Breitbart and Limbaugh in the news

March 6, 2012 By

I was just working on the chart for Andrew Breitbart, the conservative columnist who died last week, when Rush Limbaugh made news for being more horrifically obnoxious than usual.  So today we have a dual post on conservative newsmakers.

Andrew Breitbart (2/1/69, time unknown, Los Angeles) was a conservative writer who wrote for the Drudge report and Huffington Post as well as the Washington Times and also ran his own conservative blog syndication site.  Like Limbaugh, his style was forceful, pompous and angry and extremely self-righteous (in fact, his book was titled “Righteous Indignation: Excuse me while I save the world).

He  died of a sudden heart attack during his Uranus opposition, the transit that occurs for all of us around age 41-43.  Uranus in Breitbart’s chart was conjunct Jupiter, the planet that shows where we want to be god.  Individuals with Jupiter conjunct Uranus have a fierce passion to be an agent of change, and with these two planets opposite a painful conjunction of Venus and Chiron in his chart, it is likely that his passion to create change was fueled by some internal misery.

A transit of Uranus over a system like this generally creates an urge for a sudden change in life, and very rarely results in death.  Because we don’t know the time Breitbart was born we don’t know his ascendant, but he was a Full Moon personality with the Aquarius (Uranus-ruled) Sun opposing the Moon in Leo.  Full Moon people are generally at an evolutionary crossroads as this is the culmination of the lunar cycle.  The conscious mind (Sun) opposes the lunar instincts and create tension that requires continual conflict in order to make the adjustments required to move forward in life.

With Chiron tightly conjunct Breitbart’s North Node, he came on a healing journey this time around.  When we allow ourselves to continue to erupt in reactive methods and avoid the healing process, the body begins to carry the load of the blocked energy which results in health problems.

Limbaugh is a different story.  He is just a profoundly unhappy man.  With the Sun in Capricorn he is driven to work harder and achieve more, but Chiron squares his Moon which suggests deep emotional wounds that create internal stress.  His Aquarius Mars, which is rather detached from the Mars experience of anger and aggression, is opposed by Pluto which generally denotes someone with an abusive childhood and a tremendous reservoir of pent-up rage.

Both Breitbart and Limbaugh have a challenging aspect between Mercury (communication) and Uranus (radical expression) in their charts, so they are/were both prone to the same kind of extreme language in expressing their ideas.  Limbaugh likely finds it easier to challenge that pent-up rage through his speech than to actually feel it, and with transiting Uranus squaring Limbaugh’s Mercury/Uranus opposition now it appears that any shackles that temper his expression have been blown off and he is now spewing his venom through speech without a filter.

All of this is happening against the backdrop of the upcoming square between Uranus and Pluto which will bring any revolutionary or radical ideas and energy to the surface, so we will likely see more crazy talk from public personages as the summer approaches.

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The astrology of Whitney Houston, dead at 48

February 13, 2012 By

Whitney Houston astrologyWhitney Houston, the brilliant but troubled singer and film star, was found dead in a hotel bathtub this weekend.  The cause of death has not yet been determined but toxicology tests found a combination of Xanax and alcohol.

Ms. Houston’s life-long troubles with drug and alcohol dependence were widely documented and often threatened her exceptional career.  Her marriage to singer Bobby Brown was punctuated with violence and bouts of drug addiction and rehab.

Astrologically, Ms. Houston (chart here) had a conjunction of the Sun and Venus in Leo – she was born to be someone whose light shone brightly (Leo) and the presence of Venus typically bestows beauty and the ability to interact with others in a positive way. However, Saturn, the Celestial Teacher opposed that Sun/Venus combination which suggests that she was riddled with insecurities about her looks and her ability to be loved.  In addition, the fact that Saturn in her chart was retrograde shows that she was particularly self-critical.

