This week Vodafone announced huge losses, redundancies, and strategic changes. The financial losses are second only in UK corporate history to Vodafone's 2002 losses.

Despite Vodafone's good performance last year, this year's losses mean that jobs are being cut: around 400 in the UK and around 6000 worldwide.

So why these record-breaking losses at these times?

2006's losses

Vodafone, like many companies, has several 'birth charts'. Its main chart dates to 1985. This is it:

In this chart Pluto (resources, wealth) is at 4 degrees 22 minutes of Scorpio in the 2nd house (finances, assets). In April 2006 Saturn (downturns, setbacks, tightening budgets, cutting back) stationed, turning direct, at 4 degrees 22 minutes of Leo, at right angles to Vodafone's Pluto. As well as that, transiting Pluto has been and still is in sextile to Vodafone's Venus (finances, assets), reflecting the crisis and the need to do some urgent and drastic pruning.

Looking at two of the other birthcharts for Vodafone we find that in both of them Venus was at 21 degrees Leo. During May 2006 Neptune has been stationary directly opposite that point.

2002's losses

The losses announced at the end of May 2002 coincided with transiting Uranus stationing on the company's Venus, reinforced by transiting Pluto stationing and then retrograding across the company's Mercury (symbolising communication industry), transiting Saturn shifting between an opposition to Vodafone's Uranus in 2001 and a quincunx to the company's Pluto in 2002, and transiting Neptune stationing in square to Vodafone's Pluto in 2001.

Ken Morrison, the founder of Morrisons supermarkets chain and also its chairman since 1967, yesterday announced his retirement from the company, with effect from 2008. This follows a rough last few years for the business, which has issued profit warnings since its acquisition of the Safeway supermarkets.

Ken has been under pressure from the board for a long time now to name his successor. The latest press release from Morrisons says that Ken hopes to make an announcement in the next two to three weeks. It's reported that there are three short-listed candidates: Ian Meakins, the chief executive of Alliance Unichem, Marc Bolland, the chief operating officer of Heineken and David Wild, the president of Wal-Mart Germany. Apparently Ken has previously said that he hoped his son would succeed him, but it appears that his wishes are not coming to fruition on that score.

Astrologically, it all revolves around Ken's Sun, the symbol of leadership and figureheads. In this case, it symbolises Ken's role as the father of the company.

Ken's announcement comes as transiting Pluto (end of one era, start of another) sextile's his Sun very closely. That is a long-range transit, reflecting a major period of change in his life. Short-term transits correlating with the announcement of his retirement are: transiting Mars conjunct his Pluto, square his Sun-Mercury conjunction, and trine his Mars, showing a challenge to his leadership position, transiting Venus directly opposite his Sun-Mercury conjunction reflecting a re-negotiation and adjustment of his figurehead role, transiting Mercury sesquiquadrating his Sun-Mercury conjunction correlating with an announcement of news, and transiting Sun in quintile to his Sun-Mercury conjunction signifying publicity on this issue.

Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling - former executives in the now infamous Enron company - were found guilty of fraud and conspiracy this week. They faced 34 counts relating to Enron's spectacular and ignominious collapse in 2001, and were found guilty on 24 of them.

The collapse of the company - once the seventh largest company in the USA, and the biggest ever bankruptcy in the country's history - occurred during the Saturn-Pluto opposition of 2001. The guilty verdict comes sandwiched inbetween two instances of Saturn forming a sesquiquadrate (135 degree) aspect with Pluto: the first in early 2006, the second in June and July 2006.

It's reported that sentencing will take place on ..... 11th September 2006....... the anniversary of the USA's other major Saturn-opposition-Pluto event. The Enron scandal hit in October 2001, just one month after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre (Center).

Following on from previous web log entries, the Enron story is riven with Neptunian experiences. On Monday 15th May, just a week before Neptune stationed, prosecuting lawyer Kathy Ruemmler said that pivotal to the court case were "the lies these men told and the choices they made" and "Make no mistake, there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting rich but you can't get rich by deception, by cheating."

In Kenneth Lay's chart, stationary Neptune is closely sextile his Mercury, trine his Jupiter, quintile his Neptune, and - if his birthtime is reasonably correct - sesquiquadrate both his Ascendant and his MC. This puts Neptune on his ASC/MC midpoint.

