The astrology of the Shriver/Schwarzenegger split
I 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 […]