Hortense de Beauharnais and I both happen to be artist/writers with a fixation on vindicating Napoleon. The similarities, by no means, end there. Yesterday, I posted that we both have our Mercury (communication) in our 7th house of partnership in deep spiritual constellations. Pisces (near Aries) in Hortense’s case, Scorpio (Napoleon’s Ascendant) in mine.
Hortense’s chart is above. Mine is below. Since we’re both all about anything cultural, Venus would tell us something, if Astrology is real. It turns out my Venus is in the 9th house right by the 8th house and Hortense’s Venus is in the 8th house, right by the 9th house. What does this mean?
The 8th house is associated with Scorpio, Pluto and Mars. It is a place of deep passion, investigating truth, death and transformation. Having Venus there would color an artist’s work into something challenging to others.
The 9th house is connected to Sagittarius and Jupiter. Jupiter is expansive and lucky. The 9th house is about foreign travel, high ideology, generosity. An artist with this placement could be a teacher who has traveled outwardly and inwardly.
Another thing that I realized is that the ruler of the 9th house, Jupiter is also placed in the same constellation in both our charts.
Mine is at the top of my chart in Aquarius. Aquarius is a quirky energy, which can be very upsetting but it’s focused on serving others with a pure integrity. My Jupiter is near Capricorn (Saturn) which would give this expansive quality some discipline. It turns out Hortense has Jupiter in almost the same place. Her Jupiter is on the Aquarius/ Capricorn cusp. In her case, it’s aligned with Pluto and Mars which would associate her in a big way with war and transformation.
Hortense’s Venus is trine her Ascendant so she would present herself to the world as a gracious cultured being. Napoleon often remarked how aimable she was and how well she “did the honors”. She was his “event planner” or hostess. Hortense’s Venus is in Taurus which only underscores that she would be amazing as a hostess. She also could have been called Napoleon’s publicist.
My Venus, similar to Hortense, happens to be trine my Ascendant. Like Hortense, my Venus is making aspects with Mars and Pluto which could connect my art with war and transformation.
Hortense’s Venus is part of a grand trine. This is a lucky flowing of energy connecting Hortense’s Ascendant, Venus and Jupiter Mars Pluto. Maybe it’s not so lucky with Mars and Pluto there, those two are highly disruptive. We see this influence in Hortense’s life. She was afflicted all too often by the death of her favorite people. She was also plagued by the horrors and upheaval attendant with war.
The Astrology Series so far is available here.
The Memoirs of Queen Hortense are available here.