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This Mercury retrograde period is allowing me to slow down and catch up on some unfinished work on my website.

First on my list was writing a sample for my new romantic compatibility report, True Love. It took me a while to find a good celebrity couple – we’ve all had enough of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. After some research, I decided on Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, who truly are soul mates.

As with all of my new reports, True Love includes a brief, information-packed analysis by me, a custom chart, and several pages of computer-generated aspects. To my knowledge, there is nothing like this report anywhere else. You can find computer-generated compatibility reports on the Internet, of course – some of them are even free – but you don’t get the personal look by a professional astrologer to tie it all together. The other option is a personal reading, which costs far more and may not be in writing, which many of you prefer. I’m offering True Love at just $49.

Karmic connections are what almost everyone wants to know about these days, and you usually don’t find this information in computer-generated reports. Identifying karmic ties is one of my specialties. If this is your particular interest, you can let me know, and I’ll focus on that angle of your relationship. Here is an excerpt from my sample for Johnny and Vanessa:

Johnny, you and Vanessa clearly have a strong karmic connection and an unbreakable bond. There is no doubt in my mind that you are soul mates and that your relationship exists in other dimensions of time and space (commonly referred to as “past lives”).

The thing that immediately jumps out at me in your synastry chart is your double Moon-North Node conjunction; that is, your Moon is within a few degrees of Vanessa’s North Node in Capricorn, and her Moon is near your North Node in Cancer. This explains why, when you met, you felt instant recognition and a sense of knowing that this was The One.

If you’d like to know more about this interesting (not to mention gorgeous) couple, check out my sample report. The computer-generated part of the report is written by Gina Ronco and is one of the best compatibility reports out there. It’s unique in that it includes both your synastry and composite aspects.

I’m also offering a compatibility report for relationships that aren’t romantic. I’ll have that sample up in the next day or two, so check back, if that’s something you’re interested in. In addition, I’m tweaking the StarGuide report format to allow more space for my comments on where the New and Full Moon and current transits fall in your chart – “tweaking” being a good activity to do while Mercury is retrograde. I have a couple of other surprises in store, too.

I have noted that not everyone is experiencing the positive potentials in this Mercury retrograde period, especially given the transit of Mars over the T-square and eclipse degrees of the past two years. I don’t know about you, but I have that “life flashing before my eyes” feeling … and yet, it’s not entirely bad. Our lives really have changed, which is becoming more apparent as Mars moves through these critical degrees.

I’ll give you more of my thoughts on this in the upcoming weekly forecast.

In the meantime, wishing you much love and courage,
Pat

William and Kate will be married at Westminster Abbey, which has a history of royal weddings dating back to 1100.

The wedding ceremony for the royal couple at Westminster Cathedral is set to start at 11 a.m. on April 29. (Click here to view the chart.)

I have heard colleagues wax lyrical over this chart. They were delighted at how the tenth-house Sun in stable Taurus and stabilising Saturn in sextile to the Ascendant in royal Leo indicate a lasting marriage and the couple’s eventual ascension to the throne. They were delirious about Jupiter and Mars on the Midheaven, almost a guarantee of fame and fortune for Will and Kate, including numerous offspring. Well, with all due respect, I beg to differ.

To start with, the Sun is at a challenging angle to the Ascendant, indicating tensions and difficulties. It is telling that the Ascendant should be conjunct the Arabic Part of Discord! The background of fixed stars provides hints as to what the difficulties might be. There is Hamal (following one’s own path), Schedir (the Queen, female power) and Denebola (to go against society).

Additionally, the Sun forms a flowing aspect with Pluto, the underminer, in the fifth house of children … and of royalty. If you have read the first two parts of this series, you may be able to imagine several scenarios at this point, ranging from divorce out of boredom or claustrophobia to abdication of the throne. Since Pluto describes collective influences beyond personal control, a democratically induced end to the monarchy is not unthinkable either. The English have done it before…

But back to the wedding: Certainly, the array of planets in the ninth house and around the Midheaven suggests great public interest from around the globe and a great party at that. It aptly describes the moment as well, since the ninth house is the area of religious ceremonies. Also, Jupiter on the Midheaven is ruler of the fifth house of children, suggesting a whole bunch of kids. After all, this is the whole point of the exercise, as the North Node in the fifth house of children shows.

However, there is a down-side: Aries planets tend to be rash and to act without really thinking things through. They often lack the stamina necessary to see a quickly started project through to the end. Jupiter in Aries often turns out to be a bag full of hot air, while an over-enthusiast Mars/Jupiter conjunction tends to bite off more than it can chew. Mars and Jupiter on the Midheaven may just as well describe a couple famous for its enormous rows.

The clearest indications that Cinderella and her Solstice King might not live happily ever after are given by Saturn and the Moon. In the wedding horoscope, Saturn represents the “contract” the couple is entering into, as well as their shared resources and motivations. With Saturn being retrograde, the contract won’t last in its original form, and shared resources may start dwindling, while the current, shared motivation to enter into this marriage may turn out to be hollow.

