Astrology and News
A Member of Parliament who believes in astrology?
I doubt any British Member of Parliament could get away with believing in astrology, but there’s a Slovak MP who would appear to take some horoscopes seriously, at least according to SME, one of Slovakia’s leading newspapers.
The MP’s name is Rafael Rafaj. A grave looking man with a goatee beard, he’s a member of the SNS, a nationalist party that’s part of the governing coalition. Rafaj hit the news a few weeks ago when it got out that he’d been covering for his party leader, Jan Slota, by forging his signature on an attendance sheet.
That seems a helpful thing to do. Apparently Slovak MPs must clock up a minimum attendance to qualify for their monthly salary, and Jan Slota was otherwise engaged. So in his absence, Rafaj was able to sign him in. Though I’m not sure if this was really necessary, at least from a financial point of view. Slota’s well off, and the monthly salary isn’t much more than $5,000. But I suppose in these uncertain times every bit counts, and no crime was committed.
As for Rafael Rafaj, he’s a man of diverse interests. Being an MP he’s obviously interested in politics and philosophy. And his interest in history is also not surprising, given his membership of a nationalist party. How can any patriotic Slovak forget that their country was ruled by neighbouring Hungary for a thousand years? Aside from that, he’s interested in a healthy lifestyle, yoga, spiritual subjects and downhill skiing. And he’s also a vegetarian, who lists Mahatma Gandhi as one of his role models.
I don’t know what Rafaj thinks of Nostradamus, but he’s done an esoteric analysis of the Slovak national anthem, Nad Tatrou sa blyska - ‘Lightning over the Tatras’.
The Tatra mountain range, the east-west spine of Slovakia, is a powerful symbol of the Slovak nation. Maybe dark, Wagnerian archetypes are lurking in the mists of these mountains, waiting to be unleashed?
Incidentally, the SNS recently supported a campaign to have the Catholic priest Andrej Hlinka made a ‘Father of the Nation’. Hlinka, who died in 1938, was a nationalist politician, with a disdain for democracy, who laid the ideological foundations of the anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi regime that ruled Slovakia during the Second World War.
On the subject of astrology, SME quotes Rafaj as saying, translated into English, ‘I know how to prepare for certain decisions, for crisis situations. I read quality long-term horoscopes…’
I suppose this raises the inevitable question, of whether or not he predicted the furore about the forged signature. But at least we know when Rafaj was born - October 19 1959. This makes him a Libran, like Andrej Hlinka. Librans put a premium on harmony and they’re usually eager to please, so it’s not surprising that he’d be prepared to help his party leader out with his attendance record.
My overall advice to Rafaj is to make a greater effort to tune into his spirituality. It’s great that he’s vegetarian, and admires Gandhi, but forging a signature doesn’t strike me as being a particularly worthy thing to do. Spiritual people have to set a very good example, especially if they’re in the public eye.
Rafaj should also consider the possibility that spirituality and nationalism are, in some respects, contradictory. Slovakia might be a nice place, it might even be the greatest country in the world, but one day it’ll no longer exist. Shouldn’t spiritual people be looking beyond the physical and the transient, and instead be focusing on the eternal?
Furthermore, if one’s tempted to align one’s country with one’s spirituality one is, in my opinion, treading a dangerous path. As Jesus famously said, ‘Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s’.
In the mean time, Rafaj is going through his Jupiter mahadasa. So far so good, in the sense that his political career is prospering. But to maintain his luck, he’d be advised to fast on Thursdays (the day of Jupiter), if he doesn’t already. And on Thursdays he should engage in charitable activities, that cost him time as well as money. He might also want to intone an appropriate mantra, that’s connected to Jupiter. But maybe he’s a devout Christian, and that’s out of the question?
The next British Prime Minister - star signs to choose, star signs to avoid
(This article is available for listening. You can download the mp3, by RIGHT-CLICKING this link and saving it to your hard drive.)
The Labour party of Gordon Brown has just been smashed at the Crewe bye-election. Whether one uses common sense, gut feelings, political analysis or plain, simple astrology, it’s clear that Gordon Brown’s in the wrong job, though astrology would have given some early warnings. So, who’s next? Or rather, who should be next? Clearly if Gordon Brown stays in office, and Fate doesn’t intervene, it’ll be David Cameron - which for astrological reasons would be bad new for Britain.
