The tale of the last Romanovs has never ceased to interest me, simply because of the bleak tragedy of it all. Here we have an autocrat and his beloved family toppled from their position at the top of the heap (with the boot very much on the neck of the people, it must be said) right to the very bottom- to the bottom of a mine shaft in Siberia with their bodies full of bullets indeed! What could be said against these innocent children who did not have anything to do with the system that kept them in such privilege, other than the fact that they were born into it? It is a very Saturnian, Plutonian and karmic tale- full of reversals, retributions and inevitability.
The Grand Duchess Maria was the second to youngest girl of the family, far left in this photograph. She was greatly admired by many aristocratic young men in her day, and was an admirer of them in her turn. But it was her cousin, Louis Mountbatten (uncle of Prince Phillip) who was the one who kept her photograph on his bedside table until his own assassination:
Can anyone else spot his resemblance to Prince Charles, whom he was later to encourage to marry Diana?
So who are these two long-dead aristos, both murdered by activists seeking to bring their own country back under the control of the people by any means necessary? Let’s look at Maria’s chart first.
She is a Cancer Sun, with Libra rising and her Moon in Aquarius. She was said to be incredibly attractive and magnetic, and that can truly be seen in her chart. With her chart ruler so close to Pluto, she is an individual who truly seeks out what is lovely, and what is lovely seeks her in turn.
She has stellia in both the 3rd and 9th houses, including the North and South nodes. In the chart of a Libra Rising individual, who seeks to bring balance into their lives- this is the chart of someone who is almost paralysed by a drive to bring peace, harmony, niceness and security into their life. There is a battle between truth and reality, and also a battle between the symbiotic world of the siblings and the wider world “out there”- that contains a knowledge of powers and secrets she is desperate to acquire. One can almost imagine the cloistered princess gazing at soldiers on parade and students on the street, imagining what it would be like to be allowed to go out and experiencing life as a normal person- but repressing those urges out of her strongly-felt duty to home and family.
This feeling of duty is perhaps the strongest element in this chart. The Moon is in Aquarius, which is a sign ruled by Saturn as well as Uranus. There is an element of emotional self-denial here. The fourth house is of course the sign of Cancer, and a sextile to Saturn and trine to Pluto/Venus strengthen its power. Home and hearth, family and tradition is where this Cancerian finds her emotional escape, her peace and quiet.
Jupiter in the second house in Scorpio at 0 degrees bespeaks great riches, but it is retrograde- the wealth is unstable. This wealth to me almost bespeaks the key to her fate, with Pluto conjunct Venus in the 9th and Saturn, Chiron and Uranus all bundled together in the third house with the south node. There is great pain, great karma, great upheaval with her and her siblings- all shot to death in the same basement in Siberia.
It is quite surprising that a gentle person like this has a T-square to Mars in her chart, but she does- its placement in the 11th house reflects a degree of control on this aspect of herself, however. With a square to Uranus, Venus and also Chiron, this person would certainly have had a temper and would be prone to accidents and illness as well (especially as it is placed in Virgo). She was apparently very strong physically, which can be seen with the sextile to Jupiter and the Sun as well. The Mars-Uranus square corresponds to her Moon; I believe any outbursts she would have had would have been very much stifled and would have manifested as grave illness- it was Maria who almost died of measles when her father abdicated the throne.
Maria wanted nothing more than to marry a soldier and have a family with lots of children. Sadly, this was never to be- she was to spend most of her life confined and isolated buzzing between her sisters and dreams of the outside world.
Now to look at the chart of Lord Louis Mountbatten:
Here we have another Cancer, with his Sun conjunct Neptune in the 12th house! His rising sign is Cancer as well, which places emphasis on his Moon in Gemini in the 11th house, conjunct the South Node.
