If long life is synonymous with knowing how to enjoy yourself, then we have a perfect example in Leo, Julia Child. Leo is, after all, the sign best known for finding endless ways to party! Or, to make everything you do into a party, and as much fun as you can possibly make it. But what makes Julia cook? With her Sun (shine-ability) in Leo in House 4, the part of the chart corresponding to things domestic, we understand Julia's proclivity for becoming queen of the French gourmet kitchen and more. In fact, her home, sporting the kitchen of all our dreams, was used as the set for most of her shows and interviews. Besides her Sun, Julia's House 4 also hosts Mercury in Virgo (albeit retrograde) responsible for her ability to communicate. The retrograde (appearing to travel backwards) Mercury adds a twist of peculiar to Ms Child's mental connections and, coupled with Venus in Virgo (her values) makes her unusual way of talking, utterly charming. It's no surprise then, that Julia Child lives to cook, loves to talk about cooking and shares her enjoyment of food with us. At 87, the 6'2" Julia Child is a bit stooped but still cooking up a storm. She's just published another book with her longtime friend and colleague, Chef Jacques Pepin, and they're hosting a 22-episode TV series, "Julia & Jacques, Cooking at Home."

Not only does Julia know how to whip up a mean soufflé and show a chicken a thing or two about a mallet but she has a particular knack for teaching it to others. With Gemini rising, the sign of communication, wit and banter, Julia kept up a running commentary that often made us laugh to the point of tears. It's obvious that this woman truly enjoys what she's doing and with a genuine joyful exuberance wonderful to witness. Not only that, she's willing to break down her recipes into step by step procedures and then feed us the information in manageable bits. The planet Saturn in Gemini hugging her Ascendant (or Rising sign) and squaring (90 degrees) her Mercury in Virgo (ruler of Gemini and communications) keeps Julia focused enough to chunk the information into an organized process that demystifies gourmet cooking. The detail-oriented Mercury in Virgo in tight aspect to Saturn (the rules) made her an exacting teacher who insisted on paying attention to the seemingly small things. Those minor things, evidently, that make all the difference between mastery and mediocrity. Julia Child has charmed us for years with her outrageous kitchen antics. Her TV shows ran for years and were a smashing success. Her first show aired in 1963, "The French Chef," after the publication of her first book, "Mastering the Art of French cooking."

Julia's verbal banter and stream of consciousness chatter broke us up with laughter and gave us the courage to try her recipes in our own kitchens. Her Leonine enthusiasm coupled with the placement of her Jupiter (expansion, teaching) in its own sign, boisterous Sagittarius, made it all look easier that it really was. (Have you tried to make real French croissants from scratch lately?) Julia's Moon, her public interface and daily habitual personality, is in Libra, meaning she never lost sight of the fact that she was in partnership with an audience most of whom she would never even see. Air signs are very cognizant of others and their reactions or needs, particularly Libra (the sign of the other, partnering and cooperation). Julia also has planetary placements in the air signs Gemini (as mentioned) and Aquarius. Her uniqueness, innovative breakthroughs and immense popularity come largely from the Uranus in Aquarius part of her chart. Uranus in Aquarius, placed in its own sign at the critical 0 degrees, is easily seen as the joker, the one who enjoys playing the loveable fool and thereby putting us right at ease.

In the present sky, Uranus is travelling through Aquarius again, where it was when Julia Child was born in 1912. In the spring of 1996, she had what is called her Uranus return. Everyone receives a Uranus return at approximately age 84 because it takes that long for Uranus to circle through the signs and return to its birth position. The position of Uranus at 0 degrees Aquarius and the strong, proud Leo Sun certainly gave Julia her own unique style, her independent ways. That's precisely what people have always loved about her. She was and is refreshingly different and authentically Julia.

-- Copyright 1999 Dorothy Oja. All rights reserved
Originally published by StarIQ.com
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