Tag Archives: celebrity marriage

Cinderella and the Solstice King, Part III

William and Kate will be married at Westminster Abbey, which has a history of royal weddings dating back to 1100.

The wedding ceremony for the royal couple at Westminster Cathedral is set to start at 11 a.m. on April 29. (Click here to view the chart.)

I have heard colleagues wax lyrical over this chart. They were delighted at how the tenth-house Sun in stable Taurus and stabilising Saturn in sextile to the Ascendant in royal Leo indicate a lasting marriage and the couple’s eventual ascension to the throne. They were delirious about Jupiter and Mars on the Midheaven, almost a guarantee of fame and fortune for Will and Kate, including numerous offspring. Well, with all due respect, I beg to differ.

To start with, the Sun is at a challenging angle to the Ascendant, indicating tensions and difficulties. It is telling that the Ascendant should be conjunct the Arabic Part of Discord! The background of fixed stars provides hints as to what the difficulties might be. There is Hamal (following one’s own path), Schedir (the Queen, female power) and Denebola (to go against society).

Additionally, the Sun forms a flowing aspect with Pluto, the underminer, in the fifth house of children … and of royalty. If you have read the first two parts of this series, you may be able to imagine several scenarios at this point, ranging from divorce out of boredom or claustrophobia to abdication of the throne. Since Pluto describes collective influences beyond personal control, a democratically induced end to the monarchy is not unthinkable either. The English have done it before…

But back to the wedding: Certainly, the array of planets in the ninth house and around the Midheaven suggests great public interest from around the globe and a great party at that. It aptly describes the moment as well, since the ninth house is the area of religious ceremonies. Also, Jupiter on the Midheaven is ruler of the fifth house of children, suggesting a whole bunch of kids. After all, this is the whole point of the exercise, as the North Node in the fifth house of children shows.

However, there is a down-side: Aries planets tend to be rash and to act without really thinking things through. They often lack the stamina necessary to see a quickly started project through to the end. Jupiter in Aries often turns out to be a bag full of hot air, while an over-enthusiast Mars/Jupiter conjunction tends to bite off more than it can chew. Mars and Jupiter on the Midheaven may just as well describe a couple famous for its enormous rows.

The clearest indications that Cinderella and her Solstice King might not live happily ever after are given by Saturn and the Moon. In the wedding horoscope, Saturn represents the “contract” the couple is entering into, as well as their shared resources and motivations. With Saturn being retrograde, the contract won’t last in its original form, and shared resources may start dwindling, while the current, shared motivation to enter into this marriage may turn out to be hollow.

Meanwhile the Moon, giver of form and symbol of caring and motherhood, is void of course. After only the shortest glance at this horoscope, any horary astrologer would advise to forget about the matter at hand, as nothing will come of it. Translated into this wedding chart, it is just another indication that we’ll likely be looking at no more than a grand opera being performed.

After Will and Kate had seen the Archbishop of Canterbury to discuss their wedding arrangements, he was asked about his impression of the couple. Apparently, he described them as shallow and superficial, and didn’t give the marriage a chance to last beyond its seventh year. If you ask me, he might actually be right, but for the sake of the currently happy couple and of the British monarchy, I hope that I am wrong.

Cinderella and the Solstice King, Part II

Let us refresh our memory and look at the “relating tools” William and Kate have at their disposal. How will they cooperate in building their married life?

The resemblance between these two charts is striking (Click here to view the synastry chart.) Their respective Sun and Moon in aspect by sign is a combination that is often found with married couples. Conscious will and instinctive emotional reaction are cooperating; there is a basic understanding of each other’s needs and a readiness to act accordingly. Also, the male (Sun) and the female (Moon) principles are acting in unison, which is paramount for the production of healthy progeniture – and producing royal heirs is the main point of this exercise, at least as far as the royal family are concerned.

However, William’s Sun and Moon are in the early degrees of Cancer, while the Lights in Kate’s chart occupy the middle degrees of Cancer/Capricorn. Although there is therefore no direct aspect connection, this may support the stability of the marriage, because the couple will never experience difficult transits affecting their individual inner cores at the same time.

