"The natal chart is like a seed and progressions are the unfolding in time of that into the plant it is to become. Transits, are like a daily weather report. In political astrology, these three factors have to be taken into account!"
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Recent NewsScopes
Jan. 1, 2018 - Trump’s 2018 prospects; Protests break out in Iran; Gordon Ramsay, Celebrity Chef.
Jan. 8, 2018 - Trump’s 12th House Pluto; Saturn Opposite the U.S. Venus; Wolff’s “Fire and Fury”
Jan. 15, 2018 - Astro-Anatomy of a Comment; Total Super Blue Moon Eclipse; Stormy Daniels
Jan. 22, 2018 - Saturn opposes the U.S. Venus; Laurence Fink Touts CEO responsibility; Tom Petty
Jan.29, 2018 - Fake News and the Uranus-Neptune Cycle; Top 5 Astro-Evenys for Feb; Wynn Takes a Hit
Feb. 5, 2018 - Rosenstein, FBI Deputy Director under Fire; Millennials Embrace Astrology; The NYSE
Feb. 12, 2018 - Rachel Brand Heads for Walmart; The Pentagon; Kim Yo Jong’s Historic Visit
Feb. 19, 2018 - Mueller’s Indictment of Russian Meddlers; The Nov. election; Melania Trump’s Juno
Feb. 26, 2018 - March for our Lives; March’s Top Five Astro-Events; The NRA’s Saturn Return
March 5, 2018 - Washington Chaos Going Global; “Trade Wars are Good”; Hope Hicks’ White House Diary
March 12, 2018 - Trump’s Chart in Pyongyang; Stormy Daniels Sues Trump; Oprah Winfrey in 2020?
March 19, 2018 - Stormy Daniels’ Birth Time; Trump and Black Moon Lilith; Stephen Hawking is Smiling.
March 26, 2018 - China Counter-Attacks in Growing Trade War; Top 5 Astro-Events for April; John Bolton
April 2, 2018 - Health Care Industry; Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream; the astrology of Royal Weddings
April 9, 2018 - The NYSE and Trade War; Mark Zuckerberg goes to DC; Kate Hudson’s Love Life
April 23, 2018 - Kim Jong Un, Peacemaker; Michael Avenetti, Stormy’s attorney; Allison Mack arrested.
April 30, 2018 - Trump’s High-Risk Style; May’s Top Five AstroEvents; Paris Hilton’s Online Fame
May 7, 2018 - Trump’s New Lawyer, Rudy Giuliani; NASA’s Mars Mission; Cheryl Burke’s Venus-Pluto.
May 14, 2018 - Strong and Proud, Israel at Seventy; Viktor Vekselberg; Hawaii’s Kilauea and asteroid Pele
May 21, 2018 - Trump’s 2018 Solar Return; Michael Avenatti Update; Meghan Markle's Part of Fortune.
May 28, 2018 - Kim Jong Un Makes Nice; June's Top 5 Astro-Events; Meghan Markle and the Great Mother
June 4, 2018 - Mars Rx in Aquarius; SpaceX Becomes Profitable; Roseanne Barr’s 12th House Mars
June 11, 2018 - Saturn-Pluto Culture Wars; Ambas-sador Dennis Rodman; Spade and Bourdain
June 18, 2018 - Trump on the Offensive; July 12 Solar Eclipse; Cristiano Ronaldo, the best soccer player
June 25, 2018 - Immigration Crisis; China Imposes $50b Tariffs; Atul Gawande, Healing the Health System
re: Florence - I saw your piece on Florence, thought you might like to take a look at my analysis. I find that solar contacts from hurricane asteroids are quite common (Sun was also conjunct Florence), and of course Storm and Flood are always active at such time. And asteroid Carolina was with Jupiter at 18 Scorpio:
They really need to stop giving these things names with celestial correlations. :^)
A. Thanks Alex. That's a good insight about the Sun and the named asteroid.
re: Trump - I can’t wait for newsscope this week! Do you think Trump will end his presidency early? Resignation or impeachment? Or will he last the next election or worse, get re-elected? My hope is for the Dems to take control midterm, but I imagine the public hates him enough to vote in 2020 this time.
