Mel Gibson and Chinese Music / Part 1 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson’s birth data isn’t in Lois Rodden's data bank, but is generally accepted to be January 3, 1956, at 4:45 PM EST, in Peekskill, NY, USA. From comparing the transits to his natal chart for the time the news broke that tapes of his shocking rants exist, I'd have to say it's pretty accurate. First Tiger Woods, now Mel. I think there will be one more big scandal this summer, in late August. I'm also expecting another Gulf Oil Spill event around that time.

But we came here to talk about Mel.

Mel Gibson is beginning to remind me of Nathan in Sophie's Choice, the Oscar-winning film of the hauntingly tragic novel (William Styron). He's brilliant, talented, and fucked up as Chinese music.

Did you just laugh?

Or did you just think, "she did exactly what Mel did, only not in a drunken rant," as I disparaged Chinese music? I think that's an important issue because it's a matter of individual sensibilities, as all ethnic jokes are. Personally, I find some of them funny when there is a kernel of truth in them. I also find them fairly offensive because I believe that we are all brothers and sisters under the skin, even though some of you are as bat-shit crazy as Mel. You're the ones sitting there nodding, and wondering what nutty thing I'm going to write next, and the rest of you... Hey, wait! Where ya goin'?

The line between funny and unacceptable is in the delivery, isn't it? If you're in a comedy club, you expect it. If your best friend tells you, you laugh. If someone at work tells it, you smile. If a complete stranger whispers it in a conspiratorial tone like a Russian spy, you move away quickly. And if it's bellowed loudly enough for the world to hear by a raging drunk, we gasp in horror and declare him a monster. Let's have a look at the man Mel used to be, when the whole world fell in love with him:

Remember this guy?

As we all know, Mel is a better-than-average-looking-middle-aged Caucasian male, upper class by financial standards, a celebrity, and a world traveler. He's in the Herd phase of his evolutionary journey, with occasional forays into the Individuated state.

Before we go on, let's get you oriented:



Now, about Mel:




His moon's south node (the past, the crutch, the indicator of peddling backwards and backtracking) in Gemini shows that it's a repeat condition; that it's not the first time he's being given these particular lessons. Gemini represents the transfer of information in all its forms: communication, reading, writing, language skills, primary education, all written materials from letters to newspapers, from memoirs to novels, writing instruments, messages and messengers, telephones, telegrams, email, gossip, and the ability (or not) to reason and communicate clearly and effectively.

Bear with me for a bit, because this might sound a little crazy: Normally, Mel is quite rational. He possesses a balanced mind, neither leaping to conclusions nor slow to make decisions. It's indicated by the moon moving fast at the time of his birth, and Mercury (communication, rational mind) trailing his natal Sun (self-identity and ego). The evidence is in the smart career choices he's made.




His Mercury, the first position in the Triumvirate of the Transmission of Information, Lord of Gemini, Lord of the third house, is in serious, conservative, staid Capricorn, upholder of truth, tradition and authority. Mercury isn’t weakened in Capricorn, nor is it strengthened necessarily by engineering Saturn. In Capricorn, Saturn puts the brakes on the fun parts of Mercury. That’s his job.




Eventually every Peter Pan must grow up, even if it is kicking and screaming the whole way. Mercury in Capricorn gives a steady mind, but a dull tongue. It’s extremely helpful in performing Shakespeare, but not for tossing out just the right bon mot for an occasion. Some people with Mercury in an earth sign live with it just fine. For others, it’s an albatross. If Mel had been born one minute later, his Mercury would have been in lightning-fast, quirky Aquarius, where it’s exalted, and he would have been so much more comfortable with that.



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Click this link to PART 2 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

Broad Strokes / Part 2 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

Another indication that Mel is in a disseminating and reaping phase of karma, is that the moon at his birth was not only fast in its movement, but was also in the disseminating lunar phase, literally known in astrology as the "show and tell moon." You can't say Mel hasn't lived up to that part of his chart.

People born during this moon phase have to synchronize their work with that of others, willingly or not, but are usually astute in business, and fortunate in both contacts and contracts. Plans and dreams (or roles) studied for or begun in previous lives become concrete reality in this one. His work is well known, widely shared, and constantly under a microscope being reviewed for artistic, social and commercial value, never more than now.

