Friday Bite 10 October 2025

Peace at last?

“This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!” Donald Trump, 9 October

“His [Trump’s] decision to fire a United States Attorney [Erik Seibert] who refused to bring charges against me—and replace them with someone who is blindly loyal not to the law, but to the president—is antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country. This is the time for leaders on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this blatant perversion of our system of justice.” Letitia James on being indicted for mortgage fraud by Lindsey Halligan, US attorney for the eastern District of Virginia, 9 October

“To capture a democratic nation, authoritarians must control three sources of power: the intelligence agencies, the justice system and the military. The intelligence community has effectively been muzzled, the nation’s top lawyers and cops are being purged and replaced with loyalists. Only the military remains out of Trump’s grip.” Tom Nichols, The Atlantic 7 October

THERE REALLY IS only one story: the peace agreement between Hamas and Israel. After two terrible years, almost 70,000 deaths, 2,000 of which were Israeli, and the near complete destruction of Gaza, finally the guns are silent. President Trump, whom it must be said put his heart and soul into delivering the peace agreement, deserves praise. He did not get the Nobel Peace Prize which was announced today – that went to Marià Corina Machado for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” – but maybe next year.

Before I take a look at the astrology of this long hoped for ceasefire, there was another powerful event within hours of the agreement. At 9:43 this morning a massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurred in the Philippine Sea, just off the coast of Mindanao. The expected tsunami did not follow, and only two deaths have been reported, unlike the previous earthquake in the Philippines on 30 September in which 74 people died and more than 1000 were injured.

I take a great interest in earthquakes and over the years have found eclipses, full moons and new moons, along with angular outer planets and 28 degrees of Gemini to be regular participants. In the earthquake of 30 September and 10 October, the nodal axis (the place at which eclipses occur) was close to the MC-IC axis; more important, the current position of the nodal axis (18 degrees Virgo) is precisely square Uranus in the chart of the Philippines. Plus, for good measure, Uranus, in the nation’s 10th house, is leading all the planets around the horoscope and squaring the Moon in Virgo. And if all that isn’t enough, currently, transiting Uranus is squaring the Philippine’s natal Ascendant.

The Philippines lie in an earthquake prone zone, a factor perfectly represented by that dominant Uranus in precise conjunction with the nation’s north node.

Twenty-eight degrees of Gemini did not figure in the charts of either earthquake, however, Saturn at both times (27 degrees Pisces 06’/47’) was squaring that all-important degree. Certainly, it can be no coincidence that Uranus, as the great groundbreaker of the solar system, should be in such high profile at this time.

AND SPEAKING OF the great groundbreaker. Uranus was also a key player in the brokering of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire.

So desperately does the world want peace in Gaza that the prospect of problems further down the line doesn’t bear thinking about. But there are going to be some major obstacles to overcome in Trump’s 20-point plan, not least Hamas agreeing to lay down its arms and Israel agreeing to the Palestinian Authority ultimately taking control of Gaza.

The chart of Israel’s ratification of the Trump plan can tell us a lot about the prospects for its success. Cancer rises with the Moon, the ruler, in trine to Venus and sextile Saturn. Indeed, the Moon is part of the Kite configuration that has presided over so many of 2025’s pivotal events. So far, so good. Things are looking promising. However, the Moon is conjunct Uranus, which could point to a collapse of the ceasefire, although Uranus is not in the same sign, which may mitigate the volatile nature of this conjunction.

Neptune is the most elevated planet and closely conjunct the Midheaven and opposing Venus. Venus is also opposing Saturn, which is conjunct Neptune and the Midheaven.  These oppositions are the lynchpin of the Kite and effectively all-powerful. We could look at Neptune as the divine hand at work and its opposition to peace-bringer Venus as a sign of success. Likewise, we could look at the Venus-Saturn opposition as a portent of durability.  However, we could also see Neptune in its role as the Great Deceiver and Saturn crushing hopes and denying the fulfilment of the plan.

Saturn-Neptune conjunctions preside over the end of regimes and the emergence of new ones. That this conjunction is at the very top of the chart and the apex of the Kite alignment is an indication that an old pattern is indeed done and a new one coming into existence. And with Uranus and Pluto in tow, there is a sense that it is time, era ora.

This chart also makes some crucial connections to the charts of Israel, the USA, Hamas, Netanyahu and Donald Trump

Neptune: 0:Aries 19/Midheaven 1 Aries 04

USA IC: 1 Aries 03

Jupiter: 23 Cancer 27

Israel MC: 23 Cancer/Israel Asc: 23 Libra Hamas’ Moon: 23 Libra Trump’s Saturn 23 Cancer

Moon: 24 Taurus 36

Israel Sun: 24 Taurus  – Trump’s MC 24 Taurus

Sun: 16 Libra 48

Netanyahu’s MC: 16 Libra/South Node 16 Libra/Neptune 15 Libra  USA Saturn: 15 Libra Trump’s Jupiter 17 Libra

Mars: 11 Scorpio

Hamas Pluto: 10 Scorpio

Uranus: 1 Gemini 00

Hamas Asc: 1 Gemini    Hamas Jupiter 3 Gemini

I’m not going to go through all these connections one by one, suffice to say that the many significant links to all the above individuals, nations and organizations supports the lofty purpose of the deal. This attempt to finally resolve the Israel-Hamas/Palestine situation has heft and weft. While the strong Jupiter connections suggest success and glory, the equally powerful Neptune links warn of hope over experience and its ultimate failure.

I am encouraged by the chart of Hamas though.

