Friday Bite 9 January 2026

The Edge of Reason

“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops. That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, 6 January

New York Times, Question: Are there any limits on your global powers?

Donald Trump, Answer: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me…I don’t need international law. I’m not looking to hurt people. [Also] it depends what your definition of international law is.” New York Times, 7 January

“Trump didn’t attack Venezuela because it produces fentanyl. It doesn’t. He didn’t attack Venezuela because President Nicolás Maduro controls the Tren de Aragua gang. He doesn’t. He didn’t attack Venezuela because Maduro is the head of the Cartel de los Soles. It doesn’t even exist.  It’s about the oil, stupid! Mehdi Hassan, Zeteo 5 January

BACK IN DECEMBER when I was writing my forecasts and recording the audios for the first two weeks of January, I noted that Jupiter would be in pride of place – opposing Venus, the Sun and Mars. Quite a bullish climate, you might say. But a little voice in my head warned: you can have too much of a good thing. Jupiter is not only the bringer of joy but the hurler of thunderbolts, and what we might be looking at instead was an escalation of tensions and controversial power-based actions on the part of certain nations. (Jupiter’s principles of expansion are neutral: the good can get better, and so too can the bad.)

And so, indeed, it came to pass.

On Saturday, 3 January, around 2:00 am local time, the United States Armed Forces attacked strategic infrastructure in Venezuela and captured President Nicolàs Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arguably not just the power behind the throne but the brains of the presidency. The couple were flown to New York and later charged with weapon and drug offences. They are currently residing at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, New York.

Two days later, Venezuela’s vice president and minister of oil, Delcy Rodrìguez, was sworn in as interim president. (Apparently, the opposition leader whose party claimed victory in the 2024 election and who was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Maria Corina Machado, didn’t have enough support…)

In the last five days, it has become clear that Venezuela’s abundant oil supplies are the main objective of the US administration. Indeed, President Trump has been unashamedly open about it, “I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America…This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump, Truth Social, 6 January.

However, the motive behind the motive may have even more to do with the US dollar remaining the world’s reserve currency.

I’ll get back to the United States in a moment, but another concern, presided over by the Jupiter oppositions, is the developing situation in Iran. The protests began on 28 December after the Iranian rial plunged against the US dollar making an already challenging cost-of-living crisis even worse. The protests that originated in the capital have spread nationwide and turned deadly. Yesterday, the Iranian authorities cut off the internet and cancelled flights, isolating the country from the rest of the world.

There are two charts worthy of consideration for Iran, the first – 1 February 1979 – marks the return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran, and the second – 1 April 1979 – which represents the moment the country became an Islamic Republic. Both charts have resonances with the country and its people. The return of Islam’s spiritual leader to Iran is thought to be more truly representative of the “soul” of Iran while the declaration of the country as an Islamic State reflects its façade – Iran and its place in the world.

Currently Saturn is hovering over the Republic’s Mars and Mercury in the eighth house, which chimes with the financial problems the country is experiencing. Piling on the economic pressure is solar arc progressed Midheaven (26 degrees Gemini) squaring natal Mars and Mercury. A double whammy no less.

As far as the February chart is concerned (the soul of the people) the progressed Midheaven has reached 12 degrees of Aquarius, which is conjoined to the nation’s Sun and Venus while solar arc progressed Mars is squaring the natal Midheaven.

Given that in both charts Saturn is squaring Neptune, albeit widely, the approach of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction is almost certainly significant. The end of regimes is a Saturn-Neptune theme, and with the forthcoming transits of the personal planets to Pluto, which march over Iran’s Aquarian Sun, Mercury, Mars conjunction, the potential for a major upset is looking increasingly likely. According to The New Statesman, Iran is “facing its biggest crisis since the 1979 Iranian Revolution… the economic foundations of the Islamic Republic have eroded beyond repair” and this, combined with domestic exhaustion, despotism, elite fragmentation and strategic failure, is bringing the state to a point where, “the question is no longer whether the system is under strain, but whether it retains the internal coherence necessary to survive.”

The author of this article, historian Abbas Milani, reminds us that all authoritarian regimes thrive on fear, and in recent months that fear has “visibly weakened” and the people, especially women, appear increasingly empowered.

Which brings us back to the United States, a once great democracy that is now quite openly becoming an authoritarian regime. Since Christmas, the regime has bombed Nigeria, attacked Venezuela and kidnapped its president, seized three oil tankers in three different oceans, and threatened Greenland’s sovereignty. And all this in spite of Mr Trump’s assurances that the United States is no longer going to be the “policeman” of the world and instead is focussing on making America great again.

And what exactly is going on within the United States itself?

