Bipolar and Pisces Moon?

[Jim Eshelman]

I don't know of anything in the literature to suggest that bipolarity is linked to a Pisces Moon, but I've seen a handful of these lately - so I'm rising the possibility that this "two-bodied" sign might have a link to that.

Historically, one might have said Pisces luminaries are subject to altered reality, perhaps altered biochemistry, but not with this particular disorder.

The most recent case is Rebecca Riley, born April 11, 2002, 3:46 PM EDT, Springfield, MA. In a national-attention case, she was diagnosed as bipolar at age 2. (The case goes on from there: She was prescribed medication, then died soon after from an OD of that medication.) A diagnosis at that age is controversial, so perhaps I shouldn't label this as bipolar so much as "people diagnosed as bipolar." - Riley was a double Pisces.

Catherine Zeta-Jones (Virgo-Pisces) was diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder. So were Connie Francis (Scorpio-Pisces) and Ada Lovelace (Scorpio-Pisces). These are just examples immediately at hand.

Of course, as with all simple astrological patterns, there are countless exceptions on both sides - people with Pisces Moon who don't develop the disease and people who have the disease that don't have Pisces Moons. I'm only pointing out a casual observation that seems curious. Some diagnosed bipolar individuals without Pisces Moons (just taking convenient examples at hand) - either currently or retroactively - include:

Mariah Carey (Pisces-Gemini) <----
Dick Cavett (Scorpio-Capricorn)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Libra-Cancer)
Francis Ford Coppola (Pisces-Scorpio) <----
Robert Downey, Jr. (Pisces-Aries) <----
Richard Dreyfus (Libra-Aries)
Patty Duke (Scorpio-Leo)
Thomas Eagleton (Leo-Leo)
Carrie Fisher (Libra-Taurus)
Larry Flynt (Libra-Cancer)
Mel Gibson (Sagittarius-Virgo)
Ernest Hemingway (Cancer-Sagittarius)
Vivian Leigh (Libra-Capricorn)
Sylvia Plath (Libra-Virgo)
Rene Russo (Aquarius-Leo)
Charlie Sheen (Leo-Sagittarius)
Nine Simone (Aquarius-Sagittarius)
Frank Sinatra (Scorpio-Aquarius)
Britney Spears (Scorpio-Capricorn)
Phil Spector (Sagittarius-Gemini)
Margaret Trudeau (Leo-Sagittarius)
Ted Turner (Scorpio-Libra)
Vincent Van Gogh (Pisces-Scorpio) <----
Brian Wilson (Gemini-Leo)
Amy Winehouse (Leo-Sagittarius)
Jonathan Winters (Libra-Virgo)
Virginia Woolf (Capricorn-Aries)

So perhaps I am jumping toward a conclusion too fast. There are a LOT more people without the Pisces Moon than with it. Of the 31 people on this page, four have Pisces Moons. This is higher than average, but I'm not sure I should pay much attention to it. Of the remaining 27, another four have Pisces Suns, though, which again is about double the number expected. So this may be something to watch.

[Jim Eshelman]

As long as I have this small sample, I might as well tally all the positions.

SUN
Tau 0
Gem 1
Can 1
Leo 4
Vir 1
Lib 7
Sco 7
Sag 2
Cap 1
Aqu 2
Pis 5
Ari 0

Each sign on average should have two or three instances. Instead, we see Libra and Scorpio with 7 each and Pisces with 5. The Libra-Scorpio doubling looks more like a seasonal pattern than an astrological one - perhaps people born in October through December. I don't know if such a pattern has been identified by psychiatrists. In contrast, the opposite part of the year - Aries and Taurus - have ZERO instances. In fact, Aries through Cancer has a total of 2 across the four signs.

There are no quadruplicity patterns. There may be a triplicity pattern with only 3 in the Fertile (Earth) signs and 13 in the Enigma (Water) signs; but this could also just be a reflection of the seasonal pattern noted above. (Scorpio and Pisces score reasonably high but Cancer has 1, so it probably isn't a triplicity effect.)

MOON
Tau 1
Gem 2
Can 2
Leo 4
Vir 3
Lib 1
Sco 2
Sag 5
Cap 3
Aqu 1
Pis 4
Ari 3

E 7
A 4
W 8
F 12

Sagittarius is actually the most common Moon-sign. This matches the Chris Stapleton study from the '70s showing Sagittarius Moons tend higher on MMPI Scale 9 (hypomania).

Overall, the spokes are clearly stronger than the other two quadruplicities, although Gemini is quite average - the effect is mostly concentrated in Sagittarius and Pisces. If there is a triplicity effect, it is among the Imperial (Fire) signs or (to state the opposite) the clearest divergence is the low in the Egalitarian (Air) signs. I'm not sure this is an effect separate from the Sagittarius high.


Notice that Sun and Moon have quite different patterns. For example, Sun's highs in Libra and Scorpio bring lows for Moon; while Moon's high in Sagittarius is greeted with utterly ordinary or low numbers for Sun. If we DID combine Sun and Moon (which I think isn't justified), the overall highs are in Pisces and Scorpio, with Leo immediately behind them (and Sagittarius next). The one clear result from the combination is that Taurus luminaries are nearly absent from the list, whether Sun or Moon.

[mikestar13]

Wonder what may be in my chart indicative of this: in my life, I have loved altogether four bipolar women including Terry (and was a close non-sexual friend of a bipolar man). I wonder if this Pisces connection is pointing to a Neptune connection. My Neptune is 42' in azimuth from the vertex--and weirdly enough, all five of those relationships felt fated, and more intense than any similar relationships with non-bipolar people. I remember when Terry had her first manic episode since I met her. Afterwards she was mortified (how Pisces ) and apologizing all over herself. I just smiled and said, "relax, Terry, this ain't my first rodeo."