Writer Jane Austen is having a moment with the 250th anniversary of her birth this year causing a flutter of excitement amongst her fans. Author of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield Park and others, she stands head and shoulders above other novelists having stood the test of time with constant revival TV and film renderings of her works. ‘Her use of social commentary, realism, wit, and irony have earned her acclaim amongst critics and scholars.’
She was born 16 December 1775 11.45pm Basingstoke, England, with a rector father into a genteel though poor family. She started writing in childhood and never left her family, dying at 41 a spinster, having had little success or money from her books.
She had a home-loving 4th house Sagittarius Sun square Neptune on her Virgo Ascendant. Her Mercury in Sagittarius in her communicative 3rd would give her a quick witted mind and ability to get her ideas across especially since it opposed Uranus and Jupiter in her 9th house of ideas and publishing. Her Moon Saturn in Libra opposition a 7th house Chiron hinted at a less than vibrant emotional life, especially since they also squared a frustrated, trapped, utterly determined Mars Pluto in Capricorn on the cusp of her 5th house. A Libra Moon conjunct Saturn square Mars Pluto might suggest health problems.
What intrigued me about Austen’s chart is that modern-day novelist Iris Murdoch, 15 July 1919 8am Dublin, Ireland, also has a Mars Pluto conjunction, in her case in Cancer. She was a professor of philosophy, influenced by Sartre and had a skill for black comedy – “Under The Net,” “A Severed Head.” Very different from Austen but with the same driving determination which started her writing as a child, she wrote 26 novels, four plays, four books on philosophy and one book of poetry and had a long and happy marriage, dying ultimately of Alzheimers in her late 70s.
Her Sun Jupiter in Cancer were in her creative 12th house along with Neptune; and her 11th house Mars Pluto was in a Water Grand Trine to Uranus and her IC. With her Uranus opposition Venus. With her Cancer Sun inconjunct an Aquarius Moon and her Venus in aspect to Mars Pluto and Uranus she would not be emotionally at ease – perhaps the wound out of which her writing came. Both she and Austen had their Chiron in Aries which can be a sign of a pioneer, one who leads the way as a compensation for feeling powerless or wounded in a the area of identity.
It got me searching amongst other women writers and how many have afflicted Mars – Emily Dickinson, the influential American poet, 10 December 1839 4.50am Amherst, MA was another Sun Sagittarius with a Mars Pluto conjunction in Aries in her ‘entertaining’ 5th house with her Mars Pluto sextile Uranus inconjunct a 10th house Saturn.
Charlotte Bronte was a Sun Taurus with her 10th house Mars square Pluto and opposition Neptune with her Mars also trine Moon Saturn conjunct in Aquarius. Her sister Emily a Sun Leo had her Mars in Virgo opposition Saturn square Uranus.
Which is not dissimilar to Doris Lessing (The Golden Notebook) with her Mars Saturn in Virgo sextile Pluto. Also Chiron in Aries as had PD James, the crime writer who also had a Mars in Scorpio North Node trine Pluto trine Uranus with Uranus opposition Saturn,
Talent comes at a cost.
Add On: Poet Christina Rossetti, 5 December 1830 3.10 am London, was another Mars Pluto conjunction in her case in Aries in her 6th house trine Venus Sun in Sagittarius; and her Saturn was inconjunct Mars Pluto sextile Uranus in a stressed yod. She had major health problems, spells of depression and a religious crisis.
Fairly similar was poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 6 March 1806 7pm, Killoe, England, she had a Mars Pluto Sun Mercury conjunction in Pisces in her 6th with her Libra Moon inconjunct Mars Pluto.
Enid Blyton had an 8th house Pluto square Mars Jupiter. Anita Brookner a Mars sextile Pluto Sun inconjunct Saturn. Arundati Roy – Sun Mars square Pluto Uranus.
Agatha Christie had a tough chart with Saturn square Neptune Pluto and her Virgo Sun was square Mars – but no Mars Pluto.
Ability for literature arises from a strong Mercury, Gemini, Virgo influence.