re: Ford – Did you look up Gerald Ford's chart to see what was going on with him the day he took office? His progressed Mars on Aug 9, 1974 was at 28°41' Gemini, so that's pretty close to the eclipse point. His progressed Moon was at 26°16' Aquarius conjunct the U.S. Moon.
re: Trump - I looked at Trump's horoscope for the 2018 November elections. It couldn't be much better. Expect the Republicans to do much better than Democrats are hoping for. I am neither Democrat or Republican and plan to vote for neither.
re: Trump - it now appears that the 12th house aspects you speak of now reflect not only the payoffs on his illicit love affairs but with his own criminal behavior in violating campaign finance laws in in hush money to Stormy Daniels and the other girl, whose name urrently escapes me. Hope more light is shed on Trump' s 12th house criminal Kremlin secrets. Would also like to see you do current interpretations on the natal chart of the Republican Party and it's future and/or hopeful demise.
re: Trump - Your analysis of Trump’s eclipse problems this week was utterly prescient, as usual. Can’t wait for this upcoming Felony Friday for the solar side of this evolving story!
re: Trump - So do you think then the possibility of Trump’s impeachment is becoming more plausible with the eclipse? He seems to be spiraling into self destruct mode, not even his minders can keep up with him. I’m delighted. I’d love to see him impeached and indicted.
A. Impeachment likely won't happen unless the Democrats win big in Nov. Otherwise, the GOP-controlled Senate won't go along with that.... But it's looking more and more like Putin has something over Trump.
re: NewsScope - I have been reading your NewsScope column for several years. I very much enjoy reading about world events and leaders. I am also an astrologer, have done a few professional readings, but it was not for me. I have a blog, which I loved writing, however needed to focus on paying bills.
I noticed you are migrating to Facebook, and some of your readers prefer a website. I don’t know much about Homestead, but it does not seem to the best solution for your work anymore.
re: Solar Eclipse - Is there significance to Part of Fortune conjunct Ascendant (exact to the minute) and quincunx the North Node?
A. The Part of Fortune is always conjunct the Ascendant during the New Moon or Solar Eclipse. And the Lunar Node axis is generally within a few degrees of the Ascendant, but it can be the North or South Node. By definition, the Lunar Nodes are where the Moon’s path crosses the ecliptic, so eclipses happen when the New or Full Moon is close to the Lunar Node axis.
re: Facebook - about "Putting NewsScope on FB might be a good alternative to using this homestead provider, since it takes so long to update pages." I'm not entirely sure what this means, but if it means that your column would no longer appear on Neptune Cafe, I'd beg you to not do this. I enjoy your column every week, ever since I found the site through Richard Nolle's site, but I am not on Facebook and never will be. Please don't make it so those of us that don't participate in a particular forum, however popular it might be, can't access your wonderful analyses.
A. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback on the migration of NewsScope to Facebook. For the time being, it will be both here and there. At this site, the pages take several hours every week to update, while on FB, it’s a straightforward copy and paste. The lead NewsScope piece is going up on FB on Sundays.
re: SA-PL - It's discouraging to think that US politics are going to keep getting worse until at least January 2020 with the exact Saturn-Pluto conjunction. Is there a way to dodge the bullet? Increase compassion? Any remedy?
A. As I’ve been suggesting, the placement of Ceres and Eris within the SA-PL configuration is a major clue, and refers to the empowerment of women. We’ve seen this already with the #MeToo movement, and the increasing number of women getting elected to Congress and other political and corporate offices.
re: Rodman - I have long touted Dennis Rodman as the mediator between the US and Korea, so thank you for your article about him being the unofficial ambassador. Deep down I think he was probably the real reason this summit happened, as he has been planting and sowing the seeds for nearly five years, as you pointed out.
Re: FB - I respectfully suggest Newscope not appear on Facebook, which is a proven privacy violator, and instead use a good alternative: 8 Best Facebook Alternatives With Focus On Privacy For 2018 - While most of us knew about Facebook's relentless data collection practices, Cambridge Analytica revelation has forced many of us to raise questions and look for Facebook alternatives.
A. I’ve been on Facebook for years and haven’t had any problems with privacy issues. Putting NewsScope on FB might be a good alternative to using this homestead provider, since it takes so long to update pages. There are vibrant astrology groups there, and unlike this page, it's mobile friendly.
