I was remembering the therapist who’d helped me out of a funk over 20 years ago. Over the better part of a year, I learned she was a wise woman with a strong character. I only recently found that she’d been called to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee! A surprise, though it made sense since this difficult experience certainly made her more grounded and strengthened her ideals.

I met Eleanor through a blind referral from my HMO. Saturn was on my Ascendant and many things seemed difficult. But I felt comfortable with her right away. She spoke softly, was a good listener, and always gave me some sound advice to consider or a practical, constructive action to take. I talked about being an astrologer and she shared that she was a Taurus. She was always sensible, reliable and supportive. It seemed inappropriate to ask more since she always kept a professional distance.

(Photo is of Eleanor and her lawyer at the McCarthy hearings.)

I did think that she had some Aries, since she had occasionally become impatient with me when I wasn’t seeing the bigger picture. She once referred to the years of World War II, so I knew she was older than she appeared. And I also thought she had some mutable placements, as she encouraged me to be assertive but also understood when to let go and adapt.

When I recently looked her up online, I found Eleanor’s birth date and discovered that her Sun, Venus and South Node all conjoined my Ascendant, creating a resonance between us and explaining why I had found her at this time, as we shared the Saturn transit. Her Jupiter trined my Mercury, so she calmed my fears. Her Saturn trined my Moon and she helped me stabilize my emotions and resolve my issues. She also had a Libra Moon like both of my parents, and her Jupiter and Saturn in Virgo seemed to increase her helpfulness and practicality.

The only other thing that turned up online was a photo of her with her attorney as she was being interrogated by Senator Joseph McCarthy and attorney Roy Cohn as a young woman in 1953. Her life had an element of destiny to it. I had been in the right place at the right time to benefit from her experience, and she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and was forced through a frightening and potentially life-altering situation.

Eleanor had gotten a job right after college with the Army Signal Corps labs in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, where her older sister also worked during World War II. Eleanor subsequently returned to school for her MSW, got married and worked at various counseling jobs.

A decade later, during the Red Scare, Eleanor and her sister were called in to testify and asked for the names and addresses of their co-workers, friends and associates. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had been executed only a few months before. Rosenberg had also worked at Fort Monmouth, and Eleanor’s sister had dated a close associate of his who had fled the country several years earlier.

Cohn and McCarthy were relentless in their questioning of Eleanor, her sister and their husbands (who knew nothing first-hand of the events or relationships). Eleanor answered that she’d never been a spy or involved with espionage, but pled the Fifth Amendment many times so as not to incriminate herself. Eleanor and her family were variously threatened with contempt, perjury and further legal action.

Despite being a minor witness, Eleanor’s photograph was taken by an AP reporter and reprinted in Life magazine and newspapers across the country. I’m speculatively placing Neptune on her Midheaven for the press’ misinterpretation of her role and her career as a counselor. Scorpio rising would highlight her personal reserve, and places her Taurus planets in the 7th house of relationships. Her Libra Moon would then fall in the 12th, giving her empathy and the ability to work for large institutions like the HMO.

Eleanor’s most notable chart pattern is a probable T-square with her Moon, Mercury and Pluto. This may certainly show the tough circumstances she faced due to her sister’s previous relationship. But it also indicates resilience and the ability to put down boundaries, called into play when she faced Cohn and McCarthy. I always think of those with notable Pluto aspects to the lights as survivors.

At the time of her testimony, an astrologer could have told Eleanor that all would work out before too long. There were no close aspects from the outer planets, which are associated with longer-term issues and challenges. Transiting Saturn was opposing her Sun (showing the difficult situation with authority figures), but would soon pass. Transiting Mars had just conjoined her Saturn, probably helping her say only what was required. The North Node had squared her Sun and would go on to square her Nodes in a few weeks. But Jupiter in Gemini was at an exact station and closely trined her North Node, providing a release.

No charges were ever brought against the former Fort Monmouth employees. Six months after the sisters’ testimony, the McCarthy hearings were televised, leading to the Senator’s decline in popularity. He was censured on December 2, 1954, and died a few years later at the age of 48 (biographers suggest from alcoholism).

Eleanor and her sister continued their lives as therapists and counselors. Eleanor lived to 98 years old and her sister to 96! Her obituary was short and to the point, calling her “a remarkable woman who cared about family, people, social justice, and made a difference in the world.” I’m sorry I didn’t get to know her better; she made a big difference to me. Astrology helped me understand why.