I have to admit I didn’t know much about what was happening here until fairly recently… I am a big nerd in my mid thirties, and my interest in celebrity culture begins and ends with my nostalgia years. However, my interest was piqued in discussion with others, who stated that these two consider one another “twin flames”.

I am not a fan of the whole concept- mainly because of the toxicity I have seen associated with it. I do understand feeling like someone is the other half of your soul and feeling so intertwined and shattered by them that no adequate words for the experience exist. This, to me, is the material point.

Twin flames, soulmates etc are just human concepts trying to make sense of something that can only be grasped by a higher state of consciousness than the one currently experiencing such a connexion. If we stay wedded to these concepts, we stay in a mind space that is smaller than the one we need to grow towards. Also- please don’t get me started on the various psychics and astrologers who pander to the concept and sell more and more control to desperate individuals who have become like junkies trying to control the outcome with their beloved- because that is just intensely wrong.

It seems quite cringy to me, as well. Maybe it is just my detached Aquarius energy speaking, but I always get visions of someone who can’t cope with reality, crying into their unicorn onesie with a joint in hand, hatching up love spells to get them back together with the guy that ghosted them- when I think about “twin flames”. There’s definitely always large amounts of Neptune and Pluto energy in synastry between self-styled “twin flames”, which in its lower vibration presents as control issues and delusional thinking.

So what exactly is going down between these two people? Let us look first at the individual charts- starting first with Megan Fox.

Fox is, as you can see, a fourth house Taurus Sun with her Moon in Leo, Capricorn rising and Mars on the ascendant.

That fourth house Taurus Sun is very feminine and well-grounded, loving the comforts of home and everything that is stable and normal. She has Jupiter in Pisces in the second house- which is in an intercepted sign, but nevertheless blesses that Taurus sun and Mercury in sextile. This is someone destined to wealth, something that many Taureans crave. However, I also note a T-square to this same Jupiter, as well as South Node and Pluto in the ninth house in Libra. This Venusian craving for comfort and stability may come at quite the price for Fox- the tendency to be overly reliant on partnership and hostile to other views on life and way to experience existence is there. This is someone who needs to be shocked out of her ruts from time to time.

Her Moon in the seventh house in Leo squares Pluto (with a wide orb), squares Mercury, trines Uranus and Saturn, and sextiles Chiron and Venus. This is someone who “loves love”, and has a tendency to both vacillate and demand subservience from others in her partnerships. Venus in Gemini in the fifth house is a blessing for her although it opposes Uranus, for it will absolutely give her that taste for challenging and unique experiences that break the fixed mould she can unfortunately be trapped in. Fox likes to consider herself a rational person- her Mercury is the closest planet to her Sun- and also a strong, courageous one as Mars is the only other planet aspecting her Sun. Both of these planets rule her North Node, so when Fox follows her ego desires as opposed to her conditioning and her patterns, she is likely to break into experiences that give her a lot of needed growth- despite her need for comfort.

Let us return to Mars in Capricorn on the ascendant, trine Mercury and the Sun. Sex is very important to this person, sex and status. When I look to the tenth house, it is ruled by Scorpio, and Pluto sits close to it in the 9th- conjunct that Libra south node. This person will have to watch out for her tendency to be controlling, to cage others and to domineer over them for her own gain and satisfaction. She needs to trust herself more in this incarnation, and be satisfied to be her own person.

Now to look at Machine Gun Kelly’s chart:

Here we have another Taurus Sun, in this case a highly Neptunian one. He has both Sun and Mercury in the twelth house, a Pisces Moon, Pisces Venus, Pisces Mars- and Neptune in the eighth house trine his Mercury in Taurus. Whereas Megan Fox is somewhat Neptunian, with her Jupiter in Pisces and Neptune in the 12th house- Kelly is infinitely more so.

An individual with this much Neptune faces a unique set of challenges, while possessing incredible gifts as well. Reality does not mean much to these people, which gives them the ability to move past barriers that many ordinary people would get stuck at.

