A new force in British politics and in British life is on the rise. Nigel Farage and his UK Independence Party (UKIP) is gaining in strength and in it’s influence. Formed at the London School of Economics 19 years ago, UKIP has very slowly but steadily built up a sizeable following in the United Kingdom, and it’s current leader, Nigel Farage speaks with a brutal honesty and conviction about the policies that he believes in. UKIP’s stated aim is to to break the UK away from the European Union and to keep the future of the UK in the UK’s hands. This is a message that, in the more and more vanilla world of British politics, is proving increasingly refreshing and popular to many people. Yesterday Farage and UKIP stepped into the spotlight as he and Liberal Democrat leader and British deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg went head to head in a live TV debate. In polls taken after it finished, the verdict was that Nigel Farage had won, he got a resounding 57% of the vote. In this article I will look at the Astrology of Nigel Farage and of UKIP.
Nigel Farage is an Aries, born on 3rd April 1964 in Farnborough, England at 16.30 (Astrodatabank – time from memory). Anyone with an Aries Sun will have a very direct and onwards and upwards attitude and Nigel’s Sun is widely conjunct to Mars also in Aries. This is a very straightforward person who will leave you in no doubt about where he stands about things, he is competitive, combative, fiery, positive and hugely optimistic. His Jupiter sits in Aries too and no matter how many times that he is knocked down, he will get back up and keep on fighting. His Moon in Sagittarius shows that emotionally he will look on the bright side and he will keep on going. Tact might not be his strong suit as this position does tend to ignore the emotions of others and his “don’t worry, cheer up” attitude might not go down so well with those who are of a more sensitive nature. In this, I am not sure that he will appreciate any hurt that he is causing. The fact that technically, his Sun may be unaspected (depending on the orbs one uses) means that he will tend to exist in his own little bubble or world and thus oblivious to all who are not going in his direction. The Moon in the 4th house indicates a love of the past and of his nation, thus he is a nationalist for sure and Mars, Jupiter and Sun all sit in his 8th house of power and control and other people’s finances, from which he will benefit enormously. Nigel will want to take a very pro-active role in promoting the interests of the country of his birth on a wider scale through the message that he espouses. This Moon makes a trine to Jupiter and Mercury focusing in on administrative Saturn illustrating this fact.
Moving onto Jupiter and Mercury, you’ll see that Jupiter in Aries is in a conjunction with Mercury in Taurus, so this man has big visions and plans and he sees things in an expansionary way. Mercury in Taurus shows a deliberate mind and one that will be able to concentrate on any task in hand and work through the issues one by one, steadily and without fuss. He will also be very stubborn in his ideas and beliefs, so once his mind is made up on an issue, he will not deviate or change. This conjunction sits at the point of a wedge connected to an opposition of Saturn and Uranus. Saturn in the 6th house shows a very hard worker, someone who will graft until he is worn out, Farage is a true workaholic and someone who will be very critical of those who work with and around him. He will be a stickler for details, analysis and organisation and all these traits will be enhanced yet more by the connection to Uranus. Saturn is also in the sign of Pisces and this is another sign that this man in his own little way will want to do his own thing. Saturn is the planet of structure but it sits in a sign of limits and one where anything solid will be dissolved and disintegrated. This position is one of the rule breaker and the person who defies conventions. No wonder he wants to shake up the UK politics scene?
Uranus in the 12th house conjunct to his Ascendant shows him to be a true independent, he is a rebel at heart but one who will on the surface at least to be conservative and conventional. Uranus in Virgo is a curious position in so much that some of those who have this position can become very rigid and conservative in their social attitudes and some can be outright rebellious and there seems little middle ground between the two. Nigel seems to use this energy in an ultra conservative manner but also as an activist as well. Uranus conjunct to Pluto and the Ascendant suggests that he is fixed on control and power, he wants to change things through his personal influence. This is a man who wants to update the old systems of running things (Uranus opposite to Saturn), he wants to administrate and be the boss shown by Saturn square to the Midheaven, he wants to buck the system through his work (Uranus square Midheaven), he wants power, notoriety and fame (Pluto conjunct Ascendant, square to Midheaven and inconjunct to Sun). Those with Pluto conjunct to the Ascendant will have a mysterious hold other people, they will fascinate, attract and repel people in equal measures, and as a result he will initiate strong feelings in others. Yes, this is a man who will gain adoration from some, but will be hated and vilified by others.