Particularly the middle of the sign Gemini is instructive in the following:
Kipling Moon 15Gemini; Tennyson Moon 13Ge; Byron Jupiter 17Ge;
Hugo Sun 16Ge; Borrow Venus 16Ge; Hardy Sun 12Ge; Mann Sun 15Ge.
For women, Austen Jupiter 15Ge; Murdoch Jupiter/MC 15Ge;
Lessing, 6th cusp of work, 15Ge; Dickinson Sun 15Sg; Bronte N.Node 18Ge; Christie N.Node 18Ge. Myself, I taught Literature, Moon in 6th,
my T-square Sun,3rd, 18Sg, = Moon/Neptune, points to 18Ge, 9th.
For all above, the Moon is usually in a Gauquelin sector, 3rd, 6th, 9th or 12th.
That is interesting Martha, thank you. Yes, writers, like poets, songwriters, musicians and singers tend to have mutable Gemini, Virgo in their natal charts. Philosophers and historians too. I think of the mutable cross as the embodiment of the so-called humanities, and perhaps it’s no coincidence that 3 of the mutable signs are represented by human beings or in the case of Sag, half-human beings. And as the Gemini/Sagittarius axis represents the learning and higher learning experience and Virgo/Pisces involves sharing with and enlightening mankind with those experiences – such individuals have a natural gift to express, explain and explore the human experience.
Sally Rooney an interesting recent author (20.2.91 Castlebar Ireland) has a distinctive chart, Probably moon opposite Pluto, Mars in Gemini trine saturn (in Aquarius) sextile Jupiter which is in opposition to Saturn.
Thank you for the add-ons, Marjorie. More food for thought. Elizabeth Barrett-Browning’s complex and strained relationship with her father is so well described in that Piscean stellium. Edward Moulton Barrett was from a family of sugar plantation and slave owners who had lived in Jamaica for centuries. In fact there was some Creole heritage in the family. Barrett was involved in missionary and bible services and his daughter, the eldest of 12 children respected him despite his controlling and overbearing nature. But he had an almost fanatical fear of any of his children marrying, including his sons, with his bizarre obsession with their purity. Why? It’s been suggested that he became aware of hus family’s mixed heritage.
With a Pisces stellium in the 6th house, is it any wonder that Barrett-Browning’s health issues dominated her life? She had become addicted to morphine at the age of 20 due to a painful illness, suffered from lung issues and was likely anorexic. Her father cut her off and disinherited her when she eloped with Browning and the two never spoke again.
Mary Shelley also has a Mars/Pluto aspect, in her case it’s an opposition with Pluto at 29 degrees 0f Aquarius opposing Mars in early Virgo in the 4th. Mary Wollstonecraft died of a fever soon after giving birth to her daughter, so fitting that MS’s anaretic Pluto conjuncts her Midheaven and her Virgo Sun in the 4th conjuncts Uranus – she was the daughter of progressive political journalist and philosopher, William Godwin. MS herself suffered a series of miscarriages and infant deaths, with one surviving son. Her anaretic Pluto in Aquarius on her MC reflects her status as the first Science Fiction writer in Western literature which includes one of her lesser known dystopian novels, ‘The Last Man’, about the survivor of a global pandemic set in the late 21st century.
I see Chiron in 7th house of Jane and Christina Rossetti so I looked up Christina to see that she was deeply religious C of England and Jane bought up by religion too. Is that just a coincidence? Rossetti had many chances to marry.
I was going to ask you Marjorie if you could look at Chiron as in 2027 its 50 years since it was found at 3 Taurus in 1977 and Chiron in Taurus literally can mean worry with assets and the seventies was a bleak time for the masses in UK. I’ve known quite a few people where being 50 years old has resulted in real pain of one sort or another and losses have occurred. 1977 in USA Jimmy Carter elected.
What about Agatha Christie, who is said to be the best-selling fiction writer of all time? Does she have similar signature aspects? I recognise a mathematical mind in her plot structures and indeed the attention to detail that is Virgo’s hallmark. But does she also have hard Pluto/Mars aspects?
