Review of the Year 2016

A Review of 2016

It wasn’t quite all Obituaries.  Selections from the blog…

January

17th:

David Bowie (1947 – 2016)

Rebel Rebel

Bowie’s Ascendant was in whacky, individualistic, rebellious, innovative, revolutionary and androgynous Aquarius – just perfect for what he wanted to do with his life!

So with his Sun and Ascendant, he was a mixture of calculating Capricorn and spontaneous Aquarius.  With the energy and drive of Sun/Mars, he got things done.  His urge for creativity was strong until the end.

February

28th:

European Union Deal and Referendum

First Week

A week is a long time in politics.  And four months is a long time to contemplate and debate whether we should be in or out of the European Union, but the gloves are off in the Conservative Party, and the starting gun has been fired for the In-Out battle…

Project Fear, or Scaremongering, seems to be the main tool of argument on both sides at the moment.  In the country it looks as though the referendum will be close, though polls nearer the time may reveal or conceal more.  Currently the Conservative Party are as much at odds about this issue, as the Labour Party are at odds over Trident.  And there’s a curious mix-and-match quality to politics at the moment, with David Cameron’s hope for Europe being in line with the majority of Labour MPs.

March

27th:

Brussels Bombing

The European wave of terrorism from ISIS, which started with the two episodes in Paris last year, has shifted to Brussels, the centre of the European Union.  This week Belgium was put under enormous stress with the attack in Brussels on Tuesday 22nd March, and there but for the grace of God go the rest of Europe (not forgetting terrorist attacks in other parts of the world).  The continuing anxiety about these attacks has led some proponents of Brexit to claim that the U.K. would be safer out of Europe (not my view).

31 lives were lost, and 340 people injured: a large scale disaster, and the worst in Belgium’s history. 40 different nationalities were involved.

April

24th:

Prince (1958 – 2016)

The world is reeling from yet another high profile celebrity death, and Prince not even reaching his 60s…

With Pluto as his Ascendant ruler, the Midheaven exactly conjunct Pluto in his 10th House of Career carries an extraordinary amount of weight and emphasis in his chart.  He was deliberately enigmatic, and not so much in a Neptunian way, but in the sense of the Pluto journey, plumbing the depths of the psyche, on a journey that was sometimes dark.  Pluto in that position also points to the theme of reinvention and rebirth on his life path.  The Pluto/Midheaven conjunction (his Persona) is at the very end of Leo, signifying a dramatic completion of a creative cycle: an ultimate performer.

May

15th:

Eurovision Song Contest 2016

What a dramatic contest we had last night!  On the face of things, it was the same as usual: Ukraine and Sweden did well, and the United Kingdom came near the bottom of the scoreboard.  But the scoring was a roller coaster not for the faint-hearted.

Toast to Terry Wogan

Graham Norton does a good job.  Nobody could purport to replace Terry Wogan, who was part of the fabric and the enjoyment of the song contest for so long.  But Graham does the dry humour quite well.  So at song number 9 he explained that Terry advised him never to start drinking before that point, and we all raised a glass to Terry.  I had some slightly salted popcorn, and just nipped to the kitchen for some sparkling mineral water to go with that.  Ah, dear Terry.

June

26th:

Reading Guide:

If you are of the 52% who voted for Brexit, you may want to skip this blog altogether

If you are not interested in politics, you may want to skip the following section, and proceed to Aspects, or my Wimbledon blog…

Jo Cox

“We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us”~ Jo Cox

Basically, Jo Cox died in vain.  Despite all the protestations of how she was loved locally and nationally, her message was not listened to.

July

3rd:

Wimbledon 2016 – Week 2

That first week was quite rain-drenched at Wimbledon, and there is some catching up to do to remain on schedule.  We have had the upset of top Seeds going out (Djokovic at No. 1 and Wawrinka, No. 4 men’s Seeds and Muguruza No. 2 ladies Seed).  Muguruza leaving makes it easier for Serena Williams to come out on top.

August

21st:

Laura Trott and Jason Kenny

Our Golden couple at the Olympics

The Olympics didn’t completely pass me by, and among the snippets which managed to present themselves to me (while passing through the hubby’s television room) was the triumph of Laura Trott (medal tally 4 golds) and Jason Kenny (medal tally 6 golds).

