Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

Steve Jobs, 24 February 1955 at 19.15, San Francisco

People around the world are mourning the loss of entrepreneur and creative, forward-looking technological innnovator Steve Jobs, who died on 5th October. Jobs was one of the originators of the computer revolution, and was the co-founder of Apple Computer Corporation and Pixar Animation Studios. His legacy is the success of Apple; the end products of his creative genius are carried in the pockets, handbags and briefcases of men, women and children all over the world (how old do they have to be before they want an ipod, iphone or ipad? Not that old in my experience!)

Jobs' chart shows something of the inner motivation and drive for which he was famous. Composed of mainly red and blue aspects, he would have had very little time for half measures, approaching life in an either/or way, where it was a matter of all or nothing. He is reputed to have been moody and difficult to work with, and the red opposition aspects spanning the 5/11 house axis of relationships are indicative of this, with Venus stressed just before the 5th cusp and Jupiter/Uranus strongly placed on the 11th cusp.

His chart shows, in the aspect pattern shaping, a mixture of restlessness and the drive to move on, change and grow. But the overwhelming red/blue nature of the aspects indicate that there will be little room for half measures. The one green aspect between Sun and Moon is part of a Small Learning triangle, which is completed by the North Node in 4th. This was the place and area of life for Jobs to move towards and develop in his life - the area of the collective, the human family. The impact that his passing has had reflects his success in tapping into the zeitgeist and tapping into the lives of the ordinary people who would not be without the seductive and attractive Apple technologies.

Before I saw his chart I expected to find some indicators for his technological genius in his chart - and there it is - Jupiter/Uranus are the highest planets in the chart, they are strongly placed on 11th cusp and are opposite Venus. This embodies quite a different expression of these planets to the one I explored above and here we need to look at this oppostion in the whole aspect pattern it is a part of - the Ambivalence Figure. The work - the creative genius, the visionary ideas, the pure aesthetics - take place across the opposition, where the energy is active but held in tension, awaiting release. This takes place via the planet at the blue corner of the figure - in Jobs' chart this is Saturn very strongly placed on 3rd cusp.

Saturn = materialising, grounding and making manifest.
The 3rd house = communication.

What better placement could there be for the man who has been at the forefront of computer technology and has had a huge influence of the way we communicate globally with each other?

Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch: Born 11.3.1931 at 23.59 in Melbourne, Australia.

Rupert Murdoch and his son James of News International will today appear before a select committee of the British Parliament to answer questions about the phone hacking scandal which is being played out day by day in the UK and now in the US, like an ongoing saga.

A look at this man's chart is timely, since his power and dominance of the press, broadcast media and in the UK, of political life, is due to be thoroughly washed in public and hung out to dry in no uncertain terms. And frankly, about time too.

Murdoch's chart is is dominated by triangular aspect figures, indicating an underlying motivation of adapting to change and the ability to move on and keep moving. The aspect colour balance of 3 red: 4 green: 6 blue aspects suggests more of a thinking, considering and weighing up of issues approach, using the green aspects rather than a knee-jerk response using the red ones. This man is a thinker; some might say, in light of the current scandals coming to light, a schemer.

The aspect patterns fill the lower half of the chart, leaving the top half relatively empty. Only Neptune sits on high, alone. His Neptune is currently having light shone on it by Age Progression as Venus, which it is linked to by the green quincunx aspect, is also aspecting Neptune at the same time. Interestingly, his Nodal Age Point too is making an aspect to Neptune.

The Nodal Age Point often brings to light things which have been hidden or repressed, forcing them out into the light of day via events in the outside world. It's very tempting to look at the symbolism here - Neptune can indicate illusion, even deception, at it's lowest level - and in the 9th house which could be "high places" like the law....need I say more? Neptune in Murdoch's chart is currently a point of focus, and based on his past known record, it's highly unlikely that he would have been using Neptune at a more enlightened and higher level.

His aspect patterns - a Dominant and a Small Learning triangle, and an Ambivalence figure - offer the capacity to learn on a large and a smaller, more specific scale. His Sun is involved in all three patterns, with the most interesting pattern being the Ambivalence figure. The Sun is at the all-blue "escape" point of this pattern, conjunct Mercury, and the planets in opposition in the active, working part of the pattern are Saturn and Pluto, not exactly the kind of duo you'd want to meet with in a dark alley. Pluto, not particularly strong by either sign or house, sits in 7th house of Encounters, flanked by Jupiter and Mars. It's opposite Saturn in 1st house, making this a potentially formidable combination in the area of working and networking with others. Murdoch is known to have had power over many influential people, such as politicians and police. I see his 7th house line up as Pluto with his bodyguards - Mars very strong in 8th house as his "heavy" and Jupiter on the Balance Point in 7th exuding bonhomie, charm and hosting extravagant events.

As I write, events are still unfolding and will continue to do so for some time to come. The cleansing of the Murdoch Augean stables has begun.

Bill Gates' Dominant Learning Triangle

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and one of the richest men in the world, was born on 28.10.1955 in Seattle WA, USA, at 21.15. Now known for his philanthropy as well as his connection with IT, Gates' chart provides some interesting insights into what he might draw upon to support his entrepreneurial drives and motivation.

The image his chart offers reminds me of an axe head splitting apart two sections of wood; it comes down firmly with the Scorpio Sun at the sharp cutting point. Gates' Sun is one of the three pinning planets in the Dominant Learning triangle which fills a large area of the chart structure. The rest of the aspects are disconnected and linear, suggesting an underlying restlessness and the ability to think and act decisively and outside the box.

