Like her mother Maria Theresa of Austria, Maria Elisabeth had a 12th house moon. Her mother was not Empress when she was born and this placement indicates the mother was often angry or passionate. The child could have witnessed a lot of angry scenes. The Aries Moon child is incredibly independent and Maria Theresa notions of motherhood would also be tested with this child. As a young woman with a Taurus Sun, she likely found herself in situations where she had to stand her ground against the small warrior who would just skirt around her. This child only lived to three but she was the formative mother-child relationship for Maria Theresa. The 12th house indicates the loss of the mother and this may have been the three months Maria Theresa was in Florence in 1739. It is also unlikely but possible that Florence would be the 12th house if Maria Elisabeth traveled with her parents. The 12th house are the places you live while on a long journey.
The Aries zodiac sign is associated with opening new territory and in “The Rulership Book” by Rex Bills, Aries is lands that have been newly opened or recently plowed, virgin lands. The sexual connotation cannot be ignored. Maria Theresa was likely a virgin until her marriage in February 1736 and she was a new mother upon the birth of Maria Elisabeth in February 1737. In the natural zodiac wheel, the cardinal signs start with Aries (warrior) that then leads to Cancer (mother) then to Libra (wife) and then to Capricorn (father). This naturally allows a young mother to examine a young man’s potential with a real test prior to him becoming her mate. Once she becomes his wife, he now becomes a father to her children. This role of fatherhood starts his recognition of his need for an heir. The natural zodiac has already created offspring before this recognition occurs.
In Maria Theresa’s time, her husband Francis agreed to marry her on January 31 and they married in a church wedding two weeks later in February. This was a Sagittarian beginning and has much different connotations then a natural Aries start. Francis was in the Capricorn role immediately and needed an heir. He needed an heir before he had sex with Maria Theresa and she had proven she could have children. Maria Theresa’s roles would only start later and she would not be seen as successful until she gave birth to a son. This creates an unnatural pressure on a woman to produce offspring and eliminates her natural power over mate selection and choice of a father for her children. In the modern Pauline Christian-centric belief system, Aries is not generally the first zodiac sign but instead it starts with Leo but includes a prohibition on sex while engaging with a potential romantic partner. This has a woman become a wife first and restores some of her power to select her mate but it actually places motherhood as the last sign delaying it considerably and denies her the experience of the natural square between Aries and Cancer prior to mate selection. Considering the Biblical story of Jesus’ birth, it is also seems completely out of step with the gospel’s story of the natural formation of Jesus’ natal family.
Following the birth of Maria Elisabeth, Maria Theresa’s next two children would be Cancer Moons. She would have four Cancer Moon children of the 16 children she bore.