Re: Trump – Hey, t pluto square US p mars @ 17:54 Libra for final time. I've mentioned before that I noticed this aspect first in spring of 2016 just as Trump was getting traction in the primaries and then again almost exact when he was sworn in. Again, during the Nov. 2018 election, Pluto is @19:10 Libra, hardly one degree past exact. I want to hope it means that the current gangster element in politics is over. Can you 'make my day'?
A. Good story idea, thanks...
re: Meghan - Duchess of Sussex .. About her Part of Fortune. Your article uses the Part of Fortune using the day chart formula, hence 17 ish deg Virgo. But her natal chart is nocturnal, Sun is below horizon...My software therefore gives her PoF as 1Ge 23" ? I thought it was standard practice to use the PoF formula based on whether the chart is day/night .
A. Yes, I always use the daytime formula. I've written an extensive article (published in Dell Horoscope magazine) explaining why this is the way to go. It’s an analysis of ten presidents and how the Part of Fortune is a key indicator in their elections and general good or bad fortunes.
SolarFire used to have the default Part of Fortune set to the daylight formula, but after Rob Hand’s research into ancient astrology (which I don’t agree with), the SF default was switched to day and night time formulas. You have the option of making the default the daytime formula for all birth times.
This is further explained in my article on Joan Quigley and the Part of Fortune. It was also published in Dell Horoscope magazine and re-posted on my website here.
Some NewsScope blurbs are appearing on NeptuneCafe's mobile-friendly Facebook page before they're posted here. See Facebook/NeptuneCafe
July 2, 2018 - Mexico has a new President; July’s Top Five; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Upset Victory.
July 9, 2018 - The Trump-Putin Summit; Jefferson and Adams Validate the U.S. Horoscope; Mr. Rogers.
July 16, 2018 - Louise Hay, th Queen of the New Age, how thoughts become reality with Mercury-Chiron.
July 23, 2018 - The Lunar Eclipse as Mercury Rx; Roe v. Wade Re-Visited; Maria Butina, the Kremlin link
July 30, 2018 - Astro-Event #6: the Uranus Station; August’s Top Five Astro-Events; Tech Takes a Dive
Aug. 06, 2018 - Neptune Conjoining the U.S. Prog. Sun; Hemingway’s Over-Active Mars.
Aug. 13, 2018 - Trump Declares Economic War on Turkey; Women Politicians Trending Up; Omarosa
Aug. 20, 2018 - Mercury in Trump’s 12th House; The Trump Taj Mahal; Brennan: “Trump is Drunk on Power”
Aug. 27, 2018 - Trump’s Midheaven Eclipsed; Mike Pence, Waiting in the Wings; September’s Top Five
Sept. 03, 2018 - Election Day Astrology; SA-PL and Neo-Nazis on the Rise;
Pope Francis Under Fire
Sept. 10, 2018 - Crazytown, USA; Canopy Growth, Weed Stocks Soaring; Jocelyn Bell Burnell recognized.
Sept. 17, 2018 - The Astrology of U.S. Disasters; Hurricane Florence; Willie Nelson Gets Political
Sept. 24, 2018 - Echoes of Anita Hill; October’s Top Five Astro-Events; Chris Hedges on Totalitarian Capitalism
Oct. 01, 2018 - Senator Flake Moved by Venus; Brett Kavanaugh’s Mercury-Neptune; Elon Musk's tweets
Oct. 08, 2018 - The #MeToo Movement advances; October’s Astro-Event #6; Is it Art? The Banksy Effect
Oct. 15, 2018 - Jamal Khashoggi’s Silence is Deafening; Market Sell-Off; Two Stars are Re-Born
Oct. 22, 2018 - Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman; Post-Election Developments; Elizabeth Warren in 2020
Oct. 29, 2018 - Mars in the U.S. 4th House; Top Five for November; Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s Next President
Nov. 5, 2018 - Mueller’s Mercury-Uranus Config; The Migrant Caravan; Gwyneth Paltrow and Madame Ovary
Nov. 12, 2018 - Matthew Whitaker’s App't; Florida Re-Count; Somalian Ilhan Omar Elected to Congress.
