The Kennedy’s Moon Signs
Last night I was watching the film Chappaquiddick; it is based on Ted Kennedy and the events surrounding a car accident in which he left the scene and a young woman died when the car he was driving submerged in water. I began to think about the Kennedy’s and their Karmic inheritance; some people have even labeled it the Kennedy curse. I pulled up Ted Kennedy’s Natal Chart and that of his Father’s looking for a theme. You often see this in astrology; themes passed down for generations until someone breaks the chain of pain. We commonly see this with addiction; you can see the way it is handed down generation after generation with certain aspects in the Natal Chart. The Kennedy’s did have a marker for addiction, Sun/Neptune, Midheaven/Neptune, Saturn/Neptune and Sun in the 12th house. These aspects can suggest the propensity towards alcoholism through the paternal line among other things. But I was looking for something else, something to tell us about all of the untimely deaths; I however came up short.
While I was unable to find anything related to generational curses I did find it interesting that out of 8 siblings 3 of them had Virgo Moons. None of the children born to John and Rose Kennedy had dignified Moons. Furthermore out of the 4 we have birth times for 3 of them had a hard aspect between the Sun and Moon; indicating a challenging relationship if not an outright unhappy relationship between the parents.
*Not always but often when a child is born with Sun square Moon or Sun opposite Moon this shows challenges between the parents.
Joseph Jr. Kennedy & Robert Kennedy had Capricorn Moons
John F Kennedy, Ted Kennedy and Eunice Kennedy had Virgo Moons. Whereas Patricia had the other Mercurial ruled Moon; Gemini.
The Moon in the Natal Chart
The Moon in the Natal Chart including the sign, house placement and aspects indicates how we process out emotions, what we need, our instinctual reactions, and the way we nourish ourselves (the Moon is also linked to food), how we experience our Mother figure and if you date women this shows the qualities you attract in a woman.
I always say: a child’s birth chart will tell you more about the parent’s relationship than the parents ever will.
The Virgo Moon
When the Moon is placed in Virgo sometimes the Mother shows up as a nurse or the partner later in life is a Nurse. The 6th house in astrology is home to “health” and is naturally governed by Virgo. I know a lot of Virgo Moon men and almost all of them have either married a nurse or had a Mother that was a Nurse. I remember I was on the phone with a client looking at her partners chart and I said “oh he has a Virgo Moon, they often marry nurses”. Unbeknownst to me she was a Nurse. I love when astrology is literal, but that is not always the case.
In the event the Mother was not a nurse or even if she was for that matter this almost always suggests a critical Mother and later in life it can suggest marrying a critical (woman) partner.
Keep in mind not every child will experience the Mother in the same way; that is why children born to the same parents often have different Moon signs. Also the Mother may not consider herself to embody the traits of the Moon sign and that may very well be the case with that being said the Moon sign is still the child’s perception of the Mother.
Mercury Ruled Moon
The 6th house and Virgo are also associated with work so this is often the workaholic Moon sign. The Moon represents our needs and the Virgo Moon needs to work and needs to feel useful. These people need to be busy after all; the ruling planet Mercury is the fastest moving planet in the solar system. When examining the behavior or instinctual reactions of the Virgo Moon we have to take into account the ruling planet because everything will get filtered through that planet. This means all the feelings are analyzed and examined (a Mercury function) rather than experienced.
Alexander Ruperti writes in Cycles of Becoming: “Usually the Virgo Moon has an innate fear or distrust of his emotions and may be unwilling to allow them free expression”
Rose Kennedy
Knowing close to nothing about Ted Kennedy or any of the Kennedy’s I headed on over to Google to look up his Mother. Rose Kennedy was a Leo Sun with a Libra Moon; however she had Capricorn Rising and Venus in Virgo. Capricorn Rising does not suggest a warm persona and Venus in Virgo suggests a person that can nitpick loved ones. Venus in Virgo is considered a “Fall” placement and does not function well. I am confident based on the Natal Charts of all her children that this was not a warm and nurturing woman.
