Alice Munro the Canadian short story writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Man Booker as well as countless other plaudits has had her reputation tarnished. She died this May and one of her daughters has come forward to say she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather Gerald Fremlin starting when she was 9 years old. After Munro learned of the abuse from her daughter 16 years later, she reacted without sympathy and chose to stay with Fremlin, saying she loved him too much to leave; they remained married until he died in 2013.
Munro, born 10 July 1931 9pm Wingham, Ontario, was one of the resilient, tough-minded Depression generation with a Sun Pluto in Cancer opposition Saturn square Uranus in Aries. Her Pluto was also in a confident conjunction to Jupiter. Her Moon in steady, possessive Taurus was exactly conjunct Chiron trine Saturn and trine an 8th house Mars in Virgo, forming an Earth Grand Trine, focused into a Kite by Saturn opposition Sun Pluto – influential, controlling, utterly determined. A Chiron Moon conjunction points to defective early mothering in her own upbringing. Her Venus in Cancer falls ironically in her 5th house of children and is sparsely aspected with only a sextile to Neptune.
Fremlin, her second husband, 15 July 1924 Clinton, BC, Canada, was not unlike her with his Sun and Pluto in Cancer, and his Venus conjunct hers in Cancer, falling in her 5th house of children. His Moon was in earthy Capricorn perhaps square his Saturn and opposition his Pluto so he had a bleak upbringing himself. His Jupiter fell in her 10th so she would feel he was helpful in advancing her reputation – and maybe contributed to a sense that keeping up appearances was paramount. His Neptune fell in her 7th square her Moon, perhaps giving her an unrealistic, over-idealised view of him and his commitment (or lack thereof.)
Their relationship chart is instructive with three main strands.
One is a possessive composite Sun Pluto (trine Moon) hinting at a tight bond which would be difficult to split. An adventurous Jupiter opposition Uranus square Venus pointing to a fun-loving element. And most significant of all is a composite Saturn Mars conjunction which hints at a masochistic streak in their togetherness. There would be unkindness or even cruelty welded into bond.
Neither she nor Fremlin look easy personalities. There is no birth date for the daughter except for 1966. Family secrets!! Decades before they spill out, if at all.
ADD ON: Andrea was born according to her sister’s biography on 8 September 1966 in Victoria, BC, Canada which makes her a Virgo Sun conjunct Mercury, Pluto and Uranus so born into the tumultuous mid sixties – with her Gemini Moon perhaps square Saturn as well as Uranus Pluto which would make sense of a fractured maternal bond. She also has a Water Grand Trine of Jupiter in Cancer trine Neptune South Node in Scorpio trine Saturn in Pisces.
Her Taurus North Node opposition Neptune was triggered when the abuse started at nine years old with her Solar Arc Mars squaring it. And her mother Alice Munro’s ‘defective mothering’ Moon Chiron in Taurus falls close to Andrea’s North Node and opposition her Neptune. And Gerald Fremlin’s Neptune is also square her Node and Neptune – a smokescreen of deception and evasiveness that it became Andrea lifelong journey to clear up.
The relationship charts are both truly horrible though if anything with her mother is worse. That one has a controlling Sun Pluto Mercury Mars conjunction opposition Saturn – and that is cruel. With her stepfather there is a ruthless, controlling and terrifying composite Sun Pluto Mercury square Mars.
Yuk, poor kid.
Holy cow,
Awesome writing. The horror of the inner world of defective mother is mind boggling and scary.
I realised that my signature in my children cosmograms is different for the 1st one who is special needs, serious little genius, and the 2nd who is completely different and healthy, fun loving, with an open heart.
First kid has the moon conjunct Black Moon Lilith in Cap 2nd house, trine Saturn in Virgo 10th house..He has Virgo Sun in 10th house too.
Younger has the Moon in 11th House in Leo, Cancer Sun within stellum in 10th house.
As if they had 2 different mothers because of their needs
Thanks Marjorie, this is food for thought. Did you come up with “Defective mothering”? It’s a truly good description of the mother daughter ritual indicated by this chart: the injured mother injures the daughter. What is not clear is whether defective mothering indicates a form of personality disorder such as narcissism, or mere insensitivity.