Another clue that Mel is in a disseminating karmic phase is that his moon, which is highly significant in his life and important in his chart, is at precisely zero degrees and zero minutes of Libra, the exact moment of the autumnal equinox. This degree of a chart represents ripening and reaping. It's the day of the year when Ra, the ancient god of light, is defeated by his evil twin, Set, the god of darkness. It is the time of the year when night conquers day. It is preparing to wind down, a ticking internal clock that warns time is almost up.




Let's see what he brought with him this time around to help him achieve his life's purpose. In Mel's chart, the majority of his planets are in the western hemisphere, indicating that his choices and actions in life must be made with consideration of those to whom he is obligated, and also that he has life issues regarding playing well with others. He must interact and gain their cooperation in order to make his own goals a reality.








The majority are also below the horizon, which in an ordinary person's chart might mean shyness or reticence, because the opposite, having the majority of planets in the upper half of the chart, gives a public persona. But in Mel's chart, all those hiding planets are indicative of a very private person in his personal life.

Likewise, the majority of his planets are in cardinal mode and the water element, which gives his life and personality an over-all Cancer flavor, emphasizing his home/ family/ domestic matters/ real estate / and issues with women and children, in both his personality and his karmic lessons.

The pattern of the planets in Mel's chart create a bowl pattern, with Uranus in Leo and Venus in Aquarius forming the opposition that creates the rim. This gives him the nagging and unquenchable feeling that something is missing in his life, and he spends a great deal of subconscious time trying to reach a sense of completeness and sustained direction.

 

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Use this link to go to Cancer Rising, Libra Moon / Part 3 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

Cancer Rising, Libra Moon / Part 3 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

Mel is a Capricorn (a born executive, an ambitious and hard worker), with Cancer rising (a family man, someone to whom home and hearth are essential to life), so that's a challenge already. It's kind of a schizo way to have to live. He is literally torn between the two halves of himself: the ambitious, successful, money-making, A-list actor and Hollywood Power Exec, and the family-loving guy with an emotional need to create children, either of his body or mind. Mel has lost both of the things that are most important to him in the past couple of years--his family and his career.

In the human body, Capricorn rules the knees, and sooner or later, every Capricorn must bend his. I'm just going to bluntly tell you because it's true, that Capricorns think they run everything, and that no one can do anything as well as they can do it themselves. They have a tendency to take over everything in their path. Sadly, for them, unless they come to realize that they do not run the universe, that something much greater than they runs the universe, then the day they will be driven to their knees is somewhere in their future. For Mel, that future is now.

The moon is the ruler of his chart because it's associated with Cancer, the sign on his Ascendant, affectionately referred to as the rising sign.

 

The rising sign is the outer part of ourselves that we show the world. It's our physical form, the first and lasting impression we make, and our personality as a whole. It's a kind of mug shot. Until his DUI, Mel’s mug shot portrayed him as a family man who loved his wife. Often. That was our Cancer-induced perception of him.



This place on the chart often indicates "you, in this place, at this time," when the moon traverses it like a second hand on a clock.



Mel's moon in Libra, the sign of relationships, makes it dignified, or very strong. He needs another person to balance him, to bounce things off, to be with. The moon represents his emotional needs, and how he feels about women, particularly his mother, his wife, and his lover. He was born to be married and to be a father. His deepest and innermost self requires it. Do you need a refresher?



The moon occupies his 4th house, directing his emotional needs and attention to his home / family/ domestic matters / issues with mother, women and children / foundations and early childhood memories / and his ultimate ending.

FUN FACT: The moon is often prominent in the charts of writers and alcoholics.

Use this link to skip to A Pisces Midheaven / Part 4 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

A Pisces Midheaven / Part 4 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

Mel has Pisces on the Midheaven, the place that represents his career, reputation, and direction in life. It's a place of both fame and notoriety, of honor and dishonor. Pisces, which is ruled by Neptune, is a sign of creativity: of acting, writing, directing, drawing, imagining, painting, music and magic.
But Neptune is the planet of illusion, delusion, deception, confusion, seeing things that aren't there, and not seeing things that are. It represents water and oil, liquids, bodies of water, and vast open spaces like oceans and skies and space. The Gulf Oil spill is a prime example of a Neptune affliction.

{Neptune may represent snowy mountains, too, but that's a theory that needs more data.}

Neptune has dominion over alcohol and drugs, disappearances, and conspiracies. That's why they can seldom be figured out. There's always some clue missing.




Mel's Neptune, the planet with the majority control over his direction in life, is also in his 4th house of home, family, domestic matters, real estate, and beginnings / endings, along with his moon. The 4th house shows us his foundations --peekaboo--and early life, as well as a partial view of his ultimate demise.
That's a very watery, boozy, cocaine kind of place.