I am seeing an *enormous* lust for money in this chart- Pisces represents the fish, the cash flow coming and going. Taurus can be notoriously keen on its gold as well, and Pluto trine Venus in the natal chart is often obsessed with gain. Jupiter conjunct Chiron in Cancer in the second house opposite Uranus, Saturn and Neptune in Capricorn the eighth might as well have drooling dollar signs drawn in glitter all over it- and that draws this person into a pit of pain.

Similarly to Fox, Kelly has Mars in close aspect to his Sun- his 12th house Sun in Taurus sextiles his Mars in Pisces in the 10th house. This draws me to his eighth house Saturn, which squares his 12th house Sun. There is indeed heavy karma here from past lives, which affects his ability to bond with others on a meaningful level. Something is definitely going to be unusual about his sexuality- I believe he is fairly open around his kink, but indeed he may have more interest in money and control than in sex itself.

His Pisces Moon is fairly level-headed for a Pisces Moon as it is in the eleventh house, with an exact sextile to Saturn and a sextile to Mercury in the 12th house. With his North Node in Aquarius in the 9th house, the key to his growth as a soul is the detached observation of thoughts, feelings and emotions as they arise in connexion to his intimate unions. He needs to discover where he begins and others end, to explore boundaries and his sense of self as a human being.

I think this is a person who can definitely lack honesty, which is a cause for concern. South Node in Leo in the third house has a tremendous need to be admired and respected, and it may not be particularly scrupulous about how it gains that admiration and respect, especially with Mercury in the 12th house. The truth may be an inconvenient obstacle for this person, but in order to acheive the soul’s growth, they have to look to that Chiron and Jupiter in the second and North Node in Aquarius in the 9th and establish themselves as very much their own person, with their own boundaries, wealth, and way of doing things. A tendency to gloss over fact and play games for applause will stand in the way of this.

Just by looking at their individual charts before looking at the synastry, I can already draw significance from both of their Jupiters being in the second house, and one’s North Node being in the ninth house while the other has North Node in the third. Definitely, they have a lot to teach one another around rationality and spirituality, truth and fiction- in regards to gaining an established sense of self, an idea of who they both are. Certainly, discussing the whole twin flame thing between themselves will be helpful for their awakening as individuals.

Now to look at the synastry:

Right off the bat, the fabulous thing for both of them is their Mercuries. They are conjunct, and MGK has his ascendant and South Node ruled by Mercury. Fox has her north node ruled by Mercury. Strong Mercury placements in synastry can help a lot of troublesome aspects along, while providing a perfect basis for both to learn more and more from one another. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun- it forms a large basis around how we connect as human beings.

This, of course, is further developed by the Jupiter aspects in the synastry as well. Fox inserts her Jupiter into MGK’s Pluto-Venus trine, bringing wealth, joy and abundance into his life. This is a couple who genuinely enjoy one another’s presence, and find value in exploring philosophical concepts togerther- especially with her Jupiter sextiling their conjunct Mercuries. Again, this helps them both explore their nodal axis.

We have a very obvious past-life indicator in this chart, with Fox’s Moon conjunct MCK’s South Node. This is often seen in dynamics where the Moon was the South Node’s mother in a past life, and this Moon person will hold extremely tight to the South Node- trying to mother them one more time. But in this life, the South Node person does need to move on from what can sometimes be suffocating for their growth. This to me is extremely telling, especially as MCK has his Jupiter and Chiron in Cancer in the second house. The mother to him is all wealth and faith, but all that is pain connected to his Taurean ego identity as well. His eighth house Saturn squaring his Taurus Sun is something he obviously needs to come to terms with through this dynamic- perhaps accepting the input of an older woman with a strong eleventh house Saturn who pushes him to his Aquarius North Node… Her Saturn is unaspected in the synastry, however, which gives me pause as regards the longevity of this union.

