Who was Marilyn Monroe? She is a cultural icon, the quinessential sexy film siren. She was the picture of a maiden singing on the rocky shore luring sailors to their doom but, in her case, she got caught in the maelstrom and was pulled back into the depths. As the Scorpio Saturn approached her first Saturn Return, Marilyn Monroe found herself filming “River of No Return” because she was under contract. Inside her birth horoscope lay the churning stormy sea. This film’s story stripped her sexy siren image away and she reappeared as woman caught in forces outside her control and clinging to a raft in the midst of the torrent.
How much of our lives is karmic? In some horoscopes, you just see something that rings like a bell and you know that you are looking at karma. Something has reappeared from the past. The opposition between Ceres and the Moon represent the film’s two stars.We don’t know the premiere time but this moment was significant to Marilyn Monroe and her star partner, Robert Mitchum. Before they were movie stars, Robert worked with Marilyn’s first husband at Lockheed as partners. The young James Dougherty showed him Norma Jeane’s picture. James also took Norma Jeane to the movies and when Robert appeared on screen in his first picture he told her he knew him. They came together to switch roles and explore the ideal Cerean mother, Marilyn, and ideal Saturnian father, Robert. Marilyn held the glyph of Neptune conjunct Ceres and Robert held the glyph of Neptune conjunct Saturn in their respective horoscopes.
The greatest role Norma Jeane ever played was Marilyn Monroe. In this film, her character Kay is caught between a gambler, Harry Weston, and a vulnerable little boy, Mark Calder, Kay opts to help the boy. Saturn required Marilyn to complete this film because she is the River of No Return. Through the film she is forced to explore her own life’s purpose and her own emotional nature. Her character Kay would be joined by the boy’s father, Matt Calder. His last name means rocky water. Marilyn has a Grand Water Trine in the water houses. This is the stormy sea or the wild river and represents extreme emotional sensitivity. Her Cancer North Node lies in the 12th between Pluto and Vesta. Pluto is intensity and Vesta is focus. The Cancer zodiac sign in the 12th can manifest as the lost mother or a feeling that you are an orphan whether you are or not. This intense focus on emotion was in service to Marilyn’s study. As a Gemini Sun, she is the student. As an Aquarius Moon, she has emotional detachment skills. Her 16° Cancer North Node has the Sabian symbol “a man studying a mandala in front of him, with the help of a very ancient book.” Marilyn Monroe was a role that allowed Norma Jeane to study the emotion and feeling nature of herself and those around her.
At the Imum Coeli of Marilyn’s horoscope, River of No Return is the Scorpio Saturn. The story itself represents Norma Jeane. She is the River and also Kay lost on the River. The essence of the Cancer zodiac sign is belonging. Cancer natives feel alienated and orphaned until they understand they must generate this warm feeling of security for others. This is the Crab’s pincers. Once others belong with you, you will find the security and feeling you desire. Norma Jeane was lost on the wild river and never found where she belonged. It wasn’t for others to give her security, it was for her to give that to them.