{"id":8381,"date":"2025-04-20T12:54:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T12:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/?p=8381"},"modified":"2025-04-20T13:24:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T13:24:37","slug":"aspects-for-the-week-beginning-20-april-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/?p=8381","title":{"rendered":"Aspects for the week beginning 20 April 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jean Marsh (1934 \u2013 2025)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Actress and writer Jean Marsh passed away last Sunday at the age of 90.\u00a0 She was in a way a pioneer of the dramatic genre concerning those upstairs and those downstairs, the haves and the have nots.\u00a0 And the works she created with her co-writer Eileen Atkins had mileage, they endured, sequels were created, and the themes were copied (most notably in Downton Abbey).<\/p>\n

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

We are fortunate to have birth times for both Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins \u2013 a feast for the Astrologer!\u00a0 Jean had the Sun in Cancer, the perfect sign for her genre, set in a \u201chome\u201d, involving domestication: the theme for her creation, \u201cUpstairs, Downstairs\u201d.\u00a0 An interesting and very unusual feature of her chart is that she has so few aspects, or connections between her planets.\u00a0 <\/strong>But she had four exact aspects, and they give some definition to the reading of her chart.\u00a0 <\/strong>Her Sun was in the 10th<\/sup> House of Career, its position defines her work in the world.\u00a0 Her Sun was exactly trine with her Pisces Moon in the Water element \u2013 she knew exactly what she was doing, her conscious mind was in perfect concert with her subconscious.\u00a0 Her Sun was closely sextile Neptune, opening her up to inspiration; while at the same time her Moon opposed Neptune, so she was very imaginative, sometimes overly so for her own comfort.\u00a0 Her Sun squared by Jupiter gave her an adventurous, even cheeky, quality.\u00a0 With Mercury exactly conjunct Pluto in Cancer, she was a deep thinker, her thoughts deeply linked to emotion, too.\u00a0 Mars in her chart was unaspected, emphasizing the female bias of her chart, and her work.\u00a0 Another strong theme was thrown up by her Ascendant, Virgo, which represents Service (the downstairs function of the \u201cHouse\u201d).\u00a0 She had a loose conjunction of Mars however to her Midheaven (Careerpoint) which probably represents her promotion of a \u201ccause\u201d in her most famous work: that of portraying class war. \u00a0Jupiter was closely trine her North Node, opening up a fortunate karmic path, and opportunities in life to fulfil the karmic mission.\u00a0 Her Saturn exactly trine Midheaven may represent a focus on status, i.e. Upstairs and Downstairs.<\/p>\n

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

Jean grew up in Stoke Newington.\u00a0 Her mother was a parlourmaid \u201cin a big pub hotel\u201d who lived to 102.\u00a0 Her father was a chauffeur and under-butler in \u201ca grand household\u201d, so she had solid material to draw upon in her later writing.\u00a0 Born in 1934, she experienced the constant sound of shelling during World War II London, and at the age of seven she went into nervous paralysis.\u00a0 For therapy, her mother put her into dance classes.\u00a0 Having also studied acting from a young age, she embarked on an acting career, earning her first big break in 1959, in a stage role.\u00a0 During her life, she appeared in several episodes of Dr. Who, the first of which was in 1965, and in a variety of films.\u00a0 With so few aspect-connections in her chart, it may have been a factor in her collaboration in life, most notably with her friend, Eileen Atkins.<\/p>\n

Eileen Atkins<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Eileen\u2019s father Thomas was also a chauffeur.\u00a0 The Bellamy\u2019s chauffeur in Upstairs, Downstairs<\/em>, named Thomas Watkins, will have been portrayed accurately from two life examples!\u00a0 What did Eileen bring to the table in her expertise?\u00a0 She had the Sun in Gemini, and Mercury sextile Venus, signs of the Writer Archetype.\u00a0 Her Moon was in Performing Leo.\u00a0 When Eileen was three years old, a Romany had told her mother that she would grow up to be a famous dancer.<\/p>\n

