Jenni Harte covers the headlines: the London bombings, Mars, wild weather, Xena, mining, more Mars, global warming, the Russian sub rescue, the British Airways fiasco, yet more Mars.... Read on!
All country data from Nicolas Campion’s Book of World Horoscopes, unless otherwise noted.

The autumnal equinox is almost upon us but this column is focussed on the dramatic events of summer 2005. The first week of July alone was action packed as London went from rapture to hell in the space of 24 hours, first capturing the Summer Olympic Games for 2012 (any brave Mayans participating?), then reeling from the shock of the first terrorist bombs in London since the IRA’s last go. And what about the IRA who announced they would lay down their arms at 4PM BST on 28 July! (Hey Claire, your eyes crossed, yet?)

Wild weather continued thru the summer too, Mumbai, India was drowned, Birmingham, UK was ripped through by a tornado, heatwaves scorched much of Europe and America, locusts destroyed crops in Africa and France, Malaysia (Saturn 17 Aq) & Indonesia (Venus 15 Aq opp Pluto 18 Leo) choked on the smoke pollution from raging fires and the Siberian peat bogs are thawing for the first time since their formation 11,000 years ago! Global warming bites! Saturn in Leo square Mars in Taurus, both eventually squaring Neptune—strikes, arguments, bombs, explosions — life on spaceship Earth is not easy!

London Bombed: On 7 July 2005, the day after the New Moon (15 Cancer), the first bomb exploded in the London Underground at 8.50 BST with Mercury rising, exactly conjunct Venus at 11 Leo opposite Neptune in the 6th house, Pluto in the 4th trine Mars conjunct North Node 18 Aries in the 9th and Neptune exactly sextile Mars and square the MC. Moon conjunct Saturn, quincunx Pluto, bang! Then on 21 July exactly at the Full Moon (29 Capricorn), Sun conjunct Saturn in the 10th opposing Moon conjunct Chiron in the 4th, along with Neptune opposite Mercury, another attempt to set off bombs failed but not before throwing London into chaos again. Others will have had much more to say about these events but for me the bottom line is that Londoners are fantastic, resilient folks and I’m proud of ‘em. Stay alert, that Mars square Neptune square Saturn will be moving in and out of aspect for some time. That’s just the mundane charts, check transits to London (GLC) chart too, Uranus tr 3rd exactly conjunct Saturn, exactly opposite Uranus, Mars, oh, and Pluto and a lot more…that chart’s screaming! London GLC: 1 April 1965, 0.00 BST, 51 N 30, 00 W 10.

10th Planet: It’s bigger than Pluto, 97 times further away from the Sun than Earth (it’s COLD!),has about a 560 year orbit and it would take decades to reach by spaceship—meet 2003 UB313 found around 20 Aries and looking seriously like the 10th planet in our solar system. It’s eccentric (cool), nowhere near the ecliptic, at an inclination of nearly 45 degrees. Mike Brown, planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology, and his team have been on a roll exploring the Kuiper belt and beyond for the last few years. They also located Sedna in 2004 and Quaoar in 2002. Brown calls it Xena, (love it--please, please, let the IAU formally name it Xena!) and she was first photo’d 31 October 2003 but wasn’t located until 8 January 2005. Check ‘er out. No times given, I use midnight. Palomar Observatory, California: 33 N 19, 116 W 53 (PST +8).

Mars in Taurus: Mars has always seemed a pretty solid planet to me, now it’s moved into Taurus, I guess that solidity’s a done deal, for the next 6 months at least. Numerous aspects between Mars and other planets and points will form, dissolve and form again during it’s sojourn in Taurus and what’s going up there (instead of down here—for a change) is fascinating. Did you know that there have been dozens of trips to the Red Planet by spacecraft, mostly, but not only, by NASA—we’ve been attempting to invade Mars since the 1960’s.

