{"id":7919,"date":"2024-05-12T14:12:15","date_gmt":"2024-05-12T14:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/?p=7919"},"modified":"2024-05-12T14:23:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-12T14:23:42","slug":"aspects-for-the-week-beginning-12-may-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/?p=7919","title":{"rendered":"Aspects for the week beginning 12 May 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shirley Conran (1932 – 2024)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

“Life’s too short to stuff a mushroom.” <\/em><\/p>\n

~ Shirley Conran<\/p>\n

Author Shirley Conran died this week, at the age of 91.\u00a0 Her husband of seven years was household name Terence Conran, and her two sons Jasper and Sebastian are successful designers.\u00a0 She emancipated herself, and sought to help other women to do so.<\/p>\n

Birth Chart<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Shirley had the Sun in Virgo, intensified by a conjunction with its ruler Mercury.\u00a0 She was a female warrior, with Mars sextile to her Sun.\u00a0 But one of her greatest assets, astrologically, was a practical exact Grand Trine in the Earth element, composed of the Sun, Chiron and Saturn.\u00a0 This was one of the keys of her brilliance.\u00a0 She had an exact conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune in Virgo which contributed to her self-belief, but it was square to her Moon, so subject to fluctuations of mood.\u00a0 With it would have been a sensitivity to ideals about female lives.\u00a0 Mercury in her chart was sextile Pluto, so she was not a shallow thinker, despite some of her flippant remarks, which were possibly humorous life hacks.\u00a0 Mercury conjunct her South Node points to a tendency in past lives to be a teacher and communicator.\u00a0 Venus conjunct her Ascendant (from her 12th House) was very evident in her life: she was a model, and trained in painting and sculpture, Venusian occupations. Mars conjunct Pluto made her a powerhouse of energy (a “Superwoman” as in the title of her first book), although she fell prey to M.E. (which is often found with high achievers who may have adrenal or perhaps other forms of burn-out).\u00a0 Saturn squaring Uranus shows personal earthquakes, and she did have a rollercoaster of a life in many ways.\u00a0 But crises seem to have led to solutions. And Pluto with Saturn and Uranus formed a T-square, which may have triggered these crises during transits to these points.\u00a0 She was a Rebel (Uranus trine her Ascendant) and liked excitement (Uranus conjunct Part of Fortune).<\/p>\n

Life and Career<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When Terence Conran died in 2020, I only wrote a few words about her:<\/p>\n

“Shirley Conran was Terence’s second wife (of four), and achieved fame with her best-selling book “Superwoman” which I dutifully read in 1975!\u00a0 It was packed with information about short-cuts to housework and the domestic arts.”<\/p>\n

So I can’t rest on my laurels!\u00a0 Her life and character merit so much more.<\/p>\n

She was born in Hendon.\u00a0 She was kicked out of home by an alcoholic father at 19 and left school, then found herself in a finishing school in Switzerland (a country associated with the sign of Virgo).<\/p>\n

She married Terence Conran in 1955, meeting him when she waitressed at his coffee bar. \u00a0Their synastry included a lively debating sextile between his Mercury and her Mars; and a karmic sextile between his Saturn and her North Node.\u00a0 But his Pluto position exactly reinforced her own exact square between Uranus and Pluto, a deep desire for change.\u00a0 Some marriages are just about the children, and maybe this was one of them, for she left him in 1962.<\/p>\n

She said, many years later, “Terence and I had a lot of fun together but, apart from the infidelities, life became just criticise, criticise, criticise from morning to midnight. It was very wearing.”<\/p>\n

In the seven years they were together, they had Jasper and Sebastian.\u00a0 Towards the end of their marriage, she would have had her first Saturn Return (in Capricorn, in her 6th House of Health and Working Conditions) which may have intensified the strain.\u00a0 In the year she left, she will have been galvanised by Pluto on her Jupiter\/ Neptune in her 1st House in Virgo.<\/p>\n

