progressed Midheaven

The self-destruction of John Edwards

John Edwards astrologyby Lynn Hayes.  Please note that the URL of this blog has changed and update your bookmarks.

Here in North Carolina where I live, the trial of John Edwards has all of the fascination of the OJ Simpson Trial but without the blood. This story has all of the classic ingredients of a Southern Gothic novel: an arrogant politician, a long-suffering wife dying of cancer, a mistress into “new agey” things like astrology and crystals and a reported $9,000 a month allowance.

John Edwards (see chart) is driven both by a sincere desire to help people and a fierce ambition combined with a brilliant intellect. But with four planets in Gemini, he has difficulty focusing. Gemini of course is the sign of the twins, the sign of communication. Gemini has a thirst for experience, an intense curiosity and a desire to digest as much information as possible. Gemini is the jack of all trades and extremely versatile; they are chameleons who can change their skins frequently and in fact they usually dislike becoming overly involved in one particular project.

Edwards was an extremely successful trial lawyer for 20 years, representing families and children before entering politics after the death of his son in 1996. Edwards’ progressed Sun, which delineates our evolving sense of Self, moved into Leo around that same time.  Leo is the sign of the Ego, and the transition of the progressed sun from Cancer (where it had been for 30 years, being focused on family issues and the family business) into Leo, where one’s own expression in the world becomes the primary matter, was the perfect fuel to feed Edwards’s ambition.

The four planets in Gemini in the chart […]

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By |2018-07-15T09:44:41-04:00May 23rd, 2012|Politics|13 Comments
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The astrology of the Shriver/Schwarzenegger split

Arnold Schwarzenegger Maria Shriver separateI suspect that more people were surprised when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver married than when they announced their split this week after 25 years of marriage.

When clients come for an astrological reading about their relationship, they generally want to hear that their relationship is compatible.  But astrologers know that compatibility does not always spell success in relationships.  Couples who are compatible with each other: who  think the same way, who feel the same things, who want the same lifestyle – these couples rarely marry or stay together.  We are more likely to gravitate towards partners who have qualities that we lack; partners who stretch us and help us to develop qualities that may be more difficult for us.

It will surprise no one to learn that Arnold Schwarzenegger was born with the Sun in Leo, but that Leo Sun which is larger than life is locked in a challenging square with Chiron, the planet of wounding and healing.  When the ego (Sun) has been wounded (Chiron), that Leo desire for attention and acclaim becomes bigger and more urgent.   It doesn’t help that a tight Saturn/Pluto conjunction in his chart (also in Leo) suggests a deeply entrenched fear and anxiety, and the proximity of this conjunction to his Sun shows that his confidence is likely rather superficial. The anxiety of Saturn and Pluto falls in Schwarzenegger’s second house of money and personal resources, and I suspect that he has never forgotten the insecurity of his impoverished childhood.

Such a challenge to the Sun requires hard work and discipline (Saturn) to overcome one’s fears and self-doubts, and Pluto’s presence there shows a nascent connection to one’s inner development of personal power that will be the […]

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By |2019-11-10T19:10:05-05:00May 11th, 2011|People, Relationships|4 Comments
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Natasha Richardson has died

Natasha RIchardsonThe shocking death of actress Natasha Richardson after what appeared to be a minor head injury from a skiing accident has raised a lot of questions.  After refusing medical treatment twice, she flown first to a hospital in Montreal and then to a hospital in New York where she died of a blood clot compressing her brain.

There is a big debate among astrologers as to whether we can predict death using astrology, and if we can, whether we should.  We can look at Natasha Richardson’s chart and her transits and progressions and see where a critical event would occur, but I doubt an astrologer would have taken any of these events to signify her death prior to the event.

At the time of Ms. Richardson’s accident, transiting Mars was exactly opposite Uranus in her chart, a common significator of accidents as the impatience of Mars bumps up against the rebellious disdain for rules of Uranus.  Her progressed Midheaven, representing her evolving destiny and purpose, was exactly conjunct Uranus at the same time, showing that this was a time of great importance in her life.  It would have been clear looking at this confluence of events that something very significant would occur in her life.

Another eerie coincidence was the return of Ms. Richardson’s progressed Saturn, which had turned retrograde back in 1985, was exactly conjunct her natal Saturn at the time of her death.  This “progressed Saturn return” is another significator for an event of importance but would not necessarily have alerted an astrologer to her death; it could just as easily have signified a period of great career success.

I usually look for Jupiter transits at the time of death, and there are some harmonious Jupiter transits at work […]

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By |2009-03-19T06:48:42-04:00March 19th, 2009|Death, People|Comments Off on Natasha Richardson has died
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