A special sheet of stamps has been issued in the U.K. to commemorate the royal wedding.

Interestingly, Kate’s Moon is exactly conjunct William’s lunar South Node, another hint in the direction of offspring and a possible “practice round” in a previous life – in other words, a karmic connection.

The couple’s communication appears to run smoothly and without any obstacles. Both Mercuries are in logical and intellectual air-signs and connected by an easy-flowing trine aspect, meaning Will and Kate do understand each other very well. Both Mercuries are in easy communication with Mars and Saturn in Libra, and both relate to electric Uranus. All this could create an atmosphere of lively banter and friendly competition, as well as unusual interests, adventurous pursuits and travel companionship. In the best case scenario, we see two very like-minded people joining forces in an “us against the rest of the world” kind of pact, and acting in unison, if under restrictive conditions. But oy vey, if one of them goes through a change of mind without the other and coldly calculated hurts start flying in both directions! Meanwhile, however, Kate and Will do enjoy having a good laugh about their private jokes, which may be none too flattering for the subjects of their jests.

The things we like are described by Venus. Will’s and Kate’s Venus positions are connected through a square by sign, indicating action on the romance front. While Kate admires mental acrobatics, inventive logic and classic design with a twist, Will likes the hands-on feel of beauty and sensuality, material comfort and what is commonly called “the good things in life.”
Both Venus positions are related to unpredictable Uranus, indicating an electrically charged attraction between the two lovebirds, but also a certain fickleness in their mutual affections. Kate’s chart features a Venus/Uranus sextile, indicating that she knows to pick her moments and get away with it, whereas Will may encounter real opposition whenever he sticks to his individual tastes or follows his impulses regarding people, places and activities. Someone somewhere may feel shocked or affronted by his choices, and sometimes, this someone could be Kate.

We have already seen one example of the on-off quality this relationship can carry. In 2007, Kate couldn’t cope with the intense media attention and the couple split up, only to reunite a few months later. Let’s hope that they have in the meantime learned to make use of the determination and endurance their Mars/Saturn combinations can provide. If they keep following their Uranian impulsiveness, they may end up repeatedly throwing the babe out with the bathwater.

With so much fluctuation indicated, good old Saturn becomes especially important as the provider of stability. With Will’s Venus in aspect to the Lord of Time, there doesn’t seem to be much danger of him wanting to break out of a relationship once he has opened his heart. Unfortunately, Kate doesn’t have this tool in her box and we can only hope that her common sense will override her impulsiveness, if this union is to last. I believe the first test will come a few months after the wedding:

Although Kate was born a few months before Will, her Saturn occupies a later degree than Will’s. Since the wedding announcement, he has gone through the second phase of his prolonged Saturn return, which will go into the third and last phase in August/September 2011. It is the right time for him to formalise his love relationship and give it legal status. Kate, however, will go through the honeymoon phase and then experience a rather quick, one-hit Saturn return in October 2011. I reckon this will be the time when she first realises just how formal her life has become and she may not like it very much. By the same token, however, a sense of “having arrived” may prevail. I wonder whether we’ll ever know…

The Composite Chart

Since we don’t have a time of birth for Kate, we have to ignore the house positions in the composite, but even so, the planet positions are quite revealing, with regards to the potential of this relationship. (Click here to view the composite chart.)

The Sun in spontaneous and hot-headed Aries is accompanied by Mercury and Venus in the same sign. There certainly are true loving feelings between Will and Kate, but the companionship factor appears to be just that little bit stronger. This could even be a stabilising factor in the long term. If Will and Kate develop a mutual sense of comradeship through thick and thin they may be able to weather the storms that seem inevitable with this chart.