Good question, you’d certainly expect Agatha Christie to have strong Mars or Pluto aspects, given her genre. However, while she doesn’t have the classic hard Pluto/Mars contacts, she does have an out of bounds Mars – an intriguing signature often linked to people who push beyond conventional limits. This could well contribute to her meticulous yet often ruthless plotting, as well as her ability to revolutionise the detective novel. Christie shares this with Charlotte Brontë and Iris Murdoch, and while Jane Austen’s Mars comes very close to being out of bounds, technically only her Pluto is. Other notable female authors with an out of bounds Mars include Virginia Woolf, Donna Tartt (trine Pluto), Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker.
Christie also has Venus at 8-9 Scorpio like Jane Austen. This could suggest a deep, incisive understanding of relationships and social undercurrents, hidden beneath an otherwise strongly Air-dominant chart (the only water placement). Mary Shelley, interestingly, has Neptune at the same degree in Scorpio with an out of bounds Moon, while P.D. James has Mars at 10° Scorpio, closely conjunct the North Node, though James lacks the Air element entirely. Similarly, Ursula K. Le Guin has an Air-dominant chart but also a strongly placed Mars.
Looking generally, adapting some previous notes I took…
Main Patterns in Female Writers’ Charts
Out of Bounds Planets: Rule Breakers and Boundary-Pushers
– Out of bounds planets often appear in the charts of those who defy convention, making them particularly relevant for female writers who, historically, had to carve out space in a male-dominated literary world.
– Christie’s out of bounds Mars fits this theme, as does the same placement in Charlotte Brontë, Iris Murdoch, Virginia Woolf, Donna Tartt, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker.
– Mercury, the planet of communication, is also frequently out of bounds in writers—Margaret Atwood and Simone de Beauvoir being notable examples.
Given the historical context, it would be fascinating to see whether out of bounds planets remain a strong signature in more contemporary female writers, now that societal constraints on women’s writing are different but still present in other ways.
Strong Mars in Domicile or Exaltation (Mars in Aries, Scorpio or Capricorn), Pluto Aspects to Mars
– A dominant Mars suggests a powerful drive, assertion, and often a willingness to explore conflict, both personal and societal.
– Many female writers have Mars in its strongest placements: Mars in Aries (Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson); Mars in Scorpio (P.D. James, with a North Node conjunction); Mars in Capricorn (Jane AUsten).
Given the link between Mars and assertion, ambition, and breaking barriers, it would be interesting to investigate whether contemporary female writers also show these Mars patterns, particularly in relation to OoB Mars and Pluto aspects (power, transformation).
Air Moons
– Christie, like many other influential female writers, has an Air Moon, a pattern seen in Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Iris Murdoch, Emily Dickinson, Doris Lessing, Jeanette Winterson, Margaret Atwood, Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, Louisa May Alcott, and Muriel Spark.
– Air Moons suggest an analytical, detached, or observational emotional approach, often linked to intellectualism and strong communication skills.
Elemental Abundance and Absence
– Air-dominant charts appear frequently among female writers, correlating with intellect, communication, and structural precision. Christie, Austen, and Le Guin all have this signature.
– Water-deficient charts are also common, which could indicate a tendency towards structure, analysis, or emotional detachment in their writing. In contrast, those with a Pisces Moon (P.D. James, Simone de Beauvoir) or Scorpio influence (Christie’s Venus, James’s Mars) often demonstrate psychological depth.
– Fire-heavy, Air-light writers (Rossetti, Mary Shelley, Virginia Woolf) tend to have a more visionary, intense style.
Mercury Signatures (Thinking Outside the Norm):
– Stationary Mercury – suggesting an emphasis on deep, fixed thought – ideas that leave a lasting impression. Appears in the charts of Margaret Atwood, Karen Blixen, and Louisa May Alcott.
– An out of bounds Mercury (Atwood, Simone de Beauvoir) suggests boundary-breaking, unconventional thinking.
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The recurrence of out of bounds Mars, Air Moons, and strong Mars placements suggests that pushing beyond social and creative limits has long been part of the astrological makeup of female writers. Given the changing landscape of literature, it would be fascinating to see whether these patterns hold for contemporary female writers, especially in relation to Mars/Pluto aspects and Mars in its stronger signs. Does an out of bounds Mars still appear prominently in the charts of modern literary rule breakers? Are there different signatures emerging in today’s literary landscape? These are compelling areas for further exploration.
