You probably wouldn’t think to put Venus Williams in the same box as Paul McCartney and Salman Rushdie, but all three share the same 26 degree Gemini Sun right opposite the Galactic Center which has the makings of a world-beater in it. That’s certainly a special degree, but it’s where you go from there that makes all the difference, and in Williams’s case, it’s all about ebullience, idealism, force, self-reliance, and tenacity. Let’s take those in order:

Ebullience: that’s an outgoing, ever-positive Jupiter conjunct Moon in Leo. Her innate emotional reaction to life is to put a positive spin on it.

Idealism: Sun and Venus opposition Neptune make her a dreamer, a sympathetic feeler who loves and chases her ideals, however they seem to elude her at first.

Force: Pluto rising means she has a presence that simply smacks you in the face, not to mention a serve that goes right by you, with all the politeness of Libra but with the effect of a cannonball.

Self-reliance: A bowl chart led by Venus keeps her to herself, albeit charmingly, and although she’s thrown into the public arena (most of the bowl is above the horizon), she’s OK with no one at all except her nearest and dearest.

Tenacity: Mars conjunct Saturn is the signature of someone who banks energy and keeps on burning, no matter what the pain (it’s in her 12th house). Square the Sun and Venus, she’s shy and seems to lack self-confidence, but she overcomes by practice, practice, practice.

Add one more unique aspect to the mix, and that’s Mercury square Pluto, which is verbal confrontation. This is the woman whose determined public objections took down Wimbledon’s refusal to pay women equally with the eventual backing of prime minister Tony Blair. She’s sweet, she’s self-effacing, but she doesn’t back down, so be warned, be warned.

Current events: the last couple of years or so have not been easy on her, as she’s had Saturn sweeping her Moon-Jupiter and Pluto opposing her Sun (she got off easier on that than McCartney did). But, progressed Moon to Jupiter is keeping her spirits up and you can expect some battles to come with her Saturn return coming up shortly as well. She’s a history-maker, and won’t be stopping that any time soon…