Dolly, Lama

For quite some time now, I have been convinced that Dolly Parton is in fact a boddhisatva, a fully enlightened being who has incarnated on earth one final time before ascending to nirvana, just to spread light, joy and love. Clearly, Dolly's iconically ample bosom is a physical manifestation of her extraordinarily abundant heart chakra energy. Since seeing her perform her Oscar-nominated song "Travelin' Through" at the Academy Awards -- totally solo, I might add, without accompaniment or gratuitous, cringe-inducing interpretive dancers -- I have been inspired to spread the word that is Dolly. I mean, leaving aside the Jesus reference, does it get more Buddhist than these "Travelin' Thru" lyrics?

"Well I can't tell you where I'm going, I'm not sure of where I've been
But I know I must keep travelin' till my road comes to an end
I'm out here on my journey, trying to make the most of it
I'm a puzzle, I must figure out where all my pieces fit....

Questions I have many, answers but a few
But we're here to learn, the spirit burns, to know the greater truth
We've all been crucified and they nailed Jesus to the tree
And when I'm born again, you're gonna see a change in me...." [Source]

Dolly's place of birth is a matter of some dispute; some online sources locate her in or near Locust Ridge, Tennessee, while others claim she was born in Sevierville, TN. Luckily, the different locations yield only a Kraft-single-width movement in the birth chart wheel, so we can analyze Dolly's horoscope with confidence. See Dolly Parton's astrological chart (Astrotheme, using Locust Ridge coordinates)

The warmth and affection that Dolly exudes and attracts with her very presence is all over her chart. Her Capricorn Sun conjuncts Venus, the planet of love and relationships; both planets square expansive Jupiter in Libra, the sign of love, beauty and grace. (The Jupiter square to her Sun-Venus would also explain why Dolly's personality and personal style come off as, shall we say, larger than life. In true unpretentious Capricorn fashion, Dolly sums up her drag-queen look with the immortal line "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.") With her Virgo Moon conjuncting the Ascendant from the 12th house, Dolly has a nurturing earth-mother vibe under all those sequins. Her heart shines through in everything she does, and she has a deep sense of compassion, caring and service to humanity. In case you were wondering, all that is why Dolly is shown here embodying the archetype of the Hindu goddess Shakti, symbol of feminine power, the nurturing Divine Mother, and the infinitely proliferating creative life force. (What, you expected me to Photoshop her face onto the Buddha's body? Please.)

Of course, Dolly has not exactly spent her life meditating and wandering in the desert. With that Sun-Venus conjunction in Capricorn, squaring Jupiter and opposing a powerful Mars-Saturn conjunction in Cancer, plus her Taurus Midheaven, Dolly is intensely driven, ambitious and concerned about financial status and security. The Sun, Venus and Mercury's placement in the 5th house of self-expression gives Dolly a natural love of the spotlight. And that powerhouse Mars-Saturn gives her an indefatigable work ethic and intense, brook-no-opposition determination, although the fact that both planets are retrograde means she has had to find her own way on the path to success. The strong Saturn influence in her chart (Capricorn is ruled by Saturn) hints at the hardships Dolly famously endured in her early life. With Chiron (wounding) in the second house of money and values, squaring Mars and Saturn in the 11th house (which shows how we are perceived by our peers and our community), Dolly definitely felt the sting of poverty and the shame of being a "have-not."

But Chiron is in Libra -- again, the sign of love, beauty and grace -- in a conjunction to optimistic, exuberant Jupiter in the 3rd house of communication. In "Coat of Many Colors," one of Dolly's many signature songs and one that makes me verklempt every single time I hear it, read the lyrics, or even friggin' think about it, Dolly describes how the kids at school (11th house) were cruel to her (Chiron) about the coat her mother sewed her from rags, but she explained to them (3rd house of communication) that the coat was worth more (2nd house), and more beautiful (Libra) because of her mother's love having gone into every stitch:

"But they didn't understand it
And I tried to make them see
That one is only poor
Only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money
But I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me...." [Source]

(Dammit, now I'm getting choked up!) Ahem -- anyway -- to me this song epitomizes the intermingling of down-home humility and divine grace that infuses Dolly's music and her life. So many celebrities claim to "keep it real" and remain in touch with their roots, but with Dolly's strong Virgo-Capricorn influence, and her Taurus Midheaven in an out-of-sign square to the Ascendant, she is genuinely grounded and never forgets the scarcity and struggle that spurred her to achieve such great heights. While her wigs might get ever more ginormous, her actual head hasn't swelled a bit.

As you can probably guess, I could go on and on about the Tao of Dolly. But I feel that I have frittered away enough of one day paying tribute to Her Dollyness. Let me just close by saying that if everyone adopted "What would Dolly do?" as a mantra, the world would be a much more enlightened place.