Jean Marsh played parlourmaid Rose Buck in Upstairs, Downstairs, <\/em>and though Eileen was originally scheduled to play the other parlourmaid they had written in, Eileen was replaced by Pauline Collins as she was unavailable due to another acting role.<\/em> Eileen had the Moon at her South Node, bringing strong feminine impressions from a past life, and her Moon was trine her Midheaven, giving that flavour to her career themes.\u00a0 Her North Node wasconjunct Ascendant, making her a karmic driver.\u00a0 We know her more recently and affectionately as Aunt Ruth Ellingham in Doc Martin.<\/em><\/p>\n

Upstairs Downstairs<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jean and Eileen were born within 16 days of each other in the same year, often indicating an inter-life contract to work together in life on a specific mission.\u00a0 They met in their 30s, after the ripening of their Saturn Returns.\u00a0 The synastry between Jean and Eileen is very close: Atkins\u2019 Sun is conjunct Marsh\u2019s Chiron (a healing relationship), and Atkins\u2019 Moon is exactly sextile Marsh\u2019s Chiron (supporting each other in feminine healing forms).\u00a0 Their outer planets from Jupiter onwards are exactly conjunct.\u00a0 They were perfectly in tune.<\/p>\n

In 1967, there was a television production of The Forsyte Sage by John Galsworthy.\u00a0 Apparently, Jean and Marsh were having Sunday lunch together one day, when Jean observed the fact that the focus was all on the upper-middle class in that programme.\u00a0 She came up with the idea of portraying the other side of the coin, which is the life that her parents had lived.<\/p>\n

Their creation, Upstairs, Downstairs,<\/em> ran from 1971 to 1975, beginning on 10th<\/sup> October 1971.\u00a0 The newness of its theme is reflected in a conjunction between the Sun and Uranus, but there is also a healing purpose present, in the North Node exactly sextile Chiron.\u00a0 As for the transits for the pair of writers and actresses: Uranus was on their Jupiters (sudden success) for both of them, and they both had a Nodal Return (karma being fulfilled on point, a karmic reward).\u00a0 In addition, the North Node was transiting Eileen\u2019s Ascendant.<\/p>\n

Hubby reminded me this morning that this was another programme that we watched with my (Cancerian) mother, who had declared that it tackled social issues at the time, such as the moral dilemmas around hanging as a capital punishment (he then launched into the exact wording of a scene between parlourmaid Rose and Hudson the butler, cockney accent and all).\u00a0 Jean Marsh won the 1975 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.\u00a0 The programme itself was awarded two BAFTAs, two Royal Television Society awards, eight Emmys, and a Golden Globe.<\/p>\n

The House of Eliott<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jean and Eileen came together to create another successful series in 1991, The House of Eliott.<\/em> \u00a0Another House! This also carried Cancerian\/feminist themes: the series involved a story of two sisters in 1920s London who create a dressmaking business and go on to forge a haute couture fashion house.\u00a0 The series was broadcast from the 12th<\/sup> July 1992, with the Sun present in Cancer.<\/p>\n

Upstairs Downstairs<\/em> had portrayed the time period of 1903 to 1930, which included the Edwardian period and the Roaring Twenties.\u00a0 It makes me wonder if the immediate previous lives of these two actresses took place around the Roaring Twenties.\u00a0 Atkins also wrote the screenplay for the film Mrs Dalloway<\/em>, starring Vanessa Redgrave, which was set around the 1920s.<\/p>\n

Jon Pertwee<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jean Marsh was married from 1955 to 1960, to the actor Jon Pertwee, who later played the third Dr Who.\u00a0 <\/em>Their synastry was also close: he was another Cancerian.\u00a0 His Jupiter was conjunct her Mercury\/Pluto conjunction in Cancer.\u00a0 They had trined Water Moons.\u00a0 Her Venus was conjunct his South Node, suggesting a love from past lives.<\/p>\n

At their wedding on 2nd<\/sup> April 1955 Uranus was on her Mercury\/Pluto conjunction and on his Jupiter; Neptune was trine her Midheaven and Saturn, creating a Grand Trine in Air; Neptune was trine her Saturn, the North Node trine her Uranus, and Mars was sextile his Jupiter.\u00a0 Although the marriage only lasted five years, astrologically by synastry and transit it was an important relationship, and she did not marry again.<\/p>\n

