Friday Bite 16 May 2025
The Art of the Deal
“A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” Declaration of Independence, 1776
“Air Force One is an Air Force plane. A military aircraft. It’s not intended to be a palace because the US doesn’t have a king.” Jonathan Reiner, Professor of Medicine and Surgery, X 12 May
“I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me,” RF Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health, 14 May
FULL MOONS COME and go, but Monday’s full moon in Scorpio was a game-changer. It may take a while before the ramifications of certain developments become clear but if you’re paying attention, you’ll already see the pieces on the international chessboard moving toward an ineluctable conclusion.
In a year which continues to produce one jaw-dropping development after another, it will be easy to miss a couple of key game-changers. Almost lost in the spectacular Trump Deals-and Diplomacy tour of the Middle East this past week was the White House Deputy Chief of Staff’s statement that the administration was “actively looking into” suspending the writ of habeas corpus. This writ, which is older than the American Constitution, enables people detained by the government to challenge their detention in court. That authority ultimately rests with Congress, however other decisions which should have been made by Congress alone have been short-circuited by the administration – the deportation of more than two hundred Venezuelans to El Salvador being a case in point.
Also, threatening to get swamped by the avalanche of trillion-dollar deals, was President Trump’s intimation that he would accept the gift of a $400 million Boeing 747-8 from the Qatari royal family. The “palace in the air” would replace Air Force One, which has suffered a number of technical problems in recent years. For obvious reasons, the US Constitution prohibits federal officials from accepting expensive gifts from foreign governments without approval of Congress. What is potentially even more unconstitutional about the acceptance of this gift is that President Trump intends to take the plane with him when he leaves office, albeit under the guise of its being a donation to his presidential library.
“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” Donald Trump, Truth Social, 12 May
At the beginning of a week that may well go down as Donald Trump’s most successful week ever in either of his presidencies, Hamas released Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander as a goodwill gesture to the American president. It may simply be a coincidence that Israel simultaneously renewed its efforts to extinguish Hamas from the planet on the same day, having previously announced its intention to expand its military offensive in Gaza and, if necessary, seize the entire Palestinian state.
I love it when the astrology comes up trumps. When I recorded my video on the full moon in Scorpio, I pointed to its significance in the charts of Russia, Israel, America, Trump, Putin and Zelensky. This full moon occurred days before a Sun-Uranus conjunction (17/18 May) and so promised to preside over both ground-breaking and controversial developments. Fire and fury indeed.
For the record: the full moon at 22 degrees of Taurus-Scorpio flanked Israel’s Sun-Chiron opposition and squared its natal Mars, it conjoined Russia’s Venus-Pluto conjunction and squared the USA’s natal Moon. The Scorpio full moon also squared Putin’s MC/Pluto conjunction, squared Zelensky’s Saturn and MC/IC axis and Trump’s MC/IC axis. Plus, Uranus is currently closely square Trump’s natal Mars.
You may also note the presence of a Kite configuration and a T-square. The former underscores the potential for situations to take flight in the best of ways or become dangerously out of control. The T-square holds the promise of deep and transformational discussions but also breakdowns of communications.
As it was, today’s meeting in Turkey between Russian and Ukrainian officials ended after a mere two hours, the Russians allegedly threatening Ukraine with “eternal war” and making even more unacceptable demands, although the two countries have agreed to large-scale prisoner exchanges.
President Zelensky has accused Putin of being too scared to meet him, and given the recent assassinations of two top generals on the Kremlin’s doorstep, he is probably right. As for a full moon squaring his natal Pluto and Midheaven, whether Putin stays at home or travels to distant places, his position is far from safe. And as you know, I fully expect a change of regime in Russia within the next twelve months.
BY ANY STANDARDS, Trump’s visit to the Middle East has been an unqualified success. It has reversed his declining popularity in the United States, markets are recovering and the dollar is gaining strength. He has secured billions of dollars in deals and in a stunning example of the art of the deal, lifted sanctions on Syria, inspired Hamas to release a hostage and embraced the new interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, once a leader of Al Qaeda. Were only President Putin to have turned up for the meeting he proposed in Turkey, the trip would have been PERFECT!
President Trump’s week of glory is a testament to the power of Jupiter. This planet of growth, good fortune and success is currently within a degree of his natal Sun and opposing his Moon. Jupiter had reached 21 degrees of Gemini prior to the November election, and its return over old ground for the third and final time in this cycle is the cherry on the icing so to speak. Monday’s full moon in Scorpio flanked his MC-IC axis suggesting the end of a chapter and the reaching of a pinnacle of sorts. That Uranus is so closely square to his natal Mars is a cause for concern though. While we can think of Uranus as the Great Awakener, it is more often associated with breakdowns, breakups, eruptions and explosions. Uranus will not return to 26 degrees and 47 minutes of Leo again, so whatever the negative effects of this transit, we are going to see them sooner than later.
It would be a wonderful thing if Trump can continue to fulfil his role as Master of Dealership and Peacemaker Royale with further successes in Gaza and Ukraine, but time and again I find myself holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. How often have I seen someone at the peak of their power be simultaneously on the point of their decline. A fall follows the rise as night follows day.
Synchronicities sometimes take your breath away. This past week, it came to light that the copy of the Magna Carta held by Harvard Law School was in fact an original. The document, written 700 years ago, established the concept that kings must answer to the law. A concept embedded in the American constitution. Earlier this month, a television journalist asked Donald Trump the simple question “Don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” “I don’t know.” Came the answer. “Don’t you agree that every person in the United States is entitled to due process?” The president again replied, “I don’t know.”
