Ike & Tina Turner

[Jim Eshelman]

Tina Turner: Nov 26, 1939, 10:10 PM CST, Nutbush, TN (AA)
Ike Turner: Nov 5, 1931, hour unknown (CST), Clarksdale, MS (X)

It is unfortunate that no birth time is available for Ike Turner, who, on his own, was one of the most important figures in 20th century music history. His birth certificate has no time on it, and apparently no biographer ever dug it out. (I'll not take space to reproduce the usual litany of his attainments, but they were significant and pivotal.)

I list him here, even without a time, because the synastry between him and Tina Turner is a startlingly vivid example. Using noon CST positions for Ike, look at this lineup:

10°06' Sco - Tina Sun
10°42' Sco - Ike Mars
10°54' Aqu - Tina Mars
13°20' Tau - Tina Moon
13°46' Sco - Tina Mercury
13°51' Leo - Ike Neptune

Additionally, at noon on Ike's birth date, Moon was at 20°23' Leo moving 13°25'/day. It could have been as early as 13°13' Leo if he were born at the beginning of the day. We don't know if that's true; I list it because the interaction might be even more interesting.

Furthermore, this cluster if planets are almost the ONLY contacts between their charts. Besides this, Ike's Sun and Jupiter were on Tina's angles, his Mercury-Jupiter opposed her Uranus. There is no Venus between the charts at all (unless Ike's angles happen to be near Tina's Venus). Basically, it's just the interaction of the mid-Hub planets tallied above.

One can learn a lot - ingrain meanings and distinctions of important aspects - by reading the standard interpretations for all the interchanges shown above, paying attention to which of the aspects are closest.

[Jim Eshelman]

When Ike died of a cocaine overdose on the morning of December 12, 2007, in San Marcos, CA, transiting Saturn was at 13°40' Leo (noon position) conjunct his natal Neptune. Any return charts of that period having this on angles would have had Saturn aspecting natal Mars also.

Another significant, well-documented event for him was when Tina left him, sneaking out of their Dallas hotel room late on July 3, 1976 (the eve of the U.S. bicentennial and her personal "Independence Day"). Ike's transits are strange, e.g., Jupiter just leaving square to natal Jupiter and just shy of opposition to natal Mercury. Mars exactly squared his Venus, a negative expression of which is "relationship affliction," and more basically related to the emotional force of their pivotal argument earlier that day. But otherwise, there isn't a significant transit. (The main aspect in space was a partile Saturn-Uranus square.)

The SLR before his December 12 death occurred December 1. During the last week, he was already reporting feeling bad and unsure he'd live until Christmas. That Saturn transit mentioned above was square Sun within a day of the SLR. A test of putting transiting Saturn on the SLR angles gives the following possible SLR times (PST), with the listed Moon positions. (His natal Moon could be between 13°13' Leo and 27°38' Leo.)

MC: Dec 1, 5:50 AM - Moon 14°39' Leo
Z: Dec 1, 6:35 AM - Moon 15°02' Leo
WP: Dec 1, 11:34 AM - Moon 17°37' Leo
Dsc: Dec 1, 12:16 PM - Moon 17°59' Leo
N: Dec 1, 4:33 PM - Moon 20°11' Leo
IC: Dec 1, 5:49 PM - Moon 20°50' Leo
Asc: Dec 1, 11:22 PM - Moon 23°41' Leo
EP: Dec 1, 11:32 PM - Moon 23°46' Leo

Looking at these charts, here are the ones that look persuasive for the nature of his death (ruling out those that more easily could have gone another way). Whether the death was suicide or reckless stupidity, it was preceded by morose moods and a heavy feeling of unwellness and anticipation of death being just around the corner. These SLR times are consistent with that:

Dec 1, 5:50 AM - Moon 14°39' Leo
Dec 1, 12:16 PM - Moon 17°59' Leo [???]
Dec 1, 4:33 PM - Moon 20°11' Leo
Dec 1, 11:22 PM - Moon 23°41' Leo

Looking more narrowly at these four:

• The first is excellent and definitely where I'm leaning (though I recognize that my bias is that he was born near the start of the day). The mundoscope is stunning with the Moon-Saturn also precisely square rising Mercury, a known suicide pattern.
• The second would be sufficient for us to call it a "win" if we found it were the SLR, but Uranus' strength seems it would have added more clarity and there is no real involvement of natal Mars (the whole chart looks a bit to strong and vibrant, even though heavily weighed down). Still, precise Moon-Saturn mundane conjunction is compelling.
• The third has the startling surprise of transiting Neptune on MC: I'm happy with it except not sure how natal Mercury-Jupiter's angularity might play out (there are areas of anxiety and enormous weight, but perhaps not as hopeless as the others). Sun-Neptune paran could be appropriate, yet overall the exactly angular Sun adds to the feeling of more strength than he reported in the last week.
• The fourth is entirely satisfactory, except that Moon seems uninvolved and I doubt that it was.

Knowing that I'm guessing (nothing else to do but guess) and that any of these charts would be acceptable, the only one that has no flaws is the first. This gives a birth time of 2:25 AM. It puts Tina's Venus-Neptune square near the angles, and this is a part of herself she certainly brought to the relationship. The second one (born 7:59 AM) seems a descriptive chart for Ike and brings Tina's Sun to his Ascendant among other things: It's quite the precise synastry map! The third one (birth time 11:40 AM) ultimately doesn't identify or describe Ike and the angles have no connection to Tina's chart.

I'm left, then, with two possible birth times: 2:25 AM and 7:59 AM. The first is the better SLR, the second is the better "this looks like Ike" natal.

[Jim Eshelman]

For Ike's 12/12/07 death, the 2:25 AM chart adds transiting Sun crossing natal IC. Progressed Moon 26°45' Tau is just crossing natal MC. Solar Arc MC comes to 13°35' Leo, exactly on natal Neptune and transiting Saturn.

The 7:59 AM time misses exact transits to natal angles, but has several planets in the area. The Saturn transit to Neptune is strong enough to keep the deep sense of unwellness regardless. No Solar Arcs distinguishes the time, and the closest (allowing for a small adjustment) would be directed MC conjunct natal Venus - totally unfitting.

Checking both these times for Tina's abrupt departure in Dallas late on 7/3/76:

For 2:25 AM, no additional transits, progressions, or directions (the ones not dependent on angles are good).

For 7:59 AM, one very strange progression is progressed Sun square natal Moon 0°04'. While this could mean "life change," it normally (if unafflicted) would be the forming of a pivotal relationship, not the disintegration of one. This also (for this time) meant progressed/directed Sun exactly square natal MC, and this was not a new career peak for Ike. Rather, his success started seriously crumbling.

Ike's SLR before this event was July 2. They were already in Dallas by July 1, I think. For the 2:25 AM time, the SLR had natal Pluto on IC and other angularities, such as transiting Uranus and natal Sun hovering around Descendant. Oh, I just saw that Uranus and Pluto are in 0°14' mundane conjunction just below Descendant (probably mundane square natal Pluto)! The SLR for the 7:59 AM time is also bad for him, with natal Pluto on EPa and transiting Saturn rising partile square Uranus. Both charts are abrupt, separating, and negative for him.

Calculating these two SLRs in TMSA and looking at them finely, the 2:25 AM chart is indeed mundane aspects of transiting Uranus-Pluto 15' with Uranus and Pluto square natal Pluto 26' and 11', respectively, all being within 4° of angles. It's a life-altering earthquake. The SLR for the 7:59 AM birth time rests on the transiting 3' Saturn-Uranus square (Saturn just over 1° from Asc) and natal Pluto a little over 1° from EPa. Also a natal Saturn-Uranus sq is foreground, but widely. This basically says there was separation and he lost.

[Jim Eshelman]

Both times are viable. I like the 7:59 AM chart better for describing Ike, but the progressions and directions seem off (wrong). The 2:25 AM fits these two events perfectly.

For a natal chart (2:25) with no angular planets, the Vertex becomes involved. Azimuths:
87°33' Neptune
91°30' Jupiter
That's an entertainer!

The 7:59 AM chart is clearer in PVL (mundoscope):
26°17' 9H - Neptune
26°44' 12H - Venus
1°03' 10H - Moon
3°59' 1H - Mars

Here are both of them for whatever use you might want to make.