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Mars in Leo
Profiles: Bono and aspect configurations, Meryl Streep
The Solstice Point

Mars in Leo

 Ordinarily Mars does not spend eight months in a sign but this year it comes close.  Mars entered Leo on October 16 2009, went retrograde at 19°  Leo in December, goes direct on March 10 at 00° Leo, and finally leaves Leo completely on June 7.

On January 29 Mars was at opposition to the Sun; at that time Mars was at 09° Leo and the Sun at the same degree of Aquarius.  Mars was then its most visible in the sky, rising in the east as the Sun set in the west.  Even now, almost a month later, Mars is distinct in the night sky as a red-tinted planet.  Have a look for yourself!

What does Mars’ current journey mean for interpretation? 

During this time any fixed planets in a person’s chart will have some transits from Mars and, of course, the more personal the position (ASC, MC, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus), the more impact the Mars transit can have.  This is especially the case in two situations: (1) natal positions around the 20th degree of any fixed sign, for that could have had Mars stationing to go retrograde in December, and (2) natal positions near 00° of any fixed sign, for that would have a transit of Mars going direct.  And that will peak on March 10.

To illustrate this, let’s look at President Barack Obama, who clearly is attempting to find his inner gallant hero.  (Remember that his natal Mars is in Virgo in the 8th – not exactly a fighting place.) Here is Obama’s chart.  Look through it for the various positions in the fixed signs Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, Scorpio.  You see that Leo and Aquarius are well-tenanted, Taurus is not.   And there’s a matter of Neptune and Midheaven in Scorpio.

Now here’s a graphic ephemeris for Obama for this time, showing only the transits of Mars. Because it’s a 90° sort,  the 0-30° positions designate cardinal signs, 30°-60° designates fixed, and 60°- 90° designates mutable signs. This brings together any transits that are conjunctions, oppositions, and squares together.

You will find a red dot along the red line that designates Mars moving into Leo (at 30°) and another one when Mars moves out of Leo into Virgo (at 60°).  And in between are many interesting transits!

The vicissitudes of Obama’s personal life is largely unknown to us.  Therefore we must rely on what we know of his public life to make sense of his current transits.  I am quite interested in the retrograde station of Mars opposing his Ascendant in December and early January: this could mean his adversaries are angry or militant but we’ve known that already.  I’m sure there’s more.

The Mars retrograde phase has not been kind to Obama; it’s interesting that toward the end of January -- when the Massachusetts Senate election went south and all were wringing their hands about the fate of him and his party -- Mars was opposing his Sun and then squaring Venus.

This brings us to the present moment – 2/23, as I write this.  In his natal chart, Obama has Jupiter in the 1st opposing Mercury and that’s where many of his oratorical gifts come from.  It is interesting that his health care reform proposal, the upcoming summit with the Republicans, and a possible movement of the reform package through “reconciliation” may happen between transits of Mars to Mercury and Mars’ direct station upon Obama’s first house Jupiter.  At that time we may see a more forceful presentation than previously – or his passivity will empower “the other side”.  Possibly you will know which one it is by the time you are reading this.

I must add that Mars’ direct motion will also transit the same planets as Sun, Neptune, and Ascendant on its way out of Leo.  It is possible that these Mars transits will indicate more active and competitive qualities than what manifested from Mars’ retrograde motion thus far.  Things may get very interesting, however, toward early summer when Mars, now in Virgo, will conjunct natal Mars and Pluto, and will square natal Moon.  Expect even more visceral responses from him then.           

In general, what is the signification of Mars in Leo? 

Leo is a fixed fire sign and is governed by the Sun; this implies qualities of steadfastness, idealism, and possibly grand display onto the symbolism of Mars as a planet of action, courage, and anger.  There may also be a tendency to idealize and make fighting and violence far more heroic than their due.  You will note that there is a lot of grand posturing going on these days – although it’s not clear that this is more than usual or if it is just easier to notice.

Mars in Leo shows up conspicuously in Dante’s Paradiso, my life’s current literary albatross: in the middle of their journey through Paradise, Dante and Beatrice are upon the sphere of Mars. Dante encounters a distant ancestor Cacciaguida who, according to the poem, was a Florentine who died during the Second Crusade at around 1150.  Cacciaguida states his birth year in terms of how many times the planet Mars had enkindled itself in the sign Leo since the Annunciation.  (Canto 16.34-39)

Why is there this mention of Mars in Leo?  This planetary placement points to Dante’s nostalgic image of the Crusades as some kind of holy and heroic adventure.  This idealization is well in keeping with the motif of Mars in Leo.  Mars was not in Leo in 1300, the time of the alleged action of the Commedia, although it was there in 1301, and there’s some evidence that Dante used the ephemeris for 1301 for planetary positions (at least for Venus) given to the previous year.

