Queen Elizabeth II. - blessed with a curse
- the weight on her shoulders
To finish off our little series, I want to talk about the one person most of us these days probably still associate with the Royal House the most.
Queen Elizabeth the II. has ruled the United Kingdom for 70 years and is in most of our heads probably also only known as “the Queen”. But who was this woman? That seemed to reign so ruthlessly in business as well as in private? Today I want to attempt looking a bit beyond the cold façade and find out what motivated her, what inspired her to be who she was at the end of her life and who she was before all of this. Surely a task this big will leave it’s traces in the fingerprint of her soul: the birth chart.
Let’s go through this step by step.
Queen Elizabeth II.
21.04.1926 02:40 London
All the elements are distributed fairly evenly, although Earth and Water might be a little more dominant than others. In the qualities we can see a heavy concentration on the fixed signs, whereas the mutable signs are especially underrepresented. This alone often already gives us a good feel of who we have in front of us: A stubborn woman who is especially subjective and passive. She has probably had a hard time switching positions and points of views. She was a person with strong believes (something we will further discuss later but is also detectable by the fact that she was born on the day of Mars and in the hour of Jupiter) and a strong will. These factors also made her especially reliable and, in some way, also predictable.
-
When looking at the Ascendant we can see that these are also all qualities that people were able to pick up on rather quickly when first perceiving her. If you remember my blogpost where I discussed this crucial Axis Point separately you will remember that it describes how we get perceived by others and often also how we react in stressful situations, like on instinct. The AC falling into Capricorn therefore confirms what I have mentioned before: she was a strong-willed woman who was able to put all her personal concerns to the side in order to stay professional and focused. This is especially noticeable also because of how the Ruler of the chart, Saturn, is placed. But that we will discuss further later on. Her Ascendant was probably one of the reasons why she was also so well respected throughout her Kingdom. People viewed her as capable and competent, like she had control and knew what needed to be done without being swayed.
It is also noticeable that the Ascendant is in Conjunction with the South Node, therefore her North Node being placed directly on her Descendant, creating tension between these two Points of the chart. This tells us, that right there an internal dispute was happening, making her feel like she needed to give up herself in order to provide for others (Capricorn-Cancer-Axis). It was an undeniable and crucial part of her self-development which was probably also really hurtful to her, also considering the fact that Pluto resides in her 6th house, the house of service. Her day-to-day life was challenging for her, her job bringing huge fundamental changes to her life and it is no wonder that she might have even felt like her occupation was absorbing her day and night. At the same time, this is where she held power, but it also held power over her. She was the head of the Royal Family for a long time, therefore the planet of power and might is placed there very rightfully. Yet, it also aspects her Venus in the first house in Pisces: it made her feel victimized and her sense of self, her entire perception of care and love were challenged by her position.
-
Her sun placement as well picks up a lot of topics that I have already hinted to. It is placed in the very stubborn, yet reliable sign Taurus, making her a person who knows what she wants and who will be tough to convince otherwise. She cared especially for the matters of the body and the well-being, probably loved nature and animals and had a big heart for the things she truly cared about. She was also really fond of tradition, maybe also all reasons why she was well liked by the people.
It falls into the 3rd house, making her quite the intellectual, although her Taurus sun could also vouch for a more practical approach to life, she seemed to be more of a patient observer than someone involved on the frontlines. She probably knew how to talk well, made people feel comfortable and secure when she spoke. Yet, there are some things that might make this placement a little less cozy than it might seem now. The sun stands in conjunction with Chiron and none of them receives any direct aspects. Once again, she probably often felt torn when it came to who she was, who she wanted to be and who she was supposed to be. The sun is who we strive to be, our dreams and wishes, our identity. Not being linked with any other planets excludes it from the conversation of the chart, only leaving it with Chiron, our eternal wound. Maybe it lies within having to give up herself and her dreams in order to fulfill her duty and be respected by others (we can see this in the sign it rules: Leo is closed off in the 7th house, harboring her Moon).
Just to prove my thesis we can also look at Chiron in a little more detail: it is placed in Aries in the second house. Therefore, her wound lies within her expressing herself, fully living up to her potential and her talents, since she was never able to act on them. If we think back to the article I wrote about Diana, we will also remember the meaning of the 2nd house: our values and everything we got gifted at the beginning of our journey on this earth. She had probably always felt like there were so many other things that she wanted to try, so many ways for her to spread her wings and live her life to the fullest, yet, it was denied, mainly because of who she felt like she needed to be and because of different authorities, specifically the father (both topics of the sun).