MCK does enter into an internal dymamic for Fox that has always been painful for her, his Mercury squaring her Moon as well as hers and his Pluto squaring her Moon much closer than hers does. This is all very lunar, all connected to her and that South Node, and games of emotional hurt between the couple are liable to form a toxic and familiar bond that jepoardise their ability to move forward in a positive direction. Moons are a problem in this synastry altogether, as they are in inconjunct signs and not in aspect with one another- indeed, neither receive friendly aspects, except for the Pisces Moon sextile Megan’s Taurus Sun.

Their Venuses are not in friendly signs, although the overlays are positive and indicate a wish to build a strong foundation with one another- very important to Taurus. Fox’s carefree fifth house Gemini Venus is attractive to MCK’s Leo South Node, but threatens his sensitive Pisces Moon. Fox’s strong 11th house Uranus squares that very same Venus, indicating the possibility of a sudden end and beginning to the union, especially when given the probelmatic Moons and Venuses.

Pluto trine Mars is what one would call an absolutely fantastic sexual aspect. This has got to get both of these Tauruses very much raging for one another in that respect. Mars and Venus are both in sextile, as well. What is interesting is that the woman’s chart takes the lead in both of these aspects- Fox is Pluto in the Pluto-Mars trine, and Mars in the Mars-Venus sextile. She is very much the aggressor in this relationship.

As far as Neptune aspects go, I was truly expecting to see more- but a Sun-Neptune trine is still highly significant, as well as the Jupiter-Neptune opposition. MCK idealises Fox beyond all belief- even though he can be cold to her, with his Saturn in Capricorn in her ascendant and conjunct her Mars. With her Uranus square his Moon, he has visions of her as well. I believe I can confidently say that for her it’s more about the sex, for him it’s all about the mystical hoopla he can dream up in connexion to it. He is more the romantic, escapist type than she is. Although his Saturn trines her Sun, which is highly supportive, he can be restrictive towards her individual personality, when she makes him feel threatened.

Finally, his Sun in Taurus is conjunct her North Node in Aries. This is an amazing aspect that will help her move towards asserting her own unique ego identity more and more- he has a lot to teach her about this, with his own South Node in Leo! In order for her to do this, however, she needs to address what goes on with her own emotional problems- and unfortunately he tends to join in in exarcerbating them. I think, therefore, that this aspect is more about his inadvertently helping her to shine- than otherwise.

I believe that this is the chart of a powerful relationship that these two need for their spiritual growth in this lifetime, for their exploration of new ideas that challenge them to develop their individual sense of self and ideals. I don’t see them as particularly compatible deep down, and I am doubtful that it will be “happier ever after” for either of them- the Uranus square and the Sun-NN conjunction out of sign to me seem to point towards something else further down the track, new and better possiblities for them both. It will be extremely interesting to see this unfold as time goes on, and I myself will be watching closely. We all live and learn, and I for one am glad of the fact!

In honour of Sag season, I feel drawn to examine the charts of one of my favourite Sagittarians- Britney Spears. This is also done at the recommendation of one of my great friends- a fellow astrologer, Lauren Breazeale.

I hope I do not get slated as being superficial for loving a pop singer this much. I am merely a child of the eighties, who was aged 13 when Britney came out with her debut album. This stuff is nostalgia for me, happy nostalgia, reminding me of those first stolen vodka cruisers and the kind of dancing where you forget yourself and know you’re looking absolutely *beautiful* up there with dozens of other beautiful people- music so loud you can’t think, all you can do is *feel* how beautiful you are, and dance.

Does that sound rather Venusian? It should, when it comes to Britney. Let’s have a look at her chart.

As you can see, she is a first decan Libra Rising, with Saturn and Pluto in the ascendant. At first glance, that is indeed a strongly Venusian chart- but what takes it up a notch is the presence of Venus conjunct her South Node in the fourth house, exactly square to Pluto in the first house. The South Node is like a raging tumult of energy, something like a black hole. As it represents our comfort zone and our most well-developed talent, it is something we tend to rely upon dysfunctionally, at the expense of challenging ourselves.

