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"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 NewsScope Articles
Sept. 28, 2015 - Xi and Obama agree; October's top 5 astro-events; Emissions scandal at Volkswagen.
Oct. 5, 2015 - Bernie Sanders and the Debate; the Oregon shooter; Richard Tarnas and Jupiter.
Oct. 12, 2015 - Paul Ryan, next House speaker? Bernie Sanders rectified; Matt Damon as The Martian.
Oct. 19, 2015 - Syria's proxy wars; verifying Hillary's birth time; Erin Andrews sues.
Oct. 26, 2015 - UN summit on climate change; November's top 5; Adele returns with "25".
Nov. 2, 2015 - Barack Obama's Mars Return, other celebrities' Mars Returns at 22º Virgo, Britney Spears.
Nov. 9, 2015 - Ben Carson under fire, Marco Rubio's tax plan, Supergirl star Melissa Benoist.
Nov. 16, 2015 - European Union in Crisis; Donald Trump's Iowa speech; Emma Thompson
Nov. 23, 2015 - Immigration and Saturn-Neptune; the ISIS horoscope; Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
Nov. 30, 2015 - The insane violence configuration; Dec.'s top five; the Force Awakens the Millennials.
Dec 7, 2015 - Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik; Mark Zuckerberg's $45 billion donation.
Dec 14, 2015 - The Uranus-Eris cycle; Paul Ryan for president? Frank Sinatra centennial.
Dec 21, 2015 - UN forced into action; Martin Shkreli versus the FBI; Ronday Rousey"s UFC title.
Dec 28, 2015 - Russian economic surges; January's top 5; Daisy Ridley of The Force Awakens.
Jan. 4, 2016 - 2016 begins with Mercury retrograde; Bernie Sanders' celestial assets; Natalie Cole.
Jan.11, 2016 - The Lilith-Uranus-Pluto configuration activated; El Chapo captured; Beatlemania.
Jan. 18, 2016 - Hillary fading; Oil prices and Standard Oil; BML- paradoxical, clandestine.
Jan. 25, 2016 - Mike Bloomberg considers run; February's top five; Mike Brown and Planet 9.
Feb. 1, 2016 - Primaries begin and best astro indicators, progressed Part of Fortune; Eris Awakens.
Feb. 8, 2016 - Marco Rubio's momentum; Brazil's Zika epidemic; Steven Avery - guilty or innocent?
Feb. 15, 2016 - Volatile global stock markets, Bernie Sanders' birth time; Einstein and gravity.
Feb. 22, 2016 - Donald Trump and Mars; March's top 5 astro-events; Tim Cook vs. the FBI.
Feb. 29, 2016 - Marco Rubio, GOP's last hope? The 12th Amendment? AlphaGo v. Lee Sedol.
March 7, 2016 - The death of the Republican Party? the Saturn-Pluto cycle; Megyn Kelly, Fox moderator.
March 13, 2016 - Trump and Mussolini - the astro-parallels; Nancy Reagan's astrology; Marla Maples.
March 21, 2016 - Trump and the GOP convention; Election Day chaos; Mel- anie Trump, 1st Lady?
March 28, 2016 - Paul Ryan, the GOP nominee? April's top five; Bernie Sanders' celestial blessing.
April 4, 2016 - Ted Cruz aims to stop Trump; Uranus in the U.S. 6th house, Drew Barrymore and Juno.
April 11, 2016 - Panama Papers; Uranus-Eris in the presidential contest; Nyle Dimarco on DWTS.
April 18, 2016 - Hillary rising; Dilma Rousseff under fire; Modigliani - another penniless artist.
NewsScope has been published continually since 1997. Back copies dating from 2009 through 2015 can be found at NewsScope archives.
For NewsScope blogs dating from October 25, 1999 through March 31, 2009, visit StarIQ/NewsScope.
re: Rubio's birth time - In 2010, I asked Marco about his birthtime during a campaign event. He told me he didn't know, and to ask his older brother, Mario, since he drove his Mother to the hospital. Mario told me it was around 3:30p to 4:00p in the afternoon. This would give Marco a Leo Moon. I realize this is anecdotal, but if you were to attempt rectification, this might be a good place to start.