I can use a number of sophisticated astrological techniques to work out which politician has the best and worst horoscope, but let’s keep things simple. We can focus on the star signs, and see which Prime Ministers have been most successful, and have caused least damage to the country. ‘Least damage’ really is the operative phrase, because politicians, of all parties, tend to make things worse.
I’ll now go through the twelve signs, giving each a ‘Prime Minister rating’, one star being abysmal, five stars being brilliant. These ratings are only applicable to the UK.
Aries - 3 stars Logically Aries should be the best sign for a British Prime Minister. In Greek and Roman astrology, North West Europe was ruled by Aries, and one of the horoscopes most used for England, the coronation of William the Conqueror on Christmas Day 1066, has Aries rising, assuming the coronation happened around midday. Since the Second World War there have been two Aries Prime Ministers, namely John Major and James Callaghan. Both Prime Ministers are usually given poor ratings by political historians, and their governments were characterised by argument and disintegration. Yet many of their problems were not of their own making, and were caused by their predecessors. I therefore don’t think we can say that Ariens are necessarily bad for the country. The last Aries to be a Prime Minister before John Major was the Earl of Derby, who was Prime Minister three times, finally leaving office in 1868. He was the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party.
Taurus - 2 stars Tony Blair was the last Taurean Prime Minister. Iraq aside, the jury’s still out on him. The Taurean Prime Minister before him was the Earl of Rosebery, who was Prime Minister for just over a year in the 1890s. Before that, the Duke of Wellington. In general it’s probably best to avoid Taurean leaders, because they can become dictatorial. For example, Pol Pot, Lenin, Hitler and Robespierre.
Gemini - 3 stars In the modern era there has only been one Gemini Prime Minister, namely Anthony Eden, who, Gordon Brown aside, is often seen as the worst post-war Prime Minister. But was his decision to get involved in Suez any worse that Tony Blair’s decision to help invade Iraq? If one goes back to the early Nineteenth Century, we discover that Lord Liverpool was also a Gemini. He was Prime Minister for nearly fifteen years at a stretch, longer than either Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair. Surely he got something right? Pitt the Younger was another Gemini - in 1798 he introduced Britain’s first income tax. Clever Gemini, thinking of new ways to raise money!
Cancer - 1 star The Conservative party had two Cancerian leaders in a row, namely Sir Alec Douglas Home and Edward Heath. Sir Alec was Prime Minister for only a year, Edward Heath’s premiership was destroyed by the unions. A star sign best avoided!
Leo - 2 stars It’s true Leo Stanley Baldwin was Prime Minister for much of the 1920s and 1930s, but was he good for Britain? It was a time of economic decline, that took us towards the Second World War. He must also take some responsibility for appeasing Hitler. Before Baldwin there was Arthur Balfour, who had difficulty holding his government together. His Conservative goverment was defeated by the huge Liberal landslide of 1906. The stronger Leos can be dictatorial - for example, Napoleon, Fidel Castro, Benito Mussolini and Hugo Chavez.
Virgo - 3 stars The Liberal landslide of 1906 brought in a Virgo Prime Minister, Henry Campbell-Bannerman. It was this government that brought in reforms that were the precursor of the welfare state, for example pensions and sick pay. He resigned through ill health, and actually died while he was still resident in Downing Street. His successor, Herbert Asquith, was also a Virgo, and continued the reform program. The last Virgo Prime Minister was Andrew Bonar Law. He wasn’t Prime Minister for very long, and he was dead within six months of leaving office. Incidentally the close of Asquith’s premiership had a sense of tragedy. He was the Prime Minister that took Britain into the First World War, and less than three months before his resignation one of his sons was killed at the Battle of the Somme.