Nov. 19, 2018 - California’s Uranus Return; To Brexit or Not to Brexit; The 2020 Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction
Nov. 26, 2018 - Top 5 Astro-Events for Dec; Trump fights for the Wall; Nancy Pelosi Fights for Leadership
Dec.03, 2018 - Mercury Direct Energizes Mueller; George H. W. Bush, the 41st President; Barbara Bush,
Dec.10, 2018 - Echoes from the Watergate; NYSE Update; Ariana Grande’s Generational Influence
Dec. 17, 2018 - Top Five for Trump in 2019; Chief Mick Mulvaney; Loesser's "Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
Dec. 24, 2018 - The Jan. 5 Solar Eclipse Lilith Derails the Markets; Trump Signs Farm Bill, legalizes hemp.
Dec. 31, 2018 - January’s Top Five; Mitch McConnell, GOP Leader; Joe Biden, the Leading Dem. candidate.
re: Bush - In a published biography of GHWB, he actually had a long time affair with a widow --I believe the couple had been friends of both George and Barbara, and after the husband died 41 had a long ‘relationship’ with the widow. Barbara was aware of the affair, published in well regarded biography —name escapes me at the moment. The important point is that George and Barbara stayed together and supported each other until the end. Also, the biography implied that the relationship was well known but kept quiet in high Republican circles.
re: Bush - Your birth time of 10:30am is INCORRECT for Bush, SR. Isaac Starkman, official rectifier for ASTRODATABANK using 52 events has rectified his time of birth to 11:31:18 AM, Ascendant 8Virgo30, with Mercury, ruler 1st and 10th conjunct his MH. There’s a reason why Starkman is Astrodatabank’s official rectifier. Please submit another article with the correct birth time.
A. I'm using the time and chart provided by ADB and Starkman is not mentioned at all in the source notes, although 11:38 am is mentioned as a possible time. See for yourself: astro- databank/Bush,George_H._W.
re: Mercury - Have you considered doing a NewScope article on Freddie Mercury and Rami Malek (the guy playing him in the movie, Bohemian Rhapsody)?
A. thanks for the suggestion.
re: NewsScope - Thank you for the terrific service you provide with your weekly columns. You make Monday mornings a time of anticipation! I’ve learned from Rachel Maddow that court documents can provide useful information for astrological work. In case you may write about the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting, <snip>
A. Thanks for the data and positive feedback. I've already described this phase as likely to be violent, and generally prefer to not get into the details of a bloody mess.
re: Elizabeth Warren - This week's issue has prompted my response about Elizabeth Warren. She is born the same month, day, and year as Meryl Streep a phenomenal, woman herself. About the tie-in to the USA Moon, which I agree works, would having an angle, especially the MC, at 25 Aquarius work?
A. That's a great question, but I haven't seen any evidence of that. However, it may be true. The problem is we don't have reliable birth data on the Presidents before WW2, so the sample size is small.
re: post-election - You seem pretty sure that the Democrats will re-take the House of Representatives on November 6. Can we count on that? Shall we brace ourselves for the backlash?
A. The astro-conditions post-election look dire indeed, from many angles. To mention a few: transiting Uranus in the last degree of Aries squaring the transiting Lunar Node axis; Mercury turns retrograde squaring Neptune; Robert Mueller's ready to report, perhaps subpoena Trump.
re: economy - Our current sky map shows very close connections between now and Oct 1987 when the markets crashed from Asia to America.
re: mailbomber - He scrubbed his Facebook account which showed he was a Bernie supporter. He had a dozen or so arrests but repeatedly released and under the supervision of Broward County, Florida. The perfect patsy. The bombs were duds, intended to terrorize and most likely create sympathy for the addressees, hence a political act and attempt to sway the election.
Do you think we will see a decrease in these disruptive actions when transiting Neptune clears its conjunction with progressed US Sun
A. I'm sorry, but I don't buy your conspiracy theory on the mailbomber. Transiting Neptune conjoining the U.S. progressed Sun has more to do with the nation's disingenuous, scandal-plagued leadership (ie, Trump) than the media or any violent episode.
NewsScope for January 7, 2019
By Michael Wolfstar
Trump Threatens Shutdown for Years
Last week House Democrats and Senate Republicans remained entrenched in their opposing positions concerning Trump’s $5 billion wall. Following fruitless high level discussions, Trump threatened to keep the partial government shutdown “for a very long period of time — months or even years” until he gets the funding, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. That pushes the shutdown into the next election cycle.