Although her chart was quite fiery, signifying a person of great passions and energy (her Moon conjoined Jupiter in Aries), Pisces, the sign of empathy, artistry, creativity and intuition rising in her chart, and Neptune, ruler of Pisces, squared her Sun/Venus conjunction.  Neptune and Pisces are beautiful influences for an artist, but they can also indicate addictive behavior because of the strong urge to transcend material reality, an urge which is good for the spiritual life, but not so good for someone who lives in the material world.  Neptune and Pisces express themselves through art and creativity but can make it difficult for an individual to see the realities of their lives clearly, and that was a hallmark of Whitney Houston’s short life.

In delving more deeply into Ms. Houston’s chart we also see an exact conjunction of the Black Moon Lilith to Neptune and squaring her Venus.  I am a novice in studying the Black Moon, but in examining charts and reading the ideas of other astrologers it appears to me that the BML has to do with primal experiences of love, rage and passion that often become obscured in our socialized existence.  When it is prominent in a chart such as this one it may show an individual who faces the ultimate darkness within herself (BML) when she is in relationships (Venus) and can get lost as a result (Neptune).

In addition, the Moon and Jupiter in Aries has a powerful need for self-assertion which conflicts with the Saturn/Sun opposition’s pressure to conform and toe the line, and the Neptune/Pisces tendency to go with the flow.  There is nowhere for the fire in the chart to go which can lead to a buildup of rage, and there are many stories of Ms. Houston’s eruptions, including one of jealous rage at a party right before her death.

Many people have difficult charts, and it is said that we come in with the chart that we need in order to have the experiences the soul desires in order to learn and to grow.  Ms. Houston’s chart shows an opposition between Chiron and Pluto signifying that soul surgery will be accomplished during the lifetime – individuals with this opposition tend to have deep emotional wounds that may seem out of proportion to the life’s experiences.  But the sensitivity and emotional pain are quite real and unless the individual is actively and consciously striving to use this pain to grow and evolve they will often use drugs and alcohol to numb the pain.

This is a challenging combination of planets for anyone, and for someone in the public eye where every action is scrutinized and criticized, it is even more difficult.

At the time of her death, transiting Pluto was in an exact square to her Mars (and had been approaching this aspect for quite some time, at least a month or so).  This would have stimulated her inner rage and anywhere that she felt frustrated and angry.  In addition, transiting Uranus was opposing her progressed Sun.  The Sun represents the physical heart, and I have had an intuitive feeling that the actual cause of death here may have been heart failure caused by the stress of years of addiction.  Uranus transits to the progressed Sun generally indicate some sort of sudden change (very rarely death!), but at the time time transiting Chiron was opposing Uranus in Ms. Houston’s chart.  It would have been clear to an astrologer that some sort of medical event could happen during this time period between February 1st and the 15th.

It’s always tragic when a person leaves this life without having resolved the issues that prevented them from achieving joy and satisfaction during their lifetime.  Rest in peace, troubled soul.

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RIP Steve Jobs

October 6, 2011 By

Steve Jobs astrologySteve Jobs, former head of Apple Computing, died yesterday after battling pancreatic cancer since 2004.  He was 56 years old.

I profiled Mr. Jobs back in 2009:

Jobs has an interesting chart with the Sun in Pisces. Pisces is the sign of spirituality and transcending the boundaries of ordinary physical reality.  Pisces types are typically creative, inspirational, easygoing and meditative with a thirst for a spiritual experience.  They are also emotional and can be quite sensitive.  After dropping out of college, Jobs spent some time in 1974 backpacking through India, studying meditation and experimenting with psychedelic drugs.

Jupiter (optimism and confidence) is conjunct Uranus (innovation and radical behavior) in Jobs’ chart, signifying a person with a deeply restless nature, but also an innate ability to innovate and create.  Mars (the planet that defines how we assert our will and express our aggressive instinct) in his chart is in Aries, the sign which it rules.  That is an extremely forceful place for Mars to be; yet Jobs is a sensitive and easygoing Pisces.