This chart represents the day the founding documents were signed. As this terrorist organization comes to the table, solar arc Neptune is conjunct the natal Midheaven and transiting Uranus hovers over the natal Ascendant. Dissolution and break-up are redolent in these connections, and it may be that Hamas has no alternative but to agree terms and fade into the background.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results. This time, however, there is an important difference, the Middle Eastern states have come together and in one voice given their backing to the 20 point-peace plan. If it fails, it may well be down to the far-right element in the Israeli government, and not Hamas.

We’ll see.

Friday Bite 3 October 2025

Secrets and Shadows

“No more identity months, DEI officers, dudes in dresses; no more climate change worshippers, no more division, distractions or gender delusions; no more debris… we’re done with that S**t.” Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War, 1 October.

“I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military – National Guard, but military. Because we’re going into Chicago very soon…And: San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They’re very unsafe places. And we’re gonna straighten them out one-by-one.[ It ] this is gonna be a major part for some of the people in this room. It’s a war, too. It’s a war from within.”” Donald Trump, Commander in Chief, 1 October

“I won’t do it anymore. I won’t go to France, Denmark or Copenhagen anymore…But seriously, we don’t have drones that can reach Lisbon.” Vladimir Putin, 2 October

ON THURSDAY At 9:30 in the morning, a man armed with a knife drove into a small group of pedestrians outside a synagogue in a suburb of Manchester. He engaged in a six-minute “stabbing spree” during which one man was killed and three others were injured. He moved on to the synagogue where, fortunately, he was unable to gain entry. At 9:34 armed police arrived. They shot dead the attacker, in the process shooting two members of the congregation, killing one and injuring the other. The perpetrator was of Syrian extraction but a British citizen. He had lived in Manchester for thirty-two of his thirty-five years.

It was the terror attack long-feared and long expected. And it happened on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

There are some truly shocking statistics behind this attack. In the first six months of 2025, there were 1,521 anti-Semitic attacks in the United Kingdom. (The greatest number of attacks for decades occurred in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre.) Given the constant footage of a devastated Gaza and the daily toll of Palestinian deaths –  64,715 to date – it is almost surprising that a major terrorist attack on the Jewish community has not happened until now.

I always experience a quandary when I put up a chart of a tragic event, but in the pursuit of becoming better astrologers, I believe we should examine significant events in order to learn from them. As I mentioned in last week’s Bite, a moment in time governs many, many events, yet they will all reflect the astrology of that moment.

At that moment in time, Mars was rising in Scorpio and precisely squaring the Moon in Aquarius which was conjunct Pluto. Mars rising in Scorpio squaring the Moon and Pluto is the epitome of an act of passion. Passion can be driven by love or anger. In this case, from one perspective, this combination reflected the pent-up hatred of one man for a cause he had come to believe was “evil”. From the perspective of the victims, this was an unprovoked and deadly terror attack on them by an evil perpetrator. That Pluto, the ruler of the chart, is conjunct the Moon and in the third house, suggests the attack sent a powerful message.

That this terrorist attack occurred eleven days after a solar eclipse is also highly significant. The eclipse was closely opposed to Saturn and Neptune, which are currently conjoined on Great Britain’s natal Moon (29 degrees 4ʹ Pisces). The Moon in mundane astrology represents the people, and since the Moon is to be found in the 12^th house of religion and secret enemies, the symbolism couldn’t be more appropriate.

Also significant is the rising degree: 24 Taurus is Great Britain’s Neptune while the country’s Uranus (28 degrees 26ʹ Sagittarius) is currently being squared by the Saturn-Neptune conjunction.

As we know, Britain is going through a trying period – Broken Britain as some are calling us – so “secret enemies “could also be interpreted as the migrants entering the country, via small boats, in the process putting an ever-increasing drain on the economy. And then there’s the enemy-within – those who undermine Britain and seek to overturn its democratic principles…

WHICH BRINGS ME on to the subject of drones over Europe. On Thursday, Vladimir Putin poured scorn on the notion that Russia had anything to do with drones flying over airports in various northern European countries – Munich, Germany, being the latest to shut down its airport. Putin claims that Russia hasn’t the capacity to send its drones such a distance, however, it appears that a shadow tanker, the Boracay, anchored in the North Sea, off the coast of France, may have been the launch pad. Secrets and shadows – stuff of the twelfth house.

The Saturn-Neptune conjunction, currently hovering over Britain’s Moon in the twelfth house is also reflected in today’s appointment of the first female archbishop of Canterbury. Sarah Mullally, formerly the bishop of London, and before that a nurse, has become the 106^th archbishop of Canterbury. Hats off to the Church of England, or should that be mitres off.

There are a couple of other developments that I should mention: the US government shut down and the grand gathering of top military personnel in Quantico.

I’m afraid I can’t get too steamed up about the shutdown, if only because it is just one outrage out of hundreds that have occurred – and on an almost daily level – since Donald Trump took office, however, the meeting of the mighty that took place on Tuesday at Marine Corps Base was awe-inspiring, and not in a good way. To hear the seriously unqualified Secretary of War fat-shaming the top brass seated before him was unseemly to say the least. That Hegseth was followed by a president who could barely keep track of his thoughts – “lost in the halls of history” as Tom Nichols of The Atlantic put it – piled shame on embarrassment.

I’m going to leave you with more of Tom Nichols’ thoughts.

In 1973, an Air Force nuclear-missile officer named Harold Hering asked a simple question during a training session: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?” The question cost him his career. Military members are trained to execute orders, not question them. But today, both the man who can order the use of nuclear arms and the man who would likely verify such an order gave disgraceful and unnerving performances in Quantico. How many officers left the room asking themselves Major Hering’s question?