Astrologically, walls and borders are closely associated with Saturn. Defensiveness is a Cancer trait, so we shouldn’t be surprised that Trump wants unusually tight security with his natal Venus-Saturn conjunction in Cancer. And with Mars right on his Leo Ascendant, he naturally goes on the attack whenever he feels threatened. He plays by the old chess maxim that “the best defense is a good offense”.
By secondary progression, Trump’s Mars is at 10º Libra and, over the next year, will be squaring his natal Pallas. As the asteroid connected with political tactics, Pallas energized by a hard Mars aspect becomes extra bold and aggressive. This combination alone is enough to tell us that Trump won’t resign if Mueller comes out with impeachable offenses. Trump is feeling defensive, so he goes on the offense by dividing government.
Over the next two years, transiting Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto are coming together in Capricorn, and in the process, oppose Trump’s natal Venus-Saturn, suggesting that he may still be politically tied to the Wall idea and/or that the impeachment idea has legs. Why wouldn’t he keep the government shutdown going until 2020, or perhaps some other upsetting, troublesome tactic? The underlying, unspoken threat is that Trump can create chaos unless impeachment is taken off the table.
China’s Economic Slowdown
Last week Apple announced that it was cutting its iPhone sales forecast due to the “unforeseen magnitude of the economic slowdown in China”. AAPL shares tumbled ten percent, losing some $75 billion in one trading session. Markets overall remained extremely volatile. And if China’s economy slows due to trade tensions with the U.S., the global economy – including the U.S. economy – will soon be in recession.
China’s horoscope (October 1, 1949; 3:01 pm; Beijing) clarifies where this might be heading. In recent years, China’s economy has been booming, thanks to the cluster of the progressed Midheaven, Venus, and Jupiter near its Aquarius Ascendant. About a year ago, progressed Venus and Jupiter conjoined each other. Then their prosperous influence began waning, along with the Chinese economy, as Trump’s tariffs began taking hold.
In late November, transiting Saturn entered China’s 12th house as it squared the natal Libra Sun. At this time, President Xi backtracked on a ban of U.S. soybeans, a concession that brought a 90-day postponement of additional tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese imports. The deadline is now March 1, giving negotiators more time to work out a deal. China’s Mercury at 13º Libra (it’s “discussions” planet) is linked to the U.S. Sun at 13º Cancer.
Over the coming week, as transiting Saturn at 13º Capricorn activates this key China-U.S. planetary connection, and talks are getting serious. Even if China agrees to Trump’s demands and tariffs are lifted, China’s economy is already spiraling downward. Saturn goes on to conjoin Pluto at 22º Capricorn in January 2020 – exactly conjunct China’s 12th house Jupiter. Everything related to shadow financing comes under pressure, indicating that China may already be heading into a severe recession.
Mercury Retrograde Shadows Election Day 2020
Historically, when Mercury is retrograde during the voting process, snafus of all kinds tend to confuse and delay the results. The most egregious case was in November 2000 when Florida’s votes had to be recounted by hand and ultimately the Supreme Court had to make the call. Looking ahead, Mercury’s retrograde phase will likely be a huge factor in the 2020 election.
The chart for the moment Mercury turns retrograde on October 13, 2020 (9:04 pm; Washington DC) looks ominous. Mercury at 11º Scorpio is near the U.S. Scorpio Ascendant, indicating that the nation as a whole will be influenced by this astro-event. And with Mercury opposing Uranus, the likelihood of sudden and unexpected developments is high. Surprising announcements, reckless statements, technology glitches, and hidden agendas being revealed may all be in play at this juncture.
Most importantly, this chart features a powerful T-square: the Libra Sun is exactly opposite Mars in Aries (orb: 0º05’), with both squaring Pluto in Capricorn. The Sun-Mars-Pluto dynamic is one of the most ruthless combinations possible, and suggests an extremely hostile geopolitical climate. One might speculate from now until then how this might manifest, but strife with foreign enemies (with transiting Uranus right on the U.S. Descendant) is certainly one possibility.
Martial law, episodes of violence and mayhem, or just candidates going to extremes of behavior are other possibilities. The extraordinary three weeks of this retrograde phase end precisely on Election Day, November 3 at 12:49 pm EST. Mercury retrograde covers the period when absentee ballots and votes by mail are cast, and ends on the day most people actually vote. It’s bound to be a chaotic election, if indeed it happens as scheduled.
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