Aspects for the week beginning 4 August 2024

Edna O’Brien (1930 – 2024)

“I rebelled against the coercive and stifling religion into which I was born and bred. It was very frightening and all-pervasive. I’m glad it has gone.”

~ Edna O’Brien

Prominent Irish novelist Edna O’Brien died recently at the age of 93. Much of her often explicit work exposed the repression in Irish society in the post-war years, and shocked her family and her native readership, so much so that she found it necessary to work from outside the country.  She created a new and unique genre, and her work was especially popular in the U.S. and in France.

Birth Chart

We have the luxury of a birth time for Edna, and can therefore give the signature of her chart as Sun in Sagittarius, Moon in Scorpio and Ascendant in Virgo.  With 0 planets in Air signs, she very much operated on instinct.  Her birth chart tells us she was a leader and trailblazer of sorts (i.e. in her field) with 5 Cardinal planets and the Sun trine the North Node.  She also had the Warrior Archetype (Sun trine Mars, and Mars trine North Node), her anger directed at the treatment of women by men in society, writing about unhealthy relationships and “women who love too much” and become victims in relationships.  Her Moon (emotional make-up) was in Scorpio, dictating the depth of intimacy she wrote about, and its sextile with Neptune adding an enormous sensitivity.  She wrote seriously, as befits Mercury exactly conjunct Saturn, with  mental precision.

There is plenty of evidence for her close square between Mercury and Uranus (unafraid to be controversial): her first book was banned and denounced by the clergy.  She was accused of subversion, and later in life her intervention in Irish politics was deemed offensive by some.  Venus square Mars and Venus trine Pluto further describe the sensuousness of her writing, and ability to shock.  But Venus trine Jupiter shows her very social side: in her prime she was known as a party girl, and in her glamorous and flamboyant lifestyle hobnobbed with the top echelons of American society, such as Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Jackie Kennedy, Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret and Harold Pinter.

Her I.C. (foundations of life, and security) is interesting, conjunct with Venus in Scorpio, showing that many of her themes spring from her experience of childhood, centring around love and intimacy.  She described her childhood as “fervid”.  Pluto exactly square Nodal Axis (karmic mission), found her writing about difficult themes, e.g. sexuality and the abuse of women.

Life and Career

Edna was born in Tuamgraney in County Clare.  Her father was a farmer and the family had known wealthier times.  Traditionally in Astrology, the father is represented in the birth chart by the Sun, and the mother by the Moon.  In Edna’s chart, this is very much the case.  Her father represented by Sun in Sagittarius was a horse-breeder, a drinker, a profligate and a gambler.  Her mother as represented by Moon in Scorpio was emotionally obsessive, strong and controlling.

Edna attended a boarding school run by the Sisters of Mercy, where she excelled in science (Mars trine Uranus natally) and worked part-time in a chemist shop in Dublin while at college.  Neptune rising close to her Ascendant represents pharmacy, as well as the sensationality of her writing.  She was awarded a licence as a pharmacist at the age of 20.

She was very much inspired in her reading by authors such as Tolstoy and F. Scott Fitzgerald, but predominantly by James Joyce.  His influence was seen in her writing and use of language in its attention to detail (her Ascendant in Virgo) and lyrical prose (Neptune rising).

She later wrote the definitive biography of James Joyce.  Their synastry was interesting, with his Uranus sextile her Jupiter (a dynamic energy), his Neptune on her Chiron (touching her deeply) and his Ascendant conjunct her Mercury (informing her writing).

Marriage and Publishing

It was while she worked at the pharmacy that she met her husband Ernest Gebler, an established novelist in his own right. Her family were opposed to the match, and the rebel within her became steadfast.  He wanted to see London, and they moved there in 1959, making it a permanent home.

Ernest introduced her to the publishers Hutchinson, and she began work as a reader there.  Impressed by her work, they gave her £50 as a commission to write a novel herself.  She wrote that first novel “The Country Girls” (Volume I of a trilogy), published in 1960, in three weeks.  “The Country Girls” was about two Irish girls educated together, and then making their way into the world of relationships, and was later made into a film. And so an illlustrious career began, which soon eclipsed that of her husband, and began to sow tension between them. By that time the couple had two boys.

