Hello
Weekly Hello
MONDAY, July 14 – SUNDAY, July 20
Hello!
I could be accused of drawing too many parallels between the real weather and the astrological weather, but for once the cosmos is out of sync with what’s going on outside my window, and I couldn’t resist making the connection. Already, at 8:30 in the morning, the beaches and parks are filling up with sun-seekers for what is set to be the hottest day of the year.
There is not a cloud in the blue, blue sky. What could possibly go wrong?
According to our stars, we should be battening down the hatches. Saturn is stationary, preparing to head back over old ground between now and November 28th. We should be reaching for our umbrellas.
Planets are at their most effective when stationary, which means that Saturn as the head of the school of hard knocks is taking no prisoners. The law of karma is being ruthlessly enforced. So, if you are feeling less than optimistic about the future and wishing someone would cut you some slack, you won’t be alone.
There is, of course, a good side to Saturn. In keeping with his role as the deity of agriculture, you reap a harvest with this planet. You are rewarded for your hard efforts and can taste the fruits of the seeds you planted way back when. There is good karma and bad karma. However, whatever the returns we are about to receive, the more important factor is to create good karma, not the stuff that comes back to bite us in the posterior.
Happy days!
Details about my reconfigured Astrology Course- Here
Friday Bite
Astrology of the Week’s Main Global Events
by
Penny Thornton
Friday Bite 18 July 2025
Secrets, lies and Screw-ups
“Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony subject to Court approval. This scam, perpetrated by the Democrats, should end, right now!” Donald Trump, Truth Social, 18 July
“He’s a terrible Fed chair. I was surprised he was appointed,” Donald Trump, July 16, commenting on Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve chairman who he appointed to the post in 2017, during his first term.
AND STILL THEY keep coming, the exposés and the revelations. On Wednesday, here in the UK, we were informed that in February 2022, a Ministry of Defence official inadvertently pressed “send” on an email that was to cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds and put at risk the lives of thousands of people, not least the 18,000 Afghans who had applied for asylum under the Afghan resettlement scheme. The situation became immeasurably worse the following day when it was revealed that members of the SAS and MI6 were also identified on the list.
The error became the reason for one of the biggest cover-ups in recent history. On 1 September, 2023 the government of the day put in place a superinjunction, preventing anyone from revealing even the existence of such an order, let alone details of the leak itself. However, after a two-year legal battle with the Times newspaper, on Tuesday, the superinjunction was lifted and the scandal exposed.
Not in quite the same category but an exposé nonetheless involved one of the BBC’s flagship programmes, MasterChef. Last week, host Greg Wallace was sacked over scores of accusations of racist, sexual and offensive behaviour, forty of which were upheld, and on Tuesday, co-host John Torode was fired over an allegation that he had used racist language. What will happen to the programmes already “in the can” and awaiting release remains unknown, but it has to be devastating for those who took part and whose cooking journeys might now never be seen.
To have one presenter of a mega-successful series be fired through misconduct is bad enough, but two… The series is too beloved to be mortally wounded, but it has sustained an injury. As you can see from the chart above, the first show aired at 8:00 pm on 2 July 1990, so it has just turned thirty-five. It has weathered Saturn-Pluto storms and Uranus upsets, but what is presiding over these recent developments is the Saturn-Neptune conjunction – a factor which also plays a part in my main topic, the Epstein affair.
MasterChef was born on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Capricorn, some months after the Berlin Wall came down. Now, as then, Jupiter was in Cancer. So, we are witnessing the end of a chapter – and in chaotic and confusing circumstances – which will give birth to a new and very different era. As for the two hosts of the show: John Torode has been under Uranus – so this development came completely out of the blue (Uranus squaring his Mercury-Venus conjunction in Leo) while Greg Wallace is facing a similar Uranus transit to his natal Saturn, which in turn triggers a Grand Cross in fixed signs: he is undergoing the lesson of a lifetime.
JOINING THE LIST of celebrities whose television lives have experienced a sudden rupture is Stephen Colbert, presenter of The Late Show, one of the most enduring programmes on American television. On Thursday. Mr Colbert learned that he had been cancelled. The show will air until May next year, but thereafter, no more. While traditional, mainstream television companies have seen their viewing numbers sharply decline in recent years due to the rise and rise of streaming services, it may be no coincidence that the announcement came three days after Colbert had called out Paramount for capitulating to Donald Trump and settling his lawsuit against the company’s 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Colbert has long been an outspoken critic of the president.
At least Colbert can count his blessings in that he wasn’t defenestrated like so many of Putin’s critics
Before I get into the Epstein fiasco, mention should be made of Grok, the AI chatbot who recently ran amok on X, morphing into a genocidal dictator and calling itself MechaHitler. X apologized for its recalcitrant bot, deleting offensive posts and embarking on a reprogramming exercise. Entirely unconnected but still part of the turmoil that has engulfed Elon Musk, on Wednesday, X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino resigned.
