NeptuneCafe presents
Pallas Profiles
Pallas in action: how Pallas works in the real world, illustrated with a celebrity profile for each sign. When Pallas is activated, major insights are possible. What's Pallas doing in your chart?
Pallas in Taurus shows a keen awareness of the physical world, and may imply a talent in handling money, the visual arts, beauty, music, and gardening. Under stressful aspects, the physical senses may be blocked in some way, judgment is thrown off, and bad choices made in practical affairs. Favorable aspects bestow commons sense and a highly sensual nature.
Amelia Earhart (July 24, 1897; 11:30 pm; Atchison, KS) presents the archetypal Pallas figure since it's placed right on her Taurus Ascendant where it squares her Leo Sun. Pallas also opposes Chiron in the seventh house, which describes her complex relationship with her partner George Putnam. Mars is exceptionally dynamically placed, and her prominent
Here's six famous Pallas personalites, as excerpted from Dell Horoscope magazine: John Denver, Amelia Earhart, William F. Buckley, Barbara Stanwyck, Julia Child,
Art Bell (Aries thru Libra).
Pallas allowed her to personify this courageous side of her psyche.
Earhart reflects the androgynous nature of Pallas. She was selected by Putnam and others to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as much for her innate ability as her uncanny resemblance to Charles Lindbergh. She undertook and completed the perilous journey June 17-19, 1928 as transiting Mars and Jupiter were conjunct her Pallas-Ascendant.
With Pallas in Taurus as her muse, Earhart turned her flying exploits into cash. Putnam published her book, while she endorsed Lucky Strike cigarettes, women's clothes and sportswear, and embarked on a highly profitable lecture tour. Earhart became the stuff of legend when she disappeared on July 2, 1937 during her flight around the world. At the time, her progressed Pallas was standing retrograde while only 0º12' from opposing Chiron.
Pallas in Gemini uses the spoken and written word to express creative ideas and visions. This position favors debating, writing, and public speaking. Under stressful aspects, the mind can become argumentative, narrow-minded, or confused; over-emphasis of facts loses the heart's perspective. Under softer or favorable aspects, poetic phrases, story-telling and a love of knowledge are often evident.
which he applied to his spy novels.
Pallas is under significant stress here, which pushed Buckley to use his knowledge and erudite phrasing as a political foil. The opposition to Mercury is readily seen as a verbal sparring with his guests in the PBS show Firing Line, while the square to Uranus often produced spontaneous, witty remarks. Uranus is in faith-oriented Pisces and rules his ninth house of religion, perhaps explaining why Buckley often felt a need to defend his Catholicism.
Buckley's conservative political views were absorbed whole-heartedly by Ronald Reagan, a keen student of the National Review. Buckley promoted Reagan's election in 1980 and wrote the blueprint for his legislative agenda, including supply-side economics and the Strategic Defense Initiative. Buckley's Pallas was retrograde at birth, but by the time Reagan was elected, it was turning direct by secondary progression.
William F. Buckley (November 24, 1925; 5:45 pm; New York, NY) was born with Pallas conjunct his Gemini Ascendant, making him a classic example of this placement. He gained notoriety for his facility with words, his fondness for debate, and for founding the arch-conservative political magazine National Review. Pallas's exact sextile to Neptune added imagination
Pallas illustrated in the lives of six more celebrities, arranged as Libra through Pisces
Pallas in Aries describes an initiating or pioneering attitude that seeks to express ideas and visions immediately. The inherent impulsiveness works well with athletes, political activists, and in energizing any new task or project. Stressful aspects can indicate overly aggressive behavior and conflict with others. Favorable aspects boost self-confidence, enhance vital energy, and lead to sudden inspiration.
Pallas in Aries and sextile his Ascendant brought him public recognition through relentless self-promotion. When he began his solo career in 1969 with RCA, the company wouldn't promote his album with a tour, so Denver hit the college towns on his own, eventually becoming an overnight star. He reached his peak in 1974 with four #1 songs, including "Sunshine on My Shoulders" and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy". At the time, his progressed Midheaven was conjunct Pallas.
