Case Study: Meryl Streep

       Meryl was born on June 22nd. People born on this day are very romantic, affectionate, passionate and tend to view life as an adventure. Their inner world of fantasy and imagination is highly developed and they are able to literally feel what it is like to be in another person’s shoes. This advanced degree of emotional intelligence is probably what has helped the audience become totally captivated by so many of Meryl’s roles, she fully embodied the character with her body, mind and soul. Finding their soul mate is of utmost importance to them and takes precedence over everything else in life. They feel that with this type of love, everything else will come to them on its own time. Their memories of past love affairs are often much more dreamy and romantic than the actual relationship itself. This is seen very clearly in The Bridges of Madison County where Meryl’s character writes in vivid detail in her diary her memorable but very short four day affair with a National Geographic Photographer many years ago. Her children discover these diaries after she died. She received a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild in 1996 for this film.
 
Fame

In the Vedic chart:

      Rahu-Ketu is on the 4th-10th axis, particularly Rahu in the 10th helps with worldly recognition. Rahu-Ketu are vargottama, being on the Aries (Rahu)- Ketu (Libra) axis and are greatly strengthened.

     The ruler of her 10th house Mars is vargottama, being in Taurus in both the rasi and navamsha charts. This is very auspicious for career success and recognition.

        Jupiter is normally debilitated in Capricorn but achieves neecha bhanga raja yoga. She has a powerful Gaja Kesari yoga, Jupiter is in a Kendra from the Moon, specifically it is 10th from the Moon which really good for fame, wealth and intelligence. It leads to a very respected position in society. The Gaja Kesari yoga repeats in the dashamsha chart, with the Moon and Jupiter being conjunct in the 6th house. From the lagna, Jupiter  opposes the ascendant (2 degrees) and from the Chandra lagna, Jupiter trinally aspects 1st house ruler Mars which is very powerful and is said to remove many blemishes from the chart. This enhances overall fortune a great deal.

​      From the lagna, there is a raja yoga as the lord of the 5th Mars and lord of the 7th Saturn mutually aspect each other by their respective special forward and backward square aspects. Mars is also ruler of the 10th house of career and is vargottama, being placed in Taurus in the navamsha, adding a big boost to her career.

        From Chandra lagna,(which is important to check especially as her lagna is Cancer), the lord of the 1st Mars and lord of the 10th  Saturn mutually aspect each other by their respective special forward and backward square aspects.

       The lord of the 5th Sun and the lord of the 7th Venus are conjunct in the 3rd house of performing arts, this gives a lot of talent for acting as well as the ability to get positive recognition.

In the Western chart:

     The North Node is conjunct the MC by 4 degrees. Having the NN close to the MC is very beneficial for fame and positive recognition and accolades in their career, these are people who will always be appreciated for the work, regardless of the field.

     The Sun makes an exact quintile to the MC allowing her work to receive many awards, honours and positive recognition, the Sun shines a light on her career. Further, the Sun conjunct Uranus at 0 degrees Cancer is tightly conjunct fixed star Betelgeuse giving ample fortune and great honour.

     The MC ruler Mars at 8 degrees Gemini is tightly conjunct fixed star Aldeberan at 9 degrees Gemini. This fixed star gives fame, honour and success to her career. Mercury at 10 degrees Gemini is also conjunct Aldeberan.

     Jupiter at 0 degrees Aquarius is tightly conjunct fixed star Altair at 1 degree Aquarius. It gives strength of will, courage and nobility.

     In total, she has 5 planets tightly conjunct important fixed stars, having half of her planets under this influence would naturally give her significant fame and honour.

Wealth

In the Vedic chart:

    Venus conjunct Sun on its own is favourable for wealth but is made more powerful because from the lagna, the 2nd house ruler Sun is conjunct the 11th house ruler Venus

     From the Chandra lagna, the 2nd house ruler Venus is conjunct the 5th house ruler Sun in the third house of performing arts, showing she would earn much wealth through her acting skills.

