[NOTE: Updated with birthtime from astro.com] Tatiana Schlossberg died recently after revealing publicly that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy, she was only 35 and the most recent of a string of family tragedies. But that’s a story for another time.
Ms. Schlossberg was born in 1990 at a time when Uranus (radical change) and Neptune (spiritual mysticisim) were approaching their conjunction (1990-1994). This was a time of upheaval and spiritual confusion, and in 1990 when Ms. Schlossberg was born Chiron (wounding and healing) was also involved. When Chiron is opposite Neptune there is deep soul healing in the life plan, and Chiron opposite Uranus is a significant aspect in the charts of people who are energetically sensitive. With the Sun conjunct Mercury in the earth-loving sign of Taurus, she was a committed climate activist and warrior towards the healing of the planet. Intense Pluto opposed both the Sun and Mercury, a challenging system that denotes an individual who was born with a mission of power and personal transformation as well as experiences that turn one inside out. The fact that this system squares the lunar nodes of fate reveals the power of this system and the sense of destiny.
Mars is a planet of action and her Mars was in a stressful square to her ascendant, the point through which we view the world. Mars was in the sign of Pisces – a dreamy and compassionate sign – and it was in the third house of communication. Her passion for the environment was expressed through writing, as expected with Mars in the third house.
Mars in Pisces has wonderful qualities (empathy and compassion to name just two), but is a debilitating factor for Mars and makes it more difficult to do the good Mars things like stand up for yourself and set good boundaries. Mars in Pisces people often have a tendency towards weakened immune systems that can be ameliorated through healthy habits such as Ms. Schlossberg performed: lots of physical activity, healthy eating and family connections.
She did have Chiron in a harmonious trine to Mars which had she been given the gift of more time would have likely improved her ability to ward off invaders to her immune system.
When we’re talking about bones (even the marrow of bones) Saturn can usually be identified and in this chart Saturn, representing responsibility and achievement, is both strong and weak. It is in Capricorn which strengthens its power to conquer the material world, but it is retrograde which tends to reveal a personality who feels responsible for everything, like the weight of the world is on her shoulders. We can see this in the New Yorker article in which she revealed her diagnosis and wrote: “For my whole life, I have tried to be good, to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry. Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
Her Libra Moon was elevated at the Midheaven, denoting someone who was unafraid to expose her inner self in the public eye. Venus in the chart was in Aries at the cusp of the fourth house, signifying her intense connection to family, and the tension between public life and the inner world of the 4th house is significant in this chart.
Over the past 30 years I have worked with many clients who had severe health problems and this is a particular interest of mine. Imbalances that can create health issues nearly always show up in the chart in some way. Many of my readers will be familiar with the work of people like Louise Hay and Carolyn Myss who wrote about the idea that the body is not separate from the mind and the spirit – this is one system that works together synergistically. When any part of the system is broken, the others are put under stress. Scientists are beginning to accept the idea that “broken heart syndrome” is a real thing.
Cancer is a unique disease because unlike a virus that attacks the body from outside, the enemy is within. Normally the body’s immune system would be able to control a rogue cell before it becomes cancerous, but when the cancer cells ignore these instructions and continues replicating it becomes a problem. This leads to the question: What makes cancer cells spiral out of control like this?
When talking about the integrated body/mind/spirit system and health, especially cancer, we need to avoid “blaming the victim.” There are the obvious ones such as smoking and environmental causes over which we have no control, at least not on a personal level. But then there are the emotional connections. Someone with a lot of grief may develop lung cancers. Someone who isn’t able to speak for themselves can develop throat cancer. This idea connects the ravages of cancer to the chakra that is blocked energetically and blood cancers are linked with Mars.
The debate over how much of our lives is fated and how much is free will is a thorny one, especially among astrologers. We can see in Ms. Schlossberg’s chart how this cancer could have come about, but someone else with the same chart will have a completely different life and this is one of the supreme mysteries of human existence. At the time of her death, the North Node (fate) was transiting her natal Mars to the exact degree, reinforcing this idea that destiny had a hand in Ms. Schlossberg’s untimely passing.
There is much about life that we do not understand. Astrology provides many answers, but not all. I think that Eastern philosophies have a much clearer idea of how the soul migrates through different lifetimes, and a life that ends early is not seen as incomplete or wasted. It is understood within a much larger arc of existence that extends beyond a single lifetime. The body is a temporary vessel, taken up for a particular chapter of experience and then set down. From this view, length of life is not a measure of meaning or worth.
In this framework, a short life reflects a specific karmic timing, not an error in the cosmic order. This idea gives me comfort and helps me to understand the nature of human life from a broader perspective and I hope it gives some comfort to anyone suffering from a loss.
Did you hear about what happened in Venezuela? I was wondering what the astrology was for Nicolas Maduro’s capture?
I haven’t looked at that, Nathan. There would be his transits, transits to the chart for Venezuela, Trump transits – it’s a big research project and there are others that are higher on my priority list.
Thank you, Lynn, for this lovely post on Tatiana. It reminds me that I need to schedule a reading with you again as it has been a long time.
Of course Paige, it will be good to see you. 💕
I wonder if you have heard about a recent incident in Minneapolis where a woman was murdered by an ICE agent. What does the astrology say about that?
Nathan, I’m afraid I don’t look at every incident and wonder about the astrology. You might be interested in what my friend Dorje has to say. https://dorjekirsten.substack.com/p/ice-cold-murder