Linda Evangelista, the Canadian supermodel, who was one of the most famous women in the world in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, has been understandably devastated by a cosmetic procedure five years ago going disastrously wrong. Instead of decreasing fat cells, it increased them leaving her in her own description “permanently deformed”, engulfed in self-loathing and depression. She is suing the CoolSculpting company for damages of $50 million.
It is a lunchtime procedure which doesn’t involve surgery, cuts or anesthesia so is less invasive than liposuction though also less effective. Risks are put at 1 in 2,000 treatment cycles in one study and 1 in 20,000 patients in another. A cosmetic surgeon says the adverse reaction is “totally benign from a health standpoint. It is purely cosmetically and psychologically disturbing.”
She was born 10 May 1965 in St Catharines, Ontario, and is a Sun Taurus opposition Neptune trine a formidable collection of Pluto (Moon) Mars, Uranus in Virgo. That hyper-charged, volcanic Virgo stellium is also in Johnny Depp’s chart though he was born two years earlier. Evangelista also has Venus in late Taurus as Depp has (and Amber Heard) all conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol.
Evangelista’s romantic life has been fraught, with an early marriage to Gerald Marie of the Parisian Elite Model Management, who has been the subject of allegations of sexual harassment over many years. She later hooked up with actor Kyle McLachlan, then a footballer through a miscarriage and two break ups and finally was involved in a rancorous child custody suit with a fashion billionaire who married Salma Hayek. So the chaos of Mars, Uranus, Pluto, maybe Moon, opposition Saturn took its toll.
When her cosmetic surgery went wrong in 2016, the neurotic tr Saturn in Sagittarius square tr Neptune in Pisces was impacting those Virgo planets. Tr Uranus was in a ‘shock’ conjunction to her Mercury in Aries; and – maybe pointedly – tr Saturn was conjunct her South Node pulling her backwards.
Her Venus in late Taurus is conjunct Jupiter in early Gemini – and those two planets of frivolity and indulgence often show up in fashion and design charts.
There is a terrible karmic lesson in here somewhere of having to face a life without the beauty which brought her fame and gave her an identity.
Linda looks like an average woman, like the rest of us now. I don’t call that negative, deformed, or ugly, I call it beautiful. Now she can be just an ordinary woman with regular looks, and find some Taurus VALUE in that. She looks like a Sun in Cancer woman now (I suppose her progressed Sun is in Cancer), that homely, motherly, and kind of a dowdy womanly look of someone in her late 50s or early 60s!
On her Instagram she states she settled her case earlier today. Glad to read.
Just reported that she settled the case earlier today.
Hope things turn around for her and she will heal.
That Chart of hers looks something else!
Very interesting comments, but many of us lose the way Linda has, it can be illness which changes us or just physically ageing. So I do not necessarily see this as a unique experience.
Yes the universality of that experience is, I imagine, why so many people are commenting.
The reason Evangalista’s situation resonates is precisely because it’s at the extreme, it throws into sharp relief our own experiences.
Yes art is being used to make social comment now more than ever.
Weinstein was notorious, I heard about it when I did some entertainment law units.
It’s ridiculous to claim as some (including no less than Meryl Streep) have unconvincingly done, that they ‘didn’t know’.
If I can know, and I’m in Australia, a long way from Hollywood, “everyone” in the industry knew.
Neptune is about deception. So it’s all about how to orchestrate an illusion.
There’s a creative element there and an expressive element which is really enjoyable.
The problem is that people start to get their sense of self worth messed up.
And the predators, clearly.
I wasn’t a model for long, because most of the time you’re expected to schmooze.
And I don’t do that. Aries sun…Sag rising, Aquarius moon. Sorry! LOL.
Plus a bit too tall for the market in Australia and I realised I ‘d have to go overseas and wasn’t interested in the scene. Had introductions and everything, but I’m glad I turned away from it
I was having a Neptune transit of my first house at the time.
The upside of Neptune is the spiritual one, and the dissolution of the ego, and the personality.
