Pallas in Taurus shows a keen awareness of the physical world, and may imply a talent in handling money, the visual arts, beauty, music, and gardening. Under stressful aspects, the physical senses may be blocked in some way, judgment is thrown off, and bad choices made in practical affairs. Favorable aspects bestow common sense and a highly sensual nature.
Amelia Earhart (July 24, 1897; 11:30 pm; Atchison, KS) presents the archetypal Pallas figure since it's placed right on her Taurus Ascendant where it squares her Leo Sun. Pallas also opposes Chiron in the seventh house, which describes her complex relationship with her partner George Putnam. Mars is exceptionally dynamically placed, and her prominent Pallas allowed her to personify this courageous side of her psyche.
Earhart reflects the androgynous nature of Pallas. She was selected by Putnam and others to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as much for her innate ability as her uncanny resemblance to Charles Lindbergh. She undertook and completed the perilous journey June 17-19, 1928 as transiting Mars and Jupiter were conjunct her Pallas-Ascendant.
With Pallas in Taurus as her muse, Earhart turned her flying exploits into cash. Putnam published her book, while she endorsed Lucky Strike cigarettes, women's clothes and sportswear, and embarked on a highly profitable lecture tour. Earhart became the stuff of legend when she disappeared on July 2, 1937 during her flight around the world. At the time, her progressed Pallas was standing retrograde while only 0º12' from opposing Chiron.
Pallas in Gemini uses the spoken and written word to express creative ideas and visions. This position favors debating, writing, and public speaking. Under stressful aspects, the mind can become argumentative, narrow-minded, or confused; over-emphasis of facts loses the heart's perspective. Under softer or favorable aspects, poetic phrases, story-telling and a love of knowledge are often evident.
William F. Buckley (November 24, 1925; 5:45 pm; New York, NY) was born with Pallas conjunct his Gemini Ascendant, making him a classic example of this placement. He gained notoriety for his facility with words, his fondness for debate, and for founding the arch-conservative political magazine National Review. Pallas's exact sextile to Neptune added imagination which he applied to his spy novels.
Pallas is under significant stress here, which pushed Buckley to use his knowledge and erudite phrasing as a political foil. The opposition to Mercury is readily seen as a verbal sparring with his guests in the PBS show Firing Line, while the square to Uranus often produced spontaneous, witty remarks. Uranus is in faith-oriented Pisces and rules his ninth house of religion, perhaps explaining why Buckley often felt a need to defend his Catholicism.
Buckley's conservative political views were absorbed whole-heartedly by Ronald Reagan, a keen student of the National Review. Buckley promoted Reagan's election in 1980 and wrote the blueprint for his legislative agenda, including supply-side economics and the Strategic Defense Initiative. Buckley's Pallas was retrograde at birth, but by the time Reagan was elected, it was turning direct by secondary progression.
Pallas in Capricorn tends to be a strong supporter of the patriarchal social order, and fosters a talent for being materially and professionally successful. Stressful aspects can indicate a gold-digger or someone who uses others for their own selfish interests. Favorable aspects indicate a high degree of competence, management ability, and an ability to manifest visions into practical forms.
Hedy Lamarr (November 9, 1914; 7:30 pm; Vienna, Austria) was born with an ethereal Moon-Neptune conjunction in regal Leo. Since these two planets rule her Ascendant and Midheaven, they shaped her as one of Hollywood's most glamorous actors in the 1930s and 1940s, where she was often billed as "the most beautiful woman in the world". Her Moon-Neptune opposes the earthy Pallas in Capricorn, giving her a shrewd understanding of show business.
Pallas is enhanced by a sextile to Mars in Scorpio, which gave her a boldness in life and in her films. In 1937, she made a daring escape from her controlling husband, an Austrian arms manufacturer who disapproved of her acting career. By 1941, while she was making some of her best films, she submitted an invention for a secret communication system, for which a patent was issued on August 11, 1942.
While her frequency-hopping device was ahead of its time, it's the basis for today's digital communications, as in smart phones and wifi networks. At the time she was issued the patent, her progressed Mars and Pallas were semi-square (orb 0º11'), showing how her creative intelligence was put into use to design a torpedo that couldn't be jammed by the Nazis.
Pallas in Pisces sees through the material world to grasp reality via imagination, visions, and fantasies. Under stress, one can put too much emphasis on the dream world and lose connections with what's real and what's not. Favorable aspects give a rich spiritual life, perhaps as an enlightened warrior. Talent in the arts is often present, specially when grounded by Saturn or earth placements.
Athina Onassis Roussel (January 29, 1985; 2:50 am; Neuilly sur Seine, France) was born with Pallas in Pisces where it forms a close trine to her Scorpio Ascendant. Naturally, her Greek mother (the daughter of shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis) named her after Greece's most famous goddess, Athena. After her mother died in 1988, Athina and her vast inheritance came under the control of her French father, Thierry Roussel.
With Pallas conjunct Venus and Mars, Athina had an idealized relationship with her father. However, at 17, when Athina's progressed Pallas was conjunct Mars, she left her father to attend riding school in Belgium where she met her future husband, Alvaro de Miranda Neto. From that point on, the father-daughter relationship changed dramatically. Note that Pallas is also square Uranus in the 2nd house of money.
Her father had seized control of her inheritance since she had given him power of attorney. In October 2004, her lawyers met with her father's lawyers to reclaim control of her inheritance. Transiting Pluto squaring her natal Pallas reflected the psychological anguish over fighting about money with her father. However, her progressed Pallas and Saturn were exactly trine, and she successfully completed the deal.
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