Friday Bite 22 May 2026

Beyond the Pale

“In the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century, President Donald J. Trump has created a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name…The fund…is illegal. No statute authorizes its creation, the settlement on which it is premised is a corrupt sham, and its design violates the Constitution and federal law.” Opening statement in a lawsuit brought by Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges and former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn against Donald J. Trump, Todd Blanche and Scott Bessent. 19 May.

THE WORD ATONEMENT has come up a couple of times recently in regard to its being one of the astrological themes for 2026. Atonement is a theme of Saturn-in-Pisces and should be a fading influence since Saturn is now in Aries, however, Saturn remains close to Neptune – same meat, different gravy – which is why we are continuing to see people called to account for past misdeeds. There is even a growing chorus of outrage in high places over the President of the United States’ blatant acts of corruption.

The very fact that the “Anti-weaponization Fund” announced this Monday and created by Donald Trump is set at $1.776 billion is a clear reference to 1776 and the founding of America (Make America Great Again). And if it isn’t enough that those who sought to overturn the government on 6 January, 2021 are rendered free from prosecution under this executive order, “The United States RELEASES, WAIVES, ACQUITS, and FOREVER DISCHARGES” Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization from virtually any crimes and misdemeanours. The order also stops all IRS audits of Trump’s taxes and prevents prosecution of any crimes he, his family, his businesses or his associates might have committed that crossed the IRS.

Where are we? North Korea? Russia? A banana republic?

Fortunately, in broken Britain the constitution is still holding up and the law of the land, maintained. Mostly. And certainly in regard to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly a Prince.

This morning, it was announced that the police are investigating the former prince over potential sexual offences. You may remember that on his birthday in February, Andrew was arrested and detained on suspicion of misconduct in public office after the release of the Epstein files, which allege that he passed sensitive information to the late paedophile while working as a trade envoy. He has since been exiled to a remote part of the Sandringham Estate and has barely been seen in public.

Here is a brief timeline of significant events leading to the downfall of the former prince.

• 2010 December – a photo of Andrew strolling with Jeffrey Epstein in New York’s Central Park is released. Saturn square Saturn; Neptune square Moon.
• 2011, February – infamous photo of Andrew with Virginial Giuffre released. Transits as above.
• 2019, November – Disastrous BBC interview aired. Saturn conjunct Saturn; Neptune conjunct Mercury.
• 2021, August – Giuffre sues Andrew in a US court for sexual assault. Six months later, Andrew makes an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre, reportedly for around £12 million. Saturn conjunct Descendant, Pluto conjunct Mars, Uranus quincunx Saturn.
• 2025, April – Giuffre dies by suicide. October – Giuffre memoir published. October -Andrew forced to give up all royal titles and honours. Saturn conjunct south node; Uranus square Sun. Solar Arc progressed Neptune conjunct Saturn. SA prog Uranus conjunct IC and SA prog Pluto conjunct Neptune.
• 2026, February – Andrew arrested and charged. Uranus opposing Moon, Saturn conjunct Neptune semi-sextile Sun
• New investigations announced regarding sexual offences. Saturn square Saturn; Uranus square Sun.

On the face of it, Andrew does not have a particularly difficult chart – no Grand Crosses, T-squares or Yods. However, what may seem to be a plus is in large part to blame for the position in which he now finds himself – exiled, shunned, disgraced.

Hard aspects help forge us in the kiln of life: the challenges we face kill us or cure us. Andrew was born into a life of extraordinary privilege and he was blessed with good looks and a mother who adored him. His Sun is opposed to Pluto which, on the plus side, can inspire courage and depth of character – he was, after all, quite the hero in the Falklands war – but on the minus side, it can result in cruelty, aggression and self-sabotage.

What you may miss is the triseptile between the Ascendant and Saturn and the septile between the Sun and the Midheaven. These “minor” aspects have greater power than you might think and tend to be indicative of some fateful purpose or divine gift. They have a Neptunian quality to them, which can work in the best of ways indicating mastery or in the worst of ways leading to degeneracy, addiction and self-delusion.

As you will note from the timeline above, Saturn is in the mix at almost all those key moments, and what is Saturn but karma – what goes around comes around. It was on Andrew’s second Saturn-return that the fateful interview with the BBC took place and this year, as Saturn squares its natal position, the further ramifications of that interview are emerging.

Here’s what I say about a second Saturn square in my forthcoming book of Forecasting.

“When Saturn squares its natal position, you have reached a time of assessment. You may hit a few roadblocks, which have the effect of making you feel defeated and unfairly treated. This is Saturn’s way, I’m afraid, and the trick is to keep picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and getting back in the saddle. However, it’s not a case of simply getting back where you left off, but examining where things went wrong: were you part of the problem? If so, make the necessary adjustments. It may also be that you have been wasting your time and energy on certain endeavours, and need to redirect your efforts.

