Green Lady Astrology

Celebrity astrology: Britney Spears

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 (check her out at https://www.zephyrastrology.com/)!

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.

Studies in synastry: Lord Louis Mountbatten and Grand Duchess Maria of Russia.

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.

The Saturn Return

Saturn and its rings, the rings comprising of human bones

Today, I have chosen to write about a topic that distresses many younger people with an interest in astrology- the Saturn return! Saturn is a great old friend of mine, and I love writing about this topic. Most people reading this will know already that Saturn is not really to be feared in astrology. That honour belongs to Neptune, if it must belong to any planet- Aleistair Crowley is with me on that one!

What the Saturn Return consists of is its return to the point it was at when we were born. This happens around the age of 30, and as Saturn goes retrograde at various points, we might be in for either two or three passes of Saturn past our natal Saturn. Of course, we go through another one in middle age as well. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on the first Saturn Return.

There is quite the debate as to when the Saturn Return might be said to begin. I for one would not consider it to have begun until Saturn is within a few degrees of the natal Saturn, but the effects might be felt in a minor way as soon as Saturn has entered the sign of your natal Saturn. However, if you have a particularly strong Saturn in your natal chart, you might feel stronger effects far earlier than others do. If you have Saturn in the first house in Aquarius, for instance, you will probably feel things start to happen quite strongly as soon as Saturn enters that sign.

So- what will happen? Of course, that depends on the condition of your natal Saturn, and where it is placed in your chart. Broadly speaking, however- I can tell you what will happen- you will have to grow the bloody hell up!

Yes, that is harsh. Saturn is the ruler of Capricorn and Aquarius both- and he stands opposite the Sun (Leo) and the Moon (Cancer)- unchecked ego and emotions respectively. If there is one thing our ego and our emotions do not appreciate, it is being told to rein it in.

However, these restrictions are there to keep us safe. Why does Saturn have rings? Because it copped a blow from a rogue planet at some point in time. What would our karma look like if we just did what we wanted at any given time, without consideration of others, without having to slow down and calm down and think?

Saturn is indeed the lord of time and of karma. This guy is like a storehouse of what has been done, good or bad- throughout many lifetimes. When he returns to the natal point, he brings with it all the baggage that has been accumulated over the years- plus that from other lifetimes as well. It is this reckoning with our own wrongdoing and rightdoing that can motivate us to make better choices in our future… or not… so that we can our rightful place with the rest of the adults who understand the importance of certain rules and boundaries.

Saturn energy grows better with age. What can be poor self-esteem and self-doubt in younger years can ripen into tremendous willpower and the ability to be a strong pair of shoulders for the goodof humanity. If you feel worried about your Saturn Return, don’t be… just do the next right thing, buckle in, and you will be fine!

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Why astrology works (in my view).

As an astrologer, I spend my life answering questions. Which I absolutely love. I love and adore the fact that I am trusted to answer these questions, and I am committed to answering them in a way that respects the faith and trust that is placed in me. Today, I will try and explain why astrology works.

Today I was asked what the main difference between sidereal and tropical astrology is. This is where things start to get a little technical, and I will not answer that question as such here. However, it did make me go into a bit of a digression, which I think is worth writing about.

Astrology is one of the oldest sciences we have. I have to laugh at people who think it is for stupid people, because such an ancient, ancient science needs must be breathtakingly complex. With the thousands upon thousands of years of incredibly intelligent people who have added to the wisdom databanks on this subject, it is not something that can be grasped easily by someone who has an average mind.

Herein lies the key. These many millenia of people who have used this method of understanding themselves and the world around them have made it a living, breathing thing- something of incredibly powerful magick. The art of looking into the sky and discerning our own patterns there has become encoded within our very own DNA. We have taken the subtle mutterings of our own universal psychology and painted it onto the night sky in a series of codes that the wise can follow.

It isn’t just as simple as the Moon having a gravitational effect on the earth and on the water in our own bodies as well as the water in the sea, although this is part of it as well. This is a question of the magnificent human ability to grow and learn through observing nature in this earth school- which is only one of many many many worlds that we incarnate in, I might add!

Therefore, it doesn’t really matter if you use tropical or sidereal zodiac. Both are just keys. Both work. Some swear that sidereal zodiac is more accurate for transits, but I have chosen to concentrate my energy on one key, the one my immediate ancestors used. It isn’t about approaching astrology with ego and demanding mastery, in any case- but allowing this system to integrate with your own psychology as you use it to pick apart the question of who we are and where we are going.