For instance: Anne Sexton, a poet and an alcoholic, died by suicide, as did her sister. Anne and her sister were emotionally injured by alcoholic parents who were raised to keep a stiff upper lip. Anne was in therapy most of her adult life for depression and dissociative behavior (she had sudden episodes of catatonia, fell face first into her mashed potatoes at dinner, for instance). Her psychologist put at the disposal of Anne’s biographer recordings of their sessions together. They indicate she might have been traumatized by sexual abuse at the hands of her father and her grandmother. Anne’s daughter, Linda Sexton, has written that Anne entered her room during the night, and mounted her while she was asleep, awakening her. While these incursions petrified Linda, she never called her mother’s behavior sexual abuse, but became suicidal herself as an adult, and then, as most women who began to speak in the 80’s about parental sexual behavior toward their children, she was vilified for telling her story, not least by her family.
Anne was born on November 9 1928, with Chiron at 7° Taurus, exactly conjunct problematic fixed stars Hamal and Schedir, all conjunct Jupiter at 3 ° Taurus, which magnified Sexton’s Chiron wound. Venus, ruler of Chiron, is at 20 °Sag, conjunct Saturn at 17° Sag. So Jupiter, which conjuncts Chiron, is in mutual reception with Venus, putting both benefits in contact with Chiron. Also, Venus and Saturn quincunx Pluto (torture), which is conjunct Mars (violence). The Moon (mother, family) comes into play because it’s in Libra, ruled by Venus, whose dispositor, Jupiter, conjuncts Chiron. The Moon aspects Mars from the moment of birth. It aspects Pluto (7°) from about 4 AM, which imbricates it in the planetary pictures between Saturn, Venus, Pluto, Mars and their dispositors, especially the Jupiter/Chiron. Charts cast for 1 PM and later have the Moon conjunct Mercury, which combined with the influences above, lead her to become one of the most famous exponents of a style of poetry that reveals extremely personal psychological states, called -absurdly- confessional poetry.
Defective mothering doesn’t have to be sexual abuse. Assuming that Christina Crawford is telling the truth about her adoptive mother, Joan Crawford was a woman who adopted children for publicity purposes, and abused and neglected her brother and her. Christina asserts that, after years of abuse and enforced isolation, Joan tried to kill her in a fit of rage.
Joan was born on March 23, 1906, with the Sun in exaltation at 2° Aries, Pluto in 20° Gemini, Saturn in Pisces 8° and the Moon also in Pisces. March 23 charts from the first minute after midnight to about 11 AM have the Moon conjunct Saturn (cruelty) in Pisces (suffering), charts after 10 AM put the Moon in square to Pluto (torture) for the rest of the day. If Joan was born anytime between 3 AM that day, and around Noon -a 9 hour span-, she would have the Moon conjunct Saturn at 8 Pisces, and square Pluto at 20 Gemini. Chiron is in the picture because the destinies of a planet depend in great part on the condition of the dispositor (a bit more about this below). Chiron is in 11 Aquarius, ruled by Saturn.
In my opinion, a 10 – 11 AM birth is likely. It puts Moon conj Saturn, but also the powerful Sun in Aries in the 10th, MC in Pisces and dispositor Jupiter rising in the Gauquelin career and athleticism sector. In the whole sign chart Saturn would be in the 10th, and Venus would rule Libra on the cusp of the 5th of children, which would place the “defective mother” rite as one of the determining themes of the life.
As for Alice Munro, she might have known long before the daughter told her. Mothers often look the other way, which worsens the isolation of the daughter. Good portrayals of this are Nuts (1987 film) by Martin Ritt based on Tom Topper 1979 play, and the book Bastard Out of Carolina, a 1992 novel by Dorothy Allison, and Precious (2009 film) by Lee Daniels, adapted from the 1996 novel Push, by Sapphire. The latter two are the most explicit about the drama of the injured mother who needs love, and is abused by the husband’s abuse, but also sexual betrayal with the child.
Regarding the critical role of dispositors Tony Lewis published an excellent monograph on his website, with his analysis of Christopher Reeve’s chart:
https://tonylouis.wordpress.com/2024/05/30/morin-on-dispositors-in-astrology/
Cold-blooded, cruel, horrific; the depth of Monroe’s selfish betrayal of her daughter is painful to contemplate.
Monroe actually harvested elements of her daughter’s experiences for a later short story (in which the young woman protagonist committed suicide), while blaming her daughter and staying true to the pedophile. Ugh. Mind-boggling.
Utterly grim.
Pluto in Cancer opposition Saturn square Uranus in Aries generation, tough minded as Marjorie said and often entertaining but also cruel controlling/rejecting and narcissisitic. The parents of the latchkey Gen X ers.
Somewhat concerned for the Capricorn version of the Uranus Pluto square currently growing up 🙁
Horrendous story.