International Women’s Day this year was marked by the bombing of a maternity hospital in Ukraine, which hardly bears thinking about. The goddess Hera, protector of pregnant women and childbirth, usually associated with the lunar sign Cancer, must be ready to throw down thunderbolts.
Looking back to warrior women of the past who fought to give women more power and freedom in the suffragette and early feminist movements, they come in all shapes and sizes.
Emmeline Pankhurst, 15 July 1856 9.30pm Manchester, England, was a militant activist leading the charge to get women the vote. She was a Sun Cancer in a talented and healing Water Grand Trine to Mars in ultra-determined Scorpio trine Neptune, formed into a wide Kite by Neptune opposition a Virgo Moon – making the Virgo Moon her leading planet. She also had an unyielding Pluto square Saturn.
Emily Davison, 11 October 1872 12.30am London, another militant activist, was arrested on nine occasions, went on hunger strike seven times and was force-fed. Her tactics included breaking windows, throwing stones, setting fire to postboxes, planting bombs. She died after being hit by King George V’s horse Anmer at the 1913 Derby when she walked onto the track during the race. She was a Sun Libra opposition an idealistic Neptune; with her Pluto in a rules-don’t-apply, super-confident square to Jupiter and a wide opposition to Venus in Scorpio; and a rebellious Moon in Aquarius opposition Uranus. Not always sensible but she made her mark.
Another Sun Libra opposition Neptune was Edith Rigby, 18 October 1872 5.30am, an arsonist, much imprisoned as she fought for her suffragette beliefs, a Rudolph Steiner advocate as well. She also had a passionate Venus in Scorpio opposition Pluto Moon in Taurus in a confident and showy square to Jupiter in Leo.
Helen Crawfurd, 9 November 1877 4pm Glasgow, a Scottish suffragette and communist activist, had a determined Scorpio Sun opposition Pluto and trine a hard-edged Mars Saturn in Pisces. She also had an Earth/Fire Grand Trine of Neptune trine Venus Jupiter in Capricorn trine Uranus in late Leo. Her Uranus was in a revolutionary’s square to Pluto. Her upbringing looks tough which would make her fight for the underdog.
Susan Anthony, 15 February 1820, an American suffragette and anti-slavery campaigner, had a Sun Jupiter in Aquarius sextile Uranus Neptune conjunction which is turn squared a passionate Venus Pluto in Pisces.
What isn’t surprising across the charts are strong Plutos, especially in aspect to Venus; and high confidence from Jupiter. Less expected is a Neptunian theme across most – many of these women were not only idealistic but had strong religious beliefs.
If there is a difference between the suffragettes and the later feminists Like Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan and Germaine Greer, it’s a sense that the later generation were less emotional (Water signs) and more cerebral (Air signs). The feminists relied on words and communication, not actions to get their message across. Steinem has an assertive, go-ahead Sun Mars in Aries with a revolutionary T square of Pluto square Uranus and in a confident square to Jupiter; plus Venus Saturn in Aquarius.
Friedan had an Aquarius Sun opposition Neptune with an emotionally intense Moon opposition Pluto square Venus. Greer has an Aquarius Sun opposition Pluto square Moon Uranus in Taurus.
Overall what is needed for an activist is a burning sense of injustice for the underdog, confidence, courage and undentable determination.
There is a huge feminist fight going on right now between Transactivists and gender critical feminists.
Maya Forstater is in a tribunal right now defending her right to free speech about her feminist views as she lost her job.
Kathleen Stock a philosophy professor at Sussex uni had to leave her job due to relentless pressure from pupils and colleagues.
Marion Millar in Scotland was dragged through court for several months for tweeting a suffragette ribbon. She was arrested, they threatened to put her children in care. It cost her thousands and in the end the Scottish court system dropped the case.
Jk Rowling has suffered abuse and targeted harassment as a result other tweets supporting feminists.
Joan Smith the writer lost her place on the violence against women board at the London Assembly.
Suzanne Moore the journalist had to leave the Guardian for writing in support of women.
People suffering with dysphoria used to be rare and usually male.Today it’s overwhelmingly girls. They are getting double mastectomies in the United States at 13.
I imagine you’ve seen some of this in the news.
I’d be interested in the charts of those women. I could try and get data for you if you want.
Is this a part of the Aquarian age? The discomfort with being a woman, a desire to identify out of your sex? Cancel culture, digital witch finding, an increasing amount of ageism against women. The worst thing you can be is a ‘karen’.
Have you any astrological thoughts on this issue?
Incredible women. Thank you Marjorie.
Thank you Marjorie. Pankhurst and her daughters have long fascinated me. Along with the determination of the others, especially enduring the conditions of Victorian prison, inventing the hunger strike as a political weapon and the horrors of force-feeding which left many permanently injured and in poor health. Some claim that it was the arrival of WWI which led to universal sufferage but without these determined women it would undoubtedly have taken even longer and been restricted to only the elite. Just shows how long it takes to bring about real change in society. I wish I had their courage…
Hi Marjorie,
In honor of Women’s History (I like to say HerStory) Month, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind writing a segment on the late (but still great) self-taught Ukrainian visual folk artist Maria Prymachenko.
Maria Prymachenko is considered a national treasure and a symbol of Ukraine’s rich cultural heritage.
Prymachenko was known for her vibrant and colorful abstract paintings that often depicted peaceful scenes of nature, animals, children, and rural Ukrainian culture. Some of her paintings also depicted subliminally subversive themes too – for example, one of her works is titled “May that Nuclear War Be Cursed” which was painted in 1978. In addition to painting, Prymachenko was also known for her embroidery.
Tragically, a few days ago, Russian forces struck the Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum which housed many of Prymachenko’s paintings and Ukrainian folk arts of other artists. The museum reportedly caught on fire and burned to the ground. 25 of Prymachenko’s paintings were supposedly destroyed in the fire.
However, some reports say that locals were able to rush into the burning museum and saved 10 of Prymachenko’s paintings. I don’t know if the 10 that were saved were part of the 25 that were originally reported as destroyed.
Anyway, since following the very distressing situation taking place in Ukraine, I’ve been trying to promote and highlight Ukrainian cultural figures to show support as well as to emphasize the fact that Ukraine has her own identity.
I’m an art lover and I’ve been exploring many of Maria Prymachenko’s works lately. They are very whimsical and captivating.
I wasn’t able to find a birth time for Maria Prymachenko. However, I do know she was born on January 12, 1909 in Bolotnya, Ukraine.
Any thoughts or insights you could share with regards to Maria Prymachenko would be sincerely appreciated. And as always, thank you so much for your daily posts – I do enjoy reading them.
Chris Romero