A truly depressing tale has ended up with life sentences in California for parents David and Louise Turpin for starving and torturing all but one of their 12 children. They were chained to their beds, severely under nourished, were taken occasionally to Disneyland but were only allowed to shower once a year and had never seen a dentist or a doctor.

It’s a bizarre story with few sensible explanations as to why they behaved as they did.

David Turpin, 17 October 1961, is a Sun Libra in a wobbly up and down square to Saturn Jupiter in Capricorn with a Capricorn/Aquarius Moon. He does have a can-be unpleasant Mars, Neptune, Mercury in Scorpio sextile Pluto, which suggests a vengeful or cruel streak. His Venus in last degree Virgo is trine Saturn and Jupiter – so he would alternate between superficial charm and coldness.

His can-be-dominating 5^th harmonic is startling, bringing together Neptune Mars Uranus and Saturn into a conjunction – which certainly suggests perversion, cruelty, high-level neurosis.  His 7^th harmonic which can be mentally on a fine balance is marked; as is his obsessive 11H. And his destructive/self-destructive 16H is fairly brutal, controlling and inclined to megalomania.

His wife Louise, 24 May 1968, is a feisty Sun Mars in Gemini though that squares his Pluto, so he may well have had her under his thumb. She has a fated Yod onto a focal point Saturn in Aries which has heavy karma attached and requires real maturity to live up to its lessons. Her Saturn opposes his Sun; and her Moon probably in Taurus opposes his Scorpio planets – not a relationship that brought out the best in either of them. Their relationship chart has a delusional composite Sun square Jupiter Neptune. But would really need birth times to make sense of what was an unthinkable folie a deux.

“Violent dissident republicans” are being blamed for the death of a Northern Ireland journalist Lyra McKee during riots in Londonderry. She was standing near a police vehicle which was under attack after the police had carried out searches for weapons and ammunition. Masked attackers appeared to throw petrol bombs, fireworks and other debris at police Land Rovers. The unrest comes ahead of the Easter weekend where republicans mark the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, a time when dissidents are traditionally active. Her death is being treating as a “terrorist act” probably by the New IRA. Crowds gathered today to mourn her.

She was born 31 March 1990 and was an upfront Sun Aries square a highly-strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn in an adventurous opposition to Jupiter; and her Mercury in Aries was in a serious square to Saturn in Capricorn. She also had a courageous and stubborn Mars in Aquarius square Pluto so wouldn’t be scared of crisis or conflict.

The Northern Ireland chart, 7 December 1922  does have emotions running very high at the moment with tr Pluto opposition the Cancer Moon, and that’s around till late 2020; with the Solar Arc Neptune also conjunct Venus for confused emotions and sadness.

The ‘New IRA’ have said they were responsible and have apologised to her family, saying that a civilian should not have been attacked. They were formed (wiki) on 26 July 2012 which, if accurate, gives a brutal and explosive Mars in Libra opposition Uranus square Pluto which collided with Lyra McKee’s Aries Sun square Neptune Uranus, so a disruptive interface. The relationship chart has a mega-destructive composite Mars Pluto Saturn opposition Sun. There are usually stark crossovers between perpetrator and victim even where the killing is random.

There is pressure on the New IRA chart this year with tr Pluto square the Saturn, till late 2020, and tr Uranus square the Sun also into 2020 – so perhaps, just perhaps, it could help to quieten down the old feuds.

‘The brain-dead eco snobs’ otherwise referred to as ‘eco pagan pixies’ or ’well-heeled social parasites’ at the forefront of Extinction Rebellion have laid themselves open to satire as well as irritation as they cause havoc on the streets of London in the name of climate change. Plastic bottles and bags proliferate; careless talk is thrown around about workers, who have to earn a living, abandoning their jobs to join them on the streets; and luvvie Emma Thompson has swept in – by air from Los Angeles – to give them succour.

The reality is that the UK is way ahead of most countries in reducing CO2 emissions. The UK has made some of the largest reductions in the OECD and has recorded a 38 per cent decrease in CO2 output since 1990; and has almost entirely abandoned coal as an energy source. Emissions in the UK are now at their lowest point since the 19^th century. The worst offenders are China (by far), India, USA and Russia.

And even for the UK the demands of the activists are unrealistic. To achieve zero net emissions by 2025, entire industries would have to be wiped out and there would be wholesale restrictions on household items, eradication of air travel and a ban on meat production. A Zero Carbon Britain would need to build around 130,000 new wind turbines in an off-shore location to achieve net emissions by 2030 – which would take up a space twice the size of Wales.

Emma Thompson, has long been an outspoken campaigner for environmental issues and human rights, at times attracting criticism for her strident tone.  Born 15 April 1959 she’s an upfront Aries with an afflicted Mercury in Aries square Mars in Cancer opposition Saturn and inconjunct Pluto – so she will have a tendency to come across as rough-edged and at times overly forceful and aggravating.  She doesn’t look as if she is winning much this year with tr Neptune slipping and sliding its way round three of her midpoints; tr Uranus causing a catastrophe or two as it collides with her Mars/Pluto midpoint with the prospect of worse in 2020 as her Solar Arc Mars is conjunct her Pluto and tr Pluto starts to square her Sun – maybe she’ll go full suffragette and get herself incarcerated to make a point.