The Dominant Learning triangle is direct - that is, the colour sequence, beginning at the red/blue corner, and moving in an anti-clockwise direction, is red-green-blue. (The shadow triangle you can see behind this one is a retrograde one). Dominant Learning triangles make individuals who have them in their chart lifelong learners. Each journey around the triangle presents new opportunities for deepening understanding and acquiring new perspectives and abilities, depending on what the pinning planets are. In Gates' chart these are his Scorpio Sun in the 4th house, intercepted Moon in Aries at the top of the chart in 10th house and Low Point Uranus in the 1st house. On initial inspection, perhaps not a particularly promising line up by placement for an entrepreneur.

In the Dominant Learning triangle, the activity and the learning process begin with the planet at the red/blue corner - in Gates' chart this is Uranus on the Low Point (LP) in the 1st house. Low Point planets are often not easily expressed in the outside world, mainly because the person has not found a method of successfully expressing them in a way that others can accept or comprehend. A Low Point planet has to be worked on and developed. Although it may not initially be a wow out in the world, it is an invaluable inner resource. Uranus on the 1st house LP could be a source of inspiration, ideas, leaps of insight, sudden "ah-ha!" experiences and a tool to help lateral thinking. It's also the planet associated with innovative technology.

So....Gates' process with this aspect pattern could be (and here I can only speculate and hypothesise, but that's part of the fun!) the sudden bright and innovative idea that comes from Uranus. This demands some action, so the red "doing" aspect between Uranus and Sun is activated, and his mind, will, ability to choose and make decisions in brought into play. Being a Scorpio Sun, these qualities are never shallow or superficial and there may be a touch of shrewed strategy involved at this stage of the process. Action has been initiated, but then searching, questing, mutable qualities become involved as the learning process travels along the green aspect to the Moon to test out the feel of the whole thing.

Gates' Moon is intercepted - it's trapped in Aries, a sign with no house cusps -and has no way out into the world - so it's difficult for him to gauge at this stage how his innovative idea might be received by the environment, which might not want what LP Uranus has to offer anyway! At this point, Moon could be drawing heavily on the Sun - his mind, his creativity and the sense of self he gains through this planet, because it's the only one in this aspect pattern which has the clearest route for expression in the environment. This could be where the entrepreneurship kicks in.

Once this stage has been passed through, it's a matter of completing the third and final side of this pattern via the connection between Moon and Uranus. The blue aspect denotes a sense of achievement and the coming into being of the original idea, but there is a slight hesitancy and possible doubt here shown by the one-way (dotted) aspect between these two planets. The learning and the process involved may end with another question mark; the entrepreneur will start the whole process off again, maybe in a completely new way.

Gates' Sun conjunct Neptune which links to Jupiter/Pluto for me suggests his philanthropy. His unaspected Venus/Saturn present further interesting paths of exploration - but not here and not now. I will look at unaspected planets in a future post.

To learn about aspect patterns (there are over 40 if them!) see "Aspect Pattern Astrology" by Bruno and Louise Huber, "The Cosmic Egg Timer" by myself and Richard Llewellyn and my books "Aspect Patterns in Colour" and "The Living Birth Chart" All are available at the On-Line Book Shop at the Astrological Psychology Association web site.

Anita Roddick's very red chart

Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, has recently been in the news announcing that she has hepatitis C, contracted through a blood transfusion when she gave birth to her daughter in 1971. Famous for combining social and ethical campaigning with success in business, she is now on a mission to raise public awareness of hepatitis C and get more government funding to help treat the disease.
Born in 23.10.1942 in Littlehampton (no time of birth available; chart set for noon), Roddick's Sun is still just in Libra, a Sign it shares with 4 other planets. With Libran qualities emphasised, it's not surprising that she has demonstrated a strong sense of fair play in those fields of endeavour she is famous for. Considered to be the originator of many aspects of ethical consumerism and business, she was also a pioneer of fair trade in the UK. As a social entrepreneur she offered goods for the consumer keen to buy brands that reflected their belief system.
Her chart is predominantly red. There are 6 red, 2 green and 3 blue aspects giving her an imbalance of "doing" and "being" energy - the red, "doing" motivation dominates, and this is effectively embodied in the two closely placed Efficiency Triangles which dominate the chart. Both figures focus on Jupiter at the apex, at the "outlet" point of these figures - fitting for an entrepreneur with a strong sense of social justice who is not likely to say "no" to a challenge!
Although Jupiter is at the sharp end of this figure, the planets that drive it are her Aries Moon and her Libran Sun, Venus and Mars. The Sun/Moon opposition indicates a potential battle between head and heart when decisions have to be made, but the inner conflict that the placements of these planets implies find its expression through Jupiter in Cancer and her entrepreneurial need to DO something, together with a strong social conscience and caring for more than just making money.
She took some knocks and harsh criticism last year when she sold The Body Shop to L'Oreal, not renowned for ethical testing of its cosmetics, but business associates claim that the sale wasn't about the money; she had already announced that she was giving away her fortune to support other ethical entrepreneurs.
Her health may be poor - she has cirrhosis of the liver and will need a transplant - but her campaigning spirit is strong. Her mission now is to bring hepatitis C centre stage and raise the profile of this often-forgotten disease, something that the red motivating energy in her chart will surely be applied to.

Of herself, Roddick says: "I'm not a good business-woman......most entrepreneurs aren't. We're delinquents. Everything these days is to do with economics - people speak as if you were put on this earth to keep the economy going. Well I'm sorry, no f***ing way. I'm here to be a good mother, a wonderful friend and an activist. End of story".