In Jeffrey Skilling's chart, Neptune is square his Venus, and on his Mars/Jupiter midpoint.

Other transits were of course involved, fleshing out the story. For instance, for Ken Lay transiting Pluto is currently also very closely trine his Sun and square his Neptune. For Jeffrey Skilling, transiting Uranus is trine his Mercury and Venus, and transiting Pluto is opposite his Jupiter.

In June 2001 Brian Haw set up a peaceful protest in Parliament Square, opposite the Parliament building in Westminster. Initially he was protesting against the sanctions and bombing of Iraq by the UK and USA governments, but once the wars against Afghanistan and then Iraq began his protest has encompassed those too.

The government has tried to remove his peaceful protest by introducing legislation targeting it, and describing it as an eyesore, a nuisance, an obstruction, and 'unlawful advertising'; all of these accusations are clearly preposterous, and indeed very shameful in what is meant to be a democracy of many centuries standing. Fortunately, most of the accusations failed in the legal process, showing that they were ill-judged at best, not to mention mischievous wastes of public money.

At first the government failed, and rightly so, but on 8th May this year the government succeeded in squeezing the protest almost out of existence. In the early hours of 23rd May a disproportionately large number of police turned up and dismantled nearly all of the display of placards and banners.

These government and police actions are not only utterly unnecessary, they are disturbingly authoritarian. But because it is happening in London and is not nationwide headline news there is too little outcry about it.

At 2:45am on 23rd May Pluto was conjunct the MC in Westminster. Interestingly, Pluto was conjunct the MC in Baghdad when the USA and UK attacked Iraq in 2003. In both cases it correlated with acts of destruction from 'on high'.

But the timing of the act points directly to Neptune. On 8th May when the High Court ruled that the Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) legislation could in fact be retrospectively applied to the Parliament Square peace protest. This meant that Brian Haw had to apply for permission to protest at this location, despite having been there for 5 years already. It also meant that the police could impose conditions on the protest, and they wasted no time in doing so. Astrologically, on 8th May the Sun was square Neptune, foreshadowing the Neptune station of 22nd May. The station occurred at 14:06 BST (13:06 GMT) on 22nd, and in less than 24 hrs the police moved in to dissolve (a Neptunian action) much of the protest.

Here is a list of Neptunian turning points leading up to the 23rd May '06:

Serious and Organised Crime & Police Act (SOCPA) announced - Sun conjunct Neptune, Sun at 19 Auarius 56
SOCPA passed - Sun sextile Neptune
SOCPA section 132 entered into force - Sun opposite Neptune
Government wins appeal to retrospectively apply SOCPA s.132 to Parliament Square peace protest - Sun square Neptune
Police break up the vast majority of the 5 years old peace protest - Neptune stationary at 19 Aquarius 49

To support and keep up-to-date with the Parliament Square peace protest, and also with the governments anti-democratic clamp-down on peaceful protests, these sites are useful:
http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/
http://parliamentprotest.org.uk/
http://www.freedomtoprotest.org.uk/
http://www.peopleincommon.org/

Readers of this weblog will know that Neptune stationed and turned retrograde on Monday this week (20th). One thing that happened in the socio-political arena that nicely expressed a Neptunian perspective of life was David Cameron's GWM - General Well-Being.

In a speech he made on the very day of Neptune's station, David Cameron said:

"It's time we admitted that there's more to life than money, and it's time we focused not just on GDP, but on GWB - general wellbeing. "Wellbeing can't be measured by money or traded in markets. It's about the beauty of our surroundings, the quality of our culture, and above all the strength of our relationships."

Of course, he doesn't mean it - he's a career politician, after all, so it's another Neptunian illusion. But Neptune's voice can still be heard in these words, and whilst we should see Mr Cameron's statement for the PR distraction that it is, there is a good reason why we should heed the message itself. Here's why.

The UK's Venus (materiality, money, relationships, beauty, happiness) is at 16 degrees 32 minutes of Aquarius. Neptune (immateriality, ultimate fulfilment, satisfaction, beauty, relationships) stationed at 19 degrees 49 minutes of Aquarius, just over 3 degrees away. This transit happens only once every 168 years, so it represents the potential for tremendous sea-change in the collective life of the nation.