Which isn’t to say there isn’t a sensible, indeed urgent point to be made about climate change. But the strategy of XR appears to be short circuiting badly.

Even a Fox news presenter accused the Attorney General William Barr of acting as if he was Trump’s defence lawyer rather than the nation’s senior law officer, when he gave a press conference effectively in support of Trump before releasing a redacted copy of the Mueller Report.

What’s interesting despite all the hollers of ‘no collusion’ and ‘no obstruction’ is how dire Barr’s chart looks. He’s walking into a shedload of misery from May 1^st till mid-August with tr Neptune opposition his Mars/Saturn midpoint which Ebertin describes as ‘waning powers, self-torment, a grievous loss’. And more woes and depression from mid May onwards. He may have health issues due to strain. These influences repeat on and off till late 2020. His term chart, 14 February 2019, is starkly explosive with Pluto opposition North Node square a Mars Uranus conjunction – and slippery with a focal point Neptune.

His relationship chart with Trump has a friendly composite Sun Venus and a chained-together Saturn Pluto – all looks calm on the surface until next year but underneath on the midpoints this May to August is edgy in the extreme with losses and additional pressures running alongside, all of them rolling into 2020.

Mueller looks deflated at the moment but picking up more enthusiasm and success after mid May onwards. His relationship with Barr is exceptionally pressured at the moment and there’s movement of a jolting variety on both his relationship charts with Trump and Barr come July onwards. So there’ll be more to follow.

Trump himself has tr Pluto in the depressing and discouraging opposition to his Saturn till mid May, repeating till late 2020; with the deeply frustrating and enraging tr Pluto opposition his Mars/Node at the same time.

He’s now facing the blowback to his overuse of ‘fake news’ since the public now don’t believe what’s being handed out to them about his shining white innocence. Not even Fox. The gods of irony are chortling.

Emmanuel Macron is spinning through a series of crises, some of them self-created with the Notre Dame fire adding to his challenges. The gilets jaunes (yellow vest) protests against economic inequality and rising fuel prices forced him into a humiliating climbdown that will add to the national deficit and make it less likely he can push through any more much needed and promised reforms.  His isolated Presidential style of government is coming under increasing criticism. His initial hope for a Franco-German pact to move towards a more federalist EU has been dashed. And he’s now at daggers drawn with Italy, the UN and the EU and siding with Egypt over his support for Haftar, the Libya rebel leader at present bombing Tripoli, in the hope he can secure Libyan oilfields for France. The volatile situation in Libya could land Italy with another wave of migrants and spike oil prices if the crude oil supply is disrupted.

Four planets including his Sun in fiery Sagittarius and Mars in bombastic, flamboyant Leo give him inspiration, confidence a sense of entitlement but not much practicality or team-building ability either within France or across Europe.

His Solar Arc Sun and Mercury have been in a ‘collision’ opposition to his Mars in recent months over the increasingly violent internal demonstrations; and he’s had a trapped, frustrating tr Pluto square his Sun/Mars which continues on till late this year.

At the moment over the Notre Dame tragedy he has tr Pluto square his Saturn/Neptune midpoint which usually accompanies a major depression and a highly disconcerting event. That runs on and off till late 2020.

His Presidency chart has tr Saturn square the Midheaven  and square Jupiter through this year for setbacks; and it has tr Pluto trine the Sun for a definite challenge to change. Tr Neptune is in a panicky failure square to the Presidency Mars in November/December this year. So more slipping and sliding to come.

On his personal chart tr Saturn is heading for his Ascendant from early next year, though it zig zags back into his 12^th till late year – this is the start of a lower profile few years of lessening success, so it doesn’t augur well for the next election in 2022.

Relocating his chart to Libya puts Neptune into his 10^th with Pluto firmly in his 8^th so not a propitious region for him.

The activist group Extinction Rebellion (XR) has threatened to shut down London until the end of April by blocking roads in protests in order to draw attention to climate breakdown. Two days of disruption so far have seen 120 arrested and many tens of thousands of workers had their travel plans disrupted.

XR was set up in 2018 with one hundred academics signing a call to action over climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecological collapse. A declaration was issued on 31 October 2018 when it was deemed founded as a civil disobedience movement. Activists have pledged a willingness to be arrested and go to prison, similar to the mass arrest tactics of the anti-war Committee of 100 in 1961. They take their inspiration from grassroots movements such as Occupy, Gandhi’s independence movement, the suffragettes, and Martin Luther King. It wants to rally support worldwide around a common sense of urgency to tackle climate breakdown.

Laudable aims but if they put livelihoods at risk in major cities and cause chaos they won’t be popular.

The 31 October 2018 chart has an exact Venus in passionate Scorpio opposition a reformist, rebellious Uranus at zero degrees in Taurus square a leadership Leo North Node – with Venus conjunct the Sun and the Node possibly conjunct the Moon. So its start certainly keys up Uranus’s entry into earthy Taurus. With progressive change pointed up by Uranus trine Saturn in Capricorn.