In the Western chart:

     The ruler of her second house Sun is tightly conjunct fixed star Betelgeuse giving success in earned income.

    She has many of the aspects found to be associated with great wealth. These include: Mercury-Mars, Venus-Saturn, Venus-Neptune, Jupiter-Uranus, Sun-Saturn, Mars-Saturn, Sun-Uranus, Sun-Pluto, Mercury-North Node

In Numerology:

Her core numbers are birthday 22/4, life path 6, expression 3, personality 6 and soul urge 6. In my study of Astronumerology and money, I found that numbers 3 and 6 were ranked 1st and 3rd place out of nine numbers for wealth creation.
 
Career

      Consistent with the trailblazing nature of her exact Sun-Uranus conjunction, her Master number 22 birthday (Uranus vibrates to 22) and the fact that Uranus is out of bounds, Meryl has more Academy Award or Golden Globe nominations than any other actor or actress in history. Uranus represents pioneers and “firsts” and it is both exactly quintile her MC and tightly semisextile her ascendant, the 2 most public points of her chart. She is one of a handful of people who have won 3 or more competitive (non- honorary) Academy Awards and she has won more competitive Golden Globes than any other person in history. She has won awards from several other institutions such as the BAFTAs, SAGs, Grammy Awards and the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award to name a few. Number 22 is referred to as the Master Builder, it takes the vision of the 22 and the practicality of the number 4 to create a tangible long lasting legacy. Number 22 reflects genius, innovation and global relevance, all of which she brings to the table. The Sun represents your individuality and essence and Uranus represents future oriented thinking and highly original thought and action, the trailblazer, the close conjunction of Sun-Uranus shows that Meryl naturally embodies Uranian traits as her essence.

      It is interesting to see the parallels between the films Meryl is most noted for and her chart. The film Kramer vs Kramer (1979) won Meryl her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In this movie, Meryl plays a woman who divorces her husband and subsequently there is a legal battle over custody of their son. In the Vedic chart and Western charts, Mars rules her 10th house of career and represents battles and fighting. Mercury-Mars is referred to as the lawyer’s aspect, Mercury-Mars is conjunct in Meryl’s rasi and dashamsha charts in Taurus and Gemini respectively in the Vedic system and Mercury-Mars is conjunct in Gemini in the Western system. The lawyer’s are fighting to win, unleashing character assassinations on the opposing side. In the Vedic chart, Jupiter the planet that rules legal processes is placed in her 7th house of marriage suggesting a legal process stemming from marriage, this could be divorce or custody battles. Similarly, in the Western chart, the ninth house’s traditional ruler Jupiter is conjunct the 7th house cusp by 2 degrees from the 6th house in Aquarius. Aquarius and its ruler Uranus are related to unexpected and sudden events. Uranus makes an exact quintile to her MC. In the movie, seemingly out of the blue, Meryl’s character Joanna announces to her husband after he gets home from work that she needs to find herself and that she is leaving him, he was not expecting this.

