Celebrities Archives - Astrological Musings

Monday October 26, 2009

Categories: Celebrities

Morrisey hospitalized after collapsing on stage

by Lynn Hayes

Singer-songwriter Morrissey collapsed on stage last night and was rushed to the hospital with an unidentified respiratory ailment.

Morrissey (May 22, 1959, time unknown, Lancashire England) is a complicated personality astrologically, with a lighthearted Gemini Sun squared by Pluto, the god of death. He has said that he began taking prescription drugs as a teenager to combat the depression that often accompanies this kind of planetary combination, and he is known in the British press as the Pope of Mope.

He is also well-known for his ambivalent sexuality. Pluto is the planet of intense emotional experiences, and this encompasses the experience of sexuality which draws us into the underworld where we may feel we have lost control. This conflict between Pluto's darkness and the lighthearted Gemini Sun and the fear of being overpowered is exemplified in this lyric from the song "Handsome Devil": "And when we're in your scholarly room, who will swallow whom?"

Gemini rules breathing, and that square from Pluto in the natal chart can create breathing difficulties. Morrissey also has a square from Jupiter in Scorpio, which has a tendency towards intensity anyway, to Chiron (the Wounded Healer archetype). This aspect bestows a powerful sense of social justice and a need to feel important and that one was put on the Earth for an important reason. It also expands (Jupiter) the requirement by Chiron that undigested emotional material be released and healed, so transits to these points can create health problems that arise from emotional and psychological disconnects.

Morrissey's Moon is involved in this combination as well; depending on the time he was born, his Moon either conjoins Jupiter in Scorpio and squares Chiron (if he is born before noon) which would create a fair amount of emotional sensitivity, or if he is born in the afternoon his Moon is in the early degrees of Sagittarius where it is squared by Pluto, another challenging dynamic that can add to the feeling of being overwhelmed.

In any event, as we get older our unresolved psychological issues begin to lodge themselves in the body where they lurk until we go through a holistic process of healing the body, mind and spirit. The Triple Conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune that we have seen in the sky this year formed an exact square to Morrissey's Jupiter for the first time in February of 2009, when he canceled concert dates on his US tour. The second square of the Triple Conjunction to Jupiter in his chart took place on May 29, the day that he canceled a series of concerts in Britain.

Morrissey's Chiron Return begins next year - this is the time at around age 51 when Chiron in the sky returns to the same degree as it occupies in the birthchart so he is likely to continue to experience health problems unless he seeks healing in the emotional and spiritual realm as well as the physical.

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Filed Under: Chiron return, Morrissey, the Smiths

posted by Lynn Hayes @ 6:07am Permalink email icon

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Tuesday October 6, 2009

Categories: Astrology lessons, Celebrities

More on Letterman's birthchart and what is rectification?

by Lynn Hayes

The other day I wrote on Dave Letterman's chart as it affects his situation at the moment, embroiled in a blackmail scheme and needing to make major apologies to his wife and staff. My anonymous commenter Chiron questioned the birth time of 6 am which has been put forth by the wonderful people at Astrodatabank which is now posted on astro.com and is listed with a Rodden rating of A.

Rectification is the art, or fantasy depending on how you look at it, of assigning a time of birth to a person where no birth time is known, using the astrological correlations with certain events in a person's life.

Rectification is more reliable when we have a smaller time range, for example, if I know that someone was born in the afternoon I can generally narrow down the time using rectification methods. But if we have no birth time, such as in the case of a celebrity, and we rectify based on what we THINK we know about that celebrity, we are not doing ourselves or the field of astrology any favors.

The example of what happened with Susan Boyle's birthchart is a good one. Susan Boyle, as you may recall, exploded into public view overnight. Nothing was known about her, but when a birth time was found astrologers all over the world began publishing what we thought were extremely accurate portrayals of her birthchart using this birth time. Unfortunately for us, that birth time turned out to be incorrect and the correct birth time did not appear to be so accurate based on what we assumed we knew about Susan Boyle. (You can read more about that drama here.)

That said, the 6 am time for Letterman comes from a staffer and from his biography so it is reasonably reliable although when I see a rounded-off time I am always somewhat skeptical. Still, this time does set up a chart that appears to be accurate when we look at certain planetary transits to the angles (the angles are the ascendant and midheaven, and they are dependent upon the time of birth).

For example, in January of 2000 David Letterman was rushed to the hospital for quintuple bypass surgery. At the time, his progressed Midheaven was exactly square to his progressed Sun within minutes. The Sun, either in the birthchart or by progression, is nearly always implicated in diseases of the heart and aspects from the progressed Midheaven often indicate a major change in a person's life. The Midheaven also in some cases represents the father, and Letterman's father died of a heart attack so this event certainly would have been a major turning point for him.

