{"id":7219,"date":"2022-12-31T13:03:56","date_gmt":"2022-12-31T13:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/?p=7219"},"modified":"2022-12-31T13:10:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-31T13:10:15","slug":"review-of-the-year-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/?p=7219","title":{"rendered":"Review of the Year 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review of the Year 2022<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s that time again\u2026Time for the Review of the Year!\u00a0\u00a0 Selections from the blogs, as usual, for those of you who like to review the year\u2026<\/p>\n

January<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

30th:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Barry Cryer (1935 \u2013 2022)<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t had a career, just a series of incidents. I\u2019ve been dogged by good luck all my life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

~ Barry Cryer<\/p>\n

Legendary comedian and scriptwriter Barry Cryer died peacefully at home on Tuesday, at the age of 86, surrounded by his family.\u00a0 We owe many laughs to him over the years, as we watched Morecombe and Wise and other classic comedies.\u00a0 He wrote for many, many comedians, among them Bob Hope, Dave Allen, Tommy Cooper, and Kenny Everett.<\/p>\n

Birth Chart<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We are fortunate in having a birth time for Barry, giving him a Capricorn Ascendant.\u00a0 His Sun was in Aries, largely unaspected, making him very authentic and individualistic.\u00a0 With Chiron trine his North Node, his karmic mission was in some ways as a healer.\u00a0 Chiron was in Gemini in his birth chart \u2013 healing through words, to laughter.\u00a0 With the Sun in his 3rd House, words were his stock in trade, and later in life he was a popular after dinner speaker.<\/p>\n

February<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

27th:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Invasion of Ukraine<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Added to the pandemic, and climate change, the world has a new threat: that of war between Russia and the Ukraine.\u00a0 Wary of involvement after what transpired from the Iraq War, Syria and Afghanistan, NATO is trying to support Ukraine by other means than military forces.\u00a0 Rhetoric has been ramped up against the chilling protagonist Vladimir Putin of Russia, whose sanity has been questioned.\u00a0 Currently, Ukrainian citizens are literally fighting for their lives, reportedly today in the streets of Kharkiv on the outskirts of the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv.\u00a0 The population of Kyiv have been told to stay underground, and the Prime Minister is staying firmly in the capital.<\/p>\n

Ukraine<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For the chart of the invasion, I have used 5.55 a.m. on Thursday 24th February 2022.\u00a0 Mars (war) is still conjunct Venus (peace), in an unusually long conjunction \u2013 she has been worn down, and run out of diplomatic options.\u00a0 Pluto is exactly trine to the North Node, which is a powerful time of reckoning karmically.\u00a0 The transits to the Ukraine chart seem very karmic \u2013 Putin claims Ukraine should still belong to Russia, and won\u2019t forgive the split.\u00a0 Ukrainians feel they want the freedom and democracy which they would not have as part of Russia, and would like to belong to NATO.\u00a0\u00a0 Astrologically, the Nodal Axis is square the Ukrainian natal Mercury-Jupiter conjunction in the 7th House of Close Relations.\u00a0 The North Node (karma) is about to enter Ukraine\u2019s 4th House of Homeland.\u00a0 Two more squares threaten Ukraine\u2019s stability at this moment: Chiron square its Uranus (crisis) and Saturn square its Pluto (destructiveness).<\/p>\n

Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/u><\/p>\n

The Prime Minister of the Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is the hero of the hour.\u00a0 He was born on 25 January 1978 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine.\u00a0 We have a birth time for him, which gives Jupiter rising (he started out as a comedian).<\/p>\n

March<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

20th:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe released<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In the midst of another week of unbearable news from Ukraine, a miracle happened.\u00a0 Nazanin Zhagari-Ratcliffe, who had been detained in Iran, most of that time in prison, was allowed to come home and be reunited with her daughter and husband.\u00a0 Heartwarming photos ensued of the three of them together again.\u00a0 At a time when Ukrainian families are being torn apart, we should frame these photos in our hearts to remind us that reunion is possible.<\/p>\n