This transit symbolises a challenge to the people of the UK to loosen their obsession with material achievement and attune to sources of happiness that are not within the daily grind. It suggests that there is an unmet need in the country, and that it is high time that the sense of something missing is addressed. The country has an opportunity to do this only once every 168 years, but so far the occasion has been only partially risen to. This station of Neptune, expressed by David Cameron, is a chance to pause long enough to hear the clock ticking.

More Neptune-Venus quotes from Cameron's speech on Monday, with the Neptune-Venus words and phrases highlighted:

"All these companies and more besides are expressing a profound dissatisfaction with rootless, rampaging globalisation and a passionate desire for capitalism with commitment, for work that has meaning and for relationships that are about more than just money and markets." Much of modern consumer culture "ultimately seems unsatisfactory" because it fails to meet the deep human need for commitment and belonging, said Mr Cameron.

"Advocacy is not a wishy-washy cop-out, as some would argue. It strikes the right balance and avoids the pitfalls of over-prescriptive government intervention. Some will say that simply talking about changing culture is nebulous. But let's be honest - who has done more for school food: countless government initiatives, or Jamie Oliver?"

Source of quotes: Guardian newspaper

The criticism that David Cameron's comments received also focused on Neptunian negatives:

"It is yet another example of posturing without substance. Once again, vague positioning has taken precedence over spelling out concrete policies." ~ Vincent Cable, Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman

"He is wrong to think that simply asking employers to be nicer will produce a change in every workplace. It takes unions to campaign for change and the law to ensure minimum standards, otherwise we will end up with an even bigger divide between the work-life balance haves and have-nots." ~ A spokesman for the TUC

So why did David Cameron give a voice to this Neptune transit? Because Neptune is square to his Neptune. The UK's Venus is square to his Neptune. It is therefore his 'planetary vocation', if you like, to address these issues. Throughout the summer and Autumn it's quite likely he'll return to his theme, and after Neptune stations and turns direct in October he might start to come up with some proposals to 'go forward' with making his vision real.

For in-depth coverage of Neptune's transit to the UK's Venus, see these articles:
http://www.astrology21.co.uk/c1ukneptunevenusabb.html (shorter version)
http://www.astrology21.co.uk/c1ukneptunevenus.html (fuller version)

For information about David Cameron's birth chart, see these articles:
http://www.astrology21.co.uk/c1davidcameron.html
http://www.astrology21.co.uk/c1davidcamerona.html

"Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not yet understood"

On Monday (22nd May) Neptune will be stationary, and will turn retrograde. What this means is that, as viewed from our vantage point on the Earth, Neptune will appear to stop moving forwards through the Zodiac, and will instead appear to move backwards.

Although Monday is the exact date that this happens, the effect is palpable for around 3 weeks before and 3 weeks after the exact date.

You might've noticed that, as we approached nearer and nearer to this exact date, confusion began to abound. Miscommunication, misperception, "I thought you said so-and-so?", "I thought we agreed to do such-and-such?", has been rife.

What happens during Neptune stations is that fantasy takes over from reality and chaos reigns. Instead of seeing things clearly, our projections become even more dominant than usual. This leads to our misperceiving ourselves, other people, and situations. Instead of seeing reality, we project onto reality as if it's a cinema screen, moreso than usual.

If you're an artist or visionary you may find this a heightened time for creativity and inspiration, but you need to be careful because what you envision could more easily sweep you away at this time.

For those of us dealing with facts and figures, dotting i's and crossing t's, even triple-checking won't suffice. Data is still likely to be found to be flawed or inadequate at a later date, simply because what you currently perceive as the full picture or the accurate details is likely to shortly turn out to be based on incomplete information. Chaos seeps in, hard data turns to mush, and watertight plans spring leaks. Don't resist these things: go with the flow of them.

After Neptune has turned retrograde we'll be collectively revisiting situations that we've been dealing with since November last year. Come 10th June 2006 and things will be much steadier, as by then we'll have adjusted to what's now required of us in this review process that lasts until the end of October 2006.

We can work with this process by not resisting confusion. Generally we're too obsessed with pinning down details and focusing tightly on deadlines that we forget to nurture our sense of the numinous, the ineffable, the intuited, and the subtle. We need to re-tune ourselves into flow - we simply can't push the river.

