This post is for D, within whom a struggle rages between her Virgo Moon and her Leo Sun/Ascendant. She generally takes the side of Virgo against Leo, preferring the modest humility of Virgo to the ego drives of Leo. I, of course, am always urging her not to hide her Leo light under a bushel. So I thought she, and others like her, might enjoy this post from Elsa on the Secret Lives of Virgo, and this made me investigate Mark Foley a little more deeply (view chart):

Speaking of the secret lives of Virgo, disgraced politician, Mark Foley is a Virgo.

So is Michael Jackson.

So is the very clean Hugh Grant… who was caught cheating on his model girlfriend with a whore, Divine Brown. Whoops!

How are these for examples of secret lives?

And don’t go jumping on this because there are a lot more classier examples. For example, Virgo, Sophia Loren. Years ago when a reporter yelled at her, “Hey Sophia! What are you doing with that old man?” (Carlo Ponti)

“None of your business!” she yelled back.

So there you go. Some Virgos are aware of their secret lives, others delude themselves.

For example, Leonard Cohen, another Virgo acknowledges his secret life in his song, “In My Secret Life“. He does it again in another song, “The Future“. But the Mark Foley types are far more common. I mean, he’s an extreme example, but this is the point:

Virgo likes to see themselves as innocent maiden do-gooders. The men as well at the women, this is. So they just deny all the heinous things they do which are easily as numerous as the rest of peeps in the zodiac.

But you best be careful pointing this out to them because by and large, they won’t like it. Virgo wants to be flawless, see. So they project the Pisces, the sign opposite, the sign that knows everything is askew, away from themselves. And this has an unfortunate affect, obviously.

The really smart Virgos embrace and even covet their secret life. And these are the Virgos who have tremendous appeal. Like Sophia Loren.

Isn’t she always pulled together? Look how she presents. Perfection! She’s a textbook Virgo (Virgin). Can you imagine her showing up for work with with her hair messed up from last night’s sex? Forget about it! She’s a Virgo!

Compare to Foley who takes a public stance against what he does in private. Ack! That’s bad Virgo.

All kidding aside, though, Mark Foley is a perfect example of how someone’s astrological chart can be much more complex than their sun sign. Foley is a Virgo, it’s true (currently being knocked off-center by Uranus which tends to create radical change in our life and reveals surprises that serve to make our lives more authentic). But more important is a difficult T-square in his chart. The T-square involves a Moon/Chiron conjunction (painful (Chiron) emotional (Moon) background) that is opposite a conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus (an exaggerated (Jupiter)sense of being different (Uranus) which shows an extreme restlessness in his nature. It is widely but quietly known that Mark Foley is gay, and Uranus is often associated with homosexuality because of the sense of being outside of conventional culture and the tendency to live a non-traditional life.

Both ends of this powerhouse of an opposition with four strong planets makes a square to Foley’s Neptune, and because it is a hard (or challenging) aspect we tend to see the more negative attributes of all planets involved. Neptune shrouds everything in a misty obscurity, and brings with it an ability to hide from oneself and others. Neptune creates an illusion, both from outside and within as well.

In addition, Foley’s Venus conjuncts Saturn and both in Scorpio, demonstrating a deep insecurity (Saturn) in his ability to be loved and found desirable (Venus) along with a strong sexual nature (Scorpio). It is likely this insecurity that drives him to seek relationships with young boys who won’t challenge his weak sense of self and help him to feel more powerful.

While we’re talking about Eris, we also find Eris at 8 degrees Aries square his Capricorn Mars at nearly 6 degrees. If, as we’re beginning to see is a real possibility, Eris in the chart denotes where a quality within us creates a small but disruptive event that changes the course of history, it would be Foley’s sexual drive as shown by Mars that is affected by Eris and could possibly lead to the downfall of the Republican majority in Congress and a takeover by the Democrats. Just a thought, but worth watching!