by Jude Cowell, partisan for the common good
Presenting a portrait of the charming Maria (Hadfield) Cosway, wife of painter Richard Cosway, and object of a lovesick Thomas Jefferson, envoy to France, whose romantic letter to the married lady dated October 12, 1786 is a famous relic of the long-ago yearning of our third president, the attributed author of the Declaration of Independence - for the lovely Maria Cosway.
Below Maria's portrait you see Mr. Jefferson's natal horoscope (1:53 am LMT) surrounded by the Lovesick Letter's planets at noon, Paris, France with astro-notes including Maria Cosway's noon natal planets (June 11, 1760, Florence, Italy) penned around the outside of the bi-wheel and highlighted in pink. The same bi-wheel is shown again with absolutely no astro-notes messily penned on, none at all.
By Richard Cosway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; watercolor over graphite on paper; 1785
So as you know, Mr. Jefferson's Lovesick Letter was sent to his unavailable yet fetching romantic interest and as you see, Maria Cosway's musical Mercury-Venus conjunction in sparkling Gemini is listed on the chart, lower right corner, as is the Zodiacal range of her natal Moon (16Tau56 to 1Gem56) - all highlighted in pink. Notably, the two corresponded until Thomas Jefferson's death in 1826, Maria passing away on January 5, 1838, age 77.
Jefferson Natal/Lovesick Letter Planets:
Same Bi-Wheel unmarked:
It's Thomas Jefferson's Midlife Crisis!
As you see, transit Uranus in Cancer opposes his natal Uranus in Capricorn (1st house) which identifies the period of Mr. Jefferson's midlife crisis when an individual tends to behave in uncharacteristically different or erratic ways than usual. Our natal sign of Uranus describes behavior so here he's acting Cancerian rather than his typical Capricornian style - one sign ruled by the emotional Moon, the other by business-like Saturn.
Uranus in Capricorn: concentration upon ambitious aims; in Cancer: urge to break away from one's native country; wanderlust; meeting strangers (R. Ebertin).
Additionally, his natal Moon in Cancer conjuncts his partnership angle (Descendant) so that his midlife crisis naturally involved emotional excitement of one kind or another - in new alliances met, but also through his relocation to Paris as an envoy, and the exciting lifestyle changes that came along with the higher social status position. Plus, Paris is where he met the charming Maria Cosway and became smitten!
Now in closing, we should mention another prominent contact: happy, sociable Jupiter Rx @19Tau33 conjunct Thomas Jefferson's natal North Node 19:27 which denotes new associations and meeting what is perhaps a new love interest. Even "marriage" can be a possiblility with Jupiter-NN, but as we know, the talented Maria Cosway was already married to artist Richard. Yet with transit Jupiter at his Nodal Degree, it may have seemed that their meeting was fated - and perhaps it was. After all, they remained "pen pals" for years, as mentioned, above.
We should add to this the fact that Jefferson's natal Mars in Leo hints at "unbridled passion" (R. Ebertin) and his Mars conjoins Maria's natal Neptune, a pairing made for romance - and for rose-colored glasses. Plus, the date of his Letter times a conjunction to his natal Pluto in sexy Scorpio by the romantic Venus-Mars midpoint which emphasizes strong passion!
Okay, that's it from me. You'll spy other contacts between the charts, I'm certain, and you may wish to adjust the timing of any or all of the horoscopes herein. It's interesting to me that their hopeless romance occurred during Mr. Jefferson's midlife crisis as did his sojourn in gay Paree, and I hope that a dear reader such as yourself finds it interesting as well!
Note: Here's a view of Thomas Jefferson's chart and birth data which is now listed as RR-X "noon", however, the Doane-rectified timing of 1:53 am LMT is used here. Adjust as you wish, share if you may!