We need to tolerate ambiguity, and even welcome it. Through embracing ambiguity we discover nuances, hidden pearls of wisdom, new insights, and creative ideas. We need to be more comfortable with the 'right-hemisphere' functions of our brain: the capacity to think in pictures, think wholistically, and understand rhythms and patterns, rather than the logic-obsessed, rationality-worshipping, analysis-and-facts reductive 'left-brain'.

In terms of relationships, this is a time to develop real love and inner peace. Not soppy romantic love, and not fake niceness that passes for keeping the peace, but genuine heartfelt emotion, and deep tranquility amidst chaos and disharmony.

Neptune is about letting go and flowing with the currents of the river. Most of us fear this because we're convinced that controlling life and managing situations is the way to live, but that logic doesn't apply now. Life requires us to explore other, equally-valuable, approaches. Just as a surfer looks to catch the wave, rather than trying to control when the waves come, so too must we practise this Judo-like or Ju-Jitsu-like way of living our lives, flowing with events.

We need to focus on taking back our projections, seeing our fantasies more clearly, not mistaking them for reality, and simply be content with being less in touch with reality at the moment. Also, and most importantly, not arguing with other people about their different 'realities' - at the moment, the sense of differing realities is peaking, and while it's tempting to be angry and accuse people of misunderstanding you, it's better to try to put the external world on hold a little while, and deal with your projections and 'emotional baggage'.

To be confused is to fuse one thing with another: con means with or together, and fuse means to pour. On a negative level this results in bewilderment, chaos, pointing the finger of blame, and loss of contact with reality. But on a higher level to pour together is a wonderful Neptunian image - Neptune is associated with water and the oceans.

Physically we are made of over 70% water, our emotions ebb and flow, as does our energy, and in fact our entire selves are fluid, gradually shifting over time. When Neptune stops moving forwards things can go into a kind of meltdown, where we feel that we're drowning. The more we hold on, the worse we feel. It's time to let go, to pour out the old and allow the new to flood in. If we let go and surrender to the process, we'll float with natural buoyancy.

Here are some quotes about confusion, and a list of symptoms, all of which are Neptunian in nature and could be on the rise during this Neptune stationary period - around 10th June onwards they should be much more settled.

"Confusion now hath made his masterpiece!" ~ Shakespeare

"“Confusion heard his voice, and wild uproar Stood ruled, stood vast infinitude confined; Till at his second bidding darkness fled, Light shone, and order from disorder sprung." ~ John Milton

"Confusion may range from mild to severe. Symptoms of confusion may include:

* Jumbled or disorganized thought
* Unusual, bizarre, or aggressive behavior
* Difficulty solving problems
* Difficulty performing tasks that used to be simple for the person
* Inability to identify whereabouts or recognize family members or familiar objects
* Illusions
* Hallucinations
* Paranoia
* Disorientation"

Hugo Chavez (President of Venezuela) has just completed a private visit to the UK, meeting Ken Livingston (Mayor of London) and speaking in London. The mainstream media went to town on him, as shown by the latest MediaLens alert:

"George Bush is simply "US president George Bush". Condoleeza Rice is "the American secretary of state Condoleeza Rice". Tony Blair is just "the British prime minister".

Imagine the BBC introducing the US leader as "controversial right-wing president George Bush", or as an "extreme right-winger". Is Bush - the man who illegally invaded Iraq on utterly fraudulent pretexts - +less+ controversial than Chavez?"

To that we could add 'imagine the BBC introducing the UK leader as "controversial right-wing prime minister Tony Blair".

Transiting Saturn has just stationed on Hugo's Sun, simultaneously squaring his Saturn. George Bush visited London when Saturn conjoined his Sun too. It's a transit that reflects a frosty reception, isolation, and challenges to one's authority, coupled with an increase in ambition. The difference between the two presidents is that Hugo was popular with the public but not the establishment, whereas for George it was the opposite.

Beginning in 2005 transiting Pluto has been conjunct Chavez's Mars, and it's this transit that reflects the major increase in verbal conflict that he's been involved in. There is a sense of foreboding and threat in the air with this transit. It is a similar transit - Pluto opposite Mars - that the USA has had during its attack of Iraq. This doesn't mean that Hugo is about to launch a war; it does, however, reflect the danger he is in from the USA.

