It’s just been announced that a previously undiscovered manuscript form Enid Blyton has been found after a collection of her writings were auctioned by her eldest daughter in September last year. Back in the news, I decided to have a look at the celebrated children’s author.
Enid (or Mary as she was christened) was born in East Dulwich, South London on 11th August 1897. We don’t have a definite birthtime, however if you know certain details about a person in advance, you can make an educated guess. Enid was born with the Moon either at the end of Capricorn or at the start of Aquarius. Her creative career suggests to me an Aquarius moon rather than a Capricorn one, maybe right on the cusp itself. We do know she made her fame & fortune from writing, so the Jupiter/Mercury (Jupiter adventure - Mercury communication & writing) conjunction most likely should be in the 2nd house of personal finance, which pulls the Moon (all her emotions) into the workaholic 6th house – she was prolific writing more than 500 children’s fiction novels. Just a couple of details and the rest of the chart falls generally into place. I estimate that she was born around 3.30am, although anyone reading should not take this as gospel truth.
Ok, we have a “rectified (adjusted birthtime) chart. A sun sign Leo and ascendant suggests a very proud, almost pompous and selfish lady – even more so as most of the planets are located in the Eastern hemisphere of the chart. there was an element of me, me, me about her .The only exception to this is the Aquarius moon (just in Aquarius) so Enid through her work needed to be creative and of service to humanity in general. She would have a bright character which would come out into her writing. The Moon in the 6th house as I mentioned before is the workaholic position, able to hold down many jobs at the same time, I would guess she had several novels on the go simultaneously.
Her writing skills are shown in the 2nd house with Jupiter conjunct Mercury in Virgo. Here is a person capable of writing adventure stories in great detail. The square to Pluto from Jupiter in suggest a lucrative career in this, the square to Mercury suggests probing beneath the surface, an interest in mysteries and secrets (two of her book collections were called the Barney Mysteries and the Secret Series – how apt!). This square forms a Thor’s Hammer formation with the Moon. All that control and writing ability had to have a creative outlet. I have seen this formation in writer’s charts before (Tom Stoppard had one with Mars at the point). Where did the imagination come from? Neptune in Gemini (communication again) indicates a child like dream-world that she lived in; the house position gives the key to how that dream-world came out in her stories, the 11th house rules friends, groups and associations; she wrote about the Famous Five, the Secret Seven. That imagination was heightened by a square to energetic Mars and a sextile to her Sun.
Mars in the 3rd house conjunct Jupiter/Mercury shows great energy in communicating especially in teaching, she studied to be a nursery teacher and opened her own school. Mars was also square Pluto giving her a drive to be in control of the organisation. Venus sits unconnected by major aspect in the 12th house in Cancer, she would be deeply attached to her family and heritage, although with a cool Aquarius moon, maybe she just to addicted to her work and so just couldn’t show it. We know that one of her daughters called her “uncaring”.
Her father was apparently very creative, a painter, a poet, linguist and musician. Saturn one of the indicators of the father) sits with Uranus in the fifth house of creativity. This conjunction is square the Sun, often an indicator of a split with the father and true enough Enid’s parents split when she was young and she moved to live with her mother. The Uranus/Saturn placing is also interesting. Enid’s work has always been criticised as simplistic, Saturn tends to blunt the quality off the creative product produced. With the Moon conjunct the descendant, one can see the influence of her mother on her life, even if the relationship (opposite ascendant) would have been problematic.
Taking the chart on after her death in 1968, the Solar Arcs do show that there may be a renewed interest in Enid’s work with the discovery of this new manuscript. Solar Arc Jupiter/Mercury has progressed to oppose natal Venus in the hidden 12th house, love of her work rediscovered, Neptune opposes her Midheaven so her creative work is highlighted again, and SA Sun and SA Mars have progressed to respectively square and trine the Jupiter/Mercury conjunction, so there is new energy for her writing. Even beyond her passing, I suspect her work will go through a renaissance, especially as Neptune enters dreamy Pisces in a couple of months time as we look for a more gentle, imaginative way to educate our children.