Aspects for the week beginning 22 March 2026

Jenni Murray (1950 – 2026)

“Throughout her three groundbreaking decades on Woman’s Hour, she created a safe space for her audience thanks to her warmth, intelligence and courage.”

~ Tim Davie

Radio broadcasting has lost a warm voice in one of its best-loved presenters, Jenni Murray, who has died at the age of 75.

Birth Chart

Her birth chart illustrates many things to connect her with Woman’s Hour, a programme dedicated to the interests of women.

Foremost of these is the Moon conjunct Venus, the two female planets together, indicating a great gentleness.

Her voice was remarkable:

“Murray’s voice has been described as ‘the most beautiful voice on radio, ever…It is a remarkable instrument – husky, supple, full of layers, though her inevitable awareness of timbre and pitch causes, in conversation, a slight hamminess. It is quiet, too, and intimate…”

~ Aida Edemariam

This conjunction, being within a degree of her North Node, signals her karmic mission.  The Moon/Venus trine the  Ascendant close to the 5^th House cusp shows that it is also an important feature of her Creativity, and the way she projected herself.  The conjunction also positioned at the I.C. meant that female issues were the foundation of her life.

The triple conjunction situated in the sign of Aries (of North Node/Moon/Venus) is exemplified in a quote by Aida when interviewing Jenni:

“As an interviewee she is generous, but impatient with anything other than clearly structured, direct – i.e. radio friendly – questions. ‘Keep it simple’, she says”.  Pure Aries.

“She didn’t have any fear at all about asking people things and they always found themselves replying”.  More Aries.  The concentration of her triple conjunction in that sign seemed to represent her interviewing and interviewee style more than her Sun in Taurus.

~ Sally Feldman

Broadcasting too is featured in her chart: the Sun conjunct Mercury in 6^th House of employment, employing her intelligence therein.

She had the Sun exactly trine Mars – depicting a female Warrior; and with Mercury closely trine Mars – a Verbal Warrior.

The Sun square Pluto in her chart showed a willingness to tackle difficult subjects  She also had the Entrepreneur Archetype in Jupiter closely trine Uranus – the ability to make the most of opportunities.  Jupiter was exactly square her Ascendant, on the 4^th House cusp – a positive, optimistic view of life, and home and family affairs.  Pluto was trine Chiron, giving her the ability to alchemize life’s experiences at a deep level.

Life and Career

Jenni Murray was born in Barnsley, and brought up as a Christian.  His father revealed to her when she was 14, just before he visited Auschwitz, that he was Jewish.

She wrote in 2022:

“Officially I have no claim to the Jewish faith, but I feel it deeply, and have done since the age of 14 when my father revealed to me what, until then, he had kept a closely guarded secret. I am not religious, but I feel my Jewish genes. They are part of my race.”

She studied French, English and History at A Level, then obtained a degree in French and Drama at Hull University.

She married Brian Murray when she was 21, but they divorced after six years.  Her next partner was David Forgham, who she eventually married in 2002.  They had two sons, one of whom is a rugby player.

She entered the world of radio broadcasting in 1973, joining BBC Radio Bristol.  She then became a reporter for South Today, a regional TV news programme.  She worked on Newsnight from 1983 to 1985, then presented Today for BBC Radio 4.  In 1987 she took over as presenter of Woman’s Hour, a post she held until 2020.

Over the years she interviewed many notables during that time, including Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, Margaret Atwood, Edwina Currie, Jack Nicholson, Joan Baez and Bette Davis.

At the end of December 2006 on the same day her mother died of Parkinson’s disease, she was told she had breast cancer.

At that time, Saturn squared her natal Mercury (the health planet) in her 6th House of Health; Jupiter trined her NN/Moon/Venus conjunction (a rare blow from Jupiter, but Jupiter can rule growths, and the Moon represents the affected part).  Moreover, the Moon represents the mother.  As well as this, the Nodal Axis was square her natal Chiron (healing crisis) in her 1^st House, so it may have been a karmic event.

She subsequently used her experiences, constructively and frankly, to inform her work and the subjects she aired.

Her final episode of Woman’s Hour came on 1^st October 2020, with Pluto trine her natal Mars in 10^th House of career, a major shift (away).  This formed a Grand Trine with her natal Sun in the 6^th House of Working Conditions.  Chiron was on her natal Venus/Moon in 5^th House, bringing some healing, and Saturn trined her natal Mercury in the 6^th House, a finality in work.

Astrological Twins

Jenni Murray’s birth in 1950 is within the timeline of my own peer group, for which I have made a special study and collection of charts.  I have some Astro-twins for her date of birth, people born on the same date, among them Helena Kennedy and Gabriel Byrne.

Helena Kennedy:

Helena Kennedy is my favourite barrister, and she regularly appears on Newsnight, one of my favourite programmes.

Similarities

We are fortunate enough to have birth times for all three of these Astro-twins.

Though Helena’s main focus in her work is different from Jenni’s, an important feature of her work has been in helping the cause of feminism.  Her mother had volunteered to help women suffering from domestic violence or alcoholism within families.

She has also done a fair amount of work in broadcasting channels.

Differences

Helena was born in Glasgow, and has a Taurus Ascendant with Mercury and Sun conjunct the Ascendant from the 12^th House.  This specially highlights the intellectual nature required for the legal profession.  Helena has 42 honorary degrees from universities.