A. Thank-you for the data! This is indeed a good place to start.
re: Brazil - Wow, it looks like some dangerous stuff could happen in Brazil this summer. Violence, terrorism? Maybe the gathering of people at the Olympics could cause that virus to spread around the world? It sounds like the effects of the virus are usually not that bad though, except what it could do to babies, which is really sad.
A. Yes, it's not looking good.
re: Trump - Are you saying that Trump is likely the winner due to positive astro configurations at election time? Wondering where I can read more about this.
A. Trump's chart looks stronger than Hillary's, if we have her birth time of 8:02 am correct. I don't know where else you can read about this. Most astrologers aren't considering progressions.
re: Trump - BUT...surely we've seen what happened when transiting Saturn was conjunct his natal MC. Did he triumph at that time or did we see all of his chickens coming home to roost in a way that was not his proudest moment? How has he weathered the transits of Saturn overall??? We've seen him establish all kinds of things that have FAILED. We've seen him go bankrupt many times. Have any of these seen his Saturn active at the same time?
re: Brazil - Zica is only one of Brazil Problems, its a historical time for the country. The president is super unpopular and an impeachment was open against her. There's a super economic crisis (the worst recession in 70 years) and the political system is broken due to corruption charges to politics from all parties.
The Neptune and Saturn quadrature aims several planets in natal chart. The progressed Sun+Mars on natal Pluto is a powerful combination never seen before. It seems a transformation of Brazil State, or even a military action (due to Mars). Maybe this can happen while Olympic is occurring...
Most of Brazilian astrologers use a Scorpio MC due to several military coups in Brazil history and 2 deaths from presidents (one of them killed himself while in office). The time is between 16:08 and 16:20, with Aquarius ascending.
Political system is collapsing, the population is very angry and delusional (Neptune quadrature natal Moon), a resolution might happen under those powerful transits and progressions, maybe some catalyst start from Olympic Games.
A. Thank-you for your comments from inside Brazil. I used 4:47 pm (20:47) based on Campion's Book of World Horoscopes, which gives the Sagittarius MC. However, I'm inclined to agree thatScorpio there makes more sense for the reasons you describe.
re: U.S. future - After the death of Scalia and the political chaos that has ensued, it got me to wondering: What is in store for the USA for the next few decades? Could some break-down scenario come to pass?
A. A break-down scenario is certainly possible. The U.S. has its Pluto Return coming, and the sharp oppositions between planets in the 6th and 12h houses is extremely polarizing and volatile.
re: Election Day chaos - Maybe someone pointed this out to you already but if no candidate receives 270 electoral votes, the House of Representatives chooses the winner. I suppose someone could challenge that but they would likely lose since the law is quite clear.
A. I wrote about this on February 29 relating to the 12th amendment, which is where this directive comes from. But note how litigious Trump is, and that there's likely to be some counting irregularities, as there were in the 2000 election that was decided by the Supreme Court in Bush's favor.
re: Trump - Was chatting with my astrologer recently, and I was told that there's a very high probability (astrologically speaking) that there will be an assassination attempt on Trump on or about Aug. 11. What's your take on this?
A. Extremely unlikely. I see no astrological evidence for such an irresponsible claim.
re: Sanders - I never miss your column and find it very insightful. Regarding this wild election year, do you see any possibility of Bernie Sanders running as an Independent if HC gets the Democratic nomination? Most of her primary wins have been razor thin, and there is a lot of dissatisfaction among the Dems as well as the Republicans with the status quo. After all, he was an Independent for many years in Congress. I would love to hear your opinion.
A. No, I don't think he will run as a third party candidate. He's content to get his message out and influence Hillary's stance on numerous issues.
re: Nancy Reagan - I haven't heard much lately about the 20-year USA presidential death cycle, the pattern of USA Presidents elected in "zero" years (1840-1960) dying while in office, perhaps linked to Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions. It seems that Ronald Reagan narrowly avoided it during his terms in office (did astrological knowledge make a difference?).
During the most vulnerable window after George W. Bush's election in 2000, W did not repeat the pattern, but Ronald Reagan did die during this time, which I thought was interesting.
Keep up the fine work.
A. Joan Quigley was hired after the assassination attempt, and she claims in her book that she protected him from appearing in pubic on dangerous days. Other astrologers have noted that Reagan was elected when the SA-JU conjunction was in Libra, so the Great Mutation process from Earth to Air signs began then, theoretically ending this curse.
