 tablets of Vicodin each day and his weight dropped to 58kg (9st 1oz).

 He was born 19 August 1969 4.47am North Adams, Massachusetts, with an actor father and a journalist mother who split before his first birthday. He has an entertaining Leo Sun in his upfront 1st house square a filmic and escapist Neptune in the 4^th; with an intensely emotional Scorpio Moon also in his 4^th opposition a hard-working 10^th house Saturn in Taurus. And Venus in sensitive, self-protective Cancer in his 12^th.

  His childhood does not look to have been emotionally supportive with a Saturn-afflicted Moon, a hidden Venus and missing a strong male role model for a father. His Sun and Neptune are both in hard aspect to the destructive Mars/Saturn midpoint which would create setbacks for him. His Sun/Moon midpoint is conjunct Uranus so finding a stable one-to-one relationship would never be easy for him.

   When Friends launched on 22 September 1994, he said he had been praying fervently to be famous, only later to discover it did not solve any of his problems. At that point tr Pluto was conjunct his 4^th house Neptune which would have a devastating effect before moving to square his Sun the following year as his life changed out of all recognition. Tr Neptune and Uranus were also hovering over the opposition to his Venus.

  When he hit rock bottom in June 2018 tr Uranus just into Taurus was conjunct his Midheaven for a sudden change of direction; and tr Pluto in his 6^th house of health was opposing his 12^th house Venus. His Solar Arc Neptune was also hovering on the cusp of his 6^th. His Progressed Moon was conjunct his Sun a month or so after he was hospitalised for an internal rebirth. And his Solar Arc Jupiter was wending its way towards a conjunction with his Neptune in the aftermath as he struggled towards a new life.

His 12th house Venus in Cancer and 4th house Neptune in Scorpio do appear to be the triggers for his problems.

   Saturn has made a full cycle since Friends launched in 1994 as his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing  is coming out. It won’t be easy for him but tr Jupiter going through his 10^th at the moment bringing attention and praise will help and tr Saturn moving upwards in his chart for the next decade will give him resilience.

Add On: Matthew Perry is having to withdraw a trashing of Keanu Reeves in his memoir. In a thoughtless attempt to eulogize River Phoenix, the tragic young actor who died from an overdose, he regretted his death and wondered why Keanu Reeves was still alive. He has since said he is a big Reeves’s fan, “I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”

  Hmm.  Their synastry does suggest a hostile aggravated interface with Perry’s Mars square Reeves’ Pluto Uranus. And the relationship chart has a composite Mars opposition Saturn which is similarly antagonistic. There must be some history in there.

 Miriam Margolyes, who left Perry floundering on a TV interview show some years back, has a heavyweight Jupiter, Sun, Uranus, Saturn in Taurus square Mars which would overwhelm Perry’s Leo Sun square Neptune and leave him bewildered.

 Both Reeves and Miriam have their Jupiter in Taurus in Perry’s 10^th house so perhaps his Leo Sun felt outshone by the confidence of both.

Undead Boris, try-try-again Rishi or fishy Penny Mordaunt is the platter du jour for Tory MPs as they wrestle for the soul of the party in the desperate hope of staving off implosion at the next General Election. Candidates need 100 MP nominations to run which have to be whipped up this week. The right wing may muster up Suella Braverman to stymie the chances of Rishi Sunak getting in.

  Boris is a possibility though some centrist MPs say they would resign the Tory whip or defect in protest as they regard him as unacceptable. That would allow Keir Starmer to force a snap election and trigger a Conservative wipeout. A poll today shows the Tories 39 points behind Labour, at their lowest ever rating. 

  Boris, with a Pandora’s box of multiple Gemini planets including an afflicted Mars, has next week’s Scorpio Solar Eclipse conjunct his Moon which usually brings up the past and scrutiny of public image. If solid foundations have been laid in the past then there is less trouble.  If not there can be a crumble-into-dust experience and a need to build better foundations for the future. Donald Trump had this in late 2020.

 The Lunar Eclipse in early November in effect now will hit BJ’s over-hopeful, scandal-attracting Neptune opposition Jupiter and will likely lead to a surge in over-confidence. Tr Uranus also returns to bring him down to earth with a bump this December and early in 2023.   He does have his Solar Arc Jupiter almost conjunct his Midheaven which is successful so something will go right over the next eighteen months (birth time being accurate) and tr Jupiter moving into his financial 8^th from July 2023 onwards for a year suggests a considerable improvement in his finances.

