How much of Oprah's life could have been read, or even imagined, by an astrologer looking at the chart of a child born to a poor single black female in the American South in 1954? Oprah's astrological chart does shows her ebullience, warmth, guts, and staying power. Her chart also shows how she can seem so natural and accessible, yet have the fierce drive it took to gain control of her own production company. Can her enormous earning capacity be seen in her chart? And what does Oprah's chart foretell as we all head for the next century?

Oprah has a very integrated chart with aspects which show both enormous stress and great talents. It is the ability to weave together the easy and difficult aspects of her chart which makes her so effective. Oprah's TV show resonates with the American public because astrological themes in Oprah's chart echo themes in the U.S. chart. Her astrological ties to the U.S. chart indicate that she is like a bellwether of American culture. The optimism and good fortune of a strong Jupiter combined with the hard work and struggle shown by a Sun square Saturn are among the fascinating astrological parallels between Oprah and the U.S.

Oprah Gail Winfrey, an Aquarius, was born on January 29th, 1954, at 7:50 pm in Kosciusko, Mississippi*. We'll look at some key features of her chart which illustrate her amazing personal potential. Just as we saw Bill had an unusually prominent Moon and O.J. a dominant Mars, with Oprah we'll see the role of her determining planet Mercury. We'll follow how planetary movements in the sky impacted Oprah's birth chart, illustrating how astrological timing can reflect changes in our lives. We'll also see her chart's tight connection to the U.S. chart, and how they are linked as we cross into the 21st century.

SUN-VENUS: WARMTH & CHARM

The most unusual thing about Oprah's chart is an extremely rare exact conjunction of the Sun and Venus in Aquarius. Both her Sun and Venus fall at 10 Aquarius, or more precisely at 9 degrees and 39 minutes of Aquarius.

Although the general rule in this book, for clarity and simplicity, is to round off the degrees in the charts, in Oprah's case we make an exception. It is worth looking at the exact degrees of her Sun and Venus, because there is a special astrological significance for two planets which are in such exact conjunction: Oprah's Sun-Venus are "cazimi," indicating complete fusion. This cazimi aspect fuses the vitality of Oprah's Sun with her Venus desire for love and beauty, a passionate combination. This conjunction gives social talent, warmth and charm; having the conjunction in the social sign of Aquarius helps Oprah relate to a broad range of people. Since her Sun-Venus is placed in her creative 5th house, but, at the very edge of her 6th house, she uses this charm and social talent as showmanship (5th house) in her daily work (6th house).

The positive qualities of Oprah's Sun-Venus cazimi are accentuated by a rich pattern of interwoven aspects. Oprah's Sun-Venus trines her Moon and sextiles her Jupiter. This combination of her Sun-Venus with her Moon-Jupiter (personal identity, love, emotions, faith), is a buoyant, extravagant, joyous mix.

This pattern (Sun-Venus-Moon-Jupiter) also ties in with her Midheaven, and so it is not surprising that she has reaped great rewards (Jupiter) in a communications career (Gemini Midheaven). Her Sun-Venus conjunction also falls on the U.S. Star of Integrity, linking her with the cultural issue of balancing one's personal self-expression with the broader social needs of the community.