Mary Poppins’ creator P.L. Travers had been successful in her career, but at age 40, when she was offered a set of twins to adopt, she felt she could only take one.  Should she do it?  And which child to take?  Who could answer this kind of question but an astrologer?  She consulted L. Edward Johndro half a world away and listened to his advice.

The Poppins books contain many magical elements, and these grew out of Travers’ world view.  She had worked as a Shakespearean actress and newspaper columnist in her native Australia before moving to London in 1924 at the age of 25.  There she met George William Russell (also known as AE), the editor of the Irish Statesman.  Through him, Travers explored Celtic mythology and Eastern religions, and met Yeats and other metaphysical thinkers.  She became interested in Theosophy and followed Krishnamurti, studied with Jung in Switzerland and was even a disciple of Gurdjieff, whose consciousness-raising program included fasting, labor and dances.  Travers loved Romantic poet William Blake, another original thinker who was also interested in astrology.

Uranus conjoined her Ascendant in Sagittarius, and Pamela was a seeker who identified with esoteric subjects.  Uranus trining her Venus in Leo in the 9^th shows her love of writing and study, as well as her phenomenal worldwide success.  The Sun in Leo conjunct the Midheaven and Mercury in Virgo in the 10^th house, both dignified, clearly signify her many achievements.  She had a formidable horoscope with an equally notable life and personality.

Despite her prominent Leo planets, Ascendant-ruler Jupiter is placed in the 12^th house in Scorpio, turning her inward and attracting her to imaginative work and occult studies.  Her biographer, Valerie Lawson, shared that she had a reserved personality and “valued anonymity.”

Her early life had been difficult.  Saturn was rising and part of a tight T-square with her Moon in Virgo conjunct the 11^th house cusp and Pluto in the 7^th, showing a notable disruption and maybe even questions of survival.  Saturn traditionally rules the 4^th house relating to home and family, and its modern ruler Uranus also comes to her 1^st and  squares Mercury.  Travers’ father died when she was seven and she was raised by an older aunt.  While her mother had some family money, her uncle lost much of it through mismanagement.

Travers was concerned with finances as an adult, and Saturn-Pluto is quite security-oriented, especially with the T-square involving the Moon in Virgo.  She must have had anxieties but was probably a disciplined writer.  Her son’s oldest brother Joseph Hone, writing critically, said that she was “steely, self-centered and very controlling,” and added that she was “a contrary, divided, hypochondriac of ambiguous sexuality.”  The Moon in Virgo also shows her attraction to the discipline of Gurdjieff’s “work,” and Hone added that Guardjieff advised her to take an enema a day!

A friend was the grandfather of six children abandoned by their parents.  Pamela travelled to Ireland to visit the twins and consider adoption in October of 1939.  Camillus was better-looking but crying, and she wasn’t sure.

Travers’ mentor AE was later an adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose one-term Vice President Henry Agard Wallace also worked with L. Edward Johndro.  So AE may have recommended Johndro.  Pamela wrote to the astrologer, who did both charts to help her decide.  (She must have had their times of birth, which we do not.)  Johndro soon wrote back to recommend Camillus, saying that “All in all it would be a rare thing to find better cross rays between a child and its OWN mother.  So I would say, by all means, ADOPT HIM.”

Camillus was also a Leo, with his Sun conjunct Travers’ own.  Not only that, his Sun, Mercury, Venus and Pluto all in Leo fell at the top of his adoptive mother’s chart.  His Moon, whether in Leo or Virgo, did the same, so there was much common ground.  And they unfortunately also shared hard Saturn-Pluto aspects.  Camillus’ Saturn was almost exactly square Pluto, and Saturn also conjoined his South Node.  He had learned the lessons of survival in infancy, and was underweight, underdeveloped and in and out of hospitals for a few months after Travers brought him home.

Pamela was born on a first quarter Moon, and Camillus on a new Moon.  While they had issues (particularly the fact that she hadn’t told him the truth about his birth), they remained on “more or less friendly terms” throughout their lives.  But according to biographer Lawson, Travers gave Mary Poppins a dramatic full Moon at birth!

And while Camillus was fortunate in his adoption, he had drinking problems throughout his life as did his twin Anthony, who he didn’t meet until he was 17.  Anthony died an alcoholic at the age of 65 while Camillus lived six years longer.

Pamela became wealthy in the 1960s from the Mary Poppins Disney film.  Beginning in 1976, she was a consulting editor and contributor to the magazine Parabola, which addressed mythology.  She left over ₤2 million in trust for her son and grandchildren when she died in 1996 at the age of 96.

Mercury was one of her most notable planets and her fame came through her writing.  In 2018, a crater on Mercury was named for her!

Frances McEvoy obtained Travers’ birth data from her according to Astrodatabank.  Though it may be rounded-off to noon, her life does seem to resonate with this time.

Emma Thompson convincingly portrayed a curmudgeonly Saturn-rising Travers in Saving Mr. Banks.

Valerie Lawson did excellent research for her biography of Travers, Mary Poppins, She Wrote.

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