Libra - 2 stars Margaret Thatcher is a Libran. Obviously a strong personality, but I’m not sure if she was very good for her country. She curtailed the power of the unions, but while she was in office Britain’s industrial base got clobbered. Ramsey McDonald, the first Labour Prime Minister, was also Libran. He cooperated with the Conservatives, leading a national government, and was eventually expelled from his own party for treachery. Nineteenth Century Prime Minister Lord Palmerston was another Libran. He certainly stood up for Britain’s interests, and is particularly associated with gunboat diplomacy - using the power of the navy to strength the country’s diplomatic hand. And let’s not forget that Margaret Thatcher sent a naval task force to the Falklands Islands, to liberate them from Argentina. Incidentally Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is a Libran. Like Lord Palmerston and Margaret Thatcher, Putin’s good at boosting his country’s power, but maybe only a narrow segment of people get to benefit.
Scorpio - 1 star The last Scorpio Prime Minister was Lord Goderich, who was in office from August 31 1827 to January 21 1828. He was famous for crying when he couldn’t form a government. The Scorpio Prime Minister before Lord Goderich was Spencer Perceval, who was assassinated in 1812.
Sagittarius - 4 stars Winston Churchill was a Sagittarian and so was Benjamin Disraeli. They’re considered to be two of Britain’s greatest Prime Ministers, and interestingly they were both distinguished writers.
Capricorn - 5 stars Going back to Britain’s 1066 horoscope, and we’re a Capricorn country, born on Christmas Day. Since the beginning of the Nineteenth Century there have been three Capricorn Prime Ministers, namely William Gladstone, David Lloyd George and Clement Attlee. All three were social reformers, all three had a big impact on the society in which they lived. Many regard Clement Attlee as being Britain’s best Prime Minister, not least for his establishment of the welfare state, which included the National Health Service.
Aquarius - 4 stars Harold Macmillan was an Aquarian, and his time in office was marked by stability and growth. As he famously said, ‘our people have never had it so good’. Another Aquarian Prime Minister was Lord Salisbury. He was in and out of power at the end of the Nineteenth Century, and was widely respected.
Pisces - 0 stars It’s not possible to give Pisces any stars. The most accomplished of the three Piscean Prime Ministers of the modern era was Harold Wilson. But in spite of his intelligence and charisma, he didn’t live up to his promise, and by the time he left office Britain was an economic wreck. The same can probably be said for Gordon Brown, minus the charisma. Yet the worst Piscean of them all was Neville Chamberlain, who allowed Hitler to occupy Czechoslovakia - if he’d stood up to Hitler the Second World War and all its horrors would almost certainly never have happened.
Now we’ve been through the twelve signs, we’ve got a pretty good idea of what sign we don’t want the next Prime Minister to have, and that’s got to be Pisces. This means that Ed Balls and James Purnell, who are both named as possible replacements for Gordon Brown, are fundamentally unsuitable. It should also be noted that the first Pisces to be leader the Labour Party was George Lansbury, in the early 1930s. He was a militant if principled pacifist, who seemed to believe in talking to dictators rather than stopping them. A case of the road to hell being paved with good intentions!
Another possible candidate for the Labour leadership is Cancerian David Miliband. It’s a sign that doesn’t have a great track record, and although he’s the front runner to succeed Gordon Brown, I’m not convinced that he’s astrologically suitable.
Then there’s Hilary Benn, who is a Sagittarian - the sign of Winston Churchill and Benjamin Disraeli. But it would be really good if the Labour party could find a Capricorn to lead them. Capricorns are natural born politicians, and they’re particularly suited to left-of-centre politics. Yet Capricorns have a slow-burning charisma, and I doubt they’ve got enough time to work their magic in the one or two year run up to the next election.
As I’ve suggested in previous articles, the Conservatives have their own problems. David Cameron is a Libran, and Librans, to function properly in politics, have to be tough. Think Margaret Thatcher, Lord Palmerston, Vladimir Putin, Silvio Berlusconi. I don’t think Cameron fits in with this list, and several years down the line, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s more of a Ramsey McDonald figure - he wants inclusion, he wants to be nice to everyone, but in the end he could be accused by his own party of betrayal.
