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Writer's picturePeggy O'Donnell

The Enduring Joni Mitchell

Updated: Jul 5, 2023


"Through the windless wells of wonder

By the throbbing light machine

In a tea leaf trance or under

Orders from the King and Queen,

Songs to Aging Children Come, Aging Children I am one"

In her mid twenties Joni Mitchell wrote the lyrics to Songs for Aging Children.

The Neptune in Libra generation produced some amazing musicians that came of age in the 60s and 70s.

What is it about Joni Mitchell that made her so alluring, and her lyrics so enduring?

Stephen Stills once noted that every man within fifty feet falls in love with her.

The answer is in her chart. She is water and air. Sun, Moon, Ascendant and Midheaven are all in water signs. Water is reflective. Her audience could see themselves in so many of her songs.

Looking at the water in her chart, she has Cancer rising, Moon in Pisces conjunct the Pisces MC, and Sun and Mercury in Scorpio in house 5. So much emotion in one chart.

A woman with Cancer rising is maternal but vulnerable, especially with a Pisces moon. She must have, in person, had an incredible charisma. The men must have felt drawn to the maternal energy, the Pisces vulnerability, and the Scorpio magnetism.

The rising degree is 19 Cancer, so her Sabian symbol would be 20 Cancer: A GROUP OF SERENADERS MAKE MERRY IN A VENETIAN GONDOLA. Exaltation of social intercourse in the tradition manner. Sentimental clinging to old life ideals. The will to romance. (from Dane Rudhyar-The Astrology of Personality

But to achieve what Mitchell achieved you need more than a grand trine in water. You could literally just float away with all that water. You need some squares and oppositions to create the experiences that will produce the beautiful words. She has Neptune in the 4th in Libra trine Uranus in Gemini. Also Mars conjunct Saturn in Gemini in the 12th house. The Mars Saturn conjunction is not an easy one, but it productive, and in the sign of the writer. The Mars Saturn is also the apex of a T-square with Moon in Pisces and Venus in Virgo in the 4th house.

Moon in the 10th house (career) can mean nurturing many rather than a few. And Moon in Pisces can sometimes (not always) mean secret sorrows.

Sometimes the planets in our chart are literally the people in our lives. Venus in Virgo in the 4th house has to be Joni's mother, who visited her only once when she was in the hospital with polio. Joni's friend Sharon Bell remembers Joni's mother as *an exceedingly proper woman who kept everything in the house absolutely immaculate*. This would be so classic for Venus in Virgo, and with Venus in Virgo square Saturn, there is the abandonment. It is not uncommon for those with Venus in hard aspect to Saturn to either perceive having been separated from the mother, or actually being separated from the mother for some period of time, as is Joni's case. Those with Saturn square to Venus can unconsciously push love away as they have a fear of abandonment.

Divine Discontent is often indicated by a Venus-Neptune aspect. The Neptune in Libra generation was especially hard hit, as Libra rules relationships. It depends on the sign Venus was in. Those with Venus in Virgo conjunct Neptune had the strongest tendency to reach for but miss the magic, or the magic was there but evanescent. Venus Neptune is a die hard romantic, but Venus in Virgo is hard to please.

It did not hurt her creativity to have Jupiter at 25 Leo on the cusp of her third house (communication) sextile Mars Saturn and quincunx her Moon. Also her Venus Ascendant Midpoint is equal to Jupiter. (A sense of beauty and art-Ebertin). Also, the Mercury Uranus Midpoint is equal to Jupiter which means fortunate ideas.

Joni has Venus in a late degree of Virgo, magnifying the strength of the Virgo energy.

Saturn in Gemini rules her house of marriage. A double bodied sign, it tells of more than one marriage, which is true in her case.

There were some lovers that might have been a close to perfect match if they did not have their own issues. Leonard Cohen (an exact Venus Neptune in Virgo in the 12th house oppose Moon in Pisces in the 6th), Sun at 27 Virgo on the Ascendant Joni' s Venus falls right on his Ascendant. He was a great source of inspiration to her, but he was on his own Venus Neptune elusive quest.

James Taylor presented a love interest with Sun in Pisces (22 degrees ) in house 7. Joni's Moon in conjunct his Sun. This is, according to Carl Jung, the perfect match. They sang some great concerts together. And Taylor was quoted as saying of her: *She's like a goddess, a goddess of love.* He may have written *You can close your eyes* for her.

But at the time of their love affair, he would have been emotionally unavailable due to his drug problem. Joni's Venus square her Saturn makes a T-Square with his Sun. His Uranus conjunct her Mars makes it exciting at first, but then less fun, as Saturn is there with her Mars as well.

Her greatest loss may have been giving her daughter up for adoption. On Feb. 19, 1965 Joni gave birth at the age of 21 to a baby girl. Her progressed Moon has just moved into zero degrees of Capricorn. Reality. A new moon eclipse fell on her Cancer Ascendant in July of 1964 and Venus went direct conjunct her Mars, around the time she discovered she was pregnant.

So she channeled all that 5th house creativity into her songs. On March 13, 1997 Mother and daughter were reunited after both searching to find one another. Joni had Sun by transit on her Moon Midheaven, and Mars conjunct her Venus in the 4th house. Jupiter was conjunct Joni's south node in Aquarius in the 8th house. A gift from the past.

Joni is still with us, but her health has taken a toll. She has something called Morgellons disease. This shows up in her chart with her Neptune Ascendant midpoint equal to Jupiter. Ebertin equates this with *skin crawling*.

She turns 75 in November and there will be a big party in LA to honor her. I wish I were there.


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