I am going to just assume you know who Dolly Parton is. If not, just Google her. Spotify too, because she's a musical genius.
When you see her, what does it conjure for you astrologically? To be that overtly feminine and flashy? Bet Virgo Rising wouldn't ever come to mind.
Virgo on the ASC renders one, archetypically at least, modest, shy, bookish. Regardless of beauty or fashion sense, Virgo Risings are not known to make their presence known. Shrinking violets, and certainly a demeanor that is not overt. Ruler Mercury renders these natives studious of human behavior, which places one in the background. Out from after Leo, Virgo cleans up the party versus making itself the center of one.
ENTER. DOLLY. PARTON. Her chart is rated AA--so there is little to no debate about her Virgo ASC. Charming, quirky, talkative, yes, all traits of Mercury. But the flashiness, the overt femininity--things that make you go "huh" when you see her chart. And with Virgo as the virgin, the maiden--Parton's enhancement of her breasts, make-up, tight clothing, short-shorts, and thigh-high boots--seems to subvert the idea of innocence. She has even stated that she modeled herself, her persona, after the town trollop.
Now you may look to Venus. She has hers in Capricorn in the 5th conjunct Sun. Clearly this has made her artistically talented, charming, and entrepreneurial. She rose from complete poverty to being worth many millions. That's Cap! But Capricorn with Virgo ASC isn't exactly a dead ringer for extreme costuming. I wrote about how Capricorn loves to have fun as much as the rest of them, maybe even moreso. But the overt expression of her femininity still isn't exactly Saturnian. And its worth noting that her Venus doesn't trine her ASC. Her Saturn is fallen in Cancer, conj. Mars. Mars will come up again.
Dolly has Jupiter in Libra in the 2nd, and Uranus conj her Gemini MC. Jupiter in Libra is expansion of femininity. But I opine that this placement has more to do with her obvious wealth, and her extending of a helping hand financially (Libra) when disaster strikes. Jupiter here is averse to her ASC in Virgo. In spirit, it expands on her feminine nature, but in physicality, it can't. Her Uranus conj. MC certainly makes her stance on the world stage electric and flashy! But that didn't satisfy me. Her Uranus in Gemini is more about the message she is sharing with others, and as far as sexuality and appearance, Uranus wouldn't exaggerate, it would subvert--androgyny, gender fluidity, etc.
(Runner up: she has Moon in Virgo in her 1st. It doesn't conj her ASC degree, but Moon in 1st house folks are good at projecting an image that others want/desire. For a woman, overt sexuality in the music industry can provoke this.)
That's why when I realized her Mercury and Mars were out-of-bounds, I was relieved. Her chart remained kind of enigmatic at first glance, with only the two dimensional picture of the sky taken into account. In brief, declinations are a sub-section of astrology that take into account the three dimensional picture of the sky at birth. It measures the distance of planets from the celestial equator, the ecliptic. Out of bounds planets are ones that fall above or below the limits of the Sun on this ecliptic, 23 degrees 27 minutes. Planets above or below this are outside the "control" of the Sun. They are planets with no babysitter, no one to answer to. As such, they manifest as individuals with profound derangement, or profound talents. They bend the laws of what is thought possible or permissible, for better or worse
(Adele has OOB Venus, for example. Her artistic prowess is a phenomenon. Einstein had OOB Moon in Sag, and literally expanded our concept of reality itself).
The inner planets go out of bounds more frequently than the outer ones. Asteroids do it too. Dolly's ASC ruler, Mercury, a very important planet in the chart, was OOB. Her Mars, conj. that Saturn in Cancer was also OOB.
"As you might guess, people with an out-of-bounds planet tend to know no boundaries and accept no limits. Often there’s no stopping them. This can result in boundless creativity and success, allowing the native to go way beyond the potential that one might normally expect."
And so is the case with Dolly. From a young age, she received hoards of media (Mercury) attention for her singing and more notably, her songwriting (she'd later pen I Will Always Love You, made infamous by Whitney Houston). She is a goddamn prolific songwriter, penning over 3000 in her lifetime. Her OOB Mercury also rules her Gemini MC with Uranus (country to pop to musicals to film--shift shaping career) there. She'll go down in history.
Her Mercury stands at an opposition with Mars, both looking at the other, trying to get what they want. In the 5th in Cap, Parton obviously wanted to be recognized for her writing skills and derives a tremendous amount of joy and catharsis from it. But Mars in Cancer in the 11th made aware to her that as a musician, she was a public (11th) commodity. So she modeled herself in this vain. She told Oprah Winfrey that she had undergone so many surgeries in order to maintain her famous image. Her Mercury ruling Virgo is doing the most. Scrapping together all the she could to methodically plan and conceive of an image that would boost her success.
"It takes a lot of money to look this cheap". Here we see the Saturn principle of restriction (the restriction of wealth is "cheap", the restriction of class and prestige is "cheap") leaking into her humor.
She went out of her way to construct an overtly sexual persona in order to transition from country singer to mainstream pop success. That is due to Mars, the principle of cutting and surgery. "If I see something sagging, bagging or dragging, I'll get it nipped, tucked or sucked." Cancer is a feminine sign, having to do with the Mother and nurturing. Mothers nurture through their breasts, and Cancer rules the mammary glands. Her breast enhancements are an obvious manifestation of this martial energy. Mars OOB in Cancer also has a inordinate amount of energy placed towards Cancer things--so this can be the ultimate culprit of her consciously sculpted feminine physique. Enhancing traditionally feminine features like the breasts and lips, whilst nipping and sucking at the waist to achieve a Cancerian hourglass shape. Conj. Saturn, it has aided in her monetary success. And square that Jupiter in glamorous Libra, Mars has provided fuel to this overtly feminine persona.
(Her OOB Mars in Cancer has also, again, made her a fierce helper and protector of her community. She even created her own literal community--Dollywood! Theme parks are a Mars-Jupiter arena! Thrill rides, amusement! And the play on Hollywood is apropos for Jupiter in Libra.)
While there are many things in her two dimensional chart that pinpoint Parton's specific brand of humanity, I hope this look into the three dimensional aspect of declinations can provide a more robust explanation. To note, Dolly has been in a 50 + year marriage, and refused to pose nude for Playboy. Clearly, the Virgo ASC and Capricorn sensibilities we all know are firmly in tact here.
Thanks for reading xx