Under these circumstances, David Cameron should quit while he’s ahead - he could still still lose the next election, if Gordon Brown stands down and the Labour Party finds the perfect candidate. As far as replacements for Cameron are concerned, Gemini George Osborne is a possibility. Or even a return to the top spot by William Hague, an Aries. Though having looked at William Hague’s Hindu chart, I’m not sure that’s going to happen.
But maybe the Conservatives should go for an Aquarian - a modern day Harold Macmillan or Lord Salisbury? Strangely, at the moment the Labour Government has no Aquarian cabinet ministers, and neither are there any Aquarians in the Conservative shadow cabinet. At least I couldn’t find any. Perhaps Aquarians are too sensible, or too independent-minded, to get involved in the upper echelons of British politics?
So what is going to happen? The Thatcher-Blair superstar era is over, and we’re going to return to normal politics. You won’t get one party being in power for ten years or more, you’ll instead have constant alternation, with a change of Prime Minister every few years. It’s probably healthier and more democratic that way. But in the mean time, the Labour Party must keep looking for its Capricorn. He or she has got to be somewhere!
The hunt for Barack Obama’s birth time
If you know what day someone was born you can tell a lot about them. You’ll know what signs most if not all of their planets are in, and you’ll have a good understanding of their main psychological dynamics. However when delineating their horoscope, it’ll be difficult to discuss concrete details, and one’s reading will have a certain vagueness to it.
Yet when we have an accurate time of birth, we can see which areas of a person’s material existence will be affected by the various planets. And it’s much easier to predict how their life will unfold.
The time issue has been a major problem for astrologers in the US, who have been struggling to make sense of Barack Obama’s horoscope. His date of birth, August 4 1961, was never in question, and neither was his place of birth, namely Honolulu, Hawaii. Yet the time was needed to complete the picture.
Some astrologers apparently couldn’t deal with the uncertainty, and went for 1.06 pm. This time had come from a reputable source, but it couldn’t be confirmed.
It’s obviously very dangerous to paint a detailed pictured on a shaky canvass. If, at a later stage, the time is shown to be wrong, there’s a risk of serious embarrassment, both to oneself and to one’s craft.
Fortunately the matter has now been resolved, or so it seemed. This week, at the United Astrology Conference in Denver, it was announced that he was born at 7.11 pm. So it would appear that anyone who made rigid interpretations based on the 1.06 pm birth time has got egg on their face.
I promptly set up Obama’s chart for 7.11 pm, and it was a great time for him to be born. Based on that chart alone, I can see a convincing case for him winning the presidential election in November.
Nonetheless, I’m going to stick to my guns. I don’t think he’s going to win, I still believe it’s going to be McCain, unless Hillary can snatch victory from the back-fangs of defeat. Though quite what I’d predict if Hillary were Obama’s running mate, I don’t know.
But getting back to the 7.11 pm birth time, I asked myself whether this time really was accurate. In fact, at 5.54 this morning, Bratislava time, I asked the question ‘Was Barack Obama born between 7.00 pm and 7.20 pm.’
At the time I asked the question the Moon was void of course in late Libra, in a part of the heavens known as the Via Combusta. So the answer is NO, Barack Obama was not born between 7.00 pm and 7.20 pm. And even if I see documentary evidence of a 7.11 pm time - for example on a birth certificate - I won’t believe it. The chart for my question was very simple and remarkably clear. So as far as I’m concerned, the hunt for Obama’s birth time is still very much on.
Virgo of the week - Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair was born on September 23 1954, very early in the morning. Which makes her a Virgo. For a lawyer, Virgo can be a great sign to have. It’s very focused on the details, the kind of details that can make or break a legal case.
If one sets up her horoscope using Indian astrology, one can see why she’s been so successful. A Moon-Jupiter conjunction in her First House, that gives her plenty of luck. Furthermore, she’s someone who can defeat her enemies and rivals - and in today’s competitive environment that’s a major ability.
Cherie Blair’s autobiography, Speaking for Myself, comes out tomorrow. Astrologically it was probably a good move for her to bring the publication date forward, from the autumn. Mercury, the communication planet, is now favourably placed in Gemini, and tomorrow the waxing Moon makes a fortunate aspect to Mars.
