Jacqueline Auriol was a French aviator who set several world speed records.

Auriol had the Sun in Scorpio, a sign noted for passionate intensity and the capacity to find inner reserves of power within themselves in order to survive the most difficult situations. This is no ordinary Scorpio, however. She has the Moon in Leo, a placing noted for leadership qualities, dignity and endurance. Pluto, the ruling planet of Scorpio is conjunct the Ascendant meaning that Auriol would have to go through the deepest transformation imaginable at some point during her life. The Sun itself is the apex of a T Square, which tends to create someone with an extremely strong sense of self. She would have strong vitality and a powerful life force, a born leader with tremendous determination to go her own way whatever the situation or opposition. As the Sun is in Scorpio, Auriol would be strong and courageous, capable of channelling powerful emotions with tremendous staying power. There are similarities with the chart of Margaret Thatcher who also had a T Square apex Sun with Moon in Leo and a powerful Pluto.

The T Square was formed from an opposition between Saturn and Uranus running from the cusp of the 3rd house to the 9th house. Both of these houses rule travel and Uranus in the 9th points to a very unconventional form of distance travel. The whole pattern points to someone who can be an extremist with all or nothing behaviour. Given this level of intensity its easy to see Uranus as high speed flight. Saturn in opposition would bring serious problems, limitations and massive obstacles to confront, but this would add to her determination to overcome them and to succeed in her chosen field.

When a chart is so obviously dominated by Pluto through its rising position and rulership of the very prominent Sun sign, the powerful turning point on which the whole life revolves would be when Pluto made its first aspect to the Sun, a square in 1947-48.

Auriol had married Paul Auriol, son of Vincent Auriol who become President of France in 1947. Jacqueline’s function, as a famous beauty, was to socialise in Paris. She started to learn to fly in 1947, gaining her first pilot’s certificate in 1948. She took part in a competition flight between Algiers and Dakar and demonstrated her skills at the Paris air show.

Auriol’s Sun, is of course the apex of the T Square at 13 degrees Scorpio, Saturn is at 14 degrees and Pluto was conjunct Saturn in 1949 when she was sitting next to the pilot in a twin-motored hydroplane as it crashed into the Seine. She was badly hurt, with severe facial injuries. The press announced that the most beautiful woman in Paris would be permanently disfigured. It seemed that Saturn had dealt a final blow to her ambition. But Auriol had other ideas, and after 33 reconstructive operations she emerged with a new face and a new determination to conquer the air.

The third planet in the T square is Uranus at 20 degrees Aquarius, Pluto was in opposition to Auriol’s Uranus from 1950-53. In May 1951, Jacqueline Auriol became the fastest woman in the world, flying at 818 kilometres an hour The next year she became a national heroine by improving her time and a year later became the first woman test pilot. In August 1953, she became the first woman to break the sound barrier.

There is more however, In 1959 as Pluto was conjunct her Mars, Auriol flew at twice the speed of sound.

Pluto’s passage through Auriol’s T Square was the crucial watershed period of her life and was the time that all of her Scorpio passion, inner resources and determination was needed to survive the crash and emerge phoenix like from the ashes to fly faster than any other woman in history.

In her own words “Truth is with me when I fly … I know that only life and death are important.” Spoken like a true Plutonian.