Under these alignments, there is nowhere to hide.
AND SO TO the conspiracy that refuses to die. One of the vows Donald Trump made during his campaign for re-election was that he would release all documentation related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
It was a vow his MAGA supporters would hold him to.
To bring you up to speed. On Monday, 14 July, the Justice Department and the FBI released a memo claiming that there was no evidence that Jeffrey Epstein had a list of powerful men who participated in his alleged underworld of sex-trafficking and paedophilia. This memo flew in the face of a statement Attorney General Pam Bondi made in February on Fox News that the client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review”.
In 2008, Epstein was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute for which he served a thirteen-month sentence. In July 2019 he was arrested on federal charges of sex-trafficking minors. While awaiting trial in a New York jail, he committed suicide. Allegedly.
Supporting Monday’s memo, the Justice Department released ten hours of security footage taken from a camera overlooking Epstein’s cell on the day he died. The intent being to prove that no one entered his cell and facilitated his demise. However, metadata from this surveillance video reveals nearly three minutes of footage were cut thus reigniting the conspiracy theory. View: Epstein’s Prison video
To cut a very long and convoluted story short, it has long been believed that there was a lot more to Donald Trump’s fifteen-year friendship with Epstein than mutual professional and social interests. They shared a love of very young and beautiful women. Yet another issue the president has sought to dismiss, despite photographs to the contrary and claims that he had taken the Lolita Express to Epstein’s island sex- sanctuary.
Unfortunately for the president, today, the Wall Street Journal published a greeting allegedly sent by Trump to Epstein on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday. The greeting contained several lines of type-written text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to have been drawn by a heavy black marker pen. It ends with the cryptic sentiment:
“A pal is a wonderful thing, Happy Birthday and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The president has threatened to sue the publication and claimed the letter is a fake. And in a bid to tamp down further controversy he has directed his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to release Court documents related to Epstein’s sex-trafficking case.
It remains to be seen whether any of these actions will appease his disaffected MAGA supporters.
Sadly, we do not have a time of birth for Epstein and must make do with a sunrise chart. There is a speculative time of 3:15 in the morning, but this was established by rectification and therefore unreliable. Also, the astrologer who rectified the time was a Vedic practitioner and using the sidereal system of astrology. Accordingly, Scorpio rises. However, western astrology is based on the tropical system, and produces a Sagittarian Ascendant for the same time. And this chart does not speak to me. Hence a sunrise chart.
The Sun moved into Aquarius on the day Epstein was born so he could be a Capricorn. As it is, the Sun squares a Saturn-Neptune conjunction, which explains his nefarious activities, although with a different consciousness he could have been a saint and certainly a humanitarian. Clearly, that was not his destiny.
What interests me most at this time, however, is his natal Saturn-Neptune conjunction, which is brought to life by the current Saturn-Neptune conjunction. It is as though unfinished business is ready to be completed. Old scores require settling. The past is reaching into the present and demanding resolution. Epstein may no longer be with us but he is a big part of the conversation – a very big part of the conversation, and possibly the catalyst of Trump’s political demise.
Et tu, Brute.
Not for the first time has time got the better of me, however, I will continue to comment on the Epstein affair in future Bites as I am sure this part of the story has only just begun.
Friday Bite 11 July 2025
Giving Peace No Chance
“It’s not a political statement for me as a Harvard-degreed atmospheric scientist to say that elected representative Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about. She’d be equally qualified to fly a Boeing-737, practice nuclear medicine or train zebras.” Matthew Cappucci in response to Greene’s intention to introduce legislation to prevent government “weather modification and geoengineering” in the wake of the deadly Texas floods. 7 July
“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth, he’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.” Donald Trump, 8 July
“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.” Elon Musk, 5 July, 8:46 pm
SHORTLY AFTER LAST week’s Bite was published, Elon Musk posted a “tweet” asking his more than 220 million followers if he should create a new political party. Over 65% of those who responded gave a resounding “yes”. The following day the Tesla mogul and former head of DOGE announced the formation of the America Party.
There must have been something in the water because this proclamation came close on the heels of the announcement of another new party to be co-founded by former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn and Member of Parliament, Zara Sultana. I have my doubts over the viability of both these parties, although I will claim a little credit for having forecast a new political party for America in my 2025 Year Ahead Overview.
As America celebrated its 250th birthday, the Guadalupe River in Texas flooded, sweeping away houses and highways, felling bridges and pulling up trees from their roots. To date, 121 people have died and 173 are missing. Among the dead and unaccounted for are 27 children and several members of staff attending the Mystic summer camp. The word tragedy hardly cuts it.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration resumed sending a supply of weapons to Ukraine. Despite the Biden government having already funded the operation, Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, last week directed a pause on the shipment. The Trump administration has made light of the U-turn maintaining there was never a pause, however, it can surely be no coincidence, that the shipments were held up just prior to Mr Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin and resumed thereafter when any plans for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine were clearly not on the table.
