This column was written in early March 2021. When it hit the stands in late May, Alexei Navalny was imprisoned and recovering from a daring hunger strike undergone in an effort to receive necessary medical care. The provocative SA Mars=MC, exact in August, has “coincided” with news that ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections, Russia is hitting Navalny with another charge that could add to his current prison term. Over the past few months, Russia has continued to put pressure on Navalny’s supporters, labeling them as “extremists,”  banning them from running for office, and in some cases, holding them under house arrest.

UPDATE: Navalny’s death was announced on February 16, 2024. I am heartbroken. Years ago, when I looked at patterns in his horoscope for 2023 – 2024, it was clear that he was in an intensely controlling, anguished period of development, with five hard aspects to Saturn from transiting Pluto. Given that his reality was the horror of a Russian penal colony, to say that this pattern was alarming would be an understatement. In January 2024, he had the third hit, “coinciding” with Navalny being transferred to a penal colony above the Arctic Circle — far, far away from family and his attorneys (some of whom have been arrested).  Meanwhile, another pattern developing in late 2023, with exact hits in 2024 and 2025 suggests a wipe-out….although, the flip side of having Neptune hitting all the angles of the horoscope could be that Navalny becomes an even greater inspiration than he is now.

But the horoscope lives forever, and the anguished patterns active in Navalny’s will eventually end. We can look ahead to when he is likely to be experiencing reward, expansion, and fulfillment, and consider what that suggests for his beloved homeland. I’ve marked my calendar. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, the same potential for anguish and extremes of control are active in what we know of  Evan Gershkovich‘s horoscope. He is the WSJ reporter imprisoned in Moscow last year on bogus charges of espionage.

Rest in power, Alexei Navalny. You will not be forgotten.

Britney Spears is faring better against her adversaries. After a court appearance in which she gave an impassioned account of the harsh controls she suffers under the terms of her conservatorship (including being denied her wish to have another child), she gained enormous public support and now has a new legal representative. Her father just announced he is willing to step down as her conservator (though has not said when).

Meanwhile, the vote to form a union at Amazon did not pass; however, a second vote may happen now that the company was found to have violated Alabama labor laws. As for Jeff Bezos, he made it to the edge of space days in a big, giant cowboy hat day after Richard Branson.  After Bezos thanked Amazon workers and customers for paying for the thrill, customers made headlines by canceling their Prime memberships.  These stories broke minutes before transiting Saturn’s second of three squares to Amazon’s Sun.

Charts in the News: June/July 2021