Friday Bite 12 June 2026

So near and yet so far

“Tonight’s operation is a warning declaration, and in the event of repeated aggressions, the response will be more extensive and will encompass all American-Zionist targets in the region.” Spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, 8 June.

“You’ve shot your missiles, that’s enough. Get back to the table and make a deal”. Donald Trump, 8 June

“We hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them hard again today,” Donald Trump, 11 June

“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.” Donald Trump, 11 June

IT CAN ONLY get better, we say, then it gets worse. I could be talking about Iran, Ukraine or the Ebola outbreak but I am referring to Great Britain in general and Sir Keir Starmer in particular. The prime minister has been on life-support for some weeks but with yesterday’s resignation of the Secretary of Defence, that lifeline has been effectively severed.

On Thursday, John Healey, one the most loyal, wise and tempered members of the government and a close confederate of Starmer, made clear his feelings about the prime minister and the defence of the country. “You have been unable and the Treasury has been unwilling to commit resources that the nation needs to defend the country at a time of rising threats… [the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan] falls short of what is required for the defence of the country at this dangerous time.”

Healey’s resignation was followed hours later by that of the Armed Forces minister, Al Carns.

Despite this double, and probably mortal, blow, Sir Keir remains unbowed. In an interview with the BBC yesterday, he maintained that it was his “duty” to carry on and that he would fight any contest should one be mounted. “And let me just be clear… that’s not about personal vanity. It’s not about stubbornness.”

Virgo and duty go hand in hand. This is a sign of service and selflessness. We see a lot of Virgo’s great qualities in Starmer and we see a lot of its negatives. He is relentless in his attention to detail and his aim always to do the right thing. Yet he fails to manifest whatever vision he may have through trying to dot every I and cross every T. Endeavouring to please all of the people all of the time is another problem for Sir Keir, and with the Moon, Mercury and Venus in Libra, we know why.

His Sun-Pluto conjunction, however, is powerful. And it underpins his extraordinarily successful career as a barrister and a politician. (He was Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service). This conjunction has a Scorpio aura to it, which is why he can withstand any amount of heat, and also why he has a sting in his tail. Not one warm word was there in his reply to his close ally’s letter of resignation: it was cold, clinical and final.

Since we do not know Starmer’s time of birth, we cannot be sure that his Moon in Libra is currently opposed by Saturn, but we can be sure that his solar-arc progressed Mars is conjunct his Sun-Pluto conjunction, which is presiding over the battle for his political career. Uranus is also squaring Uranus bringing out his inner-rebel while Pluto is hovering over his natal Saturn and generating life and death scenarios.

Great Britain’s natal Pluto is currently being squared by Uranus, which is one reason why we are experiencing such radical shifts in power (witness the rise of Nigel Farage and the Reform party) and such huge cultural and political change and upheaval (witness the huge wave of protests against immigration and the rise of antisemitism across the country.) Pluto is none too far from the nation’s Mars while Neptune is closing in on the Midheaven and the Sun, so we are in the early stages of a massive transformation. And we are very, very vulnerable. Given that Mars is involved, it is absolutely vital that we get our defence ducks in a row. Already, Russia’s ships are near our northern waters, and there have been clear (and successful) attempts to cut our digital communication cables on the North Sea bed.

I want to draw your attention to John Healey’s Moon-Pluto conjunction in Virgo. The Moon moves thirteen degrees in twenty-four hours, so whatever time Mr Healey was born it is still going to be conjunct Pluto. And what is so interesting about this Moon-Pluto conjunction is that it sits on Starmer’s Sun-Pluto conjunction. No wonder they are kindred spirits, although now, presumably, remorseless enemies.

IT IS INCREASINGLY hard to keep up with all the important world events. I almost forgot that the week opened with riots in Belfast over a vicious knife attack on a local man by a Sudanese asylum-seeker. On Monday, gangs of masked men scoured the Belfast streets setting fire to homes belonging to immigrants and terrifying the residents. Belfast is, of course, part of Great Britain.

