Mata Hari Birth Chart Reading: 20th Century Slayer

From a 20th Century slay to a convicted double agent, it was no surprise her birth chart was speckled with Scorpio themes: Mars as her ruler planet, Scorpio in Jupiter in the ascendent, Pluto in her sensitive 7th house and Venus in the deep 8th. But despite w

hat popular notions have led most of us to believe, according to Charles River’s Mata Hari: The Controversial Life and Legacy of World War I’s Most Famous Spy, she was far less interested in the political climate of her days and more interested in the heat pulsing in men’s snickers—lit to flame her rapturous desires of fame and fortune. Her only crime was living a life she desired, even if it meant manipulating the most powerful men in sight. Consequently, Mata Hari ’s unwavering, unorthodox extremities gained her the magnetism of a sex kitten while simultaneously gaining her a reputation as “Becky with the good hair.”

Having the steamy sign of Scorpio as her rising, fits a woman who used her sexual prowess to get ahead of the game.  A badge she unabashedly wore, a blown pride I believe Jupiter in her first house is responsible for and wherever he sits is where you’re likely to abuse his gifts or powers, especially if he is afflicted. MH’s Jupiter shows tensed aspects with 4 planets in Leo in the 9th house of journeys, beliefs and philosophies. Her way of life(Scorpio rising + 9th house beliefs) was accentuated by the egotistical, fame-hungry sign of Leo. Since Mars is her ruling planet this was a very influential combination as it conjuncts  her sun(goals and ego), mercury (thoughts). To add, Uranus, known as the rebellious one in the cosmic family, known to seek individuality, shows the specialization and the uniqueness of her career—she was pegged as someone who turned the controversial trade of stripping into an art form by combining it with an “oriental” flavor. The down side is that she was more attuned to the planets lower energies, which indicated how the motivations of her 9th house planets was the base for Jupiter in Scorpio in her 1st house’s incessant manipulations.

The planet of expansion surely gave her a voracious appetite for sex. Despite often being considered a man-eater, it was a sexual feast for all involved. When we look at her opposite 7th house of relationships, we see Pluto in Taurus sitting with a smirk.

Pluto works twofold in her house of relationship. She lured and manipulated powerful men of high position (Pluto) and wealth(Taurus). The planet’s seductive qualities in the 7th house created mutual manipulation. Sex was the name of the game, her most powerful commodity in exchange for wealth and fame. While she gained the attraction of famous and rich men, Pluto being afflicted also attracted envy and distaste from others. For the same reason she was adored, she was also despised. Some believe her as a fraud, using the oldest trade and fluffing it with oriental frills, seeing right through her illusions(penetrating Pluto).

Pluto’s qualities of evolving showed up in the revolving sexual liaisons of her 7th house. Without heeding his lessons, the square to Mercury (communication) in the 9th house (publication) caused her reputation’s downward spiral in the media from adoration and marvel into sucker punch and bitch-slap reviews. “The false image of her created in the paper showed her as glamorous, marvelous, bewitching, and magical, but it also described her as utterly heartless and cruel.”(Rivers)

However, it’s important to look at the bottom of her chart to get an idea of Mata Hari’s inherent disposition. We not only see the seeds of her grandiose and deceptive nature, but the hidden nature of her personality. Pisces (sign characteristically filled with illusions and glamour) is at the cusp with Saturn(is the father in the chart + is considered the planet of restriction) and her moon sitting conjunct. According to Rivers, she was born in bling, spoiled by her father. She had become his trophy child to flaunt his wealth. He was considered a dandy and in later years, after he had lost his fortune (strongly effecting her as she was sent away afterwards), he used her, on more than one occasion, to reclaim and advance his own status.

With Pisces illusory influence here, it further contributed to the fantasy she gave to the world about her cultural origins. In order to support herself after a miserable failed marriage to a high ranking Dutch officer in Indonesia, Margeretha Geertruida Zelle born in a provincial town in Holland constructed an identity of an exotic Javanese dancer named Mata Hari.  A character she used as the base for the thick layer of tales she carried on for her entire career. It fed the extravagant life she lived, glamorized the performances, clothing and overall aura associated with her fame, further veiling and distorting her deepest desires. These same tales caught up with her when she was tried for selling secrets to German officials.

The fourth house of foundation is important on its own to see the shape and inner nature of the individual. In her case, it is given more significance because Venus is in Cancer, thus her values and relationships are strongly connected to this house as the sign of Cancer is the natural fourth house ruler.

Venus in Cancer is the lover who wants the comforts of marriage, home and family. With it in the 8th, it is influenced by the characteristic of Scorpio—deep and intense love, the natural ruler of the 8th. But since her fourth house has Saturn there conjunct her moon, this means her emotional desires were not met. She lacked the emotional nourishment she craved and valued. This is evident when her father lost his fortune and she was sent away at a young age to live with relatives. After her mother passed away shortly, her desires to live with her father were denied by his new wife. The lack of nourishment and foundations continued to crumble with her first marriage to a man who was cold, drunk and abusive. Though, Venus in the 8th house does promise wealth given from a partner or spouse, a promise granted by the powerful and rich men with which she formed relationships, Venus being in cancer in the 8th house in combination with a scorpio rising shows her emotional desires were intense, but with Saturn conjunct her moon, was restricted.

Something so emotionally personal doesn’t turn vapor, instead manifest in other ways. According to Rivers, [Mata Hari] “remained emotionally needy for men as they proved sexually needy towards her.” With Scorpio in her first house, her lens on the world darkened.

However, Scorpio does not play victim. She plays dirty! Considering the signs deepest desires for intimate bonds (and the bad luck she’s had with those bonds)plus with all the afflictions to the influencing traits of Jupiter, it created the femme fatale she was infamous for. Despite the surrender demonstrated in her seductive craft, this certainly played in ways that fed her illusions of grandeur in her 4th house and her hunger for partnership and love (Scorpio ruled chart).

With a complete spirit of abandonment to her performance and turning tricks, she rose to the celebrity status she desired, attracting both lovers and haters, but by the silly twist of fate, the phantasmal life she lead ultimately became her own demise when her own thread of lies was used against her to pin her as an alleged spy.