Meanwhile the Moon, giver of form and symbol of caring and motherhood, is void of course. After only the shortest glance at this horoscope, any horary astrologer would advise to forget about the matter at hand, as nothing will come of it. Translated into this wedding chart, it is just another indication that we’ll likely be looking at no more than a grand opera being performed.

After Will and Kate had seen the Archbishop of Canterbury to discuss their wedding arrangements, he was asked about his impression of the couple. Apparently, he described them as shallow and superficial, and didn’t give the marriage a chance to last beyond its seventh year. If you ask me, he might actually be right, but for the sake of the currently happy couple and of the British monarchy, I hope that I am wrong.

In case you missed it:
Part I
Part II

Helene

Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio.

You can also find more information on her website, Trans-It! AstroLogistics.

The resemblance between these two charts is striking (Click here to view the synastry chart.) Their respective Sun and Moon in aspect by sign is a combination that is often found with married couples. Conscious will and instinctive emotional reaction are cooperating; there is a basic understanding of each other’s needs and a readiness to act accordingly. Also, the male (Sun) and the female (Moon) principles are acting in unison, which is paramount for the production of healthy progeniture – and producing royal heirs is the main point of this exercise, at least as far as the royal family are concerned.

However, William’s Sun and Moon are in the early degrees of Cancer, while the Lights in Kate’s chart occupy the middle degrees of Cancer/Capricorn. Although there is therefore no direct aspect connection, this may support the stability of the marriage, because the couple will never experience difficult transits affecting their individual inner cores at the same time.

A special sheet of stamps has been issued in the U.K. to commemorate the royal wedding.

Interestingly, Kate’s Moon is exactly conjunct William’s lunar South Node, another hint in the direction of offspring and a possible “practice round” in a previous life – in other words, a karmic connection.

The couple’s communication appears to run smoothly and without any obstacles. Both Mercuries are in logical and intellectual air-signs and connected by an easy-flowing trine aspect, meaning Will and Kate do understand each other very well. Both Mercuries are in easy communication with Mars and Saturn in Libra, and both relate to electric Uranus. All this could create an atmosphere of lively banter and friendly competition, as well as unusual interests, adventurous pursuits and travel companionship. In the best case scenario, we see two very like-minded people joining forces in an “us against the rest of the world” kind of pact, and acting in unison, if under restrictive conditions. But oy vey, if one of them goes through a change of mind without the other and coldly calculated hurts start flying in both directions! Meanwhile, however, Kate and Will do enjoy having a good laugh about their private jokes, which may be none too flattering for the subjects of their jests.

The things we like are described by Venus. Will’s and Kate’s Venus positions are connected through a square by sign, indicating action on the romance front. While Kate admires mental acrobatics, inventive logic and classic design with a twist, Will likes the hands-on feel of beauty and sensuality, material comfort and what is commonly called “the good things in life.”
Both Venus positions are related to unpredictable Uranus, indicating an electrically charged attraction between the two lovebirds, but also a certain fickleness in their mutual affections. Kate’s chart features a Venus/Uranus sextile, indicating that she knows to pick her moments and get away with it, whereas Will may encounter real opposition whenever he sticks to his individual tastes or follows his impulses regarding people, places and activities. Someone somewhere may feel shocked or affronted by his choices, and sometimes, this someone could be Kate.

We have already seen one example of the on-off quality this relationship can carry. In 2007, Kate couldn’t cope with the intense media attention and the couple split up, only to reunite a few months later. Let’s hope that they have in the meantime learned to make use of the determination and endurance their Mars/Saturn combinations can provide. If they keep following their Uranian impulsiveness, they may end up repeatedly throwing the babe out with the bathwater.

With so much fluctuation indicated, good old Saturn becomes especially important as the provider of stability. With Will’s Venus in aspect to the Lord of Time, there doesn’t seem to be much danger of him wanting to break out of a relationship once he has opened his heart. Unfortunately, Kate doesn’t have this tool in her box and we can only hope that her common sense will override her impulsiveness, if this union is to last. I believe the first test will come a few months after the wedding:

Although Kate was born a few months before Will, her Saturn occupies a later degree than Will’s. Since the wedding announcement, he has gone through the second phase of his prolonged Saturn return, which will go into the third and last phase in August/September 2011. It is the right time for him to formalise his love relationship and give it legal status. Kate, however, will go through the honeymoon phase and then experience a rather quick, one-hit Saturn return in October 2011. I reckon this will be the time when she first realises just how formal her life has become and she may not like it very much. By the same token, however, a sense of “having arrived” may prevail. I wonder whether we’ll ever know…

The Composite Chart

Since we don’t have a time of birth for Kate, we have to ignore the house positions in the composite, but even so, the planet positions are quite revealing, with regards to the potential of this relationship. (Click here to view the composite chart.)