Birth Chart<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The birth date now accepted for Nazanin is 26th December 1978, though we do not have a birth time for her.\u00a0 She has Sun in the sign of Capricorn, known for qualities of endurance (but can also be the scapegoat).\u00a0 Her Sun conjoins Mars, giving her a warrior spirit.\u00a0 She is also a healer, with the Sun exactly trine Chiron.\u00a0 She certainly had to employ her inner healer in her six years under arrest.\u00a0 Moon in Scorpio, will have given her extra emotional grit and determination.\u00a0 In confinement, the Moon conjunct Uranus, will have given her a highly developed imagination to explore her inner mind: Terry Waite, one of the Beirut hostages, had the Moon opposite Uranus in his chart.<\/p>\n

April<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

10th:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

June Brown (1927 \u2013 2022)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOoh I say!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

~ <\/em>Dot Cotton<\/p>\n

June Brown, and her alter ego, Dot Cotton, was a household name, even for those who didn\u2019t watch EastEnders.\u00a0 She died last week, at the age of 95.\u00a0 Though it was announced that she left the soap in February 2020, for the viewers her character Dot is ostensibly in Ireland;\u00a0 they are yet to break the news in soapland. She was often asked how similar she was to the character that was created, and she would reply that they both chain-smoked, and were both Christians.\u00a0 She played the role, on and off, since 1985.\u00a0 She has been described as a National Treasure.<\/p>\n

Birth Chart<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

June Brown had half her planets (5) in the Water element, making her an emotional individual, though she would sometimes hide this under a deadpan expression.\u00a0 This is something an Ascendant might reveal, but we do not have her birth time.\u00a0 She could, however, be a cool customer, with the Sun in Aquarius.\u00a0 She was born on a Full Moon in Leo, which would have given her strong likes and dislikes \u2013 if she did not like a scene, she would walk away from it.<\/p>\n

May<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

15th:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Eurovision Song Contest 2022<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m incredibly excited to make some friends, chat some music, and just take in every moment of this beautiful, wild bonkers thing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 Sam Ryder<\/p>\n

Long-term readers of my blog will know how much Eurovision means to me!\u00a0 And I have to declare last night\u2019s Eurovision Song Contest the best ever (and I have been watching since 1959).\u00a0 I attended when Duesseldorf hosted in 2011, which apparently was the last time we were on the left hand side of the scoreboard, until last night of course.\u00a0 It was such a special occasion, not least for the overwhelming unity and love for Ukraine, who won deservedly.<\/p>\n

Sam Ryder<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Last night was the first time I had been able to watch Sam Ryder\u2019s performance all the way through his song \u201cSpaceman\u201d.\u00a0 We had been told, as usual, that we stood a chance of winning, but they say that every year\u2026So I was pleasantly surprised to find that I loved everything about the performance: the long strawberry blonde locks, the soaring falsetto voice which seemed to encompass the universe, and the imaginative set and costume (which a young friend texted me to declare it blogtastic).\u00a0 For many of us, this year is the first we have heard of Sam Ryder, but in fact he has been singing since 2009 (at the age of 20).\u00a0 He sang first in bands, then went solo in 2016, but in the interim has taken jobs, such as bricklaying, to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

June<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

19th:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Olena Zelenska<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This week, it will be four months since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 24th February.\u00a0 It is being said that we are beginning to suffer \u201cUkraine fatigue\u201d, so here I am keeping the flag flying, with a blog about the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska.\u00a0 When I wrote about her husband Volodomyr Zelenskyy three days after the invasion, we had only just heard of him, but sensed his heroism.\u00a0 Our admiration has increased as each war torn month has gone by, though not all nations are supporting his cause.\u00a0 From that time, the war has taken a terrible toll on Ukrainian family life, with women and children fleeing to safety, and men and boys staying to fight for the state and their own survival.<\/p>\n

Birth Chart<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Volodymyr was born on 25 January 1978, and Olena was born only 12 days later on 6 February \u2013 often a sign of soulmates who plan to incarnate together, when their lives run parallel.\u00a0 They are both Aquarians, first attending the same school (she noticed him performing in school plays), and then properly meeting at University.\u00a0 Their birth charts have much in common.<\/p>\n

