Queen Elizabeth is mourning the day her father George V1 died seventy years ago which is also the anniversary of her accession. During her long reign, she has seen 14 British prime ministers occupy No 10 and survived on the throne for longer than Queen Elizabeth 1 (44 years) and Queen Victoria (64 years).
Oddly enough there was also a transiting Saturn square Uranus running in February 1952 in Libra/Cancer which were both tugging on her dutiful 6th house Pluto in Cancer; with tr Neptune in Libra square her North Node. What is most noticeable is tr Pluto in Leo in a blocked and scary opposition to her Mars as her life-as-she-knew-it ground to a halt and she faced the momentous challenges that lay ahead. Tr Pluto over the next three years would wend its way in hard aspect round her Fixed and obsessively conscientious T Square involving her Midheaven as she learnt to handle the burden of her new role.
The UK chart also showed a distinct shift at that point in 1952 with tr Uranus conjunct the Midheaven and tr Saturn exactly opposition the UK 7th house North Node in Aries; with tr Venus conjunct the IC and tr Sun conjunct the UK Venus so it would be an emotional time.
George V1 died aged 56 in the middle of the night so there is no definite time. He was born 14 December 1895 3.05 am Sandringham, England and as the second son, behind his brother the Duke of Windsor, never expected to inherit the throne.
Nervy with a pronounced stammer and poor health, he was not well designed for the rigours of monarchy, unlike his stalwart daughter Elizabeth. He had a Sagittarius Sun Mercury opposition an 8th house Neptune Pluto in Gemini, which would make him prone to instability. His Jupiter on his Midheaven would help but it was nothing in comparison to Elizabeth’s dutiful Saturn in Scorpio on her Midheaven locked into a Fixed planet opposition. She may have had her faults as a detached mother but she is custom-built for standing rock steady over the long haul.
Louis xiv was like 4 years old when he became king. So obviously somebody else ruled in his place for a great many years, till he could do do himself.
Actually, this is the French video I mentioned.
Marjorie – any thoughts on astrological indicators of a stammer?
I have a friend who had a stammer intp his twenties – surprised when I look at his chart to see he is Aries sun/moon/mercury which you would ordinarily expect to be forthright. But his mercury is stationing retro trine neptune and opposite pluto (plus sextile saturn in gemini). Shades of King George VI who had sag mercury opposite neptune-pluto in gemini.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stutterers Don’t have time at the moment but here’s a list of stammerers if you want to play around. Too much pressure from Mercury Pluto could be a culprit. It seems to stem from a brain developmental issue and while not a nervous disorder does get worse under stress especially of speedy events.
What a list that is. Would never have begun to imagine James Earl Jones, could stutter.
I will pick up on when I have a quiet evening and time to make some notes on multiple charts.
Not Marjorie, but communication and speech is an area of interest for me. I have seen communication disorders pop up with a stationary mercury, but I think our ability to speak and communicate is about so much more than Mercury. It is the bridge between our consciousness and our outer world and is what makes us human. Sun, Moon, Venus and Mars – none work without it.
Stammering is much more common in males than females, so perhaps a masculine sign isn’t too surprising. Stammering is a neurological condition that affects the motor area of speech, which would involve Mars. George VI had his Pluto opposing his Mercury/Mars midpoint – I can imagine that not being able to get your words out, and having people finish your sentences for you, feeling like a personal power struggle. He also had Mars/Saturn=Moon – blocked from expressing his feelings
He has had his Moon and Mercury slightly out of bounds, not by much, but definitely someone who wouldn’t feel comfortable in a gilded cage. Amplify that by the Moon being conjunct to Uranus.
Years ago I saw a Horizon TV science programme on stammering, dyslexia and left-handedness, all evidently more common on males than females. A US neuropsychologist, Ganz I think, put forward a theory that 16 weeks after conception the male foetus triggered testosterone in the mother to help promote sexual secondary characteristics. This flood of testosterone also damped down the emotional side of the brain just developing – which was why males (wild generalization) tend to be more mathematical/linguistic. He reckoned or found that if there was too much testosterone – stressed mother or dysfunction – then stammering etc could be the result.
Not the world’s most generally publicized theory in these non-binary times but made a good deal of sense to me.
That is an interesting theory. It does get quite complicated, but motor speech difficulty mainly affects an area of the left frontal lobe, called Broca’s area. Dyslexia is a little more complicated, involving the visual cortex and the left temporal lobe called Wernicke’s area (language processing).
Lot’s of studies have shown reduced blood flow and other anomalies to Broca’s area in stammerers. The cause of this is unknown, but could be interference from the right homologue of Broca’s area – a failure to balance the signal between the left and right. It may also be that the right homolgue in women is better able to compensate for any problems with the left hemisphere, but there isn’t yet any strong evidence for it. Some studies found that women are better able to recover the motor aspects of speech following a stroke, but not verbal/auditory processing, but other studies have shown minimal difference.
Stammering is believed to have a genetic component, often running in families. So, perhaps there is a protective element in having two X chromosomes.
Interesting, thanks Tara. I will have to dig out my old Psychology textbook for the physiology of behaviour module I took. I’m sure much of its content is outdated as I expect the research has come along leaps and bounds with MRI scanning.
Her letter put on on this occasion today. What does she sign off as? ‘Yours ser…’ the word begins with ser….it def’ly isn’t servant…
It is signed “Your servant”.
She has only two more years to go before surpassing the European record for the longest reign set by Louis XIV from 1643 to 1715. The royal anthem God Save the Queen was originally written in 1686 by the Italian composer Lulli for King Louis, known as the Sun King, following a delicate and life-threatening operation to his rear end which he bravely bore without anesthetic. Haendel, who had heard it in Versailles in 1714, had it translated many years later when it had fallen into disuse, brought it to King George II and and falsely claimed it as his own. This ironic French video, called a European project, wonders what would be the British royal anthem without Louis XIV’s arse.
It Had to be You?
Great comment, merci 😉