The Sun in spontaneous and hot-headed Aries is accompanied by Mercury and Venus in the same sign. There certainly are true loving feelings between Will and Kate, but the companionship factor appears to be just that little bit stronger. This could even be a stabilising factor in the long term. If Will and Kate develop a mutual sense of comradeship through thick and thin they may be able to weather the storms that seem inevitable with this chart.

A weak Mars and the sensitive Cancerian Moon both afflict the Sun. The Aries planets suggest childish ego struggles between the couple, while combative Mars and habit-forming Moon indicate a possibly endless cycle of arguments, during which caring feelings first get hurt and then shut off. On the other hand, it looks like Will and Kate are certainly going to do their best to produce new heirs to the throne, as the T-square is calling for action. Besides, the Moon is conjunct the fixed star Alhena, which Bernadette Brady interprets as “to be on a mission.”

However, Venus in Aries is thrilled by the hunt, which will be over by the time they’re married. Additionally, the connection from Venus to Uranus could make the couple feel bored with each other quite quickly and lead them to seek new thrills, either in their own bedroom or – heaven forbid – in someone else’s.

Again, stabilising Saturn would be needed to provide the stability the rest of the planets don’t seem to provide. Unfortunately, composite Saturn is unaspected, i.e. it can’t exert its influence on any of the other planets. An unaspected planet tends to manifest itself in extremes, either not at all or completely over the top. In Saturn terms, this means the relationship may have no staying power or stability at all, or it may become super-restrictive for the two people involved. In either case, I somehow doubt we’re going to see a fairy tale with a happy ending unfold.

In the third and final part, we’ll look at the chart for the wedding.

Helene

Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio.

You can also find more information on her website, Trans-It! AstroLogistics.

On April 29th, 2011, her grandson William, Prince of Wales, and Miss Kate Middleton will embark on their journey on the sea of matrimony. Glossy magazines, national and international news, are full of the Royal Couple. Paper cut-outs, flags, memorial plates and mugs are being mass-produced in China. And in a national soap opera, a local beauty compares her engagement ring, tongue-in-cheek, to that of “Kate Minkerton.” It’s been several hundred years since a commoner became part of the royal family, time to have a good look at the astrological implications.

Part I:  The Birth Charts

Kate Middleton was born on January 9, 1982, in Reading, UK, time apparently unknown. I always wonder how a mother can forget giving birth, but okay, after the third time things may get a bit hazy. What a pity we don’t have Kate’s correct chart angles. No worries, though, we can find out a lot just by looking at the planets, can’t we? (Click here to view chart, set for noon.)

With Sun in Capricorn and Moon in Cancer, we see someone who understands the principle of hierarchies, who knows about duty and discipline, about stability and security. Through the opposition, Kate is likely to experience frequent conflicts between her instinctual reactions and the demands of material or organisational necessity. See here Cinderella who can’t go to the ball and a future queen who will put duty before fun. Or will she? It looks like the self-made millionaire’s daughter is going to the big dance after all.

Both lights (Sun and Moon) are in a tense relation with Mars and Saturn in Libra, which is not exactly a remedy, but rather exacerbates Kate’s inner tension. This could trigger fears, guilt and inertia, or, vice versa, decisive and goal-orientated action cutting to the chase. I think we have a very ambitious, motivated and energetic young lady on our hands.

Anecdotally, Kate already “knew” at a very young age that she would one day marry a prince. Talk about a go-getter!

Malicious rumours even have it that she hunted for Prince William in pursuit of her life’s ambition. Well, admittedly, with this combination and in a worst-case scenario, this kind of determined action would not be entirely unthinkable. In the best case scenario, however, this is exactly the kind of woman needed for the job of representing and presiding over a whole nation and more when the day comes.

Venus in cool Aquarius is combined with a very logically minded Mercury. Kate has a musical or artistic talent here, which she has, so far, poured into a study of art history. No wonder, her Venus (beauty, art) is in mutual reception with natal Saturn, the ruler of time and all things old! She must truly feel blessed to become part of a family so richly steeped in history and tradition!

But Venus and Mercury are also aspected by quirky and unpredictable Uranus. Kate likes to be different and original and is likely to have a very special sense of humour and style. Her designer-friendly appearance has already found ample admiration, at some point much to her own annoyance. The temporary separation between her and the man she now intends to spend the rest of her life with fits this pattern as perfectly as the subsequent reunion. Let’s hope that she will have ample opportunity to express her independence within her married life!

Prince William was born on June 21, 1982, at 21:03 BST in London, UK. (Click here to view chart.) As the eldest son of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, he is second in line to the English throne.

Astrologically, he is very much his famous mother’s son. They shared the Sun sign Cancer, the late Sagittarius Ascendant and, almost to the degree, the same position of Venus in Taurus, in the house of creation, re-creation and procreation.

