Natal Chart Analysis: Elvi Gray-Jackson for the Anchorage Press

Twice a month for the Anchorage Press, I plan to write a chart analysis on a person relevant on the citywide, statewide, or national scale, and I will occasionally analyze charts of readers who send in their date of birth with time and place (city, state, country). To send in yours for consideration for a public reading, email at editor@anchoragepress.com and write “Chart Analysis” in the subject heading.

A note on reading astrological charts: a person’s astrological chart is not a definitive guide to how they will behave or what choices they will make in their lifetime. There are truly terrible people who have brilliant charts and wonderful people born with only challenging aspects. A person’s astrological chart simply communicates what raw materials a person has with which to work; the study of astrology can be a lovely contribution to the personal study of self-acceptance. I also find it heartening to observe the charts of the people around us who make up our world. There is benefit, I believe, in simply being thoughtful enough to really spend time analyzing how inclination and desire manifests into a person’s story. May we all revel in our humanity and in the magic of the cosmos that brought us here together in the same sliver of time.

This week, we’re looking at Alaska State Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson, who, according to her chart, was meant to be seen in a leadership role that emphasizes conversations about the human condition. She’s a rule-breaker, not with an intent to cause discord but, rather, as a way to make change by thinking about things in a different way.

The details: Ascendant in Gemini, Sun in Aries, Moon in Aquarius, Mercury in Pisces, Venus in Aries, Mars in Taurus, Jupiter in Taurus, Saturn in Libra, Uranus in Cancer, Neptune in Libra, Pluto in Leo, North Node in Aquarius, Chiron in Capricorn, Midheaven in Aquarius

Gray-Jackson is, essentially, a born politician—born ready to buck the current systems by working within them, ready to serve others through serving herself, ready to tell someone her whole life story without letting them in really. Loaded with cardinal leadership energy, Gray-Jackson has likely had to work very hard to reign parts of herself in to let the others shine; Aries folks, the ego babies of the Zodiac, usually have to learn how to actually see and sit with others and really hear them, even if only to further their own agenda. Theirs is, from the get-go, a conundrum of identity: comfortable in the forest fire, they need to learn to fan away the smoke of their own confirmation bias to both see and be seen.

But before I even look at the Sun when reading a chart, I start at the Ascendant to determine the chart dispositor, which in this case is Mercury, and then I look to see where in the chart that planet lives and what conversations that planet is having with the others in the chart. This gives us not just a sense of identity, which is fluid, but a sense of destiny, which is harder to see for ourselves and also therefore harder to fight. If we look to see where Mercury is in Gray-Jackson’s chart, we see that it is in the 10th house of her public roles and career, which indicates that Gray-Jackson’s destiny is tightly intertwined with the tenets of the 10th house. Because the 10th House is associated with public roles, politics, career, and fame, and because Mercury is the planet of communication and particularly verbal and legal communication, a person with this chart is naturally conditioned to fill a role in a public communications role, be it journalism, the law, or politics.

Gray-Jackson’s public life is a huge part of her identity, which is easy to see as we move through this part of her chart, which illuminates themes of leadership, power, and community. With Mercury in Pisces making a square with the Ascendant in Gemini, Gray-Jackson has likely felt an insuppressible urge to communicate her ideas since she was young, which, with her Moon in Aquarius in the 9th House, are likely aspirational and big-pictured. Debate and idealism are second nature, as is tapping into her intuition to read a room, which is important for someone with her Sun in Aries in the 11th House.

Sun in Aries is fiercely independent—it’s “I” statement in the Zodiac is “I just need to be what I am”— but in the 11th House signals that success for this person is gained in large part by building relationships with more successful people, which is further emphasized by the fact that her MidHeaven is in Aquarius, the Uranian sign of rebellion that embodies beliefs rooted in giving power to the people. It’s an interesting and powerful placement for the Sun in the context of the rest of her chart, because it indicates that while Gray-Jackson’s sense of self is highly dialed in, her identity is directly intertwined with and dependent upon community. Her Sun forms a strong trine to Pluto, which means that power and leadership are central to who she is, and since Uranus in Cancer makes a square with her Sun, she’s interested in being unique and original in that leadership without reinventing the wheel. A person with her chart has been told that she’s powerful, or perhaps intense, for most of her life.

Gray-Jackson exudes an independence and confidence that others are attracted to, largely because her communication style (Pisces) and presentation (Gemini) allow for letting someone else win the battle in order to win the war. She considers both sides of an issue while still moving forward with her own Aries agenda; she knows how to behave as though the stakes are low even when they are high if this is what the interaction calls for, which puts people at ease in the face of her natural sense of conviction.

Interpersonally, a person with Gray-Jackson’s chart might be significantly more guarded; the opposition between Saturn and Venus suggests that while her public self is open and congenial, Gray-Jackson, like any good politician, is cautious when it comes to really letting people in. Boundaries are essential, an understanding that she may have learned the need for from early childhood experiences, which is suggested by Saturn’s placement at the base of her chart.

Emotionally, the Moon in Aquarius longs for novelty and freedom, but observing the square to Mars in the 12th House, Gray-Jackson’s ability to pick her battles within personal relationships has likely been one of the more hard-won learning experiences throughout her life. There’s an in-born impulsivity present in her sky that’s more karma than dharma, so to attain success a person with this chart needs to learn how to focus on the larger goal and cut out the excess noise to which they’re intoxicatingly attracted. With Jupiter in the 12th House, however, Gray-Jackson is masterful at transmuting struggle into success and is aboundingly enthusiastic. There is an expansiveness that she finds through personal transformation.

The Nodes tell this tale in almost too-simplistic terms: The South Node, which is an indicator of a person’s past, or karma, is in Leo in the 3rd House and the North Node, representing a person’s path forward, is in Aquarius in the 9th House. This journey in her chart from Leo, the sign ruled by the Sun that classically can be performative and self-absorbed, in the 3rd House, the house of the “concrete mind,” is on a journey to Uranus-ruled Aquarius, the humanitarian fixed sign, in the 9th House, the house of the “abstract mind.” This North Node, which is also conjunct with Moon in Aquarius in the 9th House, is an indicator that she is a person who reaches her greatest potential through being in the service of mankind, which, because this immediately precedes the 10th house, we can take a step further and say the public service of mankind. Her greatest struggle in this development will likely be to balance out what part of the need for service is the need itself and which is the need of the ego—not an uncommon problem for people who work in public service and also not an uncommon problem for Aries, generally.

In 2022, while Pluto is having its hay day return, transformation and returning power to the people is a national theme, so this balance for an Aries is delicate at best and a minefield at its worse. Gray-Jackson will likely revisit some early life themes this year within her personal life, and April could be game-changing when it comes to career and professional ambitions.