So while Christie lacks the expected hard Pluto/Mars aspects, her out of bounds Mars, Scorpio Venus, and Air-dominant chart align well with the precision, detachment, and psychological depth evident in her writing. The broader patterns across female literary figures point to key astrological signatures associated with intellect, ambition, and rule-breaking – qualities that have I suppose shaped literature across centuries.
Forgot to add – a lot of the writers in Marjorie’s charts above also seem to have a planet conjunct the North Node, which is new to me, I hadn’t noticed that before.
All really interesting Tara, ties into my point of them having a harder time getting published and needing grit to get there!
Thank you, tara – so interesting. I wondered about the male pseudonyms used by the Brontës and other women authors of the time.
I had a close female relative with a Mars Pluto conjunction in Cancer like Iris Murdoch, she was one of the most easy-going, kind and relaxed people I’ve known. I think the conjunction in her case probably signifies her first hand experience as a Waaf in WWII with the high risk to and loss of men friends in her generation. For her it was part of a grand trine with Jupiter and Uranus. It seems it all depends on other aspects whether Mars/Pluto is expressed via the personality, or outwardly as happening to the person.
Really interesting observations Marjorie. Doris Lessing and Iris Murdoch do have that strange style in common. For me, they are both un-earthly and eerie sort of writers who are so clever and so bohemian and conventional all at the same time. It is astute of you to find them with similar astrology. The media and culture, although flourishing, are so fragmented these days, I am thinking. I wonder if we will ever again see figures like Irish Murdoch and Doris Lessing pass this way again? It is wonderful that their words are written down and won’t be lost!
I suspect it has something to do with the difficulty of a woman being able to get published in the first place, the subject matter of these writers (that I have read) isn’t all dark and gloomy, though some is. An afflicted Mars with Pluto gives the ability, if properly harnessed to keep on pushing so maybe it’s that?
I went through an Iris Murdoch phase some years ago, avidly devouring her books. As a Libran I am rather fascinated by relationships. Thank you, Marjorie for this. My theory is that many creatives are in part engaging in a form of self therapy.
Incidentally, another woman writer with a Mars/Pluto square is Enid Blyton. She has Neptune/Pluto/BML in Gemini square Mercury, Jupiter and Mars in Virgo, so a real writer’s chart. From what I know of her personal life, her relationship with her mother was fraught (she has Moon in Aquarius conjunct North Node inconjunct Venus in Cancer) and her father walked out on the family when she was 13 to live with another woman. Blyton’s own marriage was far from happy with an alcoholic husband who was likely war traumatised. Blyton has a particularly difficult chart, I think.
I’ve just remembered that when I was at primary school, Blyton’s books were not allowed at my school as the headmistress has banned them. I only later learned that during the 50s, 60s and 70s her books were generally seen as politically incorrect due to their classist, racist and sexist content!
I am someone who read all three books of The Lord of the Rings aloud to my son. Which was a masochistic thing to do on my part. But I absolutely dreaded anything by Enid Blyton. One sentence could last a page, and a paragraph could take pages. An absolute nightmare!
Indeed. I must admit, I find her children’s books horrendously twee, but for many people they are part and parcel of fond childhood memories. I recall having a visceral loathing for Noddy as a 4 year old.
Mars is the ruler of Aries – head. Pluto- Scorpio/Water has a deep undercurrent of emotions. This combination is in Jane Austin’s fourth Capricorn house, rule by Cancer. With her Mercury in Sagittarius Which may suggest an observation of parents or her father’s clerical work? As Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, which rules the ninth house – religion and philosophy. She may have spent a great deal of her life at home, listening to or being privy to his work and conversations – giving her ideas or storylines to embellish.
Oh Dear. I read the title hurriedly and thought it was Jane Austen and RUPERT Murdoch. I thought “what could they possibly have in common?”. Then a vision of Rupert in a Jane Austen style dress appeared and I can’t now unsee it.
Me too! My heart sank at that haha thank you Marjorie a lot of learning throughout.