Last night (28th May 2005) along with many Australians, I watched Schapelle Corby on TV, as she received her sentence of 20 years in a Bali prison for drug smuggling. I found myself greatly drawn to her plight for reasons I don’t understand, so I decided to investigate her chart.

I want to know why the plight of this beautiful and frail looking young woman has created such a media circus and involved the Australian public in a way not seen since the Lindy Chamberlain case.

Her birth date is 10^th July 1977 in Brisbane, Click here for her chart, although the time is not exact ("close to lunchtime") but close enough for an overview. I have set a time of 11.45am for the chart as it puts the Sun right on her Midheaven, and that resonates with the events. It also means we can only comment on houses in a general way.

The first thing that strikes me about this chart is the upper hemisphere emphasis, a Cancer Sun squaring her North Node in the 12^th house  Libra by 2 degrees (applying), and widely to Pluto also in the 12^th by 6 degrees (separating) – quite a karmic chart - and visible to the world.

A Sun-Pluto person, no matter what aspect it is, has the potential to survive great turmoil, even if they appear to be frail or shattered by events. The Sun in Cancer is renowned for sensitivity, for concealing tumultuous emotions inside the "crab’s shell" which can erupt in outbursts of distress, and for empathy and caring. The Sun making a challenging aspect to her north node (life direction) in the 12^th house suggests the need to let go of the ego and surrender to higher purposes this lifetime, especially combined with Pluto, which indicates major inner transformation.

Mercury is also right at the top of her chart and very important. It is conjunct her Moon-North node midpoint at 29° Cancer, and squaring her natal Moon and Chiron in the 7^th house, bringing the issues of her connections to her mother and family and the deep inner wounding/healing of Chiron into prominence. Mercury rules travel, communication and siblings, and Schapelle was travelling with her brother to visit her sister when she was arrested at Bali airport on October 8, 2004.

Her natal Moon is 8° Taurus (birth time affects the exact degree) in the 7^th house of relationships, conjunct Chiron at 5 deg Taurus 22’ and the Moon makes the tightest aspect in her chart – an opposition to Uranus in the 1^st house, Scorpio.

Uranus indicates unusual, sometimes shocking events and is related to spiritual awakenings and sudden changes. Uranus is in the sign ruled by Pluto, associated with transformations, indicating that unexpected changes can cause big transformations and the bringing of hidden things to light. This opposition shows tension between freedom and attachment.

I am not going to analyse her whole chart, these are the main natal aspects that I feel are significant at the moment.

There is no one transit that can be said to explain events, as there are always different astrological cycles overlapping. What helps is to identify similar trends and themes, which then obviously become more important.

On that day in October, Schapelle had a stellium (group) of four transiting planets in her 12^th house. This is the house traditionally associated with confinement, prisons, institutions and deeper psychological issues.

• Transiting Sun was conjunct her natal Pluto (3 degrees applying).
  Some kind of personal power issue.
• Transiting Mercury was conjunct her natal North Node (3 degrees applying).
  A life changing event associated with travel?
• Transiting Mars was conjunct her natal Pluto (4 degrees applying).
  Transformative changes, possibly violent.
• Transiting Jupiter was trine natal Venus (within a degree applying).
  International affairs, the law, possessions.
  
  

This is great deal of planetary energy concentrated in one place – all pointing towards the death/rebirth/transformative position of natal Pluto and node, and involving travel, siblings, action or possible violence, power issues and the law. Not a good day to travel really.

• Transit Moon was conjunct her natal Mercury (3 degrees applying).
• Transit Venus square natal Venus, trine natal Chiron.
• Transit Saturn conjunct natal Mercury.
• Transit Uranus (retrograde) square natal Venus
• Transit Neptune (retrograde) sextile natal Neptune
• Transit Pluto opposing natal Jupiter.
• Transit north node conjunct natal Chiron
• Transit Chiron inconjunct natal Jupiter.

Here again these transits are reinforcing that some sudden event (Uranus) was possibly going to take place involving personal or shared items (Natal venus in 8^th) authority (Saturn), travel (Mercury) the law (Jupiter), deeply personal wounding (Chiron) and confusion or deception (Neptune).

Schapelle was also experiencing her progressed Lunar return, an event that happens approximately every 19 years. This again adds stress to the natal aspects of her Moon and Chiron once again and brings the involvement of her mother to the fore. How she relates to her Mum for support and how she can nurture herself on her own is getting the extreme test.

She also has transiting Saturn moving across her Midheaven, although because of the approximate birth time we can’t plot the exact timing of this. The transits of Saturn can be relied on to indicate significant life milestones, and this is one of them. She had already experienced transit Saturn conjunct her Sun earlier in the year and usually this transit brings some profound changes in how a person views themselves and their life goals.

From my bible on Saturn " Saturn in transit" by Erin Sullivan:

(Published by Arkana Contemporary Astrology ISBN 0140192840.)

Whether transit Saturn is in the 9^th or 10^th house (click here for house definitions), the application of spirituality is vitally important to her now, and will lead to healing. Transiting Chiron is at the bottom of her chart, in the 4th house of home and roots and in it’s travels has opposed Mercury at the top of her chart, and once again set off the Moon’s natal stressful aspects.

The eclipse on 14th October at 21 Libra no doubt had some affect on her chart, eclipses can often be felt a week ahead and bring significant events and once again it is to do with her north node at 19 Libra. Her Solar arc Pluto was at 7˚31' Scorpio - conjunct natal Uranus, and Solar arc Jupiter at 17˚49' Cancer - conjunct her natal Sun, and Solar arc Mars at 20˚43' Gemini , conjunct natal Jupiter. These all reinforce the themes of massive transformation events that are visible to the world.

Is she guilty or not? That is not for me to say of course, yet the way this lady has confronted not only the Indonesian courts, but the world’s speculations with determination and openness, has touched my heart. Perhaps it is that simple thing that has drawn so much support for her. I personally feel that there is deception involved from someone associated with her in some way, as Neptune is still a big player in her chart.

I think it is no coincidence that Schapelle has turned to religion to give her strength to face the events in her life. Perhaps in the bigger picture, this is what it is all about. Her natal chart indicates that this life will bring profound changes and transformations, and her north node in Libra shows that it will involve how she relates to other people, perhaps in a confinement situation.

I also feel that the involvement of Mercury has something to do with why the media seems to have chosen this lady to highlight. She presents the beauty and frailty of young womanhood, accused and now convicted for a crime she passionately denies, facing a very long incarceration in a foreign land. She has gained financial support for her defense from people she didn't even know (Venus and Jupiter in the 8th house) and even the Australian government has been drawn into the picture.

Is it that Schapelle Corby is going to teach us all lessons on how to survive in the face of great odds? Can her inner strength help her to come through this in a positive and transformative way? I think so.

I also think that there will be news or events in June/July this year that affect her case, and the story is far from over. Transit Jupiter is retrograde and yet to move away from her natal Pluto, transit Saturn has not yet completed it's cycles, she has a Uranus trine and still many transits affecting her natal Pluto. Stay tuned.