Aspects for the week beginning 11 February 2024

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

“No one is more influential when it comes to writing music today”.

~ National music Publishers’ Association, 2021

The power couple of the moment is singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and her American football star Travis Kelce.  Taylor is on tour in Japan, flying back to America tonight for her boyfriend’s appearance at the Super Bowl.  To add to the anticipation, Republicans are nervous in case she endorses Biden at the event.

Birth Chart

We have a birth time for Taylor of 5.17 a.m. West Reading, Pennsylvania, but it is not wholly reliable, so I will use it with circumspection.  Where does her stupendous success lie in her birth chart?  Taylor has over half (6) of her planets in the Cardinal signs, marking her out as a leader, which she is in many ways.  She has the Sun in Sagittarius, but unaspected, making her very individualistic. An exception is a karmic sextile to her Sun from the North Node, so she may be driven by destiny.  She has a fascination for storytelling, and one of the Archetypes for Sagittarius is The Storyteller.  Venus is also unaspected, making her a free spirit in terms of relationship.  She has three planets in Cancer opposing four planets in Capricorn, a balancing act but powerful when mastered.  Mercury is opposite Jupiter, giving her an interesting breadth of mind, but with Mercury also conjunct Saturn, at the same time the ability to focus.  Mental brilliance comes from Mercury conjunct Uranus, and the ability to channel from a conjunction of Mercury and Neptune.  She has Mars rising within a degree of her Ascendant, in the 1st House, which is part of her charisma and fighting spirit.  Jupiter opposes Uranus, a sign of entrepreneurship.  There is also a healing conjunction of Jupiter and Chiron, plus a super strong sextile between Saturn and Pluto.  She can deal with complexity (Uranus conjunct Neptune) and deep healing (Pluto closely trine Chiron).  Altogether a strong suit of aspects.  If the birthtime is accurate, there is a success career path shown in three trines and a sextile to her Midheaven (careerpoint).

Life and Career

Swift’s parents were very supportive of her ambition (Saturn trine her natal Midheaven), and she began song-writing professionally at the age of 14.  By 2005 she had signed with a record label, Big Machine Records.  She was heavily influenced by the country music genre (Shania Twain being a favourite), and her first album “Taylor Swift” was released in 2006, but by 2014 (the year when she moved to New York after living in Nashville) she had departed from this genre with her fifth album “1989” (which was her birth year).  I have not followed her music, but recognize at least one tune from that album, “Shake it Off”.  I happened to see another of her songs from that album, the satirical “Blank Space”, on BBC TV last night.  She effectively strutted through the performance with great stage presence, accompanied by a vast audience who sang every line of the song with her.  Harvard University has her lyrics as part of their curriculum, entitled “Taylor Swift and her World”, acknowledging the phenomenon that she is.  She has sold 200 million records, and became the first billionaire who had music as the main source of income. Her career is studded with awards (literally too numerous to mention), and only this month she won two Grammy Awards for her 2022 album “Midnight”.  Critics have praised her work for its honesty (which is a core Sagittarian trait), intelligence, idealism and vulnerability.

A Bold Move

2014 proved to be an important year for Taylor Swift altogether, with her Progressed Sun sextile her natal Pluto in Scorpio (a play of power).  In November of that year, she removed her catalogue from Spotify, as its practices damaged royalties due to songwriters.  Among the transits in this important action, were Jupiter (her ruling planet) exactly trine her natal Sun (an expectation of success) and Uranus square her natal Saturn (freeing herself through Uranus, form authority/institution as represented by Saturn).  In the following June (2015) she spoke out again on the issue of the unfairness to artists, Apple Inc. announced a change in policy promising to pay artists during the free trial period, and Swift then allowed her new album 1989 on to the streaming service.  In June 2017 she returned her catalogue to Spotify.  She proved her power, and her worth as a mover and shaker in the industry.

Relationships

Her unaspected Venus may say something about this area of her life.  Relationships are all good fodder for songwriting, and Taylor Swift has had a stream of boyfriends, including Joe Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal, Calvin Harris, Tom Hiddleston, Matt Healy and Joe Alwyn.  Most of the relationships were short lived, except for the six year relationship with Joe Alwyn.  And so to Travis Kelce…

Travis Kelce

Taylor Swift started dating Travis, an American football “tight end”, last year (2023).  His team the Kansas City Chiefs are playing at the Super Bowl tonight.  Travis is a Libran,  born 2 months before Taylor in the same year, so there are some similarities in their charts, which makes them comfortable with each other, and mutually understanding.  Both have 6 Cardinal planets, so both are leaders.  He has Mars closely conjunct the Sun: an athlete and warrior (and car collector, another province of Mars).  His Moon, which represents females in his life, is in Sagittarius, Taylor’s sign.  With Mercury sextile Venus, he may be good with words, which is something Taylor may appreciate.  Mars notably exactly square to Jupiter gives him over the top energy.  He has a difficult Cardinal T-square composed of Saturn/Neptune opposing Chiron/Jupiter and square Sun/Mars.  Like Taylor, he has Jupiter opposite Saturn,  Jupiter exactly opp Neptune, and Jupiter conjunct Chiron.  Also like Taylor, he has Saturn closely conjunct Neptune, and Pluto closely trine Chiron.  Additionally, he has a conjunction of Saturn and Uranus.  Apparently, Kelce was one of the highest-profile white NFL players to take the knee during the National Anthem in 2017 in protest.

