Friday Bite 27 March 2026

Rinse and Repeat

“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” DONALD TRUMP.” 21 March, 7:44 pm, EDT

I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!” Donald Trump, 23 March

“Messages being conveyed through our friendly countries and us responding by stating our positions or issuing the necessary warnings is not called negotiation or dialogue,” Iran Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi

“As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” Donald Trump, 26 March

SPRING OFFICIALLY ARRIVED last Friday. Spring – the return of nature and the joyful expectation of sunnier days and bluer skies. Sadly, there is no parallel in global affairs. Indeed, hard as I tried to find some other focus for my Friday Bite, the precarious situation in the Middle East proves all-consuming.

As you can see from the above quotes, the ministry of disinformation is in charge, courtesy of Neptune, and extraordinary as it may be, the Iranian version of events has a greater ring of truth to it. We have become inured to the fabulosity emanating from the US president’s mouth but it seems Iran, their ships, planes, munitions and leadership decimated, are playing their weaker hand better than the US with all its military might.

If this “military operation” isn’t devastating enough, that vast sums of money are being made on the back of it is more egregious. And I’m not just talking about the money Russia is raking in thanks to the United States reducing sanctions on its oil or Iran making millions on the sales of its oil and gas, but through insider trading. It did not go without notice that fifteen minutes before the American President made his announcement that the US had been engaged in “productive conversations” with Iran, $580 million worth of oil futures changed hands. Trump is known to keep a close eye on markets when making major announcements, often timing them after markets have closed, and in the past, he has alerted aides when he thought an upcoming post would get a reaction from Wall Street. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely…

Yesterday’s announcement by Trump that he was pausing “energy plant destruction” for ten days at Iran’s request may have calmed fears in the short term, but in view of the alignments to come, a happy ending looks a ways off.

It is also difficult to know quite what to make of the thousands of US troops, marines and airborne divisions wending their way to the Middle East when Mr Trump is apparently calling for a quick end to the war. In my new video, due out tomorrow (Saturday, 28) I look at the prospects for the next fourteen days, which includes the full moon in Libra (April 2), and the chances of peace breaking out are slim to say the least.

I have set this chart up from the perspective of Iran. As you will see, the full moon falls on Iran’s natal Sun, which is highly significant. The full moon signals an ending, and within the following two weeks, but whether that is an end to the fighting, the end of the regime, the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning remains to be seen.

Much has been made of the presence of so many planets in Aries – “never in 300,000 years has such a line-up occurred in this sign!” – a bit of an exaggeration, but near enough. The important factor is not the sign the planets are in but the line-up. The signs of the zodiac form a backdrop to the planets as they orbit the Sun. And the movements of the planets and the angles they form with one another, including Earth, create what we might call “the music of the spheres”. The planets never change their essential natures, but they appear in twelve different costumes as they circle the zodiac. Since January, the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars have been moving together through the signs of Aquarius, Pisces and now Aries, conjoining Saturn, Neptune and Pluto and squaring Uranus. On top of all this, there have been two eclipses (17 February and 3 March) making January through April one of the most turbulent and transformational periods in living memory.

On 5 February 1962, there was a similar cluster of planets in the sign of Aquarius (Sun, Moon, Saturn, Mars, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter) – indeed there was a total solar eclipse on that day. The world was not on the threshold of World War III, although the US announced a total embargo on Cuba, and some days later John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. This day has been considered by many astrologers to be the start of the Age of Aquarius.

So, as this impressive line-up continues its journey through the zodiac, we can expect some equally impressive, if not unprecedented, events in April, not all of them in the Middle East but regarding the White House and the Kremlin. I would say more, but time has got me by the tail.

Friday Bite 20 March 2026

Trumped

“If Europe is under attack, we will never come to help you and to support you.” Donald Trump, January 2020

“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their territory,” Donald Trump, 16 March 2026

“Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!” Donald Trump, Truth Social, 18 March, 2026

“I do not know why the Americans and the Israelis still have not understood this point: The Islamic Republic of Iran has a strong political structure with established political, economic and social institutions… The presence or absence of a single individual does not affect this structure.” Abbas Araghchi, Iranian Foreign Minister, 18 March 2026

SO, HERE WE are, 20 March and Mercury is about to turn direct. Since the incursion into Iran began on a retrograde Mercury, a change of direction for the war can be expected. I had hoped that that change of direction would be a US declaration of victory and an end to the bombing, however, it appears the exact opposite is the case, and the conflict is escalating.

Such is the pace of the accelerated times in which we live, the situation in the Middle East changes from hour to hour. After the initial US/Israeli strikes on 28 February, Iran countered by attacking its neighbours – UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – in the process decimating air travel and necessitating the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of ex-patriots, foreign workers and tourists. Three days after the US/Israeli attack began, Iran struck four tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, leading to the closure of the Strait to all but selective traffic, thus sending the price of oil soaring and making global markets very jittery indeed.