But I can tell you the insecurity in the modelling scene is so intense, it was palpable. The most beautiful women were obsessed with minor things, that’s what it does to them.
BTW the most beautiful and unaffected people I’ve ever seen are in India. There are also extraordinarily beautiful people in Iran too though I’ve never been there.
And dare I say it, Australia has a lot probably because of the mix of races here.
Anyway I went on a spiritual journey, and glad I did. Still travelling that one.
I was watching a talk given by a well known psychologist. She lives in LA and was speaking about a soirée she attended where some of the guests were Hollywood actors and actresses. As an observer personality at this event where everything was perfect and gorgeous and lavish, she noticed how these people seemed forever bored and indifferent to their surroundings, indifferent to the delicious food on offer and to the other guests, but constantly watching each other, checking out the ‘competition’ as it were, from other beautiful people in the room. There was no sign that they were relaxed, at ease with themselves and enjoying the event.
This all reminds me of the Buddhist realm of the gods in the Tibetan Wheel of Life. The problem with this realm is that existence just consists of pleasure and you cannot, even as a deity reach enlightenment here, and even as a deity you fade and age and eventually die unprepared as you have passed your life in pure enjoyment and have learned nothing. Next to the god realm is the realm of the Demi-gods, Asuras or Titans, within which are the roots of the so-called wish-fulfilling tree but the fruit of this tree grows into the god realm and the Demi-gods are constantly fighting, attacking, eaten up with jealousy of the gods. Only in the human realm, with all it’s imperfections is it easier to practice the dharma and achieve enlightenment.
I know it’s oft repeated, but I’ve always loved Leonard Cohen’s famous line “You can keep your perfect offering, There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”
Have a friend who trained with acting greats…
They also watch one another to study human behavior which is useful in good acting. Many are just people who love communicating stories.
Looking good is their job.
We all make so many assumptions about others who appear to be privileged.
I live in L.A. and find the “keeping up physical appearances” thing tiresome. I was a teacher, not in the “Biz.” I came of age in the 70s/early 80s—hippie times, new age/human potential was interesting to me—and the pain & $ necessary for “work” has kept me out of that game.
That said, I love beauty (Taurus!) and understand why people tweak their appearance.
Remember, how they look is a big part of their job! And the competition is fierce! Plenty of them are interesting, multifaceted people too.
I love beauty too as a Libran with the Sun at my Venus/Moon midpoint! Trained and qualified in Art and Illustration. I love beautiful faces of all kinds, see beauty in people and love to look at and enjoy beauty. I think change is inevitable in the film industry, particularly in the aftermath of Weinstein, the MeToo movement, hopefully better safeguarding, etc. I can only imagine the steel and toughness required to survive such a competitive world.
I think the comments are fair. To be realistic, they can’t be watching eachother for reasons of acting, because the event is artificial. The reason actors watch people is to see them reveal themselves, and that is usually best done when those people don’t know they’re being watched.
To illustrate the point differently, I once went to a party almost entirely composed of emerging comedians. It was painful how self-conscious everyone was. We (my date and I) were having a fun time and I asked him, what do you think’s going on? He said,” they are frightened of giving away some of their material so they’re watching themselves”.
While it shows how desperately ambitious people can behave weirdly, it also shows that when people are facing competition, they are less likely to behave in an unselfconscious manner. Unless they’re at the top and have absolutely nothing to lose. Some of this has changed with later generations and the trend to be authentic.
But that doesn’t take away from the reality that the actors aren’t there to pick up acting tips. They’re taking the measure of their competitors, and if they aren’t feeling confident they will as sure as heck be faking it. Watching eachother for signs and giveaways are what that’s about.
Having said that, there are signs of a new collaboration post Weinstein and this is to be celebrated.
The other factor which I have never quite understood is that the camera ‘likes’ some people – enhances their looks – and not others. There is a distortion effect which is not only about adding weight.
What I noticed was that the camera was falling out of love with Princess Diana in her latter year or so and she wasn’t coming across as luminously beautiful as she had been. Whether that was a change in her or ?? I don’t know.