July<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

31st:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

James Lovelock (1919 \u2013 2022)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

~ James Lovelock<\/p>\n

James Lovelock, creator of the concept of \u201cGaia\u201d, died this week on his 103rd birthday.\u00a0 His groundbreaking book \u201cGAIA, a new look at life on Earth\u201d of 1979 proposed a hypothesis which was responsible for a whole new way of thinking.\u00a0 It posed a scientific question which flew in the face of Darwinism, put him at odds with some other scientists, and in its solution also conflicted with some environmentalists\u2019 views of how it should be dealt with.\u00a0 He saw the Earth as a living organism in which its components were interconnected.\u00a0 He brought up the danger of CFCs, greenhouse gas emissions, a problem which we are still dealing with.\u00a0 He held very individual views about climate change, and it is interesting that he has left the planet at this time, a few days after the extreme 40 degree celsius temperatures in his home country.\u00a0 People are still questioning whether climate change is real (deniers), and in our Tory leadership contest, there is no attempt to put this planetary issue at the forefront of their policies.<\/p>\n

August<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

14th:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Olivia Newton-John (1948 \u2013 2022)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t want to hear that you\u2019re nice, but that\u2019s what\u00a0 I am.\u00a0 In fact, I\u2019m pretty boring\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

~ Olivia Newton-John<\/p>\n

Singer and Actress Olivia Newton-John died this week at the age of 73.\u00a0 She made her mark on this world in several ways, not least in promoting health research, but the role which she is most remembered for was that of Sandra Olsson in the film Grease.\u00a0 The film made a big impact on our household!\u00a0 As a young mum, I remember singing \u201cSummer Nights\u201d to my first daughter as a baby, then later when my children were older, they put the video of the film on replay.\u00a0 I asked one of them how many times they played that film, to be told \u201cmillions\u201d!<\/p>\n

Birth Chart<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

They say the beautiful people are born under Libra, and this was true of Olivia.\u00a0 She also had the \u201cnice\u201d persona of Libra, and singing is one of the professions of that sign.\u00a0 She did not however have a smooth-sailing life, and that is to some extent due to her Sun\u2019s square to Uranus (disruption).\u00a0 Her Moon trine Mercury gave her the ability to combine imagination with rationality, which would have been useful in acting.<\/p>\n

September<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

11th:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926 \u2013 2022)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

~\u00a0 Elizabeth, 1947<\/p>\n

As a nation, and also in the wider world, we are shocked and stunned at her passing this week on 8th September, even though we always knew Queen Elizabeth wasn\u2019t immortal.\u00a0 It seems not just the end of an era, but maybe the end of the end of all eras.\u00a0 She was a remarkable woman in her fortitude and dedication. And it has been said that one in every two people in the U.K. have met her, so that is a lot of memory, spanning the 96 years of her life and the 70 years of her reign.\u00a0 I never met her, but I did dream about her, which apparently is a common phenomenon, as she is deeply ingrained as an Archetype in our psyche.\u00a0 Her revealed personality has changed over the years, from stiff formality through to the later years when she increasingly revealed so much wisdom and humour.\u00a0 She reigned longer than any other British monarch, and longer than any female monarch in the world (the record is held by Louis XIV of France).<\/p>\n

October<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

2nd:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Liz Truss and Kwazi Kwarteng<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Dream Team or Nightmare Team?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This new duo running the country have been re-named \u201cKamikwasi Kwarteng and Librium Liz\u201d by John Crace of the Guardian.\u00a0 What do their birth charts tell us?\u00a0 I was originally set to write about Liz when the Queen died, but now find myself writing about the pair in the aftermath of Kwarteng\u2019s \u201cmini-budget\u201d and the dramatic fall of the pound.<\/p>\n

Liz Truss<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I wrote about Liz in 2019, during the Tory leadership contest when Boris Johnson was elected:<\/p>\n

