But suddenly there’s been an explosion of Queen everywhere.
Her image, young, old, regal, friendly, bored, etcetera is on everything. It’s reminded me of growing up in Cairo, where President Sadat's face was on every hoarding, in every office and in every cafe. We haven't quite reached the stage of having a portrait of the Maj in every public building, but it's beginning to feel a bit like Big Mama is looking down at us. The eyes follow you around you know.
In times like these, when the future seems more than usually uncertain, do we need a national mother figure more than ever?
The Jubilee is taking place under Venus Retrograde (nostalgia for a lady) in Gemini (talking, media). But also under an eclipse of the Moon...
What happens when you put her chart next to the country's?
When you look at Britain’s 1801 chart, the one I favour for the current regime, what’s going on is immediately clear. The Queen’s powerful Pluto dominates the UK chart, sitting a few degrees from the Midheaven (government) and the Moon (the people), and opposite the UK Sun.
Stripped of practical power, she is still the authority. Remember that Pluto wears an invisible helmet. Sometimes you can’t see him when he’s right in front of you. Just think, she has met every prime minister once a week for 60 years. When she started she was a young woman talking to old men, today she is an old woman talking to men half her age. She’s seen them come and go. And that's just British prime ministers. She's met nearly every head of state in the world for the past 60 years, and she herself is the head of state in countries around the globe
The interchange that’s especially important in explaining the Queen’s ubiquitous image is the one between Saturn (making manifest) and Neptune (dreams). The country’s Saturn is one degree from conjuncting the Queen’s Neptune and the Queen’s prominent Saturn, which sits right on the highest point in her chart, is just escaping from the UK’s Neptune.
What does this mean? The “Queen” is an illusion. She is a dream made real. Don’t get me wrong. Clearly, she is a real old lady, but her meaning for the country is as an icon, in the real sense of that word. She has had her photograph taken, her portrait painted or sculpted, more times than anyone ever, anywhere. And yet, how much do these portraits reveal of the real woman? They are portraits of “Queen”, not of a person; images of power.
I’ve seen the Queen in the flesh, and what startled me was the lack of impact this had. The images of her are more powerful than the reality. I’m on holiday in Cornwall at the moment, and the local pub has huge posters of the current Queen smiling down on the drinkers. It’s so strange – a cross between a religious image and a political one. And that is the key – royalty is precisely a cross between religion and politics.
Sixty years ago, this lady took a sacrament, and she was anointed (with olive oil apparently) Queen. Her job is a kind of religious obligation. In her natal chart, she has the royal combination of Jupiter rising (with military Mars) and Saturn on the MC.
Jupiter is the priestly planet. Hers falls in the first house in the sign of service to a larger cause, Aquarius. It is precisely opposite her Neptune in the 7th, again the planet of the mirror, in the house of mirrors. Her Neptune is in regal Leo, the lion. And what could be a more Aquarian animal than a unicorn, bringer of peace.
So there are the lion and the unicorn (with a bit of artistic license) squaring Saturn, the planet of work and duty, at the highest point of the chart, the career angle. And the queen’s done her duty a long, long time. Her Saturn and MC fall in the nation’s house of assets. Her hard work and sense of obligation are very valuable to UK plc.
Although (for some unknown reason) it does not come up on this chart, her Pallas is exactly on the UK MC. The helmeted image of Britannia is, of course, an avatar of Pallas Athena, the warrior goddess. And one of the Queen’s most important roles is head of the armed forces. I’ve mentioned in previous pieces how clearly the astrology shows the connection between monarchy and military. Remember the Royal Wedding and the dashing princes in their uniforms.
One of the themes of the past 10 years, since the invasion of Iraq and the long war in Afghanistan is the resurgence of the military in the nation’s psyche, the re-imagining of ourselves as a military nation. This has gone hand-in-hand with the resurgence of popularity of the Royals, who were at a low ebb when Diana died.
The Queen’s Pallas is at 9° Cancer, so it’s exactly caught in the grip of Uranus-Pluto square at 9° Aries-Cap. Power is being projected onto that Pallas from Pluto in the UK third house of communications and propaganda. And what of Uranus in the military sign, Aries, which rules Britain’s 7th house of friends and enemies. You know, I’m glad the security is very good at tomorrow’s regatta.
Main pic: Taken by me today at Cadgwith Cove Inn, Cornwall.
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| Dorothy Wilding's tinted photograph of the Queen in the 1950s. |
The interchange that’s especially important in explaining the Queen’s ubiquitous image is the one between Saturn (making manifest) and Neptune (dreams). The country’s Saturn is one degree from conjuncting the Queen’s Neptune and the Queen’s prominent Saturn, which sits right on the highest point in her chart, is just escaping from the UK’s Neptune.
What does this mean? The “Queen” is an illusion. She is a dream made real. Don’t get me wrong. Clearly, she is a real old lady, but her meaning for the country is as an icon, in the real sense of that word. She has had her photograph taken, her portrait painted or sculpted, more times than anyone ever, anywhere. And yet, how much do these portraits reveal of the real woman? They are portraits of “Queen”, not of a person; images of power.
Sixty years ago, this lady took a sacrament, and she was anointed (with olive oil apparently) Queen. Her job is a kind of religious obligation. In her natal chart, she has the royal combination of Jupiter rising (with military Mars) and Saturn on the MC.
Jupiter is the priestly planet. Hers falls in the first house in the sign of service to a larger cause, Aquarius. It is precisely opposite her Neptune in the 7th, again the planet of the mirror, in the house of mirrors. Her Neptune is in regal Leo, the lion. And what could be a more Aquarian animal than a unicorn, bringer of peace.
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| "God Save The Queen, She ain't no human being..."John Lydon 1977 |
So there are the lion and the unicorn (with a bit of artistic license) squaring Saturn, the planet of work and duty, at the highest point of the chart, the career angle. And the queen’s done her duty a long, long time. Her Saturn and MC fall in the nation’s house of assets. Her hard work and sense of obligation are very valuable to UK plc.
Although (for some unknown reason) it does not come up on this chart, her Pallas is exactly on the UK MC. The helmeted image of Britannia is, of course, an avatar of Pallas Athena, the warrior goddess. And one of the Queen’s most important roles is head of the armed forces. I’ve mentioned in previous pieces how clearly the astrology shows the connection between monarchy and military. Remember the Royal Wedding and the dashing princes in their uniforms.
One of the themes of the past 10 years, since the invasion of Iraq and the long war in Afghanistan is the resurgence of the military in the nation’s psyche, the re-imagining of ourselves as a military nation. This has gone hand-in-hand with the resurgence of popularity of the Royals, who were at a low ebb when Diana died.
The Queen’s Pallas is at 9° Cancer, so it’s exactly caught in the grip of Uranus-Pluto square at 9° Aries-Cap. Power is being projected onto that Pallas from Pluto in the UK third house of communications and propaganda. And what of Uranus in the military sign, Aries, which rules Britain’s 7th house of friends and enemies. You know, I’m glad the security is very good at tomorrow’s regatta.
It's interesting that this celebration is taking place just as Venus Rx transits the Sun, as the Moon is eclipsed and we approach the powerful Uranus-Pluto square so close to the UK Sun.
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| Putting out the flags in Cornwall. |
Main pic: Taken by me today at Cadgwith Cove Inn, Cornwall.
For more on the Queen and the Royals:
