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Forty
years ago, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Diana Ross, three talented
and tenacious young black girls from the projects of Detroit, were best
friends who shared a dream. Signed by Motown in 1961, the girls were preened,
polished, pampered, promoted and made-over. The Supremes became the Queens
of Motown. They remain the most successful female group of all time.
At
the height of their popularity, Berry Gordy (founder of Motown) began
an affair with Diana Ross. Suddenly, another makeover was in the works,
as Motown transformed the Supremes into Diana Ross and the Supremes. Ultimately,
Mary and Florence were to be left behind as Diana Ross began her solo
career. Hearts were broken. The shared dream had unraveled.
A
Supreme Misunderstanding
Much
has been said about the amount of money Mary Wilson was offered to take
part in the proposed reunion. But during a televised interview, she made
it clear that money had little to do with her decision, saying, “It’s
not even about money. How degrading, how degrading.”
The
next evening, it was Diana’s turn. Responding to Mary’s statements, she
said, “I doubled their offer so that she could come on the tour. I think
if we had offered her the Moon, she would not
be happy.”
Well?
That might depend on just whose Moon Mary was
offered.
It’s
About Heart
 Mary
Wilson was born March 6, 1944, at 10:11 am, in Greenville, Missouri. Her
Moon is in Leo, the sign most associated with heart. Always the star,
an individual born when the Moon is in Leo requires special attention.
They listen and respond to praise, recognition, declarations of love and
appreciation. This is a good indication that Mary’s issues surrounding
the Supremes (and her life in general) are first about heart—about pride.
They are about feeling appreciated and good about who she is and what
she does. Still feeling the emotional humiliation of being banished to
backup singer as her friend was elevated into the spotlight, Mary’s Leo
Moon found it degrading that she was once again being asked to play second
fiddle to her one-time equal, Diana Ross.
It’s
About Money
Diana Ross was born March 26, 1944, at 11:46 pm, in Detroit, Michigan.
Her Moon is in Taurus. Taurus is the materialistic, acquisitive, practical
sign of prosperity. And when the Moon is located here, material security
is vital to the individual. This person listens and responds to things
that are practical and make common sense. For Diana, practical material
issues—like money—just naturally come first and hold sway. Her Taurus
Moon was offended, hurt and angry that Mary would turn down what seemed
to her to be a more than generous amount of money. But Mary’s refusal
was not about dollars, it was about the real damage that had been done
to her heart over thirty years ago.
Emotional
Conflict
The
back-to-back interviews on 20/20 revealed Diana and Mary
to be women with very different points of view, and no real understanding
about what the other needs. Though Diana had watched Mary’s interview
and listened to what Mary said, she still didn’t get it. This is often
the case when one person’s emotional style is in conflict with the emotional
style of another.
In
astrological terms, Mary’s and Diana’s Moons are square, or 90 degrees
from each other. The Moon symbolizes an individual’s emotional expression,
their daily habits, their subconscious motivations and subjective sensibilities.
When comparing two horoscopes, if the Moons are found to be in conflicting
signs, neither party can feel comfortable in the relationship. Each individual
needs an emotional response from the other that the other cannot give.
They cannot appreciate nor understand each others’ instinctive reaction
to a problem situation. This results in considerable insensitivity to
one another and a lack of patience with each others’ moods and feelings.
The felt frustration is not rational. It is subjective, and no amount
of discussion or objective reasoning can change the situation.
No
Right, No Wrong
So
while Mary needed to follow her Leo Moon by having a long overdue heart-to-heart
with Diana before committing to the tour, Diana needed to follow her Taurus
Moon, and deal with practical business concerns before the heart got involved.
Each had her own instinctive emotional response to the proposed reunion,
responses that only served to make a difficult relationship worse. It
now seems unlikely fans will ever experience the hoped-for stroll down
memory lane with the legendary Supremes.
Love,
even between friends, is inexplicable. But understanding the emotional
dialogue between individuals can make us aware of why some relationships
are so difficult and others easy. Becoming aware of individual differences,
we can allow for them. We can be more tolerant, forgiving and creative
in our relationships.
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