Another possibility looms – what if Dante thought that he had Mars in Leo?  Mars entered Leo in the last days of May 1265 during the month in which Dante said he was born.  If so, Mars in Leo serves to link the (more) modern Crusader with the pen with his illustrious fighting ancestor.   And this is within the traditional and modern associations of the planet Mars with the sign Leo.  And we have a lead to help us find a more precise natal chart for him.

I am planning on a series of presentations this summer on Dante and spiritual cosmology and the astrology and prophecy in the Commedia.  Stay tuned!

Profile One: Bono and aspect configurations

 I may be less familiar with Bono’s career than many readers of this newsletter.  Bono, born in 1960 as Paul Hewson, came into public view as a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the band “U2”, one of the most popular bands since the 1980’s.  Their music contains political themes as well as the love ballads that are standard in the rock repertoire. They have some conventional melodies and rhythms with a definite Celtic lilt – to my ears.  Bono and his band are one of the most internationally visible acts in the business and one might think this is enough.

For at least the past decade, however, Bono has been at least equally well-known as a political activist and philanthropist.  Like his friend Bruce Springsteen, Bono and his band have put on many charity concerts and have allied themselves with political causes.  Bono’s main cause has been to help the often-troubled continent of Africa and he has met with many heads of state specifically on African affairs.  He, along with Bill and Melinda Gates, were Time magazine’s “People of the Year” for their philanthropic efforts; Bono has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.  He has written a series of serious op-ed pieces for the New York Times on future global trends.  At the same time he has been roundly criticized by many who find him sanctimonious and prefer that he stick to entertaining. 

His astrological chart is interesting and different competent astrologers many assess his chart differently.  It depends on how you work with major aspect configurations as we see below.  I present one version of his chart that focuses on this large-scale aspect configuration.

The shape of the large-scale aspect configuration identifies it easily as a “kite” – it’s a grand trine (here between Venus in Taurus, Pluto in Virgo, and Jupiter in Capricorn) that is bisected by an opposition (here between Venus and Neptune that is also conjunct Moon in Scorpio).  That’s six planets!  Although I’m no big fan of having a chart characterized by one aspect configuration, this one could come close because it is so dominant in his chart. 

So much depends on what we ask of the chart.  It’s good to begin with the simple question about career.  If we do so it’s hard not to be struck by the importance of Venus – the fair planet (of music and much else) is the ruler of the tenth sign from the Ascendant, is the Moon’s next application, is quite possibly visible before the Sun rises in the morning, and is in its own sign (Taurus), sect (night), and house joy (fifth).  Now we can factor in the aspects to Venus: she is conjunct Mercury and will well dominate him – this would help anybody’s career as a songwriter and vocalist; trines from Jupiter and Pluto and an opposition from Neptune would influence his wanting to step onto a grander world stage than that simply provided by music.   Jupiter and Pluto definitely would like to make a difference, and the avenue of the music entertainment industry would be limiting but create financial and publicity opportunities (grand trine in practical earth?). 

What is the influence of the Moon onto the other planets?  The word “pervasive” comes to mind, for the Moon makes things very personal even if it’s Jupiter, Pluto and others.   Moon is in one of its least-favorite signs, Scorpio – here Moon is in its “fall” or “depression”.   This placement is very personal and it’s also steeped in pain.  Whether one is fond of Bono or not, all must agree that he doesn’t waste his Moon on being self-absorbed and emotionally insecure.  He has brought it outside himself to attempt to be helpful to others.  Moon in Scorpio easily acknowledges pain – sometimes all too easily – and he seems to be able to acknowledge the pain of others better than many with his fame and wealth. 

Let’s turn the question around and look at the planets that influence the Moon by being in aspect to Moon.  Neptune helps bring Moon from the personal – even as far as the transpersonal, depending on the individual.  This does make one doubt that Bono’s humanitarian streak is simply an exercise in self-importance.  Venus, Jupiter, and Pluto allow him to bring personal or emotional concerns onto a larger stage – musical and political. 