Pluto will be conjunct Hugo's Mars until 2008; it is a once-in-a-lifetime transit, which some people don't experience during their lives. It is an understatement to say that this is a tremendously testing time for Chavez.

For more on Hugo Chavez's birth chart, see the Astrology for the 21st Century website at: www.astrology21.co.uk

For more on the media's bias against Hugo Chavez, see the website of MediaLens: www.medialens.org

In astrology the planet Venus is associated with love. In society we give roses as a token of love, and we consider love to be centred in the heart.

It just so happens that the orbit of Venus, as viewed from an Earth-centric perspective, inscribes a heart shape and a rose shape in the solar system.

What have water shortages & hosepipe bans, oil crises, Iran, & Hugo Chavez got to do with each other? They are all linked with Saturn moving into opposition with Neptune.

This is a major astrological event, and it recurs approximately every 36 years.

Socio-politically, it correlates with the rising up of issues affecting the poor, the downtrodden, the disenfranchised, the weak, the 'have-nots', the oppressed, and the 'victims' of society and of the world. For the powerful, Saturn-Neptune is about evasion of responsibility, using authority cruelly and in order to subdue and tyrannise the weak, exploitating and subordinating the weak in the service of the strong.

On a material level, Saturn symbolises limits, shortages, defences, and coldness, and Neptune represents water, oil and gas, hence the correlation with oil crises, gas price hikes, the need to conserve water, and the need to review flood defences and the melting of the ice caps.

Psychologically, on the negative end of the scale, the Saturn-Neptune cycle is linked to states such as doubt, despair, despondency, gloom, loss of hope, depression, feeling helpless, the drudgery of a moribund existence, and the pernicious dissatisfaction with material accomplishment - or conversely, the crushing disappointment of material deprivation.

More positively, Saturn-Neptune is about practical compassion, providing a voluntary service to the collective that satisfies you, having a sense of transcendence and vision that you can live by in a down-to-earth way, infusing reality with imagination, inspiration, and enchantment, and uplifting it to something more ideal and, fundamentally, more joyful and happy.

The challenge of this planetary formation is to move from disenchantment to re-enchantment, so whatever currently fills you with despair or saps your energy is where you need to start dissolving the blocks that impede your happiness. Beware of collapsing into despair, and be careful of passive-aggression - both your own and other people's.

Question your conditioned and habitual beliefs about yourself, your life, your work, your relationships, your politics. Dissolve the underlying assumptions you've unknowingly made throughout your life about all these things, because they've been limiting (Saturn) your happiness (Neptune). Choose to take a fresh perspective that allows more space (Saturn) for happiness and fulfilment (Neptune).

Find out where you dream too much (biased towards Neptune), or too little (biased towards Saturn), and ask yourself what you can do to balance things out. Do you swing between optimism and pessimism? Do you have ideas that you'd love to turn into reality? Do you have unfulfilled longings that you need to either let go of once and for all, or take action to bring into manifestation? Working proactively with self-examination and reflection like this is a good way to take advantage of the change process that Saturn opposite Neptune represents.

Below are the dates when Saturn is within orb of opposition Neptune. As the orb moves closer all the above issues will probably become clearer and more pressing, as we face up to how we are managing - or mismanaging - our lives and our societies. As you can see from the dates, we've already started this process of change, but we've still got time to use this process for the good of the whole, and in so doing we could perhaps avoid the less pleasant experiences that this aspect symbolises.

Collectively, we need to bridge the ideal (Neptune) and the real (Saturn), but we're too busy making excuses and avoiding the responsibilities we have towards one another, towards ourselves, and towards the planet. We're not going to be able to do that for much longer, and this opposition between Saturn and Neptune is a chance for us to make some course corrections personally and globally. Whether we bury our heads in the sand or rise to the occasion is up to us.

