Listen to the news any day of the week for the last two years in the United Kingdom, and one subject rules them all. Even newsreaders are tiring of it, but as the fateful date of Brexit approaches – March 29th, 2019 – the tone is getting more and more desperate. Without agreement with the EU, the threat of a hard Brexit evokes fears of vast queues of lorries, goods spoiling at borders, shortages of pharmaceuticals, disruption of flights, renewal of troubles in at the Irish border and many other potential disasters.
How did it ever get to this? The referendum on leaving the EU was granted by Prime Minister David Cameron as a sop to right-wing Conservative MPs, who have never liked being part of the EU. Why? Partly because these people, so many educated at Eton and Oxford, hated EU rules and regulations which insisted on a reasonable minimum wage, socially responsible legislation, and a transparency, which limited the ability of these privileged few to ferret away their fortunes in tax havens worldwide. And partly because their cultural roots lie in an imperial Britain on whose empire the sun never should have set.
But Brexit was also a result of the nationalist wave affecting EU countries as a response to the influx of immigrants, and for poorer British communities especially, immigrants from Eastern Europe, who had taken advantage for EU rules regarding free movement of labor. The discontent of these communities was fanned by concerted campaigns, not least the Leave.EU team funded by multimillionaire Arron Banks, whose alleged ties to the Russian government have subsequently been investigated.
Prime Minister Theresa May has staked her reputation on the fast-approaching deadline, and is desperately trying for a so-called soft Brexit, which protects the rights of UK citizens in the EU and vice-versa, and maintains the current trade deals. Meanwhile hardline Brexiteers like Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Jacob Rees-Mogg – (yes, all Eton and Oxford) are happy to let the UK crash out of Europe with no deal. For Theresa May it has been chaos since the referendum result, which is clearly shown by transits to her birth chart.
Theresa May. 1st October 1956. Eastbourne. Solar chart: AS 0 LI
May is one of those people born in 1956, when Mars went retrograde in Pisces and by progression dwelt for a long time in opposition to Jupiter in Virgo. This, amongst other things shows her strong religious upbringing (her father was an Anglican priest), and predominant Christian values. However, the transit of Neptune through Pisces has been activating this opposition for two years, and continues to do so, which surely indicates her frustrated attempts to herd unruly Conservative males towards a reasonable outcome. This year, progressed Mars opposes her natal Mercury, which indicates the mental pressure afflicting her in this period and echoes the Neptune transit.
May is born with a powerful conjunction of the Moon and Pluto square Saturn, which is on the north node of the Moon. If she was born around 9 a.m., the moon would be in Leo; later, and the Moon would be in Virgo. Margaret Thatcher had the Moon at 28 Leo and this, coupled with the prominence Theresa May has attained, could indicate an early morning birth with Leo moon. She is something of a fashionista too, which reflects her planets in Libra and Venus in Leo.
Saturn on the nodes square Pluto indicates that Theresa May is caught in the maelstrom of a drastic political transformation, which will change the relationship between Britain and the EU. This aspect depicts a monumental power battle which exhausts resources, and it also shows Theresa May’s stubbornness on the one hand, and resilience on the other. This planetary combination constellates powerfully with the horoscope of the Conservative Party. Fittingly, this horoscope shows the Moon in Taurus exactly opposing Saturn, which is about as conservative as it gets. There is a T-Square in fixed signs dominating the Conservative chart resonating of course with Saturn, the Moon, Venus and Pluto in May’s chart, which is perhaps why she is the dominating factor in the party rather than other potential leadership contenders.
Whatever the causes, Brexit is happening. The EU horoscope for November 1st, 1993 (0.00 a.m. Brussels) has the MC at 1.44 Taurus, and in the Brexit chart Uranus is at 1.10 Taurus conjoining the MC just days after Brexit – it is an explosion waiting to happen. Later in 2020 Uranus makes three oppositions to the EU Sun in Scorpio, which does not bode well for cohesion in the European project.
Official Brexit. 29th March 2019. 23.00 London. AS: 27.33 SC
Britain could request an extension of the deadline, but perhaps not wanting to weaken her bargaining position, May refuses to do so. Nevertheless, the horoscope for Brexit looks like it has been worked out by an evil astrologer. With 27 degrees Scorpio rising and Ascendant ruler Mars in exile conjoining the Descendant, this could hardly be designed to put Britain in a weaker position. The country will be beholden to the will of its opponent, here symbolized, fortunately, by a kind-hearted Venus exalted in Pisces. Venus has been square to Mars, but softens her position. Mars exactly opposes Theresa May’s Saturn and squares her Pluto.
