Yesterday I watched a very polished performance at the Leveson enquiry into the future of the British media industry, one where former British Prime Minister Tony Blair dominated the agenda and set out his views very forthrightly on the future of UK press controls. Calm, calculating and seemingly unruffled by a protester who entered the court chamber at one point, Tony reminded everyone what a incisive and heavyweight political brain he still has. Recently he has been expressing views that he wishes to return to UK political life. Looking at his natal chart and the transits hitting it, these desires may not be as far fetched as they initially seem.
Tony has a really formidable chart. Born in Edinburgh on 6th May 1953 at 06.10am he has a 12th house Sun Taurus with a detached Aquarian Moon and a Gemini Ascendant. This is a go-ahead and determined man with 5 cardinal planets and 4 fixed ones, and the main configurations are two sets of interlocking cardinal t-squares and a wedge focusing on a 5th house Pluto in Leo. The Sun Moon combination shows a bit of a conflict not only because Taurus and Aquarius as signs are square on the chart but also as there is a natal square between the Sun & Moon. There is a sort of tension between constructing and running one’s own life and also running things on behalf of other people and society in general. The Aquarian Moon does life to appear aloof and special, emotionally independent and it contributes a sort of superiority complex to the steady constructive energy of the Taurean Sun. This is an easy going and sociable if rather cool combination, however beware as Tony will not be one to be trifled with. Taureans are hugely possessive and will stand their ground if threatened, and the emotional detachment of the Aquarian Moon allows him wield the knife to get rid of competitors without any compunction.
Ok to the chart. There is a lot of emphasis on the 12th house of service and sacrifice here and this is the driving force behind Tony Blair’s life; we have 5 planets Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter all sitting in an enormous 12th house. It is interesting that several world leaders have had emphasised 12th houses, George W Bush also springs to mind, & I think it shows a need to work for the common good of those in society and to improve their lives.
Mars in the 12th really identifies with human suffering and wants to actively do something about it and Jupiter’s position in the 12th conjunct to the ascendant is especially useful as it indicates all the background work that one does is for the benefit of the public rather than for one’s self. Jupiter brings an international element to the acute position of Mars in Gemini, a position that just cannot sit still and watch things going around you without getting up and wanting to join in, and I have no doubt that this conjunction was behind Tony Blair’s decision to send UK troops overseas (Jupiter) into war (Mars) to fulfil this need for action, more times incidentally (Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq & Afghanistan) than any other living Prime Minister has done. Much does go on behind the scenes with this chart, secrecy abounds and what you see of Tony Blair in public is not what he is like behind the scenes.
The Jupiter Mars conjunction makes a trine to his Midheaven and his 10th house Aquarian Moon which does instinctively know what the public requires and wants. This is the position of the man who needs to take charge and control his own destiny in a work sense, indeed his life is his work. As I mentioned before, the Aquarian Moon can be very detached and as a boss, Tony will be able to make tough decisions with a cool calculated & even icy confidence. So we have the charming, jovial Jupiter in Taurus that enjoys life, is warm and hospitable combined with a cold ruthless attitude, not uncaring but determined to do what needs to be done.
All the other features here are based on a set of oppositions from Mercury and Venus in Aries in the 12th to a close Saturn/Neptune conjunction in Libra in the 6th. Mercury in Aries makes Tony very direct, clear and decisive in the way he speaks and communicates, and can often indicate someone who will speak out without thinking of the consequences, but this is something that he does not seem to suffer from. Why? Well normally Mercury in the 12th is circumspect and only airs it’s views when it needs to, but there is so much eager communicative energy on this chart with a Gemini Ascendant and Mars in Gemini that I think the influence of the 12th house keeps Tony very much on track and on message. The influence of the 12th house forces him to think things thoroughly before he open his mouth and as a result, he has become an accomplished speech writer and orator.
Venus in the 12th often seeks a indefinable love. Being in assertive Aries, Tony would not have a problem in going out and searching for a partner and his relationship with his wife Cherie has been strong for many years. So what could be this love that Venus in the 12th suggests. I think that this position is the font of his Christian faith which he has openly spoken about. The idea of surrendering oneself to the collective and finding a universal love is well suited to Venus in this house.
Both Mercury and Venus are opposite to the Saturn/Neptune conjunction I spoke of. This conjunction indicates a fervent vision or dream which one wants to make reality, and I also think it lends itself to a preaching style of pushing this message. Notice where this conjunction is, in the 6th house of routine and of everyday work, the place of one’s labour. Tony’s vision was New Labour, a reinvention of the party of the ordinary man in the UK. Tony’s dream was to make Labour acceptable to the business community & middle England where majority of the votes could be found, but also holding on to Labour’s core support. Here we have the dream (Neptune) and the business sensibilities (Capricorn) underpinned by a focused and direct entrepreneurial philosophy and message (Mercury in Aries). All this was directed onto Tony’s Capricorn Midheaven, an ambitious and administrative focus point.
