Friday Bite 6 March 2026

Known Knowns, Known Unknowns and Unknown Unknowns

“So many of our traditional allies who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force. America, regardless of what so-called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history…. No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives.  Pete Hegseth, 2 March.

“[The assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader is a] cynical violation of all norms of human morals.” Vladimir Putin, 28 February.

“Hey, Kristi Noem, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Here’s your legacy: corruption and chaos. Parents and children tear-gassed. Moms and nurses, U.S. citizens getting shot in the face. Now that you’re gone, don’t think you get to just walk away. I guarantee you, you will still be held accountable.” JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois, 5 March.

LAST WEEK’S FRIDAY Bite was published around seven in the evening, UK time. My final words proved prescient: “Last June Operations Midnight Hammer and Rising Lion took place on a Mars-Uranus square so it is not inconceivable and certainly astrologically appropriate that another strike on Iran is in the pipeline, very possibly in the days surrounding the total lunar eclipse.”.

And so it was that in the early hours of Saturday morning, three days before the total lunar eclipse, Operation Epic Fury began. In the following days, outrage and praise in equal measure rained down on the United States and Israel, yet as each hour goes by the future of this war grows more uncertain while it spreads incrementally across the Middle East.

It was still Friday night in America when US and Israeli missiles began to fall on cities across Iran; just after eight in the morning, the first day of the working week for Iranians. It has emerged that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and several top government officials were among the first targets to be successfully eliminated – and just for the record, it took 50 jets and 100 bombs to destroy the underground bunker used by the Iranian leadership – since then, 1,114 Iranians have been killed, 150 of them children at an elementary girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran, 120 people in Lebanon, 28 Israelis and six US military personnel.

During the course of the past five days, the Iranian military has launched counter attacks across the region sending missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Jordon, Iraq and Azerbaijan. Cyprus, where Britain has a military base from which coordinated operations with the US have been conducted, was also the target of a drone attack. Major international hotels have been hit, air travel disrupted, tourists stranded and in consequence oil prices have soared and markets have plunged. Iran has effectively closed the major international shipping lane, the Strait of Hormuz, through a combination of actual drone attacks and the fear of more to come. And within the last twenty-four hours, Israel has launched massive strikes against the southern suburbs of Beirut after ordering a mass evacuation – more than 500,000 people – from the area. Just where are half a million people meant to go?

Donald Trump, after initially assuring the American public that the war would not last long, is now talking about “as long as it takes” and demanding “unconditional surrender” before any talks can begin. Indeed, far from reassuring America and the rest of the world that this offensive is going according to plan, if not better than expected, the lack of coherence and cohesion among Trump, his top officials and various administration spokespeople would say otherwise.

Prime Minister Starmer found himself on the naughty step once again, after initially refusing to allow the United States to use bases on British soil to which it is entitled, while Spain is no longer a trading partner with the US due to its fierce stance against the war and its insistence on the pre-eminence of international law, which America appears to have flouted.

So, while the fire and fury threaten to spread throughout the Middle East, if not beyond, relationships between America and its allies are in disarray to say the least. Is this how World War III begins? Or are we already there? Or is this simply another war in another part of the world that will at some point end?”

I’m going to start with the chart of Operation Epic Fury from the standpoint of the United States. The planets occupy the same degrees as they do from Tehran’s perspective but, of course, they fall in different parts of the horoscopic circle. Scorpio rises, placing Pluto, the ruler, in the third house, opposing the Moon in the ninth. In a nutshell, America is sending a powerful message to the peoples of a distant country! Mars, the old ruler of Scorpio, is placed at 28 degrees of Aquarius (the degree of the recent solar eclipse) and closely squaring Uranus in the seventh house. In a nutshell, America is using its fighting power against an “open enemy”. That the degree of the solar eclipse is picked up, in this case by Mars, adds a certain aura of fate and destiny to the mix.

The Moon, however, is void of course – it is not making an applying major aspect to any planet before it leaves the sign of Cancer – although it is forging an applying quincunx to Mars, which I am tempted to allow, especially since it is the degree of a solar eclipse.