In many ways, this is also a time of discovery, of establishing what and who in your life are worthy and what and who are not. And in the process you will be redefining yourself and your purpose.”

The new moon in Taurus, which took place last Friday, was precisely opposed to Andrew’s natal moon and applying to Mercury and Uranus, and it portends yet another chapter in this sad saga. The link to Uranus suggests the news of the investigation into possible sexual offences came as a surprise and the connection to the fixed star Algol reinforces the natal potential for unexpected and disastrous developments.

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor may escape time in gaol, but in a way, he is already serving a life sentence. Gone are all his titles, honours and privileges. He is living in Marsh Farm, which is a far cry from the thirty-room Royal Lodge he used to call home. And, as the name suggests, the farmhouse suffers from being close to swampland.

His self-undoing is for all to see, but I suspect he believes he has done nothing wrong.

IN PREVIOUS BITES, I pointed to the full moon of 1 May as potentially signalling the end of the war in Iran. That full moon took place more than two weeks ago, and although everything seems to have gone rather quiet regarding the war, there has been no announcement from either side as to any end of hostilities.

On Monday, the US president said that he had called off plans to strike Iran after the heads of three Middle Eastern countries asked him to give negotiations more time. And today, Republicans postponed a vote until next month on a piece of legislation that would force Trump to end the war. Nevertheless, with Mars applying to Pluto (exact next Tuesday) a further assault on Iran cannot be ruled out. And maybe, just maybe, that’s better than walking away from the war, leaving Iran in a more powerful position than it was at the start of the conflict.

The magnitude of what is taking place over Iran cannot be underestimated. Currently, this Islamic nation is effectively consolidating its victory. Not only has it withstood the might of the world’s greatest military but it has managed to gain control of an international waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, and is in the process of legitimizing its claim. As Robert Kagan put it in the Atlantic today, “A stronger, richer, more influential Iran will mean new life for Hamas and Hezbollah. It will mean the end of the Abraham Accords, as the Gulf states will have to make peace with Tehran so that their economies can survive.”

This is what happens when Saturn and Neptune reach the IC of a nation’s chart. It loses its grip. As a new momentum takes over, everything that was once in place and underpinning the country is swept away. When Saturn and Neptune opposed each other on America’s MC-IC axis during the Civil War, the confederacy dissolved and the Union prevailed. Quite what the new America will look like when it emerges from this current Saturn-Neptune cycle remains to be seen, but the growing disillusion with the Trump administration has yet to reach its zenith.

Friday 15 May

There is no Friday Bite this week because I will be at the Shifts Happen Too conference – a gathering of like-minds including Derby Costello, Steve Judd, Alex Trenoweth and Rick Levine, and a celebration of astrology as it is practised today. If you’d like to join us, the events will be live-streamed.  Click here for Live Stream/Tickets.

Friday Bite 8 May 2026

Carnage

”​If there’s no cease-fire​, you’re not going to have to know. You’re just going to have to look at one ​big glow​ coming out of Iran​. And they better sign their agreement fast.” Donald Trump, 7 May

“The United States has violated the cease-fire.” Ebrahim Zolfaghari, Iranian military spokesman, 7 May

 “The retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets are just a ‘love tap.’” Donald Trump, 7 May

A TURQUOISE CLOUD has descended upon Great Britain. It bears the signature of Nigel Farage and the Reform party. It could also signal the beginning of the end of the Labour Party and raises the prospect of a far-right, populist government in the not-so-distant future.

Britain did not hold a general election on Thursday, merely local council elections, however these are seen as an indication of the way the country would vote on a national scale. And in their thousands, the people gave the bird to Sir Keir and Labour, in so doing they upended Britain’s political landscape. Gone is the two-party political system that has been in effect since 1922.

The votes are still being counted, but at this stage (Friday afternoon) Reform has acquired 591 new councillors (lost none) while the Conservatives have lost 272 and Labour, 398. The Prime Minister has declared that he is not going to “walk away”, despite the results for Labour being variously described as “carnage” and a “bloodbath”.

Poetry in motion. At the time the polls opened for this game-changing election, 18 degrees of Gemini was rising – Pluto in the Labour Party’s natal chart.  And at noon on the twelfth of February, 1906 when the Labour Party was formed, Pluto was rising. As always with Pluto, transformation – or reformation as I prefer, which allows the integrity of the original entity to remain even while everything else is changed – is at work, whether it is indeed inspiring the beginning of the end of Labour or a complete reworking of its political identity. Clearly, the mood of the public is toward the far right while the problems within the party owe much to its left-leaning MP’s,

What may also be significant in regard to the crossroads at which Labour finds itself is that its Sun-Saturn midpoint falls at 28 degrees of Aquarius – the degree of the hugely influential solar eclipse of 17 February.

