Rupert and Wendi: A Perfect Match I wrote a piece about Rupert Murdoch a couple of years ago, because he’s a fascinating character. At the time I wondered what had happened when Pluto went over his Ascendant — and how come he was still standing – since he seemed to be doing OK at [...]
See moreUranus-Pluto square
Astrology of Now: Mud Wrestling
U-Plu It’s all been a bit jagged for, well, years. For most people, the ongoing U-Plu (Uranus-Pluto square) has not gone smash-bang and changed everything. It’s felt more like a massive arduous grinding shift; a huge stone cog that judders along, sending out sparks every now and [...]
See more
Eurowobbles
So now it’s naughty little Cyprus, the island of Aphrodite, which is giving the eurozone the screaming abdabs. Aphrodite is the Greek Venus, of course. In astrology, Venus rules money, so maybe it’s not such a surprise that Cyprus was, until a week ago, a great place to get your [...]
See more
Punch Drunk Britain
(This is the second part of my piece on the UK. There is much more to say, but for now, this will suffice.) Sometimes it feels like Britain is a boxer still upright after 10 rounds but punch drunk: standing up because of a combination of will power and show business. One blow after another [...]
See more
Britain On The Rack Of The Uranus-Pluto Square
Corridors of power under a Neptune transit. For a month or so last summer what it meant to be British in the 21st century seemed so clear – in an eccentric sort of way. There were James Bond and the Queen and Mr Bean cavorting about, and various sporty types and dancing nurses and Voldemort, [...]
See more
Kali Drives Change in India
Indians have taken to the streets to protest against violence against women. India, the world’s biggest democracy, is a great big bhel puri of languages, religions, customs and manners. Special interests are as diverse as religious customs, but for the past month Indians have been [...]
See more
Some Thoughts on 2012 and 2013
Negotiating 2012 required a sound umbrella and a stiff upper lip. Hurricane Sandy Well, that was quite a year. We have all been buffeted by the stormy energies of the planets in 2012. In particular, the cardinal signs – Aries, Capricorn, Cancer and Libra – have been in a high wind. It’s [...]
See more
Hillsborough: Corruption and Shame
On that day, 41 Liverpool fans might have survived had those in charge acted more swiftly. It’s taken 23 years to expose the police cock-up that caused the Hillsborough Disaster – and the cover-up that followed. On that day in April 1989, 96 people were crushed to death in a football [...]
See more
Higgs Boson: Oh, So God Does Exist?
Beaker and Bunsen. Apparently, it’s the most important breakthrough in physics since they smashed the atom. Now as students of astrology know, Pluto is associated with atomic energy, so how wonderful that on the day of the Full Moon (a project coming to completion) conjunct Pluto – and [...]
See more
Astrology of Now: Where’s Your Revolution?
Lord Shiva, the transformer Today, the god of transformation is joined by the Full Moon in the sign of institutions, establishment, organisation. And the head of Barclays Bank resigns… The Moon slides over Pluto at 8° Capricorn and then opposes then Sun, which is at 12° Cancer. If you [...]
See more
Carry on Merchant Banking
It used to be like this… When we talk about the City of London, we are talking about both a place and an idea. The City is the square mile that was once a fortified town founded by the Romans, that developed into the heaving moiling medieval trading centre on the banks of the River […]
See more
Swindle Revealed
Those bankers are incorrigible: first they cheat, then they lie, then they try to cover it up, and then they shop each other. A charming bunch of people we have taking care of our money. It was revealed today that traders at Barclay’s Bank have been fiddling the figures to make [...]
See more
Astrology of Now: The Space Between
When you’re trying to draw something right in front of you, the key to getting it right is often to look at the space between. When you start to look properly, you can see that space has a shape and vivacity all its own. Look at the “negative space” in this painting by [...]
See more
Ray Merriman on the Debt Crisis
As we all know now, we are living in interesting times, but sometimes it’s hard to keep up with just what is going on. The scene changes so rapidly; opinions vary so wildly. The financial astrologer Ray Merriman has written a brilliant piece for The Mountain Astrologer which explains [...]
See more
50 Shades of Hades
Just in case you’ve missed it, 50 Shades of Grey is a story about a young woman who meets an insanely wealthy, mysterious, tortured but alluring older man. They have a passionate affair during which she discovers herself as a sexual being – and his tough facade is penetrated by her sheer [...]
See more
Egypt: Eating Shit or Revolution?
There’s been a creative explosion of graffiti in Cairo post-January 25 “Given a choice between eating shit or eating shit, most Egyptians have decided they’re not hungry,” Omar Kamel, Egyptian activist. He was talking about the phony elections held in Egypt over the [...]
See more
Astrology of Now: Watching the Dirty Laundry Churn
I watched the current Chancellor of the Exchequer and an ex-Prime Minister lie on oath yesterday. And I have to admit, I was a bit shocked. I’m just not that cynical. I thought George Osborne and Gordon Brown would probably tell the truth. But neither did – intentionally. I should not [...]
See more
Astrology of Now: The Drums of Uranus-Pluto
The energies of the planets work together like an orchestra. Sometimes one section is louder, sometimes it’s stately, sometimes it’s raucous, sometimes there’s harmony, sometimes there’s not. There are themes and variations that weave in and out of time, repeating once [...]
See more
Europe: When Bread Runs Out, Enter the Circus
About two thousand years ago, peace reigned across the Roman Empire. From Alexandria to the Hadrian’s Wall, all opposition had been crushed and people were able to trade, farm and prosper without fear of being molested by marauding barbarians. Meanwhile, in the bustling, wealthy, [...]
See more
The Nation’s Soul
Ted Hughes was best known as a powerful nature poet before he was made laureate in 1984. It seemed like a strange choice; this poet of fox and moor, black-backed gull and deadly pike, above all of wildness, asked to write about the baroque, many-layered, structured, civilised, profoundly tamed [...]
See more