But whereas Lady Diana was never to be queen, Prince William so far walks steadily towards the throne. He was born with the Sun at 0 degress Cancer, at sunset on Solstice Day, a powerful degree. According to the ancient legends, this is the time when the Holly King takes over the rule of the land for the coming half year. This is the moment of the Sun being at its highest, its most direct and powerful. With his birth linked to this potent place, ancient legends would make William into a king with special powers regarding the land and its people, shining like the sun at midday, a good and well-loved leader. With Jupiter on the Midheaven supporting the Sun by Trine, he seems to be born for both his positions, as Prince Charming and as future king of England.

In addition, collective lover Neptune on the ascendant gives William the power to appear all things to all people, who will likely shower him with sympathy and goodwill in return. Once again, that’s a best case scenario. Since Jupiter is also the ruler of William’s twelfth house of self-undoing, it is not unthinkable that he might refuse the crown or abdicate eventually.

How his shy Cancerian soul deals with the divide between private and public persona is a completely different matter. With so much emphasis on the seventh house of partnerships and the “other-orientated” sign of Libra, William will likely turn to his partner and try to make the best of it. He will need overall sharing, intellectual feedback and emotional nurturing. In the next part, we shall see how this might work between him and his future bride.

Helene

Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio.

You can also find more information on her website, Trans-It! AstroLogistics.

Still, a lot of people are continuously providing new episodes for this ongoing saga.

There is Julian Assange’s former co-worker, who has published a book in which he describes Assange as a sex-obsessed, despotic megalomaniac. Interestingly, this man has also recently launched his own website called Openleaks.com, which might be a clue as to why he has such an interest in discrediting Assange.

Then there is the Swedish prime minister, who has openly called Assange “public enemy No.1,” thereby giving away that this is indeed more than an inquiry into rape allegations.

And, last but not least, the cyber underground organisation Anonymous has uncovered a US government plot, hitched on the Bank of America and to be carried out by various security firms, to hack into Wikileaks and prevent it from publishing sensitive material on banks and bankers – at a cost of $2 million for the American taxpayer. It is quite obvious that a lot more hinges on Assange’s current trial than the happiness of two jilted lovers.

So, what will happen on Thursday, February 24? The British judge who is supposed to determine Assange’s fate has adjourned the pronouncement of his verdict until that date. But will he have come to any final conclusions? And what will they be? Let’s have a look at the chart, shall we? (Click here to view chart.) It is set for opening of court in London.

With Gemini rising, we have a different significator for Mr. Assange than in previous charts. He is now shown by Mercury and the Moon as co-significator. The judge, however, is still signified by Saturn, as in all the other hearings. With ‘his’ planet in retrograde motion, the judge has already adjourned twice, so he might do it again.

But there is something strange going on with the judge’s planet: note that it appears in the sixth house without any connecting aspect lines. At first glance, that would indicate the judge is acting completely on his own– a bit of a wildcard, really, that could take off in any direction.

Looking a bit deeper, though, we find that Saturn actually is in league with Venus, since they are in each other’s signs, forming what is called “a mutual reception.” According to traditional rules, planets in mutual reception cooperate and can even exchange places. This would put Venus into Libra and the sixth house of mercenaries, while Saturn would then move to Capricorn and the ninth. The judge will most likely voice his opinion in the matter, and what he has to say will likely reflect the objectives of Assange’s secret enemies. With Taurus intercepted in the twelfth house, Venus is one of their significators and describes them as powerful political or financial forces (Capricorn), situated abroad (ninth house). What’s more, the judge is shown as possibly being in cahoots with them!

Let’s look at Assange’s position in all of this. His main significator is Mercury in Pisces in the eleventh house. Even though the eleventh house is that of the “good daimon,” indicating protection, Mercury is in a very weak position here. It’s flanked by Mars, main ruler of the twelfth house of secret enemies and self-undoing, and by the Sun, ruler of the fourth and fifth house (the end of the matter, and sexuality or glitz and glamour, respectively). I expect some more of Assange’s celebrity friends making a spectacle of themselves, but whether that is helpful or not remains to be seen. With roughly a degree between Mercury and the Sun, Assange may have to wait another week or month until the end of this particular matter, i.e. the court case in Britain.

Assange’s co-significator is the Moon. In Scorpio, it harkens back to Assange’s natal chart, where it conjoins his first-house Jupiter this morning, which is a positive sign. But within the court session chart, this Moon is unaspected and therefore rendered ineffective. Even if we count the outer planets in – which usually isn’t done in this kind of chart – the Moon is only approaching an aggressive connection with Neptune (confusion, deception) and an easy-flowing trine to Uranus, the unpredictable bolt of lightning. Interestingly, Assange’s significators are the only traditional planets in this chart that are not involved in any receptions, i.e. covert cooperation!

All in all, the chart reflects the muddle-up this case has been from the beginning. In order to cut through the chase, someone might use outright deception. With the Moon, i.e. Assange, being opposed by the Arabic Part of Treachery at 27°54’ Taurus, we know which direction this deception would be coming from. Once again, it might be a good thing for Assange, if the judge stuck with Saturn’s retrograde motion and adjourned yet another time.