Neptune is the image not the reality and can be an illusion/delusion.
Actually it’s not distortion. Just some people project better and that’s an elusive factor.
They can look fairly ordinary but then they are something else when the camera is on them.
So when you meet them in real life, rarely are they as beautiful as the camera shows. And vice versa.
I don’t think you can nail this ephemeral element, it just is.
There is also a fine line sometimes between beauty and ugliness. Especially with more dramatic faces.
Princess Diana was simply getting older, and she was tanning quite a bit.
Once you hit 36/37 your hormones change. That’s the reality.
She was having much more natural photos taken and she was more happy in her own skin.
We venerate her in part because she died so young. Maybe she had done enough it was sad for her sons without question, but her life was running increasingly out of control too.
I like Diana but then again she has her moon and rising sign in the same spot as me, so I would…lol.
The mastery she had over the camera was real. But she was also an actress, which she admitted. There’s a lot of acting in public life.
Again, she had a great body and beautiful eyes, hair, skin, but we’re more than just that. She was obsessed with her coverage in the media, whereas to the other working royals, they’re just getting a job done. There was a colossal amount of jealousy that she had to deal with, from Charles, the Queen, Anne, etc. They hated her having that attention. It drove them nuts.
What I find is Americans are obsessed with royalty especially her, but they don’t read enough in depth to really understand her and the context. It’s all a bit of fairy floss really.
Andrew, now he’s in trouble. REALLY BID trouble. So what happens? The palace lets Megan take the heat and wondered why she departed. I would have too. Note the is was predicted by none other than Germaine Greer.
Thank you Deborah for your insights as a former model. I think it must be very stressful to be valued for something you don’t have any control over (the arrangement of your DNA) and completely devastating when that same DNA takes you down another road thereby stripping you of the asset that once made you who (you thought) you were. Looking at the pictures it seems to me that the procedure simply didn’t work. She now looks like almost any other menopausal woman. If you made your living by looking young that must be very hard to accept. The comic horror movie Death Becomes Her was all about this. Jean Shrimpton, the supermodel of the ‘60s will not allow any photos anymore. It is time that we in society stopped placing so much emphasis on outward appearances and women’s “looks”. We see it now happening with Emma Raducanu where pictures of her in designer gowns on social media seem to have replaced all interest in her as a smart and successful sportswoman.
Well I was fine with it because I’d never been told I was beautiful growing up. Not once.
I had a sense of it sometimes when I looked in the. mirror but not really. Also I couldn’t keep it in my head what I looked like, and men often behaved like idiots around me. I couldn’t work it out.
Also I was picked on at school for being tall, etc. A lot was jealousy which is a real source of misery to people who look good.
Lots of models have experienced these extremes, and some don’t have a strong sense of security.
Look at Marilyn Monroe. She’s the ultimate example, also the Gemini weeping sisters thing.
Very prominent Neptune too.
Neppy isn’t prominent in my chart but it is in a difficult T square as I’ve said. But Mars in Cappy pretty much sorts that out.
Also the point of life isn’t to have a dream chart, it’s to find a way to make it work for you. And to overcome and discover who you are. In some ways a lot of success is a bad thing. A lot of successful people are miserable because of their expectations of what it was going to be like, surely? At least I have found many of them to have colossal egos and a fragile sense of self at the same time. It’s very difficult to be with people like that. The insecurity!
A difficult chart is an opportunity to develop spiritually. IMO. But that sounds preachy and I don’t mean to do that.
Trust me, I’ve had a lot of difficulty. People are often envious but they misread what someone elses life is all about.
That’s the toxic element to the culture of celebrity. Joni Mitchell is really interesting on this.
Also a fantastic chart. What a life!
I left out that Joni M says that people are busily projecting their own concepts of who or what the celebrity is.
This means that the celebrity is constantly dealing with this ‘projection’ and there is rarely a real exchange occurring.
It seems clear that Diana wanted to marry the heart surgeon Hasnat, and couldn’t because he wanted a private life, he didn’t want the celebrity baggage.