The Sun is also trine idealistic Neptune; but with Neptune   in aspect to both the Mars/Saturn and Sun/Pluto midpoints, there’s a possibility of it all petering out after a while, since it lacks vitality and doesn’t have the stamina to overcome the resistance in its path.

For all that there is a notable 17^th Harmonic which usually suggests leaving a legacy for history, so something will stick.

The fire which ravaged the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris yesterday has stunned the French for whom it is a national symbol. It was under renovation and at risk with an ancient wooden frame which serves as foundation for the roof, making it ‘incredibly flammable.’  It has survived remarkably over 850 years, through World Wars and religious attacks.

The foundation stone was laid on 24/25 March 1163 JC which gives an expansive Aries Sun opposition Jupiter with an enduring Pluto opposition Saturn.  Tr Neptune is squaring the Saturn within a degree which is a neurotic, panicky, dissolving influence; and the Solar Arc Neptune is moving to conjunct the Mars soon which is equally undermining.

The Consecration chart of 19 May 1182 JC has Neptune transits to the Sun/Mars midpoint and the Solar Arc Sun. It is moving to a Uranus Return within weeks which does suggest a back-to-the-drawing-board moment and is also a pointer to a rebuild since its Uranus is on the focal point of a T Square with a Saturn opposition Neptune.

Both these charts have Cancer North Nodes so they are undergoing a Nodal Return and hitting the Eclipses this year.

What is probably even more significant is the France country chart.  Often when a disaster of considerable proportions happens in a country, it is a forerunner to great change to come – collapse and rebuild.

The France 21 September 1792 3.30 pm chart has a good deal of activity affecting its Saturn in Taurus opposition Jupiter Neptune with tr Uranus hard aspects shaking it up last year and this. At the moment tr Uranus is square the Saturn/Jupiter midpoint which Ebertin describes, amongst other things, as ‘damage to a building.’ Tr Neptune is also chipping away at the Solar Arc positions of these three planets this year and next. The Solar Arc Midheaven and Mars are also colliding with the Eclipses this year which usually suggests a crisis.

The January Solar Eclipse located to Paris puts Uranus on the Descendant; and the July Eclipse has Uranus exactly on the IC – so it is highlighted as a region for sudden disruptive events.

By 2021 tr Pluto will be sextile the 1792 France Mars and then sextile the Midheaven. Given that on country charts soft transiting aspects act like hard, this suggests a three years phase of extreme pressure for change against heavy resistance with a good deal of frustration.

The older chart for France, 10 August 843 JC, is showing even clearer signs of a destiny-changing phase – with tr Pluto Saturn square the Uranus and conjunct the Saturn this year and next; a devastating Solar Arc Neptune conjunct Pluto now, often seen around natural or man-made disasters; and a swampy, scary tr Neptune square the Solar Arc Pluto and opposition Solar Arc Mars this year and next.

Just a quickie on Pete Buttigieg, who has become an unexpected rising star since launching an exploratory low-key start to a Presidential bid in January and yesterday made it official.  He declared himself in at around 2pm in South Bend, Indiana, yesterday. This puts the Aries Sun exactly trine Jupiter in a nearly exact trine to a Leo Moon  – so an inspirational, confident, attention-seeking Fire Grand Trine. The Sun is also in a heavy-duty square to Saturn Pluto – but he has that anyway in his chart, so it won’t bother him as much.  If the time is about right Uranus is hovering around the midheaven or in the 10^th for a reformist, mould-breaking run.

He does have tr Uranus square his Jupiter in Scorpio over the election which will be good news, though he has other less helpful influences also running. See earlier post March 19 2019.

A gruelling campaign will take the edge off his enthusiasm but he’s one to watch now and for the future.

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From a near-crippled has-been and the butt of late night TV jokes after his sex scandal, Tiger Woods has fought his way through four back operations to win his first Golf Masters and first major win in more than a decade.  He said afterwards it was wonderful for his kids to see him win after so many years watching him in pain.

Born 30 December 1975 10.50 pm Long Beach, California, he has a seriously determined Capricorn Sun square Pluto opposition Jupiter in upfront Aries, so he’s not short of confidence or driving determination.

There’s surprisingly little indication of a surge of triumph on his chart apart from tr Jupiter conjunct his IC, opposition MC and square his Ascendant and Moon/MC. Though his Solar Return for this year does have Jupiter in the 10^th.

He’s had a stressed tr Uranus square his Solar Arc Mars and natal Saturn running up till last Saturday as he pulled out all the stops under huge pressure. And he has tr Neptune square his Mars all this month which isn’t usually a sign of great success though it can attract publicity.

He did start his comeback last year as tr Saturn started to move away from his low profile First Quadrant where it had been for seven years – and this is a time when individuals move out into the world more visibly and can become more successful than in the previous ‘dip’ phase.

But for all that top level sports stars are tricky to predict since often what shows up is serious stress and some panic which isn’t easy to interpret as success.