Courtesans

by Sue Brayne

Strictly speaking neither mistress nor prostitute, the courtesan occupies an ambiguous role in national histories – a usually educated, glamorous, strong-willed and sexually alluring companion of male monarchs and plutocrats. She nonetheless retained an independent mindset and acted largely in her own interests, thinking ahead to the time when she might need to find other protectors in a society of patriarchs. The charts of three such women are examined – do they share certain features?

Courtesan: From the Renaissance on, European kings and noblemen often kept a courtesan, that is, a woman with whom they had a relationship but were not married to.
– Vocabulary.com

Marquise de Montespan (1640-1707)
Source: After Louis Ferdinand Elle the Younger, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

I have always been fascinated by people of history known euphemistically as ‘courtesans’. Perhaps it’s because I have Venus at the critical 0° Aries point conjunct my IC. Even in detriment my Venus stirs up for me a highly romanticised and selective image of me as a woman of such magnetism, beauty, wit and intelligence that male aristocracy fell at my feet and showered me with fabulous gifts.

Or perhaps I carry the genetic imprint of my English great-grandmother who became the lover of the future king of Saxony. Although from the British upper class she was regarded as a commoner by the German court, and they were forbidden to wed. She returned home broken hearted to marry the first (very rich) man who proposed to her.

Other known beauties of history faired far better emotionally and became so wealthy that they designed livery for their staff and took to parading through city streets in their carriages, adorned in gems and gowns that would have made a queen gasp with envy.

In fact, history suggests that courtesans held significant, if not perilous, roles in societal order dating back to the classical Greek era (479-323 BC), with the term ‘courtesan’ originating around the mid-1500s. This described a woman of ‘the court’ who was, in those days, a glorified mistress to the nobility. One of the most famous courtesans of history was the immensely beautiful and cultivated Marquise de Montespan (1640-1707), the ‘official mistress’ of Louis XIV, who enjoyed great power at Versailles and whose sharp wit struck fear in fellow courtiers.

In Georgian and Victorian times, society was entranced by famous courtesans who – extraordinary for women who were usually at a disadvantage thanks to in-built patriarchy and prejudice – found ways to educate themselves in languages, social skills, literature, and the arts, and were courted by patriarchal high society for their dazzling intelligence and conversation as well as sexual magnetism.

According to Susan Griffin, author of the wonderful Book of Courtesans: A Catalogue of Their Virtues, it’s important to understand that these remarkable women, often born in extreme poverty or at social disadvantage, were not regarded as ‘doxies’ (prostitutes). They did not live in brothels (although some of them may have passed through them en route to becoming courtesans), they did not sell themselves on the street, nor were they controlled by pimps.

Courtesans were not generally regarded as mistresses, either. The main difference involved love. A mistress usually gave her heart to her married lover, and she may have had illegitimate children with him. She was safe while she remained in favour, although well aware that she could be cast aside at any moment. Although courtesans depended on male benefactors to sponsor their lavish lifestyles, in the main, they were far too savvy and brazen to lose their hearts. And to be ‘owned’ by a man was unthinkable.

As such, courtesans defied the traditional role of women in respectable society and were treated like magnificent trophies. Louis XV, for example, granted Madame de Pompadour – perhaps the most famous French courtesan – several vast estates including the Élysée Palace, still the chosen residence of French presidents. Other courtesans were gifted priceless antiques, jewels, numerous houses, precious china and tapestries, coaches and horses, and an army of servants.

What’s more, a courtesan was expected to take several wealthy lovers simultaneously. There’s a wonderful story about the Venetian poet and courtesan Veronica Franco who allotted a different night of the week to each of her benefactors. A courtesan would never consider herself a victim of male predation. To her, sex contributed to her personal arsenal that led to glorious wealth, notoriety and adoration. Certainly, racy stories about these vibrant women filled the press and sated gossip columnists who gleefully reported their associations with the rich and famous.

So, who were these exotic muses who radically challenged the status quo and not only stayed largely in control of their destiny but were responsible for inspiring great works of art, literature and fashion? And how did they become courtesans?