Venus in her chart is conjunct the North Node, as with Jenni, but Helena’s Moon is earlier, in Pisces – a different karmic focus from Jenni.

Helena’s Ascendant is in Taurus conjunct the Pleiades, so may be influenced by the fixed star cluster.  She has Mars exactly trine Midheaven in Capricorn, her warriorship channelled into a serious profession.

On religion: she came from a devoutly Catholic family, Catholicism being “very much part of who I am”.  A contrast to Jenni’s stance.

Gabriel Byrne:

Gabriel is an Irish actor, born in Dublin.

Similarities

He has spoken out on women’s issues, stating that Catholicism is “repressive of women and minorities and repressive of its followers”.

Differences

Gabriel has an Aquarian Ascendant.  His “intelligent” Sun/Mercury conjunction is placed in his 4^th House of Home and Family, a different emphasis from both Jenni and Helena.

His Moon is even further away in separation than Helena’s, in distance from Jenni’s intense North Node/Moon/Venus conjunction, but in Pisces like Helena’s.  So there is not the intense focus on women’s issues.  His Venus/North Node conjunction is in his 2^nd House of Finance.

He began acting at the age of 29, the year of the Saturn Return.  His natal Saturn is in Virgo, in his 7^th House.

On religion, a similarity with Helena Kennedy: he came from a Catholic family.  But crucially, he describes himself as an atheist, and has been critical of the Catholic religion.  So all three have a different religious perspective.

While Jenni studied French and Drama, and Helena studied Law, Gabriel studied Archaeology, Spanish and Linguistics; not completely unrelated subjects, and none of them scientific.

Gabriel has worked as a teacher, a profession held by another of the non-famous Astro-Twins on my books.

As you can see, there are similarities between Jenni and Helena, but not so much with Gabriel, possibly due to the different positions of their Moons.

When Jenni bowed out of this world, transiting Pluto was exactly sextile her natal North Node: a life fulfilled, and a life well lived.

“Talking to somebody for 25 minutes who’s on the edge of absolutely palpable grief is just very hard, because the last thing you want them to do is for them to break down.  You’ve got to keep the balance…”

~ Jenni Murray

Aspects

In the early hours of today, Mars was trine Jupiter, so you may have felt restless in the night, raring to go instead of settling into dreamland…Pushing forward with plans is possible when Jupiter trines Mars, as it boosts energy and combines it with enthusiasm, e.g. “Let’s get this decluttering done”.  It is a day for your favourite activities.  Any sports will be heightened by this trine, for instance.  The day is one of the highlights of the week.

The Sun conjoins with Neptune at 1 degree Aries late morning, adding a spiritual element to the proceedings (Mars and Jupiter together can be very physical).  While “gung-ho!” represents the morning, mystery and enigma arrive at lunchtime.  We may wonder where we are on some level, struggling to get our bearings.  If we can establish where we are, we may be able to access higher inspiration for whatever we are engaged upon.  It is a day when progress can be made on subtle and spiritual issues, with memorable ethereal experiences.  So we have the two extremes of experience in one day, inward and outward.

Tomorrow, Monday (23^rd) brings another conjunction, that between Mercury and the North Node at 8 degrees Pisces, with Mercury now Direct.  Mercury has been hovering around this point as it turned Direct, so we had it last week just before it turned.  This can bring karmic information and communication of a subtle but revealing nature.  Follow the cues and clues – they may provide added interest to your creativity and acquisition of knowledge.  You may have noticed such phenomena over the last few days.

A more sober note arrives on Wednesday (25^th) in the shape of a conjunction between the Sun and Saturn at 4 degrees Aries.   It’s a cautionary note.  Take note of the area/House the triple conjunction falls in your birth chart, if you know it, as that will help you to ascertain the purpose of this event.  There is a great sense of concentration about this conjunction, focussed on practicalities such as “what can we do about the situation?”  The Saturn part of the equation demands responsibility, commitment, and common sense.

In the early evening the Sun will be sextile Pluto. This can bring powerful help.  If you dig deep, you can find the treasure you need.  It is a profound aspect which may help to show us the direction we need to solve our collective problems, and understanding the meaning behind our dilemmas.  This sextile can bring a profound air of quiet contemplation.  It is a valuable time of assessment, especially if you have done the work required by the earlier conjunction of the Sun and Saturn.  When contemplating decluttering dilemmas, just as an example, ask yourself: do you have to give up something in order to fit in the time and space to do it?  If so, what could you let go of?

Finally, and it is final in many ways, Saturn sextiles Pluto at the end of Saturday (28^th), the most important aspect of the week.  This aspect in your life may be throwing up an odd sequence of events which is contrary to the usual order of things, and forcing you took look at issues in a different way, such as the value of things you have taken for granted.  There may be some incredulity too, as in the case of world events – Food for thought.  However it sounds, this is a constructive re-shaping for you as well as the wider context.  Those who have the sextile or trine between these two planets in their natal charts have the Strategist Archetype.  So you may find your Inner Strategist at this time!

The week in bullet points:

• Today – getting things done; spiritual listening
• Tomorrow – karmic information
• Wednesday – a sober note; then a profound note
• Saturday – Re-configuration, and Strategy