{"id":8397,"date":"2025-04-27T13:51:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T13:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/?p=8397"},"modified":"2025-04-27T14:00:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T14:00:31","slug":"aspects-for-the-week-beginning-27-april-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/?p=8397","title":{"rendered":"Aspects for the week beginning 27 April 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pope Francis (1936 \u2013 2025)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

~ Pope Francis<\/p>\n

Pope Francis died last Monday at 7.35 a.m., Rome, aged 88, from double pneumonia and a stroke.\u00a0 He had been ailing, and his health had been a significant cause for concern, since February, when Neptune was trine his natal Pluto in his 1st<\/sup> House (deep seated changes), Saturn square his natal Chiron in the 12th<\/sup> House (physical deterioration), and the North Node trine his natal Pluto 1st<\/sup> House (a reorientation of the Soul).\u00a0 His journey back to his maker was being prepared.<\/p>\n

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

I took a good look at his chart when he was elected in March 2013.\u00a0 I wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cSun in Sagittarius is traditionally the sign for conventional religion, and pontification.\u00a0 His Sun is close to the galactic centre, so he may be aligned with spiritual realities, and it is conjunct the North Node (karmic mission) which confirms that his path is a true one (for him at least).\u00a0 He is comfortable with religious power.\u00a0 There is a down-to-earth quality about him, and if he is of a certain evolutionary level it may be significant in his life and works that Earth is the esoteric ruler of Sagittarius.<\/p>\n

His Moon is conjunct Venus (which gives him great gentleness).\u00a0 ..The Moon sign is Aquarius, so giving him a social focus and an interest in a fair society, a championship of the underdog.\u00a0 He has been reported as making statements which maintain the downtrodden status of women in the Papal view, and that may be because Uranus squares his Venus\/Moon conjunction, so there is a sense of alienation in his mind towards women at the same time as the fairer qualities.\u00a0 There is scope here that he may change his mind suddenly (Uranus).<\/p>\n

He has a difficult T-square between Chiron in Gemini and Neptune opposing Saturn, and will have learned to balance that to a certain extent by his age of 76.\u00a0 He does have a much warmer timbre of voice than his predecessor, and Chiron in Gemini could be considered to have healing qualities through the use of the voice.\u00a0 Fortunately, an exact trine from Mars lifts the Chiron a little from its tension in the T-square, and confers some good healing energy too.<\/p>\n

Jupiter is trine Uranus in his chart, so miracles may be ascribed to him; not necessarily high-flown miracles, but placed in earth signs they may be practical miracles, such as shifting some of the poverty in corners of the world.\u00a0 He has an unusual relationship with money and materiality, as in addition to this aspect his Part of Fortune is in the 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0House of Money.\u00a0 He thinks outside the box in this sphere.<\/p>\n

He has been called \u201cdivisive\u201d already for various reasons, such as his alienation from his fellow Jesuits.\u00a0 But he may be able to bring people together, by virtue of his Mars in Libra (the \u201cPeacemaker Archetype\u201d) trine his Chiron (\u201cInner Healer\u201d) which understands suffering through its position in his T-square.\u00a0 His election may have been a mental shock (transiting Pluto conjunct his Mercury) but at the same time he understood his responsibility (transiting Saturn sextile his natal Mercury) and the dove of divinity definitely came to settle on his shoulders, with transiting Neptune sextile his natal Jupiter.\u00a0 He has a huge task ahead of him, and I wish him all the luck of the Sagittarian ruler, Jupiter.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, I did not have a solid birth time for him, so now that it is accepted that he was born at 9 p.m. near Buenos Aires, I can expand on the above:<\/p>\n

He has Cancer rising, cementing his reputation as a caring Pope.\u00a0 His Midheaven at 0 degrees Taurus marks him out as a steady dependable persona in the world.\u00a0 At the same time, Uranus conjuncts the Midheaven, giving him the urge to reform and modernise in his career, and some success within that aim.\u00a0 Mercury opposite the Ascendant indicates the Teacher Archetype \u2013 he worked as a teacher earlier in life in a literal sense (lecturing in literature and psychology), and of course he was a teacher in a more archetypal sense.<\/p>\n