Orbs & Dates
8
15th September 2005 to 18th January 2006
10th July 2006 to 22nd August 2007
20th April 2008 to 29th May 2008

6
3rd October 2005 to 31st December 2005
24th July 2006 to 19th October 2006
7th January 2007 to 9th August 2007

3
12th August 2006 to 21st September 2006
4th February 2007 to 5th April 2007
23rd May 2007 to 19th July 2007

2
19th August 2006 to 14th September 2006
13th February 2007 to 21st March 2007
7th June 2007 to 12th July 2007

1
25th August 2006 to 7th September 2006
21st February 2007 to 10th March 2007
18th June 2006 to 4th July 2007

Exact
31st August 2006 @ 17 Leo/Aquarius 53
28th February 2007 @ 20 Leo/Aquarius 15
25th June 2007 @ 21 Leo/Aquarius 47

For more information on this Saturn opposition Neptune aspect, see:
www.astrology21.co.uk

Last week at Vauxhall, the car manufacturing company, there was a 'wildcat strike' as news emerged that Vauxhall's parent company, General Motors (GM), may be looking to its UK plants to cut 1000 jobs (a third of the workforce). It's thought that these job cuts would be from the company's Ellesmere Port plant.

Over the past couple of years GM has been having financial difficulties, and although it claimed that it had turned the corner, clearly the difficulties are by no means over. Here is a quick astrological view of GM's and Vauxhall's current and future transits:

General Motors, the international company
Last year Saturn transited across GM's Venus, correlating with financial difficulties, the need for cutbacks and reorganising to avoid losses. This year - in April - Saturn stationed (appeared to stop moving in the sky as we look out to space) on GM's Venus, reflecting an extremely intense crisis in this area. Simultaneously, it trined GM's Saturn, symbolising the need to restructure and retrench, cut back, and 'downsize'.

Throughout 2006 and 2007 transiting Neptune will be conjunct GM's Chiron, reflecting the need to dissolve a thorn in the company's side. A major thorn is Delphi, a former GM company that was spun off in 1999.

Throughout 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 GM will experience a very rare transit: Pluto will oppose GM's Pluto. This happens only once every approximately 250 years, which gives a clue as to how dramatically life-changing it is. This transit necessitates a thorough overhaul with no stone left unturned. Under Pluto transits the message is an uncompromising and stark 'change or die'. One of Pluto's main areas is the wealth of a company, and so financial issues are unsurprisingly to the fore, however no part of the company will be 'safe' from this profound process of change.

If we take Jupiter in GM's chart, and Jupiter in Delphi's chart, and find the point mid-way between them, that is where GM's natal Pluto is. If we go around the longer arc of the Zodiac circle and find the other mid-way point, that is where transiting Pluto is from 2005 to 2008. This is why the legal issues (Jupiter is associated with the law) that are outstanding are coming up to the surface again; during Pluto transits, toxins that threaten the long-term survival of a company rise up to be expurgated.

Vauxhall Motors, the UK company owned by GM
Transiting Pluto is conjunct Vauxhall's Mercury. This symbolises the possible death of car production in this company, but Pluto's transits come in two Acts: Act I, Death, and Act II, Rebirth and Resurrection. This transit began in 2005 and will continue until 2008.

Transiting Neptune in square to Vauxhall's Saturn shows (2006 to 2009) management problems, transiting Uranus trine Pluto (2006 to 2008) signifies financial shocks and general turbulence, and transiting Saturn trine the company's Sun (2005 to 2006) shows tough times that challenge the company's vitality.

Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant
Transiting Neptune making a square aspect to the plant's Mercury (2006 to 2009) shows confusion, wrong information, and doubts around the car production (Mercury is associated with cars). It could also signify the car going into 'liquidation' (Neptune is associated with liquid and dissolution). Neptune is also making a square to Venus (2004 to 2006), showing financial meltdown and a decrease in material values. From 2007 until 2010 Neptune will conjoin the plant's Saturn, which could correlate with a liquidation of the entire plant. It all depends on how the parent companies handle the transits of their charts - the Ellesmere Port plant chart is subsumed within those larger entities, and so its transits can only manifest within the parameters of the parent companies' actions and decisions.

There is much talk at the moment of a 'smooth and orderly transition of power' from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown. What does astrology have to say about this?

If these two people are intending to pass the baton, they need to be very careful indeed that they don't have slippy fingers. In astrology, power is associated with Pluto. If we find Pluto in Blair's chart, and Pluto in Brown's chart, then the halfway point between them is this 'baton-passing' point.