His liaison with Taylor Swift has raised the profile of his sport in America.  As well as having many birth chart features in common, they also have a higher than average number of interaspects in their Synastry.  In particular, her Mars keys into his Mercury-Venus sextile, which is a great personal mutual attraction.

Transits for the Super Bowl

For Taylor Swift

Taylor has transiting Jupiter trine her natal Mercury – flying across the world (her flights controversially tracked by Jack Sweeney)!  She also has a lucky sextile between transiting Jupiter and her natal Jupiter, and a career-enhancing trine from Jupiter to her natal Midheaven (if the birth time we have is accurate).  This makes for a memorable time!

For Travis Kelce

He has mixed transits.  His play may be steady, with Jupiter trine his natal Saturn and Saturn sextile his natal Saturn (exact to the day).  Neptune trines his Venus (glamour attached to the proceedings) but Neptune opposing his natal Mercury (some self-delusion).

For Mahomes

Hopes for his team rest to a great extent on Mahomes, the quarterback in the Kansas City Chiefs.  His team has a chance “to become the first team in 20 years to win back-to-back Super Bowls” according to Andrew Lawrence in this morning’s Observer Sports pages.  The transits for this Virgoan include an empowering transiting Pluto sextile his natal Pluto, but counterbalanced to that a square from Neptune to his natal Jupiter.  Again, expectations and delusion may be high so indications are it would not be an easy victory, but he has that empowering transit amongst a mixed batch of transits.  Aged 28, he faces his Saturn Return on the 28th May of this year.

For Joe Biden

An endorsement from Taylor Swift (he has Mars flattering his natal Venus with a sextile) would be very welcome, particularly as he has been under fire in recent days for a failing memory.  With transiting Pluto currently squaring his natal Moon, he is under severe emotional strain at this time, which must be a component of his situation.  However, Pluto is also trine his natal Neptune, an underlying strength and wisdom which will help him to endure this period.

Aspects

This does not look like an easy week, but I am hoping that my guide will provide assistance!  We start on Tuesday with the ingress of Mars into Aquarius in the morning.  This gives us a push to do all we can to improve the conditions of our society, currently beset by the biggest crises in living memory.  Mars in Aquarius is about team spirit, and supporting the underdog.  It will provide us with a very helpful spirit for the undertaking, providing a sense of community and pulling together, and a sense of hope that it will all be worth the effort.  A Mars’ motto is “never say die!”  And while sometimes we may need acceptance and surrender, we all need to keep going and keep strong, and be there for each other.

It is followed, at lunchtime, by the easiest aspect this week (pay attention if you want to get the most out of the week) – that is Venus sextile Neptune.  This aspect can bring soothing waves of serenity, which hopefully you may experience.  People may come more into tune with each other.  New artistic avenues may flourish.

Valentines Day (Wednesday, 14th) holds the most difficult of aspects, that of Mars conjunct Pluto, an aspect which comes up once every two years.  This may spell extreme passion for some, but sounds an alarm bell of conflict for others.  Definitely a day to skirt round those scuffles in the supermarket.  It would be a good day to organize a group meditation if possible.

Friday (16th) is more congenial, with Venus entering Aquarius.  This may lighten the social mood, and you may have some extra mental energy at your disposal, such as the telepathic superpowers of Aquarius through its ruler Uranus.  You will feel more connected to people, but not in a clingy way, more in the mode of a higher evolutionary consciousness.

But the challenges continue on Saturday (17th) with an early morning square between Mercury and Uranus, so be prepared for glitches as you open up your devices first thing.  Back up your computer files (mental note to take my own advice!), and consider I.T. loopholes.  Speech may be controversial.  Use your intuition to be one step ahead – the Universe may be trying to show you new pathways, and possible new perspectives.

At breakfast-time, Venus conjoins with Pluto, introducing a deeper psychological element into the day’s complexities.  There is much more reflection about the enormity of change, and the impact on humanity.  You may need to do some soul-searching in order to have a handle on your feelings.  In your interactions, deep honesty may be required. A strong dose of chamomile tea and lavender may be needed all round.

The week in bullet points:

• Tuesday – in defence of the underdog; some soothing vibes later
• Wednesday – take extreme care
• Friday – a lighter social mood;
• Saturday – challenging: electrical and IT glitches; deep soul-searching