\u201c26\/5\/19<\/strong><\/p>\n

Liz Truss (odds 50\/1)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cJust for fun.\u00a0 Liz Truss has not yet declared her candidacy, but is rumoured to be considering it.\u00a0 I only include her because she is my local M.P.\u00a0 Like Jeremy Hunt she unnerves me, but for different reasons.\u00a0 Her deadpan voice and slightly soulless gaze worry me, and some of the stances in parliamentary voting she has taken have lacked compassion.\u00a0 She sits in a Tory heartland, and most of the people I know who have met her have been underwhelmed by her intellect…”<\/p>\n

November<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

20th:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Xi Jinping<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This week, Joe Biden met up with Xi Jinping of China at the COP27 climate summit.\u00a0 Named in recent years the most powerful man in the world, at this point in time Xi Jinping holds a crucial position in the power balance of the world.\u00a0 Not only does his country hold great responsibility in reducing carbon dioxide emissions (as the highest emitter), but Xi Jinping in his closeness to Vladimir Putin may hold the key to the outcome of the war in Ukraine.\u00a0 He is an inscrutable figure, and it is an interesting time to look at his chart and his life.<\/p>\n

Birth Chart<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

With Sun conjunct Mars in Gemini, Xi Jinping is a warrior of the mind; he has called his attitude to foreign relations \u201cwolf warrior diplomacy\u201d.\u00a0 The power and strength of his Sun is shored up by a trine from Saturn, a trine from Neptune and a sextile from Pluto.\u00a0 We do not have a birth time, but we know that his Moon lies in the powerful sign of Leo, giving him a desire to dominate emotionally.<\/p>\n

December<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

18th:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

World Cup Final 2022<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Strictly Come Dancing over, and the best person (Hamza) won\u2026(sigh)<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t watch the football, but someone in my house does, and it can hardly escape my notice that there is a World Cup final today.\u00a0 They are billing it as Mbappe for France versus Messi for Argentina, though both players are signed with Paris St. Germain.\u00a0 Mbappe was born in 1998 and Messi was born in 1986, so there are 12 years (a Jupiter cycle) between them.\u00a0 So they both have Jupiter in Pisces, actually conjunct with each other, and Jupiter is currently in Pisces (just about).\u00a0 The World Cup 2022 has been a high tide for both of them, but how does the astrological picture look for them?<\/p>\n

Kylian Mbeppe<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Mbeppe has the Sun in Sagittarius, and therefore Jupiter is his ruling planet.\u00a0 But what marks him out as a football player from his chart is Mars (the planet of football) rising, within 3 degrees of his Ascendant (which is in Libra).\u00a0 He is also a leader (North Node trine his Sun), and a diplomat (Libra rising, with the Moon exactly conjunct Venus).\u00a0 He has quick emotional reactions (Moon closely square Mars) and is close to his roots (Moon closely conjunct his I.C.)…<\/p>\n

Lionel Messi<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Mbappe may be on the rise, but for Messi this opportunity is being hailed as a possible swan song.\u00a0 It is considered important for him to achieve a win at this World Cup final, as it is the only trophy which has eluded him in his glittering career, which has been compared to that of Maradona.<\/p>\n

I have written about him, for a previous World Cup (in 2014):<\/p>\n

\u201dLionel Messi Is being hailed as Argentina\u2019s finest hope now.\u00a0 <\/strong>His footballing brilliance chartwise is shown by Jupiter (success) exactly sextile Mars (football)\u2026 Messi has an inspirational exact conjunction of Neptune and the Part of Fortune in Capricorn in 8th House.\u00a0\u201d…<\/p>\n

Tomorrow: Astrological Features of 2023 for your Diary<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Review of the Year 2022 It\u2019s that time again\u2026Time for the Review of the Year!\u00a0\u00a0 Selections from the blogs, as usual, for those of you who like to review the year\u2026 January 30th: Barry Cryer (1935 \u2013 2022) \u201cI haven\u2019t had a career, just a series of incidents. I\u2019ve been dogged by good luck all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astrology","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7219"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7229,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7219\/revisions\/7229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}