This point is at 19 degrees 35 minutes of Leo, and also at 19 degrees 35 minutes of Aquarius. Why two points? Because in finding the halfway mark between two points on a circle we can go around the shorter arc, or the longer. In Blair and Brown's case the shorter arc brings us to 19 Leo 35, and the longer to 19 Aquarius 35.

Transiting Neptune was exactly at 19 Aquarius 35 on 23rd April 2006, just prior to the local elections in early May. It is now at 19 Aquarius 47. Blair and Brown want people to stop focusing on this transition of power, but astrologically the time is right for it to be brought into the open. Where Neptune is concerned, full honesty and transparency is critical; any secret dealings, refusal to face facts, ostrich impersonations, and lying should be avoided.

Neptune is now appearing to slow down in the Earth's sky, and will appear to stop moving and then turn backwards on 22nd May 2006. It will spend 4 months appearing to go backwards, then will stop moving again and resume its forward movement. This will happen on 29th October 2006.

These slowing down periods are very intense and potentially chaotic. Blair and Brown both love to be in control. This is therefore not likely to be a comfortable time for them, and as a consequence tempers will probably rise and control attempts are likely to be increased. It's counterproductive, however, because the lesson to be learned is to let go.

After that, Neptune will once again be exactly on this Pluto/Pluto area three more times in total: 11th February 2007, 26th September 2007, and 5th December 2007.

Neptune on this Pluto/Pluto halfway point could resemble the smooth, easy, flowing transition that both Brown and Blair say they want. Or, alternatively, it could easily represent them kidding themselves. Where Neptune is involved, things can slip through your fingers. Transiting Saturn on this point could help stop the losses and enable them to get a grip, however given the fact that Labour's support has been constantly waning since they were elected, it is unlikely that the sinking ship can be made sea-worthy by adding a patch here and a patch there.

There are ample indications - in politics and in astrology - that the Labour party is itself heading for meltdown, not least of which is the current Saturn-Neptune opposition that links with the party's chart, as well as Blair's chart, Brown's chart, and the UK's chart. If it does, Blair will have nothing to pass to Brown except a quagmire.

Arguably, this is already the case - the party is more unpopular than ever, and is facing increasing defeats and losses in elections, Parliamentary votes, and opinion polls. It's just those Neptunian rose-tinted glasses that the politicians, the media, and some of the public, keep insisting on wearing despite the overwhelming evidence that the glory days are long gone.

For more information about the Saturn-Neptune opposition, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and the UK, please visit:
www.astrology21.co.uk

Between 1967 and 1973 plans to illegally and forcefully evict natives of the Indian Ocean's Chagos archipelago - who were UK citizens - were put into action by the UK government. The evictions were carried out using deliberate subterfuge at the UN and under the 'radar screen' of the media. The manner of eviction was not only undignified and ill-befitting a country that claims to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, it was shameful, cruel and utterly unnecessary. In 1971 the UK government banned the Chagos Islanders from returning home. The purpose of all this? To lease one of the islands - Diego Garcia - to the USA to build a military base.

In case you're thinking this abuse of power belongs to a bygone era, consider these facts:

~ In 2000 the Chagos Islanders won their case in the High Court declaring the 1971 ban unlawful, thus recognising the islanders' right to return home.

~ The UK government refused to allow it, however, and in 2004 used the royal prerogative (actually a governing politicians' prerogative) to once again ban the islanders from returning home, effectively overturning the Court's decision. Another benefit of using this procedure was that it allowed the government to bypass Parliament.

~ On 11th May 2006 the Chagossians won another victory in the High Court, again recognising their right to return home. The judge ruled the government's Order in Council of 2004 "null and void".

Unfortunately, despite this track record of abusing the powers entrusted to them for the greater good of the citizens, the UK government is able to appeal this latest judicial decision. Also, the UK and USA governments have both granted themselves veto power over who lives on the archipelago. These are the next hurdles for the Chagos Islanders to overcome.

Astrologically, the use of power to disrupt the daily lives of a peaceful people can be traced to the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo, opposed by Saturn and Chiron in Pisces. The Uranus-Pluto conjunction came within 8 degrees of orb in the summer of 1962, and remained within that orb almost continuously until the summer of 1969. It was exact three times: October 1965, April 1966, and June 1966.