Friday Bite 9 May 2025
Habemus Papam
“God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, let us move forward.” Pope Leo XIV, 8 May
IN THE WEEK that we celebrated the end of World War II and the election of a new pope, India and Pakistan came that little bit closer to all-out war.
I should also briefly mention that in the past seven days, the United Kingdom has struck a trade deal with the Trump administration, which has received mixed reviews, Gaby Hinsliff of The Guardian suggesting that “Britain hasn’t agreed a trade deal… it’s ended a hostage negotiation.”. In Germany, Fredrick Merz only just secured the Chancellorship, having failed to gain enough votes in the first round, which does not bode well for the future. And Australia returned Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese in a landslide victory. Fears of a “red wave” sweeping the country proved greatly exaggerated, far-right coalition leader Peter Dutton losing his seat of twenty-four years.
Common sense: a noble Australian virtue.
AT 7:15 ON Thursday evening in Rome, Pope Leo XIV emerged onto the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica and addressed the thousands gathered below. “We still have in our ears that weak, but always courageous voice of Pope Francis as he blessed Rome! The Pope who blessed Rome, gave his blessing to the world, to the entire world, that Easter morning. Allow me to follow up on that same blessing: God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail!”
The former cardinal, Robert Francis Prevost, is the first American pope. Born in Chicago he graduated from Villanova University in Pennsylvania with a degree in mathematics and went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Divinity and a doctorate in canon law. He spent most of his career as a missionary in South America and served as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2014-2023 becoming a Peruvian citizen in 2015.
The former cardinal was highly regarded by Pope Francis and is seen by many as a successor to the much-beloved pontiff. In taking the name Leo, he follows in the footsteps of Pope Leo XIII who led the Catholic Church from 1878-1903 and was known for defending the rights of workers and rejecting Socialism and capitalism.
If Pope Francis was the People’s Pope, maybe Pope Leo is the Workers’ Pope.
We do not have a time of birth for Pope Leo so we must make do with a sunrise chart. With the Sun, Mars and Venus in Virgo it is no surprise that he is a strong proponent of workers’ rights and has been tireless in his mission to protect the poor and the oppressed. He has overtly criticised the Trump administration for its stance on immigration and openly chastised JD Vance for his opinions: “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,”
Pope Leo was born at the time of the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in Leo, which suggests he is the Great Transformer and a man born to be a powerful leader. According to his brother, when he was six years old, a woman in the neighbourhood declared he would be the first American pope.
Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions in and of themselves do not make people great leaders – indeed, they can appear in charts of those who manipulate and abuse power or who never show a spark of greatness in any direction – but depending not only on the placing of the conjunction but also the destiny and consciousness of the individual, they are a strong indicator of great power.
News that a pope had been elected came in puffs of white smoke just after six in the evening. It had taken only four ballots for the 133 cardinals to reach their decision, and the astrology confirms that it was indeed a largely harmonious process. (Not quite the dark machinations on display in Robert Harris’s Conclave.)
The Mars-Pluto opposition occupies a dominant position, suggesting that Leo’s papacy will not be without controversy. The Moon, the ruler of the tenth house of leadership, is in Libra and the twelfth house, opposing Venus, the ruler of the chart, and the Saturn-Neptune conjunction. Translated, this will not be a papacy conducted in the glare of the headlights. Much of the work of change will be conducted behind the scenes. Pope Leo, despite his warm and engaging persona, will work in mysterious ways.
Those of you who have listened to my talk on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, which I gave at St Albans last Saturday, will know that I allow this conjunction two years to reveal its various purposes. Given that this conjunction is coincident with the end of regimes and the beginning of new ones, in the same way that it took two years for the Soviet Union to collapse after the Berlin Wall came down (Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Capricorn, 1989) we will have to wait until late 2027 to see what Pope Leo XIV’s papacy is all about. My instincts tell me this is a good man who will exert a reforming influence within the Catholic Church and be a forceful and moral voice on the world’s stage. He’s going to shake things up a bit.
ON 22 APRIL, a group of Islamic terrorists attacked tourists in the northern border region of Kashmir, killing twenty-six civilians. On 7 May, India launched a wave of missiles into Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, striking at least six cities and killing at least 31 people – including two children.
Alarming as the escalation of hostilities between India and Pakistan is, the situation has not yet reached the point of no return. However, there is cause for concern. The applying Saturn-Neptune conjunction is within close range of Pakistan’s Sun and India’s Uranus/MC-IC axis while Uranus is squaring Pakistan’s Jupiter-Pluto conjunction and Pluto is in striking distance of India’s Sun and Moon.
In the aftermath of World War II the British partitioned colonial India. Small, semi-autonomous “princely states” were folded into either India or Pakistan, local rulers having the right to choose. In the case of Kashmir, the local ruler elected to become part of India even though the region was largely Muslim.
In the seventy-five years that India and Pakistan have been independent nations, they have been brought back from the brink of all-out conflict over Kashmir several times, most recently in 2019. On almost every occasion diplomatic efforts on the part of the USA have been crucial to the de-escalation process. While President Trump has said that he will be “happy to help” in this most recent “skirmish” this is not the same America that once prioritized its role as a global peacemaker. Hence fears that the situation will get out of control.
Full moons bring simmering situations to the bubble and Monday’s full moon in Scorpio is opposed to unpredictable and explosive Uranus. This full moon triggers the charts of many key nations including Russia, the USA, Ukraine, Israel and the EU, so India and Pakistan are by no means the only tinder box in town. However, sometimes even with the best will in the world to merely right the balance, a random event – a false flag or a stupid mistake – can change the course of history.