Solunars by Aldebaran Sidereal Academy

Sep 27, 2008

Paul Newman has died of cancer at 83. Here is his nativity.

Newman died Friday at his home in Westport, Connecticut. Actor, philanthropist, racecar driver until age 80, liberal political activist, and (combining new exquisite cooking skills with his spirit of philanthropy) founder of a hugely successful line of food products. (Newman once remarked, "The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is outgrossing my films.") His marriage of Joanne Woodward was one of the most successful and blessed in show business. His characteristically Capricornian wit and Aquarian social-mindedness especially marked both his public and private life.

TRANSITS AT DEATH: With Jupiter rising in Sagittarius at birth, Newman had recently experienced a Jupiter return, and transiting Jupiter was nearing his Ascendant. I don't know the history of his illness but, if it was prolonged and painful, Jupiter transits are extremely common at deathy. Perhaps the most telling transit connected to this is Jupiter exactly - within 2' mid-Friday - opposite natal Pluto. Fagan's phrase, "fortunate separations," rarely fails me for Jupiter-to-Pluto transits.

Neptune was just barely back within 1° of opposite natal Neptune. Again, I don't know the details of his disease and its treatment, but it is common for critical Neptune transits to mark long or recurring stretches of chemo and radiation treatments, and the consequent side-effects (which are quite Neptunian). If anyone can provide facts around this, it would help understand the astrological context.

Transiting Uranus was only a tenth of a degree from conjunct his natal Uranus! I have no doubt that this life lived open to discovery and eye-opening wonder experienced much the same thing as he was closing his outer eyes for the last time.

Mars had opposed his Mars over the couple of days leading up to his death, and was still in orb. (Various obvious interpretatons. These days, severe pain is usually managed quite effectively by medication near the end, but this transit's basic indication would be extreme pain, any last-ditch surges of strength, "the final battle," etc. - and, again, such Mars transits are very common last-days transits for cancer.)


PROGRSSIONS: More Uranus jumps out: Progressed Moon partile conjunct progressed Uranus. Unless I've missed something, that's it.

SIDEREAL SOLAR RETURN: Newman's final SSR, cast for Wesport, had transiting Mars rising as its primary feature, and other support details (e.g., an exact Mercury-Neptune conjunction not far from the Midheaven and opposite natal Neptune, Pluto more broadly in the setting foreground). It also had a quarter degree Moon square to natal Jupiter.

SIDEREAL LUNAR RETURN: His final SLR, from September 13, wasn't all that telling. It primarily featured natal Sun rising. But he died the day of a Demi-SLR and dang if it didn't replicate his natal angles and place that transiting Jupiter on the Ascendant within half a degree, conjunct his natal Jupiter-Mercury and, within 7', opposite natal Pluto (see above). This is extremely characteristic of final Lunar Returns for death from prolonged cancer (and less characteristic if we find that this wasn't the pattern of his death).

QUOTIDIANS:
(a) SNQ2. Progressed Mars precisely on the Descendant (and the Moon-Uranus exact conjunction mentioned previously). Natal Jupiter partile square the Midheaven.

(b) SNQ1. Natal Pluto partile conjunct the Midheaven. Natal Mecury exactly on the IC. Transiting Jupiter on the IC completing the aspects to those planets that have been a recurring feature of these charts. Progressed Moon still within a degree of conjunction with natal Uranus.

(c) SQ. Similar to the natal angles, and featured the familiar planetary patterns in the general area of the angles, but didn't bring anything actually to the angles except transiting Venus just within a degree of the Midheaven. (I suspect he was surrounded by family on the last day, but I don't know this for a fact. This falls under 'secondary phenomena' surrounding an event.)


A different tool...
In another thread, someone recently asked about the Solar Monthly Return (SMR) and I said (which is true) that in various tests it just didn't perform well. I decided to idly watch it for a while and honesty requires that I mention that it was pretty good in this case. Newman's final SMR occurred August 30, 2008, at 1:03 AM and has a Sun-Saturn conjunction on the IC and Pluto setting. One chart does not a case make, but I thought it worth mentioning.

More reliable in various studies and anecdotal cases is the Ennead which, in this case, occurred August 19. Pluto is closely rising (squared by Mars, which is part of a Moon-Mars opposition). Natal Mars is near the IC.