  There’s nothing to indicate that his relationship with either the Tory Party or the UK is improving. With the UK there are indications of great alarm across this election and worse in 2023. With the Tories he’s continuing on a downhill slide now till 2024. Which doesn’t mean the right-wing won’t back him but they’ll be damned if they do.

“He was like an undead boomerang. A zomberang.” Devon Monk.

“Something coming back from the dead was almost always bad news. Movies taught me that. For every one Jesus you get a million zombies.”  David Wong, John Dies at the End.

Rishi Sunak, an earthy Sun Mercury in Taurus in a sensible trine to Saturn in Virgo, opposition Uranus, does have one triumphant influence with his Solar Arc Pluto square his Jupiter around now. But transits to his midpoints aren’t great – indeed suggest that high hopes get dashed till early December.

  His relationship chart with the Tories 1912 hints at the potential for transformation and success though it is blow hot, blow cold combination and doesn’t show much movement until mid 2023 onwards. With the UK – this November looks  upbeat and relieved between them; and this December looks a time for radical change. Though if he loses he could well up-sticks and head for California which would fit with a sigh of relief equally as well.

Penny Mordaunt is a New Moon and Venus and Mercury in Pisces mainly square Saturn in Gemini opposition Neptune – another Mutable windmill. There’s nothing much showing on her chart (without a birth time) except for a jangled Saturn/Uranus at the moment until a downbeat Sun/Saturn in January plus Neptunian losses next year. Where she picks up luck and success will be 2024/2025 with tr Pluto conjunct her Jupiter. Her relationship chart with the Tories 1912 hints she could be a driving force for reform; and with the UK looks more hopeful in 2024, though she would attract hostility at the same time.    

  Even more so than usual it’s all muddy waters.

Add On: The new leader will be known on the 28^th October. See chart above. Not inspiring – a head-in-the-clouds, cloud-cuckoo-land, over-optimistic and financial bubble-bursting Jupiter Neptune in Pisces square Mars in Gemini. Mars due to go retrograde on the 31st until mid January is in a tough, irritable trine to Saturn. Pluto is in an aggravated quincunx to Mars and in a dogmatic, fanatical, hostile-debate square to Mercury in Libra.

   Saturn is making the final close aspect to Uranus which has bedevilled the past two years with high-tension, impatience with restrictions and a constant pull between opposites – the forces of progress and the forces intent on holding to the status quo.

  If anything it looks less solid than the Truss term.   Sigh.

Israel is treading a cautious middle line of neutrality over Ukraine providing “humanitarian aid” and “life-saving defensive equipment” but not weaponry or a defence system like the Iron Dome. They need Russian cooperation to continue air strikes against Iranian-backed forces in neighbouring Syria.

  They have also finessed a tacit deal with Hezbollah who gave a discreet nod of acceptance to a U.S.-brokered deal settling a decades-long maritime boundary dispute with Lebanon. The deal opens the way for offshore energy exploration. At the same time it defuses one source of potential conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, who have spent the last decade fighting to help Iran’s allies, notably President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Hezbollah’s focus is now on rebuilding crisis-ridden Lebanon, with offshore oil and gas seen as the only lifeline to rescue the country from the recent devastating financial meltdown.

  The Israel chart is undergoing a Nodal Return at the moment so is considering its options for the way ahead. Their Solar Arc Pluto is sitting on the Ascendant as they make a concerted effort to transform their image.

  The months ahead won’t be easy with tr Uranus in a jolting square to the 10^th house Saturn in this November and next March; with a downbeat tr Saturn in hard aspect to the Taurus Sun square Mars in Leo in January/February 2023.  Plus a nerve-stretched tr Neptune square the Uranus till late 2023 and then in a financially disappointing square to Jupiter in 2024.

  But the really heavy pressure – and it will be considerable – will come from tr Uranus conjunct the 8^th house Taurus Sun after mid 2023 into 2024, moving on to a risky and self-esteem-denting square to the Israel Mars by 2025. The previous time there were similar influences was 2001 to 2003 when 9/11 led to the Afghanistan and then Iraq invasions and the Middle East was on high alert. The Israel chart also has a dead-halt, cornered Solar Arc Mars square Pluto in 2025 as well.

  The Bank of Israel chart also looks to be blocked, deprived and in meltdown in 2025 as well.

  No country will be immune from the coming turmoil but some will be more affected than others.

