The Venus Effect

11th December 2008, Venus, the planet which symbolises women is in Saturn
ruled Aquarius. The Moon, symbol of the feminine starts the day in Venus ruled Taurus and ends the day in Mercury ruled Gemini. During the course of the day the only aspect the Moon and Venus will make is a trine to each other, thus the day is bringing the feminine into focus.
So how was the feminine brought into focus? On this day two women, who each portrayed the feminine from opposite ends of the spectrum, died.

Looking further at the astrology of the day, Saturn in Virgo is opposing Uranus whilst squaring a Mars/Sun conjunction in Sagittarius. Mercury is in the last couple of degrees of this latter sign. This seems fitting symbolism for two larger than life characters to be no longer with us.

So who were they?

Firstly we have Bettie Page.
22 Apr 1923, 03:00, CST +6:00 Nashville (Source Astrodatabank)
Bettie was a pin-up legend, an iconic figure who is said to have influenced the sexual revolution of the 60's and is often said to have been the first Glamour model. Her pictures would be considered tame by today’s standards but back in the 50's her nude poses as well as her bondage poses were considered scandalous. Her popularity as a glamour model lasted much longer that the usual brief amount of time such a carer choice brings.

Bettie has chameleon-like Pisces rising, a sign associated with the glamour of illusion. Uranus conjunct Venus is in the first. Her Sun is in curvaceous Taurus and her moon is in Cancer in partile conjunction to Pluto. It's as if she was destined to fundamentally change the way women were viewed. Even more so when you realise that the first Glamour photos of Bettie were published in 1950, the year Uranus transited her Moon/Pluto conjunction. Bettie is credited with saying "I want to be remembered as the woman who changed people's perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form." This is the way she is now remembered.

The other woman who died was actress Kathy Staff,
12 Jul 1928, 12:00, BST -1:00, Dukinfield, England. Time not known (Source: various web pages)
Kathy is the antithesis of the glamorous woman. Her roles ranged from from Doris
Luke the charwoman in TV soap Crossroads to Lady Bracknell in TheImportance of Being Earnest. However she is best known for playing the role of battleaxe Norah Batty in the BBC TV series Last of the Summer Wine. Norah was a formidable character, putting the world to
rights with sound Northern common sense. She was always busy fending of the approaches of Compo (played by Bill Owen) with a swipe of her broom and a torrent of abuse. Wikipedia describes the character thus; “Nora is proudly devoted to strict housework, and stands as a monument to classic northern women.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_Batty#Nora_Batty

One of her co-stars from the show has said of her "She was blessed with a wonderful, quite formidable face, which I hope isn't disrespectful, but she knew it".Kathy may not have been a classic beauty but she was a marvellous character actor, she will forever be remembered Norah Batty, clad in apron, hair-rollers, trademark wrinkled stockings and waving her broom at Compo.

It’s a shame we don’t have a birth time for Kathy but we can see she has Sun conjunct Venus in fiercely protective Cancer. Her moon is in Taurus conjunct Mars, what better representation of the fiercely stubborn angry woman.

It’s interesting that both these women, who each in their own way portrayed women from opposite ends of the feminine spectrum in a larger than life way, have Jupiter in opposite signs. Bettie’s Jupiter is in taboo breaking Scorpio whilst Kathy has hers in down to earth Taurus. Both brought pleasure to many in their own individual way.

RIP
Bettie Page and Kathy Staff.

This article was first published on the Astrological Association Website