If the Moon is void of course, it is said that nothing will come of the matter. That, I believe, is spurious as far as this particular event is concerned, because something will very definitely come of the matter, whether America succeeds in muzzling Iran and preventing it from sponsoring terror and threatening the world by developing nuclear weapons, or it turns out to be the precursor to another world war, if not the biblical end times.

My feeling about this chart, based on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, which is currently conjoining the US natal IC, and the Venus-Mercury conjunction which is opposing the US Neptune, is that this war is America’s folly. The attack on Iran, its whys and wherefores and its legitimacy are in doubt and typical of Neptunian chaos and confusion, illusion and delusion. It has been ill-conceived and there are far too many unseen factors to contend with. At the very least, this war will be a stain on Donald Trump’s presidency.

With five planets in the twelfth house, even though Iran was not unprepared for an American-Israeli strike, when it came, it was out of the blue. The Trump administration had done an effective job with its disinformation programme, courtesy of Neptune. Aries rises, and within four degrees of Iran’s Sun (Islamic Republic chart, April 1979) placing Mars (on the eclipse degree) in the eleventh house squaring Uranus. Jupiter is strengthened by its conjunction to the IC and squaring the Ascendant-Descendant axis. And Jupiter serves a highly protective function.

What is also worthy of note is that the Ascendant-Descendant axis picks up America’s natal Saturn. This connection has two main meanings, first, that America believes it is its responsibility, if not its destiny, to “take out” Iran, or at least its barbaric leadership, and second, that America will pay a heavy price for its actions.

It is clear, listening to a pumped-up Hegseth, that the administration has no regard for the rules of engagement or the ethics of war – no care for international law, even if it is largely a “gentleman’s agreement”. What matters is winning. Might is right. In Trump world, you shoot first and don’t answer questions later. It is a far cry from yesteryear.

My belief is that this war will have untold consequences. Maybe we’ll see signs of light once Mercury turns direct (20 March) but even if the missiles stop in a matter of weeks, what has been stirred up may take years to settle down. And, one way or another, Iran and its proxies will not let its enemies’ actions go unacknowledged. There will be trouble. And on the streets of Western cities.

Just in case you were too young to remember the Iraq War (2003-2011) the words at the top of this Friday Bite were spoken by the late Donald Rumsfeld, former US Secretary of Defence in regard to the weapons of mass destruction Saddam Hussein may or may not have had. They seem eerily appropriate.

Friday Bite 27 February 2026

Shame

 “Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it. People are asking me, please, please, please, Mr. President, we’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore. We’re not used to winning in our country until you came along, we’re just always losing. But now we’re winning too much. And I say, no, no, no, you’re going to win again. You’re going to win big. You’re going to win bigger than ever” Donald Trump, State of the Union address, 24 February

The president continues to cede economic power and technological strength to China, bow down to a Russian dictator, and make plans for war with Iran… Through [the Department of Government Efficiency’s] mass firings, and the appointment of deeply unserious people to our nation’s most serious positions, our President has endangered the long and storied history of the United States of America being a force for good.” Abigail Spanberger, governor of Virginia, response to State of the Union address. 24 February

Who is benefitting from his [President Trump’s] rhetoric, his policies, his actions, and the short list of laws he’s pushed through this Republican Congress? He’s enriching himself, his family, his friends… The scale of the corruption is unprecedented. There’s the cover-up of the Epstein files, the crypto scams, cozying up to foreign princes for airplanes and billionaires for ballrooms, putting his name and face on buildings all over our nation’s capital. This is not what our founders envisioned. So, I’ll ask again: Is the President working for you?”

“We all know the answer is no.” Abigail Spanberger, 24 February

I’M GOING TO start with the Mars-Uranus event of the moment (Mars squared Uranus at 16:24 UTC today): the shock result of the by-election in the Gorton and Denton district of Manchester. The Green Party stomped home with 40% of the vote taking former plumber Hannah Spencer to the Houses of Parliament, in so doing joining five other members of her party. In this volatile astrological climate, to say this is a seismic moment may be a cliché but in terms of British politics it is an earth-shattering moment. The two-party system which has been in place since World War II has been effectively upturned. The Labour Party, currently in power, is in crisis, although with no one in a position to challenge Sir Keir for the leadership, the prime minister continues to fight another day. This was also a disappointing result for the Reform party, although reassuring for a large swathe of the country, which came an unimpressive second.