Dodi was fully into the glamour and producing movies etc. So he dumps his fiancé for Diana. None of it looked healthy.
Hasnat was invited to the funeral and cut a very sad figure. Diana was trapped by the artifice and the glamour as much as anything.
Actress Lupita N’yong’o said something very perceptive about celebrity and how the public project their own concepts onto how they seem them as people:
“There’s a separation between the public and the private. In the arena where I’m being desired, I’m absent.”
Very Neptunian.
This is such a great post! Thank you! Wise, wise, wise.
(Also—I think Joni is fascinating! What a genius, what a life! She was gorgeous on top of that—and appears to NOT have done any plastic surgery. She’s got a song: Happiness is the Best Facelift. True that!)
I’m a May 10 Taurus too. (1959, 1:48 a.m., Los Angeles)
I always get a kick reading how those born y birthday are supposedly very sexy
Makes me laugh
I’m pretty scared of any surgeries or treatments
I just look in the mirror less—although I admit I love seeing the reflection of my white hair when I glance into windows.
So glad my job was not my looks but teaching kids although the adjustment in the roles we play in life as we pass into different phases does take adjusting and acceptance.
I hope she finds a solution that is comforting.
How do you find about Algol in your chart—and is it really something I’d want to do?
Lol
Algol … grisly death. (Mine is in Taurus, like my sun)
But I read a list of others with the same placement as mine & none were decapitated -lol!
Nothing is set in stone.
‘Nothing is set in stone’
– are you being ironic there about Medusa? Who turned men into stone if they gazed on her face directly? so they had to view her reflection or use a shield. this is the legend as I understand it.
It was unintentional.
Lol.
Myths contain deep truths—of course if I’m decapitated Ill never know!
Very interesting re Algol thank you and John sounds like you have a heavyweight collection there!
All the best.
Gudnar
That’s very interesting, Marina. Yes, by speaking out about what went so wrong, she is helping to expose an industry that is booming – and isn’t properly regulated in many instances. One of the myths about Medusa is also relevant I think. Athena gave some of the Medusa’s blood to Asclepius, god of healing. The blood from her left side was said to bring death. The blood from her right side healed, or was capable of raising the dead.
Bernadette Brady (Brady’s Book of Fixed Stars) writes:
‘ Algol…is the wild, raw, frightening face of the outraged feminine which has been labeld as demonic or simply evil. ….It is the power of the feminine or the potential power of Mother Nature, not to be called evil for being strong’
Certainly, there is great energy and creativity as well as the destructive potential. I also think this tends to work out differently in a mundane chart, and an individual’s chart.
Thanks for the interesting response jane, I didnt know that about the Medusa story.
I just found Agol in my chart sandwiched between Ceres and Vesta and conjoined the IC . I am a tad alarmed…eeek
Generally with Asteroids I find that there is a too narrow focus on one aspect of the myth to support a thesis, eg Chiron as wounded/christ figure for instance, where in fact his main area of influence seems to be more about mentoring.
I really value Dennis Elwells thoughts on pre empting the meaning of new bodies before enough research and observation is done.
For some reason Im not getting email notifications, so if I miss your response, apologies.
Although obviously Agol is NOT an Asteroid. Mercury retrograde is getting to me 🙁
Yes, I absolutely agree re Dennis Elwell’s thoughts. Also, astrological Chiron is always “the wounded healer” which I’ve not found to be entirely accurate at all. I agree with you that the mentorship role in myth is important too. Plus the centaurs as a whole were a wild, sometimes drunken and pugnacious crew!
Chiron seems to work as a catalyst very often, and can have surprising effects when triggered. The orbit is between Saturn and Uranus, so it’ll be interesting to see if things begin to change now that Saturn and Uranus are squaring one another in their own cycle.
Just a thought – maybe a silly one – but she’s a Taurus with Venus on Algol and the procedure which she underwent was meant to freeze and dissolve the fat deposited around her neck, (which some people get naturally with the onset of middle age); Taurus rules the neck and throat.
No it’s not the only site that she had the procedure done.
The fact is that models and actors have procedures routinely.