      The ruler of the 10th house in the Western and Vedic charts is Mars which represents war, violence and crime. Meryl acted in multiple productions regarding Mars governed themes such as war and crime including: A Cry in the Dark (1988), The Deer Hunter (1978), Plenty (1985), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Sophie’s Choice (1982), Mother Courage and her Children (2006), Holocaust (miniseries, 1978), and Lions for Lambs (2007). Sophie’s Choice won Meryl the Academy Award for Best Actress. Looking specifically at that movie, in the vedic chart, Mars is in Taurus, a sign ruled by Venus which represents love and romance. Sophie’s choice is a romantic drama about a Polish immigrant (Sophie) who lived through the war and survived the Auschwitz camp and her later tempestuous relationship with her schizophrenic lover who she shares a boarding house with. The relationship at times was abusive but it was passionate characteristic of Mars. Mars is conjunct Mercury both in the rasi and dashamsha (career chart), indicating a communication component (Mercury-Mars is powerful in Gemini in the lagna in the career chart). Indeed the film revolves around Sophie telling her memories about her experience in the Auschwitz camp to her roommate Stingo, including a very deep and painful secret. Rahu-Ketu run along the 4th-10th axis, they deal with drugs, alcohol, mental disorders and suicide. Her lover (Nathan) was self- medicating with drugs and at the end Sophie becomes depressed and alcoholic because of the burden of her painful secret. Nathan and Sophie tragically commit suicide at the end. The Western chart shows Moon in Taurus in the 10th house, this movie was very emotional in both range and depth and was heartbreaking for the audience as they are completely swept into Sophie’s painful memories. Generally, having the Moon in the 10th house helps one connect better on an emotional level to the public or in the case of actresses allows the audience a deeper emotional appreciation for their work. The depth and range of emotion is also enhanced by Pluto’s tight trine to the MC and the fact that Pluto is the planet closest to the ascendant. People may view her work as cathartic and transformative.

      In her movie Iron Lady (2011) for which she won her third Oscar, she portrayed British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her rise to power from lower middle class woman to Prime Minister. This was a male dominated world (Mars) through which she successfully navigated as a woman (Mars is in Taurus, a sign ruled by Venus which represents the feminine). Worth noting is that many prime ministers have a tight Mercury-Mars aspect denoting their quick thinking processes, assertiveness and sharp communication skills. Mercury and Mars are conjunct in both her rasi and dashamsha charts, the latter of which is emphasized as it is in Mercury’s ruled sign Gemini and in the first house. In her older years, Margaret struggled with dementia, Rahu-Ketu representing mental disorders runs across Meryl’s 4th-10th house axis. In the Western chart, Pluto the planet of power is in authoritarian Leo in her 1st house. Margaret was undoubtedly one of the most powerful and tough women in history, thus she earned her nickname, the Iron Lady. Her chart shape is a bucket with handle planet Jupiter. Jupiter represents law and politics. She became a barrister in 1953 and specialized in taxation. In Numerology, the expression of her stage name Meryl Streep equals 3, the number vibrating to Jupiter. Number 3 has a natural interest in law, politics and policy making. Three is also the number of creativity, enthusiasm and joy, giving an interest in artistic pursuits such as drama.

       Meryl is very well known for her romantic dramas. These include: The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Sophie’s Choice (1982), Out of Africa (1985), Falling in Love (1984), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Defending your Life (1991), It’s Complicated (2009), and Hope Springs (2012). In the Vedic chart 10th house ruler Mars is in Taurus, a sign ruled by Venus representing sensuality, love, romance, relationships and marriage. Mars is vargottama being in Taurus in the Navamsha, greatly strengthening her career and allowing her to perform very well in romantic dramas. In the Western chart, Venus makes an exact square to her MC indicating that romantic dramas centering around love and intimacy would play a major role in her career and that she would become well known for them. The Moon is exalted in Taurus in the 10th house showing that she could infuse these romantic roles with great depth and range of feeling and that she is able to really understand her character’s motivation and emotion on a profound level. In Numerology, 3/5 of her core numbers are 6, the number vibrating to Venus. Meryl has a 6 life path and the name Meryl Streep gives a personality number of 6 and soul urge number of 6. Love and romance is one of the most important areas of life for number 6 people, they take great pride in their intimate relationships. The emphasis on Venus, Taurus and number 6 also explain her interest in acting courses in school, she obtained a Master of Fine Arts in 1975 from Yale University.
 
Significant events

      For her work on Kramer vs Kramer released on December 19th 1979, she won Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes among several other nominations and wins from other institutions. The Golden Globe and Academy Awards were won between January and April 1980 when she was running Mars-Moon in the Vimshottari dasha system. In the rasi chart, Mars is the ruler of the 10th house of career and Moon is placed in Aries in the 10th house. In the Navamsha, Moon is in Libra, its dispositor is Venus and Venus is conjunct Mars. In the dashamsha, Moon is in Scorpio, its dispositor is Mars.