The ruler of the ascendant on the South Node represents someone with an enormous talent, who nevertheless tends to stay stuck- trapped in that place, despite having a need and an urge to break free!

This is highly significant in the context of her life. Britney Spears, as many of my readers will know, is being held under a conservatorship due to concerns around her mental health. This conservatorship is largely operated by her father, and other male members of her family. It is said that this is being done for her own good, but there is a lot of discontent about this happening. The #freebritney movement is alive and well and happening, given so many others of my generation have the same fondness for Britney as I do. There is concern that she is being held against her will, in order to gain the benefit of her hard-earned cash.

The South Node in this chart is in the fourth house, in Capricorn. The ruler of her South Node is Saturn, and it is in the first house (ruled by Aries). I read this as a strong inbuilt need for security in the home, as represented by the male parental figure. Venus’s square to Pluto and to Saturn represents the tremendous internal and external battle between this individual and repressive forces that are dealt to her from outside- that she has also internalised. This does look to me like an instance in which the home and the family are a prison this person cannot escape from.

The ruler of her north node represents an area of her life where she can find liberation and a place for growth- we see this here in her Moon in the fifth house in Aquarius. Through being a mother to her own children, through being creative and expressive, she finds herself able to expand her mind and her soul despite the limits placed upon her, those limits that she has been programmed to accept.

Her Saturn/Uranus ruled moon brings us back to her ascendant which connects us to her Mars in the 12th house in Virgo. This forms a tight square to Neptune in the third house. This is the chart of a phenomally gifted dancer and singer, no two ways about it. Mars/Neptune blesses those who have it with a artistry in how they move their bodies- and a third house stellium including Uranus, Mercury, the Sun and Neptune definitely places a critical, positive emphasis on the individual’s voice. Saturn and Pluto in the first gift Spears with the ability to put her nose to the grindstone and make a real career out of this talent.

Mars in the 12th house, especially in a woman’s chart, can represent hidden male enemies- and in a Libra Rising chart, this will often indicate that there is a lot of drug use and hidden nastiness going on between the person with the placement and their spouse. Spears has been infamous for her unfortunate marriages.

As for emotional instability, I am not finding much of that in this chart- although I do find some evidence for *mental* instability, which I will go into shortly. Spears does have a strong Saturnian influence on her Moon in Aquarius, with the trine from Saturn and her South Node in the fourth house in Capricorn- and the fact that the Moon in Aquarius is in fact co-ruled by Saturn. There is a tendency for this person to subdue themselves, and to allow themselves to be subdued by others emotionally. There can be a tendency to put feelings as such to one side and find their expression in that devoted motherhood and those works of art she creates. The Moon in Aquarius can be very hard-working and self-denying, finding peace in doing things in a way that seem morally correct to them. This person would be a very conscientious mother. The fact that her ex-husband has sole guardianship of her children will be the thing that is killing her the most.

The potential for mental instability is in her Uranus at a critical degree in the third house conjunct her Mercury in Sagittarius, which is also conjunct her Sun in Sagittarius. With Neptune in the third house as well, this is definitely someone who can express themselves artistically (as I have already noted)- with great genius. However, this comes at the cost of a high amount of nervous energy that feeds into her fifth house Moon as well. This is actually the chart of someone who is highly intelligent, but can be almost too intelligent and overly wrapped up in their own perspective. Funnily enough, I would state this to be an almost textbook third house for someone with moderate Asperger’s or ADHD. Britney has had some issues with drug use, and I would see this as an attempt to self-medicate her own brilliance and highly intuitive/ creative nervousness.

I see the greatest clue to Britney’s pain in Chiron in Taurus in the eighth house, which draws me back to her Jupiter in Scorpio in the second house. This wound is all about immense, tainted wealth that is not really hers, that has become enmeshed with people close to her. Why is Britney not free? It’s not because she’s crazy. Follow the money.