ICE agents currently “protecting” the streets of Minneapolis appear to have crossed a line. On Wednesday, one of the federal agents shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a thirty-seven-year-old mother of three. According to the Trump administration, Ms Good was attempting to flee the scene in her car and run over the ICE agent who shot her in self-defence. Clearly, Ms Good was no domestic terrorist, simply a mother who was a devoted Christian and held a degree in English.

On 3 January, hours after Operation Absolute Resolve achieved its objectives in Venezuela, there was a full moon in Cancer. And this was no ordinary full moon. At 13 degrees of Cancer-Capricorn, the Moon fell on the United States Sun and squared its natal Saturn.

I have marked in pen the relevant connections between the full moon chart and both the horoscopes of the USA and Venezuela, which I find compelling. As you may know, I talk a lot about resonances, and this is what we are seeing in these connections.

The story of the full moon from the perspective of the United States is about power and ownership – the degree of the Moon is the USA Sun, which is conjoined to Jupiter in the eighth house and on the axis of finance, values, self-worth and shared interests. The Sun is conjoined to Venus and Mars, and squaring the US natal Saturn. At the moment the full moon peaked, nine degrees of Sagittarius was rising – Venezuela’s Midheaven (1830 chart) – Saturn and the IC fell on Venezuela’s Mars (1830 chart) while Venezuela’s Sun in the 1811 chart is 12 degrees of Cancer, – minutes apart from the US’ Sun – and therefore also the focus of this full moon. Endings, indeed.

You might say that this string of degrees has as much value as statistics – statistics, statistics and damn lies – but in the world of astrology, they are everything. Numbers are resonances. They are vibrations, and therefore pick up anything resonating at the same pitch.

I was thinking earlier on today as I sketched out this Friday Bite, that what is happening to the United States is reflective of its Pluto return, which has just passed, and the Uranus return, which is to come next year.  And, of course, the Saturn-Neptune conjunction on its IC. Everything is changing.

When America achieved its independence in 1776, the founding fathers enshrined the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the Declaration. Two hundred and fifty years later, those principles are being recalibrated. Accordingly, democracy has ceased to be a viable way forward and it is being replaced by the rule of authority.

To return to the recent full moon. While the Trump administration may be congratulating itself on mission-accomplished, that full moon was squaring the nation’s Saturn, which suggests that victory may be short-lived and that the karmic effects of such an imperialistic move may come back to bite it in the posterior.

In a matter of days, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and Mars will all begin to form conjunctions to Pluto. These powerful transits with their theme of reformation, endings and beginnings, death and rebirth will continue the process that was begun in January 2025, one year almost to the day Donald Trump was sworn in as president and some five years, almost to the day, of the “January Insurrection”.

I’d say, we’ve seen nothing yet.

Friday Bite 2 January 2026

Signs in the sky

“If Ukraine ceases firing, Ukraine will cease to exist. If Russia ceases firing, the war will cease to exist.” Adam Kinsinger, Republican and former Representative from Illinois.

“If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Donald Trump. Truth Social, 1 January

“We have chosen courage over fear. We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few. We have chosen to make a new future for all of us, we have chosen a mayor who is relentlessly dedicated to make life not just possible but aspirational for working people … we have chosen that over the distractions of bigotry and the barbarism of extreme inequality.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in reference to the swearing in of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdami, 1 January.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! And what a year it promises to be. Those of you who already have my Overview of 2026 will know why I say this, and more details will be revealed in my forecast for the coming year on my YouTube channel, which will go live on Saturday at 5:00 pm UK time.

However, the evidence for a year of unprecedented developments is there in embryo for all to see in the events of the past seven days.

On Tuesday at 8:00 am local time, China officially began a major military exercise in the Taiwan Straits, which eclipsed all such exercises in the area in recent years. The manoeuvres saw China deploy its naval destroyers, frigates, fighter planes, bombers, drones, and long-range missiles to simulate seizing control of Taiwan’s airspace, blockading its ports, and striking critical infrastructure, mobile ground targets and maritime targets.

China has never sought to hide its intention to bring Taiwan back under its control. And with transiting Pluto making its way to the third and final conjunction to its natal Moon, 2026 could turn out to be the time China makes its move. Just for the record, the United States has never officially recognized Taiwan but it has pledged to help it defend itself under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and the 1982 Six Assurances. So, technically, were China to attack Taiwan and blockade its ports America would be honour bound to come to Taiwan’s defence.

At a press gathering on Monday, as the military exercises in the seas surrounding Taiwan were taking place, in response to concerns raised over China’s aggressive display of power, President Trump shrugged, “I have a great relationship with President Xi, and he hasn’t told me anything about it…”

No need to worry then.

