Sir Sean Connery RIP

[Jim Eshelman]

To me (as to many others), Sean Connery will always be the defining expression of James Bond - and yet, so much more with the rich, bountiful unfolding of his acting art in the decades following. He was also a complex, driven character. He died this morning in his sleep in Nassau, Bahamas (which, having been there, I can say would be a splendid place to end one's days). He was 90 years old and had been "unwell for some time."

The New York Times obituary has abundant interesting and useful detail:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/31/movi ... -dead.html

He was born, according to his birth records, August 25, 1930, 6:05 PM, Edinburgh, Scotland. What a sublimely fitting chart! There is no problem seeing the Leo Sun for this lion of a figure, nor the Virgo Moon for this articulate, acute figure who spent his first theater tour "in every library in Britain, Ireland, Scotland and Wales" studying all the plays of George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and Henrik Ibsen, plus novels of Thomas Wolfe, Proust’s “Remembrance of Things Past” and Joyce’s “Ulysses” to deepen his art and grow past as simple body-builder.

His character, and the depths of his reach were fueled by a difficult early life, leading to what NYT described as "anger... never far below the surface" and an "his combination of penury and generosity." These words might have been taken off the face of his horoscope with Saturn 1°09' above Ascendant, Jupiter 3°09' above Descendant, and Mars 4°55' below Descendant. To these, add Pluto 6°24' above Descendant: He seems always to have thought and acted outside conventional boxes, lived authentically, eventually became mostly a recluse, and was a lifelong passionate advocate for Scottish independence.

That Pluto (plus benefics) is inseparable from his success. In London, Saturn and Mars backed away from his angles, Jupiter remained 2°23' from the angle and Pluto moved to within 1°49' of Descendant. In Hollywood, his locality chart is stunning: Pluto 0°42' from MC, Venus 0°29' from Asc to unfurl his grace and charm, and Uranus 3°00' below Descendant - with a touch of (wider) Jupiter. It is a phenomenal breakout! He spent his retirement years living in Nassau, where his Leo Sun (conjunct Neptune) is only 1°39' from Midheaven. (This is a splendid symbolic fit for Nassau.)

[Jim Eshelman]

[Jim Eshelman]

Connery had recently completed his demi-Pluto return. It's unclear what health problems he had been suffering for some time, but the final trigger seems to have been Mars exactly conjunct his Uranus this morning (not exactly consistent with a peaceful death in one's sleep but consistent with electrical disturbances of the heart muscle).

These transits show stage of life but do not zero in exactly on this event and this time and place. For that, we expect a clear showing in his solunars. But first, I need to acknowledge his 0°07' opposition of progressed Moon to natal Jupiter (while still square progressed Uranus). Progressed Sun was exactly square natal Sun (meaning that every solar arc planet was partile square its own natal position).

His August 25, 2020 SSR for Nassau is most notable for natal Moon exactly on MC (with natal Mercury nearby). SSR Moon squares natal Sun-Neptune. This reinforces the idea of gradual fading, and especially weakening of heart muscle (which I increasingly think was the cause of death).

His final SLR (Oct 14) is not dramatic. It has a Sun-Mars opposition widely foreground, squared by Jupiter-Pluto (tied to natal Pluto). Natal Uranus rose, tied to some of the others. However, his October 27 Demi-SLR, just over three days ago, was on target, had Sun opposite Uranus across the horizon squared by Saturn near MC (the Sun-Saturn mundane square being almost partile).

Of the quotidians the (mean rate) PSSR scores best with MC square SSR Neptune.

[SteveS]

RIP Sean. I never will forget your first James Bond movie in 1963--Dr No when I was 16 years old. The coolest movie I had ever seen to that point in my life.