The timeline of the current extortion attempt is also reflected in the chart provided by Astrodatabank with the 6 am birthtime. Letterman said Thursday night that three weeks before he was approached by the blackmailer. At the time, transiting Mars (aggression) was conjunct his progressed ascendant (his public persona) and transiting Mercury (messages) was opposite Mars (war and defense) in his natal chart. Any one of these events could have brought about an event of aggression, but the combination of the two would have accelerated the drama of the event.

Shortly thereafter, on September 20, transiting Mars made a challenging square to his progressed Moon, threatening his security and that of his family (Moon) but at the same time, transiting Chiron (wounding and healing) was in a harmonious trine to his Sun (Self), facilitating his desire to work through the problem rather than allow it to bury him in disgrace.

Mars has been very active throughout the period from September 14th to the present, activating Letterman's chart and energizing him for the conflict to come. But what clinches the deal for me is that on October 1st when Letterman made the announcement, transiting Mars (conflict) sat right on the Nadir of the chart, opposite the Midheaven which is the point at which we project ourselves into the public arena. The Nadir/Midheaven polarity requires that we balance our inner world (Nadir) with the outer world of our profession (Midheaven), and in Letterman's announcement he was seeking that balance in a very public way.

Comments (3)

Filed Under: David Letterman astrology, David Letterman blackmail, Mars opposite Midheaven, progressed chart, rectification

posted by Lynn Hayes @ 7:43am Permalink email icon

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Monday October 5, 2009

Categories: Celebrities

The astrology of David Letterman's extortion announcement

by Lynn Hayes

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http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/files/letterman.jpg

As the world knows by now, David Letterman recently responded to a multimillion dollar extortion plot against him by announcing the scandalous details of his in-office sex life on his television show on Thursday night.

A former staffer had apparently collected information about Letterman's affairs and revealed them to her boyfriend, a producer at CBS named Joe Halderman, who was arrested Thursday for the extortion plot.

David Letterman has made his reputation on being a quirky and eccentric talk show host, and his personal life has reflected his eccentricity. Although he has been in a relationship with partner Regina Lasko for 23 years, they never married until March and he has worked diligently to keep his private life hidden from the public view.

Astrologically, David Letterman (4/12/47, 6:00 am, Indianapolis) has the Sun in Aries, the sign of courage and individuality and reflecting his independent spirit. The 6 am birthtime is suspect to me because of its inexactness, but if it is correct he has Taurus rising. The rising sign describes the way we approach our life and the way that we are perceived by others, and someone with Taurus rising requires a certain amount of predictability in his life. He would want to have the same job for many years (check), consistency in his personal life (check - longtime relationship), he would have a desire to accumulate wealth and possessions (check) and he would be quite stubborn (check).

Like many of us, Letterman has a challenging planetary system in his chart which reflects a certain amount of psychological distress: a conjunction of Saturn (challenge and restriction) to Pluto (death and transformation) which forms a square to Chiron in Scorpio (wounding and healing in the area of intimacy and deep emotion). Letterman is someone who feels his wounds deeply, but that Aries Sun demands that he continually push through those wounds through the sheer force of his will.

That Chiron sits right on the cusp of the seventh house of partnership and open enemies, revealing the tendency for Dave's relationships to be painful yet promote healing. This event is very descriptive of the way Chiron works: A challenging event forces Letterman's old wounds into the public view, causing great personal turmoil and disturbance, but eventually, hopefully, leading to the resolution of what must have been a long conflict for him regarding his personal relationships.

This is not the first time someone close to Letterman has turned on him (the seventh house is the house not only of partnerships and marriage, but also of "open enemies") - in 2005 a painter who worked for Letterman was charged with conspiracy to kidnap his son.

Venus in Letterman's chart also tells a tale about his personal relationships. Venus is in Pisces - warm and romantic, and needing a certain amount of fantasy to remain interested. Venus forms a square to Uranus, an aspect that requires autonomy and a sense of space, as well as a need for a variety of people in our life to provide stimulation and excitement. You can see how a Pisces Venus, with its need for closeness and romance, is not a good partner for the detached and revolutationary Uranus and this reveals the underlying conflict in Dave regarding his personal relationships.

When I have married clients with this configuration, or one like it, I advise them to find balance in their lives between their need for closeness and this need for stimulation from other people. Usually one side of that conflict is buried in the subconscious, so the client may only be aware of their need for space and not of their need for closeness, or they may want 24-hour intimacy and not be aware that they also need that space. In those cases they end up in relationships with partners who are unavailable or rejecting. In the ideal world, these planetary conflicts find balance and mutual expression.

