Astrology and the Beautiful People

Some signs have a reputation for being more beautiful than others – particularly Taurus and Libra which are ruled by Venus, the natural planet of beauty. But don’t forget the flirtatious Geminis, the glamorous Leos and the sexy Scorpios.

In practice, however, being born under each of these signs produces many variances, sometimes quite at odds with the expected stereotype. The “what” of life is ruled by planets rather than signs which describe the way a planet behaves.

Venus rules the passions and beauty while Jupiter, when in a positive relationship with another planet, will increase the effects of that planet - put Jupiter and Venus together in a chart and the chances are that you will find someone who is oozing beauty or sex appeal.

Here are a few examples which illustrate the principles.

Marilyn Monroe was married three times and reputedly had many other relationships including President John F. Kennedy. There were also rumours that she was involved with Senator Robert Kennedy, JFK’s brother.Almost all Geminis like to be in partnership although when they are on their own they can talk to themselves with more success than most

Marilyn Monroe

9.30 a.m. PST, 1 June 1926 Los Angeles, 34N03, 118W14

signs since their symbol is the twins - the internal dialogue is never-ending…..

One of the first things which strikes the observer of this chart is that there are no planets in the earth element - four in chatty air and four in water seem to show her predilection for the many years spent in analysis while Venus in Aries and Neptune in Leo add some fire to complete the picture.

However, Venus is said to be in its detriment in Aries - the sign which it likes least.

Venus likes harmony, partnership and beauty but Aries is all about getting things done - and now, if not sooner. A combination of Venus in Aries with Sun and Mercury in Gemini suggests a certain impetuousness in matters of passion. But oh, how beautiful, the owner of this chart is - Jupiter in Aquarius is just under two degrees away from making a perfect sextile (harmonious sixty degree angle) with Venus! And since Jupiter is just under eight degrees away from the Moon in Aquarius she had the ability to appeal to so many, many people.

Finally, Neptune, which can elevate anything to an almost ethereal level, is six and half degrees off a perfect trine to Venus and a trine is the most positive aspect in astrology. To complete this figure the Moon is opposite to Neptune - so many illusions and so much confusion - “the candle burned out long before the legend ever did” as Elton John wrote in his tribute to Marilyn Monroe, Candle in the Wind.

Another Gemini - nicknamed “The Merry Monarch” was King Charles II. Many Geminis seem to have nicknames or change their names or have some confusion about the date of the time - or even the date - of their birth. This also applies when the Moon or Ascendant in Gemini.

King Charles II of England

11.25 a.m. LMT, 8 June 1630 (NS - 29 May 1630 OS) London, 51N30, 00W10,

After eleven years of dour Puritan England under Oliver Cromwell and his son, Richard, who better to become king than the pleasure loving King Charles II? (he was actually declared king upon the execution of his father Charles I in 1649 but was in exile from 1646 until 1660).

He was married to Catherine of Braganza who bore him no children although he had many mistresses and reputedly was the father of fourteen illegitimate children, none of whom succeeded him to the throne.

Venus is at its best in the sign of Taurus and is placed at eight degrees of that sign in the ninth house which deals with foreign countries. It is no surprise to find the king had more than a passing interest in what might be called “foreign affairs.”

His wife, Catherine, was from Portugal while two of his mistresses, Hortense Mancini and Louise de Kerouaille, were Italian and French respectively). The Moon and Pluto also in the seventh house add further weight to his involvement in international matters although not necessarily to his sense of beauty.

Jupiter is at eleven degrees of Pisces and is the traditional ruler of Pisces making it particularly strong in its effect. Placed within five degrees of the descendant - or beginning of the seventh house which deals with partners - it can be counted as being in the seventh house and within three degrees of an exact sextile with Venus.

Naomi Campbell, one of the supermodels of the nineteen-eighties, has Venus at 29 degrees of Gemini - less than two degrees away from a perfect trine with Jupiter at 27 degrees of Libra (one of the signs most associated with beauty since it is ruled by Venus) so the indications of

Naomi Campbell

1.00 a.m. BST, 22 May 1970, London,00W10, 51N30

beauty were in the stars when she was born.

She has never married but been involved in a number of high profile relationships - notably with actor Robert de Niro and boxer Mike Tyson. Mr. Tyson might have got more than he bargained for with a lady who has been in many public spats as result of which she has been banned from British Airways, undergone anger management courses and been sentenced to community service. Her agency fired her declaring her to be “manipulative, scheming, rude and impossible.”

With Mars conjunct her Venus and both those planets square to Pluto it’s not surprising that these sorts of issues should arise.

When she gave birth (at the age of 50) to a daughter in May 2021 in typical Gemini fashion she kept the world in the dark regarding the identity of the father.

Benito Mussolini

2 p.m. LMT, 29 July 1883, Dovia Il Predappio, 44N06 11E58

The publication of Mussolini’s diaries in 2009 laid bare - if that’s the right expression - Il Duce’s insatiable sexual appetites. Despite questionable levels of personal hygiene he was twice married and regularly had fourteen mistresses at once, sometimes bedding three or four women

in one evening. Throw in rumours of bigamy, an affair with the daughter of one of his mistresses together with a complete disregard for venue of the act and we can see it is not only quantity that counts but also a need for variety.

