"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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NewsScope has been published continually since 1997. Links to NewsScope articles from September 2015 through December 2017 can be found in the Menu. Back copies dating from 2009 through 2015 are at
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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...
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.
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Recent NewsScopes
Jan. 7, 2019 - Trump Threatens lengthy; China’s Slowdown; Merc. Rx on Election Day 2020.
NewsScope for January 14, 2019
By Michael Wolfstar
The Astrology of Government Shutdowns
The previous record for a government shutdown was set when Bill Clinton was president, and lasted from December 16, 1995 through January 5, 1996. These two shutdowns have striking similarities, including how opposing giant egos weakened the nation. Then it was Clinton and Newt Gingrich, and although Clinton ultimately prevailed, it marked his downfall because that's when he started his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
This tri-wheel section shows the U.S. Scorpio Rising chart on the inner wheel, surrounded by the transits for the 1995-96 shutdown and the current one in the middle and outer rings. Not shown is the U.S. progressed Pluto at 28º Capricorn
The astrological parallels are also striking, especially when using the Scorpio Rising national horoscope to compare the two events. Pluto, the nation’s ruling planet, is in Capricorn, the sign of government and national institutions. In late 1995, the government shut down when transiting Uranus – naturally disrespectful of traditions and norms – was at 28º Capricorn, exactly conjunct the U.S. progressed Pluto (also at 28º Capricorn). The current mess started when transiting Uranus was at 28º Aries and squaring the U.S. progressed Pluto.
And now, as back then, transiting Jupiter is in Sagittarius, where it tends to inflate egos and rationalize moral political stands. The Clinton era shutdown ended shortly after Jupiter entered Capricorn, and hard realities re-shaped the political process. If that’s the main gauge, we’re in trouble since Jupiter won’t enter Capricorn until December 2, 2019. But other similarities indicate we may be on the verge of a shift, especially when considering transiting Mars, the planet of open conflict.
Transiting Mars opposed the U.S. Sun when the standoff began in December 1995, and ended when Mars and Uranus were conjunct. The tension of a Mars-Uranus aspect is explosive and forced a settlement. Similarly, this week’s Lunar Eclipse features transiting Mars and Saturn squaring each other while both align with the U.S. Sun. Trump should either back off then, or declare a national emergency to fund his wall. The next break point, and completely analogous to 1995, is when transiting Mars and Uranus are conjunct on February 12.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Social Media Star
With over 2.2 million Twitter followers, freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already become a social media star and headstrong political activist in her first week in Washington. As a self-described socialist taking on moderate Democrats, she’s also riled many members of her own party. Reportedly, she’s being considered for an appointment to the powerful House Financial Services Committee, which oversees banking practices.
AOC (as she’s known) became the youngest woman to ever be elected to Congress which took place when transiting Saturn was returning to its natal position in Capricorn. As described last July, her Sun-Mars conjunction in Libra opposes Eris in Aries, giving her the fighting spirit with a calling higher than maintaining the status quo. Her Sun-Mars also squares the group of outer planets in Capricorn, which ensures that she will constantly be struggling with institutional structures and how to transform them.
Impelling her forward is transiting Pluto, which is now exactly squaring her Libra Sun. She’s become empowered by the outer planets, with transiting Saturn currently heading to conjoin Pluto as both square her Sun. By the time the 2020 election cycle kicks in, transiting Jupiter will also be in Capricorn and squaring her Sun. These are potent generational forces advancing her cause to a higher level, which is proving unfortunate for moderate Democrats.
AOC, Bernie Sanders, and other leftists may so divide the Democrats that Trump’s homogenous 35% of voters is enough to win again. Trump’s chart shows this: in November 2020 transiting Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto are clustered together in Capricorn while trine his Midheaven. This triple outer-planet alliance is a strong signal for his re-election. As transiting Saturn advances to square her Sun, AOC is in the position to widen the split within her party, or see the practicality of working with moderates to unseat Trump.
The next Jupiter-Saturn conjunction marks the transition from Earth signs into Air signs. This one in Aquarius harkens back 2000 years ago to when Babylonian stargazers followed the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Pisces. Jupiter and Saturn turned retrograde (i.e. stopped in the sky) over Bethlehem, marking the beginning of the Piscean era of patriarchal master/disciple relationships that have shaped civilization. In the Age of Aquarius, we’re faced with a new dichotomy: how giant individual superstars shape the collective and vice versa.
The chart set in Washington DC describes the political crisis at hand: Pallas, the political strategy asteroid, is rising and opposing Uranus, the planet associated with breakdowns. Although the government shutdown will presumably end, this Lunar Eclipse is reflective of a larger series of planetary cycles indicating that we are collectively on the cusp of the Age of Aquarius, and emerging from the waning Age of Pisces.
What’s remarkable about this Lunar Eclipse is that the Sun is at 0º Aquarius, and the exact same location as the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction coming in November 2020. This first degree of the sign of Aquarius represents the beginning of a cycle. Astrologers who study the pattern of Jupiter-Saturn cycles know that the conjunctions take place in the same element for centuries before they advance into the next elemental phase.
Aquarius Beckoning
On January 21 skywatchers will be intensely focused on the Lunar Eclipse, a spectacular astronomical event that has achieved some notoriety from the media with their appended adjectives, such as Super, Blood, and Wolf. Astrologically it’s interesting in several ways since the eclipsed Moon is part of a Grand Cross (squaring a Pallas-Uranus opposition), and symbolizes a breakdown in the social order.