Much has been made of Cherie Blair’s relationship with her former neighbour, Gordon Brown. There’s been a suggestion that they don’t get on very well, which isn’t surprising - she’s a Virgo, he’s a Pisces and the Virgo-Pisces relationship can be very difficult.
In the Zodiac Virgo and Pisces are opposite each other. Virgos like things to be properly organised, and in general they’re rational players. What can sometimes bother them is the sheer emotion underlying the Piscean’s behaviour patterns. Also, the Piscean can appear troublesome and slippery.
As far as the future is concerned, I think Cherie Blair could experience a big change in the late summer of 2010, that will continue until 2020. It seems to relate to her career, and her ability to defeat her enemies and rivals. Probably a new job or a new role, that’s challenging and maybe exhausting, but most importantly, self-empowering.
Jupiter, Saturn and the break-up of the European Union - can Cameron handle it?
I’m old enough to have a clear memory of the international situation in the early 1980s. The Cold War was going strong, and many people were afraid of nuclear annihilation - I think that’s why every autumn there were huge CND rallies in London. I also remember the news stories from Poland about Lech Walesa and Solidarity, though no-one I talked to seriously believed that Communism was under threat. Most of Europe was divided into two ideological camps, that was the way it was and that was the way it was always going to be. Yet six or seven years later Communism in Europe was dead.
At the time I knew nothing about astrology, and I therefore didn’t understand the devastating power of the twenty-year Jupiter-Saturn cycle. It’s a cycle that starts with a conjunction between these two planets. Jupiter goes faster than Saturn, and after ten years they’re opposite each other. Ten years later there’s another conjunction, and as one cycle ends a new one begins.
Roughly speaking, conjunctions are about union, oppositions are about breaking up. That doesn’t mean that conjunctions always create unions, and oppositions always create splits - one has to use one’s judgement, to analyse the wider, astrological picture.
There was a Jupiter-Saturn opposition on September 10 1989, on November 14 1989 and on July 13 1990. The reason there were three contacts is because of retrograde motion, but I won’t go into the technical details of this phenomenon.
In the Autumn of 1989 Communism in Europe was teetering, but the symbolic end was on November 9 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down.
Fast forward a decade, or more precisely to May 28 2000, and there was a conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn. The conjunctions tend to be more subtle than the oppositions, but they often initiate periods where things get closer, where boundaries become more fluid.
In the years following the 2000 conjunction, European unity was very much on the agenda. The Euro was introduced on January 1 2002 and on May 1 2004 the European Union expanded, to include countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Baltic states. In 2007 Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU. In 2008 the Schengen Agreement was extended to large parts of Eastern Europe and as a result border posts across the region were torn up.
All very nice, and today the European dream seems in tact. Even the economic problems affecting the United States and Britain seem a million miles away. The Poles and the Slovaks, for example, seem to believe that they’re insulated from the storm, that the phenomenal economic growth of their countries will continue unabated.
Yet we’re now moving towards the Jupiter-Saturn opposition. The energy that was seeded at the time of the 2000 conjunction will go into crisis. Economic contradictions will make themselves felt, political differences will roar into life.
There’s probably no immediate need to panic. In 2008 Jupiter and Saturn make a harmonious aspect, and in the calm before the storm it’ll be business as usual. The new Europe can keep enjoying itself, proudly waving its star-spangled blue flags. However it’s as well to remember the words from Richard Wilhelm’s translation (Penguin, 1989) of the I Ching:
ABUNDANCE has success.
The king attains abundance.
Be not sad.
Be like the sun at midday.
It’s now the moment of abundance, the high watermark of European unity. Remember the moment, like you remember the sun at midday - in spite of the sun’s brightness, it’s now on the decline, as it moves towards dusk.
Late 2008 and 2009 sees an opposition aspect between Saturn and Uranus. This is a destabilising influence, and I suspect its emphasis will be political rather than economic. In the East European context, we may see the resurgence of nationalistic tensions that have been buried by a decade or more of economic prosperity. For example, a lot of Hungarians believe that great chunks of Slovakia and Romania should be incorporated into a greater Hungary - particularly as these two countries have large Hungarian minorities.
