Girl Power!

Over the last few years, teen grrrls have had several role models to look up to on both the big and little screens, including Keri Russell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Claire Danes and Reese Witherspoon.

So what do these four young women have in common? They were all born under the sign Aries, and exhibit qualities such as a pioneering spirit, an ability to seize the moment and an independent streak that personify the warrior-like sign of The Ram. Being the first sign of the zodiac, Aries types are known to be fearless folks who love to say "I did it first!" and exhibit bravery and a willingness to go where no man (or in these cases, young woman) has gone before. Aries is ruled by the planet Mars, which is associated with a sense of passion and urgency that up until recently was (unfairly) associated with men alone, not women.

Keri Russell of TV's Felicity portrays an intelligent, poised, compassionate college student, and in real life she shows the same independence, smarts and understated hipness that her popular character does.

Sarah Michelle Gellar has become a major star thanks to the huge success of her show, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Like Buffy, Sarah is a pioneer (she was one of the first of the "teen sensations" of the late '90s) who seems like just a regular gal at the same time. No wonder girls everywhere relate to her.

Claire Danes is a real risk-taker. In the mid-90s she portrayed Angela on MTV's (the ultimate teen network, before the WB!) My So Called Life. It took a lot of guts for the lovely and sensitive Claire to expose the "I don't fit in/I'm so awkward/I hate the way I look" inner life that every teenager (and many adults!) can relate to. Since then, she's come into her own as a powerful young woman in thoughtful blockbusters like William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (opposite heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio) and Brokedown Palace.

And Reese Witherspoon, who first impressed audiences and critics in 1992 in the coming of age movie Man on the Moon, really came into her own in arguably the most adult teen movie of the late '90s: Election. She showed her versatility when she played opposite her (now) husband Ryan Phillippe in the huge hit movie Cruel Intentions, an updated version of Dangerous Liaisons with a cool young cast (Gellar was also in this film).

Fast Starters

All four of these young Aries stars hit their stride when two key planets were in their sign. Saturn is the planet that rules hard work, discipline, structure and finding one's place in the concrete world. This industrious and focused planet went into brave and bold Aries in April, 1996. Saturn moved out of Aries and into Taurus in June of that year, but slipped back into Aries in October, 1998 (the same fall season that Felicity premiered).

Jupiter is the planet of good fortune, expansion and boundless opportunities. This-high spirited (and very youthful-feeling) planet joined Saturn in Aries in 1999, a highly successful year for all four young stars. But in mid-February 2000 the "Aries cycle" ends, when Jupiter joins Saturn in slow-moving (Venus, not Mars, ruled) Taurus. What will these girls do then?

Aries people are known to be great at starting things, but they find it much more challenging to follow through and keep a high level of energy going for a long period of time. In looking at the charts of these four fiery young women, and the upcoming transits  of the planets in the sky, here are some thoughts about what the future might hold for them.

Following Their Passions

Lucky Sarah Michelle Gellar (born April 14, 1977) has a Jupiter return  (when the generous planet returns to the exact degree it was at at the time of her birth—this happens for all of us about once every twelve years) in July, 2000. Sarah's Jupiter is in Gemini, sign of the great communicator, and the writer. She may end up writing a screenplay with a bud a la Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and we all know how successful that venture turned out to be for those boys!

Claire Danes (born April 12, 1979) won’t have her Jupiter return until summer, 2002. Her Jupiter is in Cancer, the most family-oriented sign. Don't be surprised if she weds her long-time beau, rocker Ben Lee. But this Aries is also likely to benefit, career wise, from Jupiter and Saturn passing through Taurus, the sign with the most patience, during the first half of 2000. These powerful planets make a trine (smooth, natural aspect) to Claire's Saturn in Virgo, another diligent earth sign. She may get hold of a great screenplay, just as Winona Ryder did with Girl Interrupted, and develop a future Oscar winning film.

Keri Russell (born March 23, 1976) and Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) are born just a day apart, and both grrrls will be experiencing a transit of Pluto (planet of major emotional transformation) to their Neptunes (the planet that rules dreams and movies!) at the end of 2000. Starring roles in deeply personal films seem very likely for both these Rams.

Whatever they end up doing, one thing’s for sure: These four young Aries women have changed the face of pop culture at the turn of the millennium and have given girls around the globe role models to look up to.