By Amy Elliott
On July 30 a new play, The Trial of Jane Fonda, debuted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (running through Aug. 24). The play focuses on an event in 1988 when the actress and anti-war activist confronted a group of Vietnam veterans who were protesting at the filming location of her movie Stanley & Iris; it begins with footage of her effigy being burned, and soldiers calling her a traitor, before she is allowed to defend herself.
The play’s stated aim is to “set the record straight”; given that Fonda’s name is still mud with many veterans, this may be a much-needed retelling.
Fonda was born Lady Jayne Seymour Fonda, the child of actor Henry Fonda, on the morning of Dec. 21, 1937. Her Sun falls late in Sagittarius; her Moon is in suitably dramatic Leo, and she has a Capricorn ascendant with a Scorpio midheaven.
She tragically lost her mother to suicide when she was only twelve. By fifteen she was teaching dance; she then took on a successful career in modelling before following her father onto the stage in 1954.
Fonda’s film work commenced in 1960; the comedy Cat Ballou in 1965 turned out to be her star vehicle. An Academy Award winner (best actress for Klute in 1972), her film career was consistent until 1990, and she has continued since to appear in occasional roles in movies and television.
The controversy surrounding Fonda’s activities during the Vietnam war has been perpetuated to the present day; this has reportedly resulted in a number of hate websites dedicated to her, and a page on Snopes attempting, like The Trial, to debunk the myths surrounding her time in North Vietnam, especially around her meeting with American prisoners of war.
Jane herself has published a rebuttal on her website; here she discusses the now infamous photo of her sitting on an anti-aircraft gun:
The gun was inactive, there were no planes overhead, I simply wasn’t thinking about what I was doing, only about what I was feeling, innocent of what the photo implies. But the photo exists, delivering its message regardless of what I was doing or feeling. I carry this heavy in my heart. I have apologized numerous times for any pain I may have caused servicemen and their families because of this photograph. It was never my intention to cause harm. It is certainly painful for me that I, who had spent so much time talking to soldiers, trying to help soldiers and veterans, helping the anti-war movement to not blame the soldiers, now would be seen as being against our soldiers!
Jane’s Sun is in the last degree of Sagittarius opposite Chiron in Gemini (see chart below). Although out-of-sign, it still counts as an Aries Point configuration, probably denoting self-expression through deep personal wounds and their healing.
Jupiter, ruler of her Sun, is closely rising. Her detractors perhaps view her light-touch self-presentation as a sign of shallowness or ignorance, but hers is a Capricorn ascendant. Underscoring the depth that suggests, her Jupiter in the first degree of Aquarius is in strong opposition to Pluto, which is setting in late Cancer. Pluto is also co-ruler of her Scorpio midheaven.
This is almost certainly the chart of a deep thinker and emotionally powerful individual, who believes wholeheartedly in the egalitarian causes to which she is aligned.
It could be argued that the positions of several planets evoke the controversy by which Jane’s life has been dogged. Five significant planets lie in the last two degrees of their respective signs, as does her ascendant. This not only suggests a personal story with two sharply different sides, but a mission — which only a passionate and determined character could carry out — to bring the world into a new stage of awareness; if necessary, kicking and screaming.
Thanks for capturing a very interesting figure from the perspective of an astrologer Amy, one which I otherwise might never have been curious enough to do on my own. I’m particularly interested in 2 things; Jane was in the process of her Chiron return in 1988, and those late degree planets add up to a yod which becomes a boomerang. Pluto at the apex of the yod opposes her Jupiter at 0 Aquarius creating that boomerang and 0 Aquarius is where the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of December 2020 will take place.
Jane’s Sun sextile Mars (+Ceres) does symbolize the energy she was well-known for, and a very conscious personal expression of Mars and Sun would describe a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later kind of personality. It would be their quincunx connections to natal Pluto, a very unconscious kind of energy, that would drag her into the unwelcome limelight as a symbol of her generation’s last gasp; the last degree of Pluto in Cancer on the cusp of the 7th house (the “other”). Add to that her Neptune conjunct the U.S. Sibly Neptune square the U.S. Sibly Mars and, well, what can I say?
