In the early morning hours of August 5th, 1962 a legend died.

Transit Pluto was closing into an exact 10th-house square to the Earth, with transiting Mercury joining Pluto. Transit Neptune was in 10th-house square to natal Earth's dispositor Jupiter. Transit Saturn was approaching conjunction to natal Jupiter. Transit Mars was in a 4th-house square to Jupiter.

It was a fated night.

Marilyn Monroe was born in Los Angeles (California - USA) at 09:30 a.m. on June 1st, 1926.

Her heliocentric chart is shown here:

In heliocentric astrology, Mercury represents the mind and the sign in which Mercury is in will always influence the mindset of an individual to a great extent.

Taurus, the sign ruled by Venus, represents sensuous beauty and sensuous attraction. It is no wonder that the 20th century icon, the emblem of beauty, sensuality and glamour had Mercury in Taurus.   

Mercury is locked into a grand square, a very powerful alignment, with Venus, Saturn and Neptune.

The energy contained within a grand square is tremendous, it can make you or break you. This grand square is responsible both for Marilyn's enormous success and her unhappy personal life.

The 10th-house square to Mercury cast by Venus in Aquarius is considered valid, even if slightly out of orb, due to the very fact that Venus is also Mercury's dispositor as ruler of Taurus.  This Venus aspect to Mercury was the force which led Marilyn towards acting (Venus as artistic expression) and fulfilling her duty (10th house) as a  symbol of beauty and femininity.

In fulfilling her venusian life-path, Marilyn benefited from the conjunction of Jupiter to Venus. Jupiter is the expansive force which helped her attain success with her attractiveness and her artistic skills. Jupiter's influence extends to Mercury through Venus's close aspect to Mercury: the effect is "thinking big". A famous phrase of Marilyn's was "I'm going to be a great movie star some day."

And this is exactly was she did: Mars (action) conjunct Jupiter and Venus.

Mercury receives an 11th-house helper aspect from Uranus. Marilyn achieved her goals by being at the right time and place when opportunities came her way (Uranus).

Uranus played an important part when, transiting Gemini in 1946, it trined her Jupiter/Venus conjunction (Jupiter is dispositor for Uranus): it was then that she was noticed by talent scout Ben Lyon, who arranged a screen test for her with 20th Century Fox. At that time she changed her name from Norma Jeane Baker to Marilyn Monroe.

In the following years it would be Neptune to deliver her to stardom. In 1950, with transit Neptune exactly trine her Jupiter, she played supporting parts in Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve - the roles were minor but allowed her to become famous. Later, with transit Neptune trining natal Venus, she began to play leading roles. The Neptune trine was the enhancing, fortunate 9th-house aspect. With the transit still in orb, she became a box office celebrity in 1953 with Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire.

Saturn is the third arm of this chart's grand cross. Both Mercury and Venus receive an aspect from Saturn. For Mercury it is a 7th-house aspect (direct challenge) and for Venus it is a 10th-house aspect (duty). As Venus is Mercury's dispositor, Saturn had an important and simultaneous effect on her mental and emotional life. The effect on her love life and relationships was a penchant for older men, who could represent the father-figure which she was denied as a child. Both her husbands Joe Di Maggio and Arthur Miller were over ten years older than her.

Saturn is also responsible for her feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Neptune is the final planet in the grand square and being the slower moving planet, it has the final say in the outcome. Neptune is in 10th-house square to Saturn, in opposition to Venus and in 4th-house square to Mercury. The 4th-house square to Mercury closes the grand square and explains the roots of her loneliness: the 4th house represents home and family and Neptune's effect in Marilyn's life was a difficult childhood living with foster parents, as her mother could not care for her and eventually ended up in a mental hospital (Neptune).

Marilyn's own death was a very neptunian event, a barbiturate overdose. It could not be established whether the death was by accident or suicide, but Marilyn had attempted suicide previously in her life. Suicide is both a Neptune and a Pluto event, and Marilyn's chart has Pluto in 6th-house aspect (uneasiness) to Jupiter, the ruler of her Earth (body) in Sagittarius.

Neptune also had a very positive effect in her life: in 10th-house aspect to Saturn, which in turn is in 10th-house aspect to Venus, Neptune explains her talent and charisma as an actress (Neptune takes things to 'a higher level').

A final note on the Earth in her chart. The Earth represents the body and is in Sagittarius near Uranus's South Node, which means that the Earth and Uranus are linked. In  her chart, this effect is reinforced by the fact that Jupiter is dispositor for both the Earth and Uranus. Uranus signifies achieving and Marilyn Monroe achieved success and legendary fame with her beautiful looks.

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