Helene

Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio. You can also find more information on her website, Trans-It! AstroLogistics.

To start with, WikiLeaks.org was registered on Oct. 4, 2006. This happened at a time when Jupiter and Saturn were forming a square aspect in the sky; the finance-political disaster that is currently holding the globe in its grip was already brewing and about to enter the next stage.

Transiting Jupiter had just crossed Assange’s Ascendant – for him, it was a time to expand and to “come out.” Meanwhile, transiting Saturn was traversing Assange’s tenth house, indicating a time to assume some kind of leadership and to take on great public responsibility. Unfortunately, Saturn in the tenth house can also indicate “falling from a great height.”

In December 2007, WikiLeaks published material pertaining to Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. prison colony that President Obama still hasn’t shut down (to read the analysis of that transit, as well as a more comprehensive timeline, click here). Then, on April 5, 2010, video footage from 2007 was published, showing innocent Iraqi civilians and two Reuter journalists being shot dead from a U.S. Apache helicopter. Photographic images belong to the realm of Neptune, which was forming an active connection to Assange’s Jupiter at the time. Meanwhile, transiting Mars was sitting on his Midheaven, so it’s no wonder Assange gave us images of a war crime.

In the heavens, there was still an opposition between Saturn and Uranus going on, affecting all of us in some way and indicating that the rift between the conservative powers that be (Saturn) and free-spirited, innovative forces of progress (Uranus) was getting wider. On the day of publication, this was highlighted by an explosive Moon/Pluto conjunction in karmic Capricorn. Where the public is concerned, Assange certainly seems to pick his moments.

This trend continued with the publication of the Afghan War Log Files on July 26, 2010. Saturn/Mars and Uranus/Jupiter were opposing each other on the potent equinox axis of 0° Libra/Aries, and all four of them were heated up by Pluto, the planet of extremes.

The real bombshell, however, came on November 28, 2010, with the release of 250,000 cables sent to and from U.S. embassies all over the world. Assange’s chart tells us that he had been sitting on this information for a length of time. Transits suggest that yet another bout of the compelling urge to share bad news with the world had taken place as far back as late September and early October, when Sun, Mercury and Saturn activated Assange’s genial but very uncomfortable and almost compulsively rebellious Sun/Uranus combination.

For once, though, Saturn’s influence may have made him consider the consequences. Going through various possible scenarios, he must have realized that he would create a lot of enmity against himself and his affiliates among a large group of very powerful people. During October, these three planets were moving through Assange’s twelfth house, indicating a time of reflection and of hatching new plans.

On the day of publication, Pluto was exactly conjunct the North Node in Capricorn, the sign of political and financial hierarchy and of karmic debt. The collective was hit by fate big time, and those exposed in the documents may have felt like Judgment Day had arrived.

Sexual Misconduct Charges and Extradition Hearing

Meanwhile, Assange was fighting on a different front. Since late August he had a charge of sexual misconduct hanging over his head in Sweden, where he had applied for residency in view of that country’s laws protecting whistleblowers. When he allegedly forced himself on two Swedish women, Venus and Mars were moving across his natal Uranus, indicating the possibility of sudden and short-lived affairs, as well as a compelling drive towards unusual sexual practices. The Sun was traversing his tenth house and opposing his natal Mars; riding on his prominent social status as main speaker at a conference on media and war, his ego was pumped up, and he likely felt unusually strong physical urges as well.

The Swedish authorities on August 21st dropped the charges after one day of investigation. But following a lawyer’s appeal, the case was re-opened on November 18, 2010, an international arrest warrant was issued on November 20th. On that day, the Sun, Assange’s “public status planet,” shed its light on his natal Jupiter, the planet of international affairs and ruler of Assange’s fifth house of romantic involvements.

In giving himself up on December 8, Assange may have succumbed to a fleeting depression, with the Moon opposed his natal Sun. He was released on bail but was put under house arrest. The extradition hearing has been set for February 7 and 8.

As of this writing, the exact time of the hearing hasn’t been published. But assuming that UK courts open at 9 a.m., Uranus, Jupiter and the Moon will be on the Ascendant, which would make the interference of protesters likely (view chart here). The judge, signified by stern Saturn trying to find the correct balance in Libra, will not be stirred by public opinion, as indicated by a Moon/Saturn opposition on the second day of the hearing. We also have a flowing trine aspect between Saturn in Libra and a conjunction of Sun and Mars in Aquarius. The judge will have no problem putting a halt to Assange’s work, blocking his assets, and keeping him under arrest.

No matter what the British judge decides on February 8, with Saturn traversing Assange’s twelfth house, he is shown as Assange’s “secret enemy.” Saturn also indicates that this case, and possibly house arrest and/or incarceration, could drag on until summer 2014.

Meanwhile, the current Jupiter/Saturn cycle of global finances will peak in the last of five oppositions at the end of May 2011. If he hasn’t done so before, I expect Assange to publish the secrets of international banking around that time, or else we might by then be experiencing the global consequences of his revelations.