In order to finance her new life as a single mother, she turned to journalism, though in the first two years the boys were looked after by her mother.\u00a0 She became women’s editor of the Daily Mail in 1968, and launched the “Femail” section.<\/p>\n

In 1970 her financial woes deepened when she fell prey to M.E. as mentioned previously.\u00a0 Her transits that year included a debilitating opposition of transiting Neptune to her natal Chiron.\u00a0 But this led to her writing self-help books.<\/p>\n

Her profile increased in 1975 with the publication of her book Superwoman.\u00a0 Although I read Superwoman, and was amused at the time by her time-saving tips for housewives, I must confess I did not read any of her novels, which yielded more financial success.\u00a0 These started with “Lace” in 1982, her 50th year, part of the Chiron Return (in her 10th House) of Self-Healing.\u00a0 Rachel Cooke, writing in the Observer today, praises this book, referring to it as one of her favourite books on friendship.\u00a0 With her boys now studying design, Shirley finally found the financial freedom she craved to fulfil the lifestyle she wanted.\u00a0 The late career as a novelist satisfies her Moon in Gemini in 10th House.<\/p>\n

Terence Conran<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I wrote in 2020:<\/p>\n

“With 6 (over half his planets) in the Cardinal signs, he was quite definitely a leader. He certainly led the way in transforming our homes after the war, from traditional furnishing to a more modern look.\u00a0 In his career, he was always a step ahead, finding new avenues for his talents, such as establishing restaurants.\u00a0 His Sun was in Libra conjunct his ruler Venus, the sign you would expect to find in an interior designer.”<\/p>\n

In 1964 he opened his\u00a0 famous homeware and furniture shop Habitat, on the Fulham Road in Chelsea.\u00a0 He had four marriages altogether, five children, thirteen grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n

In his astro-obituary, I also wrote:<\/p>\n

“On a personal note, we have a monument to Terence Conran in our own home.\u00a0 In 1975, in setting up our first home, we bought a pine dining table from Habitat.\u00a0 I know, they’re not fashionable now!\u00a0 It wasn’t elegant; it was chunky and solid, but one of the best and most enduring purchases of our married life!\u00a0 It is still going strong, 45 years later.” [now, as of 2024, 49 years later]<\/p>\n

Jasper Conran<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jasper’s parents divorced when he was two years old.\u00a0 Shirley’s 5th House of children is ruled by Jupiter, with Sagittarius being on the cusp, and Jasper is a Sagittarian.\u00a0 But he and Sebastian take after Terence in being designers, and Jasper has a Libran Ascendant.\u00a0 Although Shirley has the artistic nature of Venus conjunct the Ascendant, Libra which is also ruled by Venus, is specifically about design, as an air sign.\u00a0 Jasper and Shirley were estranged for more than 10 years, after she made a tactless remark about his lifestyle (he is gay), but were reunited for his wedding in 2015, with a healing sextile from Jupiter to her natal Pluto (a long standing psychological issue).\u00a0 Interestingly, his birthchart reveals the possibility of such an estrangement, in his natal square between the Moon (mother) and Uranus (estrangement).\u00a0 Jasper is more well-known for fashion design, having design for the rich and famous, including Lady Diana.<\/p>\n

Sebastian<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sebastian, the other designer in this family unit, is an Aries, and like his brother has been involved in his father’s business.\u00a0 He started out working as a roadie for the punk band The Clash, designing clothes,\u00a0 and promotional material. But Sebastian is more well known for industrial design.\u00a0 He has described his father as “a very charismatic, very driven person\u201d and though he worked for him for several years, he needed to break away to nurture his own talent.\u00a0 The brothers have good, entrepreneurial connections in their charts, such as Sebastian’s Uranus trine Jasper’s Mercury, and Sebastian’s Mercury trine Jasper’s Jupiter, and Sebastian’s Jupiter conjunct Jasper’s Uranus.<\/p>\n

