WRITINGS & ARCHIVES ON ASTROLOGY
John Marchesella has been sharing his thoughts, humor, and unique point of view on the topic of astrology for many years, through various publications and internet posts. Here is a collection of a few of his favorites..
Sally Fields: Do We Really Like Her?
Whether or not you really like her, there is something to be said for a career that has run from Gidget to Boniva, especially for a woman in Hollywood in this day and age. Sally Field has morphed her way from TV sitcoms, to serious acting roles, to Academy Award winning films (not once but twice), to being part of Burt Reynolds’s coterie, to Broadway, back to TV in melodrama, and on to commercials for the bone-strengthening medication!
That process is well reflected in her horoscope, and it is presented here, not only as an interesting example as success in the horoscope, but also because it’s such an easy example of chart interpretation.
Those of you who are teachers, particularly on the introductory level of astrology, will appreciate the ease; and those of you who are new to astrology, welcome! Here’s a chart that, astrologically, says what it means and means what it says. Additionally, it is a good example that Saturn is not always such a bad guy.
The first sight of a chart reveals its pattern. This one is a bucket, emphasizing the Moon in Aries in the 6th house, as the “handle,” or singleton. It reveals her need for work as well as her ambition, drive and unwillingness to be put out to pasture as an aging actress. It also describes her intention to transform herself from a TV sitcom star to a serious actress through the study of the technique of Method Acting with expert, Lee Strasberg. The 6th house is about skills, tools and techniques to improve and perfect one’s work and talent. Furthermore, as actors often express their charts through their characters, this lunar placement describes three of her award-winning roles: 1). as a union activist in “Norma Rae,” (6th house), 2). as a pioneering single mother in “Places of the Heart,” and 3). as the matriarch of the current series, “Brothers and Sisters” (both Moon in Aries). It also symbolizes the feistiness that is in so many of her characters.
The Moon is even more emphasized 1). as the ruler of an angular house, the MC, 2). by its position in a grand trine with Saturn and Pluto in Leo and Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius, and 3). with its opposition to Neptune, the Moon turns the chart into a kite . What more could an actress ask for but a fiery grand trine in the work and money houses (2, 6 and 10) plus a connection to Neptune, the planet of film!
The symbolism of mental illness of the Moon-Neptune opposition is noteworthy, too, in her two other award-winning roles: as the schizophrenic, Sybil, the daughter of a sociopathic mother, and as the bipolar mother of a one of the favorite characters on “ER.”
The emphasis of planets on the eastern side of the horoscope supports her aforementioned Aries qualities. Eastern-sided natives tend to be captains of their own ships, masters of the own destinies, a quality that she is known for in her business. The crowd of planets in the “low profile” first quadrant may be unexpected for someone who has been so high profile for so long, but it explains her fierce protection of her privacy as well as the need to do business on her own terms. Her renown is more likely to come from her highly placed Saturn and the unusual separation of outer planets above the horizon and all of the other planets below it.
Next, we go to the elements. There is a high count of fire, explaining her draw to acting in the first place, as well as her ability to “fire up” many of her own projects. The fire also explains her youthfulness, sprightliness and sunny personality.
The more interesting note about her elements is her lack of earth. This usually makes for overcompensation and under compensation of all things relating to money, health and possessions, perhaps in her feelings of worth and substance too. Certainly, her personal life would have plenty of specific examples of this, but professionally, at the very least, who else would be cast to play “The Flying Nun!”
A theme that seems to develop in these initial stages of chart interpretation is her need to be taken seriously, and to overcome doubt in anyone’s mind that she is not a force to be reckoned with, so to speak.
Her Libra Ascendant, infamous for its sweetness, and ruled by Venus in Sagittarius, infamous for its effervescence and spunk, might have her appear as a lightweight.
In actuality, however, the many Mars-ruled planets (Moon, Jupiter, Sun and Mars, itself, at a critical degree) as well as the emphasis of the 2nd house (especially the placement of the chart ruler and the South Node), and the highly placed Saturn-Pluto conjunction, which is also in square to the Jupiter and Sun, make for a fierce character that has substance, and wants very much to be appreciated and taken seriously in the world. Her Ascendant just made it pop out of her mouth that fateful night as just being really, really liked.