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The eighth house in synastry and natal charts.

The word "Karma" written in chalk on a black background, with arrows drawn representing a cycle.

I am aware this blog has been quiet for an amount of time- I have been busy moving house. It has been quite tricky to get my head back into the zone for writing. However, as far as astrology itself goes- my head is never quite out of that zone.

As we are in Scorpio season at present, my mind has turned to the eighth house. There have been many endings and resurrections here, many themes of enmeshment with others. Scorpio and the eighth house are inconjunct the other Mars-ruled sign and house- Aries and the ascendant. The inconjunct is quite an uncomfortable energy. This is that of things that neither flow nor resist, but simply cannot come into union- like ships in the night. In synastry, the inconjunct is a particularly troublesome beast.

What is it that is at perfect and irreconcilable odds with the sense of self? Not merely opposite, but more than opposite? The necessity of not merely balancing the self against the other (Libra), but of *merging* the self with the other. This is the “little death” of sex, where we sacrifice energy in order that something be made anew. Sexual energy, once lost, needs time to be regained.

This is one way in which we can merge with others in the eighth house- through sex. However, we can also spend money on others, spend emotional energy on others, spend time on others. Sex without the entanglement of cords, spiritual physical and emotional- that would be fifth house sex. Eighth house sex is the kind that goes deeper and traps you with the other to create something new with your energy, for better or for worse.

Eighth house overlays in synastry can be somewhat lumped together with Pluto aspects in synastry, although of course overlays are slightly less significant than aspects. This can be energy vampire stuff at its most negative and draining, and a strong business partnership/ married couple stuff at its best. The eighth house is quite a vulnerable place and whether this manifests for good or for ill depends on the rest of the chart, and how either part of the couple deals with eighth house energy.

Your Jupiter in your partner’s 8th house might see you giving a lot *financially* to the union. The same goes for Venus. The Moon is all about emotional giving. However, in this case you will not give without the expectation of gaining something in return. This is no selfless Neptunian love here, this is very much give and take- and when things are unbalanced in this respect, much resentment can build. A human being feels attached to the outcome of their giving when it comes to the eighth house, for they subconsciously know that the result of it defines their future karma.

I feel that with the eighth house the energy goes both ways quite significantly, although the house person will perceive the energy more strongly. A nice way to envision the answer for “who feels it more” when it comes to overlays is to perceive the planet person shining the energy of their planet into the house, while they peer in and perceive that part of that person’s life. However, of course other factors come into account here as well.

The eighth house in the natal chart represents where we go into the abyss and find ourselves anew. This is debt, financial obligations, sex (as already mentioned), long-term sexual partnerships, death and rebirth. Someone with a strong eighth house can experience a lot of extreme moments in their lives, which rebuild them stronger every time they experience them. They can also spend a lot of their life enmeshed in systems outside themselves- codependent relationships, government benefits, or the tax department. These people might find it difficult to draw boundaries with others, and accept when boundaries are being drawn with them.

The eighth house should not be feared, but it should not be glorified either. When it comes to the eighth house, I counsel caution- because what we do with others here will define what we create in the future. Here we can spin negative karmic enmeshments that resonate for many lifetimes, or we can build something strong and enduring for our future. The choice is always ours.

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Me Too and the Pluto in Scorpio generation.

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?

photo credit: IrenHorrors at deviantart.com

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”.

Murder synastry- Selena Quintanilla-Perez and Yolanda Saldivar.

Today I found myself thinking about the murder of a celebrity that took place when I was a child. I have no idea why I was thinking about it, but I do know now that astrology can answer many of the questions I had back then, with great clarity.

Selena was a beautiful Mexican-American singer, whose death by shooting catapulted her to even greater fame. She was shot by the manager of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, who had recently been accused by the singer of embezzling funds. The killer is still in prison today, hated and vilified by legions of people shocked by Selena’s death.

It is a crazy story. There were rumours of an intense relationship between the two- perhaps a little too intense. Saldivar is an unattractive-looking woman, who was rumoured to burn votive candles to Selena, to have her bedroom covered in posters of the singer. She was said to have left fifteen voicemail messages on the singer’s answerphone before they met, begging to be allowed to set up her fan club. No wonder the story got to be so big- these titillating hints of lesbian obsession were deeply shocking and engaging in the nineties, especially to what can be a relatively conservative community. Even I want to know the truth! What is it? What really happened? Who was obsessed, was it jealousy, lust, greed?