To explore these questions, I have chosen the charts of three famous courtesans: French actress and infamous courtesan Sarah Bernhardt; La Belle Otero, Spanish actress, dancer and great courtesan of the Parisian Belle Époche; and so-called ‘the last courtesan’, English-born Pamela Harriman, Democratic activist, diplomat, and socialite who died in 1997. Due to the restricted length of this article, I have pulled out what I consider to be their most prominent astrological indicators. I am sure you can find more.

Sarah Bernhardt

Sarah Bernhardt in 1880
Source: Napoleon Sarony, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sarah Bernhardt, natal chart, 23 October 1844, Paris, 8.00 pm.
Source: AstroDatabank. Equal house system

We start with the indomitable Sarah Barnhardt, actress supreme, famous for her many liaisons including with – among others – Edward, Prince of Wales. (Her Sun in Scorpio at 0° degrees; Mars and Pluto rulers of 5th, Capricorn ruler of 7th) Also, she owned her own theatre (Aries rules the 10th house, Neptune in Aquarius 8th sextile Pluto in Aries 10th) and performed with one leg after the other had been amputated (chart ruler Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries 10th opposite Mars In Libra 4th).

Sarah Bernhardt was born in Paris, the illegitimate daughter of a poor immigrant Dutch-Jewish seam mistress who, by the time Sarah was six years old, had become one of the great 19th century European courtesans (chart ruler Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries 10th).

By all accounts Sarah was a moody, wilful and rebellious child who had a fearsome temper (emphasis on water, Sun in Scorpio in 4th, Moon square Ascendent, Mars in Libra in 4th opposite Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries in 10th). This may have been the result of suffering severe emotional loss and conflict during her early years when she was virtually abandoned by her mother who spent most of her time away entertaining her influential benefactors (Venus in fall in Virgo conjunct Chiron in Virgo in 3rd, Venus sesquiquadrate Saturn in Aquarius 7th, Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries 10th).

Yet her mother had high expectations of her daughter. I am interested that Sarah’s Virgo IC sits on the cusp between the 2nd and 3rd houses, symbolising the ‘golden child’. However, this maternal expectation to be perfect could have weighed heavily on her (Venus in fall in Virgo in 3rd conjunct Chiron – the wounded goddess), affecting her self-esteem, and she may have yearned to escape into an imaginary world (Mercury in Libra in 4th trine Neptune in Aquarius in 8th, MC in Pisces in 8th/9th).

In Sarah’s case, the desire to escape manifested in a passionate yearning to become a nun after she was sent to a fashionable Parisian convent boarding school, reportedly paid for by her father’s family whom she didn’t know (Sun 0° in Scorpio in 4th tightly square Saturn 0° degrees in Aquarius in 7th, unaspected Jupiter retrograde in Pisces in 9th – emphasis on water element).

The theatre beckons

Sarah’s domineering mother had other ideas (Moon in Aries in 10th). She was determined that her daughter should become a courtesan like herself (IC at 0° Virgo in 2nd trine Pluto in Aries in 10th). A battle of wills ensued between the two (Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries 10th opposite Mars in Libra 4th) until the writer Alexander Dumas – one of her mother’s benefactors – took them both to the theatre. This was the pivotal moment in Sarah’s life where fate flung open the doors. She is reported to have said, “When the curtain went up, I thought I would faint. It was the curtain of my life that had risen before me” (heavily emphasised Western hemisphere, Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries 10th square Cancer Ascendent, MC at 0° Pisces).

The moment marked the beginning of her remarkable stage career. She was idolised – even mythologised – as the personification of beauty (Venus in Virgo in 3rd, Sun in Scorpio 4th trine MC in Pisces 8th) – and celebrated by Oscar Wilde. She became known as the “Golden Voice” (Mercury in Libra 4nd, dispositor Venus, ruler of 11th) and had the ability to draw on painful childhood memories (Saturn in Aquarius in 7th sesquiquadrate Venus conjunct Chiron in Virgo in 3rd), which, it is suggested, enabled her to convey extraordinary seductive powers as an actress (1) (Neptune in Aquarius in 8th sextile Pluto in Aries 10th, Sun 0° Scorpio 4th trine MC 0° Pisces in 9th).

Félix Duquesnel, director of the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris, said of her:

I had before me a creature who was marvellously gifted [Sun ruler of 2nd, Neptune in Aquarius 8th sextile Pluto in Aries 10th], intelligent to the point of genius [unaspected Jupiter in Pisces 9th], with enormous energy [Pluto in Aries 10th, depositor Mars] under an appearance frail and delicate [Venus conjunct Chiron in Virgo 3rd], and a savage will [Mars in Libra 4th square Ascendent].