Discovery Space Shuttle: Full of shit? Not anymore. The last chore for the shuttle crew was to take away 5000 pounds of garbage. Sounds like a lot but if your trash wasn’t collected for since the end of 2002, how much would you have? So despite the glorious return of the shuttle to space, the delays in launch and further delays in it’s return to Earth, and the numerous technical experiments, exciting outerspace repairs to the shuttle, the thing that captured my imagination was the trash, a humble footnote in the ISS history. Landing chart has Venus conjunct Moon in Virgo rising on the launch chart, square Pluto on the IC. Discovery landed on 9 August at Edwards Airforce Base, California. 5:12 PDT (-7). Following the success of this mission, NASA says it will probably send up another 18 shuttles, bearing in mind the purpose of the shuttle is to take construction materials and other supplies to the International Space Station (and take out the trash) and that’s how many trips it will require to deliver what’s needed. Congratulations to Commander Collins, girls rule, ok? Discovery launched: 26 July, 2005, 10.39 EDT (+4), Cape Canaveral, Florida, 28 N 24, 80 W 36. Asc 24 Virgo 18.

Mars Reconaissance Orbiter: Although this launch was also delayed by a day due to bad weather (perhaps NASA should avoid VOC Moon and Mercury Rx?) MRO lifted off on 12 August at 12:43 BST, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, just 3 days after Discovery landed. So’s this a busy time for space flights, or what? MRO carries the most sophisticated instruments ever taken to Mars and it’s cameras will send back the clearest images yet of the planet from any orbiting spacecraft enabling scientists to study Mars’ composition, structure and, of course, to search for surface features related to water. A massive communications antenna will transmit 10 times more data than any other Mars probes. MRO joins US orbiters Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey and Mars Express, Europe’s orbiter, oh, and there’s a couple of robotic rovers already on the surface. Whew, it’s hectic up there and NASA plans two more Mars missions before the end of the decade.

Speaking of Mars: Just as Mars entered Taurus (literally), the IRA renounced its 35 year armed struggle. This was the result of months of work, the culmination of political pressure on Sinn Fein and the IRA by the British, Irish and American governments. In any case, the announcement that the IRA would lay down its arms can only be seen as good news, not least to the people of Northern Ireland after decades of violence and criminality. Congratulations to those who laboured long and hard to bring an end to this war and (we hope) a lasting peace. IRA Lay Down Arms: 28 July 2005, 16.00 BST.

Sun 16 Leo opposes Neptune 16 Aquarius: The transiting opposition wasn’t exact until 8 August but revealed itself in the days before, well you wouldn’t expect anything Neptunian to be very exact. News stories below are, as ever, thoroughly descriptive.

Russian Submarine: 4 August, a Russian submarine was trapped by netting 190 metres below Pacific Ocean. The applying opposition fell on MC/IC axis of Russia’s chart with tr Neptune at the top and tr Sun exactly on the IC and tr Mercury Rx opp tr Neptune. Russia is also in the middle of a Saturn opposition. Unfortunately Russia has a natal NNode/Uranus/Neptune stellium in the 8th quincunx natal Chiron on the IC, not ideal for their submariners; fortunately tr Venus was trine that lot and conjunct natal Jupiter in the 5th, all 7 crew were saved when international help arrived as oxygen was running out. Russia has a lengthy record of accidents and mishaps with subs reflecting dwindling maintenance budgets.

Russia CIS: 21 Dec 1991, 9.50 GMT, Alma-Ata, 43 N 15, 76 E 57, Asc 7 Gemini 33.

Chinese Mine: 7 August, another Chinese mining disaster, this time 120+ died when the privately run Daxing coal mine flooded. The Chinese have the most deadly mines in the world, there are thousands of deaths every year, and altho Government has told mining companies to stop working until they meet safety standards, the mines are still open and there’s no improvement in treacherous working conditions. China has natal Neptune in the 10th conjunct Mercury opp the NNode in the 4th. Tr Sun opp Neptune picked up natal Pluto (18 Leo) in the 8th (natal Mars 9 Leo) and tr Mars in Taurus squared Mars and opposed natal Venus in 11th (8 Scorpio), nobody came to the rescue. Well worth a look.

China: 21 Sept 1949, 12:00 CCT (-8), Peking, 39 N 55, 116 E 25, Asc 8 Sag.