A weak Mars and the sensitive Cancerian Moon both afflict the Sun. The Aries planets suggest childish ego struggles between the couple, while combative Mars and habit-forming Moon indicate a possibly endless cycle of arguments, during which caring feelings first get hurt and then shut off. On the other hand, it looks like Will and Kate are certainly going to do their best to produce new heirs to the throne, as the T-square is calling for action. Besides, the Moon is conjunct the fixed star Alhena, which Bernadette Brady interprets as “to be on a mission.”

However, Venus in Aries is thrilled by the hunt, which will be over by the time they’re married. Additionally, the connection from Venus to Uranus could make the couple feel bored with each other quite quickly and lead them to seek new thrills, either in their own bedroom or – heaven forbid – in someone else’s.

Again, stabilising Saturn would be needed to provide the stability the rest of the planets don’t seem to provide. Unfortunately, composite Saturn is unaspected, i.e. it can’t exert its influence on any of the other planets. An unaspected planet tends to manifest itself in extremes, either not at all or completely over the top. In Saturn terms, this means the relationship may have no staying power or stability at all, or it may become super-restrictive for the two people involved. In either case, I somehow doubt we’re going to see a fairy tale with a happy ending unfold.

In the third and final part, we’ll look at the chart for the wedding.

Helene

Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio.

You can also find more information on her website, Trans-It! AstroLogistics.

Patrick Swayze & Lisa Niemi – Enduring Love

When I read in the news that Patrick Swayze had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year, I was saddened. He has long been a favorite of mine as an actor and as an example of a Hollywood celebrity whose marriage works.

He and Lisa Niemi met when she was 15 and he was 19, and they were married in June 1975. That will be 34 years this coming June – great by any standards and extraordinary by film industry standards.

Of course, being an astrologer, the first thing I did was track down their birth data and look at the synastry between their charts. ::grin::

Patrick has both Sun and Moon in Leo, with Virgo rising and Saturn conjunct Neptune in Libra in the first house. I’ve observed that Saturn in Libra people either spend as little time as possible married or are faithfully married forever. Patrick falls in the latter category and describes himself as loyal almost to a fault. Lisa’s Sun is in Gemini with the Moon likely in Sagittarius. I don’t know for sure, because I couldn’t find a birth time for her.

A look at the personal planets by sign shows solid compatibility between them. His Leo Sun is harmoniously trine her Sagittarius Moon, and her Gemini Sun forms a friendly sextile to his Moon in Leo. Having the luminaries in compatible elements, in this case fire and air, is an excellent basis for understanding. They both have the Moon in a fire signs giving them an intuitive understanding of the other on the emotional level.

His Mercury in Leo (widely conjunct his Sun) is sextile her Mercury in Gemini (closely conjunct her Sun) making communications a snap! Because they both have Sun conjunct Mercury, there is a strong parallel working here, too. They have great chemistry, too, indicated by the harmonious trine between her Venus in Cancer and his Mars in Scorpio.

In synastry, Saturn is the planet we look to for determining durability in relationships. Patrick and Lisa have a set of Sun/Saturn aspects demonstrating how this works. Her Sun is trine his Saturn and his Sun is square her Saturn. They chose to marry (Saturn likes signed documents) rather than live together, and it obviously works for them. A couple more Saturn aspects in their synastry: her Saturn in Scorpio is conjunct his Mars in Scorpio and his Saturn in Libra is square her Venus in Cancer. These aspects both fall in the stabilizing category and show up with great frequency between couples in enduring marriages.

Jupiter graces this pair with a sense of fun and optimism shown by a matched set of Mars/Jupiter squares (a little over the top but who cares) and a powerful conjunction between her Jupiter/Pluto and his Sun/South Node/Pluto in Leo. The second synastry aspect was the first one that caught my eye. There is another nodal aspect – her Mars is conjunct his North Node – yes, her planets conjunct both ends of his nodal axis! Aspects to the lunar nodes in synastry indicate karmic forces at work.

In many ways, these two support and encourage each other (the Saturn and Jupiter aspects) and have a wonderful sounding board in one another (Sun/Mercury aspects). Here is an instance where the astrology of the relationship clearly supports the reality. I wish them well in their current battle with Patrick’s cancer.

posted by Neith . . .