Harvey Weinstein in the News

       American film producer Harvey Weinstein has been in the news the last couple of days for making unwanted sexual advances on several women, many of them high profile actresses such as Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow. These weren't all recent but the actresses recalled their early days in film when these incidents occurred. The usual pattern for him was to lure young women into his hotel room under the pretense of a business meeting, appear in a hotel robe, ask for a massage and then proceed to initiate or request sexual acts. He told them not to tell anyone and suggested that if they complained or took legal action he would ruin their careers. They feared being dropped from projects and having a harder time getting future projects both with him and with other producers because he was so well-connected. Some of them entertained his advances because they didn't feel like they had a choice. He had helped launch and further several careers, and women won Oscars for appearing in his movies. He  told women that if they gave into his sexual advances, he could progress their careers. Other women like Mira Sorvino and Rosanna Arquette declined and felt that their careers suffered as a result.

     He was a rich and powerful man, and used his resources to its fullest advantage. He had his legal team pay them off, sign non disclosure agreements, and even sign statements agreeing that what they alleged never happened. He deliberately hurt people who went against him. The New Yorker article describes an account of a former employee who had knowledge of two settlements, "It felt like David versus Goliath...the guy with all the money and the power flexing his muscle and quashing the allegations and getting rid of them." 

​     It has been decades that Harvey has been repeating this behaviour, and it has been somewhat of an open secret in Hollywood. I wondered why these allegations were all coming to light now so I checked what was going on in the stars to get some insight into the inevitable unfolding of his karma.

​

---

         This past July, I wrote a post regarding the effects of sade sati, the 7 and a half year transit of Saturn over the natal Moon and the houses adjacent to it. This is a difficult period for the vast majority of people, but specific effects occur according to one's Moon sign and their overall chart which modifies the experiences. Please check that post for further detail to assess the auspiciousness of each subsection of sade sati. Harvey has a Sagittarian moon in the Vedic system and Saturn will move into Sagittarius on October 26th which means that the most intense phase of his difficulties will be beginning soon. When Saturn is exactly on one's Moon, feelings of depression, pessimism, anxiety, trouble, and lack of motivation can dominate the mind. 

​      A couple of weeks before Saturn actually shifts signs, we can start to feel the effects of the house it is moving into, thus these allegations are surfacing. Moreover on October 26th, the transiting Moon that day is Sagittarius so the effects of Panoti yoga are bad for people with a natal Moon in Sagittarius from October 26th 2017 to January 25th 2020.

​      Transiting Jupiter in Libra is making a tight trine to his Venus-Rahu conjunction. This conjunction played a significant part in his downfall because Rahu is insatiable anywhere it is placed in the chart, always craving more. If it is conjunct a planet, especially tightly conjunct a planet like in his case, it makes the person feel like they can never get enough of what that planet represents. Symbolically Venus represents women, and Harvey was constantly craving young, beautiful women and sexual relations with them. He had immense power so was able to intimidate them into keeping it secret for so long, but when the transiting planets activate your natal karma, you will have to face the music. 

​      Looking at the transits in the Western system for October 10th 2017 when the news was starting to break out these stories, we can see that his natal Sun is under a lot of stressful transits such as a wide applying square from Saturn in Sagittarius, a tight applying opposition from Venus in Virgo and a wide applying opposition from Mars in Virgo. The Sun represents one's individuality and ego, the essence of who you are. His core sense of self is coming under attack. Stressful transits are made more challenging for Harvey as his Sun is conjunct malefic fixed star scheat which symbolizes humiliation and catastrophes. When these squares and oppositions come, it brings about the negative karma of scheat.

​      Pluto is retrograding back to a conjunction with his Moon intensifying feelings of resentment towards these women (symbolized by the Moon) for coming out at the same time and running his reputation. Pluto in conjunction with the Moon can make emotions volatile, explosive and even aggressive.

     Transiting Sun and Mercury are making tight oppositions to his natal Mercury; his ability to communicate his true thoughts and feelings is being stifled for public relations purposes. The transiting Sun and Mercury are also tightly opposing his natal Jupiter; Jupiter represents ethics and morals, and the media is shining a spotlight on his ethical transgressions and abuses of power. It didn't help matters that the transiting North Node is tightly conjunct his natal Pluto, which is spotlighting the way he used his power and influence to intimidate people thinking that his secret would forever be kept a secret.
    
      His natal Mars in Scorpio and Pluto in Leo are in a tight square and this aspect tends to make people either sexual predators or sexual victims. If a predator, it gives  ability to intimidate people, so much so that they feel like giving up. The sexual drive and repressed aggression are primal and tremendously strong. There is a charisma that even without using physical force, the person's presence and voice is enough to really scare others. For example, Emma de Caunes recalls her memory of Harvey in the hotel with his bathrobe on, demanding that she lie on the bed, "I was very petrified. But I didn't want to show him that I was petrified, because I could feel that the more I was freaking out, the more he was excited. It was like a hunter with a wild animal." She continued that everybody in Hollywood knew he was doing this, many people see it, and are directly or indirectly involved but they are too scared to say anything. With Pluto being activated your deepest secrets, buried transgressions and mishandling of the power allocated to you have a way of coming out.