When Mary Poppins premiered, Pluto and Uranus were conjunct (next to each other) in Virgo, both opposite to Saturn in Pisces. In this section, we will be looking mostly at the Uranus-Pluto planetary archetypal complex and also at the Uranus-Saturn dynamic. We will not be focusing on the Saturn-Pluto dynamic since we explored that dynamic at play in Chicago (Marshall, 2002). Hand (1978) relates that Pluto in Virgo is associated with new ideas regarding work, duty, and methods of healing which are not orthodox, and Uranus in Virgo relates to new ways of working. We can see these themes elegantly expressed in Mary Poppins. Neptune was the only outer planetary player that was not involved in the dance, but Neptune was in Scorpio, in the eighth house. Scorpio and the 8th house are both ruled by Pluto, and so we can see that the movie’s themes of using nonordinary states, the imagination, and art (Neptune) to reveal the truth in service of transformation (Pluto), are evident in this planetary archetypal placement. Hand (2001) explicates that love, and individual regeneration through the occult and physical and psychological techniques are also highlighted by this Neptune in Scorpio placement.
I will use the date of April 16, 1910, as Mary Poppins’s time of portrayal because the cherry trees would be in bloom, and April 16 would fall on a Saturday, the most likely day for George to be interviewing nannies. I will assume that Mary came into the Banks’s lives on that day, and will use 8:00 am as the time in calculating the astrological chart for the time of portrayal. [link to chart]
On this day, April 16, 1910, Uranus was in Capricorn opposite Neptune in Cancer, the same planetary archetypal complex that we discussed at length in the "Introduction to the Kaleidoscope of Culture" chapter. This Uranus-Neptune planetary archetypal complex was also the major player in the Disneyland chapter. In April of 1910, Saturn was in Aries square to Neptune in Cancer, and Saturn was also square to Uranus in Capricorn. Pluto was in Gemini and was inconjunct or 150° from Uranus. Hand (2001) says that this inconjunct or quincunx aspect (as it is also called) represents “a situation that seems to arise spontaneously in the environment and that forces one to make a fateful change that affects one’s later life” (p. 29). As we will see in Mary Poppins, this is exactly what happens on several occasions during the movie to George Banks. On this particular day, the sun was conjunct Saturn in Aries, and the Moon was conjunct Neptune in Cancer. Jupiter was in Libra. Astrologer and therapist, Lisa Dale Miller (personal communication, March 5, 2005) notes that these planetary archetypal dynamics mirror the dynamics between the four major characters in the movie. She also points out that in the spring of 1910 there was a grand cross configuration in the sky, involving Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, and Uranus. These planets were all in the cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, respectively, and were all approximately 90 degrees from each other.
L, D. Miller explains that George Banks is the unrelational male [Saturn in Aries] and his suffragette wife Winifred [Uranus in Capricorn] represents the future. George Banks is opposed to Winifred, since she represents a fear of a loss of power for him. George is also at cross purposes with Mary Poppins, who represents the idealized mother and unconditional love; also Mary’s nonordinary play focuses on the heart [Neptune in Cancer] while Bert, representing the archetypal good father is the fully relational joyful male [Jupiter in Libra]. Bert and George are almost opposites, and the planets that represent them Jupiter in Libra, and Saturn in Aries are opposite to each other in the heavens. Pluto, being inconjunct to Uranus is the fateful chaos that Mary engineers through her imaginal pilgrimage to the cathedral in the “Feed the Birds” lullaby. This awakening of consciousness in the children changes everything, causing the upset and chaos at the bank, out of which a new order is born, with George’s transformation.