Tom Hanks' Search Figure

Actor Tom Hanks was born on July 9th 1965 in Concord, California at 11.17 am.

His latest film is Captain Phillips, an edge-of-the-seat drama based on the true story of Richard Phillips, captain of the MV Maersk Alabama, who was taken hostage when his ship was hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009. Hanks' performance in this role should put him in the running for an Oscar nomination. 

But what of Hanks the person? What can we learn from his chart and what makes him tick? Looking at the overall aspect structure in his chart, it reveals a restless inner motivation. This suggests that Hanks, whilst able to be flexible, able to adapt to changes and roll with them, is also comfortable with taking off on new projects. He may be erratic at times, surprising those around him, as the linear aspects in his chart suggest. This could be reinforced and fed by his Moon conjunct Uranus. Expect the unexpected?

Hanks has 2 aspect patterns - a Small Learning triangle pinned by Jupiter/Pluto, Saturn and Neptune. This is adjacent to the Search figure, which shares Neptune and Saturn as  pinning planets with the Small Learning triangle. The other planet in the Search figure is Venus, right at the top of his chart. Arguably a very good placement for an actor, taking on different and varied roles.

Search figures are triangular, and the behaviour they exhibit is flexible and has a mutable flavour. They can dodge and weave, change direction and adapt to changing circumstances because they are triangular. Composed of only green and blue aspects they have an escapist quality, and may not be particularly active or productive if they don't have any red aspects feeding in to them. In Hanks' chart, the red aspects in the Small Learning triangle feed into the Search figure and will assist in activating the search by provoking learning which may be connected with the business of the Search figure.

I describe the Search figure in my book Aspect Patterns in Colour. People with this pattern in their charts tend to be bound up with thoughts, ideas and are often on a quest to understand as much as possible about any chosen subject as they can. There's an "if only" feel about the Search figure as the person seeks answers and will search high and low for them. Experience suggests that the planet at the blue/green corner is the one which offers a possible outlet and expression for what has been gained during the search. In Hanks' chart this planet is Neptune.

Neptune is undeniably useful for an actor, especially a film actor, and it could well serve as the outlet point for his acting. But recently I learned something else about Hanks. He was being interviewed on TV and was asked what he would like to be if he were not an actor. Without hesitation he replied that he'd love to be a National Park Ranger. In 2009 he was involved in the production of an award-winning documentary series for public broadcast TV - "The National Parks - America's Great Idea". When Hanks said he'd love to be a park ranger it was with a quality and energy which makes me suspect he was coming directly from that Neptune, at the blue/green corner of his Search figure.

More about aspect patterns in two books, available from the APA Book Shop, Amazon and other booksellers:

• Aspect Pattern Astrology by Bruno and Louise Huber,

• in my book Aspect Patterns in Colour  

• and for full in-depth teaching and tutoring on this subject see the full diploma study course book offered by the Astrological Psychology Association.