Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson made a significant appearance on our television screens last Sunday, at the tender age of 83, in a drama production called “Elizabeth is Missing” about an elderly woman gradually suffering from increasing dementia.  This comes towards the end of a lifetime of achievement, starting with a dazzling film career in her youth (think back to “Women in Love” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday”), then as a Labour MP with integrity in her middle years.

Birth Chart

Glenda has half her planets in Earth signs, and that fits with her earthy image, reinforced by a gritty close sextile from Saturn to her Sun.  But the Sun also trines Neptune, ensuring that there is a higher focus to her nature as well.  She has an extreme emotional range: Moon conjunct Jupiter, so emotionally is able to focus positively, and Moon closely square Saturn, so she is able to portray the more negative states of emotion such as depression.  Moon also square Neptune is ideal for being able to portray the emotionally confused state of descending dementia.  And there is an added emotional sensitivity to trauma, from the Moon opposite Chiron.  She will have had a lifetime’s effort to alleviate the wounds of human emotion and suffering in society.  I believe she was an exceptionally sincere politician.  Mercury/Chiron squaring Neptune would show that she can see the nuances of arguments and points of view, sometimes to her own detriment.  Her Venus (ruling planet) conjuncts Uranus so she has a sparkling social side (despite being fundamentally introverted through Sun in Taurus/Ascendant in Cancer), which takes delight in provocation or shocking the established order.  This Venus/Uranus conjunction is sextile her natal Ascendant and trine her North Node, which gives her the charisma and sense of destiny of film star status.  Her Mars sextiles closely Pluto, which provides power and strength, and more grittiness.

Career

Glenda played the character Gudrun in the film Women in Love (adapted from the novel by D.H. Lawrence), released in September 1969.  She was noted by Brian McFarlane for “Her blazing intelligence, sexual challenge and abrasiveness”.  The transits show a sextile of Pluto to her natal Pluto (self-empowerment) as a broad shift in her career, but looking at the detail of her transits we also see Uranus square her Ascendant (the ability to shock), Neptune opposite her Mars and square her natal Midheaven (sensationalism).  Twenty years later she played Gudrun’s mother in the adaptation of a sequel novel by D.H. Lawrence, the film of the Rainbow, also a Ken Russell film.  Other notable films were “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “The Music Lovers”, both films of 1971.

In 1992, she completely changed course in her life, opting to become Labour M.P. for Hampstead and Highgate.  Jupiter was trine her natal Venus/Uranus conjunction in Taurus in 11th House, an auspicious start to a political career which lasted 23 years.  Jupiter was also trine her natal North Node, meaning that she was in true alignment with her karmic path.  Thus a Grand Trine was formed, and it often is when there are such good Jupiter transits that a person embarks on something new.  Another indication of a new path was the Uranus/Neptune conjunction of 1992 in Capricorn trine her natal Sun: that conjunction brought the winds of change through many peoples’ lives.  She felt that Thatcherism had destroyed society and she wanted to do all she could to alleviate that.

She served under Tony Blair for two years, but then became a critic of his, most notably over the issue of the Iraq war.  In June 2011 she announced that she would retire at the 2015 election.  She had a decisive transit of Mars sextile her natal Pluto at that point.  Saturn was trine her Mercury, which is more of a calculated type of decision making.  Uranus was square her Ascendant  and Pluto trine her natal Uranus (time for another complete change).  Pluto was transiting her natal North Node in Capricorn in the 7th House (she sensed the necessity of change).  She actually retired around the time of the 2015 election, with a Mars Return (a renewal of her energy), Mars squaring her Midheaven (in charge of her career path), Jupiter sextile her Chiron (new healing space for her), Uranus trine her natal Moon in Sagittarius in her 6th House of Working Conditions,  and Neptune square her natal Mercury (a relaxation of mental work, a new creative and spiritual mental space).

She returned to acting, and as an actress, in the third act of her extraordinary life, she has lost no power.  She took on the extraordinary and demanding role of King Lear, for example.  In her new role in the television drama, the transits show Saturn trine her natal Sun (a serious portrayal of the problems of being elderly).  The Guardian gave the drama five stars for its first episode.  It has been conjectured that in her portrayal of an elderly woman with dementia, she has drawn on her experiences as an MP in her community as well as researching the illness.  Social problems and deprivations were of great concern to her in her time as a politician (and she has criticized the  failings of  recent Tory governments to tackle problems such as poverty and homelessness).  She says dealing with dementia is still down the political ladder of priorities.

Aspects

I won’t comment on the result of the General Election, except to say that from the time the date was announced, I predicted that Boris Johnson would win on the grounds that his transits were very lucky for this period, and the others (including those of Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson) were not helpful.

We have a very helpful transit today: that of  Jupiter trine Uranus.  This is a wonderful transit for springing surprises, entering into entrepreneurial arrangements, even for taking risks (and this from a risk-averse astrologer!).  It’s a trine which Richard Branson has in his natal chart, and he has taken risks a good many risks in his time.  Donald Trump also has this trine exact in his chart, and he of course is an entrepreneur and takes risks.  If you want a more respectable role model for Jupiter trine Uranus, you could take Frank Lampard, who has done well at Chelsea as football manager.  Anyway, this account of Jupiter trine Uranus is mainly to show you that you can bring out your Inner Entrepreneur successfully today.  I hope it proves to be a good day, as it is my 70th birthday!

Savour the trine between Jupiter and Uranus throughout the first half of the week, because our next aspect does not appear until Thursday (19th).  This aspect is Mars sextile Saturn, and it is useful on a practical level.  It is good for both beginning and finishing practical and active projects, e.g. for putting that final piece in a jigsaw.  The early part of the week should go with a swing because of the Jupiter/Uranus connection, but if you are struggling, some solid ground could be regained with the added boost of Mars sextile Saturn.

More caution is needed on Friday (20th) however, when we encounter a square between the Mercury and Neptune.  We may find that we have been subject to illusion, for example about what someone or something can do for us.  We may have been caught up in the sensationalism of an event,  a product or a personality.  Illusion and confusion are provinces of the difficult face of Neptune, and need patience and spirituality to wade through to clarity.  This square can see us still in thrall, or waking up to reality and realizing that we have been in thrall.  This aspect may contribute to misunderstandings, so keep your communications clear.

Also early on Friday morning, Venus leaves Capricorn and enters Aquarius.  This may lighten the social mood, though you will still need to be aware of the illusory Neptunian vibes, but you may have some extra mental energy to deal with its effects, such as the telepathic superpowers of Aquarius.  You will feel more connected to people, but not in a clingy way, more in the mode of a higher evolutionary consciousness.  We might, in the immortal words of David Cameron, feel “we’re all in it together”.

The week in bullet points:

  • Today – Fabulous
  • Thursday – Achievement
  • Friday – Illusion and Social Connection
Date: Dec 15th, 2019 · Comments RSS · Tags: Celebrities