Shannen Doherty Case Study

I was struck recently by the sad news that actress Shannen Doherty announced she has stage 4 breast cancer. As a Gen X’er, Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed were “can’t miss” TV during my high school and college years, so I am familiar with her career. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to see how the illness presented itself in both her birth chart and her solar return.

The way I was taught astrology, everything goes back to the natal, so I’ll start with a few quick notes about that & tease out a few details about her personality and how it could impact how she approached her diagnosis. It’s not an exhaustive analysis, but hopefully helps put things in context. To note: I learned via the Regiomontanus house system so that’s what I used here.

I found her birth information on Astrodatabank and did some additional research on her on Wikipedia. As a quick summary, she appears to have a fairly middle-class background; her mother owned a beauty parlor and her father was a mortgage consultant. At a young age, the family moved to LA so Shannen could pursue acting. She landed guest roles on several shows and was cast on Little House on the Prairie at age 11. She’s probably best-known, however, for her roles on Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed and a busy movie career in the 1990’s.

PERSONALITY

Professionally, she has been described as “difficult,” as most strong-willed women in positions of power are, and we see the influence of powerful planets in earth contributing to that. In addition to Mercury, ruler of her Ascendant, in stubborn Taurus, she has a Grand Trine in earth. The Pluto on the Ascendant, disposed by the Mercury in Taurus gives her the ability to tear you apart with her words. The Saturn in Taurus in the 9th also can give a pretty harsh world-view, and the exalted Mars in the 4th sending a trine to the Ascendant makes her like a bulldozer in pursuit of what she wants. My impression is she doesn’t put up with fools and is more than happy to point out when someone is wrong. Contrast that with the very emotional Moon in Scorpio sending a trine to ultra-sensitive Venus in Pisces and you get the sense that the emotions can be very volatile since she feels things very deeply. An opposition between Saturn and the Moon can also suggest underlying anxiety.

CAREER

In terms of her success, notice the exalted Sun in sextile to the Midheaven and in an out-of-sign Sun conjunct Mercury in Taurus, ruler of both her Ascendant and Midheaven, good indicators of career success & notoriety. She also has a Grand Trine in earth impacting her Ascendant with Pluto (1st house), Saturn (9th house) and an exalted Mars (4th house) – some pretty intense planets – giving her incredible drive and ambition. In the earth element, she directs her energy towards practical matters, most likely in pursuit of financial security. I’m guessing her parents were also instrumental in pushing her in her career and saving money because of the exalted Mars in the 4th. Also, the exalted Venus, ruler of her second house of earned income in the 6th house shows how she continued to be an earner though her work even after the peak of her fame.  

ILLNESS INDICATORS IN THE NATAL

With a deeper dive into the natal, the repetition of and connection between houses 1 (life), 8 (death), 6 (acute sickness) and 12 (long-term illness/hospitalizations) becomes more apparent.

1st house: Virgo is on the cusp, not a particularly vital sign, with the ruler Mercury in triplicity in Taurus in the 8th house, and Mercury’s dispositor, Venus, exalted in Pisces in the 6th. With this placement, we see the first strong connection among 1, 8 and 6, which signals her life (1st house), will always have a connection to the 8th and 6th. In her 1st house she has Pluto in Virgo and Uranus in Libra, modifying the influence of Virgo with magnetism and a strong will (Pluto), plus a rebellious streak (Uranus). From the perspective of illness, Uranus is ruler of the 6th and its dispositor, Venus, is in the 6th, creating another powerful connection between her and sicknesses. Almost something in-born that comes out suddenly. I wonder if there’s a family history, but I couldn’t find any information. We also see the trine from the exalted Mars in the 4th, but which rules the 8th. Now the 4th house usually means the family, but it also has a connection to the latter half of life (after about age 40). So again, we’re seeing a link between her, the latter part of her life and the 8th. Mars exalted shows that this influence is something extraordinary.

8th house: The 2 planets in the 8th are Mercury in Taurus and an exalted Sun in Aries. Mercury, as discussed, rules her 1st and also we notice, her 10th with Gemini on the cusp. This shows how her life and her destiny will remain connected to 8th house affairs. The Sun is ruler of the 12th and ruler by exaltation of the 8th very close to the 8th house cusp. I interpret this as showing the potential for danger from long-term illness. Luckily, the exalted Sun provides exceptional vitality and a virtually unbreakable will, showing she’s facing her illness with every bit of strength in her reserve. If we look to the traditional ruler of the 8th, Mars, it’s exalted in the 4th, which traditionally means the family, but it also has a connection to the end of life. Since it’s exalted, Mars is exceptionally strong here and makes her a fighter, but it can also mean a difficult challenge in the last part of life. Both rulers of 8, Mars & Sun are also in an approaching square to each other in Cardinal signs. There is a powerful push to come to a realization between the 4th & 8th houses and since they’re both exalted, it will be a powerful and unusual. Lastly, also notice Saturn is the dispositor of Mars and ruler of the 6th house, and both are aspecting her Ascendant as part of the Grand Trine in earth.

6th house: We’ve already noted Venus, the dispositor of Mercury, is in the 6th, while the ruler of the 6th, Uranus, is in the 1st. However, here we also notice the dispositor of Uranus in Libra is Venus, so we go back to the 6th. Here we see the 1-8-6 connection, almost like a loop. A deeper look also shows the ruler of the 8th, Mars, is sextiling Venus in 6.

12th house: The exalted Sun as ruler of 12 in the 8th is linking these 2 houses. We also notice Saturn in Taurus, co-ruler of the 6th in an approaching square to the 12th house cusp and the Venus in Pisces influencing the 6/12 axis through a ricochet into the 12th.

