Friday Bite 29 May 2026

Recollections May Vary

“I have obviously been married to someone I didn’t know at all.” Nicola Sturgeon, former First Minister of Scotland, upon hearing of her ex-husband pleading guilty to embezzling more than £400,000.”  25 May.

“The Use of government power to target individuals or entities for improper and unlawful political, personal or ideological reasons should not ne tolerated by any administration.” Trent McCotter, DOJ official, in a written statement regarding the $1,776 billion slush fund inspired by Donald J. Trump

“Oman will have to behave like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow’em up…”  Donald J Trump, 27 May

IT’S BEEN AN explosive week. Consistent with last Friday’s Sun-Uranus conjunction and Tuesday’s Mars-Pluto square, a gas explosion occurred at a coal mine in China’s northern Shanxi province killing eighty-two people and injuring one hundred and twenty. In the United States a series of explosions on Staten Island proved to be not deadly, although unusual, while in California, thousands were evacuated in and around Garden City when it was feared an overheating chemical tank would explode. And then there was yesterday’s spectacular explosion during a test of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral.

And there were other kinds of explosions, or perhaps in Tulsi Gabbard’s case, expulsion would be the correct word. Last Friday, Trump’s director of national intelligence resigned, citing her husband’s cancer diagnosis, although it was common knowledge that she had been kept out of any sensitive, high-level meetings, including the kidnapping of Venezuela’s Maduro and Operation Epic Fury. Such was the extent of her exclusions that White House aides would joke that DNI stood for Do Not Invite.

With her natal Uranus at 29 Scorpio, Tulsi is just emerging from her Uranus opposition – a time of sudden upsets, awakenings, shocks and surprises. She has four planets, including the Sun, in Aries and transiting Saturn has recently crossed over her Mercury and opposed its natal position in Libra. She must surely be feeling discouraged and rejected. While she may be deserving of our sympathy, some of her colleagues hold a less than high regard for her, describing her as “calculating, cautious and keenly aware of cultivating her image”.

Which brings us to Monday and the revelation that Peter Murrell, former CEO of the Scottish National Party (SNP), had managed to embezzle a sum of £400,310.65 from the party’s accounts. He pleaded guilty in court and will be sentenced in a month’s time. What is almost as shocking as the crime itself is that his wife, Nicola Sturgeon, former First Minister and leader of the SNP, was completely ignorant of the dastardly goings-on in her own back yard. On Monday, at a public appearance in Ireland to promote her new memoir, Frankly, she said, “I have been misled, I have been lied to and I have been betrayed, and I won’t be the last woman betrayed by her husband.”. Quite how her now ex-husband managed to explain away the presence of a brand new £100,000 motorhome in their front garden remains a mystery. Then again, a Sun-square Jupiter and trine to Neptune, is a combination that tends to see the best in people.

I would normally have given you a chart to look at, but among my own Sun-Uranus-Mars-Pluto issues has been a teeny-weeny problem with Microsoft, which is preventing me from creating Pdfs and worse, periodically freezing my Word programme. So we must make do with a description. La-di-dah.

Nicola is a Sun Cancer with Scorpio rising and a Moon in Aquarius. And she has a seventh-house Saturn. Aside from this placement suggesting marriage/partnership with an older person of Capricorn temperament – Peter is six years her senior, not a huge age-difference but his Saturn conjoins her IC, and he is a Sagittarian with a Moon in Aquarius and Mars in Virgo. Saturn in the seventh house can point to marital stability and a partner who is reliable, if not a pillar of the establishment, but what we know for sure is that Mr Murrell, while gravitating to positions of power and influence, is far from trustworthy and is in fact a criminal. And he is clearly a Saturnian burden she must bear.

Nicola also has an interesting configuration based on the septile – her south node is tri-septile her Moon and both are bi-septile her seventh house Saturn. The septile is an aspect with mysterious properties. While we could simply say that her seventh house Saturn is indicative of a partner who comes with a degree of pain and suffering, the septiles make a point of revealing that one or more partners have a fateful part to play in the unfolding of her destiny. And while Nicola was not romantically involved with former First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, he was her ally and mentor and played a huge role in her political journey.