Perhaps it was this savage will combined with a desire to shock her public that inspired her to play male roles such as Hamlet to great acclaim (Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries 10th depositor Mars in Libra 4th square Ascendent).

An adored performer

Sarah’s Full Moon placement in Aries suggests enormous potential as a visionary and the capacity to embrace a powerful sense of purpose. Sarah became immersed in her relationship with her public and with her many lovers, and her life was a constant rollercoaster of peak experiences followed by one crisis or another (emphasised by Pluto in Aries 10th opposite Sun in Scorpio 4th, Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries 10th).

Sarah’s powers of seduction were legendary – she had countless lovers (Mars and Pluto are rulers of the 5th) – and an illegitimate son when young. She was only married once, to a man who abused and abandoned her (Saturn in Aquarius in 7th square Sun in Scorpio in 4th). Even so, she refused to divorce him because of her Catholic faith (unaspected Jupiter in Pisces 9th, Pisces ruler of 9th).

Sarah attained international acclaim touring America, England, South America and Mexico and gave special performances to First World War troops in France (unaspected Jupiter in Pisces 9th, Pluto in Aries 10th). She also overcame crises that would flaw most of us – to name two: her house burnt down destroying all her costumes and jewellery; and she had a leg amputated in 1914 due to gangrene. Yet she possessed the tenacity of spirit to reinvent herself constantly; she continued to perform often leaning against strategically placed props (Sun in Scorpio 4th quincunx Pluto in Aries 10th) and acted in some of the first moving pictures in America (Moon conjunct Uranus in Aries 10th sextile Saturn in Aquarius 7th, Mercury in Libra 4th trine Neptune in Aquarius 8th).

My favourite fact about Sarah Bernhardt is how she loved to sleep and learn her lines in the coffin she kept in her bedroom (Sun 0° Scorpio 4th). A girl after my own heart, she had an abiding fascination with the afterlife (MC in Pisces 8th, unaspected Jupiter in Pisces 9th). When she died in 1923 at the age of 78, it is said that 30,000 attended her funeral (Pluto in Aries 10th sextile Neptune in Pisces 8th).

Sarah Bernhardt once said to a newspaper reporter,

I passionately love this life of adventures. I detest knowing in advance what they are going to serve at my dinner, and I detest a hundred thousand times more knowing what will happen to me, for better or worse. I adore the unexpected. (2)

That’s Moon conjunct Uranus in the 10th opposite Mars in Libra for you.

La Belle Otero

La Belle Otero, ca. 1890
Source: Léopold-Émile Reutlinger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

La Belle Otero, natal chart, 4 November 1868, Valga, Spain. Chart set for noon.
Source: AstroDatabank. Equal house system

La Belle Otero, the great courtesan of the Parisian Belle Époche (dated between 1871-80 and the outbreak of World War I) exuded guts and audacity. Accounts differ regarding Belle’s rise to fame as a great courtesan, but they have common enough themes to draw together an outline of her life. Sadly, there is no record of her birth time, so I am going to focus solely on her planetary aspects.

Determination to survive

Like Sarah, Belle (christened Agustina del Carmen Otero Iglesias) was born illegitimate (Chiron in Pisces square Moon in Cancer) to a Spanish mother and, it is thought, a Greek army officer. She came from an impoverished, deprived background which forced her to work as a maid. Aged 10 she was brutally raped by a local shopkeeper (Sun opposite Pluto). After she recovered from this awful ordeal, she left home to find employment.

To survive she probably slept with men for food and lodging (Pluto in Taurus opposite Sun in Scorpio). Aged 20, she met a man called Paco who changed her life. He taught her to sing and dance and became her manager and partner (Saturn in Sagittarius tightly trine Jupiter in Aries, Mars in Leo conjunct North Node).

It is probably true that Belle supplemented their paltry theatrical earning by having sex with a growing group of admirers who appeared at the stage door after her performance (Neptune in Aries trine Mars in Leo). Perhaps a lack of air element, a disseminating Moon, and her fixed t-square enabled her to detach from the reality of what she had to do to keep body and soul together as she worked out what her next steps might be.