In addition to all that, her Chiron opposite her Sun (T-square Saturn) had a polarizing effect on people, especially at the time of her Chiron return in 1987-88. As well, transiting Uranus was conjunct her natal Sun! No wonder she became a symbol for a big part of our society to focus their anger on. Yet, having so strong a personality and a natal Jupiter and Saturn in sextile (which will be focused on at the time of the new Jupiter-Saturn cycle in 6 1/2 years), who knows, she could rebound as a popular figure in her super-senior years. A hero even!
The transiting south node in Aries (release) has recently passed over her natal Nessus indicating her deep desire to end the decades of abuse and misunderstanding she’s carried and the recent transit of Jupiter over her natal Pluto would thus explain the timing of this new play. I hope you will explore another famous personality with us again soon.
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@Amy E: did learn about the Aries point here at planet waves — personal is political — and with some google fu i’ve found some articles about how it provides a doorway into the public. that’s proven true with my sun in sadge/merc in cap 5th house dissociation allowing me to contribute innovative solutions for public/corporate organizations and the chiron/neptune dissociation across my 2nd/3rd houses pushing for focused communication outputs in public (not personal creative) media. feeling out-of-step is a constant for me but have also found that that is also what leads to focused innovative insights. ^_^ thing is, these sparks come and go. have not, so far, been able to summon them at will.
@judith: periodic reinvention is also my theme (every 7 years, more or less. uranus cycle?) but this time with pluto in leo conjunct AC in a kite with venus in aquarius, the trine involving uranus and the chiron/neptune dissociation (which is part of a stellum that includes jupiter in virgo and lilith in libra). my “own worst enemy” is sun/merc opposing saturn in cancer in the 12th. north node also in the 12th.
cheers to both of you!
Really interesting, Amy — thanks. This bit got my attention: “Her Sun falls late in Sagittarius; her Moon is in suitably dramatic Leo, and she has a Capricorn ascendant with a Scorpio midheaven.” The very same can be said for me, except my Sun is early Sag. (And Lady Jayne certainly describes Fonda’s innate elegance, which no one has accused me of lately!)
Thing is, that positioning speaks to a mutual aspect I rarely hear anything about: she and I have intercepted houses. Although mine are a bit wider, we both have Cappy on two house cusps and Cancer on two, intercepting all of Leo in the 7th and all of Aquarius in the first and creating those two houses as FULL to brimming, containing the energy of three signs each. In the first house this creates a more complex persona, one able to reinvent themselves as they move through time, as Fonda so obviously, and successfully, has. In the 7th, that allows for a number of persona’s as well, in relating to mates, and she has both attracted, and approached, that very differently each time. Ditto for me.
My first astrology teacher WAAAAAAY back told me that having Cap on both the 12th and the 1st made me “my own worst enemy.” Perhaps that’s how Fonda would see that business with the Cong, even as she meant very well. I’d like to think she would be forgiven for her ‘Hanoi Jane’ days, but … knowing the old boys she offended so well … I think they’ll likely have to ‘recycle’ an incarnation or two before they can change their minds.
Hi ZenMaven!
I suspect Eric will have a good deal more wisdom to expound on this, and the topic of dissociate aspects is probably worth an article all by itself, but my view is that they are a gift, although sometimes the tension can seem almost unbearable: they allow you access into two (or more) disparate worlds, and all the information contained therein. The usual imbalance contained in more ordinary connections is transcended somewhat, though this can lead occasionally to feeling out of step.
If I can find any resources that explain this phenomenon at length, I will link to them either in the main post (if permitted) or the comments.
Very best wishes
Amy
oopsie, should have be “conjunction with neptune.”
i have my sun in almost the same spot 29 Sadge 31 so the out-of-sign aries point configuration intrigues me. my natal sun is also in a (dissociate?) conjunction with mercury, opposite saturn in cancer, and in a t square with chiron in a (dissociate?) conjunction with nepune. could you please say more on this? or point me to some online resources so i could learn more?
thanks in advance for any help. cheers!