      For her work on Sophie’s Choice released December 8th 1982, she won Best Actress at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes and was nominated for the same at the BAFTAs. The Golden Globe and Academy Awards were given between January and April 1983 when she was running Rahu-Rahu. In the rasi chart, Rahu is in the 10th house of career. Worth noting is that Rahu is vargottama, being placed in Aries in the rasi, navamsha,  and dashamsha charts, adding a lot to its favourability for her worldly fame since that is what Rahu governs.

    For her work on the Iron Lady released on January 13th 2012 (North American release date), she won Best Actress at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and the BAFTA among several other nominations and wins from other institutions. These awards were won between January-February 2012 when she was running Jupiter-Mars. Additionally, Meryl won the Kennedy Center Honours to recognize her lifelong accomplishments in the performing arts on December 4th 2011 to recognize her lifelong accomplishments in the performing arts in Jupiter-Mars. In the rasi, Mars is the ruler of the 10th house of career, Mars in Taurus is trinally aspected by Jupiter in Capricorn. Mars mutually aspects Saturn (Jupiter’s dispositor) by their respective special forward and backward square aspects. In the dashamsha, Jupiter is in Scorpio, its dispositor is Mars.

​     In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded Meryl the National Medal of Arts, it is the highest honour given for achievement in the arts conferred to an individual artist by the people. The same year she was given an honorary Doctor of Arts by Harvard University.  In 2010, Meryl was running Jupiter-Moon, the two planets that comprise her powerful Gaja-Kesari yoga discussed earlier, this yoga brings fame and very high honours/ awards.
 
To give an example of the Western system’s timing, I will use December 4th 2011 the date she won the Kennedy Center Honours
 
Natal 10th house indicators
10th house cusp 18d Aries
10th house ruler Mars at 8d Gem
Mercury (dispositor of Mars) at 10d Gem
Moon at 14d Taurus in the 10th house
North Node at 22d Aries in the 10th house
 
Transits
Tr Pluto at 6d Cap quincunx Mars 2d
Tr Uranus at 0d Aries quintile Mars 2d
Tr Uranus semisquare Moon 1d
Tr Saturn at 26d Libra sesquiquadrate Mars 3d
Tr Saturn sesquiquadrate Mercury 1d
Tr Saturn oppose North Node 4d
Tr Mars at 10d Virgo biquintile 10th house cusp 2d
Tr Mars square Mars 2d
Tr Mars square Mercury exact
Tr Mars sesquiquadrate North Node 3d
Tr Venus at 10d Cap quincunx Mars 2d
Tr Venus quincunx Mercury exact
Tr Mercury at 11d Sag oppose Mars 3d
Tr Mercury oppose Mercury 1d
Tr Mercury quincunx Moon 3d
Tr Sun at 12d Sag oppose Mars 4d
Tr Sun oppose Mercury 2d
Tr Sun quincunx Moon 2d
Tr North Node at 14d Sag oppose Mercury 4d
Tr North Node quincunx Moon exact
 
In total there are 20 tight aspects, including 3 that are exact which would fit the profile of a significant positive event to her career.
 
       In Numerology, Meryl was in a personal year 5 which brings a great diversity of experience, change, excitement, opportunities and a lot of travel.  For age 62, she was in an essence number 22/4, this is very significant as it is her birthday number and when your birthday and essence number for the year are the same, the year tends to bring memorable events and accolades. Interestingly, this award was presented on the 4th as well. December 2011 was a personal month of 8, this energy can bring rewards and recognition for work or advancement in career. Her personal day for December 4th 2011 was 3. Three is the number of creativity and the performing arts. Thus looking at all these influences together, it is very fitting that she won the Kennedy Center Honours for her achievement in the performing arts on December 4th 2011.

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