Neptune doesn't get full control of Mel's career, reputation and direction, however. He has an interception in his chart. That's when one house swallows up one whole sign, and little bits of the following and preceding signs. At some latitudes, it can swallow up two whole signs, but the closer we move toward the poles, the whole chart begins to fall apart and is unreadable. An interception that falls into one house also falls into the opposite house. It's caused by an irregular curvature of the earth.









Old school astrologer Noel Tyl, a former opera singer, an authoritative sort with a voice like God, who happens to be a champion of my favorite astrologer, Jeffrey Wolf Green, wrote on the subject of interceptions:

"Interpretively...interception has little significance."

[From the glossary of "Teaching and Study Guide to the Principles and Practice of Astrology, by Noel Tyl; Llewellyn, 1976; page 706]

I disagree! Interceptions are like blinking neon arrows that point and flash an urgent message: Pay Attention Here.

In my experience, the intercepted houses are always a driving force of the person's life, almost like a secondary Midheaven. A huge amount of what happens to him can be described by the houses and signs involved. Esoterically, they, and any planets they contain, indicate lessons failed in a previous life that must now be repeated in an intensified course. And here is a prime example of that theory in action. Which two houses in Mel Gibson's chart are intercepted? The 10th (career, reputation, honor / dishonor) and the 4th, (home family, domestic issues / foundations / endings / and all those Oedipus complex / personal, private Madonna / Whore issues he’s having to very publicly (10th house) deal with right now.

With the moon intercepted in the 4th house, Mel withdraws emotionally. His feelings of rejection are intensified. Intercepted in Mel's 10th house / Midheaven is the sign of "Me first!" Aries. Aries is a very assertive, sometimes aggressive sign. They're take-charge-git-'er-done kinds of people. They tend to stomp all over the places and people upon which even angels fear to tread.

Mars is the ruler of Aries. It's also a co-ruler with Pluto of the sign Scorpio. Mel's Mars, a/k/a the Penis Planet (sex, sports, recreation, procreation, blood, scars, wounds, tools, weapons, wars, anger, hostility, impulses, and a bunch of others I respectfully refer to as “dick things”) is in sexy, smoldering, intense, passionate Scorpio.



It's conjunct (that's fancy astrology talk for "right next to"), his natal Saturn, the planet that gives weight and concrete form to whatever it touches. Saturn is also the planet that rules his sun sign, Capricorn. Both planets are in Mel's 5th house, the house of children and creativity (the child of one's mind). The 5th house is the house of entertainment, including such things as movies, theater, hobbies, games, vacations, recreation, love affairs and recreational sex.


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Use this link to skip to Mad Max / Part 5 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson  (The URL is wrong, by the way. It saved as Mad Max Part 3. But the link is right.) 

Mad Max / Part 5 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

Mel has a T-square in his chart, made up of Uranus opposed to Mercury and the asteroid Chiron; all of them in turn form a stressful square with his watery, boozy, Neptune in the 4th house of foundations and ultimate demise.



Uranus represents the sudden, unexpected, and accidental. Its position in the chart indicates the area of life where the person seeks independence and freedom. It’s a rogue and renegade, eccentric and quirky. It’s the planet that ruled over both the American and French Revolutions. Uranus coined the phrase that rules are meant to be broken. It’s rash, impulsive, headstrong, and fearless, accident prone, and gets into a lot of trouble. Although Mel’s Capricorn sun makes him a very conservative guy (he’s a faithful Catholic and devout Republican), Uranus in his first house makes him a very unpredictable lit fuse. This kind of energy opposing Mercury, the planet of communication, results in the type of verbal incidents for which he’s become infamous.

Use this link to skip to Winding Up Mel's Meltdown / Part 6 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson
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Winding Up Mel's Meltdown / Part 6 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

Here's what was going on in Mel Gibson's chart on the day the news broke that tapes existed of his abusive behavior. The chart for the transits was made for July 9, 2010, at 5:59 p. m., the time I heard about it online.

First, so you can follow along, here's his natal chart again. It should be familiar to you by now.

Below is a chart made for the time that I heard about the tapes. It's the same as if I held a camera up to the sky and took a picture. Or better yet, began shooting a video, because unlike the chart above, which is frozen in time, this picture moves clockwise:

What? You thought it was really going to turn? You have to make it turn. Follow along, okay? Here's a little magic. I'm going to combine them. Let me know if I go too fast for you.