Laura Trott

Cycling as a sport is ruled by Mercury, and that planet is an important focus when looking at her chart, also because she suffered asthma as a child, and a collapsed lung when born prematurely (Mercury related health conditions)…

Jason Kenny

Her fiance broke the records on the same evening, after a third attempt at the Kierin race (the first two races were aborted because of overlapping).  He displayed great patience (he has Sun square Saturn exactly) and calmness throughout the crisis.  When interviewed and asked what was going through his mind he said “Nothing really” – very chilled!

September

4th:

Strictly Come Dancing 2016 – Part 1

It’s back!  The hugely popular Strictly Come Dancing returned yesterday for its launch night.  It is the last year for head judge Len Goodman, who reportedly plans to spend his retirement on the golf course.  This is borne out by his transit picture, which looks remarkably quiet going forward, partly because the structure of his chart shows half the zodiac occupied and the end of several years of excitement.

Ed Balls

I have mentioned Ed Balls a few times over the years, in the context of his political persona, notably just before the last election:

“He is a Pisces, which can bamboozle the public perception of him.  He also has Chiron conjunct Mercury, which can lead to an odd way of thinking, but also a penchant for problem-solving.  Pluto also opposes his natal Mercury, which is challenging – he probably does advanced Sudoku in his sleepless hours!  He is an affable enough type of chap, reaching out to George Osborne on Andrew Marr’s sofa, though there are elements of shyness in his nature (Sun in Pisces, Venus conjunct Saturn).  One of the best features of his chart is an exact trine between Jupiter and Neptune (endless faith) which forms a Grand Trine with Saturn, giving him the ability to translate pie in the sky into concrete reality.”

Enter the new persona: as competitive dance contestant.  Never mind twinkle toes, I always find him to have twinkly eyes.  He has written his political memoirs, but his recent interviews have brought out a different side of him. “You can do politics and be a human being” he has asserted.  He is born under Pisces, the dancing sign, but he claims his dance style is that of a “camp rugby player”.

October

16th:

Bob Dylan

“Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An’ for each an’ ev’ry underdog soldier in the night
An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing”

~ Bob Dylan

What took them so long to award Bob Dylan the Nobel prize for literature?  It happened finally, this week on Thursday 13th October.  The expanse of his work is so large, that I will have to look at it with a personal eye in order to confine it into the nutshell of a Sunday morning blog.  His songs are poetic, and in turn political, philosophical and romantic.

In the dime stores and bus stations
People talk of situations
Read books, repeat quotations
Draw conclusions on the wall…

November

13th:

Leonard Cohen (1934 – 2016)

“But let’s not talk of love or chains and things we can’t untie

Your eyes are soft with sorrow
Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye”

Poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen died this week, providing an emotional distraction from the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. Presidency.  Though he died on Monday 7th November, his death was not announced until Thursday 10th, the day after the election results.

Suzanne

“Suzanne” was the song that really made his name, when recorded by Judy Collins.  On his greatest hits album he wrote, “Everything happened just as it was put down. She was the wife of a man I knew. Her hospitality was immaculate”.  She was the first of two Suzannes in his life, the second being the mother of his children (Suzanne Elrod).  The earlier Suzanne was Suzanne Verdal, who was shocked when she discovered he had written a song about their relationship.  Her own verdict was “Ours was a soul connection as far as I was concerned”

December

11th:

Yemen

Yemen was in the news this week from more than one angle.  On Tuesday night’s BBC News it was headlined for reasons of the starvation and devastation of the country: Fergal Keane reported that babies were being born malnourished, medical systems were collapsing and aid was not getting through due to the war situation.  There is a civil war between the Houthis and Al-Islah, and Saudi Arabia has intervened.  This nation is reportedly the poorest in the Middle East…

The Charts

There are three charts for Yemen (1962, 1967 and 1990).  In terms of determining a national character from them, they all three have Sun trine Saturn (a cautious nature), but two of them have its opposite in Jupiter opposite Uranus (risk-taking).  So that is contradictory, but then so is a civil war.