Sunday 22 July 2018

When Sun-Uranus meets Sun-Uranus

The article below first appeared in the July/August edition of Infinity Astrological Magazine 

When Sun-Uranus meets Sun-Uranus

Sun Conjunct Venus in Aquarius Trine Pluto in Libra and Square Uranus in Scorpio, aptly describes  Amal Clooney’s profession as a barrister and activist specialising in human rights law. It also describes the non-conformist, the reformer and the need to live a just and honest life.

Amal’s husband, actor/producer/director George Clooney, also has Sun Square Uranus; Sun in Taurus Conjunct Mercury and Uranus in Leo.

For both of them, Sun Square Uranus highlights the need for freedom to pursue their personal goals. It’s probably as well that they married later in life, when Clooney was 53 and Amal 37. Those with strong Uranus aspects to their personal planets often find that long lasting partnerships arrive later in life, when they can better understand and assert their uniqueness and have developed a lifestyle to suit their need for independence.

It was her first marriage, but George had a short first marriage in the late 1980s. It’s a classic commitment phobe aspect and Clooney’s bachelor status became iconic when he made bets that he wouldn’t marry again. It’s not known whether he coughed up the $100,000 he allegedly owed to the likes of Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman when he married Amal, losing his bet.

Click to enlarge
Because Amal has all the beauty and glamour of a Hollywood starlet, it’s easy to forget that this is an unconventional pairing. Oxford educated barristers don’t tend to marry triple A list celebrities and big name movie stars mostly pair with others within their Hollywood clique. However, for this Sun-Uranus pair, coming from different worlds may have been part of the attraction. She’s British-born of Lebanese descent and has been tipped for a future seat in the British House of Lords and he’s carved his career in the escapist world of the silver screen.

And what was also refreshingly unconventional (and a lovely reflection of Amal’s Sun-Venus Square Uranus) was that on social media people were not asking how Amal managed to bag Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor, but how Clooney managed to convince this independent, educated, accomplished woman to be his wife.

Like Amal, Clooney is also known for his humanitarian work and political activism - he has Jupiter (his MC ruler) in early Aquarius Conjunct Moon and Saturn in late Capricorn across the 11th and 12th Houses. These are Conjunct Amal’s Mercury at 28 Capricorn, denoting a strong urge to connect and share a common sense of purpose, to deal with serious issues.

George’s chart dominance in Earth (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Saturn, Pluto, North Node) with a decent blast of Fire, brings spirited and optimistic pragmatism to Amal’s idealistic chart, dominated by planets in Air (Sun, Venus, Jupiter, Pluto, North Node) and Moon in Sagittarius, likely Conjunct her Neptune and George’s MC in justice-oriented Sagittarius. After they married, they set up The Clooney Foundation for Justice, “fighting for the rights of individuals unfairly targeted by oppressive governments.”1  Their Foundation, supporting the civil rights of the underdog, is also an apt expression of Sun Square Uranus.

As a couple, it seems the Sun shines out of them. Indeed, see how they shone recently at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, with George’s megawatt smile (still deserving of the nickname ‘Gorgeous George’) and Amal’s dress and hat the colour of high summer sunshine. As well as the attraction of Sun Square Sun by synastry, Amal’s Neptune (and Moon in a noon chart – we don’t have a birth time) on George’s MC, adds to the idea of the glamorous fairy tale romance for a public hungry for idealised happy endings. 
Click to enlarge
Together, their charts form a powerful Fixed Grand Cross consisting of George’s Sun and Mercury in Taurus and Uranus in Leo and Amal’s Uranus in Scorpio and Sun and Venus in Aquarius.

The four fixed signs are about attachment and desire, loyalty, commitment and resistance to change. Where Taurus is about physical security and sensuality, Scorpio is about deeper emotional bonds and desires. When fixed signs are dominant, secure relationships are valued, but with Uranus in the mix, it’s possible that during the lifetime rejection has been suffered and/or that the native has been the one doing the rejecting. Leo is about the development of the ego through putting oneself at the centre of things, through exuding, (at best) warmth and generosity. However, the Leo dynamic often comes with excessive pride. Its Opposite sign, Aquarius, teaches detachment from the ego to allow service to humanity, but there can be a stubborn belief that one’s ideas and values are the only way and a perverse attitude of superiority, even as it proclaims equality for all.

Double Uranus in this Cross potentially brings contrariness and lack of willingness to cooperate. If they’re a true team, on the same side, however, this couple can be a force to be reckoned with, with an energising belief that it’s us against the world or perhaps more likely, because of the power bestowed by their fame and wealth, the belief that it’s up to us to change the world.

This strong fixity invites them to direct their energy into causes and projects with real conviction. It promises that, with sustained effort, ideals and ideas can be converted into tangible action which can make a real difference in the world. Something they can take pride in.

This Fixed Grand Cross is bound to be a strong signature for their private relationship. It provides structure, support, stability and a desire to work at the relationship, to hold it all together. This aspect pattern in synastry can also denote a couple stuck in their problems, recycling the same issues again and again, persistently. And if they do get stuck in a Fixed Cross rut, with Uranus so prominent, it will at least be an unconventional rut.

With security likely to be important to the couple, their choice of UK home on an island in the river Thames feels like a perfect retreat for the Pisces Rising actor and his Mars in Cancer wife.

We would hope that their relationship allows them to fulfil the needs of their Moons. Clooney’s Moon in Capricorn suggests he takes his emotional life seriously and needs to be respected by those he loves and love only those he respects, particularly as it’s Conjunct Saturn. For all his charm, his love is not a love given easily or flippantly. Amal’s Moon in Sagittarius is more adventurous, supporting her Sun-Venus Square Uranus and well suited to her career as an international lawyer as well as to the jet-setting lifestyle that goes hand in hand with marriage to ‘Gorgeous George’.

© Mandi Lockley

1 https://cfj.org/about/


 

Sunday 1 July 2018

How can Saturn help us live from the heart?



Are Saturn transits to the Sun in the natal chart destined to be depressing, to suck the joy out of your life?



My article, How can Saturn help us live from the Heart? discusses this concern. It was first published in Infinity Astrological Magazine and was recently re-published on the popular astro.com website.



Here's the introduction below and you can read the full article here



If you've ever taken an interest in self-help books or films, especially of the more spiritual variety, you'll have heard about the importance of following your heart, being true to your heart and living your truth.



There's no doubt that having a sense of purpose unique and authentic is crucial, but what does following/living from your heart really mean? Fortunately, astrology offers some clues.



The Sun in our birth chart represents our heart – the organ in our chest, but also in the emotional and psychological sense. Think about how we describe unsympathetic people as heartless or cold-hearted and supportive, generous people as warm-hearted or all-heart.



An understanding of the sign our Sun falls in, the House it tenants and its aspects with other planets and points, helps take us to the centre of ourselves, where our true heart lies. Our Sun complex describes our life direction and purpose and the hero we are meant to be.



When transiting Saturn contacts your Sun, it can feel heavy, restrictive, depressing even. Saturn's challenging transits – the Conjunction, Square and Opposition in particular – ask you to question whether the structure of your life supports your heart purpose, questions whether you are living in a heart-centred way… Read more here

And while you're there, check out some of other articles - astro.com republishes articles from every issue of the three main astrology mags - The Mountain Astrologer, AA Journal and Infinity Astrological Magazine (IAM). You'll find the work of some of the most respected names in astrology amongst them and a good mix of all the major schools of astrological thought - just scroll down on the home page http://www.astro.com/horoscope 




  Important Update   I have now moved my content to YouTube & you can view my channel,  On Purpose Astrology, by clicking on this link  ...