While looking at this chart, I kept seeing the pattern of the combined energies of the Sun, Mars and Pluto which are a very potent but potentially painful combination.
Hortense’s Sun is found in Aries (Mars), in the 8th house which is the domicile of Pluto and Mars.
Hortense’s Mars is conjunct Pluto and Jupiter (expansion) in the house of Leo, which is ruled by the Sun (fame, royalty). To see these energies - the Sun, Pluto and Mars - represented twice really would underscore that Hortense was famous and royal in regard to war and transformative upheaval. This was very much the case. Hortense was viewed as Napoleon’s (sun sign Leo) Valkyrie. It was for this reason, I adopted the Valkyrie as the logo of this project.
Astrology doubly reflects what she was famous for - Sun, Mars, Pluto - she was a famous maiden of death and war. Mars and Pluto are fire and ice. Fire and ice are what destroyed Napoleon’s army in Russia. There’s no winning when one is up against those two.
The Jupiter Mars Pluto stellium also forms part of a t square.
This is a tense configuration of planets. At the top, we see the Sun in Aries (Mars) in the 8th house. That’s the Sun, Mars and Pluto - a combination that I’d associate with Napoleon as well as Hortense - glorious, warlike and dangerous.
At one end of the t square, we have the Moon on two cusps. Leo (Sun) Cancer (Moon) and the 10th (fame) 11th (service). Hortense was all about deep feeling and these associations show her fame and passion for community service. Since it’s configured in a t square all would be a struggle - which it certainly was.
The Moon is opposite this Jupiter Mars Pluto stellium. That says to me big feelings about death and war. These energies played out it many ways in what was a volatile life. My point is to show that these are archetypal energies and it requires connection to Intuition to interpret them - for oneself.
I have read and I believe it that the resolution to a t square - by that I mean a commensurate strength - is found opposite the top of a t square. In this case, we find Libra Scorpio in the 2nd house associated with Venus, art and wealth. Hortense was a revealer of deep truth (Scorpio) and she was an artist of wealth (Venus, 2nd house) so even this makes sense.
Hortense’s Mars is trine Neptune. This could account for her spiritual and kind ways infused with an intense Mars energy.
Her Mars Jupiter Pluto stellium is sextile (harmonic) with Mercury (communications) in Pisces (spirit) in her 7th house of partnership. She was frequently creating media about Napoleon.
People say Napoleon was a propagandist to knock him but if his propaganda was true and great art, I don’t see what there is to knock about that. A lot of that work came from and via Hortense.
The Astrology Series so far is available here.