There is no time of birth for Peter Murrel, but whatever time he was born, the Sun is exactly square Pluto – within minutes – and his Mars in Virgo is tightly sandwiched between Uranus and Pluto. We can surmise from these factors that Mr Murrell is fiercely ambitious and I suspect quite vindictive. And if there is a reason other than greed and ambition behind his embezzlement of funds, it may well be a sense of stealing a march on those who thought they were better than him.

In last week’s Bite, in light of the then forthcoming Mars-Pluto square, I suggested that a further assault on Iran could not be ruled out. On Monday, in a Truth Social post, Donald Trump announced that he was not going to be launching a “scheduled attack of Iran” on Tuesday, although he had instructed his military chiefs to be prepared to go forward with a large, full-scale assault at a “moment’s notice”. On Tuesday, the United States did launch new strikes on southern Iran, targeting Iranian missile sites and boats attempting to place mines, which it claimed were in self-defence. Now (Friday afternoon) we are waiting for Donald Trump to agree to a framework-for-a-memorandum-for-an-interim-agreement-for-a-sixty-day-extension-to-the-ceasefire (!).

Don’t hold your breath.

Friday Bite 22 May 2026

Beyond the Pale

“In the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century, President Donald J. Trump has created a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name…The fund…is illegal. No statute authorizes its creation, the settlement on which it is premised is a corrupt sham, and its design violates the Constitution and federal law.” Opening statement in a lawsuit brought by Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges and former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn against Donald J. Trump, Todd Blanche and Scott Bessent. 19 May.

THE WORD ATONEMENT has come up a couple of times recently in regard to its being one of the astrological themes for 2026. Atonement is a theme of Saturn-in-Pisces and should be a fading influence since Saturn is now in Aries, however, Saturn remains close to Neptune – same meat, different gravy – which is why we are continuing to see people called to account for past misdeeds. There is even a growing chorus of outrage in high places over the President of the United States’ blatant acts of corruption.

The very fact that the “Anti-weaponization Fund” announced this Monday and created by Donald Trump is set at $1.776 billion is a clear reference to 1776 and the founding of America (Make America Great Again). And if it isn’t enough that those who sought to overturn the government on 6 January, 2021 are rendered free from prosecution under this executive order, “The United States RELEASES, WAIVES, ACQUITS, and FOREVER DISCHARGES” Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization from virtually any crimes and misdemeanours. The order also stops all IRS audits of Trump’s taxes and prevents prosecution of any crimes he, his family, his businesses or his associates might have committed that crossed the IRS.

Where are we? North Korea? Russia? A banana republic?

Fortunately, in broken Britain the constitution is still holding up and the law of the land, maintained. Mostly. And certainly in regard to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly a Prince.

This morning, it was announced that the police are investigating the former prince over potential sexual offences. You may remember that on his birthday in February, Andrew was arrested and detained on suspicion of misconduct in public office after the release of the Epstein files, which allege that he passed sensitive information to the late paedophile while working as a trade envoy. He has since been exiled to a remote part of the Sandringham Estate and has barely been seen in public.

Here is a brief timeline of significant events leading to the downfall of the former prince.

• 2010 December – a photo of Andrew strolling with Jeffrey Epstein in New York’s Central Park is released. Saturn square Saturn; Neptune square Moon.
• 2011, February – infamous photo of Andrew with Virginial Giuffre released. Transits as above.
• 2019, November – Disastrous BBC interview aired. Saturn conjunct Saturn; Neptune conjunct Mercury.
• 2021, August – Giuffre sues Andrew in a US court for sexual assault. Six months later, Andrew makes an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre, reportedly for around £12 million. Saturn conjunct Descendant, Pluto conjunct Mars, Uranus quincunx Saturn.
• 2025, April – Giuffre dies by suicide. October – Giuffre memoir published. October -Andrew forced to give up all royal titles and honours. Saturn conjunct south node; Uranus square Sun. Solar Arc progressed Neptune conjunct Saturn. SA prog Uranus conjunct IC and SA prog Pluto conjunct Neptune.
• 2026, February – Andrew arrested and charged. Uranus opposing Moon, Saturn conjunct Neptune semi-sextile Sun
• New investigations announced regarding sexual offences. Saturn square Saturn; Uranus square Sun.

