The Rise and Fall of Martha Stewart
by Ronnie Gale Dreyer
Entrepreneur, perfectionist, and domestic goddess are all words and phrases that have been used to describe Martha Stewart, a savvy businesswoman who built a multimedia empire of magazines, syndicated television shows, and products based on a penchant for hard work and being the perfect hostess. To see why Stewart’s chart is so powerful, and why she is currently experiencing difficulties ranging from plummeting stocks to possible conviction for obstruction of justice, we begin with the lagna, or ascendant.
Born on August 3, 1941 at 1:33 pm in Jersey City, New Jersey, Stewart has Libra rising, and with it the ability to charm others, and use her beauty, harmony, creativity, and diplomacy to her advantage. She learned early on how to cooperate, please others, and create an allure so that others are mesmerized by, and drawn to her. As a teenager, Stewart rose above her working class background, and earned extra money by modeling in New York City, a bus ride away from her home in Nutley, New Jersey. Later, she attended Barnard College, and graduated in 1962 as a European and Architectural History major. While there, she met and married (in 1961) Andy Stewart, a law student who eventually became a successful attorney, and gave birth to daughter Alexis in 1965. How appropriate that all this took place in the Dasa of her ascendant lord, Venus, a natural benefic and karaka of love and marriage. However, Venus Dasa alone (1947-1967) could not reap its benefits in Martha Stewart’s life, unless Venus itself was powerful and well-placed in her chart.
The planet that rules the ascendant shows you where your destiny lies and how you go about fulfilling it. If it is strong, and you experience that Dasa early in life, as Stewart did, the confidence and power it instills when young will last throughout adulthood--despite other roads that may lie ahead. In Stewart’s chart, Libra’s ruler, Venus, is placed in Leo in the eleventh house of gain, which makes her attractive, regal, and self-assured (Leo), yet completely focused on achieving financial success (eleventh house). Since proud, tough, and efficient Leo likes to be in charge, Stewart probably makes everyone feel as if they are an integral part of her team, while never relinquishing control. It is that fantastic managerial ability that has brought her millions, and made her the centerpiece of her vast empire, and it is that very same quality that is giving her difficulties now.
Additionally, Venus is in Leo’s Navamsa, its vargottama position (same sign in both the Rasi and Navamsa chart), which adds another dimension of strength (some say an exalted-like quality) to her chart ruler. Lastly, Venus falls in the nakshatra of Purva Phalguni, ruled by Venus, further emphasizing the power of Venus and the eleventh house in this chart. Because Sun and Rahu, two natural malefics, surround Venus she has to take care that ego (Sun) and greed (Rahu) do not sour her sweetened image.
The condition of the Lagna Lord’s dispositor (the planet ruling the sign in which Lagna Lord is placed), and the house, or area of life, it occupies are important considerations for the individual’s direction in life. In Stewart’s chart, the Sun rules Leo in the eleventh house, where Venus is placed, and it occupies the tenth house. If the dispositor and its house are strong, as they are in Stewart’s case, success in that area will be forthcoming, especially in the Dasa Period connected with it. With the Sun placed in Cancer, representing home, family, and domesticity, in the tenth house of career and status, it is no wonder that she built her reputation on being the perfect homemaker and hostess. The Sun gets directional strength (dik bala) in the tenth house, further strengthening the tenth and eleventh houses, which it occupies and rules. The tenth house is further fortified due to the multiple yogas found there. A Dhana (prosperity) Yoga is formed by the combination of ninth lord Mercury and eleventh lord Sun, and a Raj (status) Yoga is defined by the ninth house ruler (Mercury) placed in the tenth. The Sun Mercury combination also forms a powerful Budha Aditya yoga, providing public exposure, business acumen, financial sense, and strong mental capabilities. Mercury is far enough away from the Sun, so that there is no combustion to dim the affairs of Mercury, namely communications, commerce, and business.
From 1967-1972, during the Dasa of Sun, Stewart worked on Wall Street as a stockbroker, and then moved with her family to affluent Westport, Connecticut. It was there that she started a catering business in 1975 (during the Dasa of Moon, her tenth house lord and natural karaka of home and food), earning a reputation among the area’s rich and famous for combining gourmet cooking, which Stewart taught herself, and a unique, creative arrangement and presentation. That little business eventually snowballed throughout her Moon (1973-1983) and Mars Dasas (1983-1990), and became the multimillion-dollar lifestyle empire (consisting of products, magazines, books, and a syndicated television show) that turned Martha Stewart into a household name.
Since Mercury also rules the twelfth house of moksha (liberation) as well as loss and self-undoing, Stewart’s phenomenal success has always had the potential of crashing in mid-air, and attracting enemies who had the potential of engineering her downfall. As we shall see, her greatest enemy, as represented by the twelfth house, is and always has been simply herself.