Hitting rock bottom may be the UK’s only hope of sobering up after years of cataclysmic choices in policies and leaders. The UK’s superpower status died after WW11 but the country retained a reputation of gravitas, not least because of Queen Elizabeth 11 for the past seventy years. The Tories have now reduced UK Inc to a global laughing stock with a banana republic government drowning in a shambles of Italian operatic proportions.

  What is flagging up on the UK chart exactly now is a crisis of history-changing proportions.

  The UK chart has a Yod of Jupiter in Leo sextile Uranus inconjunct Pluto – such a Yod has all of Pluto’s fixated, refuse-to-budge qualities and can be coercive as well as self-destructive. The positive qualities give it the potential to be influential on a global scale, sometimes after a long period in obscurity.

 When a configuration like this one moves by Solar Arc Directions to impact key planets on the chart, it triggers a crisis sometimes stretching over several years . With luck and sensible management a breakdown that leads to a breakthrough.

  This Plutonic Yod has moved by Solar Arc to have the SA Pluto exactly square the UK Sun now for this paralysis of government and arguably a nation stunned by the departure of the Queen’s steadying presence. The legs of the Yod move by Solar Arc to have the SA Uranus conjunct the UK 8^th house Mars exact mid 2025 for an almighty economic/financial car-crash of sorts. On this basis the UK should be into calmer waters in three years from now after a stormy passage, hopefully wiser and ready to start down a new path.

  Before then the Solar Arc Saturn will oppose the UK Uranus for a high-tension jolt in late 2023.  At the moment the 2^nd house financial Neptune is catching the tr Saturn square at the moment and tr Uranus opposition through 2023.  That does suggest heavy pressure on personal finances but will also contribute to a mood of nerve-jangling confusion. Plus tr Saturn conjunct the UK Pluto throughout 2023 and tr Uranus square the 11^th house (legislature) Saturn exact from August 2023 onwards – though that will be in force at the moment since all the UK’s Fixed planets are reverberating in shock which will tug on that Saturn.

  So much for the UK. Not fun but the astrology makes sense which is bizarrely reassuring even if it does not promise instant bliss.

  Liz Truss’s Term chart does have tr Saturn exactly square the divisive 7^th house Uranus now leading to eruptions and crockery-throwing spats. The Fixed Saturn in Aquarius on the focal point of a square to Uranus NN opposition SN lacks adaptability and because it can’t or won’t bend, it will at one point break. But for once a Term chart is not being illuminating.

  The Conservative Party 9 May 1912 chart is spot on with the Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Sun exactly now and rolling on for some months – a thunderbolt strikes. Plus the Scorpio Solar Eclipse late this month opposes their Venus bringing an emotional crisis and a feeling of not being loved. With the November Lunar Eclipse conjunct their Sun for an existential crisis.

Comedian and Late Late presenter James Corden has dented his affable brand by throwing a hissy fit in a New York restaurant, causing the owner to describe him as a “tiny cretin” and “abusive” before banning him. Fulsome apologies followed and the interdict was lifted.

 According to the Washington Post this summer, after discovering a hair in his food, Corden demanded in an “extremely nasty” fashion that a new round of drinks appear “this second” and previous rounds be comped. This month, his wife ordered an egg-yolk omelette that arrived with “a little bit of egg white” in it. The kitchen remade the dish, but it emerged with — the horror! — home fries on the side instead of a salad.”.

 All of which is a frivolous distraction from real world woes but may do real damage to Corden’s reputation and image, a touch like Ellen DeGeneres who exuded sweetness and kindness until it turned out she was made of snappier stuff.    

 Corden born 22 August 1978, London, no birth time, is a hard-working Sun Leo conjunct Saturn in Virgo with an impulsive Aries Moon. But where his aggro comes from is a conjunction of Mars, Pluto, Venus in Libra sextile Neptune with Uranus sitting on the midpoint. He can be charming with Venus in Libra but also do-or-die-determined and overly forceful with Mars Pluto.

  Ellen Degeneres also has an afflicted Mars which is conjunct Saturn and square Pluto, giving her a short fuse.

  Another Mr Nice Guy being fingered for at the moment for misconduct is actor Bill Murray, 21 September 1950. He has a workaholic Sun Saturn in Virgo with a super-determined Mars in Scorpio square Pluto. So no slouch when push comes to shove.

  Luvvies acting badly is hardly a surprise but in the present climate tainting a previously saintly image can come very expensive in career terms.

