Shirley MacLaine

The American actress and author Shirley MacLaine has become known also for her great interest in spirituality and metaphysics. She was born on 24 April 1934 as Shirley MacLean Beaty in Richmond, Virginia. Her father was a professor of psychology, her mother a drama teacher. Her younger brother, Warren Beatty, has also chosen acting as a profession.

Shirley began with ballet dancing but soon moved on to acting. Her film debut was in Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry (1955) for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best female debut that year. The success continued with other films, such as Around the World in 80 Days (1956) with David Niven in the lead role and Shirley MacLaine as an Indian princess, The Apartment (1960) with Jack Lemmon. She has received many awards for her role interpretations over the years.

Shirley MacLaine has also been involved a great deal in social and political issues. She says in an interview that she is studying people to portray them on film but at the same time she cannot help but get involved in their lives and the problems of society. Among other things, she has been involved in women's liberation, and she says that "the capitalist system works against women's liberation."

She is very open about his great interest in spirituality and has authored several books in the New Age genre. The first was Out on a Limb and many others have followed it.

Shirley MacLaine was married to businessman Steve Parker, with whom she has a daughter. The couple divorced in 1982 but she said in an interview a year ago that she still lives in an open relationship with her ex-husband.

Some ten years ago she "confessed" that she had an affair with the former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who she claims was a new incarnation of none other than Charlemagne, with whom she claims to have had a relationship in a past life ...

Her birth chart looks like this:

Shirley MacLaine, 24 April 1934, 15:57, Richmond, Virginia, USA

(Source: Astro DataBank)

Prominent signs are Virgo (with the Ascendant, the Moon and Neptune in the Twelfth House) and Taurus (with Sun and Mars in the Eighth House). The Earth element predominates. We have a practical, efficient and down to earth person. Of the houses the Eighth and Twelfth appear as the most significant. We anticipate the great interest and fascination with spirituality and metaphysics. The Pluto-ruled Third House in Scorpio suggests her writing in these fields.

Powerful Pluto in sensitive Cancer in the Tenth House of career aspects both the Moon and Neptune in the Twelfth House and the Neptune-disposed Venus in Pisces in the Sixth House of work and everyday life. From this we can imagine her acting talent and success in the film industry. Venus also rules Libra through the Second House of resources, talents and abilities.

The third quadrant (houses 7-9) and southern hemisphere (the houses above the horizon) dominate and reflect a person who wants to be seen, who wants to be where the action is and who strive for outer success. The Moon is in its waxing phase and shows decisiveness and ability to achieve results.

She says she knew early on that she would become a "communicator", which she did both through her movie roles and through her books. In the horoscope it is mirrored by the MC in Mercury-ruled Gemini - the sign of communication. Mercury itself is in Aries in the Seventh House and rules the Ascendant in Virgo while being in opposition to Venus-disposed Jupiter in Libra in the First House. The opposition seems to reflect her candor and transparency regarding her spiritual message, her firm and direct way to talk about it. At the same time Libra shows that she still strives to convey her message in a balanced way. Along with the Lunar Nodes the Mercury-Jupiter opposition also forms a so-called "Mystic rectangle" that helps to facilitate the union of opposites.

The Ascendant in Virgo shows strong self-control and that she is aware of how she looks and behaves. She has a good sense of style and is keen to make a good impression on the environment. The Eighth House is really a loaded "powerhouse" - here we find the Sun and Mars in Taurus and revolutionary Uranus in Aries. Uranus at the House cusp again shows her fascination with life's hidden sides. Uranus also governs (through Aquarius) the important Fifth House of creativity and self-expression, where we find both Saturn, the North Lunar Node and Pars Fortunae. We understand that she loves the freedom to express herself in the way she wants. Saturn (structure and discipline) forms a sextile to Uranus. The North Lunar Node in this position suggests that creativity plays a major role in her life and that she uses her talent to delight others.

She says that her parents did everything to protect her from everything as she grew up but that she could not stand it and constantly stretched the boundaries. "My parents made me an explorer and a revolutionary," she says. Pars Fortunae in Aquarius on the Fifth House cusp demonstrates her joy to be free and independent to discover the world in a creative manner and thus inspire others.

© Mats Bergman 2013