As strong as Stewart’s Sun is, that is how troublesome her tenth house lord Moon is in the context of her chart. Due to the fact that it is an isolated Moon (Kemadruma Yoga), and falls in the destructive Nakshatra of Moola, with its Rasi Dispositor, Jupiter, in the eighth house with Saturn, and its Nakshatra Dispositor, Ketu, in the sixth house with Mars, it is obvious that Stewart would be insensitive to not only the needs of others, but to her own needs, leaving her, at times, with an inability to really understand her relationship to the public, or to others. In fact, in a recent interview she expressed complete surprise that there were many people who simply did not like her, and who may even wish her harm.
At present, Stewart is in the midst of her Rahu Dasa, which runs from 1990-2008. In general, Rahu, the dragon’s head, is compulsive, greedy, industrious, and needs to be in control at all times. The planetary period of Rahu, or Moon’s North Node, has the potential to bring whatever you desire, especially on a material level, as long as you remain focused, single-minded, and dedicated to the task. By the same token, if you let greed and power overwhelm your good sense and compassion, there may be disaster down the road. While the excessive, compulsive, and voracious dragon’s head tends to gobble everything in sight, those influenced by it have to remember to ultimately give back to those who helped along the way, as well as those less fortunate than themselves.
If you start Rahu Dasa (as did Stewart) climbing to the top, you may indeed reach it, but somewhere in the middle, if you are not careful, you may lose it all before the Dasa ends. This applies perfectly to Stewart who began Rahu Dasa in 1990 with a bitter divorce, followed by her already successful business going public in 1991, and emerging as Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., solidifying her expanding media empire.
In Stewart’s chart, compulsive Rahu occupies the twelfth house of secret enemies, loss and redemption, as well as foreign travel, spirituality, compassion, and liberation (moksha). It is placed in service-oriented, fastidious and perfectionist Virgo, ruled by Mercury, and in the nakshatra of Uttra Phalguni, ruled by the Sun. At first glance, it may seem questionable why that position would bring her the type of fame, success, respect, and adulation that she accrued in Rahu Dasa, but if we dig a little deeper we will see that Rahu’s roads lead from the twelfth to the tenth house, and back again.
Because the Sun and Mercury, Rahu’s sign and nakshatra dispositors (planets that rule Rahu’s sign and nakshatra) occupy the tenth house of recognition, achievment, career and status, this area becomes the focus of Rahu’s compulsive desires. Additionally, Rahu is placed tenth from the Moon, and its Graha Arudha, also falls in the tenth house. (To calculate the Graha Arudha (planet’s reflection), we advance the planet in question to the position of its lord, and then advance it the same number of places. Since Rahu rules Aquarius, we first advance Rahu six places from Virgo to Aquarius, and then another six places from Aquarius to Cancer. The Graha Arudha of Rahu is, therefore, in the tenth house.) With the tenth house looming so large, it is almost fated that she would be wildly successful in Rahu’s dasa, or that her success would eat her alive.
But Rahu Dasa’s greatest significance lies in the fact that in the eight-planet Chara Karaka scheme, Rahu is the chart’s Atmakaraka, the planet that has traveled the farthest within its sign, that is, whose degree is the highest longitude. Because Rahu travels retrograde, we calculate its longitude in the reverse direction, so that at 0 Virgo 37, Rahu has traveled 29 degrees 23 minutes through Virgo. As a result, Rahu’s longitude is greater than the other grahas.
The Atmakaraka planet is the master of the chart, and always presents life’s greatest lessons. When you pass through the Dasa of your Atmakaraka, life’s challenges, obstacles, and rewards are that much more revealing. If those lessons are learned properly they will prepare you for the ones that follow. If those lessons are ignored, they will come back to haunt you again and again, forcing you to take notice until you get it right. Those lessons will inevitably arise in the area in which Rahu is placed in both the natal chart, and the Navamsa chart, where the Atmakaraka position is known as the Karakamsa. In Stewart’s chart, Rahu’s position in the natal twelfth house, and the Navamsa eleventh house says it all.
I have found that people with Rahu as their Atmakaraka are at some point in their lives, especially during their Rahu Dasa, confronted by actions caused by their own excess, addictive behavior, voracious appetites, power, or greed. Their greatest challenge is knowing when to stop, and when to give back. Like many people with strong Rahu placements, Stewart’s Rahu Dasa has provided success and fame beyond her wildest dreams. On the other hand, she is now facing her toughest challenge, and even risks losing all that she has earned.
Although the tenth house reveals the area that compulsive Rahu pursues, the Dragon’s Head is nonetheless situated in the clandestine twelfth house of secret enemies, that is, people who both befriend and work against you at the same time--wittingly or unwittingly. Furthermore, your secret, and greatest, enemy, is often our very own selves, and the illusions that tend to color our world, and mar our decision-making process. If you are in a position of wealth and power, as is Martha Stewart, you must be especially strong to resist Rahu’s temptations during its dasa cycle by striking the balance between amassing wealth and eventually letting go of it at the same time. She should always be careful in whom she places her trust, and above all, should always tell the truth. As fate would have it, she has not been indicted for insider trading, but for obstructing justice by lying in a federal investigation.