The novel, in its harsh depiction of Irish society, was badly received by her family and harshly criticised in Ireland.  She needed that distance between London and  Dublin.  But her books (including Volumes II and III of the trilogy) were very much accepted outside Ireland, especially in America and France.  She described the reaction to her first book, and this period of her life:

“I felt no fame. I was married. I had young children. All I could hear out of Ireland from my mother and anonymous letters was bile and odium and outrage”.

The marriage broke down, and Edna faced a three year custody battle for the children.  In the synastry of the couple, Ernest’s Mercury trine her Neptune meant that he was able to help her concentrate and apply her imagination.  But when they divorced, he claimed to have written her books.

R.D. Laing

It is interesting to note that during the 1960s Edna was treated by the famous Scottish Psychiatrist R.D. Laing, author of “Sanity, Madness and The Family”.  During her treatment, he introduced her to LSD, which apparently unhinged her mind for a year.

“I thought he might be able to help me. He couldn’t do that – he was too mad himself – but he opened doors”

Her work evolved over time, becoming more experimental in the 1970s and 1980s, and involving media appearances, and scriptwriting.

She wrote  biographies, of James Joyce in 1999, and Lord Byron in 2009, and became more political (and thereby more controversial).  She interviewed Gerry Adams and called on Tony Blair in 1995 to begin talks with Republicans.

Admirers included Kingsley Amis, and Philip Roth, a close friend.  Her synastry with Philip Roth showed a closeness, and the possibility that they were from the same Soul Group, come to shake up the literary world:  there was a double whammy in that his Venus was trine her Pluto, and her Venus was trine his Pluto.  There Moons were exactly sextile (a mutual empathy) and his Pluto was exactly square her Nodal Axis (a strong karma between them).

Philip Roth interviewing her in 1984, describes her physically:

“Because everything she’s wearing for the interview is black, you cannot, of course, miss the white skin, the green eyes and the auburn hair; the colouring is dramatically Irish – as is the mellifluous fluency.”

She certainly had a striking presence, the gentility and dignity of her Virgoan outward appearance containing the cauldrons of her internal passions.  She described her writing:

“I have depicted women in lonely, desperate and often humiliated situations, very often the butt of men and almost always searching for an emotional catharsis that does not come.”

~ Edna O’Brien

The last summing up of her work goes to an Irish politician and poet:

“Through that deeply insightful work, rich in humanity, Edna O’Brien was one of the first writers to provide a true voice to the experiences of women in Ireland in their different generations and played an important role in transforming the status of women across Irish society”

~ Michael D. Higgins

Aspects

We were gifted this morning with a New Moon at 12 degrees Leo.  This emphasizes the holiday making, creative and performing qualities of the sign and the season. In fulfilling the spirit of holidaymaking.  But it is some kind of a new beginning, so if you have experienced some testing times recently, you can press the re-set button.  If you know the House in your chart that this falls in, you can set your intentions accordingly.

Tomorrow (Monday 5th), there is a distinctively different theme, brought by Venus’ entry into Virgo.  This makes us tend to be more selective and discriminating in our tastes.  We become more aware of the issues around the environment.  Venus stays in Virgo until 29th August, so for this month refining our tastes and perfecting our contribution to the ecosystem, e.g. recycling procedures.  We may also be specializing in our work and studies, and maybe bringing artistry to a work project.

Also tomorrow there is a small matter of  Stationary Mercury turning Retrograde.  Do what you can to minimize communication slowness and glitches.  Postal and phone scams may arise.  Be clear in your communications for the next three weeks, in order to avoid misunderstandings and loopholes.  Although technology can go awry, it can be a good period to upgrade such devices.  You may have developed your own strategies, according to past experiences.  Mercury goes Direct again on 28th August, so the end of the month will see distinct changes.

Brighter prospects for the rest of the week: Wednesday (7th) gives us a sextile between the Sun and Jupiter (one of the best aspects in a year).  Time to embrace hope, or even celebration.  It will certainly be lucky for some.  Focus on what makes you happy, and make more of that.

And the final offering of the week is a conjunction of Mercury and Venus at 4 degrees Virgo on Thursday (8th).  This may soften some of the effects of Mercury Retrograde, and bring some happy socializing, with great conversations. It is good for cafe culture, is ideal for artistic or literary endeavours, or negotiations.  Your communications will have an artistic flair, so it’s a good time to get creative.

The week in bullet points:

• Today – new beginning
• Tomorrow – earth considerations; communication glitches
• Wednesday – bright horizons
• Thursday – satisfying social and cultural exchanges