The Astrology of Mary Shelley and her Legacy through Frankenstein

looking at the astrology of our goth queen and savior

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley left behind an indelible legacy through her groundbreaking novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, a hallmark of the science fiction and horror genres whose imprint continues to reverberate through the zeitgeist and media to this day. Shelley was born August 30, 1997, at 11:20 PM in London, England, and holds an AA Rodden rated chart, indicating that the recorded time of birth comes straight from family records, birth records, and/or a birth certificate. Shelley lead a remarkable life as a writer, producing a number of works, as well as a life marked by progressive values, financial tumult, and tremendous loss, but her legacy through Frankenstein largely eclipses the rest of her life. This piece will explore Mary Shelley’s life and legacy through the lens of her natal chart (approached with whole sign houses), as well as the transits that coincide with Frankenstein’s journey into existence and its continued legacy to this day.

portrait of Mary Shelley by Richard Rothwell, 1840

Mary Shelley: a natal chart break-down

From the perspective of the exact time and location of Mary Shelley’s entrance into this world, Cancer was the sign rising at the eastern horizon, with her ascendant placed at 2° Cancer. Co-present in her first house, just 7° away from the ascendant, is her natal Saturn at 9° of Cancer. As Shelley has a night chart, Saturn is her malefic out of sect, acting as the most challenging planet in her chart. Shelley is well known to have lead a difficult life marked by a tremendous amount of loss and death, which certainly aligns with the challenge of having a detriment, out of sect malefic in the sensitive and important first house. In nurturing and maternal Cancer, Saturn’s presence in this position is resonant with her challenging and complicated relationship with motherhood, as she lost her own mother shortly after birth due to complications from birth, and then went on to lose three of her own four children through miscarriage or during infancy.

As a Cancer rising, her natal moon at 27° Sagittarius, in the sixth house of daily routines, habits, work, and service, serves as her chart ruler. Her Sagittarian moon speaks towards her philosophical ideals and political, liberal perspectives that are woven into her writing and overall legacy. Furthermore, both of Shelley’s parents were incredibly progressive for the time and her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was a writer, philosopher, and early advocate for women’s rights. In the natal chart the moon often indicates one’s mother, and in the case of Mary Shelley’s chart the parallel between her moon in lofty, idealistic, and philosophical Sagittarius certainly holds resonance with her own mother.

Shelley’s Sun sits at 7° Virgo as a part of her third house Virgo stellium that also contains Mars, Uranus, and Mercury, an apt signature for a writer known for her ground-breaking, genre-defining legacy. The third house is the place of language, communication, and transmission, as well as learning and education, especially early education. Shelley’s father was a strong advocate for education and tutored his children himself, teaching them a broad range of subjects and going out of his way to expose them to educational experiences and exposing them to the important intellectuals in his own orbit. While Mary Shelley (then Godwin) received little formal education, she certainly received an advanced education, especially for young girls at the time. As a Mercury-ruled sign, Virgo holds associations with writing and editing, integral components of Mary Shelley’s greater legacy not only through her own writing, but she also worked as an editor of her husband’s, Percy Bysshe Shelley, work as well.

One incredibly unique feature of Shelley’s chart is her floating midheaven, which finds its way all the way into the eighth house. While those born at latitudes distant from the equator often have midheavens outside of the tenth house in whole sign house system, very rarely does it venture beyond the ninth or eleventh houses. Shelley is very much revered as a gothic icon and holds associations with macabre themes in popular memory and imagination. The eighth house is certainly one of (if not, the most) macabre places in the natal chart, as it holds strong associations with death and more taboo themes, including sex, and in more contemporary associations, personal shadow and fear, the deep psyche, and the occult. One of the most popular anecdotes (that is, while not completely verifiable, at least somewhat supported by both of their journals) that circulates about Shelley is the story that she lost her virginity to Percy Bysshe Shelley, her future husband, on her mother’s grave…you can’t really make an eighth house legacy more literal than that. However, this placement is also incredibly apt as Shelley’s most impactful and enduring legacy is serving as a pioneer, or even inventor, of the horror and science fiction genres, genres that instill fear and utilize metaphor as a means of confronting taboo societal topics. This particular component also aligns with the midheaven falling in Aquarius, a progressive sign known for its concern with humanitarianism, society, the collective, and even scientific progress. Finally, we cannot look at Shelley’s midheaven without acknowledging the tight conjunction with her natal Pluto. Outer planets can often be quite impersonal in the natal chart, due to their slow-moving nature and generational signatures, however, an outer planet pinned to such a quick-moving, sensitive point such as the midheaven holds a more personal resonance. Outer planets that hold strong connections to an angle can point towards playing an important role or having a strong connection to in themes associated with that planet and the generational signature of the sign it’s in. The significance of Pluto in Aquarius here on the midheaven is twofold. First is the central themes of death, life, and resurrection in Frankenstein. Pluto, itself, is the planet of life, death, and regeneration, while also dealing with power dynamics and confronting truths that lie beneath the surface, which Frankenstein does by asking big questions around abuse of power and the consequences of defying the laws of nature. The second notable significance of the Plutonian signature of Shelley’s midheaven is Shelley’s legacy of creating a ground-breaking genre. Strong, personal Plutonian signatures in a natal chart can often point towards an individual that holds tremendous transformative power. Shelley’s legacy has gone on to shape storytelling as we know it in ways beyond surface level, and is Pluto not, after all, the planet that pulls us beneath the surface? Finally, these placements presence in Aquarius also points towards her importance in the science fiction genre, the messaging concerned with humanity’s relationship with scientific ‘progress’, the proclivity towards playing god, and even the use of electricity, inspired by galvanism, in the roll of awakening Frankenstein’s creature to life.

This glimpse merely scratches the surface on Mary Shelley’s fascinating life and her incredible impact, not only through Frankenstein, but as a ground breaking figure in literature and important figure in feminist history. This is the first of a three part series exploring the astrology of Mary Shelley, particularly her legacy through Frankenstein that has endured for over 200 years and continues to serve as one of the most impactful pieces of literature in modern history. The next installment in this series will explore the astrology of four noteworthy dates that align with the conception of Frankenstein and its publication path towards the novel we know today, as well as the shaping of Shelley’s legacy as it is tied to the novel and its publication.