Certainly, Belle appeared not to allow sentiment to affect her determination to rise above the mire (Saturn in Sagittarius trine Jupiter in Aries). She ended her relationship with Paco after he proposed because she wanted the freedom to explore what life had to offer (North Node in Leo ruled by the Sun, Uranus in Cancer). This came to fruition in Marseilles when an American impresario fell in love with her beauty and free spirit, inviting her to perform in one of his many prestigious clubs (Sun conjunct MC in Scorpio, Venus in Virgo opposite Jupiter in Aries, Mars in Leo conjunct North Node trine Neptune in Aries).

Fame and fortune and the fall from grace

In a few short years Belle had seduced the whole of Paris as the undisputed star of the Folies Bergère (Sun conjunct Mercury in Scorpio conjunct MC opposite Pluto in Taurus, depositor Venus) with her famous image adorning numerous postcards and posters that were amassed by her idolising public (Moon in Cancer trine MC conjunct Sun in Scorpio).

At the same time, she was accruing vast wealth through liaisons with a series of prominent benefactors (North Node in Leo, Jupiter opposite Venus in the anaretic degree of Virgo) and it is reported that her fabulous home in the Parc Monceau in Paris was filled with luxurious possessions, outfits, and jewellery estimated, at the turn of the century, to be worth a staggering two to three million francs (Moon in Cancer trine MC in Scorpio, Moon square Jupiter, disseminating Moon). She also captured the attention of early filmmakers (Neptune in Aries) and there’s wonderful footage of her in Russia dancing Chopin’s Grande Valse Brillante (3) with such vigour and joy (Mars in Leo) that it made me laugh out loud. Not bad for a girl who came from nowhere (South Node in Aquarius/North Node Leo axis).

So, what made Belle exceptional? Apart from her reported wit (Mercury in Scorpio square Mars in Leo), intelligence (Sun conjunct Mercury in Scorpio opposite Pluto) and charm (Neptune in Aries trine Uranus in Cancer), she was described as having extraordinarily dark black eyes that were “of such intensity that it was impossible not to be detained before them”. (4) However, when you look at pictures of her, there is something else – a charisma that’s impossible to put into words (Neptune in Aries quincunx Mercury in Scorpio, MC conjunct Sun in Scorpio opposite Pluto).

And she knew how to use her charisma for all its worth (Venus anaretic degree Virgo, Jupiter in Aries trine Saturn in Sagittarius). She was renowned for wearing fabulous dresses and jewellery that moulded her figure and sent men wild (Sun in Scorpio, Mars in Leo trine Neptune in Aries, Pluto in Taurus square t-square apex Mars in Leo). It is said – and why should we disbelieve it – six men committed suicide after she ended their love affair, and several fought duels over her (Mars in Leo square Sun in Scorpio opposite Pluto in Taurus). Her lovers included Prince Albert I of Monaco and King Edward VII, not to mention a flotilla of European kings and grand dukes – one ardent royal swain gave her a diamond necklace previously owned by Marie Antoinette.

Sadly, Belle had a fatal flaw. She loved to gamble (Pluto in Taurus sesquiquadrate Venus in the anaretic degree of Virgo). After she retired following the end of World War I, her addiction to gambling exceeded her ability to earn (Jupiter in Aries square Moon in Cancer) and very quickly she was forced to sell all the luxuries she had acquired until she became destitute (Pluto in Taurus). However, according to Belle’s personal folk lore, the casinos where she had lost all her money set up a small pension fund for her, so that although she ended up in a small one-bedroom apartment in Nice, she didn’t starve (fixed t-square). She eventually died aged 97 in 1965 of a heart attack (Saturn in Sagittarius). What a life!

I find it fascinating that both Belle and Sarah have Sun in Scorpio and Venus in Virgo, and both have planet/s at critical degrees: Sarah has Sun, Saturn, and MC at 0°, while Belle has Venus at 29° Virgo – she certainly went from indulgence to grace and back again. Both have North Node in fire signs, and both have Pluto opposite the Sun (wide orb in Sarah’s case).

This suggests that the two had the will and ability to draw on their past in different ways to access buried emotions to keep their adoring public enthralled. They also have hard Venus in Virgo aspects to Chiron (Belle opposition. Sarah conjunct) indicating they may have carried a profound wounding in love, and how this was reflected by those who projected their fantasy of the perfect woman onto them (Venus in fall in Virgo).