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

He was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Flores, a suburb of Buenos Aires.\u00a0 His family was of Italian origin, and he was the eldest child with four siblings.\u00a0 He attended a technical secondary school, graduating with a chemical technician\u2019s diploma \u2013 his Mercury trine Uranus provides a scientific bent.<\/p>\n

At the age of 21, he suffered life-threatening pneumonia, three cysts, and the excision of part of a lung.\u00a0 With Mercury opposite the Ascendant (the physical), there seems to have been a life long weakness concerning the lungs.\u00a0 After recovering, he subsequently experienced a life-changing (or sliding door) moment when passing a church on his way to celebrating the Spring Day, and after confession was inspired by a priest to study at an archdiocesan seminary.\u00a0 On 11th<\/sup> March 1958 he entered the Society of Jesus as a novice: Uranus was opposite his Venus and Chiron trine his natal Mars and Chiron.\u00a0 Saturn was also on his natal Sun in his 6th<\/sup> House of Service (a commitment), Jupiter was on his natal I.C. in 4th<\/sup> House (making religion the foundation of his life) and Pluto trine his Midheaven (a serious direction in life) at 0 degrees Virgo, marking an important shift.<\/p>\n

In such a long career, leading up to his papal role, there are many steps and markers, of which I will list a few:<\/p>\n

1960:<\/strong> He officially became a Jesuit on 12th<\/sup> March of that year: Neptune squared his natal Venus in Aquarius in 8th<\/sup> House (a renunciation \u2013 the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience); Chiron was sextile his natal Midheaven in Taurus in the 20th<\/sup> House (a step towards healing in his career); \u00a0Chiron sextile his natal Saturn in Pisces in 9th<\/sup> House of Religion (cementing the seriousness of his new role); and the Nodal Axis squared his natal Nodal Axis, creating a Grand Cross \u2013 a fateful and karmic moment in time.<\/p>\n

1969:<\/strong> He was ordained as a Catholic priest on 13th<\/sup> December that year<\/p>\n

1973:<\/strong> He became the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina<\/p>\n

1992: <\/strong>He rose to the position of Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires<\/p>\n

1998: <\/strong>He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires<\/p>\n

2001:<\/strong> Pope John Paul II made him a Cardinal, on 21st<\/sup> February that year<\/p>\n

2013: <\/strong>On the retirement of Pope Benedict, he was elected Pope (on 13th<\/sup> March of that year) and took the name Francis after St Francis of Assisi, and he was the one and only Pope to take that name.\u00a0 In taking the role, he achieved several firsts: the first pope to be a Jesuit, the first Latin American pope, the first from the southern hemisphere, and the first from outside Europe since 8th<\/sup> Century Pope Gregory III.<\/p>\n

Qualities, Beliefs and Achievements<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Pope Francis came to be known for his compassion, simplicity, and humility, with which he imbued his ministry in various practical ways.\u00a0 He lived in a small apartment, used public transport, and cooked his own meals.<\/p>\n

He believed in inclusiveness, peacefulness, and charity for the poor and vulnerable, and many works were dedicated to this end.\u00a0 He fostered relations between religions.<\/p>\n

As Peter Stanford put it, in his Guardian obituary, Pope Francis saw that \u201cclimate change, migration and global poverty were interconnected.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spoke out where he considered that international relations were failing according to these standards of decency (such as on immigration), intervening to speak out about the Ukrainian\/Russian and Gazan\/Israeli wars.\u00a0 It is said that he phoned his Gazan church every day since that war began in October 2023.\u00a0 He spoke out about injustices in economic systems, and supported action against climate change where leaders were failing to acknowledge the importance of protecting the planet.\u00a0 He pointed out the dangers of the trend towards right wing populism.<\/p>\n

He admitted that he was not perfect, and indeed was criticized for not going far enough in women\u2019s rights within the church, standing up enough for the LGBTQ community despite his sympathy, and not tackling the institutional sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic church thoroughly enough.\u00a0 Some of these \u201cfailings\u201d were partly due to opposition from within the church.<\/p>\n