Another planet receiving no aspects is Mercury. The planet of communication and the mind. It is also found in Aries and therefore it probably won’t surprise us that it as well was excluded and also hardly seen by others as well as herself. She might have had a lot of new ideas and would have had the power to speak her mind fearlessly. Here it is also important to remember that the chart can only show our potential. She probably had to keep this quality mostly unexplored because of her heritage and her concerns about how it would affect her appearance (Mercury rules over the houses 8 and 5).
-
I think where we can see this inner conflict displayed the best, is the big red triangle in the middle of her chart. This is called a T-Square and is formed by an Opposition and two Squares, targeting one single planet in particular. This constellation usually talks about a deep lying inner conflict, two sides constantly trying to win the chart owner over, seemingly impossible to unite (the Opposition between Mars/Jupiter and Neptune) and the planet in focus (in this case Saturn) who often emits a lot of the problems that the two sides have with each other, but more so often suffers under their dispute, trying to arbitrate it with the best of its abilities.
Mars and Jupiter in the 1st house in Aquarius against Neptune in the 7th house in Leo. This might sound like a broken record by now, but it is once again the topic that we have already been able to observe throughout this whole chart. I often tell my students that you can only know that something is correct, if it comes up multiple times in the chart. Here very obviously the conflict between autonomy, own will and power against the paralysis of wanting to impress, wanting to lead and wanting to be liked. An independent and strong-willed self that wants to be concerned about the own wellbeing and interests has to compromise with a desire of being admired or maybe just accepted.
The Saturn directly on her MC stands for great responsibility at the workplace, as well as a certain kind of respect and also maybe even anxiety about the own career and status. While for non-celebrities this is often a great fear of where one will end up later in life, Elizabeth was probably more fearing all her new responsibilities, how people are going to see her, and maybe this is also a reason for her very guarded appearance and her great concern about the look and the reputation of the Royal Family.
Here she sticks to traditions, is strict with others as well as herself. She has surely always been a hardworking woman and probably her own harshest critic. Saturn in her chart is elevated, making it quite literally “the overseer” of her chart. This strict and cold planet wants to keep everyone else in check and has no issue placing fun and rebellion least on her priority list.
It also is placed at the tip of a scaringly accurate T-Square between Mars/Jupiter and her Neptune. So, let’s look at this step by step. Elizabeth has her Mars placed in Aquarius in her 1st house in conjunction with Jupiter. Therefore, her actions are strongly motivated by her belief of what is right. She seems to be a very ethical woman, having strong believes and willpower. Especially in Aquarius she wants to rebel, introduce new ideas, speak her truth and act on it. Yet, in opposition to Neptune this ability gets washed out and numbed. Neptune in Leo in the 7th house is the epitome of a people pleaser. She feels the hopes and wishes of the people breathing down her neck, Leo making her wanting to obey to it easily: be liked, make it right for everybody. This is also where her Moon is placed. We can see that a good image, being liked by others and being popular was almost crucial for her emotional wellbeing. Therefore, now it is easy to detect why these planets stand in Opposition to each other and why out of all planets Saturn is at the tip of this conflict, carrying out the symptoms and trying to mediate. In her head control is the only way out. Control and tradition: Just do it like it has always been done, then the people cannot complain and hold me responsible.
Obviously, we can also look at this constellation from many different perspectives. Saturn, which might be her father, her mother or just the system and the Royal House in general, kept her free will and new ideas (Mars and Jupiter) limited, under control (Square Saturn). And on the other hand, obviously also her counterpart. Neptune is also the Planet of obedience. Through a strong hand and the illusion of security and reliability she was able to make her admirers support her and not work against her.
-
The problem with an Opposition is, that - like I have mentioned before - we are looking at two planets that stand exactly opposite from each other and none of them can move even just a tad closer towards the other one. These aspects are often very hard to understand for most people that have them in their chart, since it feels like they want to do one thing, but for some reason they are drawn to the other side as well. It is a constant inner battle and a feeling of being unsure what one truly wants. The solution of an Opposition always lies within compromise. As long as the chart owner only gives attention to the one side of the Opposition, they will never truly be happy. Although both sides most often feel like they can never come together, it is crucial to find some middle ground.
In this case - mind you I never knew her personally - it almost seems like she never got to make room for that other side inside of her. Her responsibilities seemed too big; her mission too important.
Elizabeth was a woman of the people, even though she might have not been liked by everybody, which seemed to have been her biggest desire. It is important to remember, that a chart always describes our very own and personal experience. Obviously, it doesn’t happen every day that I get to interpret the chart of a Queen and therefore I must also adapt the problems, insecurities and topics of the chart to the circumstances. She seemed to have been a very independent woman at heart, but someone who always put her duties first, someone who always felt watched and limited; that was her blessing and her curse. We all know that leading a country comes with a lot of responsibilities, but for her it was all her life was, from the start to the very end. A woman who was admired for her dedication until her very last breath. I’m sure that in that moment she felt at least a little fulfilled.