After I rushed to meet the copy date of the July/ August journal, all the arrangements for the Royal Opening of the Scottish Parliament were altered… Had David Steel taken a course in Electional Astrology, I wonder? This chart is much better! The time was supplied by an Astrologer and Data-Gopher (yes, me) and is the moment at which the Queen declared the Parliament open and the Herald unveiled the new Mace, inscribed with the opening sentence of the Scotland Act 1998: 'There shall be a Scottish Parliament''. [click here for chart]

The first exciting thing about the new chart is that Mercury in Leo, the Ascendant and Midheaven ruler, is smack on the AS/MC midpoint: the Queen in Parliament, the Mace as a symbol of authority, the right to have our own say in our own affairs, etc. The whole ceremony felt like a matter between the Queen and the Scottish People.

Tony Blair, as UK Prime Minister, had been unable to attend as, quite rightly, he insisted upon staying on in Ulster until some sort of agreement was hammered out between the parties there. He wasn't missed in Edinburgh: despite his government's policy of devolution for Scotland and Wales, in the end it had little to do with him. It was the Queen who empowered the Parliament (Mercury trine Pluto). Well, Jupiter by transit was conjoining her Sun!

Some house rulerships and placements don’t change from the first chart to the second: the major changes are in the 2nd/ 8th and 3rd/ 9th axes. Venus is now ruler of 2nd and 9th, Mars of 3rd and 8th. The issue of tuition fees lingers on: part of the deal between Labour and Liberal Democrats was to 'look into the matter''. Saturn still hangs about in 9th, but will Venus trining Mars win the day as far as the electorate is concerned? Jupiter, the ruler of Foreign Affairs, Defence, etc, now slips in to the 8th: less of ''another place'' and more of an inaccessible place?

Monetary matters are much better: Venus is well-aspected, and revenues raised by the separate tax-varying powers look as though they'Il be spent in the public interest (11th), although whether everyone will agree with this is another matter (… opposition from Moon)!

Transport, now ruled by Mars, with Pluto in 3rd, looks as though it may involve a readiness to adopt new developments and technologies, hopefully the environmentally responsible varieties (Mercury trine Pluto and Moon sextile Pluto), but I have to say that I find the opposition between Mars and Jupiter somewhat alarming. The optimistic outlook is that new capital ventures for transport schemes will prove to be wildly over budget. 'Twas ever thus. No wonder we had to invent the pneumatic tyre. There's now a greater emphasis on the 6th & 11th houses. Animal lovers please note that the Scottish Parliament may ban fox-hunting well before Westminster does.

Let's not forget, though, that Transit Trivia is one of the joys of the mundane astrologer. I report for your entertainment, that despite it being very well publicised that this Parliament would run its business on a more family-friendly timetable, when the MSPs officially "broke up" for the Summer, the day after the Opening, the rumblings started a wee whilie later about their giving themselves big pay packets, taking too many holidays, allowing themselves too many cars, etc. Yes, all in line with the Mercury retrogradation! Quite a number of MSPs are beavering away in their offices, as anyone who walks near the block can tell you. And the Venus station? She rules 9th, remember, and Saturn in a fixed sign is in her house. It came to light that some "hard-liners" in the Church of Scotland have started a letter campaign to complain that the Scottish Parliament, in a Church of Scotland building, is starting its days with inter-faith prayers. Now, really... (August 1999).

Data:

Royal Opening of Scottish Parliament: 1st July 1999, 11.44.30 BST Edinburgh 03w12, 55n52. Source: Earwitness report; or, report from astrologer with Wallace & Gromit watch, on the Mound, leaning over spiky iron railings to listen to the OB relay into East Princes Street Gardens, with two Italian tourists talking across her despite being requested to refrain… [click here for chart]

This article was first published in The Astrological Journal, volume 41 number 6, the journal of the Astrological Association.