Lack of physical beauty seems to have been no impediment to an abundant sex life. Power, as Henry Kissinger remarked, is the ultimate aphrodisiac and where is it more likely to be found than in an imperious Leo?

Venus and Jupiter are within three degrees in Mussolini’s chart - both in Cancer where Jupiter is exalted giving the conjunction something of a turbo charge. With Uranus at 20 degrees of Virgo making a close sextile to both Jupiter and Venus we can see that this provides the need for an “unusual” dimension to his sex life. Many of Mussolini’s mistresses complained of the lack of “after care” - not even a cuddle, let alone a cup of coffee and a biscuit or jewellery. It is likely that this coldness can be put down to the close conjunction of the Moon and Saturn.

The Sun in Mussolini’s chart is square to the Nodal axis - perhaps one of the best expressions of a chart where power can be exercised for good or ill. Mussolini came to an unfortunate end, shot alongside one of his mistresses, Clara Petacci.

Elizabeth Taylor

2.30 a.m. GMT, 27 February 1932, London, 51N30, 00W10,

Another chart in which we see the planets Venus, Jupiter and Uranus in close alignment with each other. Venus and Uranus are almost exactly conjunct at seventeen degrees of Aries and make a close trine to Jupiter at fifteen degrees of Leo.Pisces Elizabeth Taylor may not

have been a dictator like the Leo Benito Mussolini but she was regarded as a beauty and had a fruitful and unorthodox series of relationships.

These included eight marriages but only seven husbands as she was married twice to Richard Burton while there were a series of extramarital relationships at various times. She was widowed once, the remaining seven marriages ending in divorce.

Venus and Uranus in this chart are just six minutes of one degree apart so we would be surprised if her love life were not surprising!

Larry Fortensky, her last husband, was twenty years younger than Taylor while the Venus in detriment in Aries, while enthusiastic, is always a caution against rushing into relationships. Jupiter, in expansive Leo, just increases the effect. Note the completely unaspected Saturn - on her conversion to Judaism at the age of 29 she said she "felt a desperate need for a formalized religion."

Jennifer Lawrence

8.17 p.m. EDT, 15 August 1990, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, 38N15, 85W45,

One of the modern day film stars who has a reputation for making grown men go weak at the knees, Jennifer Lawrence, has that tell-tale connection between Jupiter (exalted at 29 degrees of Cancer) and Venus at two degrees of theatrical Leo.Her sun sign is also Leo so it’s no surprise to find her profession is that of an actress, something which is emphasised,

astrological speaking, by Jupiter, the ruler of her tenth house of career, being so close to Venus in Leo.

A further indication of her profession is the Moon’s position in Gemini on the cusp of the fifth house which rules entertainment of all sorts - placed in versatile Gemini we can expect Ms. Lawrence to take roles of many different sorts -something which has already been apparent in her work to date.

Uranus is not in a major aspect with either Jupiter or Venus so perhaps her love life will be less unconventional than Elizabeth Taylor or Benito Mussolini - the glamour factor is there, however, undeniably.

Venus in this chart makes no major aspect to Jupiter but is exactly conjunct Neptune (just one minute of one degree off).

Although Cohen was never short of female attention in his 82 years - and many women I know still swoon at the mention of his name - there were periods of sexual abstinence such as the famous five year Buddhist retreat in the 1990’s.

Leonard Cohen

6.45 a.m. EDT, 21 September 1934, Montreal, Canada, 45N31, 75W34

The closeness of Venus and Neptune speaks of Divinity rather than quantity.

In modern Kabbalistic astrology Neptune is said to correspond to the principle of the Divine known as Keter, the Crown, which symbolises the Divine aspect of ourselves. This Divine love is the stuff of the Biblical song of Solomon, and the poets Rumi and John Donne, not of earthly love. No wonder that so many of Cohen’s tunes have an almost other worldly quality about them.

The downside is that relationships may have an element of delusion or illusion about them - an example of this might be the defrauding of Cohen by his business manager. Yet, without that, he would not have taken to the road again in his mid-seventies and produced a late flowering of work which has delighted a new generation who were not familiar with his songs.

Perhaps the Venus Neptune conjunction in this chart is summed up the title of one of Cohen’s most famous songs - I Came So Far For Beauty.

There are a host of other beauties of both sexes with less exact contacts between Venus and Jupiter than those charts described here including:

Zsa Zsa Gabor
Marlene Dietrich (Jupiter sits on the midpoint between Uranus and Venus)
Marion Cotillard
Scarlet Johannsen (a Venus Jupiter conjunction of under 3o)
George Clooney
Antonio Banderas
Frank Sinatra
Paul Newman
Diana, Princess of Wales (9o away from a perfect trine between Venus and Jupiter)
Elvis Presley (a tight 2o square between Venus and Uranus describes his role as a sexual revolutionary)

Of course, many other people who haven’t made it to Hollywood or won a Miss World title may also have significant aspects between Venus and Jupiter (or Venus and other relevant planets) in their charts and they may even be exact.

I once met a man who had an exact conjunction between Venus and Jupiter (in Libra - the sign most closely associated with relationships) who had been married five times. He also had a close trine from Uranus (in Gemini) to these planets which had played itself out in an obsession with attending the concerts of Neil Diamond.

So although it may be true to say that many “beautiful” or “sexy” people will have these aspects not everybody who has the aspects will be famous. The same traits may be played out in village life as well as in the public eye.