When George Floyd was murdered on May 25 by a police officer in Minneapolis kneeling on his windpipe, his final words were: “I can’t breathe.” Somehow, this statement resonates powerfully with our time, and it was taken up by demonstrators across the US. “I can’t [...]

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, are finally suing the tabloids. The British media and the royal family have a weird symbiotic relationship. The media veers between creepy sycophancy and vicious criticism; relentless pursuit coupled with endless judgment. The family invites [...]

I’ve been thinking about the American writer Toni Morrison today, the day after she died, and remembering her book Beloved, which won her the Pulitzer Prize, and is considered by most critics to be her masterpiece. Beloved tells the story — in densely poetic language and imagery [...]

Let’s focus on some good news. Prince Harry, brother of the future king, is going to marry a successful, mixed-race, working woman in her 30s. She’s American, divorced and brought up largely by her single mother. Her family is not out of the top drawer, but out of that capacious middle one. [...]

I couldn’t help but note that on the day American footballers staged a peaceful protest across the country, Neptune, the higher octave of Venus (planet of peace) and Mars, the planet of warriors, came into perfect opposition. The athletes chose to kneel when The Star-Spangled Banner was [...]

Diamond Reynolds live-streamed the immediate aftermath of her boyfriend’s murder by a police officer in St Paul, Minnesota on Wednesday. Her powerful testimony during the filming, and at an impromptu press conference the following day is so compelling, so passionate, so pure. If words can [...]

Self-named, self-invented, self-motivated, champion boxer Muhammad Ali was a modern embodiment of the archetype of hero. He was charismatic, strong, graceful, poetic in speech, courageous in deed. He spoke up for the millions and laughed at the powerful. He took his punishment squarely and [...]

To travel from Eritrea or Gambia across the desert to the lower lid of the Mediterranean Sea — braving torture, slavery, asphyxia in the back of a truck, rape and beatings —  to cross in an open boat: this is a hero’s journey. Imagine doing it as a child. So far this week [...]

The month of Virgo was beautiful here, one warm soft day follows another. But the weather was also strange and unseasonable. The nights draw in but the days are as warm as summer. It’s dreamlike. Being deep in the dream of Virgo this year — with the help of an opposition from [...]

The 1998 World Cup winning French football team was an emblem of French diversity. The National Front said it wasn’t “French” enough. France is having a weird and unnerving time of it. Everything that seemed certain about the country is being shaken, questioned and has yet to [...]

Nude by Francis Cadell. “There must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists, can arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic of the fairy tale.” – Ralph Ellison, Born March 1, 1913 Sun in Pisces, Mercury in [...]