 Corden has already said he is stepping back from his Late tv show next year and his recent movie appearances have received negative reviews. His Solar Arcs look seriously blocked ahead with SA Sun conjunct Pluto and SA Pluto square his Sun now-ish and through till 2024. His Jupiter will keep his optimism afloat till late 2023 but he’s not as jovial as before.

  Likewise Bill Murray isn’t looking too cheerful with tr Neptune opposition his Saturn and Sun and tr Uranus opposition his Pluto and square his Mars in the next three years.

  Mars provides drive, ambition and the courage to aim high and succeed but is not known for tact or sensitivity.

Fifty years ago a plane crash in the Andes in which survivors were left for a gruelling ten weeks in arctic conditions without food became legendary when it emerged that those few who remained alive had turned cannibal, eating the flesh of their dead companions. Ultimately only 16 out of 45 were rescued alive.

   Their story was brought to life by Piers Paul Read in his bestseller, Alive, with a Hollywood film to follow and now Netflix is to dramatize a reprise.  

  The survivors are a close-knit group who meet each year on December 22, the day the rescue began for a barbecue and attend a mass with relatives of their dead friends every October 13. None regret what they did to survive.

  Not all were killed in the initial crash and some succumbed to their injuries and others died in an avalanche. When they had lost all hope of being found, two of the group set off in search of help, scaling a 5,000m mountain with a homemade sleeping bag and rugby socks filled with human flesh. After ten days, they saw a Chilean shepherd across a raging river, threw him a note wrapped round a rock and he rode 100 miles to summon help.

  The crash occurred on 13 October 1972 3.34pm near Curico, Chile when there was a brutal and destructive Mars Pluto conjunction amplified in square to Jupiter Moon in Capricorn. There was also a Sun Uranus conjunction in the 8^th trine Saturn in the 4^th and Neptune conjunct the Midheaven.

  The previous Cancer Solar Eclipse in July was in a series which suggests the possibility of breaking out of a very negative situation where no hope can be seen to a more positive space.

  Of those who survived. Roberto Canessa, one of the two who summoned help, became a leading cardiologist and mountaineer, 17 January 1953. He is a Sun Capricorn square Saturn Neptune in Libra; with his Mercury opposition Uranus square Neptune indicating a strong faith which would have helped.  He also had an upbeat Mars Venus in Pisces sextile Jupiter in Taurus. His Solar Arc Pluto was opposition his Mars Venus over the crash and aftermath; and tr Pluto was opposition his Solar Arc Mars Venus.

Fernando Parrado, 9 December 1949, a Sun Sagittarius square Saturn Mars in Virgo also had an emphasised Neptune on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine of Sun trine Pluto, sextile Neptune. His Solar Arc Mars was conjunct his Neptune at the crash.

Carlos Paez, 31 October 1953, 31 October 1953, a serious Sun Saturn in Scorpio with an optimistic Neptune trine Jupiter, sextile Pluto. Tr Uranus was conjunct his Solar Arc Mars at the crash.  

Eduardo Strauch, 13 August 1947, a Sun Venus, Saturn, Pluto and Mercury in Leo in an optimistic square to Jupiter with a risk-taking Mars Uranus in Gemini. His Progressed Mars was catching the tr Uranus conjunction over the crash.

  Jupiter and Neptune get a bad reputation for being lazy and/or unrealistic. But in situations of trauma or high stress, they crop up remarkably frequently as life savers. Hope and vision help.

  Mars involved in accidents is no surprise either.

Applecart-upsetting Uranus sitting on the axis of Liz Truss’s term chart has been strutting its stuff in no uncertain manner. She has tossed overboard her personally chosen chancellor for having followed her line on economics, causing the markets to go into meltdown. In comes Jeremy Hunt –  with no Treasury experience (sigh) – who was a Sunak supporter.  Her effort to salvage her premiership failed to win over financial markets and has left Conservative MPs in a state of mutiny. Citigroup said “ we believe further market instability likely lies ahead.”

  She is now described as a ‘zombie prime minister’ with the Conservatives now between 20-30 points behind the Labour opposition. “They only thing keeping her there is we can’t work out what to do,” says one veteran Tory MP.

 Hunt, born 1 November 1966, is a charming Sun Venus in Scorpio square Jupiter in Leo and sextile Mars in Virgo; with Saturn in Pisces opposition Pluto Uranus in Virgo, trine/sextile Neptune South Node in Scorpio.

  His Jupiter is conjunct Truss’s Leo Sun which will help but his Neptune opposition her Mars in Taurus which sits on his North Node are an ominously-cross-purposes mix. Not a supportive combo.