In my view, I see Mars in the 8th house of death in the Scorpio Rising chart as a potential indicator for the death of a president in office, so it's still an ongoing possibility.
re: Trump/Mussolini parallels - Having spent quite a bit of time with my Italian in-laws and their friends in northern Italy I will add a different view. Americans have always looked upon Mussolini only as an evil dictator. Most Italians view him quite differently. While they agree he got Italy involved in WW ll In a bad way they view him as the man who built the infrastructure of their country. Before Mussolini they had no nationwide roads. Roads stopped at the edges of the old city states..
He built the railroads and bridges uniting the country too. The big railway stations we see. Rome, Florence and Milano were all constructed under his leadership. They also felt proud of their nation when he successfully invaded Ethiopia. The parallels with “Make America Great Again” are interesting. Trump frequently talks about repairing our infrastructure, particularly the airports, and making Americans proud of their country again. I think you’ve nailed it. Of course, I do believe in reincarnation.
A. Mussolini was executed on April 28, 1945. Trump was born less than one year later.
re: Prince - If you haven't thought to do it, can you do a little tribute to Prince for Monday's column? Love him, would love to know more about his chart.
re: U.S. Gemini Rising chart - It would seem that this coming New Moon of June 5th~6th (along with its mid-degrees Mutable Grand Cross) might be telling then, whether or not the 9* Gemini Asc. chart may be the true chart.
A. And how will it do that? Perhaps you could make a forecast that will be unique to Gemini Rising and not apparent in Scorpio Rising or other US charts. If you say what will happen ahead of time, your chart makes sense. After there fact is not persuasive.
For example, I recently forecast workers strikes when T Uranus entered the US 6th house and conjoined Chiron while opposing Juno. The 6th house is associated with work, and Uranus brings strikes. Last week's strike by Verizon workers was the largest in five years. It's a straightforward interpretation using basic astrology principles. And it only works when Scorpio is Rising. Making accurate forecasts says more about a chart than any backward or retro look.
Of course you realize that the Gemini Rising chart was created by renowned astrologer Luke Broughton in 1861 based on the fact that it was a revolution, and the practice of the time was to put the planet associated with revolution on the Ascendant. In 1861, Uranus was known but not in 1776.
re: Tesla - I have been a fan of your blog; read every very Early Monday morning religiously. Would you kindly comment on Tesla motors; it hardly produces a couple of cars but wallstreet treats them like king while Ford, which produces millions of cars, sells for $15/share. why??
re: Mars retrograde - You mention in your March 28th piece that stationary Mars opposes the U.S. Uranus. I would have noted that it is exact to the minute of arc! I consider exactitude to be important in predictive work.
re: Election Day chaos - About placements on Nov 8: you would know but let me repeat. Neptune in its own sign on South node (let go of the past or confusion about past) and North node sign Virgo ruler Mercury at 23 Scorpio, dispositors Mars and Pluto. Mars last degree of Capricorn and Pluto 15 Capricorn connecting to Aries Point.
In my opinion, the real agenda is a new constitution and electoral system. Neptune South Node – can help dissolve attachment to past forms. North node Virgo, get to work on the details of new systems. Centralised power is alright if add in the necessary checks and balances.
NewsScope for April 25, 2016
By Michael Wolfstar
Prince, ruled by Shape-Shifting Pluto
For most people, Pluto is a modifying planet, intensifying whatever it contacts. But when it's angular and aspects the personal planets, Pluto’s symbolism becomes the defining character. Prince (June 7, 1958; 6:17 pm; Minneapolis, MN) is a great example, since he was born with Pluto conjunct his Midheaven where it opposes his fantasy-oriented Pisces Moon and squares Mercury in quick-witted Gemini.
With Scorpio Rising, Pluto is Prince’s ruling planet. It’s located in the last degree of Leo where it conjoins the royal star Regulus. He was named Prince by his father who thought it would help him succeed in the music business. And with his Gemini Sun conjunct Vesta, he was devoted to his craft -- a genuine workaholic when it came to performing and improving his skills.
The Sun opposite Saturn gave him the ambition to prove himself, while the Sun’s trine to Jupiter brought opportunity and the engaging style that made him a superstar. Of course, the gender-blurring planet Neptune is also prominent since it aspects every personal planet in this chart, including a tight trioctile (135º) to the versatile Gemini Sun as well as close aspects to the love planets, Venus and Mars.