Another ceasefire not on the agenda any time soon is that between Hamas and Israel. Despite spending four days with Mr Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu left Washington without any sign of a deal. On their last evening, over dinner, Netanyahu handed the president another nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
And still the missiles and the drones come. And still tiny children and whole families die in the rubble that was Gaza.
More successful diplomatic efforts took place in London during President Macron’s state visit to the United Kingdom. Despite the existential gloom over the prospect of ever bringing down the numbers of migrants crossing the Channel, a one-in, one-out deal was agreed whereby a number of migrants arriving in small boats will be returned to France in exchange for asylum seekers who have not tried to enter the United Kingdom illegally. This may represent the tip of the iceberg but at least it’s a start.
THE ABOVE CHART reflects the moment the first flood warning was issued to Kerr County in Texas. By three in the morning, floodwaters were beginning to inundate Camp Mystic. The speed and force of the waters gave those caught up in them almost no chance of survival. While human failure may play some part in the loss of so many lives, essentially it was a natural disaster, an act of God.
What I notice about this chart is the positioning of Jupiter on the IC and Neptune, just above the Ascendant. In essence, a great flood is a Jupiter-Neptune event. When the current Jupiter-Neptune cycle began in 2022, the undersea volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted generating a massive tsunami. The event damaged cables on the seabed and cut the communications systems of the Tonga Islands.
At the time flood warnings were given, Neptune and Saturn were also closely conjunct Scheat (29 degrees Pisces 23’), the fixed star in the constellation, Pegasus, which has a dire reputation for catastrophes, particularly those involving water and shipping. That Scheat has been conjunct Neptune for some while is enough in and of itself to confirm its relationship with disasters. Indeed, when the Los Angeles fires began on 7 January this year, Neptune was similarly rising conjunct Scheat, and although this was not a disaster involving tsunamis or floods, the inability to get water to the source of the fires was a contributing factor to the devastation.
In the above chart I have also indicated the two Yods (aka Finger of Fates) that continue to dominate the astrology. The inconjunctions between the planet at the apex of the configuration and the other planets therein may be tense, however, the sextile that unites them reveals the potential for resolution. On the one hand, we find the Moon at the apex of one Yod, inconjunct the Saturn-Neptune-Scheat conjunction and inconjunct the Venus-Uranus conjunction. On the other, we find Pluto as the protagonist, inconjunct Jupiter and Mars.
Conflict finds resolution.
These Yods and the larger configurations they form part of will continue to be in charge of the astrology over the coming months, so we can expect further natural disasters and man-made conflicts and catastrophes. However, the point to remember, is that no matter how dark the times, there will be resolution.
Speaking of which…
IN RECENT WEEKS, Russia has become even more aggressive in its war with Ukraine. On 4 July, Independence Day, it attacked Ukrainian cities with the largest number of drones and missiles launched in a single barrage since the war began. And the onslaught has continued, night after night. Meanwhile, at home, the number of Russian officials who have committed suicide – many by jumping out of windows or putting a gun to their heads – is increasing in tandem. A few days ago, an oligarch intending to fly to Turkey in his private plane, was arrested. And so it goes. To all intents and purposes, what is happening looks like a purge. And it bears a strong resemblance to the one that took place in the Nineteen-thirties under Stalin.
Russia’s war on the ground has not progressed in recent months, which is probably why Putin is now focussing his attacks on the citizens of Ukraine. The intent being to demoralize the people into surrendering. Apparently, a summer offensive is on its way.
On the face of it, things look bleak for Ukraine. However…
In my video on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, I talked about this conjunction and its relationship with the ends of regimes. Russia is one such example of a nation whose destiny is shaped by these two planets, and the current conjunction is within a degree or so of the country’s natal Sun. Thus, I am expecting there to be a regime change, whether through a coup or an uprising by the people within twelve months.
The Saturn-Neptune conjunction isn’t the only sign that things will change in Russia in the coming months. Russia’s Moon is three degrees of Virgo, and by June of next year it will be squared by Uranus. The Moon represents the people, which is why an uprising looks possible, although, on the other hand, we could be looking at an attack on the Russian people. However, Putin’s Moon is 3 degrees of Gemini, so in June of next year, Uranus will be conjunct his Moon, suggesting, at the very least, a change of residence…
So, dark as these days are for Ukraine, and for the Russian people, liberation will come. Of that I am certain.
AND FINALLY, IN regard to the Japanese megaquake predicted by many to occur on 5 July, such a catastrophe did not happen. As I suggested in last Friday’s Bite, there was just too little evidence in the astrology for a major quake. At least at that moment in time.