Mars is afflicted in his chart: it is opposed by Neptune, the ruler of Pisces and a very watery planet – you know what happens when you pour a bucket of water (Neptune) over fire (Mars), the fire is likely to go out.  Mars is also in a challenging aspect to the Jupiter/Uranus combination, which shows that Jobs can have a very short fuse, but he may not, with his strongly Piscean nature, be able to release that fiery expression very easily.

It is said of Steve Jobs that he makes his own rules, which we can see in the Mars (drive) square to Jupiter/Uranus (radical behavior), and that is can be a temperamental manager which we can see in the Mars in Aries aggression opposed by Neptune’s martyrdom and dislike of conflict.

I have found that what I call “Mars problems” are very common in the charts of people with health problems.  When the aggressive instinct (which includes our ability to express our needs, to assert ourselves, and to express anger appropriately) is blocked, that fire energy is left without an appropriate outlet and often discharges within the body’s energy system, leading to a variety of health problems.

Since 2004 when Jobs first had a “neuroendocrine” tumor in the pancreas removed, he has had a series of planetary transits affecting this Mars complex in his chart.  First transiting Chiron (wounding and healing) ran across all of the planets in the complex beginning in June of 2003 (the tumor was discovered in October of that year).  Then Saturn (hardship and disappointment) in 2004 and 2005 (the tumor was removed in July of 2004 after a 9-month battle to find an alternative solution), accompanied by Uranus (radical and restless change) which transited the Ascendant and Sun in Jobs’s chart, stirring the emotional pot and creating the need to alter the status quo.  The combination of Uranus restlessness and Saturn restriction can evoke a frustration that implodes into the physical body if not properly expressed outwardly.

Mr. Jobs announced his retirement from Apple on August 24, 2011.  It’s interesting that at this time he had just had a Progressed New Moon, where the Sun and Moon conjoin in the progressed chart, a few weeks prior to the announcement.  Any New Moon configuration in the birthchart or progressed chart  is usually a dramatic period of renewal with a new focus.   In addition, transiting Pluto, planet of death and renewal, made a harmonious sextile to his natal Sun which likely served as an aid to the transition that was to come.

I find death charts very interesting because we rarely find what we expect.  We are accustomed to thinking of the more challenging aspects of Pluto and Saturn as the planets of death because they bring such dramatic and sometimes terrible experiences into our lives, but death is not always a terrible thing.  We often find Jupiter present in its role as the Great Liberator, and in Mr. Jobs’ chart we find several significant and harmonious planetary cycles.

On the day of Mr. Jobs’ death transiting Chiron, the planet that brings old wounds to the surface so that they can be healed and and released, was in an exact harmonious sextile to his progressed Sun, providing the ultimate release from pain and illness.  In addition, transiting Neptune (planet of creativity and spiritual transcendence) was in an exact harmonious trine to Neptune in the chart.  I hope that this powerful Neptunian influence aided Mr. Jobs in a “good death” – a transcendence from form into non-form with a minimum of fear and stress.

Mr. Jobs was not only an inspiring leader, but he evidently possessed a deep and rare wisdom.  I’d like to leave you with this quote that I used in a Sunday Inspiration post earlier this year:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Steve Jobs, commencement address, Stanford University 2005.

 

 

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Musings on death and planetary alchemy

June 6, 2011 By

planetary alchemyA friend of mine died on Friday.  I had known him casually for many years and worked closely with him for about five.  His death at the age of 65 came less than a month after a diagnosis of a return of melanoma shocks and saddens all in our community in which he was well-loved by so many people.

Before John’s first diagnosis he had been in the throes of the square from transiting Uranus to Uranus in his natal chart.  He confided in me that he longed to change his life and to let go of some of the materialistic trappings that he felt kept him bound to the lifestyle he had created.  This is a fairly common experience during Uranus cycles since Uranus is the planet which  demands that we live a life that is completely authentic and free of meaningless attachments.  Shortly thereafter he was diagnosed with melanoma and had to have an eye removed.  I believe this is when transiting Pluto began working through his chart, followed shortly by Saturn.