On the face of it, Andrew does not have a particularly difficult chart – no Grand Crosses, T-squares or Yods. However, what may seem to be a plus is in large part to blame for the position in which he now finds himself – exiled, shunned, disgraced.

Hard aspects help forge us in the kiln of life: the challenges we face kill us or cure us. Andrew was born into a life of extraordinary privilege and he was blessed with good looks and a mother who adored him. His Sun is opposed to Pluto which, on the plus side, can inspire courage and depth of character – he was, after all, quite the hero in the Falklands war – but on the minus side, it can result in cruelty, aggression and self-sabotage.

What you may miss is the triseptile between the Ascendant and Saturn and the septile between the Sun and the Midheaven. These “minor” aspects have greater power than you might think and tend to be indicative of some fateful purpose or divine gift. They have a Neptunian quality to them, which can work in the best of ways indicating mastery or in the worst of ways leading to degeneracy, addiction and self-delusion.

As you will note from the timeline above, Saturn is in the mix at almost all those key moments, and what is Saturn but karma – what goes around comes around. It was on Andrew’s second Saturn-return that the fateful interview with the BBC took place and this year, as Saturn squares its natal position, the further ramifications of that interview are emerging.

Here’s what I say about a second Saturn square in my forthcoming book of Forecasting.

“When Saturn squares its natal position, you have reached a time of assessment. You may hit a few roadblocks, which have the effect of making you feel defeated and unfairly treated. This is Saturn’s way, I’m afraid, and the trick is to keep picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and getting back in the saddle. However, it’s not a case of simply getting back where you left off, but examining where things went wrong: were you part of the problem? If so, make the necessary adjustments. It may also be that you have been wasting your time and energy on certain endeavours, and need to redirect your efforts.

In many ways, this is also a time of discovery, of establishing what and who in your life are worthy and what and who are not. And in the process you will be redefining yourself and your purpose.”

The new moon in Taurus, which took place last Friday, was precisely opposed to Andrew’s natal moon and applying to Mercury and Uranus, and it portends yet another chapter in this sad saga. The link to Uranus suggests the news of the investigation into possible sexual offences came as a surprise and the connection to the fixed star Algol reinforces the natal potential for unexpected and disastrous developments.

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor may escape time in gaol, but in a way, he is already serving a life sentence. Gone are all his titles, honours and privileges. He is living in Marsh Farm, which is a far cry from the thirty-room Royal Lodge he used to call home. And, as the name suggests, the farmhouse suffers from being close to swampland.

His self-undoing is for all to see, but I suspect he believes he has done nothing wrong.

IN PREVIOUS BITES, I pointed to the full moon of 1 May as potentially signalling the end of the war in Iran. That full moon took place more than two weeks ago, and although everything seems to have gone rather quiet regarding the war, there has been no announcement from either side as to any end of hostilities.

On Monday, the US president said that he had called off plans to strike Iran after the heads of three Middle Eastern countries asked him to give negotiations more time. And today, Republicans postponed a vote until next month on a piece of legislation that would force Trump to end the war. Nevertheless, with Mars applying to Pluto (exact next Tuesday) a further assault on Iran cannot be ruled out. And maybe, just maybe, that’s better than walking away from the war, leaving Iran in a more powerful position than it was at the start of the conflict.

The magnitude of what is taking place over Iran cannot be underestimated. Currently, this Islamic nation is effectively consolidating its victory. Not only has it withstood the might of the world’s greatest military but it has managed to gain control of an international waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, and is in the process of legitimizing its claim. As Robert Kagan put it in the Atlantic today, “A stronger, richer, more influential Iran will mean new life for Hamas and Hezbollah. It will mean the end of the Abraham Accords, as the Gulf states will have to make peace with Tehran so that their economies can survive.”

This is what happens when Saturn and Neptune reach the IC of a nation’s chart. It loses its grip. As a new momentum takes over, everything that was once in place and underpinning the country is swept away. When Saturn and Neptune opposed each other on America’s MC-IC axis during the Civil War, the confederacy dissolved and the Union prevailed. Quite what the new America will look like when it emerges from this current Saturn-Neptune cycle remains to be seen, but the growing disillusion with the Trump administration has yet to reach its zenith.