in light of the intense astrology right now with juno, the asteroid goddess of partnership and marriage- i found the latest news about gwyneth paltrow and her husband chris martin splitting up after 10 years of marriage very apt. juno is currently in the midst of intense activation with the jupiter/uranus/pluto T-square, bringing breakdowns or breakthroughs in relationships, commitments and contractual arrangements of all kinds. they made the public announcement on gwyneth’s website (goop) yesterday- when the URANUS/JUNO conjunction was exact (and interestingly shortly thereafter her site got overloaded and crashed).
i have to say i love and respect that they are calling this ‘conscious uncoupling’. everyone talks about conscious relationship and conscious marriage- but very rarely do people talk about how to consciously break up or exit an existing long standing relationship. when i was at grad school at pacifica i read a woman’s dissertation (cannot remember her name) on ‘conscious exits’ and it was all about how to navigate the ending of a relationship with consciousness, respect and Love- rather than the typical hate, anger, pain, suffering and sadness. i am sure some of those intense emotions are also there for gwyneth and chris- but it seems they are doing their best to rise above and really work through this underworld material in as conscious a way as they can. good on them! we need more role models on how to end relationships gracefully.
i decided to peak at both their charts to get a sense of the astrology playing out for them. i knew that the juno/jupiter/uranus/pluto configuration had to aspect one or both of their charts considering the timing of the public statement. but it was also interesting to see that they both have a lot of neptune and chiron transits to the important angles of their charts. she has transiting neptune approaching conjunction with her ascendant- which is all about dissolving who you are and how you relate to others and the world around you. she has also had transiting neptune quincunx her sun in the 7th house- so there is a dissolution around her identification with relationship that has been occuring in the last year and a half. she also has transiting chiron squaring her midheaven and the IC (the pinnacle and the foundation of the chart)- bringing endings and shifts in career or home/family situations. as for chris, he has transiting chiron opposite his ascendant and conjunct his descendant (as well as conjunct his sun!) which is all about bringing more awareness to wounds and pain that play out in relationships- but also around his own personal identity and how that can get wrapped up in relationships with others so that he loses sight of himself. he also has transiting neptune squaring his MC/IC- dissolving his career or home/family situation and bringing in a sea change. it is fascinating that they both are going through transits of neptune and chiron to the angles of their charts and their respective suns! i would say they are both going through HUGE inner and outer shifts and it’s almost like their paths and identities are dissolving before them and reforming in a new direction (as yet to be undetermined- as this will not fully solidify until the neptune/chiron transits are over in 2016ish). i guess they got clarity that where they are headed is not in the same direction. good for them for figuring that out and not dragging their kids through an intense divorce battle that only causes trauma and pain for all involved.
for more info on what is playing in both of their charts individually, as well as in the relationship chart- read below…
(T stands for transiting)
GWYNETH: T neptune approaching conjunction to her pisces ascendant (i just went through that and it’s all about dissolving who you are and how you relate to others and the world around you) and the last year and a half or so she has had T neptune quincunx her sun in her 7th house of relationship- dissolving her identification with relationship and the tendency to lose sight of herself by overfocusing on others. she also has the uranus/pluto square activating her mercury in libra in the relationship house- so the juno/uranus.pluto activation right now has been triggering that. libra is the sign of partnership and uranus/pluto activating mercury in libra is a huge indicator of breakups. she also has T chiron approaching a square to her midheaven which shows major endings/shifts in structure/fabric of one’s life (career and/or home/family). all last year T chiron was square her moon- so her mention of working hard on her relationship for the last year fits the wounded healer activating the most personal, interior placement in the chart. T saturn is squaring her venus- another classic separation transit. and last but not least retrograde mars has been going back and forth over her 7th house/relationship planets and so likely he has been the trigger for the build up of energy that has been playing out in the last year. sending blessings to her and to chris! (will look at his chart next)
CHRIS: T chiron has been transiting on his sun and opposite his ascendant- so the wounded healer is in his house of relationship bringing Light to what is not working and likely bringing up a lot of old wounds and pain from childhood to be dealt with. he has the uranus/pluto square activating his pluto bringing major deep changes and also deep emotions to light- so the juno configuration today is also triggering his chart. he has T neptune approaching a square to his MC/IC which is about a sea change in his work and life purpose- but also home/family since the IC is included. and T saturn is approaching opposition of his jupiter- critical decisions needing to be made- and later in the fall T saturn will cojoin juno. maybe that is when the divorce will be finalized? i know divorces can take a long time but if they can both keep up with the conscious separation it seems that they could get things finalized much quicker?
last but not least in their relationship chart they have sagittarius rising with ruling planet of the relationship being jupiter in pisces on the IC. that shows growth and expansion and loveliness around home/family. yet T chiron is conjunct the jupiter/IC and has been back and forth on it in the last year. definitely a potential break up signature. they have also had T chiron triggering their mars/NN/neptune/ASC conjunction with all of those planets in the 12th house- so deep stuff has been up in the last couple of years and a sense of wounding and dissolution around the jupiterian/sagittarius happy go lucky image of the relationship has been the result.
i wish them both grace and ease as they navigate this portal together. and i thank them for being an example of conscious uncoupling. i know the road won’t be easy- but they are providing an archetypal expression of conscious separation for the world to see and hopefully embody.
blessings…
~divine harmony