We can take this Uranus-Pluto conjunction opposed by Saturn-Chiron and see where, from the UK's point of view, the planetary line-up fell on the Earth's surface. This map below shows Diego Garcia. The first four red vertical lines are the ones we're interested in. Reading from the left they are: Saturn on the IC, Uranus on the MC, Pluto on the MC, Chiron on the IC.

The UK's transits shown in this map are for November 1965. This is when the UK created the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), which comprises the Chagos Archipelago. BIOT was created for the express purposes of leasing Diego Garcia to the USA government for military use. This, then, was the first major concrete step towards evicting the inhabitants.

After 1965, these transits continued to sweep across this map towards the right. In other words, the four vertical red lines of Saturn, Uranus, Pluto and Chiron moved across the Chagos Archipelago one by one. Towards the end of 1967 Pluto - symbolising the power to sweep away the old in order to make way for something new - arrived there. This was when the evictions began.

For more information and to support the remedying of this disgraceful flouting of domestic and international laws, please visit:

http://www.chagossupport.org.uk/

Astrologically, why is the UK experiencing an exacerbation of conflict in Iraq, deploying thousands of troops to Afghanistan, and banging the war drum along with the USA over Iran?

Three complicated questions, the latter in particular, but thankfully there is a short astrological answer, and it comes in two parts:

1) Transiting Jupiter is currently directly opposite the UK's Mars. In Greek/Roman mythology, Zeus/Jupiter was a fairly aggressive character, and Mars is famous for being the God of War. This doesn't fate the UK to be involved in war, however. What it means is that it's time for the nation as a whole to peer into its national psyche and review its policies, strategies, and behaviours in the world in relation to the armed forces, the Ministry of Defence, and how the country uses its power and will.

2) Transiting Pluto making a sesquiquadrate (try saying that when you've had a drink!) aspect to the UK's Mars. Pluto tends to reflect an intensification and dramatisation of an issue - in this case, the issue is Mars/aggression - but the purpose behind it is to lance a boil. If what you are doing is making things worse, or if there are toxins in your system, a transit of Pluto often coincides with a crisis that forces you to expel them so that you can thrive.

The tendency with these sorts of transits is to become belligerent, to swagger around like you own the place, to refuse diplomacy and negotiation, to play hard ball, and to lose your temper easily. Your finger's on the trigger and you don't care anymore what you destroy, so long as you release the pent-up aggression. This is, of course, primitive behaviour and not at all civilised. It's blatantly anti-social, not to mention destructive, and of course there is the issue of international law.....but under these sorts of transits things like laws and non-violent conflict resolution are rudely shown the middle finger......

Neither of these transits mean 'you have to go to war' or 'you have to attack someone' or 'you're going to be attacked by someone'. What they mean is that the UK's Martian nature is on the rise, and needs carefully managing. Without being blindly optimistic, you could say that it's an opportunity to have a clear and uncompromising look at how the national collective will is being used - and abused - so that it can be adjusted and channelled in a healthier, life-promoting way.

With the fall-out from the local elections continuing to cast doubt on Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour party, is there a resignation in the offing yet?

Astrologically-speaking, we can expect the crisis to keep building until the end of Wednesday 10th May 2006. If Blair manages to hold on beyond then, he'll possibly feel as if he's through the worst of the fall-out and that he can now 'draw a line under it' (a favourite New Labour phrase). But he's not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot.

Neptune is currently slowing down, preparing to turn retrograde. On Monday 22nd May 2006 Neptune will appear to be motionless in the sky, and will then back-track over ground it has already covered. We can expect Blair's power to keep eroding as it does so, because Neptune (erosion) is making an aspect to Pluto (power) in his natal chart. So he'll shortly find that the public and media scrutiny is raking back over the things he'd thought he'd 'drawn a line under' and 'moved on from'. To put it bluntly, Blair is likely to feel swamped by it all around this time, as wave after wave of scandals, rumours, and accusations of deceit and possibly fraud are levelled at him and his government.

In terms of holding onto power and letting go of power, significant days after that lie around 10th June, 11th July, 11th August. From August 2006 onwards until the end of the year and into 2007 things will most probably be very rocky indeed for Blair. If he's still in office during the summer and autumn, making the past crises look like a walk in the park, perhaps leaving him wishing he'd resigned earlier to avoid it all........ Drawing a line under it? Not a chance.