Helene

Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio.

Julian Assange hardly needs an introduction. Pictures and stories about “The Man behind WikiLeaks” appear on the web, in newspapers, and in national news around the globe.

I will not attempt to unravel his whole life’s story here, like the turmoil of his childhood or his failed marriage. I will concentrate on the context of recent events. Can astrology help us understand what’s happening to him? Are his motives as pure as the snow that Arctic winds are driving past my window right now? Or is Julian Assange an unscrupulous international terrorist? Some interested parties certainly would like us to believe that. I have yet to hear him being called a devil, but then – the label “terrorist” pretty much fits that description, doesn’t it?

Well, let’s start at the beginning. Julian Assange reportedly was born on 3 July 1971, 14:05, in Townsville, Australia (view chart here). This birth time, from a source who contacted The Mountain Astrologer, is only one of several that have been published, but appears to be the most reliable.

Sun and Moon are well connected, which is usually at the basis of a well-integrated personality. The ninth-house Sun points to publishing and foreign countries. This is someone who wants to know what’s going on in the world and who is looking for the bigger picture. Someone like this is usually interested in philosophies, universal belief systems, international relations and politics, to name but a few.

Also – and I bet most of you didn’t know that – in the ninth house the Sun is in its joy, Here, it can happily shine straight from the heart and be the teacher, leader, peacemaker. This area is traditionally called the House of God – read “the Divine” if you wish – and people with this placement often feel their work and their very existence are steered by a higher power meaning to affect large groups of their fellow human beings.

Assange likely wants to share his accumulated knowledge with the family of mankind, a very Cancerian approach. In doing so, he doesn’t mind shocking the recipients of his information, because he is marching to his own drummer and feels driven by a force that is bigger than the individual. The square aspect between Sun and Uranus indicates a multitude of innovative ideas that lead him to act in unexpected, challenging and rebellious ways – and to get himself into trouble doing so.

With Uranus in the eleventh house, these actions likely involve or affect large groups of people, directed at social reform as they are. And last but certainly not least, Uranus is the planet that signifies modern technology, computers and the internet!

Meanwhile, eighth-house Venus in Gemini loves factual knowledge and the power that comes with it, not to mention a good gossip. And if knowledge is power, secret knowledge is even more so! Or, vice versa, secret knowledge revealed may topple unjust powers that be. As we all know by now, Mr. Assange has whole-heartedly embraced that approach.

But that doesn’t mean Assange can’t keep a secret! His Scorpio Moon and the Scorpio Ascendant speak of secrecy and self-sacrifice. Both find secrets interesting and both are capable of keeping them forever. Under this strong influence of highly sensitive Scorpio, we also see a man whose “gut-feelings” may reveal future developments to him long before they actually arrive. Impersonal feelings could be at the basis of his outlook and his actions. This could be the love of truth or compassion for every living being or, conversely, a deep-rooted negativity or fear. Whichever may be the case, the Scorpio Moon forms a tense and active connection with Assange’s Leo Midheaven; there has always been the potential that this man would one day become famous for revealing secret information. This is also a signature for powerful “secret enemies” who can make his public life rather difficult – QED.

Assange’s chart ruler is Mars, situated in the fixed air sign Aquarius in the fourth house. It shows us a man whose actions are determined by carefully applied, logical thinking. The fourth house relates to home and family, and the Ascendant ruler in this position indicates a rather private person. Since Mars also rules the sixth house, this person could be working from home. But here, Mars also forms a tense connection with the Ascendant and indicates an inner controversy between private leanings and public duties, which is further documented by Assange’s first house planets.

With magnanimous Jupiter in the first house, one just isn’t “private,” but often has to fulfill the role of teacher or mentor for others in some way. Jupiter in the first house wants to be seen! Especially with sensitive, compassionate and collective Neptune close by, there is a potential to become a teacher and saviour to the masses. But Neptune often indicates a victim/saviour pattern that can work both ways. One of his biographers recalls from personal experience that Assange “creates an atmosphere around him where the people close to him want to help keep him going” and puts this down to Assange’s charisma. See here first-house Jupiter/Neptune at work!

Interestingly, this latter conjunction is in opposition to natal Saturn. Situated in Gemini and ruling Assange’s third house of communication, this Saturn strongly indicates struggle and conflict around being a “savior” and spreading news. In the seventh house, it promises that Assange’s communications can evoke strong open enmity and even lead to legal consequences – again, QED.

Please note that the Jupiter/Saturn opposition is part of the 30-year cycle between these two planets. Collectively, this cycle describes global economic and political developments. If an individual has one of the pivotal points of this cycle (the conjunction, the square or the opposition) emphasized in their natal horoscope, their life will be strongly affected by it, or he or she will even be involved in shaping related events.

In Part II, we’ll have a look at transits to his natal chart as events unfolded, and I’ll have some predictions for Assange’s extradition hearing scheduled for February 7 and 8.

Helene

Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio.