As a result of Hezbollah’s sending missiles into Israel, the IDF pummelled Lebanon, displacing almost half a million people and rendering parts of its cities to rubble. And in the last thirty-six hours Israel struck the South Pars gas field – the largest in the world and part owned by Oman – which prompted Iran to declare that were its energy structure to be attacked again, it would show “zero restraint”.

I could go on, but we need to get on! A point I should make, however, is that initially the US (aka Donald Trump) denied all knowledge of the Israeli plan to strike the South Pars gas field, claiming Israel acted alone. After evidence surfaced that the President had indeed been consulted, there was a joint Netanyahu-Trump pivot to the President’s having advised the Israeli Prime Minister against such an action.

And so it goes. Denials here, accusations there; the war won yesterday, today $250 billion needed to continue it. What, according to the astrology, does the future hold?

I thought we’d start by looking at the Aries Ingress chart from the perspective of Iran.

The Sun-Neptune-Saturn conjunction is flanking the Descendant, bringing its properties into sharp relief. The seventh house is not just about relationships but is also known as the house of “open enemies”, so you don’t need a degree in astrology to figure out that Iran is being hammered and its resources depleted by its Israeli and American foes. Plus, the nodal axis – the eclipse point – is the degree of its natal Saturn, so in these initial regards, the prospects for Iran are looking discouraging to say the least. However, however. In the tenth house, standing proud, is Jupiter, which is trining the Moon and Venus, the ruler of the chart. In traditional astrology, these are signs of success; a country standing proud in the face of an onslaught.

Don’t for a minute think I do not realize that the Iranian regime is despicable. The ayatollahs have ruled by fury, force and fear for forty-seven years and the people of Iran have suffered mightily under its government. Even in the last three weeks, while bombs and missiles have rained down on Iranian cities and suburbs, there have been regular public executions.

It is clear that President Trump did not heed the warnings of members of his intelligence service because it is inconceivable that they were not aware that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz were it to be attacked. Iran threatened to do so in 2012 during a dispute with the European Union after it imposed sanctions on it. And there was clearly a good reason why previous US administrations had not gone to war with the Islamic state. The tragedy is that Donald Trump believes he is invincible and since he is known not to read intelligence briefings nor to listen to anything that he doesn’t want to hear, it’s not only the United States that is in an ineluctable position but much of the world.

Donald Trump is the perfect model of a mercurial man. He changes his position as often as his ties and he can pivot on a pinpoint. He was once a great communicator; now he weaves and wanders. If there is a main indicator of his malignant narcissism it is to be found in his rising Mars in Leo. Although he never served in the military – bone spurs prevented him from joining his contemporaries in Vietnam – he is always ready for a fight, always on the attack. Fearless with the use of his verbal weapons. An ego as fragile as a quail’s egg.

Currently Uranus is squaring his Mars and Ascendant, and the recent solar eclipse, which squared Uranus, opposed his Mars and Ascendant. Trump was born on a lunar eclipse so he is more sensitive to eclipses, whether that means he is emboldened by them or his life is shaped by the events they preside over. In this case, the eclipse presided over Operation Epic Fury, and we have yet to find out whether the results of this action will prove to be a feather in his cap or the means of his political demise. I suspect the latter.

It appears the moment to declare a victory and retreat has gone, leaving few options on the table for the United States other than to double down and put boots on the ground. Two thousand, two hundred Marines are on their way from Japan to the Arabian Gulf and it seems likely they are destined for Qarg Island from where 90 percent of Iran’s energy exports are distributed. The Iranians will no doubt be prepared for such a move, so the chances that any threats from the US to destroy its oil supplies in increments unless it reopens the Strait may be met by some considerable opposition.

Ultimately, Iran will have to come to the table – all wars, no matter how long they last, end in diplomacy – and looking forward in time, the full moon of 1 May, which flanks Iran’s MC-IC axis looks to be a plausible moment.

There are six more weeks to go until May, and with a series of major alignments involving Saturn, Neptune and Pluto to come, in terms of the war, we may not have seen anything yet.

BEFORE I GO, I want to make a brief mention of what is happening in Russia, since events in the Middle East have eclipsed much of whatever else is going on in the world. For the past two weeks, Russia has had virtually no internet service. Apparently, this is due to security measures implemented by the government. However, the rumour mill is grinding, suggesting that an increasingly paranoid Vladimir Putin is fearful of a coup.

Earlier this week, a pro-Kremlin blogger, Ilya Remelso, publicly called for Putin to face trial as a war criminal. He argued that the war in Ukraine has been fuelled by Putin’s “complexes” and blames him for devastating Russia’s economy. We are probably not surprised that Mr Remelso was arrested on Thursday and committed to a psychiatric hospital…

Nonetheless, the writing is on the wall for the Putin regime, although I believe we are still some months away from such an eventuality.