Jane Birkin – France adopted her as one of their own

Singer and actress Jane Birkin, France’s favourite “petite Anglaise”, has died after a long battle with cancer. Famous for the erotic ‘Je t’aime’ which the BBC banned and the Pope deplored when she was entwined in a tumultuous relationship with Serge Gainsbourg, she became embedded into French culture, acting in 70 arthouse films, and singing and writing as well.

  She was born 14 December 1946 3pm London, with a war-hero father, a diva mother and a miserable childhood at boarding school. She broke into movies early on, married composer John Barry 13 years her senior which only lasted three years, had a daughter and then met Serge Gainsbourg, the French singer/songwriter. They never married but remained friends for life even after a turbulent relationship which was at times she has said violent and she remained distraught after his death in 1991.

  She had a Sagittarius Sun conjunct Mars in her 7^th house so would prefer to be in in a partnership and would be attracted to challenging and assertive men. But she would have contradictory impulses  with a freedom-loving, unconventional 1^st house Uranus. Her North Node conjunct her Ascendant suggests a lack of a strong sense of identity and a need through life to stand on her own two feet and be independent. A complicated mix.

 She had a seductively charming and sexy Jupiter Venus in Scorpio in her 6^th house of work but it squared a bleak Saturn Pluto in her 4th, a legacy from her unhappy childhood. A creative, musical and filmic Neptune in her 5^th house  gave her performing talent as a channel for her pent-up feelings. She had three children, one with John Barry who died in her late forties, and one with Gainsbourg and a third with a film director whom she never married.

  Her Jupiter Venus which is often a fashion-business astro-signature would also explain the Birkin bag, which Hermes named after her.

  Gainsbourg, 2 April 1928 4.55am  Paris, had his Saturn in her 7^th conjunct her Sun and opposition her Uranus so he would be critical and restrictive leading to eruptions. Though his Midheaven also fell in her 7^th so his relationship with her no doubt helped on the career front. Most notably his Sun, Jupiter and Uranus in Aries fell in her 11^th giving them a bond of friendship when togetherness became too fraught.

 Their relationship chart was dominated by a high-vitality composite Jupiter Mars which was in a cruel, dominating opposition Pluto with a tussle for the upper hand built into the dynamic. Not healthy but they both survived it.