photo reprinted without permission from the Boston Globe

Ted Kennedy was rushed to the hospital last weekend after suffering a seizure in his home, and today his doctors announced that tests had revealed a malignant brain tumor in the left parietal lobe of his brain. As he is one of the most respected elder Democratic statesmen as well as the last giant in a family of political giants, this is a sad day for Democrats and for the political world in general.

Ted Kennedy’s astrology chart shows that his Sun is in Pisces, which is widely known to be the sign of the saint and the drunk because of the urge within the Pisces soul to transcend the dull and ordinary mundane reality and experience something more transcendent. However, Kennedy’s achievement-oriented Capricorn ascendant ensures that he is brought back to reality time and time again.

To complicate matters further, Mars and Mercury in his chart are conjunct in Aquarius – the sign of the visionary and a fervor for social justice and equality, as we have seen during Kennedy’s long years of service. However, the Aquarian tendency towards rational intellect does not integrate well with the Pisces longing for redemption and transcendence, and because his Sun opposes Pisces’ ruler Neptune (a double whammy connecting his Sun to the Pisces archetype) this longing stirs powerfully within him. Kennedy is well known for his long battle with alcoholism and this is not uncommon in the charts of strongly Piscean individuals, especially if they have a hyper-critical Virgo Moon and the relentless pressure of the Capricorn ascendant and first house Saturn which strives for achievement and the fulfillment of one’s destiny.

Kennedy’s seizure occurred at the time of the Full Moon which made a square to the Mars/Mercury Aquarian conjunction in his chart. Mercury in Aquarius does not like to think emotionally, and the Virgo Moon prefers to keep one’s emotions in nice little boxes where everything can be safe. However, the Pisces sensitivity makes it difficult for all of this to play out, and the intense Scorpio drama of the most recent Full Moon occurred in a nearly exact square to this Mars/Mercury conjunction in Aquarius. Seizures in the brain have a great deal to do with Mercury and we can argue that they are Uranian/Aquariuan as well, with sudden shifts in energy.

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.

Kennedy is undergoing some difficult transits right now, notably a transit of Saturn over his Pisces Sun which began last fall and occurred for the second time in March, along with a square of transiting Chiron to natal Chiron in Kennedy’s chart. The Chiron square activates the influence of the Wounded Healer to bring any hidden or unresolved wounds into view.

These transits are not always connected to health problems but we can certainly connect them to Kennedy’s chart in a way that makes astrological sense.

Ted Kennedy has made mistakes in his life but has risen above it all to be a dedicated public servant and well-respected politician. I know we will all be sending our prayers and holding him in light as he faces this latest challenge.