Following shortly on the heels of her breakup with Lance Armstrong, Sheryl Crow announced that she is being treated for breast cancer. In the earlier article on the Crow/Armstrong breakup in this column we saw that Sheryl was undergoing a number of planetary events that could create difficulties for her. I have always liked Sheryl Crow’s courage and drive, and love singing her music really loud while driving.

Because astrology is a study of possibilities, it is easier to look back and connect the dots than to predict the future. A difficult Saturn transit can lead to a business failure, but it can also lead to a successful venture after a few false starts. A difficult Pluto transit can show the death of a loved one, but it can also bring about a new sense of empowerment within after a series of smaller losses. I like to compare astrology to a weather report, which can predict the likelihood of a tornado, but can’t tell you whether or not your house will be damaged.

The mind/body connection is becoming more accepted even in mainstream medicine, where physicians such as Christiane Northrup, a noted writer on women’s issues, has said “Energy dysfunction often arises when a woman is confused about how to use both her loving (fourth chakra) and her creative (second chakra) energies optimally. The major conflict within women is that most of us still believe that in order to be loved, to receive love, and to guarantee that someone will need us, we must care for loved ones’ external physical needs.”

Sheryl Crow’s birthchart reveals six planets in Aquarius – an airy, electrical sign. She dwells in the realm of ideas, and feels out of place in the realm of feelings. Her triple conjunction of Jupiter (good fortune), Sun (essential spirit) and Venus (relating to others) bestows beauty, opportunity and success, but the emotional component may be missing. Without her birth time we can’t know her Moon sign, but it lies either in placid and stubborn Taurus (earth sign) or Gemini (air sign), neither of which are particularly comfortable in the emotional realm. Consequently, her emotional relationships are more likely to be idealized in the realm of thought (Aquarius) than truly lived through the heart, which is the realm of water and feeling.

This is not to say that individuals with charts like Sheryl are doomed to Cancer, but it does indicate a need for awareness of these issues, and efforts of intention to awaken the dormant feelings that may be ignored because they are less comfortable. Often people who lack water in their charts find it useful to spend time physically in water – in baths, swimming; and also to learn to pay closer attention to what they feel. Earthy people who lack water tend to become rigid in practicality rather than yield to emotions. Fiery people who lack water may be busy, busy, busy all the time to avoid emotions. And the airy people, as we see with Sheryl, will reason their way out of emotions. This is one reason why we often see migraine headaches and difficult depression with Aquarians – the emotions go right into the head and get stuck there. Consciously opening the heart and allowing it to feel completely can offset the difficulties that these challenges present.

Transiting (in the sky right now) Saturn in Leo opposed Saturn in Sheryl’s chart last August, creating situations of frustration and disappointment. That event will continue and involve Sheryl’s Mars (drive) and Mercury (thinking) as Saturn retrogrades back and forth over Sheryl’s retrograde planets. Saturn transits can be difficult, and Sheryl is likely to experience a difficult period; however, more than any other planet Saturn also brings great rewards and this may be her most musically productive period ever, as well as her period of the greatest individual growth.

Sheryl’s birthchart shows an opposition (stressful 180 degree aspect) between Chiron in Pisces and Pluto in Virgo. Aspects between the wounded healer (Chiron) and the god of transformation (Pluto) can be intensely difficult, since there is continual pressure on the individual to transform and change (Pluto) and this process typically takes place through a painful event (Chiron) that is intended to produce a healing crisis. Transiting Chiron, which is now traveling through Aquarius, began hitting Sheryl’s Aquarian planets at the end of January, beginning with Saturn. (see article about the current Saturn/Chiron opposition for more information about how these planets interact). Transits of Chiron require that we walk through the fire of our pain in order to heal, and while the process can be excruciating the results are exhilarating as we free ourselves from the shackles of painful dynamics that have become calcified over the years.