Oprah Winfrey Revisited
Some months ago I wrote about Oprah Winfrey (born on January 29, 1954 at 4:30 AM CST in Kosciusko, MS; Asc 29 Sag 41), about the possibility of health concern, about her father’s plans (at that time) to write a book about her, Oprah’s rehashing previous family betrayals, and as well about her opening a girl’s academy in South Africa in January 2007 (with SA Pluto conjunct the MC).
At that time, I noted the importance of Oprah’s natal Pluto square Mars, and its sensitivity to transits and solar arcs in her life. Today I’ve just read on CNN.com about allegations of abuse at Oprah’s South African school. I have no idea whether it will turn into a serious matter or not but here’s what I wrote in my initial post about the time ahead:
“A look at measurements in 2007 reveals that Winfrey’s natal Pluto square Mars has now ARCED to the Midheaven: SA Pluto is exactly conjunct the MC (in January) with SA Mars square the MC in August ’07. The health-center Ascendant will ARC to oppose Pluto and square Mars (in Sep ’07 and Apr ’08). In 2008, tr. Pluto will conjunct her Ascendant with tr. Neptune opposing Pluto —- not a nice combination for matters of health — not to mention as well, transiting Saturn square the Moon in 2007/2008.”
News today of the abuse allegations at her academy seem to be perfectly timed by the SP Moon conjunct Mars (Oct 23, ’07) and square Pluto (Nov 9, ’07)! With the first hit of tr. Pluto conjunct the Ascendant in January 2008, we might be hearing more about Oprah.
Oprah Winfrey in the News – Natal Pluto square Mars:
The recent news regarding Oprah Winfrey’s father’s plans to write a book about her entitled “Things Unspoken” led me to take a closer look at Winfrey’s horoscope. Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 at 4:30 AM CST in Kosciusko, MS (Asc 29 Sag 41).
According to what I’ve read, Winfrey was “shocked” to learn about the book, not from her father, but from a gossip column. She said, “I was upset. I won’t say devastated, but I was stunned. The last person in the world to be doing a book about me is Vernon Winfrey. The last person. I would have preferred to have known my father was working on this. It would have been a nice gesture, a courtesy. The worst part of it was him saying [when she called her father to ask if the rumor was true], ‘I meant to tell you I’ve been working on it.’ ”
Her father Vernon Winfrey in his book proposal claims that Winfrey was “out of hand, an unruly child. … She had secrets. Dark secrets. Some I didn’t discover ’til she was a grown woman, ’til it was too late.”
After reading about this news, what initially crossed my mind was whether this unexpected upset could impact Oprah’s health.
A look at measurements in 2007 reveals that Winfrey’s natal Pluto square Mars has now ARCED to the Midheaven: SA Pluto is exactly conjunct the MC (in January) with SA Mars square the MC in August ’07.
The health-center Ascendant will ARC to oppose Pluto and square Mars (in Sep ’07 and Apr ’08). In 2008, tr. Pluto will conjunct her Ascendant with tr. Neptune opposing Pluto —- not a nice combination for matters of health — not to mention as well, transiting Saturn square the Moon in 2007/2008.
Since I was not up-to-date on the events of Oprah Winfrey’s life, I discovered while searching the internet that in January 2007 (with SA Pluto precisely conjunct her MC), Winfrey established and opened the “Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls” in South Africa (a $40 million dollar school). She had announced her dream and plans to build the school in 2002 with tr. Neptune conjunct her Sun (in the 2nd house).
During the Academy’s opening ceremony in January ’07, with Nelson Mandela at her side, Winfrey said ‘this is a pinnacle life moment for me.’ She said she believes that the reason she never had children was because ‘her students [at the academy] were meant to be her daughters’ —-corroborating SA Pluto conjunct the MC (dramatic change of perspective; identity transformation), and SA Mars=MC (ego awareness; change of status).
This colossal life milestone for Winfrey could certainly lead to major changes in 2008 with tr. Pluto conjunct her Ascendant and tr. Saturn square her Moon in Sagittarius — a geographic relocation to South Africa as one of the principal educators of the school??? — stranger things have happened! But getting back to the issue of her father’s surprise news, this was not the first time Winfrey felt betrayed or deceived by a member of her family. In 1990, a family member revealed to the National Enquirer magazine that Winfrey gave birth at age 14 (in 1968) to a baby who died in the hospital weeks later. This was also when she was sent to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee who made education priority #1 in Oprah’s life.
In 1968 (at age 14) Oprah’s natal Pluto square Mars was definitely in the spotlight! Saturn, the Sun, AND Venus had all three ARCED to Pluto and Mars (SA Saturn conjunct Mars, square Pluto; SA Sun and SA Venus opposed Pluto, square Mars). As well, transiting Neptune was conjunct Mars and square Pluto from 1967 throughout 1968!
When the secret was revealed to the world in 1990, once again, we see natal Pluto square Mars: The SA Midheaven arced to conjunct Mars and square Pluto! SA Pluto was square the Ascendant, and SA Mars conjunct the Ascendant!
Now currently in 2007 with SA Pluto=MC and SA Mars=MC, Oprah relived this story in the February issue of “O, The Oprah Magazine” entitled “My First” about the first betrayal of her life. In that article she explains how she worried that if anyone found out about the pregnancy, it would damage her career. But in fact, she says, “No one said a word … not strangers, not even people I knew. I was shocked. Nobody treated me differently.
For 20 years, I had been expecting a reaction that never came. And I soon realized that having the secret out was liberating. … What I learned for sure was that holding the shame was the greatest burden of all.”
It is fascinating to study natal Pluto square Mars in Winfrey’s horoscope. Pluto is in the 8th house ruling the 11th. Mars in Scorpio is in the 11th house ruling the 4th. This natal configuration has been involved with very pertinent life events regarding home life, parents and parenting issues, death concerns of others, and her sense of lovability and feeling valued and worthy to others.
Undoubtedly, 2007 and 2008 will be an extremely important time in Winfrey’s life involving an identity transformation and dramatic changes of perspective. Oprah Winfrey has proven herself to a very powerful and strong woman. Hopefully she will overcome whatever disappointment or betrayal she feels about her father’s plans to write a book about her, and hopefully it will not interfere with her health. It should be interesting to follow events in her life over the next one to two years.
Oprah Winfrey's Birth Chart:
