Solunars by Aldebaran Sidereal Academy

Bridges, Jeff. Dec 4, 1949, 11:58 PM PST, Los Angeles, CA (AA).
Banks, Tyra. Dec 4, 1973, 7:13 PM PST, Inglewood, CA (AA).

Bridges has an unusually hard chart, though with some graces.

Bridges and Banks are quite opposite types, especially on the issue of personal disclosure. Other than surface details, we know almost nothing about her and almost everything about him. I'll be thinking my way through writing something about the two of them - nothing long - for today, their shared birthday.

They have some very basic similarities that aren't at all superficial, that are the types of details that non-astrologers would use to assess their life position. For example, they both were born and grew up in Southern California, the younger of two siblings, each with an older brother. Both entered 'entertainment' at a young age, and it shaped the direction of their lives. Distinct differences are gender and race: growing up in Los Angeles as the white son of an established, respected, successful actor vs. in adjacent Inglewood as the black daughter of a non-entertainment family makes a difference.

But their charts also show clearly different patterns. Much of it centers on the sign-placement and aspects of their foreground Moons.

When I read basic biographical details of Tyra Banks, my strongest impression is that, other than her resume, there aren't any. She seems to me to have kept her actual persona out of the public view, focusing on image projected. I suppose this is exactly what a supermodel does - keep herself out of the picture with the desired image owning all the attention.

It's also one of the earliest things Fagan cited about Pisces Moons, all the way back in his Moon-sign interpretations in Symbolism of the Constellations - that they live two lives and even take pleasure from being one thing in front of other people and another thing secretly with themselves. I say they are never more truly themselves than when they are being someone else.

Her resume is easily itemized. Primarily, she was a barrier-smashing, highly successful supermodel, one of the top earners in the world (currently worth about $90M), being especially known as the first Black woman on GQ and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue covers, plus Victoria's Angel modelling and then branching into TV and film acting. She eventually created the TV show America's Next Top Model and other shows centered on her own celebrity. And, of course, she started a line of cosmetics (doesn't everybody <g>).

But who is she personally? I really haven't a clue. With her hub Sun, I entirely doubt that she is as non-dimensional as she projects.

Banks has Scorpio-Pisces luminaries - two Enigma constellations. You can get the fine points of this from the Sun in Scorpio and Moon in Pisces sections. Her chart is dominated by that Pisces Moon 1° from Midheaven with close, severe aspects. One of them is from Saturn, which is nearly as angular as Moon 0°45' from EP-a.

I think I learn most about her simply by knowing that modelling is a severe, harsh world. Beyond competitive, it's often portrayed as soul-devouring. I know that I can barely imagine the particular demands placed on a Black woman born in Inglewood in 1973. I am certain her Moon-Saturn (as part of the enigmatic tendencies I keep mentioning) is the key to it.

Moon angular, by itself, is the strongest marker for her type of celebrity - for example, the classic "pin-up" marker (an older equivalent of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover). Her Moon aspects are so severe that the second thing which most impresses me about her (in comparison to her chart) is the enormous psychological health she must have. She would have to have it in order to flourish with this chart and not emotionally crash and burn along the way. Whence comes the unusual psychological health? I don't see it in the chart except perhaps in her Scorpio Sun - Hub Suns in general, and Scorpio Suns in particular, seem to have a greater share of it than some other types. Mostly, though, I think we have to credit it to her upbringing. I'm inclined to honor her parents in this regard (having no factual information about them that helps). I think this is one of those things we need to hear about from our client, not presume we can tell from the chart.

Were I to attempt to assess her early life and the stability of the parental home from her horoscope, I would judge it far more harshly than is suggested by the few facts I have. As we might expect from her chart, her parents divorced when she was 6, and there is surely more to that story than is on the public record (there always is). Somehow, though, her parents still produced an unusually psychologically healthy child - one that could withstand the pressures of a severe, routinely dehumanizing career without obvious cracks around the edge or a single report of institutionalization.

Her Moon aspects are worth itemizing. As mentioned, Moon is 1° off Midheaven. Its most obvious aspect is a 0°51' opposition to Pluto. (Pluto, however, is not foreground: It's physically closer to the middle of 4H.) Moon has what looks, at first, like a somewhat wide (4 1/2°) square with Saturn, but it's much closer: Since Moon and Saturn are on MC and EP, you have to check their orb in Right Ascension: In RA they are 1°43' from exact square. Neptune (already her Moon-sign ruler) has an obviously strong, but soft, aspect, a 0°03' trine with Moon, one of her closest aspects (the closest is the beauty-trending Sun-Venus octile 0°01'); but Neptune has a deeper secret, since it is close to the Vertex in azimuth, squaring Moon in that framework 0°31' (wider orb, more dynamic aspect). This triple, close-orbed concentration of Saturn, Pluto, and Neptune on her Pisces Moon is harsh.