Unfortunately, in introductory astrology, the 2nd house is so easily glossed over as the place of money and possessions. Sometimes, the word “values” gets tossed on the list too. The 2nd house is so much more than that! It is the place of the horoscope that gives us grounding and substance. It represents what matters to us and what makes us matter in the world. It has to do the potential that is ours to manifest, our God-given talents and abilities, the natural resources of our character. It has so much to do with the ability to be true to one’s self. True, it is the angles of the horoscope that give us incarnation, but it is the 2nd house that makes our incarnation worthwhile.
Obviously, then, when the all-important ruler of the horoscope occupies the 2nd house, the native’s self-actualization happens through the process of manifestation of talent and the making of one’s self substantial, or of substance, in the world. (The chart ruler is described as “all-important” here because “it is the god to whom we live our lives in service.” In other words, we emulate that god, and personalize it by sign, house and aspect placement, making it the most personal planet in the horoscope.
Here’s an outstanding example of her Venus at work. In 1976, the role that won Field her first raves for serious acting as well as her first award was in “Sybil.” Between the time of the shooting the project and the time of winning the Emmy, Venus progressed from retrograde to direct! Obviously, the use of her talents turned toward a new direction.
This is not to say, however, that before this progression, her Venus was a real loser. After all, how many of us can land, not one, but two, popular television series before age 30! The progression, though, allowed her to fulfill the potential of her talents in new directions.
Of course, she was also in the midst of her Saturn Return, and the role that could have made her a 10th house laughingstock, namely, a schizophrenic with a dozen or so personalities, actually got her the professional seriousness that she desired.
Be it her impetuous Aries Moon, the South Node in Sagittarius, the general high count of fire, or the twist of the Jupiter-Saturn square, as the ironies of life would have it, for as many juicy roles and just as many acting awards as Sally Field is likely to see in her lifetime, she is more likely to be remembered for her exuberant acceptance speech of her second Oscar when she cried out, “You like me, you really like me!” The incident is even coined in our contemporary vernacular with the expression, “Oh, I’m having a Sally Field moment.” It is parodied so often, in fact, that even she used it as a gag in a commercial.
To be fair, her gushing remark is popularly misquoted. Her actual words were, “I haven’t had an orthodox career, and I’ve wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn’t feel it, but this time, I feel it, and I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!” Maybe this was just her Venusian way of saying, “Finally, I can experience that you’re taking me seriously!”
That event took place on March 25, 1985, and there’s something to learn from astrology of the moment.
Her progressed MC was 29 Leo 49 exactly square her natal Mars in the aforementioned 2nd house. The critical degree of this MC made for a “rally” of Leo qualities, i.e., an enthusiastic victory; but it simultaneously signals the end of something, and indeed, this really was her last great hurrah in film.
The progressed Sun was just leaving the orb of opposition to natal Uranus, and that aspect is so portrayed in the speech as well as in its irony.
And most outstanding progressed Mercury was at the midpoint of natal Venus and natal Mercury in Sagittarius. There’s the real indication of words “over the top” emotion for which she will be immortalized!
The Solar Eclipse that preceded the event and set the stage for it was at 0 Sagittarius 50, so closely conjunction her natal Venus and not far from her natal Mercury.
Transiting in the sky that night was Jupiter at 9 Aquarius in square to her natal Jupiter, again, suggesting some over enthusiasm,. And Mars, at 7 Taurus, also triggered natal Jupiter and opposed natal Saturn, perhaps making for the good-news-bad-news scenario. The good news is you won the Academy Award. The bad news is you made a fool of yourself.
There was a little excitation in the sky too. Transiting Venus was retrograde akin to her natal retrograde Venus. To boot, it was opposing her natal Ascendant.
And to top things off, Mercury is also retrograde in the conjunction to transiting Venus and opposing her Ascendant.
All of these astrological indications are about excessive words….and perhaps some good humor…..which one should have when Saturn is at the top of the chart. Actually, everyone needs humor about Saturn, but when it is so highly placed in the 10th house, it is specifically about one’s reputation where humor….and humility….are needed.
So, what’s all this stuff about Saturn is what we take seriously? Ultimately, even more than seriousness, responsibility, patience, determination, and all other Saturnian words, the Saturn area of life is where we need to strive for balance, for that is truly the lesson of the human condition. Or as the I Ching states in the hexagram on limitations, “There are limitations on all things, including limitations.”
Birth Data: Sally Field, November 6, 1946, 4:23 A.M. P.S.T., Pasadena, CA
John Marchesella is a practicing astrologer in New York City and can be reached via www.astrojohn.com. He has no strong opinion about Sally Field, but has many opinions about Saturn. But he really, really likes him.