But there is no doubt that he dedicated every moment to service as he believed it to be required.\u00a0 Andy Burnham on the Laura Kuenssberg Sunday show this morning reported that when he took a party to Rome, Pope Francis paid a personal and touching attention to each of his guests.<\/p>\n

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

Last Monday morning, profoundly symbolically on Easter Monday itself, he suffered a stroke, leading to a coma and cardiac arrest.\u00a0 On announcing his death, the exact time (7.35 a.m., Rome) was given out.<\/p>\n

Jupiter was trine his natal Mars in Libra in his 4th<\/sup> House, he was \u201cgoing home\u201d.\u00a0 The Nodal Axis was square his natal Sun in Sagittarius in his 6th<\/sup> House (he had enacted his final service, speaking delicately and publicly on the previous day).<\/p>\n

The chart of 7.35 a.m. shows Uranus on the Ascendant sextile a conjunction of Venus and the North Node in Pisces, a sudden and important event; Pluto was exactly conjunct the Moon and the Midheaven, very symbolic of the passing of an important global figure.<\/p>\n

Much has been made about the visit the day before by Vice President of the U.S., J.D. Vance, parallels being drawn between that event and the Queen having met Liz Truss in her final days.\u00a0 It is a striking symbol for the imagination, when you consider the values of the Vice President (despite his Catholicism) being so much at odds with those of the Pope himself.<\/p>\n

For his funeral, Pope Francis opted for a plain coffin, a more lowly church than was the custom, and for a contingent of the poor and vulnerable to be allowed to pay the final respects.\u00a0 Principled to the end.<\/p>\n

To those world leaders who attended the Pope\u2019s funeral, despite conducting policies antithetical to what he stood for, I pray that they may have been touched in some way.<\/p>\n

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

In the early hours of this morning a contentious opposition occurred, between Mars and Pluto.\u00a0 You can’t get much more of a dynamic opposition.\u00a0 Tempers may flare, unexpectedly, and words may cause upset.\u00a0 Keep a low profile today if you wish to avoid conflict, and the watchword is tact.<\/p>\n

This opposition can spark violence, and around that time in Vancouver according to the BBC News website at least \u201cnine people were killed after a man drove an SUV into a crowd at an event put on by the city’s Filipino community.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the other end of this day, in the evening, there is an opportunity for a fresh start, with a New Moon at 7 degrees Taurus.\u00a0 This can herald a new beginning for all Taurean-related interests, and a chance to focus your intent on these for the next month.\u00a0 You may take inspiration from looking at artworks or gardens.\u00a0 You are helping to build the New Earth, as they say in New Age circles.\u00a0 It is a fresh start for cooking, gardening, art, music or money.\u00a0 Make the most of this wishing Moon.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday (30th<\/sup>) Venus will enter Aries, waving goodbye to Pisces. Though Venus was sympathetic in Pisces, there is a warmer and more demonstrative feel while she is in Aries.\u00a0 On the flip side, she is out of her comfort zone in the warrior sign, so there may be some uncomfortable wrestling with issues around whether to express true feelings or stay away from possible conflict.\u00a0 Venus will stay in Aries until 6th<\/sup> June.<\/p>\n

Uranus sextiles the North Node on Thursday (1st<\/sup> May).\u00a0 This one is for those who want to step out of their comfort zone, think outside the box, and create something new (preferably something which advances society or the human race, due to its karmic flavour).\u00a0 A number of iconoclasts have this sextile in their natal charts.<\/p>\n

And lastly, on Friday (2nd<\/sup> May), Venus conjoins with Neptune.\u00a0 Inspired artistic and musical expression is assisted.\u00a0 Idealized and spiritual love may also be on the menu.\u00a0 You may find inspired ways to show love.\u00a0 With Neptune being newly expressed in Aries there is a more expressive and idealized combination of the love impulse, e.g. there may be new<\/em> ways of showing love.\u00a0 This may combine honouring the self (Aries) with a more divine expression (Neptune) of love (Venus).\u00a0 Perhaps, still falling within the nine days of mourning, people will be inspired by some of the Pope\u2019s attitudes and beatitudes.\u00a0 Heartwarming messages may be given and received.<\/p>\n

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