South African Gold Miners Strike: On 7 August at 6pm local time, more than 100,000 black miners stopped work in the first country-wide strike in 18 years. They were joined by 10,000 white mineworkers and 80,000 public sector workers which crippled transportation and other essential services. There was concern that diamond and platinum miners would join them. Wages and job cuts were priority issues but the cost of migrant workers accommodation, detested single-sex housing, has risen much faster than income and is perhaps the most provocative grievance. The government did not interfere and the strike ended on 11 August. Needless to say, the price of gold is rising. South Africa’s natal NNode is exactly on the IC (24 Scorpio) conjunct natal Pluto (27 Scorpio). Natal Sun conjunct natal Moon in the 9th will be hit again and again by tr Mars in Taurus—in fact, tr Mars will station conjunct natal Sun and MC—expect to hear more from the workers of South Africa for months to come. Tr Neptune opp tr Sun? Right across the 1st/7th axis. Not incidentally, tr Chiron is conj natal Uranus/Neptune in the 6th! Saturn will soon hit natal Asc.

S. Africa: 10 May 1994, 10.20 GMT, Pretoria, 25 S 45, 28 E 09, Asc, 10 Leo.

British Airways Stationary Rx: Umm, Mercury Rx in the middle of summer holidays at Heathrow, not a happy time. Employees of caterers Gate Gourmet (owned by a Texas firm) protesting job losses demonstrated at Heathrow on 10 August, next thing you know BA baggage handlers, check-in staff, drivers and other groundstaff jumped in on a wildcat strike to show Solidarity and support (tr Moon conjunct tr Jupiter in Libra, conjunct BA Mars (1st). The all important question—where’s BA’s Moon? Exactly on the 7th cusp in Pisces squared by tr Pluto on the IC AND opposed by tr Venus in Virgo on BA’s Asc. By morning of 11 August Heathrow was in chaos delaying travel for hundreds of thousands of travellers for days. Hundreds of flights were cancelled, tr Mercury con tr Saturn square tr Mars in Taurus, no chance the workers would budge. Transit Sun opposite tr Neptune trine tr Jupiter in air, try getting an airline schedule back on track with that aspect…kinda like herding cats! BA flights resumed late on 12 August but it was days before passengers, luggage, planes and flight staff were back in the right places. This is the third year strikes have affected holiday travellers and tr Uranus in BA’s 6th squares natal Uranus (and eventually, natal Sun/Jupiter!) exactly in the 3rd and tr Pluto in Sag exactly on the IC! Nasty T-squares everywhere! Uranus will be transiting BA’s 6th until 2010, maybe it would be prudent to fly with another airline for the next few summers, BA’s got strife for years!

British Airways: 13 Dec 1983, 0.00, London, Asc 24 Virgo. Data: Companies House.

Big Brother 6 Arguing Ends: (For those who care—and I do.) The 6th BB ended 12 August and the winner was Anthony Hutton, a footballer, trainee hairdresser and 70’s style dancer from up north. Anthony (Pisces, no further data) was the only housemate amongst more than a dozen others, who managed to spend 11 weeks NOT upsetting everyone. The housemates bickered, argued, instigated and pissed off every other housemate (to say nothing of the public) during their time in the house and it’s all in the chart, natch. Uranus Mars conjunction in the 3rd, square the Sun in the 6th and the Asc, quincunx Jupiter in Libra on the MC, you really need more?

BB6: 27 May 2005, 21.00 BST, London. Asc 7 Sag 22.

Last but not least: It had to happen, following the Saturn in Gemini opp Pluto in Sag transits (2001-02), 3rd to 10th to UK chart, power of communication has moved from the media to the people. The concept crystalised in July this year, after the first bomb exploded on the London Underground, the earliest reports were from commuters caught up in the chaos, mobile phones, particularly those with videos, relaying information as events unfolded. The revolution may not be televised by the major networks but Jane and John Citizen, on the move are on the case…in realtime. Power to the people!!!

UK: 1 Jan 1801, 0.00 LMT, Westminster, 51 N 30, 00 W 07, Asc 7 Libra 10.