There is, however, some amelioration: In fact, I rescind my statement that that are no particular mental health markers in the chart. (They are simply subtle.) Her Moon also has a close sextile with Jupiter and a wider trine with Sun. There is no doubt that the Moon-Sun aspect is operating in her, it being a mark of celebrity charisma and self-direction. Moon-Sun aspects, especially soft aspects, are often seen as particular ballasts of psychological well-being. This Moon-Sun-Jupiter modest configuration is probably the strongest ballast of inner well-being that her chart offers. (BTW on the issue of Moon-Sun trines and sextiles being inherently psychologically healthy, there are many, many examples supporting this, but I should mention a few exceptions that may be worth studying on their own, such as "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher, Britney Spears, Florence Maybrick, Robert Strack, Winnie Ruth Judd, and the complicated example of John Forbes Nash, Jr. However, these are a small percentage of the list I'm consulting.)

Banks is a fabulous example of the positive side of Moon-Saturn. (The positive side isn't that rare.) From many examples I've personally known, I find the single loudest, most consistent trait of people with close Moon-Saturn aspects is that they are righteously, contentedly proud of how they turned out. Specifically, they are pointedly self-made people who are proud about what they have made. They are dynamic, hardworking, persistent, and self-driving (and expect the same from others, whom they often are quite happy to mentor). With this often come the neutral and negative traits as well - the "mind your own business" privacy and emotional reserve, seeking (often unconsciously) to control and judge everything, and the negative psychological patterns (from "parent issues" to deep depression) that emerges in some cases. BTW, I wouldn't be surprised is strong religious themes have been part of her strength (though none of that emerges in her usual bio either), since this is a quite common for Pisces Moons, Moon-Saturn aspects, and the kind of Moon-Sun-Jupiter triad she has (though Moon-Pluto is more inclined to break loose from such things).

I find I've started talking in circles and meant these to be shorter notes. There is much to discuss with this chart about how an astrologer approaches someone's chart - more of this that interests me in this chart than the details of the chart itself. There is much to balance, and I thought I'd "talk it out loud" and let everyone eavesdrop on my process that is interested.

There are many derails I haven't touched on. You can find most of these in the aspectarian below. We don't have a complete picture without her bold "uncompromising individualist" Mars-Uranus opposition (0°26') that goes its own way, trusting its own instincts best; nor is her profile complete without considering Venus' close square to Mars-Uranus or Jupiter's mundane squares to Mars-Uranus. So Mars-Uranus would be the next long thing to write about.

Planetary dignities and debilities have almost no impact on this chart. The one loud exception, Jupiter in the exact degree of its fall, seems not to have hurt her success (though it may have other impact we don't know). With what is publicly known, she seems to have found the most positive expression or more or less everything in her chart.

Bridges is quite the opposite of Banks. Barely shielded at all, he was famously characterized by one critic as possibly "the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived."

His bio is pretty simple if you don't sweat the details. He was Lloyd Bridges son, acting since he was an infant and part of his dad's popular Sea Hunt show. He then simply went on to have an increasingly successful life as an actor, eventually winning awards and having a large library of popular and (I think it fair to add) much-loved films. Like Banks, there is a great deal of psychological health and personal strength shown in his life, which, however, has to be put in the context of a quite different early life-path. He has reached into other areas of entertainment, such as music, which also has been with him all his life. He has studied Buddhism, thinks of himself as "a Buddhisty bent guy," and has been known to hang out with Ram Dass and Zen teachers. He's been married over 40 years in what seems to be a stable, happy marriage.

Bridges is a Scorpio-Taurus, a double Hub. He has a "tough guy" chart, given a Scorpio Sun and rising Mars-Saturn conjunction, but the more reflective, tender Taurus Moon has always been evident in his work (it shows well in his eyes in even his hardest work). For an actor of most memorable "tough characters" he brings remarkable emotional complexity. A study of Taurus Moon's interpretation discloses much about him.

Glancing at his chart, what leaps out is the Scorpio-Taurus luminaries and Mars-Saturn closely conjoined on Ascendant in Leo. (He's often had quite a mane of hair.) Angular Mercury squares Mars-Mercury (and trines Pluto - there's the depth of thought, in addition to the Hub luminaries). Moon and Sun are also foreground and in opposition, granting (among other things) his celebrity draw.

The impact of his father on his life is quite obvious with the rising Saturn and foreground Sun-Saturn square. His closest aspect among the inner planets is the closely angular Mercury-Mars square, a source of his creative talent. Venus conjoins Jupiter closely, though quite background (seemingly reflecting his basically happy life and his place in a Hollywood dynasty). The mixture of a foreground Mars-Saturn conjunction and background Venus-Jupiter conjunction would make a nice article or exploration if someone wanted to dig into it and think it through.

Sun (Scorpio, foreground) is complexly aspected, but none of it close. The Sun-Venus octile is closest and strongest, with other aspects to Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto. We can credit Sun/Mercury since the wide conjunction's midpoint is exactly on IC.

Moon, while exalted, foreground, and elevated has no aspects except the opposition to Sun.

Against Moon's exaltation, the chart has two debilities: Neptune in its detriment, Virgo, and Jupiter in its fall, Capricorn. These haven't seemed to detract from his success in Neptune or Jupiter areas.