Oprah Winfrey has become the latest in a line of celebrities shunning the fat-is-fabulous trend to streamline their shape and take strain off their joints and kidneys. After knee surgery in 2021 she went on a diet and exercise regime, helped along by a weight loss drug she admitted last year.
She was born 29 January 1954 4.30am Kosciusko, MS and had a poor and abusive childhood. She has a charming Sun, Venus in Aquarius in her money-making 2nd house trine a 6th house Jupiter (which is prone to indulgence and expansion). More significantly she has Mars in Scorpio square an 8th house Pluto, hinting at the fears which will have dogged her steps throughout her life.
Weight is often not just a way of filling an emotional void but more importantly a protection. Being small, slight and vulnerable is scary. Being heavyweight with layers of fat erects a defence for security and safety. Mars Pluto is about total domination so the child fears their life never mind their bodily integrity is at risk.
Adele, 5 May 1988 8.19 am London has her Mars square Pluto opposition Sun Jupiter in Taurus with her Moon in the 6th as does Lizzo born a week earlier.
Producer Shonda Rhimes has a Mars opposition Pluto. Kirstie Alley has a Mars opposition Pluto. Gabourey Sibide has her Mars in Taurus (conjunct her Taurus Sun) on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Pluto sextile Neptune. Monique has a Mars sextile Saturn inconjunct Jupiter.
Jupiter and Taurus have a hand in weight gain as does the Moon on occasion but the recurring Mars Pluto theme is striking.
When Oprah finally got a grip of her weight problem after a life of yo-yo ups and downs, tr Saturn was moving through her 1st Quadrant. That is sometimes a point where the body says ‘enough’. But is also a time when unresolved psychological/emotional issues surface to be resolved. Tr Saturn was also in 2022 shaking up her Mars square Pluto; followed in 2023/24 by tr Uranus opposition her Mars square Pluto – so that defensive structure in her robust personality was being put under pressure to change.
One reason diets often don’t hold is that the underlying fears about vulnerability and attractiveness surface and the old defence mechanisms come back into play.
Something I’ve noticed about those born on 29 January is that they often do not have children (and usually by choice) or they have just the one child.
Examples include Oprah, Germaine Greer, Heather Graham, Anton Chekhov, Adam Lambert, Tom Selleck, Katherine Ross.
Not sure what the explanation might be for that.
Oprah also has the Moon out of bounds, which has helped her become succesful against the odds, but some have observed that it can sometimes lead to struggles with weight.
The psychology diet and exercise is really the psychology of behaviour change. Research shows that if self-efficacy is high, i.e they believe they can do it and maintain it, then behaviour change is more likely and more liley to succeed. Otherwise if self-efficacy is low, people will almost go the other way in a bid to manage their fear and self-esteem. They will manage and control their self-image and feelings if they feel that they cannot effectively manage their weight (or other health related behaviour change). Here you could argue the crucial influence of Saturn rather than the tradtional focus Jupiter, Taurus etc
Thanks Marjorie.
Just chiming in with everybody, really.
There’s a repeating theme of expansion, in both wealth and weight, throughout Oprah’s chart.
Not only is Jupiter, planet of expansion, the ruler of Oprah’s Sag Ascendant, but it’s also the “cutting” planet in the locomotive-shaped configuration of planets in her chart, and trine the Midheaven. Very important.
In addition to the Sag Ascendant , the Moon is also ruled by expansive (sometimes literally) Jupiter.
In whole-sign houses, that Moon is in the first house — emphasizing its effect on the physical body and appearance.
The mutable Jupiterian Ascendant is at the 29th anaretic degree — Oprah has jumped into many dramatic, public plans of action regarding her appearance / weight. She has indeed transformed her appearance / lost weight multiple times, but until now, the weight loss hasn’t been lasting.
Oprah’s Lot of Fortune, is in Jupiter-ruled Pisces trine the Moon in Cancer. In traditional Hellenistic astrology, the Lot of Fortune “signifies everything that concerns the body, and what one does through the course of life. It becomes indicative of possessions, reputation and privilege.” So again, an expansive signature, in both wealth and weight.
South Node in Cancer — potential tendency to revert to emotional eating, comfort food.
South Node conjunct Uranus — above tendency interrupted by shock diets like the liquid one of years back, and now, with any luck, the effective use of the revolutionary drug Ozempic.
Is 1st house the body? I’ve seen interpretations ir iš the 2nd. If it is the 1st, she has a wound (Chiron) in there.
Noting Oprah has no earth placements other than Chiron conjunct her NN. So it very much looks like she got trapped in her Cancer SN which is conjunct Uranus. And Neptune in Libra squares them
She also has Jupiter in Gemini on her 6th house of health.
So overall she’s not practical when it comes to the details of setting routines which will keep her healthy.
I can remember her talking 15-25yrs ago about how she ‘finally’ lost weight by doing strength training to fire up her metabolism. Wonder why she stopped doing that. The older you get, the more important maintaining (and ideally increasing) whatever muscle mass you have becomes. Just going for a long walk, doing some gardening and dieting aren’t enough.
I think her metabolism became too “fired” up. She mentioned that hyperthyroidism issues was causing her to lose sleep and was also misdiagnosed as being heart issues in 2007. I personally don’t think hyperthyroidism happen overnight, though there are no studies to really prove it as yet. Hyperthyroidism can cause palpitations, thyroid storms, flushing and many other discomfort.
