Halloween Brexit & the Spectre of Mercury Retrograde

The next 9-10 days is going to be absolutely crucial in the Brexit saga. Astrologically, this period is marked by Venus contacts to astrological heavyweights Saturn and Pluto, as well as a Scorpio New Moon AND the start of Mercury retrograde on October the 31st….Wow!

So what can we expect? Well, that’s the million dollar question.

Despite Mercury’s dramatic ‘do or die’ sextile to Pluto on ‘Super Saturday,’ the WAB meaningful vote did not go ahead as expected. Instead of a bang, we had another whimper; a not-so-super Saturday followed by what one Independent columnist called ‘meaningless Monday’ during which John Bercow blocked MPs from holding a yes/no vote on the Brexit bill ‘in principle’ on the basis that it would be ‘repetitive and disorderly’ to do so, saying they had their chance to do so on Saturday.

So, now what?

Mercury is set to retrograde for the 3rd time this year in scheming Scorpio, starting on October the 31st. Will we still get a scary Halloween version of Brexit that threatens to break up the Union? Or will there be an election, now that Boris Johnson has been compelled by Parliament to ask Brussels for an extension? Let’s see what the stars have to say…

Sun-Mercury-Venus: The Inner Circle?

In my last blog post, I predicted that Mercury, together with side-kick Venus, would have an important role to play in what happened next in the Brexit Saga, just as Mercury did back in February-March during its retrograde in Pisces.

• As we know, in mundane astrology, the Sun generally represents the Prime Minister. This week, it is due to change signs – it will ingress into Scorpio on Wednesday 23 October. Could this coincide with a change in tactics by Boris Johnson? Or even a change of guard – as in a Vote of No Confidence? Hmmm…Given Venus’ transits on Friday, I wouldn’t rule it out. More on that in a minute.

• And then there’s the Scorpio Full Moon on October the 28th – could it be a case of New Moon sweeps clean? As in a dissolving of the current Parliament and an election? With Uranus opposing the luminaries at the Scorpio New Moon, we certainly can’t rule that out.

More interesting still are the movements of Mercury and Venus. Both are very active currently:

• Mercury spent last week aspecting Saturn, Neptune and Pluto as the European Summit took place, culminating in ‘Super Saturday’ when the new Brexit deal was meant to be put before Parliament. However, things didn’t go to plan, perhaps because Boris realised he didn’t have the votes to pass his deal?
• Now, however, with sweet-talking Venus about to follow in Mercury’s footsteps, could he be about to launch a charm offensive and take a second crack at the whip? More than likely. Despite Bercow’s setback today, No.10 has said it will continue to put the so-called WAB (Withdrawal Agrement Bill) before MPs for a second and third reading, with a view to getting it passed in time for Haloween (or with a short technical extension from the EU).

So will there be a Parliamentary love-in, a coming-together of all sides to do the right thing? If there was ever the day for it, it was Monday, given the rather dreamy and seductive Venus-Neptune trine (a much more pleasant and upbeat follow-on to September’s Venus-Neptune square). But that’s been foiled. (Or has it?) So, now what?

• Well, Venus won’t be stopping there (although Mercury is another story – more on the upcoming Halloween Mercury retrograde in a minute). Venus is due to move on to that rather dramatic sextile to Pluto on Friday (October 25th) – and it is THIS date that I think we need to watch more closely. Why? This aspect has the energy of make or break about it. Venus is about values, diplomacy, deals and relationships. Pluto is very intense and all-or-nothing. It is all about calling people out and saying ‘so far, but no further’. So of all the transits around, this feels the most decisive. What’s more, we have a New Moon the following week, which usually heralds new beginnings.
• Next week, Venus & Mercury will be meeting up in Scorpio, after which Mercury turns retrograde. So whatever transpires as a result of the Venus-Pluto sextile will be carried on to Mercury. If we look back to March, we all know what this did to Theresa May’s deal – and her time as PM. Think great big red light that says STOP. Just saying…

However, to get more specific information, we need a chart. Luckily, we have just been provided with one in the form of the introduction of the WAB to the house (see below).

With this in mind, let’s dive into the details.

WAB Chart: Moons, Switcheroos & Changing Tunes

Introduction of the Brexit Bill to the House of Commons – Source: Sky News

Now, this is a fascinating chart for all sorts of reasons. The most obvious is that it has Gemini rising, which means it is ruled by our planetary friend, Mercury.