The pressure to remain youthful is intense.
But she did have a thicker set neck, sloping shoulders too.
A very beautiful woman but most of it is manufactured, and that’s a marketing combination of hairdresser, makeup artist and photographer. Evangelista was only doing reasonably well, not brilliantly until she had a bold short haircut.
Then she did some shots, I think with Stephen Meisel, and then took off.
So a lot is about luck.
I was born 2 days before her, Leo Moon and Rising though. I can confirm that this mix brings some wonderful highs and some lows.
She would have turned 50 they year before the botched ops – so there may be something around the Chiron return here. While you can cover up the obvious signs of ageing with hair dye, makeup and retouching photos; you always know for yourself. Throw in a string of unsuccessful relationships and, with all those planets in Virgo especially the moon, and it’s not hard to see why she would nitpick at herself and her looks for any perceived failure. As Marjorie points out, throw in the Neptune-Saturn transits from Pisces-Sag and it was probably always going to unravel.
Let’s not forget Neptune in Scorpio is sitting in there opposing her sun and linking into the Virgo-Pisces planets. I’m not sure how the neptune opposition would play out? I guess it starts with being put on, or putting others on, a pedestal until the illusion comes crashing down. I’d have to say she is probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen – I suspect many people put her on the pedestal rather than treating her like a human being – especially if they want something from her. She probably never gets a clear view of herself because others are pussyfooting around her, being agreeable and sweet.
Tbh it just looks like she has packed on the weight a bit.
https://www.nytimes.com/article/cool-sculpting.html
Paywall
She was memorably stunning and natural, always (as far as I could tell). What a shame she mucked about with her looks but if you’re so up front publicly I suppose its a necessity…..what terrible consequences…..you can usually tell, but it must be dreadful to live with the consequences. I got a book on facial exercises about 25 yrs ago which is meant to keep your muscles from drooping and do them every morning religiously before I get up….I don’t know if they make a blind bit of difference, but I’d be very afraid to take my chances on anything so drastic…….!
the best things you can do?
– stay away from alcohol, sugar and carbs like chips etc.
– use sunscreen and avoid the sun in peak times
– eat fresh food
– enjoy life, understanding that wrinkles and signs of ageing are inevitable.
So you can slow the signs but never eliminate them, might as well break rules from time to time.
Otherwise you’re trying to be a museum to what you once were.
The reason we can tell re surgery etc is that the rest of the body is ageing so suddenly there’s a facelift?
Ok but then there is another dissonant weak point like a wrinkled neck, or the back of the hands, etc.
That contrast is jarring and we notice it immediately.
Ageing gracefully is an art.
Thank you Marjorie. It is chilling to contemplate the story of Medusa, and the presence of Algol with Venus in Linda’s chart. November’s lunar eclipse emphasises that Venus too.
Medusa’s beauty was destroyed by Athena, after Poseidon seduced her in Athena’s temple. Monumentally unfair example of mythological “victim blaming” isn’t it? I’ve only seen one photo of Linda as she is now, with all the extra weight. However, her beautiful face remains entirely recognisable. It says a lot about our perceptions of women really – hard to imagine why she thought she “needed” this procedure at all. Curious, too, that the procedure is supposed to “freeze” fat cells, and Medusa’s severed head’s gaze was said to turn those who saw it into stone, frozen with horror…..
I’m also wondering about the Saturn square nodes in her chart, with the Virgo planets completing a mutable Grand Cross. Very fateful somehow, with Saturn opposing Mars/Pluto/Uranus not boding well for a semi-surgical procedure I feel. She also has BML in Capricorn, trine her Venus in Taurus – charismatic, but possibly attracting financial gain at a price?
Or rather, raped. Its a classic case of his story. 😉
Theres an interesting article by a medieval astrologer Krasi Attasio called ALGOL- THE FIXED STAR THAT PROTECTS FROM BAD SPIRITS AND BEWITCHMENT
https://theroyalartofastrology.com/2018/09/09/algol-fixed-star-protects-bad-spirits-bewitchment/
It posits that Algol wherever placed is a potent protector and encourages people to speak out on that issue on behalf of the underdog.