Voila! Now the natal chart is on the inside, and the transits (where the planets were that day) are on the outside. It makes it very easy to see what was going on in his chart.

The outer planets take a long time to move through their cycles. Pluto takes an average of 246 years to go around a chart just one time. It takes Neptune 164. It takes Uranus 84. There are some places in everyone's chart that those planets are never going to reach in our lifetime. In fact, they move so slowly that sometimes it appears they're moving backwards. We call it "retrograde," and those planets have a whole new set of "rules."

When a planet takes that long to move through a chart, imagine how important it is, if and when, it makes an aspect to a natal planet. Y'all, don't get all tweaked about aspects. They're easy. Think of a chart as a pool table with rounded corners. Two balls kissing is a conjunction. The cue ball at one end, and the 8 ball at the other, is an opposition. Or the cue ball centered at one end, and the 8 sitting just in front of either side pocket is a square--90 degrees. Sextiles (nothing to do with sex on the floor), are 60 degrees. That would be sort of like the cue ball being in front of the right pocket, and the 8 ball being half way between the near-left corner pocket and the left side pocket. And a trine would be similar, except the 8 ball would be twice as far away...say near the rail between the left side pocket and the left corner pocket at the far end of the table. 120 degrees. Easy shot, right?

One of the aspects that's giving Mel hell right now, is the same one that's causing a lot of us hell. If you were born at the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation--mid 1950's to early 1960's--when Pluto was in the last degrees of Leo, you're in the same boat with him. If you were born later than that, you're not off the hook. Your time is coming. Pluto is the planet of extremes, so it's both a generational influence, and the most personal one: the journey our own soul is on.

So while we as a generation may lose something--like our way of life as we know it--we will likely lose something unique to us, as well. A person. A place. A thing. Something that has helped to define us will be removed. It depends on where Pluto is in our chart, and which house it rules. In Mel's chart, Pluto represents his soul's need to disseminate information, which is filtered through his Scorpio-ruled 5th house of creativity and entertainment. Along with spreading information, Mel likes to spread his wild oats. The 5th house is the house of children. Will he only lose the love child, or the others, as well? If this aspect is happening in your chart, too, don't forget that Neptune can rule spirituality, as well as addictions and conspiracies.


Neptune isn't working alone here. The asteroid Chiron is adding to the mix. Our losses will be painful. They are, or will become, the scab that keeps getting picked, the echoing thought in the future that this is the milk we wish we hadn't spilled. It will become one of our greatest regrets in the realization that time cannot be turned back, and it is too late; some things cannot be undone. And we will learn from that. Besides being the wounded, Chiron is the teacher.






Sorry, the eclipse came and went before I could get all this posted. It took place July 11, 2010 at 12:42 PM PDT..
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Use this link to skip to Mel Gibson Got a Big Surprise / Part 7 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson Got a Big Surprise / Part 7 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson

Another planet currently causing problems for Mel is Saturn. Saturn is like Father Time who keeps the winged messenger, Mercury, in a playpen, remember? Imagine what it's like to have wings and have to stay in a playpen the whole time Saturn is around. It could be months, or even years!

This time, however, Saturn / Scrooge has hold of the moon. Saturn represents trouble, sorrow and grief of all kinds; the moon represents women, family, home, and our deepest emotional needs. It's also one of the "drinking" planets. That in itself is a very hard aspect to live with. I envy no one who's dealing with that now (and we all do, about every 27 years, give or take one). It's even worse for Mel. He's got Uranus, the planet of the sudden, unexpected, and accidental, opposed to his moon at the same time. That's like being down and being bitch-slapped.

But that's not bad enough. Let's pile it on! Jupiter, often described as the Santa Claus of the zodiac, basically represents "Bigger! Better! More!" That's awesome if it's in the chart of a Powerball winner, but isn't such a good thing when what is increasing is trouble! Another thing Jupiter represents is law. I imagine California prosecutors are taking a close look at him now, too.

Saturn will move away from his moon at the end of this month (July, 2010), but Uranus is going to continue making trouble there through the middle of August. It will move on after that, but will return in March 2011. Jupiter changes direction (retrograde) later this month, to continue its assault through mid September. In November, it will start moving forward again, and cause Mel some more trouble in late January 2011.