Gates was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle. According to Astrodatabank, his birth time was approximately 10 p.m., which gives him an Ascendant of just under 27 degrees Cancer. No one is born right on the hour, so this time is mostly likely a few minutes off. The sign is probably right, though, judging by his preference for V-neck sweaters like your father wore. It just screams Cancer!

As long as I’ve been an astrologer, Gates has been my model of everything Scorpio, which inspired me to start referring to him as “über-Scorpion.” All of the things we think of when we hear the word Scorpio can be applied to Bill Gates: aggressive, competitive, secretive, ruthless, defensive, obsessive, sarcastic, and intimidating, with a penchant for pre-emptive strikes. Scorpio doesn’t wait to be swallowed in a corporate takeover but swallows up the competition first. This is a risk-taker, an individual who doesn’t fear stepping right up to the line of the law and perhaps a bit over it. It’s all part of doing business.

There’s much that could be said about his chart, which has many clearly recognizable patterns – archetypal, you could say. But I’ll leave that analysis to someone else and concentrate on some broader observations.

I have a theory that Bill Gates had to be born a Scorpio in order to play his assigned role in this incarnation as transformer of personal computing. This is someone who aligned with his life’s purpose from a very early age. No matter what you might think of him or the PC, you can’t argue that he hasn’t had a powerful influence on how we use computers and, more importantly, how we communicate over the Internet. And this is where it gets interesting.

A few days ago, Gates’s successor at Microsoft, Ray Ozzie – himself about to retire – set the computer industry abuzz with a proclamation that the PC is dead. In its place we will have “software as a service” (SAAS) and something called “cloud computing.” It is a completely different model of computing, the equivalent of an empire crumbling in the wake of a new world order.

Gates left Microsoft on Jan. 7, 2008, ostensibly to spend more time at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the charitable trust he set up with his wife. When he left Microsoft, Pluto was in the early degrees of his sixth house, which is associated with one’s daily routine and service to humanity, and had just made a favorable trine to his second-house conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto (wealth and power). Saturn, meanwhile, had entered his third house, changing the way he communicated with others. With Saturn going down in his chart, his career was bottoming out. Apparently, he intuitively knew when to retire.

Over the summer, while the cardinal T-square was in full force, transiting Jupiter and Uranus were on Gates’s Midheaven, with Neptune and Chiron opposite his natal Jupiter-Pluto conjunction. That means Saturn crossed his IC (fourth-house cusp), and now Bill Gates is rising again, on a steady climb toward a second career peak.

Both Gates the man and the technology for which he is best known are transforming and evolving, and this seems somehow very exciting. Gates is moving toward using more of his wealth to help solve the world’s urgent problems, while the collective consciousness is channeling into new ways to expand the creative power of our minds and to connect with each other. We’re only one step away from getting rid of the material devices altogether and communicating telepathically.

It all seems so very Scorpio…

Pat

“Balance,” of course, is the keyword for Libra, and the new line was launched on October 7, the day of a very fine New Moon in Libra. Makes you wonder whether Klum has a personal astrologer. Or maybe they do at Amazon, because somebody hit that launch right on the money. Then, it could be just something in the collective, channeling through Amazon and superwoman Klum, who has made millions as a supermodel, businesswoman, television personality, working mom, and goddess knows what else.

These clothes fill a need for women who don’t want to spend a lot of time fussing about their appearance but want to look pulled together and chic while they run back and forth doing daily errands. Is that not what Libra is all about? Balance, balance. I’m not one to fall for advertising gimmicks, but I just love this look. I think it’s great that Heidi Klum has put her stamp on clothing that is modern and functional. It’s like living in your jammies, only more sophisticated … the best thing since Gloria Vanderbilt created designer sweats for air travel in the 1980s.

Now, you’re asking whether Klum has Libra in her chart. We don’t have a birth time for her, so we don’t know her Rising Sign. Libra might be a good guess, but I won’t speculate. Otherwise, she has a stellium in Gemini – Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn, which are being favorably aspected by transiting planets in fellow air sign Libra.

Like everyone born in 1973, she has Pluto in early Libra, which means Saturn recently crossed her natal Pluto, and transiting Pluto is square her natal Pluto. In other words, her chart was hit strongly by the cardinal T-square. The ad campaign on Amazon for her new clothing line features Klum bouncing on a trampoline. Her life no doubt felt like that for most of the summer! As she put it, the trampoline was meant to symbolize “energy and activity.” Again, we could have lifted those two words right out of an astrology text, as they’re significant keywords for the cardinal signs.

I also found it very interesting that Klum’s new line, called HKNB, is being sold exclusively on Amazon.com. The company was incorporated on May 28, 1996. At noon on that day (the time we use as a default when we don’t have an exact time), the Moon was at 13 degrees Libra – a degree shy of last Thursday’s New Moon.