For many years I had been bewildered by large-scale aspect configurations such as this one.  I slowly learned that the configuration itself isn’t important but the planets within the configuration are.  When I asked the chart for specific information I would usually find a faster-moving personal planet or position the most appropriate to answer the question.  From that frame I could then figure out what planets influence that planet by aspect.  Chart delineation suddenly became much simpler.

I would like to pause and consider Bono’s chart differently by using another version of his natal chart.

This chart, from the Sirius program, allows me to focus more on the closer aspects (within 3°) and the Lot of Spirit that is represented by the squiggly lines below the circle that is in the 7th house.

Notice that neither chart deviates from a whole sign house format: in both charts Jupiter and Saturn are in the first house although they are earlier in Capricorn than the degree of the Ascendant.

The first house being the most important place for the delineation of the individual, we have here a very sober-minded and even austere character (although he doesn’t seem to mind money).  Saturn and Jupiter are both out of sect in his nocturnal chart and Saturn in Capricorn owns the entire first house.  This could make him very melancholic or, at best, a bit over-sincere – and we seem to get this latter quality from his personality.  Jupiter, in fall in Capricorn, could only add more dourness, especially since it has such a close application from the already-mentioned Moon in Scorpio. 

What makes matters better for him is the strength of his fifth house, governed by Venus in its joy there.  In this way he is similar to his role-model Bruce Springsteen who we discussed in last month’s newsletter: the fifth, being the “party house” of the twelve, gives some buoyancy to an otherwise downbeat configuration of planets.  Both men are, however, very serious about who they are and how to maximize their roles as rock star into a political and cultural arena.

Bono’s chart contains the additional factor of configurations that involve his Sun.  Uranus is in close square with Sun, bringing about an unconventional approach.   It is interesting that his “eccentricity” is to be more serious and community-minded than is considered normal for somebody in his branch of the entertainment business.  This is augmented by the influence of his Lot of Fortune, in Leo and governed by the Sun.  This makes Sun – along with Mercury and Venus – in a close tenth-house square to the sign of his Lot of Fortune.  This is an indicator of prominence.    Additionally these planets are in the eleventh house from the Lot of Spirit and increased his power of choice over the matters of his life.  Bono’s many fans and detractors certainly agree that he appears to do what he wants with this life – including a very conventional personal life coexisting with a unconventional life as a rock star and a specific identity as a humanitarian activist.

Now we examine the chart of an equally-known entertainer of a very different kind.

Meryl Streep and the Solstice Point: Another Kind of Configuration

An outstanding actress of her generation, Meryl Streep hardly needs an introduction; I feel embarrassed not having worked with her chart previously, for it is so interesting. 

As you can easily look up, she has been nominated for fifteen major Academy Awards and has – so far – won but two.  She was awarded Best Actress in 1982 for Sophie’s Choice when her progressed New Moon was conjunct her natal Ascendant.  She is up one again for another Best Actress award, this time for last summer’s Julie and Julia. 

She is best known for (1) playing a variety of emotionally intense roles (being Julia Child was somewhat the exception) and (2) mastering a variety of accents.  This gives Streep an uncanny versatility that enables her to perform successfully in a wide variety of films as well as on stage and on television.

Here is a summary of her style, in her own words: “I’m interested in crawling into other peoples’ skins, seeing the world through their eyes, explaining people who might seem incomprehensible.  It probably helps that I don’t try to impose anything of myself…I just haven’t gotten many comedies.  I’m a sucker for the powerful story.  I could do the easy thing and not have to go and kill myself each time….”  (Source: Wikipedia.)

The astrologically savvy reader might be guessing from the above quote what her natal chart might look like.  Well, without further delay….

There is much here that catches the eye.

(There is one coincidence you might have noticed: Streep has Jupiter in the 7th in the same degree of Aquarius as does Barack Obama.  As I write this, transiting Mars is on her Ascendant degree and in early March she too will have Mars opposite Jupiter.  He’s onto the conflicts about health care, she may well win an Academy Award, her first since 1982.  Both people are well worth watching in the couple of weeks ahead.)

Back to her natal chart: yes, she has a 12th house Sun in Cancer and indeed she has a certain Cancerian shyness – when she has to be herself.  I am adding here a YouTube Segment of her recently accepting the Golden Globe award for Julie and Julia.  Skip to the middle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbnirG5CXdw&feature=related 

Her image certainly has a Leo rising look, but the resemblance ends there.  Her homage to mother, captured in the video above, is clearly a Cancerian moment.

