Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865)

It’s a question I’ve had ever since I watched the Daniel Day-Lewis film “Lincoln”. His relationship with Mary Todd (played superbly by Sally Field) was always problematic, and yet he never gave up on her.

In 1865, as the American Civil War winds inexorably toward conclusion, U.S. president Abraham Lincoln endeavors to achieve passage of the landmark constitutional amendment which will forever ban slavery from the United States. However, his task is a race against time, for peace may come at any time, and if it comes before the amendment is passed, the returning southern states will stop it before it can become law. Lincoln must, by almost any means possible, obtain enough votes from a recalcitrant Congress before peace arrives and it is too late. Yet the president is torn, as an early peace would save thousands of lives. As the nation confronts its conscience over the freedom of its entire population, Lincoln faces his own crisis of conscience — end slavery or end the war.

Storyline from IMDb

This chart was already on my Kepler 7.0 program. It looks to have already been rectified by the placement of the Moon in Aquarius representing the loss of his mother when he was 9 years old. There is an interactive Yod pointing to Uranus while another is pointing at Venus.

Venus Inconjunct Uranus

You feel mixed up about whether you want to be close to others or be free. When you are really close to a loved one, you feel smothered and want to get away by yourself to do what you want. But when you are alone and free to do what you want, you miss your loved ones and want to be with them. It will take you several years to understand yourself enough so that you can strike a balance between these two needs, so be patient.

Your uncertainty about love and freedom will be even greater if one of your parents doesn’t seem to really love you steadily, if you feel you cannot count on that parent when you need help. This would make you feel that love is somehow unreliable, that you cannot depend on anyone who loves you. As a result, you won’t permit anyone to depend on your either.

This belief may make you irresponsible in relationships, so that you won’t fulfill people’s expectations even when you have agreed to do so. Don’t promise love that you cannot deliver. While you are young this is not a great problem, but when you are older, you will hurt your partner in a relationship by not being dependable or by not being honest about your dependability. You may tell yourself that you want a steady love relationship, but then go after someone whom you know intuitively will not be reliable. But if you are honest about your need for freedom, this will not happen.

Venus Inconjunct Ascendant

You often feel that you haven’t any right to ask much of those whom you love. You feel that you must do favors for them instead of asking for their help. For you, love is an act of service, not self-gratification. Also, through relationships with others, you try to learn about your own and other people’s inner workings. For this reason your relationships are more deep and profound than most people’s. But they are somewhat difficult, too.

Uranus Inconjunct Midheaven

You need to express your thoughts and feelings, but you often upset the people around you with your words. You seem to enjoy creating a stir every time you say something, but this can get you into quite a bit of trouble with parents, teachers and other authority figures. The underlying principle of this aspect is the need to balance your individual self-expression and manner of communicating with your need to learn and grow under the guidance of older people.

Mary Todd Lincoln (December 13, 1818 – July 16, 1882)

There has been all kinds of nasty rumour and speculation about the mental state of the 16th President’s First Lady. In today’s parlance she would be understood as someone who was bipolar, a manic depressive who was a shopaholic. When her husband died, she was $38,000 in debt (about a half million dollars in today’s money). She got taken advantage of when she tried to sell her ballgowns and family correspondence. She was made a laughing-stock of…

Again, this chart was already on my computer program. I won’t correct it because the main issue is highlighted by the placement of the Moon (12th House conjunct to Cancer Rising).

Moon in the Twelfth House

You are rather unwilling to talk about your feelings with others, because you feel that they won’t understand you or won’t think well of you. Often you feel that no one should see the real you, but that is not true. You are perfectly all right inside, and your only real problem is that you don’t realize it. You may think that your emotions keep you from being what you want to be, but again that is because you won’t accept yourself as you really are.

You have a great need for emotional security, but you often feel you won’t get it. You feel strongly that the people you depend on will let you down when you need them most, whether or not this is true. But even though it is difficult for you to trust people on an emotional level, you do like to help others. You may pretend that you are not really generous and helpful, but in fact you are. You are very sensitive and can put yourself in someone else’s position quite easily, and when you know how someone feels, you are not willing to hurt them. You go out of your way to avoid unpleasant emotional scenes.

Often this position means that you like to fantasize and daydream. The world inside your head is very large and interesting, and you may prefer to spend all your time there instead of in the outside world where everyone else is.

Moon Conjunct Ascendant

You make an impression on others largely through your emotions. People always know how you feel about something, because you make no effort to hide it. Some may accuse you of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but most people will like you for it. You have the kind of honesty that others appreciate. This aspect means that you understand how people feel, and you can make them see your point of view. You sympathize with others, and in turn they are sympathetic to you. When you are older, you will be able to appeal to the feelings of the public at large, who will feel that you are one of them. Politicians, salespeople and others who appear before the public often have this aspect in their charts.

When looking at a couple’s combined charts, I try to see if there are any points of connection. Well, of course there are between Abe and Mary, and the one that stands out as the most important is that Abe’s Jupiter is conjunct Mary’s Pluto/Midheaven conjunction. The second significant connection is Mary’s Saturn is conjunct Abe’s Mercury on his Descendant. (And let’s not forget his Mars being conjunct her South Node: they reincarnated together.)