The Jupiter-Saturn opposition finally hits home in 2010 - it’s exact on May 23 2010, August 16 2010 and March 28 2011. The Indian summer will be over, governments and central banks will be running out of options. At this stage the global economy will be a complete mess, and I suspect that Eastern Europe will be hit particularly hard.
Although I’m not convinced that we’ll see a repeat of the Great Depression of the early 1930s, it’s worth noting that on October 29 1929, the day of the famous Wall Street Crash, Jupiter and Saturn were only twelve degrees short of the opposition, which finally become exact on July 27 1930.
In the European context, one has to understand that the Jupiter-Saturn opposition will be about reality - the idealism of the conjunction will be gone, and selfishness will rule. Each European country will act selfishly, and the problems of Eastern Europe will, I think, be a large contributing factor to the break up of the EU.
The break up is unlikely to happen on the dot in 2010 or 2011- it’ll take a few years. And it might not be total - perhaps smaller groups will emerge. But whatever happens, the dream of European unity will be in tatters.
One can also take a smaller scale view. If a country is already showing signs of a split, then it’s likely that the Jupiter-Saturn opposition will be the final straw. One can think of Belgium, that’s going to have real difficulty surviving the next decade as a unified country. Then there’s the Ukraine, where the eastern, Russian-speaking part is almost certainly going to break away. And nearer to home there’s Scotland. Independence is already being talked about, and the opposition is only two years away!
The impact of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction on Britain could be immense, and one wonders how David Cameron, the Conservative leader, will deal with it. Although he has a weak horoscope, at least until the early Summer of 2011, it’s in much better shape than that of Gordon Brown. So if Gordon Brown is still Labour Prime Minister at the time of the next election Cameron should have no difficulty beating him - not that you have to be an astrologer to say that! Yet in this scenario, Cameron is going to run into problems almost immediately, and he’ll need all his political skill to survive in office until May 2011.
The August 16 2010 Jupiter-Saturn opposition has a direct impact on Cameron’s horoscope, and I’m thinking that the old Conservative problem, of Europe, is going to raise its head. Though this time round, the Eurosceptics are going to hold most of the cards, and some kind of break from Europe might be his only option. But has he got what it takes to deal with the situation? Whatever he decides, the Jupiter-Saturn opposition needs to be handled with a tough approach, and Cameron’s neither Churchill nor Thatcher. Or even Tony Blair!
Interestingly, since the Second World War, the energy of the Jupiter-Saturn opposition seems to favour the Conservatives. On October 15 1951 there was a Jupiter-Saturn opposition, and ten days later Clement Attlee’s Labour government was defeated, and Winston Churchill got a second term as Prime Minister. On March 8 1970 there was another Jupiter-Saturn opposition, and just over three months later the Labour government of Harold Wilson was thrown out of office, Edward Heath becoming Conservative Prime Minister. Twenty years later, at the time of the 1989 and 1990 opposition, the Conservatives were in power, and were apparently very unpopular. Yet they survived the astrological turmoil, winning the 1992 election.
This provides further evidence that the Conservatives will win the next election, particularly if it’s in 2010. However they would do well to remember Edward Heath, whose government lost power in 1974. David Cameron might have a very different personality to Edward Heath, but he could suffer a similar and probably much quicker political fate.
The 2008 TIME 100 most influential people - how does your star sign measure up?
TIME have just produced their list of the hundred most influential people of 2008. It must be difficult having to produce these lists year after year, because you don’t want to repeat yourself too much. Perhaps that’s why Pope Benedict XVI and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez aren’t in this year’s list.
TIME also, I assume, has to give the the impression that it’s up to date, and is covering all segments of society. So fifteen year old singer and actress Miley Cyrus, a Sagittarian, gets into the 2008 list, in the ‘Artists & Entertainers’ category.
It’s easy to be critical of TIME’s pick, but maybe part of its function is to make us think - about people we might not have heard of, but who in their own way are making a big difference to their environment. I suppose this would apply particularly to people working in the areas of science, medicine and charity. Though from an astrological point of view, this is annoying - because when you’re dealing with such people, who at the moment aren’t widely known, it can be difficult to get hold of their birth data. So, when I did a star sign analysis of the TIME list, I could only find the signs of around seventy of the hundred names. Well, actually, it was a bit more than hundred names, because certain people got joint placings - for example Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and the Coen brothers.