With Pallas trine a Pluto, Denver was interested in serious reform and became a political activist for the environment and world hunger. However, Pallas opposite Neptune could cloud his judgment. He died on October 12, 1997 when his experimental Long-EZ plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. The New Moon prior to his death was exactly aligned with his Pallas-Neptune.
John Denver (Dec. 31, 1943; 3:55 pm; Roswell, NM) was born with his Capricorn Sun square Pallas in Aries. The many aspects Pallas has to planets all over his horoscope makes Denver a clear Pallas type with a pressing urge to influence the collective. The 200 songs he wrote evoke memorable visual imagery that contributed to his success.
Pallas in Cancer feels the emotional environment, creating warm personal relationships through emotional sensitivity and empathy. Favorable aspects make good hosts or hostesses; high emotional intelligence understands subtle nuances, often used in the defense of the family, or politically, of family values and patriotism. Under stress, Pallas here can become overly sentimental, manipulative, or illogical.
play a variety of roles during her 60-year career.
The Venus-Pallas combination is sometimes known as the "people-pleaser", and Stanwyck had a gift for connecting with her fellow actors and the backstage crew on any film set. She always asked about their families and knew all the spouses' and children's names. Venus rules her second house of money, and Stanwyck parlayed her stardom into great wealth: in the mid-1940s, she was the highest paid woman in America.
Stanwyck's Venus-Pallas opposes a Mars-Uranus conjunction, and many of her roles involved dangerous conflicts with her leading men. She could play the flirtatious ingenue (Venus-Pallas) or the rough and tough matriarch or trail boss (Mars-Uranus). This difficult dynamic played out in her personal life when she married actor Robert Taylor in 1939. His many affairs led to her suicide attempt, and ultimately, their divorce on February 21, 1951 when transiting Uranus was conjunct her Venus-Pallas.
Pallas in Leo expresses perceptions and insights with great drama, style, and charisma. A prominent Pallas knows how to impress others, which can be one's gift to the collective or for self-acclaim. Under stress, the personality may be over-the-top, exaggerated, or seem too needy for recognition. Harmonious aspects enhance creativity, performance, and popularity.
personality. As befits her Pallas personality, Julia Child excelled in fields ordinarily reserved for men, including sports and as an OSS officer during World War II.
On November 3, 1948, Julia received a vision that would change her life. The scene is replicated in the movie Julie & Julia, and describes her first French meal as a revelation. From that day forward, she would devote herself to French cooking. At the time, her progressed Mercury (the ruler of her chart) was conjunct her progressed Pallas. Here we see a clear merging of a vision with personal identity.
Over the next few years, her progressed Mercury and Pallas would conjoin natal Mars, energizing her new life plan. During this time, Julia mastered the art of French cuisine and started a cooking school. On February 11, 1963 she kicked off her television career with The French Chef, and from then on, endeared herself as America's most famous TV chef. Her progressed Pallas at the time was sextile Neptune, the natural ruler of film and video.
Pallas in Virgo understands how the various small parts work together, an ability that provides analytical genius or excellence in craftsmanship. Under stressful aspects, a perfectionist attitude can create conflict with others, or getting lost in details. Harmonious aspects bring out healthy attitudes about the mind and body, and a keen interest in one's work.
Art Bell (June 17, 1945; 12:23 pm; Camp Lejeune, NC) was born with his Gemini Sun square Pallas in Virgo. With his elevated Sun ruling the twelfth house of all things hidden, Art Bell became a huge success as a late-night talk show host by interviewing experts on the paranormal. His Pallas had to work overtime to give his guests an air of respectability, which he
Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907; 8:55 am; Brooklyn, NY) was born with an extremely fortuitous Sun-Jupiter-North Node conjunction in Cancer, which she expressed in her generosity, showmanship, and love of her profession. She also has a close Venus-Pallas-Neptune triple conjunction in Cancer, which supplied her with the emotional flexibility to
Julia Child (August 15, 1912; 11:30 pm; Pasadena, CA) was born with Saturn conjunct the Ascendant and square Mercury, a combination that ordinarily suggests a somber, humorless personality. However, with her Leo Sun conjunct Pallas (and backed up by her Libra Moon), this famous chef presents a charming, pleasant
accomplished by teasing out the factual details of the often nebulous presentations.