Pamela Harriman

Pamela Harriman, 1938, Tatler Magazine
Source: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Pamela Harriman, natal chart, 20 March 1920, Farnborough, UK, 04:30.
Source: AstroDatabank. Equal house system

Let’s see if Harriman’s chart shares common factors with Sarah’s and Belle’s. Before we do so, I’d like to say that I am unsure whether Harriman qualifies as a true courtesan. She was born into aristocracy as the daughter of the 11th Baron Digby and sent to finishing school before being presented at Court (South Node in Taurus in 4th). Therefore, she had immediate access to wealthy and powerful men (Kite aspect shape: Pluto in Cancer 5th trine Mars and Venus conjunct Uranus opposite apex Saturn in Virgo 7th). She was regarded as a woman who latched onto certain powerful men (Moon and Sun conjunct in Pisces in 2nd, Chiron in Aries conjunct Sun in Pisces in 2nd) – something I can’t see Belle or Sarah doing.

Nevertheless, she demonstrated the same extraordinary seductive power as the other two, so I think it’s right to include her – and perhaps the trait ran in her blood. Her great-great aunt was the infamous 19th century courtesan and adventurer Jane Digby, Lady Ellenborough, who married four times. Her final union was with Sheik Medjuel el Mezrab, 20 years her junior and the professed love of her life.

Pamela has two anaretic degree planets: Sun and Mercury in Pisces 2nd, suggesting that her life would be involved with the mastery of finding personal sovereignty and intellectual dexterity. Like Belle’s, the Harriman chart has no air but that’s where the similarities end. Her chart heavily emphasises water (Grand Trine in water, contributing to a powerful Kite aspect pattern), with her Pisces New Moon portraying someone who is sensitive, intuitive and perhaps unable to separate her feelings from those of other people. It also indicates the potential to set her own pace in life, and – as we will discover – to rely on an extraordinary ability to sow seeds repeatedly for new experiences and opportunities, particularly in the bedrooms of the rich and famous (Kite shape involving 1st/7th/10th/5th houses). She has Venus conjunct Uranus in Pisces in 1st trine Mars in Scorpio 10th, so perhaps she knew a trick or two to keep things humming along sexually.

Her powerful Kite coupled with a New Moon in Pisces, and an Aquarius Ascendant, suggest someone who possesses an unusually charismatic personality, with a strong potential to experience powerful relationships and love affairs on the world stage (North Node in Scorpio in 10th, dispositor Mars in dignity in 10th, and ruler of 10th trine Pluto in Cancer in 5th).

Building resources

Her Pisces stellium in the 2nd house places attention on self-value, her relationship to possessions and creating her own resources. Although Pamela was aristocratic, the family struggled financially, and she was regarded very much as ‘the country cousin’ in broader society which must have galled her (Chiron in Aries 2nd, dispositor Mars in 10th). Yet she had a remarkable ability to attract powerful men with vast fortunes and they became her source of income (Leo ruler of 7th, Jupiter in 7th opposite Ascendent, Pluto in Cancer 5th square Moon conjunct Sun and Mercury in Pisces in 2nd, Mercury ruler of 8th).

Pamela married three times: Randolf Churchill – son of Winston Churchill – with whom she had a son named Winston after his grandfather. The marriage fell apart principally due to Randolph’s long stints abroad, his alcoholism and gambling debts (Jupiter conjunct Neptune in Leo 7th).

During this time, she took many prominent lovers who were usually married (Saturn in Virgo in 7th, Jupiter in Leo in 7th square Mars in Scorpio in 10th, Mercury ruler of 5th), including Gianni Agnelli, heir to the Fiat fortune, Baron Élie de Rothschild, the shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos, American millionaire John Hay Whitney, US Air Force General Frederick Anderson, and Edward R. Murrow, the CBS broadcaster. When her lovers refused to marry her, she moved onto the next (Kite aspect).

Her second husband – also married at the time she met him – was The Sound of Music Broadway producer Leland Hayward (Jupiter and Neptune conjunct Leo Descendent). On the day of his divorce, Pamela became the fifth Mrs Hayward, and they enjoyed an immensely lavish lifestyle until Hayward’s death in May 1971.

