from time to time i notice celebrity news and it prompts me to look at the charts of the people involved. one of the best ways to learn astrology is to study celeb charts (as well as personal family and friend’s charts) as they are people in the public eye and often their birth information is publicly available. they also have their life events broadcasted so you can compare transits to whatever is going on in their lives publicly and start to see how things work in practice (versus just understanding them in theory). of course you have to take celeb news with a grain of salt as what you read is often what these celebs are willing to say or put out there, or alternatively it’s gossip and it’s taken out of context. yet with someone like jennifer garner with so much neptune/pisces/12th house energy in her chart- i would venture it’s safe to say she is pretty open about her journey right now (as her recent vanity fair article about her divorce can attest to). when i read about her separation last june i peeked at the charts and now that her article has come out and she has made her way through some very intense progressions and transits- i decided to write a blog about her journey and its alignment with her astrology. i write this blog as though i am actually her friend or astrologer consulting her- as i am not interested in writing a blog to gossip about her but to actually comment on some useful, helpful, healing things that would actually be beneficial for her if she read this article (also be beneficial for anyone out there who can resonate with her position).
first of all whenever i do a relationship reading i look at both people’s charts individually for relationship significators. each person in a relationship shows up with their own baggage, karma, childhood and past life experiences- and they bring this to the table of the relationship. in jennifer’s chart she has venus and mars- the Divine Lovers- conjunct and in the 12th house- a very idealistic, romantic placement. the mystical, spiritual, compassionate and forgiving energy is HIGH with this placement- but so is the tendency to wear rose colored glasses, spiritually bypass anger or self-preservation tendencies and instead sacrifice the self and rise above seemingly-baser emotions (which can later lead to intense resentment). this is a placement where there are lessons about seeing reality in relationship- not just the potential and positivity in another. when people have strong pisces/neptune/12th house placements they are really good at seeing to the heart of someone- but they will also avoid looking at the red flags and shadow tendencies that are glaringly obvious to other people. the potential they are seeing in others is real- yet that potential may not be realized for 10 more years or 10 more lifetimes and they need to take the rose colored glasses off to see reality as it is- not as it was in a past life or could be in the future in some unknown amount of time.
this is compounded by the fact that jen has saturn in her 12th house (the neptune house) opposite neptune- polarizing dreams with reality, ideals with what IS. there is a tendency to default to one of these in the opposition and because saturn is hidden the neptune can be overdone- which lends itself to idealizing, fantasizing, looking for perfection, wearing rose colored glasses, deluding the self, being in denial and playing the victim or the martyr in relationships. collectively we are in a saturn/neptune square- so the lessons playing out in the world right now tie in with her personal chart which can amplify and exacerbate the intensity of what has been going on for her in the last year.
another thing to look at when looking at relationship indicators in her chart is the fact that juno- the asteroid Goddess of partnership and marriage- is in idealistic libra and is conjunct pluto, opposite mercury and chiron and square to jupiter. this configuration points to major evolutionary experiences coming through relationship but often by way of wounds, pain, getting in touched with repressed anger and grief, and having these evolutionary leaps occur in unexpected, unforeseen ways. because chiron is in aries- a big part of her healing path is to get in touch with her own needs, assertiveness, anger, rage and need to set boundaries and take a stand. so a soulmate relationship will come in and trigger this for her- and it’s very clear that her relationship with ben was and is just that.
the transits she has been going through since separation have been heavy- but the relationship intensity has been going on for years. pluto opposed her ascendant and entered her house of relationship in 2010 and actually before that in 2008 she had pluto square pluto. pluto square pluto is generational and often brings up against some of biggest stuff psychologically speaking. i would not be surprised if she and ben started therapy during this time (between 2008 and 2010). i would imagine she was asking for therapy for a while when the issues really began but it took a while to get ben on board (leo is not a sign that is known for wanting to dig into the shadows of the psyche- as it is a sign that likes to live in and shine out it’s Light). so it’s possible they did not really start therapy until 2010- but she wanted to much earlier than that.
essentially from 2008 to 2013 jen’s chart was undergoing A LOT of pluto transits- which brings up big shadow dynamics to face and deal with- but also the potential for profound transformation! in addition uranus triggered all of the same placements from 2010-2013 so i think these were the most intense years where things really started getting activated. i personally do not judge the success of a relationship on how long it lasts but instead on how much both parties have grown. based on the looks of jen’s transits the last 10 years- i would say she experienced the transformation of a lifetime in this partnership. and the best thing she can do is take these lessons and really learn them- FOR GOOD- so that she does not repeat the same experiences going forward.
looking at ben’s chart is interesting- they have similar charts as they are both cancer rising with pisces on the midheaven. they are born only months apart- the same year 1972- so they have some similar placements and transits but also somethings that are very different. jen has four planets (moon, gens, mars and saturn) in the 12th house- which is like having many planets in pisces pisces. the 12th house is a very spiritual, immaterial house and is known as the house of dissolution of the ego self. with her personal planets in the house of dissolution of the ego she has lessons around boundaries, sense of self and knowing the difference between self and other (pisces/12th house likes to merge). ben on the other hand has his sun in the sign of the sun- royal, fiery leo. he embodies an energy she is seeking for herself- strong sense of self, self confidence and an ability to really shine. she mentioned in her vanity fair article that ben’s light warms the whole room- that is leo in a nutshell! yet the thing she may not realize is that her light is the same- but because of all her 12th house planets she cannot see it in herself and she instead projects it out/sees it in ben. part of her healing journey is to really own and embody this light within herself. she is that radiance she sees in ben and when she fully anchors this into her embodied experience (for herself- not as an actress as she clearly has it as an actress) it will radically and positively change her entire life.
