"Her courage will change the world."

To astrologers, it's not surprising that those words were written for Lucy Lawless, an Aries woman. Aries is the Sun sign that's ruled by Mars, the ancient god of war. Aries folks are known for being the human equivalent of bullets, as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford proved. Neither gained her fame and fortune for being especially shy, patient or cooperative. Davis' most cherished possession in the latter years of her life, in fact, was an embroidered pillow that bore the words, "no guts, no glory," a true Aries credo.

Still, Lucy Lawless has taken her sign's love of action, adrenaline and impulse to a whole new level. For the past six years, she's been setting fire to the screen in her role as Xena the Warrior Princess, wearing nothing but leather and armor and wielding, among other things, a chakram, her circular weapon that, consciously or not, was aptly named for an Aries, the astrological "ram." This spring marks the end of the popular show, and leaves Lawless’ fans wondering what she will be doing next.

Okay, so Lucy Lawless is not Bette Davis. Davis probably would have raised one of those famous eyebrows if she'd been asked to strip down to leather skivvies and do battle with a host of fantastical creatures. But both had a less than easy time in their earlier years in show business, due to critics who weren't initially impressed with their skills. Like Davis, through refusing to give up, Lawless found a place for herself onstage, and her birth chart certainly explains why.

Potent Planetary Armor

Born on March 29, 1968 in Auckland, New Zealand, Lawless made her planetary debut to the tune of a New Moon in Aries. This is quite the potent natal "armor" to lug around, since it shows that she's a fighter on the outside and the inside.

She's also got Saturn, the cosmic "military general," in Aries, the kind of energy you'd better do something with before it does something to you. Saturn represents authority figures. In a sign as combative as Aries, the chart owner often finds him or herself in rather fiery situations with those folks. It’s not surprising, then, that as Xena, Lawless regularly found herself battling the will of the god Aries on the show, and that the two shared a love-hate relationship much like the attraction of moths to a bug zapper. The only way to use this energy is to become an assertive authority figure yourself, and an "official" title certainly doesn't hurt. So what could possibly be better than to be cast in the role of a "warrior princess,” especially since this princess is built for fantasy, too?

Glamour Girl

In addition to that heavy dose of Aries energy, Lawless' chart carries a strong Neptunian influence, and Neptune is the planet of illusion and glamour. Both Venus, the goddess of love, and Mercury, the trickster, are wearing Pisces (Neptune's own sign), a costume that (barely) covers a planet like a pink veil. Pisces planets are experts at hiding—sometimes right out in the open—so acting is a perfect way to make them happy. There's also a somewhat dubious, vague quality to the sign, making it wonderfully appropriate that Xena's close relationship with her blonde sidekick has led to questions about the character's sexual orientation.

As if that's not enough to make her the perfect candidate for acting out the part of a fantasy character, Lawless was also born with Jupiter in Leo square, or at a 90-degree angle, to Neptune. Leo is the sign of the performer, and Jupiter expands the qualities of the sign it inhabits in a chart. Add Neptune's love of dreams and you've got something I like to call "Las Vegas Syndrome," the chart owner's ability to duck into a surreal world and live comfortably within those artificial walls, absolutely convinced while he or she is there that it's all quite real. That's a wonderful gift for an actor or actress to have, and Lawless certainly made good use of it. Basically, this woman was made for "playing pretend," but I don't think she'll turn up as a misty-eyed Guenivere any time soon.

What’s Next for Lucy?

What will she turn up as? Well, over the coming year, that Jupiter-Neptune square will play host to a visit from transiting Uranus, the "mad scientist" planet who's often thought of in connection to science fiction, like Star Wars or Star Trek. Although I don't think Lawless' acting gives Sigourney Weaver anything to worry about, that hasn't hurt Lawless so far. After all, Princess Leia wasn't one of the roles nominated for an Oscar the year that Star Wars burst forth, but that film certainly was good to Carrie Fisher.

With space-age Uranus in the neighborhood at a time when she'll be looking for a new job, Lawless could end up landing something that would take her career to new heights, and maybe even new planets. At any rate, with both Venus and Mars in fire signs for extended stays this year, her own natural fire will be running on high, and her sexuality, too.

One thing's for certain: A chart as concentrated and potent as this one won't sit still for long. Xena may, quite literally, be history, but I'll bet Lucy Lawless isn't.

Kim Rogers-Gallagher is a well known columnist, lecturer and author of Astrology for the Light Side of the Brain and Astrology for the Light Side of the Future(ACS Publications).