Pallas gains in significance by being conjunct his Ascendant, Jupiter, the Moon, and Chiron. With Jupiter square Uranus at the Midheaven, Bell naturally took to a revolutionary, unusual, and outsider kind of broadcast. Initially, his show featured regular commentaries on gun control and political conspiracy theories.
The Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995 significantly changed his show's format, as transiting Saturn was opposing his Pallas. Remember that Pallas' task is to uphold the existing social order. Bell recognized that his vision for his show needed to be less radical or he would be blamed for inciting violent revolution. From that point on, he concentrated more on UFOs and other fringe topics that needed more attention from mainstream media.
Pallas - introduction, Pallas and the outer planets, Pallas in Political Astrology, and Henry Kissinger and Caroline Kennedy
Part Two - charts how Pallas has changed the lives of six celebrities, arranged as Libra through Pisces.
In 1993, Ariel Guttman wrote in her excellent book Mythic Astrology, "For the past twenty years or so, Pallas Athena has been one of the most dramatically visible archetypes emerging into Western consciousness." By this, she was referring to Pallas' role in sharpening women's intellectual skills and thrusting them into the patriarchal order with much success. The corresponding shift in men's
psyches can be seen in those who have tempered their rational minds and domineering behavior in favor of increased compassion, wisdom, and sensitivity. Obviously, what was true in 1993 is even more so today.
In her ancient myths, Pallas was highly skilled in a number of areas, including as a warrior, artisan, inventor, strategist, healer and diplomat. Her primary function was to uphold the patriarchal order using her creative intelligence, wisdom, and ability to visualize. A prominent Pallas often describes a very busy person, one who is constantly looking for avenues of creative expression. This is especially true when Pallas aspects the Sun or Mars, or forms hard aspects to the outer planets.
Pallas' house position describes what areas of life she can apply her creative intelligence. Aspects to other planets and asteroids may enhance or conflict with her creativity. Pallas tends to make women more masculine and men more feminine. This can manifest in either sex as problematic regarding sexual identity or as a more balanced psyche without the over-identification with the sexual body.
Pallas by sign describes twelve styles of creative expression. The signs filter her reality by shaping what Pallas sees or perceives. Below are descriptions of Pallas in the twelve signs accompanied by a celebrity profile. Pallas by transit generally moves too fast to mark major life passages, but Pallas by secondary progression or other planets progressing to Pallas often marks significant turning points, especially in one's professional life and relationship patterns.
Pallas, the Goddess of
Creative Intelligence
by Michael O'Reilly
Since Ceres, the first asteroid, was discovered in 1801, the rise of feminine consciousness has proceeded in fits and starts. As was the custom then, the first hundred or so asteroids were named after female deities, reflecting an awareness among astronomers that male deities were over-represented in the cosmic scheme of things. Now that some ten thousand asteroids have been sighted and named, astrologers may wonder how to make sense of this new metaphysical pantheon.
Eleanor Bach, the pioneering astrologer who brought us the first asteroid ephemeris in 1972, had some good insights into this. She promoted the use of the first four asteroids as primary archetypes to be included in horoscopes. By using these four – Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta – gender balance was restored to the charts' interpretations. And just considering discovery dates, these four also demonstrate a higher order of relevance or interpretive value. Pallas was discovered in 1802, followed by Juno in 1805 and Vesta in 1807. The fifth asteroid, Astraea, wasn't discovered until 1845, and was followed by a flood of additional asteroid sightings.
Until the discovery of Astraea and Neptune in the 1840s, the four new asteroids were generally considered as planets. For example, the 1828 introductory astronomy text First Steps to Astronomy and Geography lists the planets as: "Eleven: Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Vesta, Juno, Ceres, Pallas, Jupiter, Saturn, and Herschel." (Until the 1850s, Herschel was an alternative name for Uranus, named after its discoverer William Herschel). In 1847 three more asteroids were discovered, and then by 1851 astronomers knew of fifteen. The obvious primacy of the first four asteroids compared to the thousands that came after 1845 is shaped by their shared prominence in the early 19th century, discovery dates, and how well these four carried the awakening feminine archetypes.
Pallas illustrated in the lives of six more celebrities, arranged as Libra through Pisces
Pallas illustrated in the lives of six more celebrities, arranged as Libra through Pisces