ben has sun conjunct mars which shows a feisty relationship with father. i read online his dad was a bookie and bartender and actor and he was also an alcoholic. when ben was 16 his dad went to rehab and cleaned up his life and became a counselor- but the first 16 years of his life his father figure was an addict and gambler (two things he seems to have embodied for himself as well). ben has mars square neptune which is a major red flag in a chart. there are positive manifestations of this aspect- being a spiritual warrior and channeling creativity into artistic expression. yet the shadow of this aspect is intense- the masculine can have a hard time with boundaries, integrity, honesty and limitations. this is an aspect of addiction and brings deep lessons regarding integrity and it’s a really hard one to master.
ben has some lovely moon energy- moon in scorpio trine his venus and ascendant in cancer- showing a deep, emotional connection with his mother. he likely was looking for a mother figure when he met jen (Unconscious to him) and she was the perfect projection! yet in depth psychology we have to take back our projections and live the aspects of ourselves we project onto others in order to attain wholeness. ben needs to learn to be nurturing, care taking, sensitive and emotionally available- while jen needs to learn to have healthy boundaries, see reality, say no, express anger and take a stand.
the other thing that shows what ben would search for in relationship is saturn ruling his house of relationship showing up in his 12th house of the Unconscious. both jen and ben have this- which would create the tendency to look for a saturn/capricorn like partner- someone who can be organized, hard working, disciplined, set routines for the kids, balance the check book, etc… it is likely that jen took on this role- because generally speaking a woman and particularly a mother will do what needs to be done even if it’s not her first choice. over the years resentment can set in when jen is playing the saturn role in the relationship and ben gets to have fun (but also be irresponsible), play, gamble, party and be free. the sad thing is resentment can toxify the foundation of a relationship- and it’s not just jen’s fault and it’s not just ben’s fault- it’s both of their responsibility (which jen so eloquently says in the vanity fair article). yet the lessons they each have in this is different. ben’s lesson is to be responsible, set limits, discipline himself and master his addictions. where as jen’s lessons are to see reality and walk away in Love, rather than stay and try to change someone.
when they announced their separation jen was right smack in the middle of her progressed sun approaching conjunction of her progressed saturn- a heavy transit that is all about waking up to reality and can also bring on depression. she also had progressed moon in reality-focused capricorn in her relationship house squaring wounded healer chiron (another progression that can get one in touch with deep emotions and bring depression). suffice it to say that after they announced their divorce on june 30th 2015- the months that followed were heavy ones for jen (she said the last year was a year of wine). she actually just came out of that intense period now that her sun is past saturn and moon is past chiron. she likely experiences this as a relief- as though a heavy weight on her chest has lifted in some respects.
based on jen’s chart i think the lesson in all of this for her personally is to see the red flags from the beginning. doing deep inner work on codependency and where enabling, spiritually bypassing, not expressing anger and not taking a stand were a big part of her lessons in this journey will help her big time. she still has some potent energies playing out- chiron squaring her moon for example- but she has some amazing things as well- like the jupiter/north node conjunction on her IC (interestingly ben has this too). they both have an opportunity to set a better foundation in their lives where they are more discriminating and discerning of themselves and of others. this is also a great transit to get healthy and start focusing on INNER wholeness and healing rather than seeking that wholeness and healing outside of themselves (in the form of another partner, drugs, alcohol, etc…). yet it’s up to both of them to do the work. the tendency to project it all on the other and make it about them will be a disservice to either of them (which i don’t get from jen but i am not so sure about ben)- as would be the tendency to run out and look for the next person they can date to fill in the lonely spaces. when they can take all the projections back- the good and the bad- and really learn from them- then they can move on and be done with this very karmic chapter in their lives. when we fully learn the lessons our soul has for us we can dramatically catapult into a whole new level of evolution on our path. and this is the potential they both have!
note to jen and anyone else who resonates with her journey: you are clearly seeing your piece in it all but make sure you see his piece clearly too. part of your work is to see reality as it is and call a spade a spade- but to do so from an open heart with healthy boundaries (and i think you have the open heart part down- you just need to work on the healthy boundaries). another part of your journey is to get in touch with your anger and healthy sense of self preservation. i highly recommend reading the books ‘transformation through intimacy’ and ‘spiritual bypassing’ by robert august masters. great books that dive even more deeply into what i reference above.
blessings on both of their paths…
~divine harmony
p.s. i did not write about a lot of things i saw in the charts or this article would have been way too long. but this gives you a sense of what a relationship reading is like- if you are interested in getting one feel free to reach out!
p.s.s. i forgot to mention a very important progression in jen’s chart that should have been included in the original article: jen’s venus stationed retrograde in her progressed chart on october 6th 2011- likely a very important date and time in the intense journey she has been through in her marriage. in addition venus has been retrograding back over her ascendant in the last year- bringing focus to what is not working in relationships as well as (and more importantly) focus to issues of self-Love, self-worth and self-care. progressed retrograde venus on her ascendant has been a call to take care of herself first and foremost. a huge transit- and venus will only station retrograde in her progressed chart and cojoin her ascendant once in her lifetime- so it’s definitely a huge factor in what is going on with her right now.