• Mercury is in Scorpio in the 6th house of ‘ordinary proceedings’ showing the Bill has just been introduced to the everyday business of the House of Commons. Now the interesting thing about this Mercury is that, after it’s sextile to Pluto on Saturday, it will only make one more aspect – that conjunction to Venus on the 30th – before turning retrograde on Oct 31st – yes that’s right, on Halloween itself! Spooky! Now this in and of itself suggests that the Bill will not pass – unless Venus can bring something to the party (via the sextile to Pluto) before Mercury’s reversal happens.
• Venus in Scorpio is also in the 6th house, but rules the 12th house of institutions, backroom/shady dealings/secret plans. It’s other sign, Libra, is intercepted in the 5th house (House of Lords and ambassadors). Now Venus is coming off of her trine to Neptune (in the 10th, ruler of the 11th) and applying to her sextile to Pluto in Capricorn. From this, we can deduce that the Remoaners may have got their way in terms of sabotaging today’s meaningful vote (trine to Neptune, ruler of 11th = House of Commons) but it is Pluto that is likely to have the last say.
• Pluto rules the 6th house of commons business (where Venus and Mercury are located) and schedules (let’s not forget the all-important programme motion that is to be voted on tomorrow, setting out the timetable for the Bill’s transition through Parliament). However, Pluto is also located in the 9th House of Foreign Policy and law/legislation, all of which suggests one of a few scenarios:
  

Possible Scenarios

a) the Bill either gets killed off via a secret plot: (Venus rules 12th) to scupper it (such as, for example, MPs tabling hundreds of amendments during the 3rd reading, which will no doubt be debated on Thursday and voted on around Friday). The Venus-Pluto sextile could signal this (changes to the substance/policy/meat of the Bill), as could Mercury’s slowdown and change of direction on Oct 31 = reversals/delays/changes of direction.

But, more interestingly, given that Uranus, ruler of the Midheaven (the Government) is situated in the 12th, perhaps even by Boris and Co. themselves. It may well be that this is just a sham Bill designed to fail so that CHANGE (Pluto & Uranus) is virtually guaranteed, one way or another: either via an election, brought about via a No Confidence Vote by the Opposition or a No Deal Brexit. This is still currently No.10’s default position…cue Michael Gove saying that he was triggering Operation Yellowhammer on Monday.

You probably think I sound like one of those conspiracy theorists? However, on this point, it’s worth considering the deliberate choice of language around this issue that has been emanating from No 10 ever since Boris took over. Remember ‘Brexit Do or Die’? It has a certain aggressive Dominic Cummings Pluto-Uranus/engineer a crisis/chicken theory ring to it, doesn’t it? If anyone doubts this, consider the following quote from a piece on Cummings:

Cummings does not see Brexit as an endgame, but simply as an opportunity. In his writings he openly quotes Lenin – “sometimes nothing happens in decades, and sometimes decades happen in weeks” – and evidently subscribes to Milton Friedman’s insight, that “only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.”

New Statesman, 23 September 2019

Pluto and Uranus are both by nature, crisis-inducing. The one via ideaological/digital/revolutionary means (Uranus); the other, usually by stealth, subterfuge or via control/manipulation/exertion of power (Pluto). Both together are change agents par excellence, and neither are concerned about abiding by the rules. I say no more on this matter. I think the ‘shock and awe’ tactics we’ve seen since August speak for themselves…

b) The EU Council refuse to grant another three month extension – although I think this highly unlikely, given Mercury’s retrograde and January’s all-important Saturn-Pluto conjunction which DOES suggest a great date for a momentous decision.

c) Or, the Bill passes the 3rd reading but gets rejected by the House of Lords. Why do I say that? To understand this we need to look at something called mutual reception. In this chart, Venus and Mars are in mutual reception. Venus is in Scorpio, a sign traditionally ruled by Mars; while Mars is in Libra, a Venus-ruled sign. Mars is located in the 5th house of diplomats. Now, in terms of horary rules, this means that Venus and Mars can switch places – Venus moves to the 5th while Mars jumps to the 6th house. However, they would keep their degrees. Mars would then move to 11 degrees Scorpio, from where it would aspect the Ascendant = waging war on Bill. (It is interesting that Aries is intercepted in the 11th, suggesting that arguments in the Lords would have meant that the Bill went nowhere, even if it did get that far). Venus would move to 16 degrees of Libra, from where it would square Saturn, ruler of the 8th and 9th houses = slowdown/stall over the legislation, perhaps fillibuster style, or simply via the normal processes, which for this type of Bill, would usually more than a week to consider. On this, note Keir Starmer’s comments:

“Ministers are trying to bounce MPs into signing off a bill that could cause huge damage to our country. We can’t trust this prime minister.”

Sky News

The Moon: Route to an Acceptable Compromise?

So which seems most likely?

Given the finality of most Pluto transits and the impending New Moon in Scorpio (which would fall in the 6th house of this chart), along with Mercury retrograde, I would say that Parliament is likely to be dissolved around Friday (Neptune, the great dissolver, is very close to the cusp of the 11th = House Commons, which it also rules), either via a Motion of No Confidence tabled by the Opposition after the government pulls the Bill, or by a simple vote out before the house by Boris Johnson. (Cue Cummings plan = Uranus in the 12th House)

This would then explain Mercury retrograde (a delay to Brexit), as well as a fresh start for British politics (New Moon in 6th).

