A Venus Retrograde Story

The astrological lore is that with Venus retrograde important people from your past turn up again in your life. Depending upon who you have in your past, this could be good or bad.

I think if the point at which Venus goes retrograde is in a close contact with a key point in your chart, then the effect will be more dramatic. In October, Venus went retrograde within a degree of my Scorpio Sun. A few things happened that month. A good friend I had not seen in 30 years came to visit. 

The next thing that happened was a bit more dramatic and unexpected. 

Most of my life I went to Catholic schools. However, we moved right before I was a junior in high school and I spent the next two years at a public high school. My government teacher my senior year (1971) was named Susan Cohen and she was fabulous.  I was doing my report on Angela Davis. When Susan Cohen was five months pregnant she was fired simply for being pregnant. They would not even let her finish out the semester. The principal hired a really boring replacement. 

This was Richmond, Virginia, although this sort of thing apparently was common elsewhere. As a former attendee of Catholic schools, I was really puzzled. Catholics did not fire women who were pregnant. 

In any event, my teacher and her husband sued the School Board. I planned to go to the trial which was being held before Judge Robert Mehrige Jr.. He was an Aquarius, and ordered busing in Richmond and the counties to integrate schools, so he was fairly well known. 

My high school principal, Mr. Kopko, called my mother in to his office and told her he did not want me to go to the trial, as if I did, others would go. My Mother was also an Aquarius. Her response was I think I will go too. 

So we went to the trial in the spring of 1971 when my teacher was 9 months pregnant. Her lawyer was an ACLU lawyer named Phil Hirschkop, who was brilliant. It was quite the trial. I remember it vividly to this day. It seemed like he was dancing around the courtroom. The school board lawyer argued the students (seniors in high school) would think she had swallowed a watermelon seed. They also argued she would be no help in a fire drill. Then the Judge piped up and said I thought the ruling on that was walk, don't run. Her OB Doctor testified she could have taught up until the day she gave birth. The Judge said I will attest to his qualifications, he delivered all my kids. 

Susan Cohen won her case. Judge Mehrige held that the school board regulation violated the Equal Protection Clause. The case was overturned on appeal, but went to the Supreme Court and was tried concurrent with Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur.  In 1974 the Court held the mandatory termination rules violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. Congress adopted the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978. 

I saw history in the making thanks to my Aquarius Mom. I became a lawyer. I graduated from the University of Virginia in 1975. Judge Mehrige ordered UVA in 1970 to admit women. Hirschkop had argued the UVA case as well, along with Loving v. Virginia which did away with Virginia's miscegenation laws. 

What does all this have to do with Venus retrograde? Well, I told this story many times in the course of my life. Hirschkop was a real hero to me. On October 18 this year I was in Politics and Prose book store just browsing. Venus was retrograde at 4 Scorpio and the transiting Sun was trine my Jupiter in the 9th. I think because of that Jupiter in the 9th I have always had great teachers.

There was a speaker talking about the law and psychiatry for a book he was promoting. He mentioned Phil Hirschkop was in the audience. So I waited around and got to talk to this lawyer from my past who had made such an impression. He was 90 and remembered all the details of the case. If you want to read more about the watermelon seed argument, it's in Footnote 9 of the Court case linked above. 

How can anyone not believe in astrology?  Peg O'Donnell with Phil Hirschkop at Politics and Prose 10-18-26.