Women's Right to Vote

Astrology of suffragettes

As a woman and an American citizen, it's unthinkable that I would be barred from voting in any election. Yet it was only in 1920, when women were granted the right to vote - by the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. That's less than 90 years ago!

So in honor of the 2008 presidential election, and to commemorate the outstanding activists who fought for women's rights, we'll delve into the astrology charts of suffragettes Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt. Without them, who knows when women would have been given the same rights as men to participate in a presidential election.

Susan Brownell Anthony
Born on February 15, 1820, Anthony was an influential advocate for the rights of women and African Americans. Not surprising, she had Sun, Mercury and Jupiter in Aquarius, the sign of the reformer. Plus, her Moon, Venus, Pluto and Saturn conjunct in Pisces indicated a powerful emotional nature ruled by compassion. Her destiny as a civil rights leader couldn't be more obvious.

Her Aquarius placements made her strong-minded, progressive and stubborn. Typical of Mercury in Aquarius, she was mentally precocious, having learned to read at age 3. And because Jupiter is the planet of faith, her activism stemmed from her spiritual path, as indicated by Jupiter in Aquarius. Most important to her destiny, her Uranus ruler gave her a powerful platform on which to campaign for equal rights.

Family ties
Fortunately for this rebellious Aquarian, Anthony was born to parents who were unusually progressive for the time. Her father was an abolitionist, while her mother was active in the women's rights movement. When a public-school teacher refused to teach Anthony long division because she wasn't a boy, her parents decided to educate her through home-schooling. Anthony learned to value equality at an early age. She quickly learned also that women were anything but equal to men in the eyes of society, especially when it came to work, salaries and political power.

Early days
In 1849, before the Civil War, Anthony began to capture the public's attention as a member of the anti-slavery and temperance movements, where she spoke out against both slavery and the abuse of alcohol. She was 29 years old and in the throes of a Saturn return, a time of testing when one's destiny often becomes apparent. Then in 1852, at the Woman's Rights Convention in Syracuse, New York, she joined the fight for women's suffrage, arguing that "the right women needed above every other... was the right of suffrage." Later on she would become the proprietor of the weekly paper, The Revolution, which promoted women's issues.

Fate
One of the best examples of her Aquarian nature happened in 1872. Defying the current law against women voting, she attempted to register to vote in Rochester, NY and was surprisingly allowed to do so. She then proceeded to vote in the federal election. The election inspectors accepted her vote. However, two weeks later, she was arrested, indicted and fined for alleged illegal voting. Nothing, it seems, could have deterred this unstoppable Aquarius. Anthony worked tirelessly for women's rights until her death in 1906.

Carrie Chapman Catt
Catt also played a pivotal role in bringing women's suffrage to the United States. One of her greatest accomplishment was founding the League of Women Voters. But unlike Anthony, she lived to see the day when American women got the right to vote.

Catt was born on January 8, 1859. Although she had Sun in pragmatic Capricorn - very different from Anthony's idealistic Sun in Aquarius - she shared Anthony's compassionate Pisces energy, having Moon, Mars and Neptune in that sign. Catt's practical nature was motivated by a profound sympathy for the suffering of others.

Anthony and Catt
The two women became close colleagues, and in 1900, Catt succeeded Anthony as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. With Saturn in Leo, part of Catt's karmic destiny was to lead a cause close to her heart. And with Venus in visionary Sagittarius and Jupiter in communicative Gemini, her destiny also included teaching others about equality. Interestingly, Catt's second term as president of NAWSA, from 1915 to 1920, would see her hard-fought goal of women's suffrage come to fruition with the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Catt fought for women's rights throughout her life as an organizer, teacher, reporter and leader, until her death in 1947. She and Anthony, along with scores of other activists, were instrumental in advancing women's rights in the United States and abroad.

The Planets
So what was happening astrologically in 1920 that secured a woman's right to vote? Mainly, two planets set the stage for sweeping social changes. Pluto, the planet of transformation, was in Cancer, the sign of womanhood. This influence was responsible for destroying outmoded social dogmas and empowering women with greater rights. What's more, Pluto was trine Uranus, the planet of change, which assisted in awakening the need for more equality between men and women.

We hope that you will recognize how many souls, not only Anthony and Catt, dedicated their lives for all of us to have the right to vote. With that in mind, we hope that you will exercise that privilege throughout your lifetime.

Cortney Litwin is the co-host of the Cosmic Sutra on KarmaSolRadio, an online talk show featuring astrology and dream interpretation.