As a final method of weighing up options, it is worth considering the dignities and movements of the luminaries here, since they are both important in horary charts:

• The Sun (leaders = Boris Johnson) is the weakest scoring planet here in terms of dignity (see table of dignities on the chart), suggesting that he appears (the key word here) to have no agency. And on many levels, Johnson does seem to be out of options. The Sun’s in the 5th house, which also rules diplomacy and gambling: he’s just back from Brussels where he managed to negotiate a new deal (tick!) – so far, so Sun in Libra. After being defeated in the House over his Brexit Deal timetable and forced to ask the EU for an extension, his hands appear to be tied: he can’t call an election himself, so all he can do is put all the pieces in motion on the gameboard and let them play out. Or, alternatively, cop out/go into passive-aggressive mode and see if he can provoke others into action.
  
  However, the Sun will soon change signs (and house) on the 23rd. So could this signal him re-emerging as the Scorpio Phoenix from the ashes (or the cat with nine lives, whichever metaphor you prefer), morphing from a PM with his hands tied to a party leader in election campaigning mode? It’s possible. As David Cameron put it, the normal rules don’t seem to apply to Boris – we mustn’t forget that he has Venus currently conjunct that slick and magician-like Neptune in Scorpio of his…
  
  However, a second scenario is that there is a change of leadership (c/o a Vote of No Confidence). we mustn’t forget that Leo rules the 4th house cusp, which symbolises both the British public AND the official Opposition Party. So could the Sun’s ingress marks Boris’ exit as Prime Minister and the emergence of an interim/caretaker leader from the ranks of the Opposition who then acts as a servant to the people, and to Parliament? We certainly can’t rule that out, given Friday’s Venus-Pluto sextile and the 6th house position of this reborn Sun in Scorpio. A sixth house Sun could also show a PM willing to work with others to get a compromise, which is what some of his colleagues like Kenneth Clarke are urging – another possibility. However, Scorpio is not really a sign willing to compromise – it wants to win/gets its own way, so I don’t think that Brois will go for this option.
• The Moon (second weakest) newly ingressed into Leo, is in the 3rd house (decisions, announcements, votes, ballots, but also printed papers and written proposals). In mundane astrology, the Moon often signifies, either the people or what’s popular. But here, it is also could be a co-signifyer of the WAB Bill which is not yet law/legislation. (A Bill = 3rd house vs. An Act = 9th house)
  
  Now, the Moon’s transits are fascinating. In horary astrology, it is often the planet that makes things happen. And if we look at it’s movements, something very interesting begins to emerge – a possible ‘Third Way’ which could unite all sides and bring about a compromise which resolves the situation.
  
  It’s initial applying aspects are: A trine to Chiron in the 11th and square Uranus, which does throw a curveball our way. Could this signal a People’s Vote, which would scupper the Cummings Plan and heal divisions (Chiron) within Parliament? We can’t rule it out. The only way Labour would back the Bill is if it had a People’s Vote attached to it.
  
  Via its aspects, the Moon also brings together all the main significators/parties harmoniously via its aspects to:
  * Mars (sextile) – “a political gamble”
  * Venus (square) – “that can’t get through Parliament because of subterfuge/people working against each other”
  * Jupiter (trine). Jupiter is in the 7th and rules it too = foreign relations. It is the greeat benefic so brings good foavour and cordial relations (7th). “And which would also appease the EU and restore goodwill with them.”
  * The Moon then translates this light to Mercury via a square before it changes signs. “Bringing an end to the whole shambolic exercise.”
  
  Although it ultimately brings matters back to the about-to-stall, void of course Mercury (whole legislative process/matter coming to a standstill), it does spell out a scenario that would end up pleasing all involved, including the EU.
  
  As the fastest-moving planet, it is the Moon that does what Mercury usually does in astrology: acts as a go-between, catalysing forces and bringing parties together, so this pathway is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility. It only requires the will on all sides to make it happen.
  
  One way to compromise is to attach a second referendum to the Bill after which, it will almost certainly pass. As we saw in 2017, an election will not resolve the Brexit conundrum,it will just further prolong the agony. A People’s Vote seemed like the only viable solution to this whole dilemma back in April. And it certainly remains an unexplored way out for everyone concerned.
  
  Watch this space!

ASIDE: Seeing this (and looking at my ephemeris) I am almost tempted to suggest that someone in No.10 is using electional astrology to plan the timing of their actions. They introduced the Bill at 19h40 just after the Moon ingressed into Leo, but an hour before the exact trine of Venus to Neptune…Interesting stuff!

POSTSCRIPT: I found this piece on the BBC website fascinating. It looked at opinion polls designed to guage which ‘ People’s Vote’ members of the public would prefer to have. Given that the Moon rules the public, I thought it worth throwing into the mix.

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