Incest - Mackenzie Phillips

Teenage Star Mackenzie Phillips has returned to the public eye with yet another confession about her past.

Mackenzie says that she carried on a 10-year drug induced sexual relationship with her Father, Mama & Papas founder, John Phillips. I haven't read much about the details so I may not have them correct. But it seems that a lot of the public reaction to her situation is disbelief, or annoyance. I think I read that John began sharing his drugs with his daughter when she was around 13 or 14. Then one day when she was 18 she passed out and woke up to notice that her Father was raping her. That's one bad story. Makes one wonder what this woman's Saturn looks like in her chart...

As I was trying to research Astrological Indicators for Incest I was sort of amazed by the weird reactions people are having to this situation. For one, Confessional memoirs are so Pluto in Sagittarius. For two, everyone's sort of fed up with Mackenzie. It's her Chiron Return so she's all about licking her unhealed wounds. And Pluto is passing over her natal Saturn so the wound's going to be infected right now. Ick. 50-year old women are supposed to be over themselves, not squeezing the puss out from under old scabby wounds. And, frankly, Drug Addicts' stories become really annoying.

But, I am very interested because there was incest in my family. I sort of used to say that although my Father couldn't really be considered that great of a Father, he gains points just from the fact that he was probably the first man on his side of his family who didn't rape his daughter. I'm also interested because, as usual, I'm finding that a lot of Women Astrologers are in denial about dealing with this topic. They're sort of saying that Mackenzie was responsible for what happened. Addicts will sleep with pretty much anybody so there's perhaps something to that, but so will rape victims, it just sets something off in a person.

Either way, with a conjunction of Sun-Mars-Neptune in Scorpio in Mackenzie's 4th House, one might expect to see MacKenzie living in a house with some problems in this area. She would be sort of compulsive about losing boundaries. This is also a very good aspect for growing up in an artistic or musical environment in which creative fantasies are indulged. One would hope to find a well aspected Saturn in the chart (which symbolizes a strong Father figure) in a chart with this aspect to ground this aspect which "likes to get high". Here she literally acted out (Sun-Mars) for reallsies every Taboo (Scorpio) a Father and Daughter can have (Sex and Drugs).

Mackenzie's chart shows that she might have problems with self-esteem, both too much as well as too little. Sun in Scorpio, Moon in Aries is a pretty positive force with almost too much self-esteem (as compensation, this seems to often be an oldest child aspect of a dysfunctional family) . However, Moon-Venus-Saturn t-squares might be hard-working they suffer from inferiority complexes which can turn into control issues.

Mackenzie's Father left her Mother around 1962 when Mackenzie would have been around 2 or 3 years old. If the split happened during or around Age 2 then Mackenzie would have been going through her first Mars Return which could account for how inflamed the Sun-Mars-Neptune conjunction influence has become in her life. It seems that he left because he was having an affair with Michelle Phillips. They married and he became a famous singer along with his new wife in the group "The Mama's and the Papa's". At some point John couldn't handle wife #2's infidelities so they divorced. Mackenzie moved in with her Father, started taking drugs, and became a famous working actress around the time that she was 13 and 14. Her drug habit got her booted off the TV show One Day at a Time. Dad and wife #3 were heavily abusing drugs and at some point they divorced. Mackenzie started her affair with her Father Age 18. The affair lasted 10 years until she would have been around Age 28.

These ages are really interesting from the Astrology stand point as they all happen around the cycles related to a big, difficult t-square in Mackenzie's chart between her Moon, Saturn, Venus and her Nodal Axis over the Aries Points of Aries, Libra, Capricorn in the 3d, 6th and 9th houses of Mackenzie's chart. That certainly explains the early success and frequent public exposure of her family problems. This also shows a torqued out nervous system and perhaps vulnerability to depression. It also shows that she expresses her feelings through her work most easily.

This t-square has an apex Saturn at 4 degrees Capricorn. Saturn directly shows one's relationship with one's Father. It is in its own sign here so Mackenzie's would have a strong need to have a (traditional) relationship with her Father. Interesting the Moon and Saturn rule the 1st and 7th Houses of her chart, that's the relationship Axis.

The big part of the t-square is Mackenzie's opposition of Moon 1 Aries to Venus 2 Libra which is set on top of her Nodal Axis 2 Libra. This is a very tightly aspected t-square. Aries-Libra is all about relationships and Venus and Moon show the two female planets which are challenging each other. Both Venus and Moon are stand-out planets in her chart as well. Venus is a singleton in Air Signs. The Moon is the chart ruler, is the most elevated planet in the chart and is the handle of a bucket configuration.

So what's interesting here are the dates of Mackenzie's relationship with her Father as they relate to the cycles that coincide with this t-square. Interesting that the return cycles of the planets and point involved in a t-square with apex Saturn are so related with her Father (ruled by Saturn). Saturn even rules Mackenzie's 7th House.

• She moved in with her Father at Age 13-14. This coincides with the first progressed Moon (Family, Mother) and Saturn (Father) oppositions.
  
• Her sexual relationship with her Father began at Age 18. This coincides with the Nodal Return which is layered over the Moon-Venus opposition. Her 18th Solar Return chart actually has a Lunar Return as well which further amps up that 1 Aries Lunar family vibe.
  
• MacKenzie ended the affair at Age 28. This is the time of her secondary Progressed Moon Return/Saturn Return. She was also having a Nodal Opposition.
  
• Currently, she is revealing this part of her troubled life as transiting Pluto is passing over natal Saturn.

Since the Moon and Saturn both represent family and parents one can see that Mackenzie has a strong need for a stable family life, something which her childhood lacked. The t-square shows challenges for anything having to do with traditional family values.

Scorpio Sun-Aries Moon is very competitive personality. I read a pretty mean comment given by Michelle Phillips about Mackenzie's motives for exposing her incest relationship which she (Michelle) sees only as a way of making money. No compassion coming from that angle, for sure. That's one nasty step-mommy comment. So it looks like Mackenzie had at least one mean step-mother in her past. Sounds like Mackenzie had some lessons in cut-throat competition for Father's attention from very early on. And, on the other hand, it looks like her Father was perhaps trying to make up for his lack of being able to act as a Father. Sick as it was.

Mackenzie Phillips
b. Nov. 10, 1959 9:35 pm Alexandria, VA

Sun 18 Scorpio; ASC 27 Cancer; Moon 1 Aries; MC 13 Aries; NN 2 Libra