At the same time we also had Venus opposing Saturn/Neptune so we have a social focus for these ideas enhanced by Tony’s faith and desire to help the less fortunate in society. This opposition squared onto Uranus in the 3rd house. This showed Tony to have an inventive and humanitarian mind, someone who grasped new ideas quickly and understood that politics had to be done in a radical way. This 3rd is the house of the salesman, and the ideas and policies of New Labour were advertised on TV, radio & billboards; I am sure that this approach was down to his initiative alone. Here we find Uranus and the Moon in mutual reception (in each other’s signs) so Uranus was taking it’s lead from the authoritarian Moon in Tony’s administrative 10th house. Many people have said that New Labour project was conservative in all but name and I agree. Saturn is the classic conservative signature, and Saturn & Capricorn’s influence is stamped all over this chart, but dressed up with that 6th house conjunction with Neptune focused on the working classes and drawing a veil over the influence of Saturn, and the con-trick that is Uranus in the 3rd, hiding the truth through clever manipulation of the messages sent out, through the spin doctors like Alistair Campbell who entered his inner circle.
What drives people on in life to the top is the need for power and control. These desires on an astrology chart are indicated by the planet Pluto and Pluto sitting in Leo in the 5th house shows a direct requirement for personal recognition. This Pluto is in a powerful position, sextile to Saturn/Neptune – Tony would not only want to create the New Labour project, he would need to be in control of it. Pluto also squares his 12th house Sun, showing a quite efficient and ruthless streak in Tony’s character that would be carried out behind the scenes. Pluto also trines to Mercury and Venus, showing a deep, serious and penetrating mind (also seen through the Saturn/Mercury opposition) able to concentrate on whatever one need to study in a methodical and careful way. Venus trine Pluto is very manipulative when it comes to dealing with relationships, even quietly threatening. Again with Venus hidden away in the 12th, much of what happened in the inner circles of government never got out into the light of day until much later on after Tony Blair had left his post as Prime Minister.
Above I have the charts for the day Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997, the day he announced he would be resigning from the post in 2006 and finally the current position of planets. Have a look at the position of Pluto. When Tony won his first election Pluto was on the cusp of his 7th house. Here his life and relationships were transformed by his election win. On the day he decided to give up office it was on the cusp of the 8th and Tony was looking to move back into the shadows and to benefit from big business. He subsequently became a Middle East envoy and made a fortune from public appearances and from advising corporations around the globe. This financially beneficial time allowed him to set up several foundations for tackling poverty.
Now Pluto as he is looking to get back into British political life, it is on the cusp of the 9th and the transiting Nodes are on his ascendant/descendant axis indicating a new era in his life is about to begin. There seems to be a very clear pattern here in direct correlation to the position of Pluto.
What does this suggest? Well the transit of the 9th is a very powerful one. One’s views from your younger years do tend to get adjusted and the penny starts to drop that your original ideas about life were rather misguided. One’s wisdom does deepen as Pluto enters the house of the higher mind and one’s faith tends to solidify. This transit does encourage one to think about how society can be transformed in a beneficial way & Tony is obviously feeling this and looking to how he can have a renewed influence on British politics again.
When trying to see what sort of role he will have as he enters his 3rd stage of his life (he has just experienced his second Saturn return) it is worth looking at his fixed stars. Tony has the fixed star Castor (one of the twins in Gemini) as his setting star setting the agenda for his latter years and this position confirms the view that Tony will always be looking to expand his breadth of knowledge and to have a voice that will be heard. Mars has paran relationships with both fixed stars Alcyone in Taurus and Acubens in Cancer which will increasingly encourage him to speak out on social issues in the UK as well as suggesting and even creating new solutions to try and alleviate society’s problems. Those stars alone indicate that he does have ambitions into his latter years. Looking back at the current planetary movements, transiting Saturn in now starting it's ascent back through the 6th house and it will not reach the Midheaven, the pinnacle of the chart and the height of one’s career and life until 2020, in 8 years time, just before Pluto hits the Midheaven in 2021. I wonder what this indicates? Is this a rise to a powerful influential position, before a dramatic fall from grace?
Tony Blair, because he became at 43 Britain’s youngest Prime Minister for 200 years is still only 58 should now be in his political prime, being wiser and more astute. If he sticks around for any amount of time, he is sure to cast a shadow over the current Labour leader Ed Miliband, who has on occasions looked rather weak and ineffective against current Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, and if he concludes he can still play a significant part in British life, how long will it be before the Labour party start looking to their former leader for guidance? Would he accept a lesser role for the sake of his party? Not likely, if we go by the evidence of his natal chart. So then, where exactly do his political ambitions lie? It’s a fascinating question to ponder over…
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