A matter of hours beforehand, Pakistan declared “open war” on Afghanistan, its air force bombing cities across the country due to allegations that Afghanistan is harbouring militants.

Seven thousand miles away in Chappaqua, New York, former First Lady Hillary Clinton was facing questions by a House Oversight Committee about her connection with Jeffrey Epstein. Ms Clinton stated that there was no connection and pressed the committee to summon the sitting president for questioning about his association with the late disgraced financier since his name had repeatedly shown up in the Epstein files. Former president Bill Clinton is set to face the same committee today (Friday). Mars square Uranus…

President Trump recently declared himself “completely exonerated” from any part in Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring. However, on Thursday, Democrat lawmakers in Congress launched an investigation into allegations that the Department of Justice has withheld files from the Epstein investigation. In the vast tranche of documents released by the DOJ, no details have been given about four interviews with a woman who claimed she was assaulted by Donald Trump when she was a minor. The four interviews she had with the FBI are listed in the index but with the exception of one, which dealt only with allegations of abuse by Epstein, fail to make an appearance.

Which makes the president’s State of the Union address (Tuesday) even more incongruous. I’ll leave the quotes at the head of the Bite from that address to speak for themselves.

Meanwhile, down Mexico way on Sunday, cartel boss Nemesio “El Mencho” Cervantes was killed in a US-intelligence aided Mexican military operation sparking a wave of violence in cities across the country.

Oh, and how could I not make mention of the Supreme Court’s ruling (6-3) last Friday that the sweeping global tariffs implemented by Donald Trump are unconstitutional. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to go into detail here, but suffice to say the invoking of the Emergency Powers Act was a “misinterpretation” of the bill. The president responded by replacing the outlawed tariffs with a 10% levy on all goods entering the United States. He raised the levy to 15% the next day.

One more thing. Peter Mandelson, former ambassador to the United States, former Secretary of State for Business and former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was arrested and taken into custody on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was released, uncharged although under investigation, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Are we astrologers surprised that so much controversy and conflict is taking place at this time? Not at all. This is precisely what you get when Mars squares Uranus on the degree of the recent solar eclipse and with a total lunar eclipse on its way in five days’ time. And between now and then, yet more astonishing events will surely occur. You may have noticed I made no mention of the build up of US forces in and around the Middle East, prompting expectations of a strike on Iran. If ever there was an astro-scape fit for such a development, this is it.

The above chart represents the time Peter Mandelson was arrested. This may have been the least important development of the last seven days but as far as the astrology is concerned it’s interesting. First, we should note the tight bundle of planets ranging from twenty-four degrees of Aquarius to one degree of Aries, which has been in place since mid-to-late January and presided over numerous epic developments. This bundle will continue to move through the zodiac for the next several weeks, which is why we must expect further unprecedented events.

On Monday, Mars was some three degrees away from the exact square to Uranus, however, it was squaring the Moon and, more important as far as Peter Mandelson is concerned, opposing his natal Pluto. While a Mars transit to natal Pluto might last only a couple of weeks and preside over a short period of turmoil, if it is backed by a transit of Pluto to a natal planet or point, it acts as a trigger to something far greater and more impactful. In Mandelson’s case, Pluto is approaching his IC, one end of the life direction axis, and with natal Pluto residing in the tenth house of career and role in life, this three-to-four year-transit is destined to completely transform his life and his standing in the world. He may go to prison.

Also worthy of note, Mandelson was born on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction of 1952/1953 – in fact his Libran Sun is at the midpoint of this formidable conjunction – which is an additional factor. The theme of atonement, of reaping one’s karmic rewards, is central to the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, and it is clearly evident in Mandelson’s case since he has consistently managed to get around situations that should have ended his political career. A Machiavellian character – Prince of Darkness as he was once known – has been found guilty of hubris and is finally beginning to pay the price.

I’ll leave you with the question of a US-Israel strike on Iran. Last June Operations Midnight Hammer and Rising Lion took place on a Mars-Uranus square so it is not inconceivable and certainly astrologically appropriate that another strike on Iran is in the pipeline, very possibly in the days surrounding the total lunar eclipse.