Her third marriage was a rekindled love affair with American Democratic politician, businessman and diplomat, William Averell Harriman, 30 years her senior (Saturn in Virgo in 7th opposite Venus in Pisces in 1st). They married in September 1971 (a few months after the death of Hayward) allowing Pamela to become a US citizen. Thus, her political career (MC in Sagittarius in 10th, Jupiter ruler of 11th, Jupiter opposite Ascendent) sprang into life as she raised millions of dollars to rebuild the Democratic Party (Mercury ruler of 8th, Saturn in Virgo in 7th sextile Pluto in Cancer in 5th, Pluto trine Venus in Pisces in 1st, Kite shape, Scorpio/Taurus nodal axis). Harriman died in 1986: Pamela inherited a reported $115 million, triggering a long legal dispute with his children (Pluto in Cancer in 5th square Sun in Pisces 2nd dispositor Jupiter) that was settled amicably in 1995 with a redistribution of assets.

In 1993, US President Bill Clinton appointed her Ambassador to France, a position she relished until her death four years later (MC in Sagittarius in 10th trine Sun conjunct Mercury in Pisces in 1st). On her death, President Jacques Chirac of France placed the Grand Cross of the Légion d’honneur on her American flag-draped coffin. She was the first female foreign diplomat to receive this honour (Venus conjunct Uranus Pisces in 1st).

Seduction, power and ambition

Pamela was no classical beauty, but men obviously found her beguiling and captivating (Aquarius rising, Venus conjunct Uranus in Pisces in 1st). Apparently, her secret was to place a man at the very centre of her world which involved anticipating his every need (Kite shape, Pluto in Cancer trine Moon conjunct Sun and Mercury in Pisces in 2nd, Chiron in Aries conjunct Sun and Mercury in Pisces in 2nd).

Even biographers were reportedly entranced by her, but one – notably a woman – described her as someone who

wanted great wealth and power. These were big ambitions for a person with little to say and no wit, but she had unflagging determination and ruthlessness. (5)

(Mars and Pluto co-rulers of 10th, Mars in Scorpio in 10th trine Pluto in Cancer in 5th, Kite shape.)

Pamela denied this, stating that she had taken life as it had presented itself to her (North Node conjunct Mars in Scorpio in 10th). For her, life was about luck and timing (Jupiter in Leo in 7th). Even so, she had to deal with scandal and considerable vitriol (Mars in Scorpio in 10th, Mercury ruler of 8th) of being the woman who stole some of the world’s richest and most attractive men from their wives and married three of them (Jupiter conjunct Neptune on Descendent, Kite: Saturn in Virgo at apex in 7th.

Last thoughts

These three courtesans bore harsh wounds from childhood and beyond (Sarah: Chiron in Virgo conjunct Venus. Belle: Chiron in Pisces opposite Venus. Pamela: Chiron in Aries conjunct Sun and Mercury). Yet, I don’t see them as victims to their past. Rather I view them drawing on experience as they developed into bold, brazen, spirited women who instinctively knew how to use their physical assets, took on the game of life and ran with it in prejudiced, patriarchal societies.

As I mentioned earlier, for me, Sarah and Belle were the last of their kind. I can’t imagine Pamela lifting her skirts to frolic on a Russian stage or sleeping in a coffin, and come to that – judging from a sepia photograph – I can’t imagine my great grandmother doing this, either.

I, on the other hand – well, that’s another story.

Endnotes:
1. Wikipedia.
2. Ibid.
3. See YouTube.
4. Cultura e Conhecimento: Teatro. www.brasilcult.pro.br.
5. Sally Bedell Smith, Reflected Glory, Simon and Schuster, 1997

Published by: The Astrological Journal, Nov/Dec 2023

Author:
Sue Brayne is an author, TEDx speaker, and podcast host for Embracing Your Mortality. She has been studying astrology for the past 30 years, and during Covid lockdown decided to consolidate her knowledge by studying for the diploma with the Faculty of Astrological Studies. She recently passed her intermediate exam and is focusing on completing her diploma over the next year. She begins Nick Campion’s Cultural Astronomy and Astrology MA at the University of Wales in October 2023. Her website: suebrayne.co.uk.

© Sue Brayne, Astrological Journal, 2023

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