The 5th house offers clues about the style of entertainment, and for Prince, Mars in Aries is the dominating influence. Mars is quincunx Pluto, giving him the drive and energy that he poured into his music. The astrological newcomers Lilith and Eris are also in his 5th house, making him a reference point for everything that is far out and taboo.
With numerous progressions and transits involving Neptune and Lilith, it seems likely that Prince’s passing was a drug-related event. He died when he was experiencing a progressed Sun-Uranus conjunction exactly trine natal Lilith. His passing was unexpected (Uranus) and likely involved something off limits (Lilith). Drugs are implicated with transiting Neptune quincunx the progressed Sun-Uranus conjunction. Also, the transiting Sun was exactly opposite his 12th house Neptune.
May’s Top Five Astro-Events
1. A retrograde Mars trioctiles (135º) Uranus on the 5th, a potentially dangerous combination that can bring hasty actions, accidents, and violence. On the plus side, this aspect – in effect from the 1st through 7th – can urge one to make spontaneous and necessary changes that have been long delayed. The concurrent Grand Trine linking the Sun, Jupiter and Pluto suggests favorable, practical results to timely undertakings.
2. Jupiter turns direct on the 9th in Virgo, bringing renewed opportunities in the work environment, improved well-being when following a healthy diet, and a new sense of orderliness in personal and geopolitical affairs. Jupiter will cover the second half of Virgo before entering the social sign of Libra on September 9. Between now and then, Jupiter brings benefits wherever reliability, modesty, usefulness, loyalty, and practicality are expressed.
3. Mercury turns direct on the 22nd while quincunx (150º) Saturn. The Mercury-Saturn vibe is palpable from the 17th to 26th, bringing heavy thoughts, important decisions, and the need to weigh the pros and cons of developing business affairs. Mercury turning direct in Taurus may coincide with financial shifts, including key expenditures, investments, and debt management. This phase favors study, gardening, and following common sense principles.
4. The Full Moon on the 21st conjoins Mars in Sagittarius, energizing most any situation that plays out within a day or two of this dynamic astro-event. Avoid attempting more activities than you can handle, since people tend to be more scattered, inconsistent, and highly changeable at this time. A powerful competitive spirit drives many actions, which may include jostling for position in traffic as well as in personal and business relationships.
5. Jupiter squares Saturn on the 26th, an aspect in effect from the 17th through month’s end. Jupiter’s forward momentum and inherent optimism meets Saturn’s reality check during this phase. What obstacles are preventing you from achieving your potential in work, health, and business? Watch out for narrow-minded people, know-it-alls, fault-finders, and dogmatic bigots. On the plus side, this phase offers the opportunity to understand exactly what you need to know or do in order to succeed.
Shakespeare and the Stars, a Paradigm Buster
The ingenious playwright William Shakespeare died 400 years ago. To honor his legacy, Priscilla Costello has written a remarkable book on how astrology plays a major role in his plays. Shakespeare and the Stars explains how astrology is hidden in plain sight: to Renaissance audiences, the references to planets and their archetypes were self-evident, but they are dismissed or ignored by modern viewers.
To recognize how and why Shakespeare used astrology, one must first understand the Elizabethan worldview. Queen Elizabeth I had the renowned astrologer John Dee at her beck and call, while the invention of the Gutenberg press allowed for the widespread use of astrology books. The masses knew what the seven traditional planets signified. The mention of a planet in a play quickly created a recognizable character and foreshadowed plot development.
Costello demonstrates how entire plays are structured around one planet and its associated sign. Consider the comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is based on the Moon and its sign Cancer. The play has more references to the Moon than all of the rest of his plays combined. All the play’s nobles, lovers, workingmen, and faeries mention the Moon on their first entrance, and the main action takes place at night under the spell of the Moon.
How could modern scholars miss these obvious celestial messages? The answer is that astrology today is widely considered a pseudo-science, especially since the mainstream view connects astrology with the simplistic Sun sign columns. Costello’s book is a paradigm buster, and on an academic par with Richard Tarnas’s Cosmos & Psyche. After reading Shakespeare and the Stars, you’ll appreciate the bard’s genius more than ever. And at a level unavailable to most professors of literature.
