Coco Chanel who initiated a revolutionary shift in women’s fashion away from the tyranny of the corset to become a leading light in couture, perfume and accessories had an extraordinary if not altogether edifying life. She rose from extreme poverty, slept with wealthy men who bankrolled her start in business, slid through the beds of British nobility which allowed her to duck out of accusations of spying for the Germans during World War 11 which earned her the protection of Churchill concerned she might expose the pro-nazi sympathies of Royals and others. She was according to French intelligence a ‘vicious anti-semite’ and a regular morphine user. Though there is some documentation suggesting she might have also worked with the French Resistance.
She was born 19 August 1883 4pm in Saumur in a poor house hospice with a laundrywoman mother and an itinerant street vendor father. Her mother died when she was 11 and she was sent to a convent orphanage where she learned to sew.
She had a secretive 8th house flamboyant Sun Venus in Leo square a creative 5th house Neptune and also square Pluto in the attention-demanding 5th. She had Mars in Gemini conjunct her Descendant so would attract fiery partners. She was the mistress of some of the most influential men of her time, including the Duke of Westminster, but never married.
Her sensitive, self-protective Pisces Moon opposed Mercury and squared a hard-working Saturn in her 6th house of work so she would be emotionally battened down. Her Sun/Moon midpoint was exactly conjunct her Chiron and close to both Pluto and Saturn – so a bleak relationship life despite the money and the luxury – or maybe one in which she was a habitual user of the men she attracted. Her Jupiter in the 7th nearing the cusp of her 8th would give her an ability to charm men of high standing and wealth.
Her Uranus trine Neptune like her two 5th house planets was creative, giving her ‘eureka’ moments of inspiration.
Her Scorpio North Node in the 10th would push her on to succeed and acquire possessions but they would not offer satisfaction unless she was able to let go what she had built up and move away from the past which would have been painful and clearly did not happen. She evidently became tyrannical and lonely towards the end of her life.
Her creative 5th harmonic, breakthrough 13H; leaving-a-legacy 17h and global-fame 22nd harmonic were all strong.
All credit to her for having pulled herself up from unlikely beginnings but not, I fear, a pleasant woman.
Add ON: The other rags to riches French story was Edith Piaf, though she seemed a nicer sort. Like Chanel she had a strong get-it-together 5th harmonic and an even stronger global-superstar 22nd. Both harmonics with a strongly marked Venus.
Coco Chanel’s 5th and 22nd both had an afflicted Mars – the 5H tied into Saturn Neptune which is fairly perverse. In the 22nd a yod of Mars inconjunct Pluto sextile Jupiter – ruthlessly ambitious.
That’s a lot of 8th house energies, by her natal chart, solar chart, N Node and Pluto. Then add on Saturn.
There are few in life who have the determination and ambition to ‘succeed’ at all costs, who then are able to truly let it go. Even the few who recognize this channel their drive towards another, but more humanistic, less selfish goal.
Whether written in the stars or subject to free will, character is destiny
Thanks Marjorie. A remarkable woman, whose life still holds many secrets – perhaps she had a son, perhaps not. And where did her nickname, Coco, really come from? Not to mention the Nazi rumours, and then the French Resistance paperwork that’s just emerged. A tough, street-wise opportunist, I think.
In view of the big exhibition about Chanel and her designs at London’s V&A museum now, it’s interesting to see the October Lunar Eclipse aligning with her (historical?) South Node in indulgent Venus-ruled Taurus. France 1792 has Jupiter 2 Scorpio, opposing Saturn in Taurus which could be a relevant echo as well.
Tr Uranus in Taurus is conjunct Chanel’s artistic Neptune, perhaps highlighting how she revolutionised women’s clothing and fashion. Neptune can be associated with trends and the prevailing zeitgeist I think. Tr Uranus in decorative, luxury-loving Taurus, is also square the French Uranus/Pluto, and opposing it’s Mars. Revolutionary rumblings?!
Freedom from the corset had been promoted earlier by the ‘Rational Dress’ movement in the late 19th century, and some young women did wear tweed ‘bloomers’ for cycling then too. But with Chanel, this trend moved towards the twentieth century mainstream at last. I also think she carried forward the freedoms associated with the cross-dressing theme for women, which had been very popular on the Victorian/Edwardian stage with numerous music hall ‘drag kings’ like Vesta Tilley, and her knowing impersonations of male stereotypes. Vesta, 13 May 1864, had Sun 22 Taurus opposing Jupiter 22 Scorpio, Nodes 18 Scorpio, Black Moon Lilith 24 Leo. So, Vesta’s natal planets are connecting with Chanel’s own Taurus Neptune in an interesting way.
Also of interest in the theme of freedom of dress for women is the bohemian French novelist George Sand, 1 July 1804. She enjoyed dressing as a man and therefore feeling safer when going for evening walks. And there’s her natal Mars at 22 Taurus, opposing Neptune, 23 Scorpio, square the MC 22 Leo!
I should also add famous French writer Colette, 28 January 1873, so ten years older than Chanel.
“When it came to clothing, Colette wasn’t just a rebel — she was a full-blown outlaw. For her entrance into Parisian society, the woman who would become one of France’s greatest writers wore a sailor suit and pom-pom hat. This was 1894, when she was the provincial bride of a famous writer taking her first steps into the capital’s fashionable salons. Even among this louche belle époque crowd, her outfit caused a sensation.” (Financial Times)
Colette had Pluto 18 Taurus, BML 18 Leo, Nodes 29 Taurus, and a rebellious square between Mars 2 Scorpio and Uranus 3 Leo which picks up on Chanel’s natal Nodes. The lesbian bars, salons, and restaurants of Paris, and the many cross-dressing women therein, were famous. Some came from the Pluto in Taurus generation, others such as bar/restaurant owner Madame Palmyre (4 March 1855), a friend of Toulouse Lautrec, had Uranus in Taurus and Neptune in Pisces too. Chanel would have been aware of all this. Palmyre’s Bar, one of Mme Palmyre’s later businesses, opened in Paris in 1909. Chanel’s first shop opened there in 1910.
Thank you Jane for putting her into context. They were tumultuous times, revolutionary certainly. We tend to forget that we’re not the only ones who live through turbulent change.
The woman met the moment. Clever, lucky, incessantly hard working. A winning combination, if not emotionally. Perhaps that side of things didn’t matter much to her, busy as she was, surviving. It’s not surprising she was emotionally battened down. Who could relax after such an impoverished and insecure start to life, which clearly in her case were a great driver to her success? It’s possible she never felt rich enough, secure enough, powerful enough.
On high achieving women, Marjorie, please would you look at Natalie Roos, new managing director of Lipton, who is someone who appears to have achieved it her way, without sacrificing her home life. Unfortunately, I don’t have any dates.
I am reluctant to comment about France or the French basically I do not know enough about either, however she used her own gifts to influence fashion hugely, and it ties up with King Louis XIV who wanted France to become a leader in fashion and so on and he succeeded. It brings to mind that other icon of French charm, Brigitte Bardot, another controversial figure. Maybe it would show up in one of the French charts for the country.
Thank you Marjorie. She’s a bit grim isn’t she, notwithstanding her achievements. I just wonder if an astrologer could have predicted her exceptional and productive life if they’d been handled her chart at birth. What elements in it, for example, would have indicated that she’d have lived a life out of the norm, or would even have been capable of doing so?
There was never any pro-nazi sympathies within the Royals, Edward and Mrs Simpson were the absolute exceptions.