Michael O’Brien in his book John F. Kennedy: A Biography wrote that Rose Kennedy was “cold, unmotherly, severe, distant, sanctimonious crippled by an Irish-Catholic mindset and guilty or a vengeful piety toward her children” he went on to say she was “Compulsive and trite, she railed against the children’s bad grammar (so Virgo) insisting on the proper usage of who and whom, I and me, shall and will, may and can”.
I thought this was so spot on for understanding the Mother figure of the child that has a Virgo Moon.
This is not to say that all children with Virgo Moon have a Mother that was this extreme. I am sure to sell books you really have to make it juicy or no one would buy them. But some of the characteristics certainly fit. This is a Mother that has rules of conduct in place, probably adheres to a strict schedule and wants her children well mannered and well spoken. There are certainly worse things in life.
In Donna Cunningham’s book “The Moon in Your Life” she writes about the Virgo Moon native:
Moon in Virgo: The early home environment may have been a rather cold one, in which significant adults worked hard and had little patience for the child’s needs. Often the Mother was working, or overloaded with other children and household duties. Because parents were critical of any emotional display the child grew up guilty and self critical of any emotional display. Interestingly many Catholics who come to me have been profoundly influenced by the nuns in parochial schools as by their Mothers. Often the Moon in Virgo shows this influence”
It is important if you have children with the Moon placed in Virgo you encourage them to experience emotions without self- judgment. It is also important they grow up knowing love isn’t based on what they do; love is not earned. It is also important for adults that have Virgo Moons to step out of their mind and into their hearts. We can allow ourselves the space to feel whatever it is we are feeling without judging what we are feeling.
Having a natal Moon in Virgo suggests that person was raised in an environment where they were taught to disregard feelings. Feelings are uncomfortable and cannot be trusted are some of the common themes for Virgo Moons. They suffer from analysis paralysis; unable to trust themselves with emotional decisions. They need things to make sense or to fit into tiny little boxes and let’s be honest feelings must be felt and expressed. If they are repressed and stuffed down they can manifest in unhealthy ways. I have known MANY a Virgo Moon with addiction issues; remember this is the sign associated with ritualistic behavior and habits.
I also know many people with Virgo Moon and/or Rising that suffer from digestive issues.
When I was looking up Rose Kennedy I believe in an interview with People they mentioned she tracked her children’s weight and also went onto say they had “tummy trouble” and could not eat certain foods”
When you are constantly in a state of analysis and self judgment this manifests in the body. Virgo rules the digestive system and those with personal planets in Virgo often suffer from issues in this area-I really would rather not get into this.
Donna Cummingham also mentioned in her book The Moon in Your Life “With Moon in Virgo, Mom worried about nutrition and health maybe because many of these children have food sensitivities, she would be critical of over eating”
In a USA today article Mother knows best in ‘Rose Kennedy’ published in 2013 described her as a perfectionist and a disciplinarian.
In another article Rose Kennedy: The ‘Courageous’ Mother Of Camelot they wrote that she was “sometimes very critical — to the children, even when they are in the White House. She is writing to Jack about the clothes that he’s wearing or how he looks or something that he might have said”
I am sure that was her Venus in Virgo way of wanting her children to be the best. Planets in Virgo are discriminating, they have an eagle eye for picking up even the smallest of nuances. Their love language is perfecting but the child that is criticized becomes the adult perfectionist; never feeling like they can do enough or be enough.
Virgo Moons can very much carry shame; I always say Virgo is a complicated sign that has many layers. They set very high standards for themselves; it has been ingrained in them since childhood. When perfectionism is the goal we set ourselves up for failure because no one can ever live up to an ideal. I always find it interesting that Brene Brown has a Virgo Moon and she speaks so much about shame and vulnerability. I always suggest clients with Virgo placements read and watch her material.
Virgo is very much the perfectionist of the zodiac so the person with the Virgo Moon often internalizes these beliefs that were impressed upon them in childhood from the maternal figure about being perfect or not taking up too much space or doing what is right.
The Virgo Moon can certainly drive a partner crazy with all that over planning and endless worry; but they are the person you can call when your tire is flat, you need help with your resume or planting fresh tomatoes in your garden. Acts of service is their love language. You in-turn can remind them not be so hard on themselves, that they are worthy just as they are and “life is what happens when you are busy making other plans”- Venus in Virgo John Lennon