Yet there is more, much more.  You can certainly see that Sun is one minute from Uranus, which gives her demure Sun a nonconforming independent spirit.  This helps her inhabit the personalities of the characters she plays – and the more eccentric they are the better she will do with them. 

You would think that is enough but I take a short excursion before I come back to her Sun/Uranus conjunction.

Take a look at her Moon, and what a lovely Moon it is!  It’s in the tenth house and exalted in Taurus – and it’s applying in a sextile to Venus that is just emerging from the Sun’s beams in Cancer.  This aspect dignifies both planets greatly: they are in “mutual reception” since Moon in Taurus is governed by Venus and Venus in Cancer is governed by Moon.  Using Dorothean triplicities, Venus is also the triplicity lord of both planets, which further enhances Venus’ role as determinative in her chart.  Similar to Bono, Streep has a dignified Venus, the application of the Moon, as ruler of the 10th place of career.

Let’s look at the Moon once again: it’s hard not to notice a firm square from Pluto in the 1st, both of which are in the middle of the fixed signs Taurus and Leo respectively.  Because Moon is very powerful by sign and house, Pluto can modify it but not necessarily alter its effectiveness.   Streep can “kill herself” each time she plays a difficult dramatic role, but this is a process she has control over and she had done quite successfully.  Others are usually not so lucky.

(Note: 1978, her “breakout year” as a supporting actress in The Deer Hunter and also the year of the death from cancer of her boyfriend and meeting her future husband, occurred with transiting Uranus upon both Moon and Pluto.)

It also turns out that Moon and Pluto, almost exactly 90° from each other, are both 45° from her Sun/Uranus combination.  This makes for a powerful midpoint Sun=Uranus=Moon/Pluto and it also means that Moon and Pluto are antiscia or symmetrical to the Cancer/Capricorn axis and are even more powerfully put together.  All this information links up Moon and Pluto (emotional intensity, for starters) and Sun and Uranus (personal independence or genius). 

Already we have a lot of information about her.  Now let’s take a minute and look at her chart without the modern planets.  It’s always good to refocus.

This helps bring our attention to Mercury and Mars in the 11th, especially since they are in the same sign as the Lot of Fortune.  Here is a combination that gives her luck, drive, and intelligence.  The Lot is favorably configured to the Ascendant and its ruler is dignified and in the same house as the Lot. Together with Mercury’s placement oriental to the Sun, this helps Mercury be at its best and most fortunate for her.  We now have a better idea why she’s so good with different accents.

Mars with dignified Mercury could make her quite verbally cutting; if this is so, she seems to reserve this for close friends and family, for it is not part of her public persona.  Mars also gives her energy and vigor.  I wonder whether Mars will enable her to continue her career well past when others will have “hung up their cleats.” 

We should briefly consider her Lot of Spirit, especially since we have held off on discussing her Saturn placement.  Aside from the major configurations already mentioned that involve the Sun we should also note that Sun itself has an applying sextile to Saturn in Virgo, a fortunate placement that helps bring discipline and a measure of humility – one that is rather noteworthy for an entertainment star of her caliber and reputation.   

Saturn is in the same sign as the Lot of Spirit, giving a grimly hardworking quality to her personal creativity and self-initiative.  Underneath, she is a very serious person who tends not to glow in the glory of yesterday’s accomplishment nor give off an air of entitlement.  She also keeps her own counsel, and the otherwise cutting Mercury-Mars combination seems tethered by the determinism of Saturn and the Lot of Spirit.

This year, will Streep finally win her first Academy Award since 1982?  Although she well deserves the acclaim that goes with an Oscar, the astrological indications do not give me great confidence.  The transit of Pluto opposing her natal Sun is finally over but Saturn is coming back to square the position.  Things do change this summer when Jupiter and Uranus enter Aries and square her Sun.  The progressed Sun-Moon cycle that was so potent in 1982 is less impactful now.  Sun is 28° Leo but the Moon has just entered that sign, so that her progressed New Moon is over two years away.  Her solar return for this year has Saturn in Virgo in the 10th, and this is not promising either.

However, if you consider the ancient technique of decennials, you find that in 1982 she had just entered a Jupiter period and since January 3, 2010, her planetary lords are Mars/Jupiter that is also in trine to one another in her chart. 

Well, if she does win the Academy Award this year we will all look at her decennials at the determinative factor!  I guess we’ll all have to stay tuned.