And I guess she is with her venus, shining a light on the ‘beauty’ industry.
Thats so odd. Im almost sure I didnt put a link in this comment as I was under the impression Marjorie didnt like them…Libra retro mercury Im losing my mind…
No I added it from the backend. It’s the website. For some reason it always sends posts with links to be moderated.
Thanks, phew I’m not Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight afterall 😉
Interesting too Jane, that Versace which is the fashion house that hosted the reunion of the supermodels, uses the Medusa head as its logo.
There’s an element of the “stunning” that goes with intense beauty, we use that term frequently.
It’s necessary to blow apart the misplaced notion of perfection it doesn’t exist even in supermodels.
All the runway shows involve fittings where the clothes are adjusted. That’s after they select models to showcase an individual look based on the perceived strengths of that model.
Evangelista has the strong neck characteristic of Taureans, it was noticeable even when she was young, it was wider than her face. Also she didn’t have strong eyebrows at all. They were painted on for shoots, and then presumably done with microblading. Nevertheless a beautiful woman but not full the glamazon either, and they all use different methods for adjusting weaknesses etc. Unless really young.
There is so much myth associated with the fashion industry, and impossible standards that even the models themselves don’t live up to. That’s the Neptune element through and through!
There is so much artifice, and I should know, I was a model for long enough to realise how unhealthy it all was. I have Neptune retrograde in the 11th house, square natal Mars in Capricorn, Mars is opposition Uranus stationary direct.
Everyone in that industry is either insecure or self-obsessed often both, and there is so much nastiness and predatory behaviour at the perimeters. Mars is my ruling planet so I got out and stayed well away. I don’t have Algol in any aspects.
I still love the creative side of the industry to look at, but it’s largely smoke and mirrors.
Really interesting Deborah, on your experience of the shadow side of this industry and re the Versace emblem, thank you. Predators must be rife in the modelling world as they are in the entertainments industry in general. Neptune in Astrology can sometimes get an easy ride in that it’s often described as dreamy, spiritual or glamorous (it’s repeatedly found around the mid heaven of successful film actors) but my experience of Neptune, both natally (I have it conjunct Mars/Mercury/Moon) and in transit is that it can be devastating on the emotional level, leaving one vulnerable to delusional thoughts and weakening boundaries. In the Medusa myth, Poseidon is a rapist who is never held accountable for his actions, Athena – a goddess who possesses a male perspective on these matters – sees fit to place all blame on Medusa. Even in our own time we still persist in victim-blaming. It’s no accident that the Medusa myth has more recently been adopted by feminists and the MeToo movement.
In October 2020, a 7 foot tall sculpture entitled ‘Medusa with the head of Perseus’ was unveiled in Manhattan by Argentine-Italian artist Luciano Garbati. It was installed in the park facing the New York County Criminal Court, where Harvey Weinstein stood trial. Here, the myth is inverted with a powerful, serpent-headed female figure stands sword in hand, holding the slain Perseus’s severed head. Whatever you think about the artistic merit of the piece, there’s no doubt that it’s a powerful statement.
Thanks Deborah and VF – so fascinating how Medusa’s symbolism is still found in our culture. I had always wondered why Versace chose it as their symbol, and how it’s astrological meaning of passion and intensity did seem to resonate with their style somehow. There’s a story about how Gianni saw an ancient carving of Medusa when he was a child, but I don’t know if that’s true.
His (2 December 1946) natal chart has 27 Taurus on the descendant, close to Algol. Donatella (2 May 1955) is Sun, Mercury and ascendant in Taurus, but not at the Algol degree. November’s lunar eclipse aligns with Algol, so perhaps the theme is more obviously ‘around’ in the collective?
Yes that’s right it’s what’s in the collective consciousness.
And Gianni did ‘lose his head’ metaphorically, with romance it was a jilted lover who killed him.
BTW great thread in here and terrific to speak on this level. I usually go to a different forum and it’s hard going sometimes.