On the same day, an Iranian drone took out a US helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz and America responded by striking Iranian air defences in the same area. On Thursday, after threatening yet another wave of air strikes on Iran, Donald Trump performed an about-turn and announced that an agreement with Iran, or rather, a memorandum of understanding, was at hand. However, Iran, while not denying the possibility of an agreement, was less bullish about its nature. According to Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, “The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer. Pending its finalization, the media should refrain from entering speculation about its content,”.

I have to say, despite the approach of the new moon, the astrology isn’t a picture of kum by yah.

The above chart for the new moon of the 14/15 takes place as Venus makes her way to an opposition with Pluto – exact on Wednesday/Thursday. And Venus-Pluto aspects while raising passions in the best of ways can also preside over confrontations. I recently put up a short video on Venus, explaining that Venus isn’t just the goddess of love, pleasure and all things nice; to the Romans, she was the goddess of war too, or rather the goddess of victory in war, while to the ancient Mesopotamians she was Ishtar, the deity of war. This dual role is well worth considering in light of any forthcoming Memorandum of Understanding being signed in the next few days.

Could the promise of the new moon and a new chapter be marked by signatures on paper, and if it does, will it lead to a similar agreement of the ilk of the Abraham Accords or will it collapse in the weeks that follow due to irreconcilable differences? Or are we back in rinse and repeat mode so that talks of an agreement are but another device intended to boost the markets?

We can’t forget that it is Donald Trump’s eightieth birthday on Sunday, and what better event to mark this historic day but a signed piece of paper declaring “peace in our time”. I would place a bet on such a scenario. But the astrology does not lie. That Venus-Pluto opposition is there for a reason and it is a sign that the dark arts are in charge, and sooner or later we will discover what is quietly fermenting under the cover of darkness.

Friday Bite 5 June 2026

Rinse and Repeat²

“I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less. If they’re over [talks with Iran], they’re over. If they’re not, you know, I think they took too much time.” Donald Trump, 1 June.

 “Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Donald Trump, 1 June.

 “Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilisational decline. They must be rejected across the West. The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time.” The White House, 4 June

YOU ARE PROBABLY not the only one feeling that you are in an endless loop. One moment you are on the way to sorting a problem, and the next, it’s back again with a new twist. The war in Iran is in its ninety-eighth day, and despite “ceasefire agreements”, threats and counter threats, the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed to international traffic while oil prices are poised to rise even higher and oil reserves set to sink lower.

Here in Blighty, Prime Minister Starmer remains in place despite many attempts to oust him, and given the furore over the murder of eighteen-year-old Henry Nowak and the spotlight it has placed on Britain’s policing, you’d think he’d positively welcome handing over an impossible job to someone else. And if Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, has anything to do with it, he will be next in line for that thankless task. (Yesterday, Burnham announced his intention to run in a leadership bid against Sir Keir.)

Henry Nowak was killed in a knife attack on 3 December last year. The brother of the perpetrator called the police, falsely claiming that they had been the victims of a racially-motivated assault. When the police arrived at the scene, officers refused to believe Nowak was injured and instead handcuffed him as he lay dying on the street.

On Monday, Vickrum Digwa was sentenced to life-imprisonment for Henry’s murder. Almost immediately, claims of “two-tiered policing” emanated from far-right corners, hence, the above post by the White House and numerous posts by Elon Musk. The thing is that for decades Britain’s police forces have been accused of racial bias toward black people, in fact research earlier this year showed that black people were forty-eight times more likely to be stopped and searched in parts of London than their white counterparts.

President Trump has had a difficult week, although a good part of it was spent MIA after his appointment at the Water Reed Medical Centre on 26 May. On Monday, he had a difficult telephone conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s continuing attacks on Lebanon and on Tuesday, Attorney General Tod Blanche was forced to announce the dropping of the $1776 billion anti-weaponization fund, set up to help “victims” of lawfare and those unjustly targeted by the Biden administration. On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a measure preventing the president from taking further military action in Iran and in the early hours of this morning the House approved legislation to provide aid for Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia. 

