Will the yin and yang be permanently out of balance with the rise of misogyny? In the perpetual pendulum swing of effect and counter-effect it’s difficult to remember Martin Luther King’s sage words – “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Fifty years ago, Kabul was cosmopolitan and modern with women wearing stylish western dress: pre the Islamic stranglehold, Iran was also liberated. Intriguingly the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan in 1996 on a late Neptune in Capricorn which was exactly where Neptune was for the UK 1832 Reform Act which specifically restricted voting to men.
What surprised me researching my Astrological History of the World was the connection between Saturn Neptune and women’s as well as worker’s rights. Which is significant since there is another Saturn Neptune conjunction approaching in 2025 in Aries once Pluto has cleared its feet of the overly masculine sign of Capricorn.
Pluto through Aquarius (2023 to 2043) also has a drive for freedom with last time round, in the late 18th Century, Thomas Paine writing the Rights of Man and Mary Wollstonecraft writing to promote the rights of women.
All countries have their own specific arc of history but looking at the UK, the first key change towards the emancipation of women came with the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882, with Saturn Neptune together in Taurus, which gave wives for the first time the right of separate ownership. Then on the next Saturn Neptune conjunction in 1917–18 in Leo, the campaign for women’s suffrage succeeded in getting the vote for women over the age of 30.
Both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne to exert feminine influence over matters of state on Saturn Neptune conjunctions — in 1558 in Taurus, and 1953 in Libra. Both of them were enduring monarchs in typical Saturnine fashion, Elizabeth I ruling for 45 years, the present Queen still in place after 70 years. Benazir Bhutto became the first woman prime minister of Pakistan on the conjunction in Capricorn in 1988, though it proved a short-lived triumph.
Literature also rose to the challenge and produced memorable novels by or about women – Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer and Laclos’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Molière’s The Misanthrope and The Dumb Lady. More recently Pedro Almodovar, the Spanish film-maker, produced his cult movie Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown.
Not that anything happens without a backlash and Saturn Neptune also has associations with the persecution of witches – arising from the masculine Saturnine fear of the mysterious, less rational feminine in Neptune. But there is a glimmering of light at the end of the tunnel.
Add On: The two previous Saturn Neptune in Aries were in 1702/1703 and 1379.
Felicitously, in line with Saturn Neptune’s proclivity towards the feminine, Queen Anne took over in 1702 as monarch from her brother-in-law William of Orange to reign for five years. The 2018 Olivia Coleman movie ‘The Favourite’ related court intrigues as she sank into depressed middle age after 17 pregnancies with no issue. She was born on 6 February 1665 when Saturn and Neptune were both in Capricorn, so she followed the pattern. When she took over the throne Saturn was in the final degree of Pisces about to join Neptune in Aries.
For 1379 I can find nothing of significance but historians might pitch in with other thoughts.
I share your hope Marjorie but am concerned about the Saturn Neptune conjunction being in Aires, which suggests an strong masculine leaning, any thoughts?
Sorry for late question.
I have added an end para on Aries previous – interesting about 1702/3.
Oh good, thank you, and yes that is interesting.
Re rude delays in answering, I dont seem to be receiving email alerts re responses to my posts, despite checking the box. Theyre not in spam either?
Good news there Marjorie, thank you.
I posted on the Justin Trudeau email string a bit ago…. definitely feeling overwhelmed this morning with all the struggles, tension, anger, disappointment and even despair!!..etc.
It was not an easy day with clients yesterday…. each dealing with their own version of this!
Then?… I read this posting!!…..
seriously.. thank-you.
a much needed gift for my heart and Soul.
I am also intrigued by my rush of relief reading this post… shows my how much we are all ACHING for hope, for a break… for some space in all of this tension.
Thank you Marjorie, looks like a fascinating time ahead! Have a nice weekend.
Things are looking pretty dark here in the USA with the passage of the Texas abortion ban, and the Supreme Court ignoring it. Is there hope this too will be overcome?
Tr Pluto opposition the USA Mercury and conjunct Pluto till 2024 was never going to be a cakewalk. It’s probably over hopeful but it may be a swansong for the dying Capricornian era.
I know we need to do a lot of grassroots political work, but will cling to whatever hope we can.
Thank you.
I love the UK. I went there on business in the Plymouth/Bristol area for two weeks about 10 years ago, and the locals charmed me. They were kind, funny and curious, and I asked was is so obvious I was an American. I trecked up to Jane Austen land – Bath – to see it for myself – on the weekend.
I plan to do a study of English Common Law (history) and now this, as the UK has been more important for global womens rights than has been acknowledged. Rights of Man, USA has a copy of the Magna Carta at the National Archives.
My Saturn on the IC line runs through London and England. I put this down to ancestors. Thanks for this post Marjorie.
Thanks very much Marjorie! Good to know there’s some hope for the future. I saw some of those photos from Afghanistan in the 60’s and 70’s, quite amazing and very upsetting to see how things have rolled so far backwards. I believe the same applies to Iran. It’s so hard to understand.
Also quite amused by the very apt stellium in Taurus for the Married Women’s Property Act. And an earthy back-up in Capricorn too. It was in some ways more important than the vote for women – most men couldn’t vote back then either, since they didn’t own property. Universal suffrage for men in the UK came in 1918 too.
I lived in Iran, near the Afghan border in the seventies. One day we were living it up in our mini skirts and pop music, the next, cloaked in a black veil. At least we could carry on working and driving after the 79 Revolution.
❤️❤️❤️
Thank you, Marjorie. Pluto through Capricorn has not been good for women’s and girls’ rights, worldwide. Some optimism and hope after the tragic events in Afghanistan and the Texas craziness, is very welcome.
THANK YOU (and the stars!) for this much-needed bit of hope!!!