That’s interesting Callie.
If you do too much high intensity training it will disrupt the sympathetic division of your autonomic nervous system and cause adrenal fatigue and so on. That would cause issues with sleeping although I can’t comment on hyperthyroidism. But it wouldn’t surprise me, particularly if you do it for years on end. Nothing wrong with some good hard exercise, but it’s about finding balance between pushing yourself and then having nice easy days. I imagine with her work schedule added in, it’s quite possible she didn’t ever power down.
Whatever the causes. It’s not hard to look at Oprah’s chart and see she has potential for overdoing things. The combo of that 6th house, her Sag moon as well as Scorpio Mars square Leo. That latter placement wants to squeeze every ounce out.
The North node conjunct chiron in Oprah’s chart might had been painful. And I think that might also had been why she chose to stay in the cancer south node. It is too painful to do the things of Capricorn when it is so much easier to grab all you can, canned all you grab and sit on the can. A Sun Cancer mantra that a Cancer friend told me and I repeated to other Sun Cancer friends and they agreed.
Lack of earth could mean she would feel the (un) conscious need to overcompensate for that.
I now see I was unclear. I mean the acquisition of wealth. I think Bill Gates has a similar lack of earth?
Cancer South Node natives are known to comfort eat.
Makes sense.
Oprah mentioned that she had thyroid issues in 2007. The recent report was that it was hyperthyroidism that progressed to hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism can cause issues with losing weight as a patient will gain weight quickly.
And something else that I noticed is that Jupiter in Cancer people have some obsession with food. They need to be in control of buying, then cooking and eventually distributing it. I think there might also be other factors involved. Not all have weight issue though.
Eg: Dee Dee Blanchard, Penelope Jackson (post 30 Oct 2021)
Wow I now know why my mum wouldn’t teach me to cook and used to order me out of the kitchen. She was a Cancer.
I’m a Jupiter in Cancer – quite happy for someone else to do it, but they seldom do (sigh). I’m a taurus ascendant as well. Never had any weight issues, but that probably makes me lazy, ironically. Jupiter recently crossed my ascendant by transit – I had a bad infection, weeks of antibiotics and shed half a stone. Not quite what I was expecting!
Daughter of an alcoholic here and yes I love sugar. My mum is always thin and criticises my body and every body she sees.
Struggle with weight my entire life, its the first thing I think of when I wake – eat well & lose weight. Sometimes I get control but not always.
I am a libra rising with Venus in Taurus on 8 house cusp. Pluto trines my Gemini sun is sextile to my Leo Mars.
“its the first thing I think of when I wake – eat well & lose weight” Gosh me too!! Also frequently “I’m not going to eat today”
I’m only a bit chubby but don’t want people to see me, I love winter when I get to wear big sweaters & long coats to hide in, and dread the summer months.
Its just insanity.
Fingers for you two to reach your desired healthy body mass – not because of aesthetics or outward pressure, but because of one’s own well-being! You can do it.
I’ve always wondered what happened in her astrological skies when she put out her chat show and went on to, supposedly, dedicate herself to erecting her own network, OWN. I forgot what happened afterwards. I always believed she would come back with some sort of a big bang, but instead time has almost shown it ran over he in a way. I’m not sure what her relevance today is exaclty.
I used to like her much more before, I think. Something got lost and the light dimmed.
If only I managed to write a post without a typo. It drives me mad. With all the tools nowadays available to do so…
Might not actually be you. I have the same problem: I thoroughly proof read, but then the post contains small errors. I believe it is the fact that the iPad I use most often is an older one (which has a keyboard). The newer one seems to convey without issues, but then I have to pluck around to type.
Oprah: Striving to make something of yourself often involves pleasing others, even if it is just an audience. Once the money and celebrity roll in people start believing their own press and live behind gates with only those who are on the payroll. I’ve known a lot of self-made wealthy people and it is a recurring theme. Statistically they stop being concerned with others and only associate with like-kind wealthy individuals, too. Basically living inside a mirrored room.
On the emtions behind female weight gain: I read that daughters of alcoholics often tend to be addicted to sugar (in a diabetes study) — their brothers inherit the drinking (alcohol processes like sugar, I believe).
Ozempic-type products are helping a lot of people. Even Trump lost weight and attributed it to “doing it the hard way with diet and exercise”, which no one believed.
Uncertainty surrounds the long-term effects, however.
Astrologically I’ve seen prominent Cancer and Jupiter in the 1st as potential highlights.
According to Wikipedia … “On January 15, 2008, Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced plans to change Discovery Health Channel into a new channel called OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. It was scheduled to launch in 2009 but was delayed, and actually launched on January 1, 2011.”
Jan 2008 – pluto crossing her ascendant.
2009-10 – transiting Saturn going through her 9th house causing delays.
2011 – transiting Jupiter-Uranus were in her 3rd house and would have squared her ascendant as they reached late Pisces.
Transiting Pluto has just moved from 1st to 2nd house in the past year or so. She will figure out what she values.
You win a medal, Gnarly! Thank you so much for this! Amazing how the skies mirrored what was going on in her life. Sad they say, how above, so below.
I’ve read that some women who have been sexually abused subconsciously gain weight to make themselves unattractive to men; therefore, less likely to be violated again.