In Dave's world, he was able to successfully compartmentalize his life so that he had the stability that he craved (Taurus rising), could pursue his successful career (Sun in Aries, Moon in Capricorn) and still find excitement in romance (Venus/Uranus).

The Jupiter/Chiron/Neptune conjunction that peaked in late May of this year formed an exact square to Jupiter in Dave's chart. You may remember that this triple conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune has had the effect of bringing up old wounds (Chiron) so that the soul can be healed (Neptune/Chiron), and that Jupiter created big events to facilitate the process. These planets have been affecting Dave's Jupiter, which sits in his seventh house of relationships. Jupiter, as king of the gods, often shows where we want to be king, and in the seventh house he tends to want control over that domain. This control is being challenged right now by the triple conjunction, and I suspect this event will result in a big personal change for him.

Comments (6)

Filed Under: Chiron, David Letterman astrology, extortion plot, Saturn conjunct Pluto, Venus square Uranus

posted by Lynn Hayes @ 7:26am Permalink email icon

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Friday September 25, 2009

Categories: Celebrities

The revelation of Mackenzie Phillips

by Lynn Hayes

I have to say I am a bit creeped out by Mackenzie Phillips' admission that she had what amounts to an affair with her father for ten years. There has been much debate in the news media about whether the affair was rape or not, since Mackenzie reportedly was 19 years old when the initial incident occurred.

Mackenzie is the daughter of John Phillips and his first wife, Susan Adams, but John left the family when he married his second wife, Michelle Phillips, in 1962. So John was the distant father to Mackenzie, most likely idealized by her and never available.

Her astrological chart shows that she has a Scorpio Sun in tight conjunction to Mars (sexuality and aggression), both of which are squared by Uranus (shock and sudden change). That Sun/Mars conjunction has a strong sexual component, and the square to Uranus can signify a shocking early trauma, or simply a rebellious nature that relishes the shock value of radical behavior. In any case, Uranus square the Sun often shows the sudden departure (Uranus) of the father (Sun) that leaves a gaping hole in the life of the individual.

Mackenzie's chart is made more difficult by a square from Saturn to both the Moon and Venus. Venus in the birthchart shows where we feel attractive and deserving of love, and that square from Saturn indicates a deep insecurity and sense of rejection. The square from Saturn to the Moon, which represents emotional security and safety, exacerbates that insecurity and adds a note of isolation and loneliness.

She also has Chiron (wounding and healing) square to the Sun and directly opposite Uranus. The square of Chiron to the Sun reveals the difficulty she has had in developing a sense of Self and a healthy ego (the Sun), and the Chiron/Uranus opposition is often associated with anxiety and because it requires a transmutation of energy it can be extremely intense. It is prevalent in the charts of people who do healing work but it is also commonly found in people who have drug addictions as they seek to medicate the intensity of their experiences.

The hippie culture in the 1960s embraced a different morality in an effort to separate from the uptightness of traditional American society of the 1950s. I lived in communes in the early 1970s and it was not uncommon for parents to give their children LSD and other psychedelics in an effort to "free their mind." Looking back, it was an incredibly delusional period, but we were trying to forge a new culture where everyone was free. As it turned out though, that freedom nearly killed many of us.

Mackenzie had tried both pot and LSD by age 12, and by 18 she was injecting heroin with her father. At the time that the incestuous affair began in 1979, John Phillips' career and life were spiraling down into a morass of drug-induced stupor. His addiction was so intense in the late 1970s that he was unable to complete an album for the Rolling Stones, and Mackenzie was arrested for drug possession and suspended from her television series. She barely worked again until 1992 when she achieved sobriety and appeared to stay out of trouble until August of 2008 when she was arrested with cocaine and heroin.

During that period in 1979, transiting Uranus conjoined Mackenzie's Sun, setting off the Sun/Uranus square in her chart. I can just imagine that here is this depressed and insecure young girl, whose father is a gorgeous rock god who left her and her mother when she was just a baby, and finally he is giving her the attention she has always longed for. She knows it's wrong by conventional moral standards, but she's a rebel at heart (Sun square Uranus) and Uranus is activating that morality buster. Uranus brings us experiences that alter and change us forever, and that would certainly have been the case here.

Over the past year and a half transiting Pluto has been activating the Saturn/Moon/Venus complex in Mackenzie's chart. This is a very challenging planetary event that would have excavated (Pluto) all of Mackenzie's insecurities and anxieties, as well as releasing memories and feelings from the past. At the same time she has been going through her Chiron return, which is a cycle we go through around age 51 when Chiron returns to its place in the birthchart. This activates the release of old feelings and emotions, and while it can be overwhelming at times there is also the opportunity for healing.