With Mercury stationing retrograde in the sign of Scorpio (on my Moon, no less!), Scorpionic throughts are coming through thick and heavy for me. With Mars also RX at this time, this is a powerful retrograde that takes us deep into the belly of the War God. Here we are being called to think about our personal power and our collective power, and what it means to hold these two in tandem in our being. How do we keep the raging beast in check? How much is too much, how much is too little? When is it appropriate to spill blood? What is right? What is wrong?

A dear friend sent me an article today about a statue of Medusa that is to be placed across the road from the courthouse in which Harvey Weinstein and other accused rapists are to be tried.

In the Metamorphoses by Ovid, Medusa was a beautiful maiden who was raped in the temple of Athena by Poseidon. Athena, in a rage at what was considered an act of desecration, endowed Medusa with her headful of snakes which turned all men to stone who had the temerity to look at her. In short, this led to her hiding out on an island turning unwary passers-by to stone, where the hero Perseus tracked her down and cut her head off. It thereafter formed the centrepiece of Athena’s shield, when he offered it to the goddess in gratitude.

This myth angers many women, and for good reason. Medusa did not ask for what happened to her. She did not ask for the curse that stuck to her after it happened. She took herself off to a lonely place, like many people that are traumatised- and still she was pursued by a man! And then he ends by cutting her head off, and giving it to the one who cursed her in the first place.

The statue that is placed outside the courtyard represents a reversal of the myth. It portrays Medusa holding the head of Perseus, thus giving the power back to the woman. It illustrates a clear point to the men at trial, that the woman is here now to cut off HIS head now, not the other way around.

Now you may ask, how does this all apply to Scorpio, and Pluto in Scorpio?

Scorpio rules the eighth house. The eighth house is the sign of death, secrets, and shared finances- shared karma. The number 8 is a symbol of perfect balance, and of a binding. It perfectly illustrates the hermetic law that can be simplified as “what goes around, comes around”.

Pluto is of course in its domicile in Scorpio. This is the seat of hell, the inversion of our world- topsy turvy. If Pluto in Scorpio sees something on the surface, it wants to pull it into the underworld and turn it all around, to bring it to the full reversal of its cycle. This is no ordinary rebellion, this is dragging our current world into the crisis polarity- to pick it apart at the bones, so that it may be refreshed and born anew.

Anyone who has ever experienced a stressful Pluto transit or Pluto relationship knows what I mean when I talk about the unbearable pressure that forces change. This is the generation that has the ability to experience a cultural narrative with such intensity that it can’t and won’t accept things the way that they are. Their parents the Boomers (Pluto in Leo) had their rebirth in the highly individualistic counterculture they were driven to create. This generation will have their rebirth hopefully not in nuclear armageddon, but in deep collective spiritual crises where the old world gets dragged down, chewed up, spat out again in ways that hurt enough to change us.

I see the story of Medusa as the story of human trauma. It was unjust what happened to her. It is unjust what happens to us all, in many junctures of our lives. We all have that innocent being within us that has been violated and cursed by the effects of that violation. For some of us it is bigger… for some of us, it is smaller. She hides herself away. Then another part of our being (the hero) comes and cuts the head off our trauma, and Wisdom (Athena) bears it on the shield we carry. Our hurts become our defence, they become what immobilise our enemies.

But carrying this “Me Too” thing to its conclusion and rebirth as illustrated by the statue outside the trial, the myth is regenerated. We are no longer called to face every situation with the disembodied head of our trauma stuck there to scare off enemies. Pluto in Scorpio has inverted the story and proudly wears the identity of the one who has been hurt on the outside. It is the ego that is held bleeding in the hands- that has been killed off, and it is the maiden that has been hurt that stands strong in the role of Wisdom. Her secret has come bursting out, but it empowers her now- and now she states boldly “me too”.