Contrast and compare with President Trump’s response on New Year’s Day to the deadly protests taking place in cities across Iran, “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”.

Really? Really? I guess that’s if the United States is not too busy defending Taiwan, invading Venezuela and wresting Greenland from the clutches of Denmark.

Indeed, try telling that to Ukraine.

On Sunday (28) – hard to believe it was only five days ago – President Zelenskyy met with the United States’ president at Mar a Lago. Signs that not a lot was going to come of the meeting were there at the outset when Zelenskyy emerged from the plane and stepped onto Floridian soil and there was not a single person from the United States government there to meet and greet him. Certainly not a red carpet. And the meeting itself took place in a dining room.

Signs of disrespect notwithstanding, at the press conference following the meeting, it was all smiles and sounds like “terrific” and “90 percent there” issuing from the two leaders. This in reference to the 20-point peace plan put together by Ukraine, based on meetings with Marco Rubio et al. Fortunately, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was an actor and comedian in his previous life so that he was able to wear his poker face as President Trump declared that Putin “was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding, [and would supply] energy, electricity and other things at low prices…”

The preceding and following nights. Russia launched one of its heaviest attacks on the Ukrainian capital, bombarding it with drones and missiles, including powerful Kinzhal missiles, and targeting critical infrastructure and residential buildings.

And into this mix and under these alignments comes a new leader.

On New Year’s Day in New York, the new mayor, Zohran Mamdani was sworn in. There were two ceremonies, the first at midnight held in a subway station under City Hall, attended by eight witnesses and State Attorney General, Letitia James. There was something profoundly moving about this important moment taking place in such an unassuming, dimly lit space. It spoke of lowly beginnings leading to great power.

Time will tell whether or not the above chart is more representative of Mamdani’s administration or the one set for 13:30 on the same day, during which Mamdani officially took the oath of office.

Either way, Jupiter stands proud, at midnight in the tenth house, the most elevated planet and at 13:30, conjoined to the IC with Pluto in the tenth house conjunct the Midheaven. Technically, the afternoon chart is the more powerful since Pluto is in a dominant position and just happens to be squaring Mamdani’s MC-IC axis and conjoined to his Saturn and Ascendant-Descendant axis. Whatever the time of day, the Sun-Venus-Mars stellium was conjoined to Mamdani’s natal Uranus, which suggests his administration may not only prove controversial but end abruptly and in a proverbial hail of bullets.

I have looked at the new mayor’s chart in a previous Friday Bite and see no reason to disagree with my initial observations. Mamdani has come to power at a most auspicious but perilous time and we must assume he is a man whose time has come.

“As you can see from Mamdani’s natal chart above…transiting Pluto is conjunct Saturn and his Descendant and opposing transiting Jupiter. And Jupiter-Pluto combos are all about mass movements and the use and abuse of power.

On the face of it, you would be hard pressed to forecast a win under such “difficult” influences, that is until you consider what an ineluctable destiny Mamdani has in store. It’s going to be one formidable hurdle after another.

Transiting Pluto is not only on the Descendant angle but squaring Mamdani’s natal Mars-Mercury conjunction in Scorpio. He may be a charming, mild-mannered Libra but he has a steel backbone. And since the Sun, Mars and Mercury are all squaring an angular Saturn, he can be ruthless, acerbic and manipulative.

Thrilled as New York democrats may be to have one of their own in charge of their city, as a Muslim he is not supportive of Israel, and New York has a huge and powerful Jewish community. And this is not the only hurdle Mamdani faces. He has very little experience of running large organizations and the fabulous promises he has made New Yorkers may prove near-impossible to fulfil. And then there’s Donald Trump who has made it clear he’ll fight him every inch of the way.

I forecast a very short honeymoon.” Friday Bite, 7 November 2025.

While we may want to believe the words of many of my colleagues that humanity is in the process of a massive upgrade and that those who are sensitive, evolved and open enough are already experiencing a “new” state of consciousness, no longer resonating with linear time but cyclical time and on the way to becoming “light beings”, therefore detached and unaffected by the state of the “real” world, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be aware of what is actually going on in the world.

Whatever our nationality, creed or culture, whatever our age and disposition, we are here as witnesses to and/or participants in one of the most turbulent periods in history. There is a reason we are here. And we shouldn’t be sleepwalking into events that could have been avoided were we to have used our voices and got onto our feet to protest about what our governments are doing or failing to do. The more conscious we are, the more we can prevent humanity from self-destruction.

My last thought goes to all the families and loved ones of those who so tragically lost their lives on New Year’s Eve celebrating in Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Such tragedies make us all think about how precious life is. And how short our span on Earth is. We must make it count.