Aspects for the week beginning 2 February 2025

Marianne Faithfull (1946 – 2025)

“When I was at school at Leighton Park…She was the most beautiful girl any of us had met and had the charisma of a superstar.”

~ Robin Denselow

Staying with the 1960s, after last week’s Dylan blog, I am writing about Marianne Faithfull who passed away aged 80 peacefully this week surrounded by her family, after what could be called a turbulent life.  She released 22 solo albums in her lifetime, but the song she is most associated with is “As Tears Go By” which she recorded at the tender age of 18.

Birth Chart

We are lucky enough to have a birth time for Marianne, and so we can say her vital statistics are Sun in Capricorn, Moon in Pisces, and Ascendant in Aries.  Her Sun in Capricorn was part of a triple conjunction with Mars and the Midheaven (Careerpoint).  This gave her a strong inner sense of ambition, and a relentless desire to stay on course with her chosen career as a singer.  I consider the Midheaven to represent the persona in the outside world (other astrologers assign the Ascendant to the Persona), and in Marianne’s chart Mars conjunct the Midheaven depicts the sexualization of her persona.  Sun/Mars squaring her natal Neptune represented her addictive personality, which resulted in a lifelong struggle, and saw her spend a few years on the streets homeless.  A saving grace was a close sextile of the Sun with Chiron, which will have battled through and found solutions.  Another saving grace was that her North Node was exactly trine her natal Neptune, keeping her connected with her Soul’s path (even though this was not an easy one).  The song which made her name (As Tears Go By) was an expression of her Moon in Pisces.  She was not totally enamoured of the song, as she did not feel it was a representation of her talent or her age.  I would say that astrologically, while it had all the tenderness and sentimentality of her Moon in Pisces, it lacked the grit of her Capricorn and the sensuality of her three planets in Scorpio (which included a conjunction of Venus and Jupiter).  With Mercury opposite Uranus, she was not afraid of controversy, although she was stung by the effect on her life and reputation of the police raid on Mick Jagger’s flat, which Adam Sweeting in the Guardian obituary described as earning her tabloid infamy as the “girl in a fur skin rug”.  She had three planets in her 7^th House of Marriage, and three marriages to match.

Life and Career

Marianne was born in Hampstead into a family which had a colourful ancestry.  Her mother was a ballerina, her father a British intelligence officer, her grandfather an Austro-Hungarian nobleman.  She was the great great niece of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch whose name was used to coin the word “masochism”.  When she took part in the programme “Who do you think you are?”, it was revealed that her mother and grandmother had been raped by the Red Army when they entered Vienna at the end of the war.  Some of the heavyweight of these ancestors may be represented by her Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Leo in her 4^th House of Home and Family background, but such a signature in a House cannot always encompass all its nuances.  Her parents divorced when she was six years old.

Marianne always had ambitions to be a singer.  In the obituary segment of The Guardian, Robin Denselow writes about how he attended a nearby school to her St Joseph’s convent, in his teens: “Even then, she was a fine young actor and a fine singer.” When she was 18 she attended a launch party for the Rolling Stones, which changed the course of her life. She had already been performing as a folk singer in coffeehouses, but at the party she was “discovered” by Andrew Oldham, who was only two years older than herself.  His impact on her life can be seen in their synastry, with Pluto on her natal Saturn, and Mars sextile her natal Saturn, plus Jupiter trine her natal Mercury (Opportunity).

The Song

Some mystery surrounds the provenance of “As Tears Go By”, and Marianne’s ambivalence is mixed in with this, for sometimes she praised it and at other times she denigrated it.  Sometimes she said it was written especially for her or if not “it fitted me so perfectly it might as well have been”, and at other times, she said it was foisted on her after being written. This vagueness typically describes her Sun square Neptune. What is always acknowledged is that the writers of the song were Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  One story has it that Andrew Oldham told them to write something “toned down”, for the purpose.  Whatever it was, it made her name (transiting Pluto was life-changingly exactly trine her natal Midheaven, sudden-breakthrough Uranus was trine her natal Sun, and expansive Jupiter was in her 1^st House); and she released her first album in 1965, titled Marianne Faithfull.

It was not until two years later that she began her affair with Mick Jagger, which became a four year liaison.  Previously, she had married John Dunbar on 6th May 1965.  Her transits on the day were not particularly auspicious: transiting Mars/Uranus square her Nodal Axis, and transiting Pluto opposite her natal Moon, but trine her natal Mars/MC.  However, they were in good company, with the best man being Peter Asher, and a honeymoon spent hanging out in Paris with the Beat Poet Allen Ginsberg.  Marianne had lifelong literary interests, and was well-read, with her poetic Moon in Pisces, and her triple conjunction in her 9^th House of Publishing.  On 10th November 1965 she gave birth to her son Nicholas.

Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger has had a cavalcade of ladies parading through his life, but Marianne Faithfull was the first publicised relationship, and the relationship certainly made its mark on Marianne.  Some of the songs written and performed by the Rolling Stones were written with her in mind.  In 1966 she and Nicholas went to live with Brian Jones of the Stones and his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, beginning a marijuana habit (with Neptune transiting her natal Jupiter).  In this period she also branched out into acting, and in her lifetime made many films, including “Girl on a Motorcycle” (1968).  She also released several other singles, including “Come and Stay with Me”.  She was devoted to Jagger, but suffered some trauma in this period.  Her synastry with him included: his Jupiter-Pluto on her Saturn in Leo, his Uranus sextile her Saturn and his Chiron on her 5^th House cusp.  Added to that, his Mercury exactly sextile her Neptune and sextile her North Node, and his Mars square her Pluto.  That is quite an impact, especially for her.  On 22^nd November 1968 she suffered a stillbirth, while by now addicted to cocaine.  She lost custody of her son, and a suicide attempt followed on 8^th July 1969, with Saturn square to her natal Saturn.  Her life spiralled downward, she became anorexic, addicted to heroin, and was homeless for two years on the streets of Soho.

Resurrection

By 1979 she had extricated herself from that downward spiral, and was ready to make music again, this time on her own creative terms.  The result was her new album of that year “Broken English”, writing about the pain of the intervening years, and the album is still acclaimed as her best work.

The Voice

Marianne Faithfull had a classic Venus in Scorpio voice of a husky, sultry tone.  Another husky and sultry female Venus in Scorpio voice is the media personality Mariella Frostrup, whose voice has been described as “gravelly”.  By 1979, Marianne’s voice had deepened from laryngitis and drug taking.  Some described it as “whisky soaked”.

The comeback is beautifully depicted in her Progressed Sun forming an exact Grand Trine with her natal exact trine of Neptune and the North Node, her rehabilitation, bringing out and illustrating the potential of that natal trine.  She earned herself a Grammy nomination.  One of the successful songs released as a single in that year was the mournful “The Ballad of Lucy Jordan”.

She continued to make music over the decades, and to appear in film (notably receiving a Best Actress nomination for her role in the film Irina Palm on 4^th November 2007).

Her life was one of extremes, going from victimhood to increasing empowerment.  She was much more fulfilled creatively in the second half of her life, but more quietly so.

“She was a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer and a great actress.  She will always be remembered.”

~ Mick Jagger

Aspects

Not a lot of aspects to report this week, so make the most of each one!

Tomorrow (Monday 3^rd) has a carrot and a stick.

The first aspect is Mercury trine Jupiter.  Make hay while the Sun shines, or even if it doesn’t, for this is the veritable aspect of good news itself.  This could bring productivity, and good conversation.  Mercury trine Jupiter expands our minds and philosophies.  This is an upbeat vibe mentally, and can bring opportunities.  It is also helpful for writing projects and studying, so you may make progress on that novel you’re writing, for instance!  Remember that Marianne Faithfull’s big break came when Jupiter was trine her natal Mercury.

The trickier aspect follows, in the shape of Chiron square to Mars.  This could leave you feeling a bit discumbobulated.  There is a sense of “Well some things are working, but why can’t everything work together?”  It will take some adjustment to obtain complete harmony, both within yourself, in relation to others, and in physical and practical projects.  At the same time, health and safety factors will be important.

On Tuesday (4^th) we have two go-ahead influences.  The first is the entry of Venus into Aries at breakfast time, which sets up bolder feelings to express and contend with.  Venus is not entirely comfortable in Aries and therefore Venusian types (Taureans and Librans) may feel that they are being pushed to a faster pace of life than they are comfortable with.  There is a warmer and more demonstrative feel about Venus though while she is in Aries, so hugs may be more forthcoming.  Other signs may feel more comfy and cosy with this placement, and make good connections.

An hour or two later, Jupiter will be Stationary, prior to turning Direct.  This may enable something to happen or gain progress which has been prevented up to now.  Jupiter moving forward might bring a breath of fresh air to your week’s plans, peppering them with promise.  You may see the light at the end of one tunnel, or resume an earlier goal.  If for example you were trying to move house on Friday and were affected by the problems with Barclay’s bank (as happened to someone I know), moving plans may be settling now.

Skipping now to Friday (7^th) – and I was unable to find a Fixed Star to plug that gap – we have a beneficent but demanding sextile of Venus sextile Pluto, an aspect which encourages soul-searching and arriving at deeper concepts and perceptions.  You can add extra artistry and harmony to your current projects.  You can also experience profound connections between people, and it’s a good time for evaluating what people mean to you. You may experience a volcanic eruption of creativity!  A good day for philosophical and psychological enquiries.

The usual mix of highs and lows, but on balance, more of the high.

The week in bullet points:

• Monday – opportunity; a hitch
• Tuesday – warmth; progress
• Friday – deep feelings