Coincidence? You be the judge…

Meanwhile, check out some of HKNB’s styles, even if you’re only “Windows shopping.” I normally don’t feature anything but books in on my site, but I went ahead and created a slideshow with a few of my favorite looks. Just ignore the silly high-heeled boots. They must have confused Libra with Venus retrograde in Scorpio.

Pat

UPDATE October 31: Well, apparently launching at the New Moon in Libra couldn’t overcome launching during Venus retrograde. Reviews are coming in, and for the most part the feedback is negative. Judging from the comments, the fabric is nice, but the workmanship is shoddy, the fit is poor, and the clothes are way overpriced. I should have predicted this…

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer in True Blood. Photo courtesy HBO, Inc., all rights reserved.

Celebrity weddings, infidelities, and divorces happen all the time, but it sure seems like they’re more extreme lately. Could the cardinal T-square have anything to do with it?

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, co-stars in the acclaimed HBO series True Blood, were married on Saturday. Just as they managed to keep their relationship secret until they announced their engagement last year, they kept their wedding plans out of the public view and opted for a low-key ceremony. It sure was big-time celebrity news after the fact, though.

No matter what they did, it would have been impossible to top the wedding of Chelsea Clinton, who married long-time boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky on July 31 in a gala affair that cost anywhere from $2 million to $5 million. The true cost was a closely guarded secret, but suffice it to say that it was one of the most expensive celebrity weddings in history, inviting the inevitable comparisons to the $2 million that Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren spent on their Barbados bash in October 2004.

Tiger and Elin on Monday announced their divorce, although reports of their separation began circulating in December 2009. Let’s see … October 2004 to December 2009 is just over five years. Divided into $2 million, that comes out to well over $1,000 per day of marriage. Make a note of that, Chelsea.

In June, I wrote about Harrison Ford and Callista Flockhart, who finally tied the knot after eight years together. The same month, Al and Tipper Gore announced they were separating after 40 years of marriage. Each in their own way was impacted by the T-square.

So what about these latest unions and separations? Is the T-square a function or not?

In the case of Al Gore and Harrison Ford, I had a birth time to work with, so it was easier to see the evidence of the T-square at work in their charts. We have a birth time for Chelsea and Tiger, but not the others. Still, we can look at their natal charts for transits to key planets.

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer have a concentration of planets in Virgo and Libra, with a lot of conjunctions to draw them – and keep them – together. Diane wrote a great post on their synastry back when they announced their engagement. Most of their Libra planets are in the mid-degrees, including Anna’s Saturn. So she is coming up on her first Saturn return, which is a time that many people “settle down” in love and in life overall.

Nevertheless, it does appear that the T-square is in effect here, as it is forming a precise aspect to Anna’s Venus at 4 degrees Cancer. I’ve advised all summer that the “out” for any T-square challenges you may be facing is the spot in your chart opposite transiting Pluto. For Anna, that’s Venus, the planet of love! Moreover, the lunar eclipse of June 26,  which connected directly into the T-square, was right on her natal Venus, too. Eclipses often deliver their results at 30, 60, or 90 days. She was married 60 days after the T-square eclipse on her natal Venus.

Chelsea and Marc simply have great synastry, especially in terms of durability. They have a few challenges, too, but what would marriage be without them? The T-square doesn’t seem to be heavily impacting Chelsea’s chart, and without a birth time for Marc, we don’t know which of his houses are being affected. He does have Jupiter at 2 degrees Cancer, which may account for the extravagance of the wedding, but not necessarily the timing.

The T-square definitely is implicated in the fall of Tiger Woods. Although his Ascendant is in Virgo, the T-square is taking place in all four of his cardinal houses, with transiting Saturn now in his first house. For many people, Saturn crossing into the first house is a time when their life falls apart and they start going downhill professionally. Under the T-square, the pressure has been unbearable … and very public.

Tiger and Elin both have Sun in Capricorn – he at 8 degrees and she at 10 degrees. The lunar eclipse on Dec. 31, 2009, fell directly on Elin’s Sun and not far from Tiger’s. A Full Moon lunar eclipse represents endings that are final and irrevocable. According to press reports, Elin moved out for good right before the eclipse, and the divorce was filed on the grounds that the marriage was “irretrievably broken.” Those are fitting words for a lunar eclipse.

In general, it seems that there is an increase this summer of break-ups and unions. It’s as though the whole universe is realigning itself, and we on earth are doing likewise. Stay tuned, because this series most definitely is to be continued.

Pat

Birth Data:
Anna Paquin – July 24, 1982, Winnipeg, Canada, time unknown
Stephen Moyer –Oct. 11, 1969, Brentwood, England, time unknown
Chelsea Clinton – Feb. 27, 1980, Little Rock, Ark., 11:24 p.m., per Astrodatabank
Marc Mezvinsky – Dec. 15, 1977, Philadelphia, Pa., time unknown
Tiger Woods – Dec. 30, 1975, Long Beach, Calif., 10:50 p.m., per Astrodatabank
Elin Nordegren – Jan. 1, 1980, Stockholm, Sweden, time unknown