The real estate market tanked during this period and John and I no longer worked together although we talked occasionally, so I don’t know what kind of changes he was able to make in his life, but I do wonder how big a role the inexorable pressure of financial personal responsibilities played in the re-emergence of his illness which ravaged him so quickly when it returned.  At the time of his death and during the weeks leading up to it transiting Uranus was exactly square to his Sun, providing him with the liberation he craved.

Understanding the planetary nature of behavior doesn’t always free of from the pressures of our instinctive reactions.  With lots of planets in fixed signs and no mutable ones, the only thing that saves me from rigid muscle tightness is (nearly) daily yoga.  Knowing that I have a fixed nature itself doesn’t help me to cultivate a more flexible and adaptable nature; it takes constant reminders and lots of meditation.

When it comes to illness and death, I’m pretty sure that these are part of the Ultimate Plan anyway and not easily avoidable through planetary alchemy (the art of anticipating and working through planetary transits).  We all know people (and perhaps have been one) who were desperate for a break in their overcrowded life and developed a serious illness which had the effect of giving them that longed-for relief.

The Universe works in mysterious ways to give us what we want and what we need.  There is nothing that we can do but trust in its wisdom.

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Jack Kevorkian has died

June 3, 2011 By

Jack Kevorkian deathI seem to be surrounded with death this week – one good friend is dying, another good friend’s dog has died, and now the Doctor of Death himself has died at the age of 83.

Jack Kevorkian, a physician, began writing articles about euthanasia in the early 1980s and began a career of “death counseling” in 1987.  His first public assisted suicide was in 1990, and although he lost his medical license in 1991 he continued to assist terminally ill people in ending their own lives.

The idea that individuals should have the right to make the decision about when and how to terminate their earthly existence is one that is hotly debated among religious scholars.  Jack Kevorkian’s birthchart (he was born May 29, 1928, at a time unknown in Pontiac Michigan) shows that he has the Sun in Gemini in a wide (far apart) opposition to Saturn.  Before we had Pluto to destroy and rebuild, Saturn was the Lord of Death so it is appropriate that Dr. Kevorkian would have a strong Saturnian component to his chart.

The Gemini Sun is non-judgmental – it entertains all kinds of viewpoints without adhering to one, but the aspect of Dr. K’s chart that illustrates his passionate defense of personal liberation and the freedom to make choices about one’s death is the conjunction of Mars to Uranus in his chart, both in Aries.  Mars represents the personal Will, and Uranus represents the force of rebellion against the structure of authority, so when these two planets combine forces it can be quite combustible indeed.  The fact that these two planets combine in fiery Aries, the sign of individual expression and courageous forays into the unknown, accentuates this fever of passion for individual liberty.

Pluto, the modern planet of death, is in a strong square to the Mars/Uranus combination and even though it is a bit wide and therefore not as intense an aspect, there is still a predisposition to fighting against (Mars/Uranus) the power structures (Pluto) in order to accomplish one’s goal.  Kevorkian never married and spent his life seeking the change of our laws around suicide.

We would expect that Uranus cycles would be important during Kevorkian’s life because a transit of Uranus would activate the conjunction of Mars and Uranus in his chart, stimulating a rebellion of some kind and this is exactly what occurred.  His first arrest in 1991 occured as transiting Uranus was in the closing square of the cycle, and his death occurred at the Uranus Return, the final phase of one Uranus cycle (and potentially the beginning of a new life).

On the day Kevorkian died transiting Pluto was in an exact square to Uranus in his chart, and he was very near to his Uranus return, the return of Uranus to its place in the birthchart that occurs at age 84, promising the ultimate liberation.  And as if that wasn’t enough to free him from his bondage, his Jupiter return occurred three days before his death.  Jupiter and Uranus both deal with freedom but in different ways.  Jupiter seeks the expansion of our lives, and Uranus is more about experiences that shock and awe us into change.

With all of these influences bearing down on him at once it’s clear that his death provided for him the liberation that he sought throughout his life.