  Their relationship chart has a controlling (mutinous) Sun, Pluto Mercury conjunction trine Saturn in Taurus – chained together by circumstances and not happy campers. Plus a volatile Mars square Uranus Venus which won’t lead to comfortable compromises. Tr Neptune is dissolving the foundations of their togetherness right through from now into 2024/5; and tr Uranus conjunct the Saturn after mid 2023 will cause tensions to erupt.

  Hunt will have his work cut out to keep his morale high with tr Neptune conjunct his Saturn and opposition Uranus as well as tr Saturn square tr Uranus hammering away at his Neptune right through from now into 2024.  He will get one ray of sunshine from August 2023 onwards and will be in better shape in late 2024/2025 but that may be because he is off the Truss leash and onto firmer ground.

  Liz Truss only had one upbeat influence from a Jupiterian midpoint which runs out early December and exactly now she has the ‘car-crash’, self-esteem-denting tr Uranus conjunct her Mars now till early November and again next April. This December looks calamitous for her with deep gloom coming in January/February and on and off throughout 2023.

 It’s difficult to see how she can survive though her Term chart is mysteriously anchored with an Earth Grand Trine and a Fixed T Square.  The Uranus in the 7^th – and for the leadership announcement the day before, exactly conjunct the descendant – suggests that any partnerships with her will be short-lived.

  This one will run and run until she disappears like Boris down a sinkhole.

 Add On: The Conservative Party 9 March 1912 chart is tracking events well. Liz T’s relationship with it has tr Uranus square the composite Pluto with tr Saturn conjunct the Jupiter at the moment – a mix of turbulence to the point of break-up (running again early 2023); plus enthusiasm/ confidence-dampening.  Plus Neptunian sinkers to the composite Mars/Sun midpoint now and Saturn and Sun through 2023/24 as the party surveys the mess she created and no doubt blames her, despite having picked her.

 The Tory chart 1912 is showing up the present turmoil clearly with a shocking change from Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Taurus Sun now. Tr Saturn is in a discouraging square to the Sun this November, followed in 2023 by tr Uranus conjunct the Sun and Saturn into 2024, so the convulsions will continue.

  The last twelve years of Tory rule starting with David Cameron have largely coincided with tr Neptune through Pisces as well as tr Pluto through Capricorn. So it’s fitting they would end their long run in government as both the outer planets gear up for changing sign.

  Not that Labour’s Blair/Brown exactly did the country any favours before that with immigration run out control, never mind Iraq, and Brown’s economic policies being blamed for the pension mess.

Robbie Coltrane, much loved as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films and known before for Cracker playing the clinical psychologist in the TV police drama, has died aged 72. Not renowned for a healthy lifestyle he was a binge eater and much like Cracker he said “I smoke too much, I drink too much . . . I am too much.” His friend actor John Sessions (once said: “Robbie has a strong self-destruct streak . . . a deep, driving melancholy.”  After a career of playing morally ambiguous characters, he was delighted to play Hagrid – ‘the first time I’ve played someone thoroughly good.’

  He was born 31 March 1950 at 3am in Glasgow into a middle-class family with a teacher/pianist mother and a surgeon/police pathologist father and was educated at a private school. He had a famously short temper and did struggle with depression which ran in the family.

  After a slow start to his career with a diversion into Art School, he began to pick up work and once his career took off in the late 1980s he was never short of offers. Cracker in the 1990s pulled in 15 million viewers at its peak, almost unheard of for a drama in those days and won him three consecutive best actor Baftas.  In recent years he has suffered from ill health, especially diabetes and osteoarthritis.

  He had an upfront 3^rd house Aries Sun and Mercury conjunct the North Node opposition Neptune and trine Pluto in the 8^th and square a 6^th house Uranus.  He also had Saturn and a Virgo Moon in the 8^th which would be where his melancholy was rooted. His Moon opposed Jupiter and Venus, which may have contributed to his over-eating; and his Pluto opposed Venus giving him a rumbustious love life. He had multiple relationships despite his unlikely appearance.

  Mars in Virgo in the 9^th would add to his 3^rd house Aries planets in producing a communicative and argumentative streak. Uranus in the 6^th does suggest health issues along the way and added onto an indulgent Venus Jupiter tied into his Moon over-eating would have been a temptation to stave off his 8^th house Saturn Pluto glooms.

Tortured and talented – and he ended up much loved.

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