To find the answer to these questions, let’s begin by looking at the charts individually.

I have no birth time for Yolanda Saldivar, so the information I can glean from her chart is relatively limited. However, I think I have found quite a lot:

She is a Virgo, with the Moon in Virgo as well. She also has heavy Libra energy. This is someone who wants to be well-regarded, seen as perfect. Her Moon is conjunct Pluto, the North Node and trine to Neptune. Despite the stabilising influence of a nice trine to Saturn, this person may be out of the loop emotionally. There is a black hole of worry that eats away at her. That Moon is crying desperately for approval- perhaps for her own mother’s approval- and gets lost in its own projections and concealments. Anyone who does anything around Yolanda does it for reasons she herself is damn sure about, Yolanda knows that so-and-so did not smile at her this morning because she secretly hates her, just like her mother secretly hated her. And she will go crazy trying to figure out ways to change how that person sees her.

Moon-Pluto will always have intense, love-hate relationships with other women. There can be terrifying meltdowns and fits of rage. The inner world is intense, and full of many secrets.

Her Sun in Virgo forms the focal point of a T-square to Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter is in domicile in Sagittarius, and forms an opposition to Mars in Gemini- which is one of the signs of detriment for Jupiter. Jupiter forms a sextile to Venus in Libra, and a trine to Uranus in Leo.

This could definitely be someone with narcissistic traits. They want to live large, shine, and have lots of nice things- and they deeply believe in their own righteousness. However, they go completely the wrong way about asserting it. They might be drawn to inflate the truth, and dominate others with their views and beliefs- while failing themselves to live up to them. For this person, all that matters is that they *seem* great, and that they can persuade *themselves* of their own greatness. The inner compass itself is crooked and confused. The Virgo energy in connexion to all of this will lead this person to cook, clean, bow, scrape, be a servant to everyone- and if this does not meet with the recognition and the gratitude that the person requires in order to feel worthy, that touches on an inner sore spot and triggers a cataclysm of rage that feels fully justified to this individual.

Saturn square to Venus and Mercury definitely points to jealous tendencies. Saturn is in domicile as well. Under all the concealments and toadying and hankering after wealth is someone who deeply believes they are unworthy, at their core. It is sad to see, as this person could indeed have creative gifts as well. Perhaps that is why she attached herself so strongly to a creative light, one that shone so much brighter than hers?

Now for Selena’s chart!

The first thing I notice here is Venus in Pisces at the apex of a kite configuration, in the first house. The North Node is in the first, as well- while the Sun is in Aries (ruler of the first house).

This is someone who shines incredibly brightly to others, but is almost dysfunctionally trusting in others, as well. There is so much Venus energy here! With a grand Earth trine, comfort and sensuality is a perogative. This person just wants everyone to have a good time, they DO enjoy the admiration of others- they don’t want any quarreling or discomfort. That Aries Sun will stick its nose out and get into fights, however- and it won’t back down easily. This is a fun-loving person who prefers to turn her back on ugliness and conflict.

The Moon in Sagittarius is like this as well- refuses to look at ugly realities, likes to look on the bright side and have a good time. Moon in Sag can be self-righteous, overly blunt and perhaps a little callous- which is well reflected in Mercury RX in Taurus conjunct the Sun in Aries. This might be someone who can come out with some harsh words.

More than anything, this is an extremely honest person. There is no deception in this chart, which is in stark contrast to the other chart. That Moon in Sag trine Mercury RX in Taurus and that Sun in Aries doesn’t know how to be dishonest, and Jupiter RX conjunct Neptune RX in the 12th house may be somewhat overly proud of the fact, while at the same time preferring peace to conflict.

There are definite power struggles in this chart, as well. The Moon forms the focal point of a T-square to Pluto and Venus- Selena also suffered problems with her mother, although not to the extent Yolanda Saldivar would have suffered them. There is almost an internal, eternal battle within this person who *knows* the truth in a situation, but would find it much more peaceful to ignore it. Maybe speaking out and being a loudmouth got this one in trouble as a child. This dynamic plays out throughout life as power struggles with women, mirroring the initial power struggle with the mother. Pluto opposes Venus as well, which further underscores this dynamic. Her whole generation would have played push and pull, cat and mouse with her.

