Astrology and The Addams Family: Venus and Mars in Scorpio
They are creepy, creepy and mysterious. I’m sure you know them. They have visited you at home on your TV and you may have seen them at the movies too. They are The Addams Family. So what do they have to do with astrology? The characteristics of the planets and zodiac signs can be easily learned by examining the archetypes that embody them. Archetypes can be found in mythological tales and in our pop culture figures. Often the transit of a planet makes me think of a modern character in a book or TV show who embodies the qualities of that planet and sign. The current transit of Venus and Mars in Scorpio immediately makes me think of The Addams Family, particularly Morticia as Venus and Gomez as Mars.
Scorpio rules the eighth house of the birth chart. In traditional astrology, the eighth house has to do with the occult, metaphysics, the paranormal, sex, death, taxes, and inheritance. Scorpio is ruled by Pluto. The characteristics attributed to Pluto are intensity, power, destruction, resurrection and transformation. A spooky ancestral home decorated with the macabre and mysterious, housing a family possessing intense passions and morbid tendencies living off boundless wealth hidden in the basement is the most perfect example of Scorpio 8th house symbolism I can imagine.
The Addams Family Movie was released to the public on November 22, 1991, under the appropriately Scorpion influence of the Sun, Mars, and Pluto transiting in, you guessed it, Scorpio! I’m sure the transits of those planets in the sign of Scorpio increased the popularity of the film and the audience’s enjoyment of the actors’ portrayal of the spooky family that so many of us love. Not all movies based on popular TV shows live up to the hype, but I know The Addams Family lived up to mine. Raúl Julia and Anjelica Houston were wonderfully cast as Gómez and Morticia. I’ve seen the movie several times over the years when I wanted to set the Scorpio mood for the Halloween season.
Mars is a planet of action and physical vitality. It is a masculine planet and represents sexual energy in matters of love. When Mars is in the fixed water sign of Scorpio, passions can run deep and both lust and anger can flare up dramatically. Mars in Scorpio may have its own moral code of conduct and rules for living. When someone breaks those rules, it’s an invitation to take action. When Mars in Scorpio believes in something or someone, they believe to the end and can be completely devastated if they are deceived or betrayed. In the movie The Addams Family, Gomez is completely convinced that Fester is his long-lost brother; he cannot allow himself to believe otherwise. When Gomez is playing with swords, visiting his basement full of money, destroying model trains or succumbing to Morticia’s icy charms, he is representing the essence of Mars in Scorpio. Obsession is a quality of Mars in Scorpio and Gomez is obsessed with his family. Above all, he is obsessed with Morticia. As he watches her sleep, he says, “Look at her. I’d die for her. I’d kill for her. Either way, bliss!”
Venus is a planet of physical comfort, beauty, and pleasure. It is a feminine planet and represents affection in matters of love. Scorpio is an intensely emotional water sign that struggles with issues of control and exposure. In love and in all relationships, Scorpio prefers to have the upper hand and know more about the other than he is willing to share about himself until he feels it is safe to do so. Venus in Scorpio can be jealous, protective, intensely loyal, and secretive. Clandestine romance, love triangles, and unrequited love are negative relationship patterns that stem from Scorpio’s fear of exposure and intimacy. These three types of relationship have at their core the distance and the lack of total participation. Sometimes Venus in Scorpio takes an all-or-nothing approach: If Venus in Scorpio can’t have exactly who she wants, she won’t have anyone. Yes, for all the reputation Scorpio has as the sexiest sign in the zodiac, they can actually seem pretty cold on the surface. Despite her minimal outward display of emotion, Morticia radiates a deep passion, carefully tucked into her tight dress and graceful control of her. Morticia is the coolest and most self-possessed woman. She is also a perfect example of social etiquette, which Venus in Scorpio values. Her manners are impeccable and she considers the needs of others, even if her values are a little skewed, as when she warns her mother, “Shut up, mom! It’s for charity! Widows and orphans We need more of them.”
Of the twelve signs of the zodiac, Scorpio is the only sign that has clearly different characteristics between the sexes. Scorpio women are more comfortable in the realm of emotions than Scorpio men. They are better able to contain sensitive emotions when they choose not to express them. Not all Scorpio men can reconcile the softness and sensitivity of Scorpio’s feminine water energy with the stereotypical strong and dangerous Scorpio bad boy image they think they should project. When a Scorpio man feels too much emotion, he can release it in the form of anger rather than risk appearing vulnerable. Many Scorpio women are the coolest, most laid-back ladies you’ll ever meet. They prefer to wait and watch and patiently attract others through intention, like a spider in a web. Like Morticia, the less they talk, the more they seem to say, especially with those expressive eyes. A Scorpio woman has powerful family instincts. Morticia walks and talks with Fester through the family cemetery to instill in him the importance of her family’s history. A female scorpion is such a good mother that she can take care of baby scorpions that don’t belong to her. A Scorpio mother can be protective, but she rarely smothers her children. Although she may have her own strict Scorpio rules, she encourages her children to be strong and think for themselves. There’s a scene I love in the movie The Addams Family where Wednesday, stalking Pugsley with a knife, walks past Morticia, who’s at the kitchen table. Morticia stops Wednesday and asks, “Is that for your brother? I don’t think so.” She frees Wednesday from the knife, but gives him a much larger and deadlier-looking weapon. That is empowering! Morticia may seem unaware of her children, but she doesn’t miss much. Venus in Scorpio is receptive, intuitive, and able to know what others are thinking or feeling.
For an in-depth astrology lesson on Venus and Mars in Scorpio, watch the movie The Addams Family and pay special attention to the patriarch, Gomez Addams, and the matriarch, Morticia Addams. Together, they show us the masculine qualities of Mars in Scorpio and the feminine qualities of Venus in Scorpio: two halves of a passionate whole. Gomez asks, “Are you unhappy, dear?” Morticia replies, “I am very unhappy, my love.”