The combination of the Chiron return (with transiting Chiron also activating Uranus in the chart and the desire for real change and evolution) with the transit of Pluto and its potential for transformation along with the revelations of deep dark secrets from the Underworld, must have been an intense one. Dr. Drew PInsky, who has treated Mackenzie, said in an interview that the revelation of this secret (Pluto) is part of Mackenzie's healing (Chiron).

Comments (18)

Filed Under: Drew Pinsky, John Phillips, Mackenzie Phillips, Saturn square Moon, Saturn square Venus, Sun square Uranus

posted by Lynn Hayes @ 5:18pm Permalink email icon

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Wednesday August 12, 2009

Categories: Celebrities

Paula Abdul and the fall of American Idol

by Lynn Hayes

I confess that I am not an Idol watcher, but I HAVE been watching Paula Abdul over the past year and wondering what was up with her. Last November an accused stalker committed suicide in front of Paula's house. Her behavior on American Idol was consistently eccentric (often called "loopy") and led to rumors of drug and alcohol addiction. Paula claims that her odd behavior is the result of nerve damage from an accident back in 1992 that left her with a painful neck injury and the inability to sleep.

The planetary transits that Paula Abdul is experiencing now are liberating ones, suggesting that her leaving American Idol is going to free her to do other things that she has been wanting to do for quite some time. We are fortunate in having a birth certificate for her so we have exact data to do her chart (6/19/62, 2:32 pm, LA, California). Paula's Sun is in Gemini and she is a person who needs a constant influx of new experiences in order to satisfy her need for change. That Sun falls in the Ninth House of freedom and adventure and philosophy so it is clear that she will always need to follow her own dreams.

Libra is rising in the chart, which gives her the pleasing personality that has made her a favorite on the Idol program, and the sign of Cancer sits on the Midheaven of the chart, suggesting that in every aspect of her career (Midheaven) she has a desire to take care of others. This nurturing quality is accentuated by the conjunction of the Moon (the nurturer and ruler of the sign of Cancer) at the Nadir of the chart, its own point. This is a powerful Moon which shows not only that Paula has a very strong desire to nurture and care for others, but also that her own emotions and feeling nature is extremely strong as well. Paula herself said, ""I'm a mother to Simon, Ryan, and Randy... and all the former contestants, you know I really play that role. That's not a role to play actually, it's who I am authentically,"

That strong emotional streak has created problems for her in her career in the past and I suspect that there is a large part of her which would just as soon be at home with children and pets, taking care of a family. But Venus, the goddess of attraction, is in Leo in her chart which gives her the ability and desire to perform and to be seen, and it falls in the Tenth House of career and public life which is a magnet for good fortune in the career area even though that Venus is opposed by Saturn which creates self-doubt and insecurity. Paula feels she has to work harder than others, but hard work comes naturally to her with the Moon in materialistic and disciplined Capricorn.

Over the past year transiting Saturn has been crossing some sensitive points in her chart (Chiron and Jupiter which oppose Pluto, and Mercury which squares the other three) and this has likely created a great deal of internal pressure and a sense of being restricted and confined. The ongoing Triple Conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune has made a harmonious trine to Uranus in her chart and to her Sun, inspiring her to heal the wound from her past (Chiron) and giving her the confidence (Jupiter) to go after the greater recognition that she feels she deserves. She has been in continuing contract negotiations (she has reportedly been earning $4 million a year compared to Simon Cowell's $45M and Ryan Seacrest's $30M) which recently broke down as her contract was ending. Her place on the Judges' panel may have also been jeopardized somewhat by the addition of Kara DioGuardi (Paula lite) back in February

The progressed Ascendant in Paula's chart, the point that reflects our ever-changing persona and personal identity, is in a challenging aspect right now to Uranus (the desire for change), and is being aspected by transiting Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune. Her departure from Idol is likely more than just a job change; it is a complete transformation of her identity and the way she chooses to reveal herself. The planetary aspects for the next year are very favorable, and I think we will see Paula blossom as she is released from the restrictions of American Idol.

Comments (4)

Filed Under: American Idol, Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul astrology, Paula Abdul birthchart

posted by Lynn Hayes @ 6:25am Permalink email icon

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Sunday July 26, 2009

Categories: Celebrities

Birth certificates found for Michael Jackson's children

by Lynn HayesTMZ has posted copies of the birth certificates of Michael Jackson's children. Many will say that this is an abhorrent violation of the right to privacy of children who have done nothing to put themselves in the spotlight,...

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