These long-term transits of the outer planets are like seasons in our life: winter, spring, summer, and fall. The inner planets point to specific days, and the moon, to hours. It takes Mars two years to complete his orbit, which means it moves about one degree in our chart every two days. His energy will not be ignored. If you try to suppress it, it will simply remove the block by whatever means are necessary. Mars is also wreaking havoc in Mel's chart now. It's in square to his moon's nodes. There are always two nodes, a North and a South, and they are always opposite each other (except in some very advanced methods of prediction). One of the things they represent is our interaction with other people. In spiritual astrology, they're considered karmic indicators. Other meanings are in the graphic below:






Wouldn't you know that on the very same day that Mars was fighting with the nodes (other people), that Venus would come along and conjunct his natal Pluto? This is a multi-layered aspect, and can be seen working in several ways: Venus is female and feminine.

List 1

She represents females,
particularly romantic partners.
She represents money and finances,
art,
luxuries,
indulgences,
jewelry,
fashion,
beauty,
and harmony.
She expresses romantic love, as seen through the eyes of women.


List 2

Pluto represents the soul's intention for this life,
in this case, Mel's intention to disseminate, whether his ideas, or his oats.
In the third house, Pluto is about expression.
It's also the planet of passion,
obsession,
jealousy,
taboos,
vengefulness
and vindictiveness.
It's extreme.
It's the planet of nuclear power,
atomic bombs,
volcanoes and
earthquakes.
It blows. Shit. Up.
Like relationships, tempers, and proportions.




While Venus is the ruler of our money, Pluto is the ruler of their money: insurance, lotteries, welfare, inheritance, trust, stocks, football pools, poker pots, casinos, and community property. It's also the underworld: crime, extortion, rape. It's the planet of extremes and great odds. One of Pluto's extremes is depth: it rules basements, swamps, cemeteries, and hell, itself. It probes all kinds of depths: psychiatric and psychological, sexual, spiritual. Those who overcome Pluto's negative traits can be some of the most devout spiritual devotees. Many monks, priests, and nuns have a prominent Pluto or Scorpio in their charts. Which kind of explains abuse by priests.

Anyway, Venus contacted Mel's Pluto that day, so you can pick three or four from one list, and three or four from the other list, and mix and match at will. If they don't describe literal facts, then they're probably at least pretty good metaphors for his current reality.

It's interesting to note here that when Mel told his girlfriend that he didn't want her, he meant it. I have no idea what her birth chart looks like, or how compatible they are, or are not, but transiting Venus is in Leo--and that's the opposite sign that Mel's birth Venus is in, and the sign that a man's Venus is in shows what type of women he is attracted to. With Venus in Aquarius, Mel's attracted to highly independent women with a strong need for personal freedom. They might be a bit odd or unusual in some way, and have a strong humanitarian streak, as Princess Diana had.

And all of that happened on the same day that Mercury, the planet of communication, conjuncted Mel's natal Uranus, the planet of the sudden, unexpected, and disastrous.

See how the inner planets target the day an event will happen? On that day, as if Mel didn't have enough problems, they were aired in public when the transiting sun and South Node crossed his Ascendant.

Expect a new twist or development around July 23, when the transiting sun will conjunct his natal Uranus in his 1st house. I haven't had time to really study it, yet. If I get the chance, I'll post the results here.

Is Mel still bankable at the box office? The answer is that his lesson, the test for his soul in this one, is found in how he expresses himself, and what he communicates. The lesson is in patience, and he must learn to be as creative and cooperative in his personal life as he is in his professional one, in order to solve his problems. Suddenly, again, his many character flaws are becoming general knowledge, and he has trouble accepting criticism and disappointment. Who's going to cast the first stone for that?

The feeling of impatience, of time running out, is acute for Mel at this time, and in this lifetime, and he's going to have to weather it alone. Any help he expects to aid him, won't arrive. No one is going to rescue him from this one. He's going to feel angry, resentful and rejected, and he's going to act out. Proof: he already has. He is going to have to take a good long look at himself under that microscope of scrutiny, and come up with a new plan.

He needs a long stint in rehab. Eric Clapton's Aruba facility, Crossroads, would be a good choice for him. Once he's broken his addiction, he needs about nine months in an ashram to center and rehabilitate his mind and soul. He needs a complete overhaul, from the inside out. He shouldn't come back until he can hold his head up to apologize publicly and humbly for his atrocious and unacceptable behavior--and mean it.

Use this link to return to Mel Gibson and Chinese Music / Part 1 of the Astrology of Mel Gibson