Mars in the 12th house is a lot of concealed anger. With the square to the Sun, this is someone who can blow up when she is not able to channel and control it through the trine it makes to Pluto. Aries is known to have a short fuse.

On the day she was shot, what did she say to Yolanda? I bet those were some pretty tough words, that cut the killer to the core by revealing her deceptions…

Now for the actual synastry!

What a mess! First of all, I notice Mars square Venus in a tight orb- Selena being Mars, Yolanda being Venus. Mars is, of course, Selena’s ruling planet. It is also poorly placed and its energies somewhat locked, when in the 12th house.

This, to me, definitely represents an unequal dynamic, something that started out well but ended up becoming uncomfortable. For Selena, it possibly began to bring up some hidden anger and resentment that she felt uncomfortable expressing, which would have started to sour the relationship.

The 8th house overlay is very telling, as well. Yolanda’s Sun, Mercury and Venus all overlay Selena’s 8th house, which contains Pluto and Uranus. Selena was already prone to intense, controlling dynamics in her life and this definitely fits the bill. The 8th house represents shared resources, so there is definitely money changing hands between the two- definitely illicitly, given the tendency for this to happen in Selena’s life indicated by the two malefic planets here. Uranus in the 8th can, incidentally, also indicate a sudden death.

Selena’s 8th house Pluto is conjunct Yolanda’s Sun. Yolanda’s Moon, Pluto, Uranus and North Node all fall within Selena’s 7th house- which contains Selena’s South Node. In some way or another, Yolanda is conceived by Selena to be her perfect friend, the one she is dreaming of. Her nature feeds the star’s Venusian qualities, and helps her feel at ease and supported. Perhaps Yolanda’s toadying nature pleased the star’s Leo south node, which can represent a deep need to feel admired and appreciated by others.

Selena’s chart ruler (Uranus) also squares Yolanda’s Saturn, and conjuncts her ruling planet of Mercury. This is mirrored by Yolanda’s Uranus trining Selena’s Sun, and squaring her Saturn. These two definitely brought fame and infamy to one another- through Selena’s sudden death at Yolanda’s hands, represented by Yolanda’s ruling planet conjunct Selena’s chart ruler in Selena’s 8th house of death, sex, secrets, shared finances.

Mars square Pluto is an aspect of violence. Pluto is controlling, Mars is violent- in very general terms. Selena, being Pluto, did have power over Yolanda. She was actually her boss, which Yolanda would have resented, under her facade of “born to please, born to serve”.

When Selena laid down the law and asserted her power, Yolanda (given her issues) would have blown that all out of proportion. Her Mars at 29 degrees does struggle to express itself, but when it does- can hit like a tornado. This woman telling her bluntly to her face that she lied, cheated, stole- would have represented all the unworthiness she strove desperately to conceal, coming up and threatening to drag her down.

A lot of these aspects are seen as sexual aspects, but I do not think there was necessarily anything sexual between the two. The two Venuses are inconjunct- meaning they find very little common ground with one another’s personal sense of beauty. Mars square Venus, Mars opposite Moon indicate a difficulty in reaching one another in this particular way. Although it may scandalise some of my readers, I will say that both charts reveal a possibility that either could be into women- a 12th house Mars and 8th house Uranus and Pluto (for Selena) point to secrets around sexuality and somewhat “different” sexual desires. For Yolanda, I don’t have quite enough information to call it, although Moon-Pluto just on its own can represent obsessive relationships with women.

Yolanda says to this day that she has information about Selena, some kind of secret. She said once that it was in a safety deposit box in Mexico, which turned out to be a lie. Maybe she knows that Selena liked girls? Maybe not her… but some girls, perhaps! Perhaps Yolanda may be gloating over that, telling herself internally that it is worse to be gay than it is to be a killer, and therefore she isn’t quite as bad as others think she is!

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Some thoughts on Saturn in astrology

Astrology changes with new technology, and new discoveries. However, for thousands (maybe even millions) of years, we have worked with what we can see in the sky with the naked eye. This extends only to Saturn. Hence, before the strange and crazy times of the Reformation, Saturn in astrology represented the end of the line. The point of no return. The edge of the known universe, where all comes to an end.

Have a look at this illustration which shows the original planets and luminaries, and the signs associated with them:

The Moon and the Sun stand at the bottom of this wheel, in Cancer and Leo respectively. These are the lights of our identity, the conscious and the unconscious mind. In opposition to these, we have the stark opposite of our human expression, desires, and will… Saturn!