The moon at the end of Capricorn in the 2nd house gives a picture of penury and exhaustion. The moon is also in exile, and after a conjunction with Saturn, then Pluto, it is badly bruised. The indications here are that this will be both damaging to the British economy and unhappy for the people. It is true that the Moon in Capricorn is trine Mars in Taurus, and there we have it – the typical British muddling through… the blind leading the lame.
Brexit is scheduled to take place in March with the nodal axis about to conjoin the rare Saturn/Pluto conjunction, which last took place in 1820, which is when George III died, blind, deaf and mad. The conjunction of Saturn and Pluto itself takes place once ever 30-36 years, depending on where Pluto is in its orbit. It always heralds battles of power and upheavals, and in this case, in Capricorn, it indicates the rise of autocratic leaders and oppressive politics, which ultimately lead to pushback and transformation. Brexit is not happening in isolation. It is welcomed by autocrats like Putin, who wants to see a military weakened EU, and by Trump who hates multilateralism and similarly thinks that this puts him in a stronger position for trade negotiations.
Another feature of the Brexit chart is the conjunction of Mercury – in fall in Pisces – with Neptune. Mercury has been on quite a journey. It conjoined Neptune back in February, then went retrograde at 29 Pisces, and as Brexit takes place in stations almost exactly on Neptune. This could hardly be a worse signature for wooly thinking and chaotic planning, and the indications are that the information released to the public up to and on Brexit is highly misleading. Slowly, Mercury will make its way forward to sextile Saturn and Pluto, which will lead to greater realism and the elimination of illusions.
Some people may have hopes that the Labour Party could take control and save the nation. A quick look at the Party Leader Jeremey Corbyn’s horoscope is not encouraging. Corbyn has always been ambivalent about the EU, and his chart indicates that he is an old-fashioned autocrat, but of socialist persuasion. How else could you explain his hopeless support of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez who he tweeted made “massive contributions” to his (subsequently bankrupted) country, and his endorsement of Maduro, who has systematically removed all democratic opposition in Venezuela?
Jeremey Corbyn. 26th May 1949. Chippenham. Time Unknown. AS 0.00 GE
Could it be his Venus-Mercury conjunction trine Neptune, which predisposes him to idealize, or just to misspeak? Or is it his Moon-Mars conjunction square Pluto, which shows another more implacable side of his character? As a Gemini, Corbyn can possibly present contradictory sides of his nature to people, and his Sun-Jupiter trine looks great for oratory, but if he had power, he would be ruthless.
By the time Brexit is fully established, a new world order will be presenting itself. As autocratic influences peak in 2020 with the triple conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto combined with the eclipse cycle in Cancer-Capricorn, there is a tendency to meltdown. In 2021, the Jupiter-Saturn cycle in Aquarius indicates rising populism and waning authoritarianism. There will probably be a period of instability for about five years affecting Europe, Russia, China and the US.
Yet looking at the horoscope for the winter solstice in 2020, when Brexit really will have kicked in, the United Kingdom looks to be in a very influential position. The Sun’s ingress into Capricorn takes place just hours before the historic Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius (at 18.20 GMT), and this conjunction is exactly on the Ascendant in London. Clearly, this indicates a new era for Britain, and perhaps an era where Britain – and London – does in fact regain some greater influence worldwide. (Note 1) Interestingly Mars is at 23 degrees Aries in this chart, rather ominously square Pluto, and this is exactly where there was a Uranus-Ceres-Eris conjunction at the time of the Brexit vote.
Brexit vote: 23rd June 2016 London AS 1.44 AQ
It has been many years since there has been so much uncertainty in the world. Who knows what Brexit will lead to? Will Scotland insist on a second referendum for independence? Will Catholics in Northern Ireland, soon to form a majority, insist on union with their brothers and sisters in the South and regain membership of the EU, and will England be left alone and forlorn with Wales? Or will Britain rise majestic from the chaos, a shining beacon of the world, which to such a large extent has adopted its language?
Adrian Duncan – 18th February 2019
1. If a horoscope is calculated for the exact Jupiter-Saturn conjunction for London, then it falls exactly on the Descendant.