Anyway, here’s my star sign analysis, covering about seventy percent of the list, showing how many people, from each of the twelve signs, are in it:
Aries: 5
Taurus: 6
Gemini: 3.5
Cancer: 7
Leo: 4
Virgo: 9.5
Libra: 5
Scorpio: 7
Sagittarius: 7
Capricorn: 2
Aquarius: 9
Pisces: 7
I don’t include people born ‘on the cusp’ - if I’m not sure of someone’s star sign I don’t include them. Where two people share a spot, they contribute half a point each. So Brad Pitt contributes half a point for Sagittarius, Angelina Jolie half a point for Gemini.
Now it’s possible that a more industrious astrologer than me would discover the star sign of everyone on the list, and my partial analysis will be shown to be statistically well short of the mark. So my findings are very provisional, and no firm conclusions should be drawn.
Anyway, the big surprise is that there are more Virgos than any other sign, with 9.5 of them. The reason it’s not a whole number is the Coen brothers, who get a shared placing - Ethan Coen is a Virgo, his brother’s a Sagittarius.
It’s tempting to conclude, given how many Virgos there are, that Virgo is the most influential sign of the Zodiac. However we have to remember it’s the 2008 list. Virgoans are influential this year, perhaps because Saturn is moving through their star sign, while Jupiter is moving through the creativity sector of their solar chart. As a result they’re hard working, and they’re able to get their talents out into the open - in such a way that they get recognised.
At the other end of the scale, there’s poor Capricorn, getting a score of only two. Which is very strange, given that Jupiter, the planet of good fortune, is passing through their star sign. But we should remember that in January the planet Pluto entered Capricorn as well. This planet is a heavy-duty influence, which intensifies everything it touches. Perhaps Capricorns are taking time to get used to Pluto, and they’re finding it difficult to make an impact?
Finally, what about your star sign? How influential are you going to be in 2008? Given my analysis of the TIME list, I’ll give the following provisional ratings to the twelve signs:
Five stars, a real mover and shaker: Virgo and Aquarius
Four stars, a serious player: Cancer, Scorpio, Sagittarius and Pisces
Three stars, waiting for your moment: Aries, Taurus and Libra
Two stars, acting behind the scenes: Gemini and Leo
One star, hiding in the mountains: Capricorn
If you’re a Gemini, Leo or Capricorn, don’t worry, 2009’s another year!
David Cameron - a Sun in Libra and a Moon in Leo doesn’t make him Margaret Thatcher
David Cameron is a British politician, leader of the Conservative party. His party is well ahead in the polls, and they have done stunningly well in recent local elections. Under these circumstance, there is a growing assumption that he’ll be British Prime Minister some time in the next couple of years.
So far I haven’t paid much attention to his astrology - I’ve been mesmerised by the dreadfulness of ongoing trends in current Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s horoscope. And I can’t help thinking of the John Boorman film Excalibur, where the condition of King Arthur and his kingdom are inextricably linked - a damaged king makes for a damaged land. Yet in Gordon Brown’s case there’s no Holy Grail.
Anyway, it’s now time to focus on the man who’s supposedly going to be Prime Minister very soon. His star sign is Libra, which is a great sign to have if you want to be a politician. Although Librans can be weak and uncommitted, those that succeed in politics can be cleverly manipulative, using their understanding of human nature to help propel themselves to the top. Vladimir Putin is a Libran, and so’s Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and neither man strikes me as being a weak leader.
Most significantly, Margaret Thatcher is a Libran. And I think she illustrates one of the key points about this sign. The symbol for Libra is the Scales, and most Librans want to adjust themselves, so that they harmonise with their environment. Yet Margaret Thatcher had a reputation for being uncompromising - ‘The lady’s not for turning!’ being one of her most famous quotes. It seems that in many cases she wanted the world to adjust to her, rather than the other way round.