And if that wasn’t enough to indicate the beginnings of a pushback against the Trump administration, on Thursday, the Kennedy Centre directed its employees to remove all references to Donald Trump from its communications in order to comply with a federal judge’s order blocking the president’s name from being added to the performing arts centre.

Then there are the new arrangements hastily being put in place for the 250th birthday celebrations since seven of the nine musical acts have pulled out. On Wednesday, Mr Trump told the artists to “stay at home” and instead there would be a “rally to end all rallies”.

Speaking of birthdays. Next Sunday is Donald Trump’s eightieth. And it comes sandwiched between a Mercury-Saturn square, a new moon and a Venus-Pluto opposition. I thought we’d take a look at his solar return.

There are two ways to set up a chart for the return of the Sun to its natal position each year: one from the birth location and the other at the place where the birthday is celebrated. I’m not sure where the president will have his special day, so I have used his birthplace. However, whether he spends his birthday in Washington, New Jersey or Florida, the Ascendant only varies by four degrees.

Clearly, the main feature of the solar return is the T-square created by the nodal axis and Uranus and the Moon. The nodal axis represents the point at which eclipses take place so any such configuration is suffused with an aura of fate and destiny. Uranus is conjunct an angle which adds to its significance, and since the angle is the Descendant, other people may have a lot to do with any Uranian events. The Sun is also to be found in the seventh house so relationships are a major focus for the year ahead.

There are also several septiles, bi-septiles and tri-septiles in the chart, which although indicative of joy and fulfilment, also mirror the aforementioned T-square with its theme of a strongly fated year.

If we didn’t know this was Donald Trump’s chart, we might leap to the conclusion that he was going to separate or divorce his wife or engage in a scandalous affair. But not only do Melania and he seem to have settled into a marriage of inconvenience with merely a nod to togetherness, it seems unlikely they would suddenly divorce. And given the president appears to have some health issues, an affair is unlikely.

However, I thought I’d check out Melania’s chart just in case.

And what do we find but natal Mars at five degrees of Gemini. Uranus is set to conjoin Mars later in June and through July while transiting Pluto is squaring her Sun. Surprises and shocks, and certainly some unscheduled events, are in store. We do not know Melania’s time of birth so I have used a sunrise setting. The Moon entered Capricorn at 12:27 that morning so there is a chance it is in the final degree and minutes of Sagittarius. But there is a greater chance that the Moon is in the early degrees of Capricorn and therefore currently under the influence of Neptune and Saturn. Loss, confusion, illusion-delusion. Whatever the case, the Uranus and Pluto transits are enough on their own to preside over one of the most unsettling periods of her life.

Maybe there is more to come out regarding her association with Jeffrey Epstein. Perhaps she knows where the bodies are buried. Or maybe she’s about to experience some developments that will rock the world in which she and the Trump family live.

Certainly, we should be watching events on and around the Venus-Pluto opposition of 17 June, although the more volatile influences coalesce on or near Independence Day. Mercury will be in retrograde by the fourth of July and days before, a full moon will have triggered Trump’s natal Mercury and the USA’s Sun-Jupiter midpoint. While none of these in and of themselves is a cause for concern, seen together with the transiting Mars-Uranus conjunction (exact on July 4), protests and explosions of the real and metaphorical kind, could be in the pipeline.

Returning to President Trump’s solar return, given that the closeness of Uranus to the Descendant and its conjunction to the Moon are unlikely to augur a marital separation or divorce, they could instead symbolize a break-up between the president and the country, or some random event that affects Mr Trump’s ability to lead America. And although there are twelve months in which such events could unfold, that Mars is poised to trigger the configuration later in June and July, could bring such a scenario forward.

Whatever ultimately transpires on and around America’s 250th  anniversary, controversy is surely in the mix. And that’s probably the best-case-scenario.