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

The BBC revived Upstairs Downstairs <\/em>from 2010 \u2013 2012.<\/p>\n

It was filmed in the same house as the original series, at the fictional address of 165 Eaton Place in Belgravia.\u00a0 Jean Marsh again played Rose Buck, returning to London to run an agency for domestic servants, after nursing her mother in Suffolk.\u00a0 Eileen Atkins also starred in this production.<\/p>\n

A second series began to be transmitted in February 2012, but Jean Marsh appeared less frequently, due to having suffered a stroke on 3rd<\/sup> October 2011.\u00a0 Ironically, the re-make was overshadowed by Downton Abbey<\/em>, which was being shown on ITV in the years 2010 to 2015, some forty years after Upstairs, Downstairs<\/em> debuted on our screens.<\/p>\n

Farewell, Jean! \u00a0A fine actress and writer, and a contribution well made to our understanding of early 20th<\/sup> Century history and the partial unravelling of the class system.<\/p>\n

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

At tea-time today, Venus sextiles Uranus, with Venus now Direct.\u00a0 Venus in harmony with Uranus is very social and may produce some interesting outward manifestations.\u00a0 Chance meetings are possible and can be strange or seem random.\u00a0 Venus sextile Uranus is on the pleasantly uplifting side of the equation, and can bring reunions, even if just on your mobile phone or online.\u00a0 The three S’s come to mind: spontaneity, synchronicity and serendipity.<\/p>\n

In the evening we have another sextile, that of Mercury with Pluto, bringing a profound touch to your communications.\u00a0 It is a harmonious aspect which can produce profound honouring of the gravity of a situation if necessary, and enabling meaningful debate to occur.\u00a0 It is a good space for reading something profound.\u00a0 Maybe there is something in your pile of pending books you have been putting off, if so, now\u2019s the time to tackle it.\u00a0 I am reading \u201cA Better Tomorrow\u201d by Mina Smallman at the moment, which fits that bill.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow, Monday 21st<\/sup>, Mars squares the Sun, so apply caution in your dealings.\u00a0 It is a hot-headed aspect which can result in minor cuts and bruises through slapdash inattention.\u00a0 Aggro, irritation and conflict are all possible under this aspect, so set out to have a peaceful day starting with a spot of your best meditational efforts.\u00a0 Then radiate that calm to all who cross your path, while self-distancing.\u00a0 You might find people sounding off, in anger, about things that are going on in the world, such as the conditions in war zones.\u00a0 If so, some advance preparation may assist in defusing agitation.\u00a0 The energy, fire and enthusiasm which the Sun with Mars generates can be positively harnessed if you are especially mindful.<\/p>\n

Saturn also conjuncts the North Node on that day, a karmic conjunction. \u00a0It is a call to take responsibility, to own your actions (past and present), and perhaps to re-draw your karmic contract from this point.\u00a0 For the nations struggling to deal with the consequences of the changes wrought from the U.S., it is an ongoing important focus for self-reliance and re-evaluation, looking at the lessons of past history and consequences.<\/p>\n

Wednesday (23rd<\/sup>) brings a square between the Sun and Pluto, more need for caution. \u00a0There may be drama.\u00a0 The atmosphere becomes more thoughtful and serious.\u00a0 This is a deep soul-searching aspect.\u00a0 It is the sort of aspect which can be looked upon as a gamechanger, or watershed.\u00a0 So if you are in integrity, you may be able to influence what side the coin lands on.<\/p>\n

Venus Direct conjoins Saturn in the first minutes of Friday (25th<\/sup>) which may may give rise to sobering reflections about relationship or money.\u00a0 Feel your feelings (e.g. the nostalgia, or injustice), or deal with them philosophically, and let them go if you can.\u00a0 The care of the elderly may be a particular preoccupation.\u00a0 The optimum condition for this conjunction would be loyalty and commitment, and perhaps some songwriting incorporating a touch of melancholy.\u00a0 Preoccupations may lead to a restless sleep.<\/p>\n

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