When I look at David Cameron’s chart, I get a feeling that he’s not in the mould of Margaret Thatcher. Aside from the Sun, he’s also got the Ascendant and Venus in Libra. I get the impression that this is someone with great social skills, who wants, as far as possible, to make everyone happy.
And while his Moon in Leo makes him a proud and sometimes forceful person, it’s not the same Moon as Margaret Thatcher. Her Moon, like that of Winston Churchill, was positioned right at the end of Leo, close to Regulus, the royal star. David Cameron’s Moon, by contrast, is in early Leo - so it’s unlikely to provide the kind of drive, ambition and intensity that was such a defining feature of the careers of Thatcher and Churchill.
Though to be fair, David Cameron does have the planet Mars on Regulus. The astrologer Vivian E. Robson said of this position:
Honour, fame, strong character, public prominence, high military command.
Still, when I look at David Cameron’s Hindu horoscope, I start to wonder what he’s doing in such a high political position. As far as I can see, there just isn’t the mark of political greatness. Also, in Hindu astrology, he has an opposition between Venus and Saturn, slap across his crucial First-Seventh house axis - Gordon Brown having the exact same feature. To me this is troubling, and I’ve got a hunch that David Cameron, despite his desire to make everyone happy, is capable of making enemies, particularly until May 2011, when the full power of the Venus-Saturn aspect is in force.
On the plus side, David Cameron’s chart isn’t as badly afflicted as Gordon’s Brown’s, and as things stand there’s no reason to believe that he won’t be Prime Minister. And he’s helped by a wonderful conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter, that takes place in Leo in Western astrology, in Cancer in Hindu astrology. This conjunction really is very fortunate, and suggests a man who has got a fair mount of luck.
Nonetheless, I can’t help thinking that the Conservative Party could have picked a leader with a better horoscope. Things might be OK now, but fast-forward a couple of years, to Cameron as Prime Minister, and it might be a different story.
Josef Fritzl, Aries gone bad
My astrology teacher, the late Olivia Barclay, was never one to mince her words. While talking to her in a pub in Walton-on-Thames, she told me that everyone with an Aries star sign was a bastard. And being a teetotaller, she wasn’t drunk. Of course Olivia was making a massive generalisation, but I think I know what she was getting at.
Aries people like to do what they want, when they want, and sometimes they can appear selfish. Yet in my experience they tend to be straightforward. Usually they tell you what’s on their mind, and there’s not much that’s kept hidden. So it was with some surprise that I discovered that Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his daughter in his cellar for twenty-four years, while forcing her into an incestuous, child-bearing relationship, had Aries as his star sign.
On April 9 1935, when Fritzl was born, the Sun was at nineteen degrees Aries, its point of maximum exaltation. According to traditional astrology, the horoscope Sun in this degree position should make someone very powerful, not to mention fortunate. However it seems that in this case, it’s lead to blinding egotism - a person who is so obsessed with themselves that morality, decency and humanity get thrown out of the window.
To top it all, Fritzl went on holiday to Thailand, leaving his daughter and her children trapped in his cellar. It’s true that Aries people like going on holiday, often at short notice, but Fritzl is Aries gone bad. A man so depraved and selfish that he can put his short-term and very perverse gratifications before anything else.
It’s worth noting that American murderer Jay Wesley Neill was born on April 9 1965. In 1984 - the same year that Fritzl imprisoned his daughter - he killed four people while robbing a bank, three with a knife, one with a gun. He was in a financial mess, and a bank robbery seemed to be the answer to his problems. That’s Aries gone mad - you hit an obstacle and you take immediate action, without caring less about the consequences.
Then there’s Russian serial killer Alexander Pichushkin, born on April 9 1974, who killed at least forty-eight people. Known as the ‘chessboard killer’, he wanted to kill one person for each of the sixty-four squares on a chessboard. Before being sentenced to life imprisonment, he said ‘I was judge, prosecutor and executioner’, suggesting a massive, almost godlike ego.
Josef Fritzl took it upon himself to completely control his daughter for twenty-four years, to force her, and then her children, to live in a dungeon that he himself had created. Did he, in some warped way, believe that he had the right to do what he did? Did he think he was some twisted god? I don’t know, but to say the least, he strikes me as being a real bastard.