There is a concept in the occult of a “black Sun”, which represents the darkest phase of the alchemical process. This is where all is burned black, and there seems to be no light but the light of darkness. Some might equate this to a depression, and with all the emphasis that is placed these days on love and light and being happy at all costs- nothing could be thought of as worse…

Saturn is this darkness. Here are the things that we are simply forced to accept, beyond our will, and our ability to change them. However, what happens when we accept them?

When we accept the things we cannot change, we find a new power and a liberation that does not belong to our previous limitations. We find we transcend, above and beyond what we could have accomplished previously. When we accept that we are sad, or that we are not perfect, or that our job sucks, or that the relationship is over- we find a new door of incredible power opening to us. It is here that we discover that there is more to life than our personal desires, and that accepting some discipline moves us into a different and higher dimension!

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Some thoughts on Saturn

At the time of writing (29.09.20, NZ time), Saturn is finally direct after being stationary for what has seemed like an eternity… As Saturn is in the final degrees one of its home signs of Capricorn, this planet has been making its presence strongly felt for quite some time. And it will continue to do so for well into the future, as it is just as at home in Aquarius.

Astrology changes with new technology, and new discoveries. However, for thousands (maybe even millions) of years, we have worked with what we can see in the sky with the naked eye. This extends only to Saturn. Hence, before the strange and crazy times of the Reformation, Saturn represented the end of the line. The point of no return. The edge of the known universe, where all comes to an end.

Have a look at this illustration which shows the original planets and luminaries, and the signs associated with them:

Saturn is this darkness. Here are the things that we are simply forced to accept, beyond our will, and our ability to change them. However, what happens when we accept them?

Some misconceptions around the lunar nodes.

I’ve noticed quite a lot of misconceptions floating around about the lunar nodes in astrology, which I think is based around an unclear understanding of how karmic dynamics work within our charts and within ourselves.

Human minds prefer to make things simple, perhaps it is due to the limitations of language. Mercury does put more of a linear spin on things. Or perhaps it is due to the fact that we have two hemispheres in our brain, and tend to conceive of things in terms of polar opposites. But as spiritual and mental discipline helps to build more and more functional connexions in the corpus callosum- the bit that connects our two brain hemispheres- the more we are able to see that the two things we perceive as opposites are, in fact- one.

As a New Zealander of mixed European-Maori descent, I suppose I have been predisposed to see life in terms of this koru here- this fern shoot. This is how I see our circle astrology charts, as well. Life’s stirrings within this parcel of energy cause it to unfurl and expand outwards according to the coded patterns that lie within it. The shoot uncurls and becomes a fern leaf, which in its time will decompose and fall to the forest floor, where its energies will be resorbed into the plants and trees here. These also go through these same cycles of death and rebirth. Nothing is wasted, nothing is lost- and all takes place according to the microcosmic patternings within the plants themselves and the larger ecosystem of the forest as a whole.

Thus it is with the lunar nodes and with the tracks of karmic transformation we can see in astrology charts.

I’ve seen it written- and it annoys me- that the north node is our destination and that it is something that we have to travel towards, arrive at, embody. This is a frustratingly simplistic understanding that lacks awareness of how these patterns actually defy our own limited ego reasoning.

In Vedic astrology, the North and South nodes are known as Rahu and Ketu. Rahu is the head of a snake and is the North Node, Ketu is the body of the snake and is the South Node. Hindu mythology understands Rahu as the one who swallows the sun when there is an eclipses- and Ketu as the one who swallows the moon.

The Sun is our ego, our light, the representative of our joy and passion in life. The Moon is our emotional security, that which is hidden, the vast world of the unconscious. The North Node that eats up the Sun is the opposite of our comfort zone, the same as the South Node that eats up the Moon is the opposite of our growth zone.

This dynamic moves snakelike within our psyche, I am sure we all recognise it. Always the human shrinks in fear from what it might not be good at- that which threatens the sun, the ego. We would prefer an easy life with what we are already comfortable with, but that leads to emotional stunting and the lack of an inner world. Like the mythological snake, this conflict seems to have no beginning and no end- its ability to shed its skin lends itself to endless transformation.

In short, you do not arrive at your north node. It is simply an area of your life that you are advised to work on, in order to grow as a soul. One will always be in a state of flux between the two. Life is an ascending spiral and a masterpiece beyond our comprehension, not the limited theorising borne of our need to have the perfect plan.

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