Astrologers are well aware of the current Venus retrograde cycle and her connection to the myth of the descent of Inanna. Now in Leo, many have noted the connections to the movie industry and the Barbie phenomena. (1)
Looking through TMA archives, I have updated a blog (from 2011) with another tribute to Venus: her upcoming station is at 12°12’ Leo on September 3rd — Marilyn Monroe’s Ascendant is 13° Leo. This is also an early Happy Solar Return to actor Michelle Williams, born on September 8, 1980 with natal Venus (as morning star) conjunct the Descendant at 2° Leo. (2)
photo: Wikipedia
She has had a long and illustrious career, but I am considering her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn (2011) for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
Although they do not look at all alike, Williams has been praised for her ability to capture the essence of the wondrously, glamorously vulnerable Marilyn Monroe. (3) In an interview about the film, Williams said: “I have always been drawn to Marilyn……She has that magnetism and that draw for so many people, so I read about her when I was young, devouring biographies.” (4)
Marilyn Monroe was born on June 1, 1926 at 9:30 am in Los Angeles, CA. AA data (5)
photo: Wikipedia
She has the Moon in Aquarius in the 7th house opposite Neptune in Leo in the 1st house.
Williams’s North Node at 20° Leo is conjunct Marilyn’s natal Neptune; her South Node at 20° Aquarius is conjunct Marilyn’s Moon. Nodal connections offer unlimited insight into cycles of time. The nodes can point to deep, soul issues or moments of destiny in an unfolding life.
The nodal connections between the two actors well describes the kind of compelling attraction that nodal connections can indicate. I’m thinking too of Williams’s ability to capture the beguiling (and sorrowful) quality of Marilyn’s appeal. She was able to feel deeply into Marilyn’s emotional nature — at least enough to create a mesmerizing film presence.
Williams was born on the New Moon in Virgo with (Ascendant ruler) Saturn, Jupiter, and Mercury there as well. The Sun, Moon and Jupiter closely square Neptune. Her sturdy Virgo nature is also porous and malleable, a gift for an actor. (6)
Also born with Venus as a morning star, Marilyn has the Moon opposite Neptune; her public image was powerfully erotic and open to projection. Saturn in Scorpio in the 4th house is squaring the opposition; her early life was one of emotional devastation. (Midpoint watchers may be interested to see that on the 45° dial, Marilyn has the Uranus/Neptune midpoint with Sun, the Moon, and the Venus/Mars midpoint.)
Although it may not have signified easy personal happiness in her own life, Marilyn’s continues to entrance: progressed Venus, ruler of Midheaven, has worked its way around to 24° Leo. (7)
Progressed Venus has traveled past natal Neptune and is applying to progressed Neptune and natal Ceres at (25°26’) Leo. The Roman goddess of agriculture, Ceres is a connected to the earlier Mesopotamian myth of Inanna and the eternal cycle of death and rebirth. Perhaps Venus stationing direct now on Marilyn’s Ascendant is a gentle reminder that beauty indeed is eternal.
Footnotes:
(2) AstroDatabank: Michelle Williams
(3) “Initially terrified of taking on the role, she turned down the offer. ‘Physically and vocally, everything about her is different from me,’ she explained. Eventually, she found the offer too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
The Telegraph
(4) The Telegraph
(5) AstroDatabank: Marilyn Monroe
(6) “The journalist Andrew Anthony has described her as unpretentious, low-key, and unassuming. Charles McGrath of The New York Times considers her to be unlike a movie star and has called her “shy, earnest, thoughtful, and […] a little wary of publicity”. Wikipedia
(7) Marilyn Monroe was born during the day with Venus in Aries as the out-of-sect benefic. Venus rules the Midheaven of public visibility and is square Neptune (22° Leo) and opposite Saturn (21° Scorpio).