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The astrology of Corey Haim

March 12, 2010 By

Corey Haim, the 1980s child star who made a career out of attempting a comeback, died the other night from what coroners say was an enlarged heart and fluid in the lungs.  Haim had a long history of drug addiction and was apparently admitted to rehab on fifteen different occasions, but it wasn’t drugs that killed him, at least not directly, but the devastation of 20 years of drug abuse had already taken their toll.

Haim had the Sun in achievement-oriented Capricorn, in a nearly exact square (challenging aspect) to Pluto, planet of death and renewal.  With the Sun in Capricorn his desire for success and to make a mark on the world was a driving force in his life, but he also had Jupiter, the planet of good luck and optimism, in its own sign of Sagittarius where it is particularly powerful.  Jupiter in Sagittarius is the party boy – the Fool in the Tarot deck that operates through blind faith, ready to step off a cliff because he is looking at the sky, but nearly always landing on his feet.  His Mercury was in Sagittarius as well, suggesting that there was a big part of him that didn’t want to be serious or focus on the future, in spite of the Capricorn Sun.

That Sun/Pluto square nearly always signifies great potential, such as in the charts of Jon Stewart, Maya Angelou, Sally Field and Barbra Streisand; but it can also signify great tragedy and self-destruction, such as Tiger Woods, Mark David Chapman (John Lennon’s murderer), and occasionally have a transformative effect on the world for good or for evil, such as L Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology).  The intense pressure that Pluto puts on the Sun to surrender and let go of the past and allow oneself to emerge from the fires unscathed can be overpowering, or it can build tremendous resilience and personal empowerment.

It complicated matters for Corey that Mars in his chart was opposed by Pluto and in a challenging square formation to his Sun.  This is a dynamic system called a “T-square” in which Mars, in Pisces and therefore already weakened, was opposed by Pluto which sapped his energy and his vitality but also provided a challenge that could have provided opportunities to build inner strength through adversity.  Over the past couple of years transiting Pluto had been squared his Mars, restricting his abilities to achieve his goals, and then square Pluto in the natal chart and the Sun, creating an intensity of experience that would have required some sort of outlet.  Last fall when Saturn entered Libra it conjoined his Pluto and squared his Sun, setting off this whole dynamic once again.  Haim didn’t suffer from chronic depression but he was depressed in the period before his death as a result of the Saturn transit.

Though Corey Haim’s chart was “lucky,” with Jupiter exalted in Sagittarius and an exact Grand Trine in air between Venus, Saturn and Pluto, the ease offered by these astrological influences may instead have made it too easy to rely on his luck instead of apply the diligence of his Capricorn Sun.  Haim’s career began early at the age of 11, but like so many other child stars he was unable to parlay that early success into a lasting career.

Like all of the recent deaths of young Hollywood stars and personalities, this is a terribly sad story.  But it is also a lesson in the limits of luck, and why it is important to face our demons and transform them into our allies.

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The astrology of depression: Andrew Koenig

February 26, 2010 By

photo montage from CNN. Andrew Koenig, the son of Walter Koenig who played Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek series, has been missing since February 14th.  He was last seen at a bakery in Vancouver.  Koenig is an actor who is best known as Kirk Cameron’s sidekick in the long-running television series “Growing Pains.”  Some of Koenig’s friends fear the worst, reporting that he had been depressed and fed up with his life in California. He sold all of his possessions and walked away from his home in Venice on February 4.

Koenig (8/17/1968, time unknown, LA CA)  is 41, the age at which transiting Uranus opposes Uranus in the birthchart, and because he is one of those “Uranus/Pluto” people who were born between 1962 and 1968, that Uranus opposition is particularly intense.  Briefly, Uranus is the planet of rebellion and revolutionary change, and Pluto, the planet of death and rebirth, presides over experiences that transform us from the ground up.  This cohort of people carry this archetype of revolutionary change within them.