Since we’re also discussing breast cancer, I looked at the Moon more closely, which has a general signification of the breasts and women in general in astrology. In her chart, she has the Moon in fall in Scorpio in the second house. In fall, a planet can’t fully express its power plus it’s influencing the 8th house via ricochet. Add to that strong connections to powerful and difficult planets (disposed by Pluto in the 1st, also disposed by and sextile to an exalted Mars in Capricorn in the 4th and in a wide opposition to Saturn, ruler of the 6th, in the 9th), and the Moon is overwhelmed by these heavy influences. The trine to exalted Venus in Pisces, which I interpret as the compassionate and top quality care from her doctors, but it’s again connecting the moon to the 6th house of sickness.

2019 SOLAR RETURN

Through August 2019, there were still interviews where she was talking about being in remission, but by February 2020 she announced she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I wasn’t able to track down exactly where she spent her 2019 solar return, but I set the chart up for Los Angeles, CA, as my best guess is that she spent it at home.

A look at the solar by itself shows strength for the year. Despite the solar ruler, Mars, being in the 2nd house and not connected to the Ascendant, she has an exalted Sun in the 1st, Saturn in domicile in Capricorn in the 10th and Moon in domicile in Cancer in the 4th. Very powerful planets in cardinal signs and angular houses, meaning they have maximum impact on her for the year. Plus, they are all tightly aspecting the solar Ascendant so there’s a double influence of a strong will (Sun), foresight (Saturn) and instinct (Moon). The fact it’s a T-square, however, shows there’s a tension and a forcing of a resolution between the 4/10 axis and her life. A sort of need to fight for balance and prioritize what’s important. Additionally, we have the repetition of the Moon opposite Saturn but in a much tighter aspect this year. Even though the Moon is in domicile, it’s in the 4th house and in Cancer, both of which are related to the breasts, and in the lowest position of the chart. It’s just no match for a powerful Saturn in the most elevated part of the chart. Helping her is a beautiful trine to the Ascendant and to the exalted Sun in the 1st from Jupiter, the giver of luck and optimism, in the 9th in domicile in Sagittarius.

Another thing to notice is the full 12th house with three planets in Pisces and Pisces on the cusp. We’ll get to that soon since one of the planets is Mercury, ruler of her natal Ascendant.

When we put the natal and solar together, we notice the natal Ascendant falls into the solar 6th house, connecting her with illness and hospitalizations for the year. Her natal ruler, Mercury, we now see is in the solar 12th which falls in her natal 7th, and in an exact opposition to the natal Ascendant. We also notice the solar Ascendant falls right on the 8th house cusp, along with the solar Sun. Solar Uranus is also in the solar 8th, giving us planets from the natal 1st in the solar 8th and planets from the natal 8th in the solar 1st. Solar Uranus also falls on the natal Mercury, showing a sudden change with regards to her life and connecting with 8 and 12 (with Uranus’s dispositor Venus falling in the solar 12th for the year).

The T-square, uniting 1, 10 and 4 in the solar, falls in her natal 10, 4 and 8, setting up that tension/need for resolution in very important houses, which are repeatedly connected in the natal. I also noticed the very strong solar Saturn in Capricorn in the 10th sending a sextile to the solar Mercury in the 12th, again setting up an important connection between the 10th and 12th houses for the year. In the solar, Mercury is in detriment in Pisces and even though it’s conjunct its dispositors, Neptune and an exalted Venus, it’s overpowered in the solar by the strong Saturn (domicile and in an angular house and cardinal sign), which is the co-ruler of the natal 6th.

We also see solar Saturn squaring the solar Sun, natal Sun, conjunct natal Mars, ruler of the natal 8th, conjunct solar Pluto and sending a sextile to solar Venus and solar Neptune, rulers of the solar 12th. Very powerful connections between 1, 6, 10, 8 and 12 for the year, all vital to her life and future.

The solar Jupiter falling on her natal 4th and sending a trine to the solar Sun and an exact square to the solar Mercury is what I suspect provided a respite for the year for her. However, Jupiter moved into Capricorn in December so I’m guessing that may have been around the time she found out she was no longer in remission.

SOLAR RETURN 2020

I learned from my teacher that you should look to multiple solar returns to see if the influence repeats, so with Shannen’s birthday around the corner, I set up the chart for 2020, again with Los Angeles as the location.

This time, by itself we see another strong chart with cardinal signs on the angles, the Sun exalted and high in the chart in the 10th house and 4 planets in the 7th house. The Moon, ruler of the solar Ascendant is in the 5th and not connected by aspect, but the solar Ascendant ruler by exaltation, Jupiter, is in fall in the 7th conjunct Pluto and Saturn. Pluto is sitting on the cusp of the 7th and sending an opposition to the Ascendant showing how this is a transformative year for her again.

Looking at them both together, we see her natal Ascendant falls into her solar 3rd, and Mercury, the ruler of her natal, falls into the 7th house. The ruler of her natal 11th also falls into her solar 5th. Her husband (7th) and friends and family (11th and 3rd) would naturally be an important focus for her as she’s again fighting a tough battle. The natal 11th in the solar 1st, the Moon as ruler of her natal 11th in her solar 5th, and a full solar 7th house falling in her natal 5th, also shows how her partner and friends will be working overtime to bring her joy and comfort.

We also see the solar 12th on the cusp of the natal 10th, and the natal 8th falling into the solar 10th. Uranus for the year moves to her solar 10th as well, conjunct the natal Mercury. with the ruler, Mercury, falling in her natal 7th. I would interpret this as a hospitalization becoming public at some point in the coming year.  

It’s difficult to predict what the year will bring for her, but it seems she has a wonderful support system around her to help her through this difficult time. 

Let me know what you think, and if you have any questions.