Sarah Mullally: First Female Archbishop of Canterbury

By Alex Miller

The Lede:  The Church of England elevated Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury on 28 January 2026, the first female to act as spiritual leader of the 80-million-member global Anglican Communion.  Mullally, formerly the first female Bishop of London, was elected in December, with the vote confirmed this week, at which point she formally assumed office as the 106^th Archbishop of Canterbury, though her installation and enthronement will not occur until March 25^th.  The promotion also admits Mullally into the United Kingdom’s House of Lords.

This act can be seen as the first trump of Neptune finally moving into Aries for its 13-year sojourn.  The first degree of Aries is a World Axis point, denoting global impact and attention, and Neptune rules spirituality, also associated with religion and ecclesiastics (further presided over by Jupiter).  Aries indicates leadership and fresh beginnings, as the Sign of the Vernal Equinox, spring in the northern hemisphere.  As such, the entry signifies a new start in leadership of spiritual matters.

In Brief:  Neptune isn’t alone in the heavens. It’s been traveling with Saturn (currently 28 Pisces), and the possibilities for manifestations wrought by this pair are virtually endless.  But to our purpose, the combination represents, on the one hand, religious (Neptune) hierarchy and authority (Saturn); and on the other, the erosion (Neptune) of boundaries (Saturn), such as the stained-glass ceiling which has hitherto prevented females from reaching the highest echelons of many religious traditions.

As well, this pair (and Saturn particularly) is sextile (60 degrees, a generally supportive aspect offering opportunity) Uranus (27 Taurus), arbiter of the new, novel, innovative, sometimes controversial or shocking, a record-setter and groundbreaker.  Certainly there are naysayers and skeptics of this elevation, something typical when Uranus is involved – people protest what they consider a poor decision.  Neptune is also sextile Pluto (3 Aquarius), which leads off a planetary conglomeration of Mars (4 Aquarius), the Sun (8 Aquarius), Venus, and Mercury (both 13 Aquarius), which together symbolizes a focus (Sun) on a female (Venus) who makes news (Mercury) for a transformation (Pluto) into a powerful (Pluto) leadership role (Mars).

Deep Dive:  That’s the basics, but if we want to ask “Why Mullally?”, specifically, and “Why now?”, we need to turn to asteroids and other minor bodies for the answers.

As to her celestial fitness for the post, with a stationary (1) asteroid Church (14 Sagittarius) at birth (2), Sarah Mullally was bound to have a strong focus (station) on organized religion (Church), be that as a devoted parishioner, teaching Bible classes or organizing charity events; or in a professional capacity as a fulltime cleric.  Church is pivotally placed in a loose Grand Cross (3), opposed (180 degrees) asteroid Bishop (19 Gemini, doing double duty here as “Archbishop” as well), suggesting that her religious focus (Church) would be at the career level, involving church hierarchy (Bishop).  The crossbars of the Grand Cross are formed by a pairing of Mars (11 Pisces) and Mercury (16 Pisces) opposed Pluto (8 Virgo), indicating Mullally has a strong (Mars) voice (Mercury) for powerful change and transformation (Pluto). 

A Lunar Eclipse (15 Pisces/Virgo) on September 7^th energized this pattern, squaring (90 degrees) the Church/Bishop polarity.  A second Lunar Eclipse (12 Virgo/Pisces) upcoming on March 3^rd falls between her confirmation of election and her formal installation as Archbishop, reenergizing the same pair.  Further, the Solar Eclipse (28 Aquarius) on February 17^th conjoins natal Jupiter (0 Pisces), co-ruling religion and ecclesiastics with Neptune, helping in part to answer, “Why now?”

Filling in the gaps of “Why now?” we see that asteroids Sara (11 Gemini) and Bishop (10 Libra) are both embedded at station for her elevation, granting prominence and marking critical turning points (station) for herself personally (Sara) and the archdiocese more generally (Bishop).  Sara, which turned direct the day after, is coming to conjoin natal Bishop (19 Gemini). 

The announcement was made at 1:39 PM GMT, under a sky which featured asteroids Canterbury (24 Gemini) and Church (8 Cancer) both rising on the Ascendant (3 Cancer).  Canterbury is exactly conjoined by the transit Moon, representing women, in a startling nod to cosmic synchronicity and timing, as the first woman ascends to the Canterbury primacy, highlighted by Angular placement (4) at the moment her confirmation literally changed the Church of England’s public image (Ascendant).  The MC, or Midheaven (28 Aquarius), for the event, the point of highest elevation in the chart and the focus of all eyes, conjoins natal asteroid Sara (22 Aquarius) and is squared by transit Uranus (27 Taurus) as well as Mullally’s natal Uranus (27 Leo), denoting the record-setting nature of her election.

Notes:  (1) Stations are periods when, from our perspective on Earth, a planet appears to slow its movement, come to a standstill, and reverse course.  This is an optical illusion created by the triangulation between the sun, Earth, and any third celestial body; astrologically, it represents a focusing of the energies associated with that point, and often coincides with major life events or a radical recalibration of how that point has functioned previously.

(2) Sarah Bowser Mullally born 26 March 1962, no time available

(3) A Grand Cross is a major pattern comprised of four or more points at roughly 90 degrees equidistant from each other; this dynamic interaction can create stress, but also prompts action and motivates growth.

(4) The “Angles” are the cardinal directional points, where celestial bodies rise (Ascendant) and set (Descendant) at the horizon, or achieve highest (Midheaven, or MC) or lowest elevations (Nadir, or IC). Placement here signifies enhanced importance in character or biography.  The Ascendant affects our public image, how others see us; the Descendant involves how we relate to others; the MC governs status, reputation and place in the world; and the IC represents foundations, origins and the domestic environment.

Sources:  reporting from The Guardian, Wikipedia; chart data from serennu.com; graphic images by author

Title Image Credit:  drawn by ChatGPT