The Uranus Opposition is a planetary cycle in which Uranus in the sky opposes Uranus in the birthchart.  It occurs at age 40-42, and is the most intense of the “midlife crisis” transits, generating an urge to break free of whatever is holding us back.  For this age group, because Uranus opposes not only natal Uranus but also natal Pluto, this time period is even more urgent and powerful and necessitates a letting go of the past in order to move forward into the future.

Pluto squares his Moon, or his emotions, and Andrew’s former landlord told TMZ that Andrew did not have a good relationship with his mother (the Moon often, but not always, represents the mother in the natal chart and Pluto is the planet of destruction, death and rebirth, emphasizing an intensely emotional nature).

He has also had a number of challenging planetary cycles over the past couple of years, including Saturn transiting not only his Sun but also his lineup of Virgo planets which can be quite stressful.  In addition, transiting Saturn and Pluto have been facing off in challenging aspects against Chiron in his chart, the planet of psycho-spiritual wounds and emotional pain.  As if that weren’t enough, transiting Chiron was opposing his Sun, bringing more of that pain to the surface so that it could be processed and released, and transiting Pluto has been in a square to the Sun in his progressed chart, adding a tremendous amount of intensity to his life and experience.

This would have been a difficult time for anyone, and unless you are on a path of emotional healing and spiritual development – and frankly, even if you are – this kind of planetary intensity can drive you to the wall where change must occur.  Koenig’s chart is short on water, the element that offers an outlet for the emotions, so the processing of emotions does not come easily to him.  With no water and this collection of planetary influences, he would have been at a loss to know how to handle all of the feelings that roiled within him.

US magazine reports that Koenig’s parents received a disturbing and direct letter from their son and contacted police immediately.

Unfortunately, astrology cannot tell us whether or not Andrew will be found.  For that we just have to wait.

Update 2/26: Andrew Koenig was found dead today in a park in Vancouver.  He took his own life, the victim of depression.

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Jack Murtha has died

February 9, 2010 By

Representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania, who was one of the more outspoken critics of the Iraq War, died yesterday from complications of gallbladder surgery.  I profiled him back in 2005 in this article.

Murtha had a nearly exact conjunction of Mars (aggression and war) to Chiron (wounding and healing), and transiting Chiron was activating that conjunction nearly exactly at the time of his illness and surgery.

Although he voted in 2002 to approve the war, in 2005 he said ”The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion” and called for an immediate pullout of the troops.

He was a tireless advocate for the military as reflected in that Mars/Chiron conjunction.  Chiron is known as the “wounded healer” and shows what areas in life we experience wounds, and where we seek to become healed ourselves and heal others.  For Murtha, the military was his world and the focus of his dedication and to the end he insisted that the current conflicts could not be solved militarily.  It’s too bad no one is listening.

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RIP Ted Kennedy

August 26, 2009 By

Ted Kennedy died last night of brain cancer at the age of 77.  He was a controversial figure in many ways, but there is no denying that he was a tireless champion for the rights of those less fortunate than he.  He is also the last of the iconic Kennedy political family that wielded political influence in the United States for fifty years.

Kennedy was a man with great compassion, as we can see with the Sun in sensitive Pisces opposed by Neptune, ruler of Pisces, and the Moon.  Neptune and Pisces seek an experience of Universal Bliss and are associated with spirituality and spiritual compassion, but also with a desire to escape the boundaries of ordinary reality.  A propensity towards alcoholism and other addictions are frequently seen in a strong Pisces nature, and Kennedy was no exception.

Still, the extreme empathy that is bestowed by Neptune and Pisces combined in Kennedy’s chart with a Capricorn ascendant that gave him the ability to focus and work diligently to accomplish his goals.  A combination of Mars (drive) and Mercury (communication) in Aquarius, the sign of new ideas and social justice, propelled him ever forwards to design new ways of creating greater balance in the American economic system.