Unfortunately, the situation has not changed since I last looked at Sir Keir’s chart and we remain stuck with a sunrise horoscope or that of his prime-ministership.

At sixty-four years of age, Starmer has reached the second Uranus-square – a time of upheaval and change, if not revolution and rebellion! – so, on the face of it, staying on in the same role is not appropriate and he will resign or face a coup. Not helping his desire to remain as prime minister is transiting Pluto’s conjunction to his natal Saturn, which in his case represents the ongoing struggle that he is experiencing in leading the country in a new and appropriate direction while appeasing those in his party who insist that Labour maintains its socialistic integrity. It’s probably not as simple as that, but much of the flip-flopping he has displayed is based on practical and necessary actions versus the welfare of the people, especially the underprivileged, the disadvantaged and the needy. The desire to please all of the people all of the time – a product of his Moon, Mercury and Venus in Libra – has made him appear weak and vacillating.

Sir Keir was elected prime minister as the Saturn-Neptune conjunction was in embryo. In March this year, they conjoined and now remain close with six degrees between them. Saturn and Neptune were in trine at Labour’s inception therefore the party responds to the ebbs and flows of the Saturn-Neptune cycle. And what do Saturn-Neptune conjunctions preside over? The end of regimes and the beginning of new ones.

I see no reason why Sir Keir should have to go when anyone following him will face exactly the same divisions and dilemmas. Replacing him would be a temporary salve on a deep-seated and aggressive problem. Starmer has been outstanding in his role as global statesman, and while all countries need to be successfully managed by their governments, in this time of international unrest, statesmen with integrity and vision are vital.

However, however, Starmer’s days are numbered and as soon as the opposition within the party gets its act together, he will be gone. In two weeks’ time, Mercury and the Sun will conjoin Uranus while Mars squares Pluto (currently hovering over the prime minister’s Saturn) which may prove to be the prime minister’s Waterloo. Sadly, in my opinion.

COULD THE SAME only be said of America’s president, currently embroiled in a war of threats, insults and lies with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. (Not a war, you understand, not Operation Epic Fury, because that was paused, if not ended, as soon as the cease-fire came into effect.)

On Sunday, President Trump announced Operation Freedom whereby the United States would lead thousands of stranded ships safely through the waterway. On Monday, he paused the project. Unfortunately, no one informed the Secretary of War and the Secretary of State; Hegseth announcing that the United States had secured a path through the Strait and, at a separate press gathering, Rubio claiming that America was helping ships through the waterway as a “favour to the world”.

Donald Trump’s reason for pausing the operation was to give space for US efforts to finalize a settlement with Iran to end the war. More cynical voices cite Mohammed Bin Salmon’s refusal to give the United States access to its airspace and American bases in Saudi.

On Tuesday, Iran established the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a new body to regulate and organize the passage of vessels, whether military or commercial, through the waterway, thus permanently altering the status of the Strait.

On Thursday, Iran and America traded accusations over who on Wednesday struck who first in the Hormuz Strait. According to the United States, it attacked military sites in Iran in retaliation for “unprovoked Iranian attacks” as it tried to escort ships through the Strait while Iran claimed that US military had violated the ceasefire by carrying out airstrikes on Qeshm Island and two cities on its southern coast.

Nevertheless, on the same day that Mr Trump was waxing positive about a fourteen-point plan submitted to Iran which would end the conflict “quickly”. A senior member of Iran’s parliament dismissed the “memorandum of understanding” as a wish list.

It is difficult to see a quick end to this conflict, which has already gone on for sixty-eight days. Although last Friday’s full moon, which flanked Iran’s MC-IC axis, gave hope of an ending by mid-May, there are too many unanswered questions, not least why so many American troops have been sent to the region. They’re not just there as window dressing. And my reading on the situation, especially in light of future alignments and eclipses, is that the US’s business with Iran and the Middle East has only just begun.

BRIEFLY, HANTAVIRUS. The desperate situation in which holiday-makers and staff find themselves on board the cruise ship MV Hondius has spawned fears of a new pandemic. Five cases of the Hantavirus have been confirmed and three have died. Health authorities are currently trying to locate dozens of passengers across the world who disembarked before the virus had struck the ship. Concerning as the situation is for all the people involved, fears of another pandemic are greatly exaggerated.

I had pointed to the forthcoming Jupiter-Pluto opposition as having a reference to the events of 2020 and the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction, and while another mass infection cannot be ruled out, a reference to does not imply a pandemic of the Covid kind. It can mean inquiries and information related to Covid…

AND FINALLY, SIR David Attenborough celebrates his one hundredth birthday today. He is our national treasure. In fact, there was a people’s plea for him to become prime minister! Still working and producing fabulous documentaries on wildlife and the planet, he is an outstanding broadcaster, fearless and far-sighted. He is clearly a super-ager, and hopefully has more years ahead in which to share and delight us with his wisdom, humour and compassion.