Neptune is of course the God of the Sea, and the 12th house is the domain of Neptune. Mountbatten was First Lord of the Admiralty for many years. Sun, Neptune, Mercury and Venus in the 12th house is a risky thing for anyone to have in their chart. This is a highly avoidant but also highly romantic individual. If anyone was to keep a long-dead beloved’s picture on their bedside table, it would be this man. Also, interestingly enough, the 12th house is the realm of other worlds- those with Venus in the 12th tend to be enamoured of those who are unavailable, or even dead. Maria’s Venus in the 9th enjoys foreign lovers, but this man places his heart on angels and transcendant spiritual beings.
Lord Louis has his Moon in Gemini in the 11th house conjunct his South Node- as has already been stated. This is someone who clings to the past quite drastically. He would almost be “stuck in thoughts” about it. Uranus in Sagittarius conjunct the North Node in Sagittarius drags him to his future through unexpected, painful events that shake and jolt his Moon. The ruler of his South Node being conjunct his North Node is a sure indicator of success in his life, that comes at the price of his personal comfort. This is someone who is born to rule and to stand out, but finds no comfort in doing so. His heart is with his South Node, ruminating about the past, tinkering with gadgets and scientific experiments.
This is not someone who would have been candid about any of this. Mercury in Cancer in the 12th house is extremely psychic, but also very secretive- although a sextile to Mars and trine to Jupiter would have given him a broad and well-informed mind. An interest in the occult is not impossible in this man…
Now to look at their synastry!
Straight away, it is clear to see that the two have their moons in a very close trine- which is an incredible emotional bond between two Cancers. Nothing could be sweeter for either of them. With Venus conjunct Moon as well, the bond runs even deeper- although in many cases, this can be said to be a somewhat one-sided attraction. It is usually the Moon who cares for Venus more, and this is borne out by Louis being Pluto to her Pluto-Venus conjunction, which is energy she is used to in the natal- but to Louis would have magnified and electrified all his hopes, needs and desires. However, her Pluto also conjunct his Moon, which is something *he* is more used to in the natal- so truly, this balances out nicely.
Speaking of desires, however, I do not see that Mars or Venus are activated in this chart. We have Moon/Pluto, Pluto/Venus, but Mars is quite absent. There is very little of the more earthly, sexual kind of love in this chart. This pair share an emotional bond instead that indeed runs extremely deep- and both are capable of these deep emotional bonds (Moon-Pluto and Venus-Pluto).
I believe these two knew one another in past lives. Indeed, with the somewhat incestuous nature of European royalty and our tendency to be reborn within families, it is absolutely possible. They share a Venus/South Node connexion and a Neptune/South Node connexion, which in itself does not necessarily guarantee a past life connexion, but the intense and complimentary nature of these two charts does. It is possible that they were lovers then, and Louis could have abandoned her. In this life, it will be turn for her to abandon him.
I am seeing great heartbreak in this synastry. Uranus NN/Chiron, Saturn/Chiron, North Node/Saturn all crowd together in the first quadrant like enemy ship squadrons facing off in battle. Saturn conjunct the North Node brings an unpleasant truth to the North Node person that they must face in order to grow, and vice versa. Chiron conjunct Saturn is a binding chain of hope and pain for both parties, Uranus NN conjunct Chiron brings an unexpected pain and a healing that sends the North Node person further on their karmic path.
Lord Louis’s karmic path in this lifetime was to end in the same way. He spent his own lifetime presiding over a dying empire, being the last British viceroy of India- one of the last old retainers of a realm that began to fall apart long before, around the time of the fall of the Romanovs. It is so interesting that he spent his last days indeed attempting to keep the old ways going, encouraging Prince Charles into a dynastic marriage that did a lot of harm to the British monarchy in the end. I see these two as two kindred souls who have met many times before (and will meet again) whose twisted paths have caused them to meet at a time of enormous chaos to them both, both still inexorably intertwined in the same old mayhem they were before. The one who dealt the abandonment in the former life, however, was the one to spend his life weeping over an inaccesible and long-buried love- in this one.
Green Lady Astrology 