The t-square from Uranus and Saturn focused on the Midheaven also squares onto Venus in Taurus in Nigel’s 9th house. This is really a interesting place for Venus as it shows a love of traveling and making contacts with people of a foreign extraction. Obviously the very conservative and reactionary view on immigration and UK national sovereignty that he has are shown in a public way through the connection to the Midheaven, and one can understand that social issues connected to foreigners and international issues will be brought into this sphere via the connection to Venus conjunct the Midheaven as well. Is Nigel Farage someone who wants to keep the UK independent but also wants to foster relations with other nations and peoples at the same time? There is a serious problem with this approach, as if you put up barriers and fences then the ones you are distancing yourself from are not going to look at you kindly in the long run, and they will do the same in return. Is this stubborn social attitude, and remember Taurus is a very fixed sign, going to be one of his his Achilles heels in the time to come?
Lastly, Neptune sits isolated on this chart, unaspected save an inconjunct to Mercury. I wrote about unaspected Neptune just recently. In the article I wrote this. “This planet is the one of seclusion, suffering and sacrifice and these qualities will not be involved into many areas of one’s life, and in the same manner the diffusing, dissolving and deceptive side of Neptune will likewise not be so prevalent. This therefore may be a person who is less likely to be duped and will have a much more structured and materialistic side to their character. I suspect that their view of what they think is ideal and perfect will not be skewed or corrupted by other influences, or by other people either. Neptune is also the planets associated with the qualities of imagination, inspiration and intuition and these will be much more pure and untouched than with those people who have Neptune well aspected into their charts. This is a person who will have beautiful visions in their mind, and if the rest of their chart shows organisational traits, then they will also have the structure or ability to turn these wonderful insights into some kind of concrete form”. I think Nigel has a solid vision in his head for an independent United Kingdom free to do it’s own thing, and he expresses it ad-nauseam through a very focused and rigid quindecile to Mercury, an aspect that is almost obsessive in nature. This Neptune dominates the chart, and so it will dominate his thinking.
UKIP as a party began on 3rd September in London after a meeting at the London School of Economics, headed by UKIP’s first leader, Dr Alan Sked. Obviously I don’t have a time of the meeting and so this chart is a little limited in scope. The Sun sits in conservative and modest Virgo and it is quindecile to another very conservative and fixed influence, Saturn in Aquarius. This placement of Saturn showed an attitude at the time of being out of step or having an inane distrust of one’s wider society. Saturn in a square to Pluto initiates a feeling of being rather alienated from the majority, but in the same breath, there is a great amount of conviction in the air, a determination to administrate, to make a difference and to change the way things are governed through this aspect.
While barriers were falling down and freedom was the watchword in Eastern Europe under the influence of the potent Uranus Neptune conjunction of the early 90’s, this conjunction was almost exact on this chart. The group meeting at this time must have thought of freeing up the UK too from the increasing vice like influence of the European Union. The Moon was in Aries at the time probably trine to Venus in proud Leo, an individualistic and assertive place for the Moon to be urging those at the meeting to form a social movement, something new and fresh. Square to Neptune and Uranus was a conjunction of Jupiter and Mars in Libra. Here is a fight for equality and for justice combined with a can do attitude. The square to Uranus showed a lot of excitability and enthusiasm present at that time and the square to Neptune indicated the need to escape and to aim for the stars. The trine to Mercury in Virgo from Neptune and Uranus indicated that the mind-set at that time was independent and very free thinking but also very critical and practical too.
You’ll see that the Moon in Aries fits very nicely with Nigel Farage’s Aries planets and you will also see that the Pluto square to Saturn from Pluto at 23 Scorpio to Saturn at 25 Aquarius is being activated right now by transiting Saturn. This is a hugely important time for UKIP and also for Nigel Farage, as I see it very much make or break, a moment of truth for him and his party. The Lunar Eclipse at 25 degrees Libra on the 15th April will land conjunct to his natal Jupiter, a place of great fortune for him and it will make a favourable trine to the UKIP natal Saturn at 25 Aquarius as well, so this influence bodes well for both. As well as this good news, Nigel Farage has his natal Sun sitting at 13 degrees Aries, so it will absolutely be in the firing line of the Grand Cardinal Cross that culminates at 13 degrees of all the cardinal signs on the 23rd April. Just one month later, the UK local and European Parliamentary elections will be held. Will this cross empower Nigel Farage and propel him to great heights? Certainly he will be transformed by it in some regard and after last night’s debate, the UK news media is focusing on him more than ever. The signs are that he and UKIP will do very well.
It is not so surprising that the rise in UKIP and it’s rather conservative and protectionist agenda is coming to the fore as Saturn moves in the sign of Scorpio. More extreme views of government and administration were always likely to come out and strengthen under this 2 year transit and with Saturn still in this sign until the end of 2014, this is the time when UKIP will have to make their big move to enter the mainstream of British politics. Love him or hate him Nigel Farage is a charismatic and straight talking leader who is starting to make a name for himself. He has a window of opportunity to further his party’s ambitions and grab more influence for himself. If he is bold this Spring and grabs the nettle, then I think that we will be hearing more and more from him in the months and years to come…
