A fleeting astrological titbit, based on marginally dubious birth times but with intriguing coincidences – comes from two UK celebrities, who rose from poor beginnings to success and money and have gone bankrupt twice.
Martine McCutcheon, 14 May 1976 7.40am London, had a tough childhood with little money and a violent, abusive father, became a sit-com actress, then on screen with Hugh Grant in Love Actually, then on stage in My Fair Lady. Despite the headline successes, her career has been patchy and she has gained a reputation for being tricky to work. Now she has been declared bankrupt for the second time.
The other is glamour model Katie Price, 22 May 1978 8.30am (rectified) Brighton, England, who is addicted to cosmetic surgery and has had a chaotic emotional and financial life – also with two bankruptcies.
MM is an acquisitive Sun, Venus, Jupiter South Node in Taurus and KP is Gemini – but there are similarities in that both have a Saturn Mars conjunction in their 2nd house of finances, both have Pluto in the 4th house of childhood, both have Chiron in the 10th, both have Jupiter Venus conjunctions and both have Scorpio Moons opposition their Sun.
Jupiter Venus is frivolous, keen on outer appearance – especially true in Taurus and Cancer for Katie Price. Pluto in the 4th hints at a scary childhood.
Chiron in the 10th hints at childhood issues affecting later ambitions, often leading to an unsettled career. What intrigues me is the Mars Saturn conjunction, signifier of a childhood in which unfairness played a significant role. There was little room for fun or for fulfilling personal needs and wants.
While intuitively I might have assumed Mars Saturn in the 2nd to be disciplined about money, hoarding it to ensure a security that was not there at the start, here it obviously works in a different way. Anger about childhood deprivation is acted out by compensating for lacks by refusing to put limits on spending and temptations. Martine was evidently once quoted as saying: ‘I love nice things – I consider Ralph Lauren sheets to be a necessity, not a luxury – but I’ve known what it’s like to be poor.’ There may also be an eerie sense, courtesy of Freud’s repetition compulsion, of an unconscious pull to getting back to where it all started in an attempt to regain control of a childhood out-of-control situation. Start broke, end broke
An oddity but might have a nugget of truth about it.
I’ve seen some Taurus Saturns make horrible financial decisions related to status. Sending their child to a very expensive private school but not having enough money to pay their deductible for a small accident. Very much along the line of champagne tastes on a beer budget sort of financial decisions. Money in particular is turned into things at a very fast clip. Really goes along with the Ralph Lauren sheets comment.
I have Chiron, the Sun and Mercury in the second house. I went bankrupt when a transiting Chiron-Neptune conjunction opposed Pluto in the 8th and the Moon in the 9th. The need to overcompensate an emotionally deprived childhood was evident, also the inability to lead a stable professional life and to plan financially because of unresolved psychological issues. Going broke was actually quite positve because it forced me to confront and deal with them. My daughter has Chiron in the 10th conjunct Mercury opposite a Saturn-Uranus conjunction in the 4th. She is beginning a promising career but it may be unsetltled. She also has Mars in the 10th at 0 Cancer and her Moon is conjunct her mother’s Sun and my Mars. Her Sun in the 9th at 0 Gemini, trine my Mercury at 0 Aquarius, is now experiencing a Uranus transit. She is completing her PHD in psychology and will give her first international conference on battered women in Denmark next month. My PF is in the 5th house trine and sextile my nodes. I have two wonderful children. Being a father is quite healing.
My daughter’s Chiron-Mercury conjunction is also conjunct her NN. My wife of 40 years has a quadruple Sun-Mercury-Jupiter-NN conjunciton trine her Scorpio ASC exactly sextile my Sun and opposed to Saturn.
Very interesting , thank you
McCutcheon has Poor 27Ta50 conj nSun and sextile Mars, 28Cn-Saturn 28Cn, in her
2nd House of Money.
Price has Money 7Le25 in her 2nd House of money, square Chiron at 7Taurus. Taurus
deals with money. Money would be a painful life experience.
When someone grows up in deprivation, they may develop a kind of ‘now bias’ – what psychologists call “Temporal Discounting”, where immediate rewards feel way more valuable than future stability. And if you add ADHD into the mix (Katie Price), with impulsivity and reduced executive function, you get a real struggle to manage finances or plan long-term, especially when sudden wealth arrives. That same impulsivity – jumping on opportunities without overthinking, might have got them out of their circumstances in the first place. But once the environment changes, the same traits can become liabilities. Incredibly common in sports stars too, many of whom hit the rocks when the sports career ends and they are still young.
I think Martine’s soap co-star Patsy Palmer seems to be doing well for herself now, living in Malibu with various business interests. Modern psychology would talk about gene‑environment interplay, cognitive biases and executive control, which all offer clear paths to change. Neural paths take time to adapt and especially if there is anything further complication it like ADHD, addictions or past trauma, support may be needed. Astrology maps the terrain; modern psychology hands you tools to navigate it. That’s the way I see it anyway
really well explained.
That’s interesting Tara because Martine Mcutchen reportedly has ADHD too. Those with ADHD can experience challenges with their finances.
I’ve often wondered if early childhood neglect contributes to ADHD. But given that the condition is strongly genetic – those with ADHD might find themselves tangled up in abusive or chaotic relationships resulting in offspring, continuing the genetic cycle.