Senator Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer last May, as transiting Chiron made the first swipe of a square to his natal Chiron.  Chiron is the planet(oid, some say) that presides over the body/mind/spirit balance of an individual and is therefore often present when there is illness of some kind.  The first phase of the Chiron square cycle occurred in March, but Kennedy was not hospitalized until May when the Full Moon hit a sensitive Mars/Mercury conjunction in his chart.

The final square of Chiron to Kennedy’s Chiron just occurred about ten days before his seizure earlier this year, and at the time of the seizure transiting Mars was exactly opposite Pluto in Kennedy’s chart, squaring the conjunction of his progressed Mercury (mind) and Uranus (electricity/nervous system) that I wrote about back in May 2008 when Kennedy was first diagnosed:  ”The fact that Kennedy’s progressed Mercury is conjunct progressed Uranus right now is also interesting, echoing this Mercury/Uranus connection that electrifies the brain and creates an experience that changes everything.

Chiron was present once again at the time of death as Kennedy’s progressed Sun made an exact conjunction to Chiron in his birthchart.

Although his Republican colleagues criticized him relentlessly, they were also extremely fond of him and he was able to bridge the conservative/liberal gap better than most politicians.  It appears significant that his death concurs with the opposition of Saturn (conservatism) and Uranus (liberalism) currently aligning in the sky.  He may be the last bridge of reason between those two extremes of ideology.

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Death and the Lunar Nodes

July 3, 2009 By

Traditional astrologers seem to like to predict death.  Because traditional astrology is based in prediction and the concept of fate, the question of when a person will die becomes a subject of inquiry and analysis in the traditional modalities, whereas modern branches of astrology and certainly what I call “transformational” ‘astrology is more concerned with the evolution of the personality and the soul and our ability to transform our karma and create our destiny.  (You might be interested in my earlier article on this topic as well.)

In my personal theology, the chart is the karma that we are given, and our dharma, or soul work, is to maximize the potential of the chart and integrate the individual pieces that are often in conflict.  As we begin to make conscious choices rather than using reactive impulses in our day-to-day life, we are able to change our destiny and create a magnificent life.  This has been my experience as someone who has Saturn conjunct the Sun, Moon conjunct Pluto squared by Venus and Jupiter, and lots of other “bad” stuff in my chart, and this is what I teach my clients and students.

Theo White is a classical astrologer who has a new article out regarding the sudden rise of celebrity deaths over the past week, with the loss of major icons of popular culture (including Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Billy Mays within a 5-day period in June).

I have talked in these pages about the association of Jupiter with death.  Although I do not believe we can predict death from the birthchart (the “malefiic” planetary cycles that are said to predict death are experienced by people every day without resulting in death), we can often look back at the transits at the time of death and see what the quality of the death experience would have been for that individual.  Pluto can show a violent death; Saturn can bring a difficult one.  Jupiter in the death chart often shows a liberation of the soul, and when Uranus is present there can be a surprising event that causes sudden death.

Theo makes an interesting connection to the nodes of the Moon and this cluster of celebrity deaths:

These rising death rates often accompany the transits of Jupiter, and are also associated with the transiting Nodes of the Moon at this time, are along the Aquarius/Leo axis and reducing towards changing quality onto the Capricorn/Cancer axis in late August 2009.

During the month of June 2009, the Lunar Nodes are at their strongest along the 0-1 degrees along the Leo/Aquarius.

The Leo/Aquarius axis is ruled by the Sun, Saturn, and Uranus, and is often associated with congestive heart failure, and accidents. Many of the notable deaths have been reported as involving those who suffered heart attacks.

The lunar Nodes (these are actually points where the Moon’s orbit intersects with the orbit of the Sun) travel at a variable rate of speed but they slowed down to a crawl in June, making an effective station (standstill) at the zero point on the Leo/Aquarius axis.  The Nodes will remain at the zero point into the middle of August, coinciding with the strongest linkage of Jupiter, Chiron and Uranus.

At that point the Nodes, which always travel in retrograde motion, will change signs and move into the Cancer/Capricorn polarity which will be accompanied by a shift in attention of the global psyche.

Read more of Theo’s article here…

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