Eclipse season

Eclipse season 2018 is doing its work, with South African premier Jacob Zuma having today resigned and Benjamin Netanyahu facing corruption allegations from within Israel. Another long-serving, and some would say dictatorial leader, Arsene Wenger is also under new pressure to move on from Arsenal football club – Wenger was born 22/10/1949, the day after Mr Netanyahu, and also has Scorpio rising.

Benjamin Netanyahu October 21st 1949, 10am, Tel Aviv, Israel

All three men have Mars-Saturn in fixed signs, and while there's no timed chart for Mr Zuma, both Netanyahu’s and Wenger’s conjunctions are in Leo in the 10th house. This is a control-freak signature even by the standards of Mars-Saturn, and both these men are known for their autocratic style. Tomorrow’s eclipse at 2 Aquarius falls opposite their shared Mars (and in a Western-style square to Mr Zuma’s Saturn), the kind of symbolic King-slaying energy solar eclipses in particular are notorious for.

‘Bibi’ is recently into Mercury-Rahu, with Rahu channelling debilitated Jupiter and aspected by his overbearing Mars. His Mercury is strong (both he and Mr Wenger are noted for their intelligence), but its Western conjunction with Neptune shows the corruption claims that have pursued him down the years. He was investigated for taking illegal payments in 1999, during his vulnerable Saturn-Sun period.

Arsene Wenger, October 22nd 1949, 11am, Strasbourg, France

Arsene Wenger’s golden spell with Arsenal FC came during his Mercury mahadasha, though his last seven years of Ketu have been consistently frustrating. He enters Venus period in April 2018, just in time for the business end of a season where he may have to win a European trophy with Arsenal to hang on to power. If unsuccessful, it would be sad and archetypally Saturnian end to the career of a once-loved and respected leader. The art with Saturn, in the career house especially, is knowing when to jump before you are pushed.