Money<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You will have noticed a monetary theme running through her life choices.\u00a0 Her Sun and Mercury were in Virgo in her 2nd House of Finance.\u00a0 So when she got to grips with the detail of managing her money, her fortunes changed.<\/p>\n

“I became fastidious about checking every penny I spent. I scoured every receipt for mistakes and kept a list of any money I got back from being overcharged, say, for a pub meal or a lipstick. The list was on a pink piece of paper pinned to the back of my basement flat front door.” she explained.<\/p>\n

She became an advocate for women’s financial freedom from men, and set up charities such as the Work-Life balance Trust (2001) and the educational non-profit Maths Action (2009). In Liz Truss’s resignation honours list she was made a DBE for services to mathematics education as the founder of the Maths Anxiety Trust.<\/p>\n

I hope I have done justice to her life and character – she definitely played her part in the emancipation of women dating back at least to the time that Germaine Greer published “The Female Eunuch” (1970).<\/p>\n

“One of the funniest, sharpest people you could ever meet”<\/em><\/p>\n

~ Rachel Cooke<\/p>\n

Aspects<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Tomorrow (Monday 13th) begins with a conjunction between the Sun and Uranus at 23 degrees Taurus.\u00a0 It’s a day when expectations can be overthrown!\u00a0 It is a good day to demonstrate your originality and inventiveness, and in your leisure time begin a project which is highly creative or benefits society.\u00a0\u00a0 If you are operating from your Intuition, you could have a very successful day, but if you are lagging behind backfootedly, you may have a struggle to keep up.\u00a0 Some tuning in early on may help with this.<\/p>\n

In the evening, Venus sextiles Saturn, which is a constructive aspect, a re-affirmation of where you are going, especially in terms of relationship, or art.\u00a0 In the realm of human relations, it is about steadiness and loyalty: cementing commitment.<\/p>\n

Wednesday (15th) sees Mercury’s entry into Taurus, and the quality of the mental energy may become steadier and calmer than the fieriness of Mercury in Aries.\u00a0 This placing is better for negotiation, which is something much needed at the moment in this climate of war, with a ceasefire in the Middle East still eluding us.\u00a0 It stays in this sign until 3rd June,\u00a0 Practical ideas will be the order of the day.\u00a0 This could be a productive day and period, mentally.<\/p>\n

Breakfast-time on Friday (17th) could be more stressful mentally, however, as Mercury makes a square to Pluto.\u00a0 It is a square which requires you, among other things, to rise above negative thinking, or to get to the root of it.\u00a0 There may be a setback or a reversal (even if a fragile ceasefire was under way), so make sure your actions in the morning are solid if you have a conflict to resolve in your own life.\u00a0 Perhaps there is a twist in the plot.\u00a0 You may encounter awkward communications or travel.\u00a0 You may need extra ‘me time’ in order to separate yourself from worried pronouncements about the state of the world.\u00a0 If you do engage in chatter, choose a worthwhile subject.<\/p>\n

Brighter prospects for the end of the week, for late morning on Saturday (18th) Venus conjuncts Uranus at 23 degs Taurus, the same degree as Monday’s conjunction, so there may be a resonance between events at the beginning and end of the week, both centring on the principle of surprise (Uranus).\u00a0 If\u00a0 you are socializing, it could be an enjoyable occasion, culminating in some startling exchanges and exciting meetings.\u00a0 It is a vibrant social aspect, which may carry an element of serendipity.\u00a0 People may question your sanity, however, or you theirs.<\/p>\n

And – can we say all’s well that ends well?\u00a0 Saturday evening rounds off with one of the best aspects of the year, the Sun conjunct Jupiter, which occurs at 28 degrees Taurus (not far off the Pleiades, if you are tuned in to them).\u00a0 Where there has been dejection, it is time to let in hope, or even celebration.\u00a0 It will certainly be lucky for some.\u00a0 Focus on what makes you happy, and make more of that.<\/p>\n

The week in bullet points:<\/p>\n