This position promises achievement and power, followed by loss, and ultimately redemption, self-awareness, and humility. Even if it turns out that she has done absolutely nothing wrong, her life and her empire will never be the same, and by the end of Rahu Dasa she will embark on a road very different than the one she has traveled thus far.
Stewart is presently in Rahu Dasa, Venus Bhukti (November 12, 2001-November 2, 2004), which places a normally successful eleventh house Venus in the twelfth position from Rahu, and reminds us that a planetary sub-period must always be judged in relation to its Dasa Lord. While Venus was in its glory during its own Mahadasa, its relationship to Rahu will be the defining factor during its Bhukti, further accentuating this period’s twelfth house flavor, and bringing out Rahu’s natal position in the twelfth house. Shortly after Venus Bhukti began, Stewart traded her ImClone stock (on December 27, 2001), which plummeted several days later. Whether or not she had insider information prior to the trade, despite her claims that she did not, is what is at stake here, and her friend Sam Wacksal, President of ImClone, has already been convicted of this very crime to which he has confessed. This one ill-fated move on Stewart’s part will cast a dark shadow over the coming years, and she is likely to lose much of what she has gained during Rahu Dasa in both assets and reputation.
Stewart’s most difficult challenge should come between August 2003-September 2004, when Jupiter transits Leo, and no longer occupies, and therefore protects, her tenth house of reputation. Saturn will remain in Gemini until September 2004 and, for the first time since the end of 1997, Jupiter will once again be two signs away from Saturn. Without Jupiter alongside it to offer some protection, as it had been from July 2002-August 2003, Saturn in Gemini is free to wield its malevolence on the ninth house of authority and justice, which it occupies, as well as the sixth house of open enemies, humiliation, health, and litigation, which it aspects. Due to these new transits, it looks like Stewart will indeed be fighting with the Justice system (ninth house), and her enemies (sixth house) for the duration of Jupiter’s transit through Leo, and Saturn’s transit through Gemini.
From September 2003 through April 2005, the Nodes (which have been transiting her second-eighth houses in Scorpio and Taurus from February 2002 through September 2003, thereby downsizing her stocks and net worth) will be straddling her first and seventh houses, creating a constant battle between herself and the public, and she will have to answer even more to her shareholders who have already lost a great deal of money. All in all, it will not be a pleasant period for Stewart.
Her one salvation is that from August 2003- September 2004, Jupiter in Leo will be placed ninth from her natal Moon, which classically speaking, is one of the best positions for Jupiter to be in. Whatever happens, Stewart will indeed be spending the next year working just as much on her reputation as on her legal defense, and in trying to salvage whatever assets she has amassed.
Once Stewart gets beyond 2004, she will be in Rahu Dasa, Sun Bhukti (November 2, 2004-September 27, 2005), and may be able to rebuild her reputation. After all, Sun is placed in the tenth house, and will be in the eleventh, rather than the present twelfth, position from the Dasa Lord. But this will be the same time that Saturn’s transit through Cancer (September 2004-July 2007), which is eighth from the Moon, will restrict the tenth house, and hit her Sun, ruler of the eleventh house, and Mercury, ruler of the ninth and twelfth houses. At the same time, Saturn will aspect the twelfth house, and the Nodes will park themselves in Pisces-Virgo, her sixth and twelfth houses, from March 2005-October 2006.
While most people think this means that she will go to prison, I am not so sure of that, though there will certainly be loss, isolation, and mental or physical debilitation. Instead, she may use Rahu’s twelfth house influence to retreat from the public eye, and completely regroup by dedicating her life more and more to community service and charitable organizations. If Rahu in the twelfth house does not completely devour her, she could spend the last part of Rahu Dasa restoring her reputation and by its end starting a new life path, with new life lessons to learn and to teach others.
Because she has amassed so much, and has such a strong ability to alter her image, Martha Stewart should be able to survive these next few years, but only if she is truthful, and admits to making mistakes. Otherwise, the twelfth house will offer up isolation and loss rather than compassion and liberation, especially if more secrets and misdeeds come out of the closet. Although her reputation will continue to suffer (guilty or not), and her financial empire will continue to lose money, there will be redemption. Only then will the Rahu period have served the purpose it has set out to do.
(This article uses True Nodes and the Krishnamurti
Ayanamsa, which, differs from Lahiri Ayanamsa by 3-5 weeks when computing
Vimshottari Dasa.)
Note: A shorter
version of this article, originally written in November 2002, appeared on www.astroved.com.
It has since been lengthened to incorporate Martha Stewart’s indictment on June
4, 2003. In that original article, I
indicated that her most difficult was still to come in August 2003, and that
things would be fine as long as she told the truth.